Dungeons of the Unforgiven: Won! (One Module; with Summary and Rating)

 

The closest thing we get to a "winning screen" in Module I.

       

Dungeons of the Unforgiven

United States

Moraffware (developer and publisher)

Released 1993 for DOS

Date Started: 10 January 2023

Date Ended: 20 January 2023

Total Hours: 7 (1.5 modules out of 5)

Difficulty: Moderate-Hard (3.5/5)

Final Rating: 29

Ranking at Time of Posting: 290/483 (60%)

      

Summary:

Dungeons is halfway between a second version of Moraff's World (1991) and an actual sequel. This first-person, tiled game has you wandering a series of dungeons with town levels on top, slaying monsters, gaining experience, finding wealth, acquiring spells, and getting more powerful. "Boss" enemies occur at regular intervals, and slaying the deepest boss is the key to "winning" each of five modules. There's a certain enjoyment that comes from improving the character, but that's all the game offers. There is no story, no lore, no NPCs, no special encounters, no role-playing, and nothing to find in the randomly-generated dungeon levels except for enemies. The interface and graphics are unusual and clearly polarizing. The interface is highly customizable and the automap works quite well.

   

****

   

Well, I did what I set out to do, which was to "win" the first module. It took me about four hours after the first session, and most of that was spent grinding so I could make enough money to afford a room at the inn. Although I donated copiously to "save a child" at the temples--which did ultimately earn me a hefty discount--the cost of rooms continued to rise exponentially, forcing me to lower dungeon levels and their higher rewards. Fortunately, I was gaining experience at the same time I was gaining money, and when I rested, I rose multiple levels. One night took me from Level 7 to Level 12.

       

Leveling up is only one means of character development. As you slay enemies, you often encounter books that raise your attributes, "puff balls" that have a chance of raising or lowering your attributes, and potions that give you, say, 6 points in one attribute in exchange for 3 points of another.

     

A book gives me two points of strength.

     

Most important, you acquire spells. The problem for my mage (remember, in this game, a "mage" is a fighter/wizard) is that I never had enough spell points where I could feel comfortable casting spells regularly. Except for occasional restorations of 1 point when you find a post-combat energy ball, spell points only increase when you rest. This is in contrast to hit points, which you can pay 500 rubles to restore at temples. This amount does not increase with levels and soon becomes trivial.

        

Instead of writing an entry, I just want to show all the game's monster portraits. I thought this one was pretty rad.

     

Thus, although I found about four dozen spells, I only ever cast about eight of them. Primarily, these were healing spells ("Little Cure," "Big Cure," and ultimately "Heal All Wounds"), "Cure Disease," "Cure Poison," and a couple of combat spells. In particular, I found that "Power Weapon" (which has several levels) was the most valuable combat spell for me. It lasted 60 turns and increased the damage that I did by a factor of at least 8. I used it for all the boss battles after the second one, which probably allowed me to win them at a lower level than I otherwise should have been able to achieve.

   

If I had some spell points left over after slaying a boss, I might cast "Ascend" and later "Major Ascend" (sends you up 10 levels) to help get back to town. Finding your way down is relatively easy in this game, particularly with all the hidden chutes, but getting back up can be a chore. I only ever found one trap door key and then never found an associated trap door.

       

I hope they don't Google how to do that.

       

None of this is a complaint. My giant mage was a powerful fighter, and if my limited spell points forced me to conserve, that's what being a hybrid character is all about. I'm sure the pure spellcasters can let loose more with magic. One good thing about Dungeons is how different the experience is for different classes. If I liked the game more, I'd stick with it out of curiosity and see how fighters possibly get by without magic, or how monks get by without weapons and armor. I'd love some reports from the field about these things.

   

I defeated the shadow gargalon during the first session, on Level 5. In this one, I defeated the shadow elemental on Level 10, the shadow vulture on Level 15, and ultimately the shadow demon queen on Level 20. I don't believe there are any down ladders on Level 20, but you can still generate new random levels by using the "Descend" spell. Finding the bosses was perhaps the hardest part of the game. When you reach their levels, the automap tells you roughly what direction to go, but the levels consist of unconnected parts. You often have to move up or down to reach a new area of the level that you really want to be on. Some ladders move you more than one level at a time, though, and there are the ever-persistent hidden chutes. It can be a struggle just to remain on the boss's level, let alone find him or her.

        

This message was never not annoying.

      

The enemies continued to be memorably drawn. Whether you think the artwork style is good or bad, you have to admit it's unique. Levels 16-20 were all water levels, and many of the enemies were depicted in boats, such as the "couple from hell": a chainmail bikini-clad woman with a spear and a Charon-like figure rowing her along. A "she-demon" is a two-headed, four-armed woman. I thought the skeletal vultures of Levels 11-15 were appropriately terrifying.

      

I guarantee this is the only game to feature this type of enemy.

         

Some enemies are capable of draining levels. I persist in believing that should be a punishable crime. Walking garbage cans and giant balls have incredible numbers of hit points but do not deliver commensurate money or experience. In the last entry, I forgot to mention the walking flasks full of disease or poison.

      

Honestly . . .

     

Each boss dropped a special treasure. The shadow elemental dropped Moraff's Ring of Wisdom, which increased my wisdom by 12 points. The shadow vulture dropped a "very rare bottle of Pogerstead's Milk," which increased my strength by 12. The shadow demon queen dropped a "Wimpy Orb of Armor Enhancement," which turned my field plate into +25 magical armor.

      

The contrast between the graphics for the shadow vulture and walking trash can really say all that needs to be said about this game.

       

There was no "winning screen" after killing the shadow demon queen, just a message that I should "explore the other vast dungeons of the unforgiven" to find more treasures. After I returned to the town and stayed at the inn to get my character to Level 18, he was 66 years old (from an initial 35, I think). It was all I could do to afford the inn, let alone the "culture stock" necessary to avoid aging. (Oddly, my spell points fully restored every time I stayed, even when I didn't have as many magic  crystals as the game said I needed.) Even if I could have afforded it, the game ages you quickly while you're just exploring. Some of the dungeon expeditions lasted five years. 

        

If something existed in real life that prevented you from aging while you were sleeping, I'd rob banks to pay for it.

             

Although the game has no real story, there is a certain amount of joy in just getting more powerful, and I was feeling it after reaching Level 18. So I took a portal to Module II and started exploring those levels. I found that they were maybe 1.5 times as hard as comparable levels in Module I. In Module II, bosses were found every 10 levels instead of every 5. I defeated the shadow troggisher on Level 10 (I got +9 body armor) and the shadow giant worm on Level 20 (+12 gauntlet).

       

Killing the second boss of Module II.

    

By this point, I started wondering what I was doing with my life. I decided to see if I could get to Module V just to check it out. I took a portal to Module III. I had no spell points by this time, so I started searching for an inn. I took the stairs down to Level 2 to reach a new area of the town level, but then I fell down a chute to Level 3. It dumped me in a 3 x 3 square from which there was no exit--no ladders or secret doors. I didn't have enough spell points to cast "Ascend" or "Descend." I was stuck. I should have killed the emulator, but I dumbly hit "Quit" and saved there. So that's the ignominious end of Chester the Giant Mage. [Ed. After I typed all of this, I remembered the T)unnel option. Oh, well.]

       

I hate it when walls refuse to move.

    

In a GIMLET, I give the game:

   

• 0 points for the game world. I'm not going to countenance that nonsense about "Eart."

     

Maybe he could have at least named the worlds instead of calling them "Module I" and "Module II"?

    

• 5 points for character creation and development. There's a very interesting set of classes, creating a very different game depending on the player's choice. There are several satisfying, rewarding ways to develop.

• 0 points for NPC interaction. There are no NPCs.

       

My mid-game character sheet.

     

• 3 points for encounters and foes. The enemies are originally-named and graphically-memorable but otherwise don't behave differently enough for more credit here. There are no special encounters that involve role-playing.

• 5 points for magic and combat. Magic gets almost all of that credit. One of the game's strengths is the large number of spells and the uniqueness of the "permanent" spell system. 

       

The graphic for this "squishy cube" is the most confusing thing I've ever seen in my life.

     

• 2 points for equipment. For a game that's all about mechanics, the equipment system is curiously under-developed. One weapon and one armor item are really all you have. Everything else that sounds like equipment (like the gauntlets mentioned above) aren't actually visible in the game or on your character; they just add directly to your attributes.

• 4 points for the economy. You never run out of reasons to collect money, but the system is otherwise simplistic. Having the player find "American dollars" and then having to convert them to "rubles" before spending them adds nothing to the experience.

• 1 point for quests. There's no real "main quest," and the kill-the-shadow-bosses nature of the modules becomes repetitive.

       

Nothing breaks the immersion faster than having a character, in-game, refer to his world as "Module III."

    

• 4 points for graphics, sound and interface. I like the graphics; sorry to those who don't. There is no sound, however. A good interface allows mouse and keyboard options and the keyboard is easy to master. Great automap.

• 5 points for gameplay. It's highly replayable with different character choices, and pitched at the right level of difficulty for a permadeath game.

    

That gives us a final score of 29, which falls below my "recommended" threshold, mostly because there's no real point to the game. Given how much time he spent on a customizable interface, I don't understand why Steve Moraff didn't invest more in content. Even an Akalabeth-like king at the top of the dungeon issuing quests to kill this and that would have given the game some purpose. How hard would it have been to throw in a sensible story and maybe some wandering NPCs in the dungeon? Like Moraff's World, Dungeons is an engine in want of content.

      

I finally get some respect from the little snake.

       

This, as far as I know, was Moraff's last attempt at an RPG. He was still selling it when I wrote my review of Moraff's Revenge (1988) in 2011, but his company--which changed its name to Software Diversions in 2004--seems to have enjoyed more success with its arcade and electronic board games. His web site still sells a series of mah-jongg variants first created in 1992.