Swords and Serpents: Won! (with Summary and Rating)

        

Swords and Serpents

United States

Interplay (developer); Acclaim (publisher)

Released 1990 for NES

Date Started: 8 October 2024

Date Ended: 26 October 2024

Total Hours: 18

Difficulty: Easy-Moderate (2.5/5)

Final Rating: (to come later)

Ranking at time of posting: (to come later)

 

When I last wrote, my party was halfway through the 16-level dungeon, where our goal is to defeat a dragon. This will apparently involve seven ruby items, five of which we had collected at the close of the last session. We picked up the other two this time. I was wrong in my comment last time that we had all but one spell. I don't know where I got that idea. I was still missing four spells at the end of that entry, and I'm still missing two as I explore Level 13.

     

Level 9, as we saw last time, was called "The End of the Beginning." It consisted of two halves, top and bottom. The bottom half, where the party could enter from two stairways, led to two nearly identical areas, with large rooms and fixed combats. The corridors ringing these areas had traps in every square and required "Flight" to cross safely.

      

The game is not giving me encouragement.

      

The northern half really started to make use of "Passwall," with several areas--and one block of 10 individual rooms--that could only be entered by casting the spell. Fortunately, there were three magic-restoring fountains within this block. A 3 x 3 area was surrounded by teleporters that sent the party to the center square each time. On the first visit, an old man in the center gave us 1,000 experience points. On every subsequent visit, he teleported us to the southern half of the map.

     

This message offered an unwelcome revelation: "Some Zoom Tubes can be entered backwards!" I tried the ones on this level and all the ones I discovered after this level, but I didn't go back up to previous levels. Level 9 had a section of 5 stacked corridors, each of which had the same messages ("There's no telling . . . what's at the end of . . .") before dropping us into a Zoom Tube. One led to Level 13; one led to Level 10; others led to earlier levels or other places on this one; only one took us to a different place walking backwards than forwards.

     

Backing up into a teleporter.

     

We had to use one of the tubes to get to Level 10, as there were no stairs down. Level 10 ("The Beginning of the End") also had two major sections. The northern section had the game's last services, including a temple and an armory. The only new item in the armor was Mithril Shields for 300 gold pieces; I had almost 10,000 when I visited. There was nothing else to spend money on, which I suppose is a good thing since our money rolled over to 0 after 9,999.

 

While we're on the subject of rolling over, we hit the game's maximum experience Level (16) while on this dungeon level. That always annoys me. We kept accumulating experience, but it just disappeared when we hit 6,400, with no new benefits.

     

The last promotion we'll receive.

      

Getting from the lower area to the upper area involved activating a teleporter clued with a message: "Back and forth, forth and back." It refers to two squares labeled "back" and "forth." To activate the teleporter, you have to step on "back," walk to "forth," step off "forth," step on it again, then walk back to "back." Easy, but something tickled me about it.

 

The lower half of Level 10 had areas accessible only by "Passwall" in which we found fire traps. We found a Fire Sword in the southeast corner and a Fire Shield in the southwest. Armor is pretty straightforward in this game when it comes to the relationship between protective value and sale value. I can't say the same thing about weapons. There are four major variables--efficiency (how fast the weapon swings), damage, number of foes hit per turn, and armor class (some weapons have a defensive value). Based on these variables, you'd think there would be some obvious formula that determines the sale value, but there isn't. To take the most obvious example, the Plus Three Sword costs only 320 gold pieces while the Plus Two Sword costs 750. The game insists that a higher efficiency is better, but the "Quickblade" has the lowest efficiency score in the game. The Fire Sword, meanwhile, does more damage than any weapon I've found so far, but it only hits one enemy. The Glow Sword costs a third as much but swings faster and hits two enemies. My confusion isn't just about the cost, but about the location where you find the equipment and the relative rarity. The Fire Sword seems to be unique, and yet it seems statistically worse than the Glow Swords I find everywhere.

      

Perhaps the thing I like most about this game.

      

These issues became important on this level, because combat got a lot harder. Enemies started attacking in packs of seven or eight. Sometimes, the game has enemies surprise you, and some enemies get multiple attacks. When a pack of 8 surprises you, you can literally sit there and watch the screen for two minutes before your characters get a chance to go. I'd like to be able to do more with spells in such situations, but my unwise decision to take only one mage means that I need to save all my spell points for healing and "Passwall."

        

This guy is pretty creepy.

      

I got a few equipment upgrades in the final half, mostly in terms of armor. Most of my characters never found anything better than regular helms, but I upgraded from chain to plate to Mithril Chain to Mithril Plate. Another Bard's Tale similarity: the game constantly has you automatically pick up items at the end of combat that you have no use for, forcing you to go into the characters' inventories and drop them, lest all your free spaces get filled up with junk.

     

Two staircases led down to Level 11: "The Sword." Both led to small mazes on the east and west sides of the level. In the center, the walls made the shape of a sword with a hilt and pommel. A message back on Level 1 had warned: "The Ruby Sword lays at the point of the sword." When I went down the corridor to the "point," I found nothing. Fortunately, I remembered another message from Level 5: "Seven turns and the sword will appear!" I spun in place for a bit and soon had the Ruby Sword. 

            

I'm just glad they gave the sword a pommel.

       

A staircase led to Level 12: "Black Crystal." This large maze had exactly three things to find: the "Viper" spell, the "Regenerate Spell," and the Black Crystal. "Viper" is an offensive spell that underwhelms me; "Regenerate" heals all hit points, however, and is vital.

        

Perhaps the most useful spell in the game.

       

The Black Crystal was demanded by an NPC back on Level 1, so I took a combination of teleporters to get back there. His "reward" was to send us to a secret area of Level 13; there are otherwise no stairways down from Level 12. Level 13 is called "Secret." The main part is accessible from a teleporter on Level 9, but the part that the NPC on Level 1 sends you to is its own special area, inaccessible from anywhere else, even with "Passwall." The purpose of this area was to find the Ruby Amulet, at the center of a maze of 1 x 1 rooms that I had to cast "Passwall" in the right places to navigate. The spell fails most of the time. Even worse, each room has a mandatory combat with a large party. I reached the center nearly out of hit points and spell points and was thus happy to find the fountain and the Ruby Amulet. A Zoom Tube took us back to Level 10. 

    

Level 13 had no stairs down. The way to Level 14 was by bringing the seven ruby treasures to an old guy on Level 10; he then teleported us.

         

My reward is again transportation.

       

Levels 14 and 15 were called "Over" and "Under," and they consisted of mazes with multiple stairways up and down, plus lots of secret doors, one-way doors, areas that required "Passwall," and teleporters. Combat began to get oppressive in the mazes, with the enemies previously described joined by fleshy skeletons, giant squid brains with teeth, and sorcerers with staves. In a sense they were annoying, but in another sense they were trivial, since full party death just meant resurrection back on Level 10, with no loss of levels or items, any battles I'd already fought still cleared, and a quick trip back down to Level 14 from the Level 10 temple.

        

Level 14

       

The levels delivered the final two spells: "Phalanx" and "Crystallize." Despite its name, "Phalanx" is a lightning bolt spell that hits a couple of characters. "Crystallize" supposedly "freezes the enemies' ability to fight." I didn't find either of them useful. I continued to spend most of my spell points on healing spells and "Passwall."

       

I finally have all the spells.

        

A stairway in the southeast corner of Level 15 led down to the final level, titled "Behemoth is Here!" We started in a large, open area with multiple signs warning us "Welcome to . . . Dragon!" and "Prepare to die!" But one sign, in the upper-right corner, said: "The path to VICTORY begins here!"

   

Throughout the game, I had been collecting messages that told me what to do upon seeing this sign. This started with facing north and ignoring all walls when the instructions said to go forward (i.e., to cast "Passwall"). I thus did not end up mapping the final level. The instructions took me through some traps ("Flight" was a must), solid walls, turns, and one teleporter.

        

I had to back into this.

     

Eventually, I ran out of instructions in an area with a corridor spiraling inward to a central chamber. Signs offered nonsense: "Now comes the tough part"; "Is this it?"; "Sorry. Just a tease"; and finally, "Goodbye, and good luck."

        

Thank you, Edward Murrow.

      

On the other side of that final door was the dragon. He got to attack first and blasted us all with a breath attack. Over the next few rounds, my fighters and thief swiped at him, doing no damage, while my mage kept up with healing and tried to damage him with spells. I think "Crystallize" actually worked to stop his attacks for a few rounds. But I still did no damage to him and started to despair. In desperation, I tried "Deadeye" on Chet, who had the Ruby Sword, and then suddenly I killed him in two hits.

         

Although we've seen several swords, this is the only serpent in the game.

    

The victory screen told me that we received 5000 experience points and 5000 pieces of gold, both of which would have been worthless even if the game wasn't over. After a lot of flashing lights, the game gave me codes to write down, for some reason, and then the victory message at the top of this entry.

        

That's so useless it's actually insulting.

       

In the end, the game was boring and basic--and I mean "basic" in the pejorative way that the kids use it these days. I enjoyed mapping because I always enjoy mapping, and some of the navigational obstacles were okay, but overall it was a poor showing from a company capable of much better stories and mechanics.

    

In a GIMLET, the game earns:

    

• 1 point for the game world. The framing story is trite and makes little sense. There's nothing special about the dungeon itself as a dungeon.

• 2 points for character creation and development. Attributes and leveling are both simple, with no choices, and with a very low level cap. Because monsters keep pace with their difficulty as you descend levels, you never really feel like you're getting any stronger.

       

Chet's statistics at game's end.

   

• 1 point for NPC Interaction, and it's generous calling those random old men "NPCs." Their messages might as well have been scrawled on the walls.

• 2 points for encounters and foes. The foes are really distinguishable only by portrait. They just hit; they have no special attacks, strengths, or weaknesses. They don't even have names. The points in this category are for the navigational puzzles, which I consider a kind of "encounter."

       

The last new enemy I encountered.

      

• 2 points for magic and combat. Boring, annoying, and too long towards the end, the combat never even rises to the level of an early 1980s RPG. Spells are mostly useless.

• 2 points for equipment. I like that the statistics were plain, even if they sometimes (as above) didn't make any sense. Some usable items would have been nice.

• 1 point for the economy. Utterly worthless except for a few moments on Level 1.

       

The game occasionally has you find gold. Why?

      

• 2 points for having a main quest with no choices, alternate endings, or side quests.

      

A step on the main quest.

      

• 2 points for graphics, sound, and interface. The graphics are only serviceable. The constant music is headache-inducing. I found the controls clunky even for a controller.

• 2 points for gameplay. It gets those for at least not being too hard or too long (although it's also not short enough). It's otherwise linear and not replayable, and the password system is so annoying that I wouldn't have finished the game without save states.

   

That gives us a dismal final score of 17. The Bard's Tale came out for the NES the same year as Swords and Serpents and would have been the better purchase in every way.

   

I wish I could offer some choice quotes from contemporary reviews, but the Internet Archive is still behaving squirrely, and while I can find old magazines, I can't read them. According to MobyGames's review round-up, it rated between 55% and 82%. in its day, with the worst review coming from Electronic Gaming Monthly and the best from Total!! in the U.K. We can turn to more modern coverage by The RPG Consoler, Zenic Reverie, who looked at it in 2013 and apparently concluded the same things that I did. He liked the "puzzles" and praised the equipment statistics but found everything else blah.

       

One of several games for which the cover art is better than anything in the game.

       

Wikipedia offers some uncited facts about the game, including that Paul O'Connor, the lead designer for Dragon Wars (1990) started work on the game, but gave it over to Bruce Schlickbernd after a couple of weeks. According to the summary, Schlickbernd didn't feel comfortable taking sole "designer" credit and thus appears in the credits as the "associate producer." If this is true, it still doesn't explain much, as Schlickbernd, like O'Connor, had been with Interplay for several years and had worked on Wasteland, The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I, and The Bard's Tale III, among others. Surely, he knew what a good RPG looked like. On the other hand, this was programmer Jim Sproul's first game. The company inexplicably went all-out on production elements, including a box cover by Boris Vallejo and a rare television commercial.

According to my master game list, there were only three native NES games from western developers: Eurocom's Magician (1990), Swords and Serpents, and Sculptured Software's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), which I tried a couple of years ago. If anyone was going to compete with the Japanese market, it was going to be Interplay. It's too bad they didn't step up.