Game 372: Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord (1986)

On the one hand, I appreciate the non-anime influence. On the other hand, this looks like the members of a 1980s pop band.

            

Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord

Japan

Kogado Studios (developer and Japanese publisher); SEGA of America (U.S. publisher)

Released in 1986 for PC-88, FM-7, and Sharp X; 1987 for NES and Sega Master System

Date Started: 16 July 2020

              

I thought that while I was feeling positively about consoles, I ought to have a brand new experience. While I had the rare session with the Nintendo as a child, I've never touched anything by Sega at all. I barely knew anything about the company before I started writing this entry, which is too bad, because at least in its early days, I might have taken to some Sega games more naturally than their contemporary Nintendo titles. Not this one so much, it turns out, but some.

         

Sega has an interesting history. It goes back to World War II (specifically, 1940) Hawaii, where four Americans created Standard Games to supply slot machines and other coin-operated amusements to military bases. After the war, the founders sold Standard Games and created Service Games, now based in Tokyo to avoid running afoul of American gambling laws. Although the new name reflected the founders' history, the company expanded its offerings to private businesses and homes. The abbreviation "Sega" first appeared in 1954, and it became the official name of the company after it merged with a photo booth company created by another American in 1965. Sega created arguably the first "arcade" game--more mechanical than electronic--in 1966, called Periscope. Sega's first fully-electronic arcade game was 1973's Hockey TV, which I might have actually played at a bar in Texas in the late 1970s with my dad. I definitely remember playing some kind of primitive hockey game with him.

   

The company went through several phases of acquisition and division by American and Japanese owners from the 1960s through the 1980s. As the arcade business declined in the early 1980s, Sega tried its hand at a computer (the SC-3000) before deciding to compete with Nintendo by developing their first console system, the SG-1000, in 1983. (It offered only one RPG: a port of The Black Onyx.) The Sega Master System succeeded in 1985. Other models (Mega Drive, Genesis, Sega CD, Game Gear, 32X, Saturn, Dreamcast) followed through the next 20 years before the company shifted fully to software in the early 2000s. 

     

Perhaps because of its American pedigree or perhaps just to find a different niche, Sega adopted a different aesthetic than Nintendo--and different rules. While Nintendo's graphics leaned towards the "cutesy," Sega's offered more classic western styles, as the title screen to Miracle Warriors shows. While there are some Goofy Cartoonish Little Men within their game icons, the static portraits of the early games show less of an anime influence. This seems to become less true as the years pass, but in the late 1980s, the graphical distinction between Nintendo and Sega is stark. More important, Sega aimed more for a market that, if not "adult," was at least adolescent. The American division didn't seem to care about whether its games were "family friendly," much less insist on striking the word "miracle" from its title because of religious connotations.
           

In the early days, Sega RPGs offered a more western aesthetic.

       

The Sega Master System (SMS) only had five RPGs during its run; two of them were released in 1987: Miracle Warriors and Phantasy Star. Although Phantasy Star was developed specifically for the SMS, Miracle Warriors pre-dates it, both in terms of its original Japanese PC release in 1986 and also its SMS release in October 1987 (Phantasy Star wasn't until December). Both hit the U.S. market at roughly the same time, in late 1988. But Phantasy Star was actually developed by Sega and didn't have a contemporary (Japanese-only) NES release the way that Miracle Warriors did, and thus probably would have been a better title for my first Sega experience. I researched the company after I started the game, alas.

      

The backstory concerns a "stumbling shepherd lad named Iason" who accidentally (the game is vague on how) opens the Pandora Passage, the gateway separating the Five Lands from the evil realm of the Dark Lord Terarin (who, because the name doesn't really convey it, is female). The opening allowed monsters to pour into the Five Lands and sow chaos. Feeling guilty, Iason trained with the White Monks and succeeded in his quest to reseal the passage. But he foresaw the eventual crumbling of the seal and prophesied that four brave warriors would need to face Terarin. That day has come. The PC is one of Iason's descendants, charged with replicating his ancestor's quest.
           

A four-character name is all we get for character creation.

          

If I found the Final Fantasy manual a bit puerile, at least some effort went into it. The manual for Warriors (at least, the U.S. release) is opposite and worse. While you won't hear me complain about the artwork, it offers virtually no help getting started except a one-page list of tips that any of us could have written without even seeing the game (e.g., save often, make maps). The screenshots are all low-resolution monochrome images that barely correspond to the game screens, and the text, full of ORIGIN-like "thees" and "thous," leaves more questions than it answers, such as why the party must endure the constant presence of a floating fairy named Ica. The game map is intimidatingly large and complex, with no clue about where you're starting.
             

The map that came with the game makes the land look a bit bigger than it actually is.

          

Game begins by giving the character a name, then dumping him onto a blank landscape with no guidance, although a nearby castle seems the place to start. The interface is a bit odd. Most of it is taken by a non-interactive window that, during exploration, really doesn't serve any purpose except to show the current terrain from a side-view. Real maneuvering is done in the small top-down window in the upper-right, while the lower-right shows current statistics for money, potions, fangs, and "character points," which are a kind of fame or karma meter. The lower-left shows a health bar and a bar indicating progress towards the next character level.
            

Starting the game. The largest window serves no purpose except to show your current terrain and remind you that an inexplicable fairy is accompanying you.

         
The Sega controller was pretty much the same as the NES: a directional pad and two main buttons. However, the original console lacked analogues to NES's "select" and "start" buttons, which games like Final Fantasy used to provide additional functionality. Thus, the game itself feels a little simpler and a little clumsier. Movement is by tiles and the game is turn-based.

   
At the castle, I learned that "fate calls" me to "bar evil's entry," and that I "must seek the seal of the Dark Lord." I eventually learned that there are several castles throughout the lands, but they all seem to just offer one conversation with the king. You can't actually explore them. Towns are different, including the nearby town of Garia. They have streets you can explore and shops and houses you can "enter" for a line of dialogue or a list of services. Garia had a weapon shop, a blacksmith (who repairs weapons and armor), a healer, and a mayor who demanded 500 guilders. I only started with 400, so I said no, and he demanded I leave. I later discovered that you get major hints for your guilders, but you otherwise don't have to pay.
           

Getting the main quest in the first castle.

       
Weapons and armor were hugely expensive--thousands of gold pieces each for knives, armor, and shields--and the items have a fixed number of uses before they break. I only started with 400 gold, and the most lucrative combats were only giving me about 300--offset by what I had to spend to periodically heal the character. Bestial enemies often leave no gold, just fangs, and while there's someone in Garia who will purchase fangs, I got the impression that you need to save them to prove your worth.

Thus--as almost always seems to be the case with these early JRPGs--I settled in for a long period of grinding. Encounters happen at an extremely variable rate. I counted as few as 3 steps and as many as 30 steps in between them; the average seems to be around 6. Combat, particularly in the beginning, lacks the tactical depth of Final Fantasy. You only ever face one enemy at a time, and for the first few hours (at least), there isn't much you can do other than trade physical attacks and try to retreat if your health gets too low. I mostly loitered outside of Garia and walked back and forth, retreating into the city to heal if my health fell below half. As you kill monsters, your fame and experience both increase, and every time your experience bar rolls over, your level increases, which causes a boost in the health bar.
        

Combat in the forest.

            
Monsters are mostly original to the game, and include weasly wimps, smags, unmutaks, zirods, and sekisaigs, along with more common enemies like thieves. One enemy whose appearance I swiftly grew to love was the evil merchant, who is easy to kill and carries 2,000 gold pieces. Later, that love was transferred to great lions, which drop 3,000 guilders and 5 fangs. Fans of the game must still get a tingle when they see those images. The difficulty of level of enemies depends primarily on the terrain--open plains offering the easiest, forests slightly harder, and hills and mountains the hardest.
          

Sweet.

        
There are also regular merchants that you can't kill without a loss of reputation. These friendly NPCs offer hints, as do NPCs in some of the houses in the game. Some things I learned:
          

• The seal is guarded in the Gorkis Shrine.
• I need to find the ancient sage, Kosama. 
• Kosama dwells in a valley on the border.
• If one's fame decreases, the resulting quest will be "long and weary."

       

Some hints come from NPCs on the road...

         

• I should stick to open plains.
• I need to collect 300 fangs for some reason.
• I should find the Mask of the Beast before venturing into caverns.
• There are two towns in Marula.
• There are nine towns in the world. 

         

...and some come from NPCs in their houses.

         

• One town was lost to Terarin's army.
• To get my first companion, I'll need the sword of a warrior.

        
NPC hints seem to evolve as you solve quests and progress in the game, always remaining somewhat relevant to your current status.
         
In due course, around Level 6, I had a knife, shield, and armor, paid the town of Garia for its hint, and had a couple of herbs (of which you can only buy 5 maximum) to heal in between towns. I started to explore the rest of the world.
           

Purchasing equipment in a shop.

        
The game world consists mostly of a series of islands interconnected by bridges. The individual islands are somewhat small, making it possible to systematically explore without mapping. There's a comically unrealistic hard border around the edges of the world. I soon discovered that the game begins in the far northeast, and from there the only way to go is west.

I soon found Kosama's house and paid him a visit. He related that the Seal of the Dark Lord is guarded by General Terarin, and that to reach her I need to enlist three companions. Though of ancient lineage, these companions "do not realize their own power," and thus I will have to awaken them to their true calling with the "Awake, Giant!" spell, which he gave me. He said my first companion would be found in a city that prays to the god of the sea.
        

Note the world border above Kosama's house.

           
I found what I thought was my first companion in the city of Oruk, a couple of islands to the west. It had the same services as Garia except that the armory sold a sword and a mask, and the blacksmith had been fired or something. The blacksmith offered to accompany me for 12,000 guilders, which was way more than I had, so I spent another hour or so grinding. When I finally got the blacksmith in the party, I was surprised to see him among my "objects" rather than as a companion. I soon realized that the blacksmith prevents your weapons and armor from degrading, and thus you from having to buy a new set every few dozen turns. I also bought a sword and a Mask of the Beast.
        

I wonder if this is the first companion-object in RPGs.

          
The mask allowed me to explore a nearby dungeon (I don't know what happens if you try to explore without the mask), which was small enough that I could explore the whole thing by just following one wall. Amidst random combats, I found a helm that allows me to read writing in caves, and then some writing which advised me to "help [my] friends with Iason's Arms."
      

Exploring a cavern.

       
Because I had more than 300 fangs, a local king gave me the Axe of Iason, which he confusingly also called "Iris' Axe," which confusingly is just called "Iris" in my inventory.

Eventually, I came to the city of Kadia, where the first NPC told me they honored the god of the sea. I found my first companion, a warrior named Guy, in the healer's hut. (He might have actually been the healer, transformed by my spell; I was unclear about this.) When he joined, he gave me a portion of a scroll which shows the location of the Seal of the Dark Lord. He then suggested we seek our second companion in a town far to the south. Soon after, we visited a castle where the king gave him a magic sword called Turos.
          

"I am Dude! I got here as soon as I could!"

        
I was disappointed with the way that the game handles multi-character combat. Each round, you still select only a single character to perform an action that round, so the other character ends up being a meat shield to absorb some of the enemies' damage. Characters only get experience for attacks they make, so my leveling is now split. I suppose maybe later it will become clear that some characters are better at some actions than others, but right now there isn't much to distinguish Guy from Chet.

My combats options expanded slightly when I found some "sacred nuts" in a forest. These magic objects do a lot of damage when hurled at enemies. I still don't have any in-combat spells.

More accurately, your hurl it at an enemy instead of attacking.

       
Random observations:
             

• When you buy herbs, the healer asks, "Is 2000 guilders too steep?" But the subsequent "yes" and "no" options do the opposite of what you would expect, as if he had said "okay" instead of "steep."

            

Is this a trick question?

         

• The translators had problems with "i before e," instead offering "theives" and "sheilds." 

• I haven't been able to find a good scan of the cloth map that came with the game, so I'm allowing myself to use a fan-created map that probably has a few spoilers. I couldn't read anything on the cloth scans.

      

The party's status now that Guy has joined me.

       
I don't know if I'll continue with the game or not. Based on the percentage of the map I've already explored, it would seem I'm about one-third of the way through it, which wouldn't be so bad. On the other hand, for all I know, the dungeons get much bigger or there are multiple continents, and the map just helps you with the first one. The game is pretty dull and repetitive, and unless commenters suggest that it gets more interesting, I may wrap it up with a quick GIMLET. At the very least, it's shown that while I don't care for chibi graphics or anime, I much prefer them to an unstimulating game.
       
 Time so far: 3 hours

****

Before I played Miracle Warriors, I attempted to play Destiny, an interesting-looking 1985 adventure/RPG hybrid whose developer, Destiny Software, Ltd., is so obscure I don't even know for sure what country it came from. The "Ltd." makes me suspect the U.K., but I can't say for sure, and there's some flimsy evidence that it might be an Irish company.
         

In trying to find information about the developer, it doesn't help that "Jeff Pierce" is the real name of DC comics hero Black Lightning.

          
The game blends adventure-style commands and graphic screens with RPG-style combat, inventory, and statistics. It technically fails my character development test (a "strength" statistic is based entirely on inventory), but I was prepared to overlook it for at least a few hours. Maybe only a few hours because the game has a maddening control schema by which you move the joystick over to the command list, click on a command, and then move the cursor back to the screen to click on the object to which you want to apply the command.
         

Starting the game.

       
Unfortunately, I had trouble with both the Apple II and Commodore 64 versions. I started several games with the C64, but it repeatedly crashed at various points that required disk access, and nothing I could do would solve the problem. On the Apple II version, I found that the emulated mouse seems to snap to an underlying series of nodes instead of moving continuously. Unfortunately, the distance between the nodes was enough to render certain commands unclickable. Between the two issues, this one seems the most solvable, but I couldn't figure it out with any AppleWin option.
        

The combat graphics actually show chunks taken out of the enemies as you hit them.

          
Thus, unless anyone has any solutions, Destiny goes to the "missing and mysteries" pile.