Friday, August 1, 2025

Moving Forward: The 1994 Game List

 
 
It's time to talk about some changes that I have in mind for the CRPG Addict as we continue to progress into the 1990s.
     
I wrote my last yearly transition post, "1992/1993," over four years ago. It has taken me that long to get through the roughly 65 games, not including BRIEFs, that made up my 1993 list. At that time, I noted that 1993 had 74 games, "more than any other year until 2012," but more were added and some were lost during the four years that I covered it. More were also added to later years, so now 1994 has 68 games and 1995 has 76.
     
I am no longer satisfied at the pace that I'm making through these years. I don't want to be 66 when I cover the original Fallout or 88 when I can finally replay Morrowind. So here's what I have in mind:
    
  • During my first pass through each year, from now on, I will cover about 25 games. Specifically, I will hand-select about 10, randomly select another 10, and then hear your arguments for which other games deserve "landmark" status, choosing the best 5 (roughly). 
  • If any of the 25 selected titles turns out to be the wrong year, or not an RPG (i.e., I BRIEF it), or otherwise disappears from the list, I'll replace it with another random selection from the same year. 
  • I will continue to alternate "new" games with those from the backlist. So any game that I don't cover on my first pass through a year will have an equal chance of appearing later on from a random selection. If one of the random selections from the backlist turns out to be a sequel (literal or spiritual) of a game that I haven't covered, I'll go back and cover that game first.
  • There will no longer be any "surprise" games. Everything I intend to play, including the occasional console game, will appear on my "upcoming" list and you'll have a chance to anticipate and discuss them.
    
In some ways, this system is what I've been doing all along. Because we keep finding old games, it has proven impossible to ever fully clear a year. 1992 was the last year that I completed, and yet it has half a dozen new findings since I "finished" the year. 1983 has 30. So under this new system, I'm simply relegating a lot of minor titles to the backlist at the outset instead of doing so after discovering them later.
     
Let's see how this would work for 1994. Looking over the list of 68 games on my master list, applying what I know about the genre, supplemented with a little time on Wikipedia, I would hand-select the following games as being particularly notable, fun, or important:
    
  • Al-Qadim: The Genie's Curse
  • Ancient Domains of Mystery
  • Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager
  • The Elder Scrolls: The Arena
  • Hexx: Heresy of the Wizard  
  • Ishar 3: The Seven Gates of Infinity
  • Jagged Alliance
  • Menzoberranzan
  • Pagan: Ultima VIII
  • Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession
  • Realms of Arkania: Star Trail  
  
Already that's 11, but that's fine. I don't need to be rigid. Now I take 10 random titles:
    
  • Aethra Chronicles: Volume One - Celystra's Bane 
  • Darghul 
  • Dark Designs IV: Passage to Oblivion 
  • Darkmere: The Nightmare's Begun 
  • Escape from Ragor 
  • Jiji and the Mysteirous Forest: Chapter 1 
  • Litil Divil
  • Newcomer 
  • Power of the Hired
  • Telnyr III 
  • World of Arch 
    
Do these lists together give a decent idea of what 1994 has to offer? What else would you argue deserves to be covered now rather than waiting for a chance to be covered later? 

83 comments:

  1. I love it! Opportunity cost is a real thing, and this system does a great job of pushing high value games to the forefront.

    I'd also suggest that it makes even more sense to focus on "particularly notable, fun, or important" when selecting console games. The focus of this blog is CRPGs, and the primary value of covering console RPGs is to better flesh out the full digital RPG landscape of the time. Spending lots of time on obscure, minor console RPGs is even less valuable than spending time on obscure, minor CRPGs.

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  2. I think that is a great plan. To be honest it has been a while since you played a game I found really interesting. Sure, it is sort of interesting what kind of rather unknown games are out there, but a lot of them are just not that interesting. I think the last one was Phantasy Star.

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  3. I also think this is a fantastic plan. I'm someone who likes it when you cover obscurities, but being mechanical about covering every obscurity in order would just mean missing out on more recent obscurities in favor of older ones

    Also I want you to have fun, and might even have suggested a third list to work through of "games I am really looking forward to re/playing" like Fallout or Morrowind or Chrono Trigger. (Kidding!)

    That said, from its reputation and the little time I've spent on it, Ancient Domains of Mystery might get into the upper reaches of playtime.

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  4. I think this is a good idea (and if I didn't, so what? It's your blog, and your decision). Very understandable.

    One question though: Will your hand selected games also include obscure ones, that have received little to no coverage elsewhere? I'm asking partly for selfish reasons, because I enjoy reading about those the most. And partly because it's nice to see these games getting properly documented.

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    1. Perhaps the unsatisfactory answer is no, unless they "pop" in some way, but I feel like that's what the random list is for, not to mention the ongoing randomization of "old" games.

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  5. I think this is a very smart solution to a problem that's only going to get worse, and quite similar to the way that Jimmy Maher handles the same problem with his coverage of each calendar year (made worse there because he wants to cover a year in a year's time, so he has a strictly limited number of articles to do so).

    The only game in the '94 list that I would really make an argument for is Superhero League of Hoboken, which is the very rare "comedy game that is actually funny" and probably Meretzky and Legend's best game.

    I think that Robinson's Requiem is very interesting, as a very early take on the first-person survival genre that dominates gaming nowadays, but honestly it's not very much fun to play and the voxel-based graphics are well-nigh incomprehensible at times.

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    1. Here's another vote for Hoboken. It's an adventure/RPG hybrid but in my opinion a fun one.

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    2. I figured that one would come up. I hate to add it because the Worst Commenter I Have Ever Had on This Blog would never shut up about it, but I guess I shouldn't punish the game for that.

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    3. It's a very goofy slapstick game. So there's also a non-zero chance you'll hate it for what it is and not just for what kind of commenters it attracts ;)

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    4. I'll add my vote for Superhero League of Hoboken. It's clearly an RPG, and equally clearly unlike just about everything else out there. I haven't finished it, but that's true about just about everything I play. :-) What I played of it was fun, entertaining, and challenging.

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  6. I can definitely appreciate the herculean task you have in front of you, and it does make sense to try and whittle that down a bit.

    For potential additions for 1994, might I suggest The Aethra Chronicles? I remember it fondly as one of those shareware games a bit like Castle of the Winds (although Aethra is a traditional cRPG).

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    1. It's already in the list. I was glad to see it since I have really fond memories of that

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  7. Stuff I'm hoping to see: Iron Seed is an unique but janky-looking scifi thing similar to Starflight and Star Control 2, but with weirder overall style. Nahlakh is a Wizard's Crown alike that was a cult hit in Finland because it was reviewed by a local game magazine. Might turn out to be a similar hidden gem as Disciples of Steel did. Finally Walls of Bratock just because I remember downloading it from a BBS and it had a weird outsider art vibe and there's very little on the internet about what happens in it.

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  8. This blog post made me smile because the system you're describing is very similar to something I was thinking about myself and wanted to suggest to you as a possible approach. Here's the idea I had, I'd love to hear your thoughts, and I hope it might give you some inspiration:

    My thought is that, after handpicking the 15–20 most important / popular / well-regarded RPGs from a given year, honestly, most of the remaining RPGs from that year are mostly low-quality games, forgettable shareware, etc. Sure, every now and then you might find a hidden gem among the more obscure titles, but is it really worth spending dozens of hours finishing 40+ games just to maybe find 1–2 decent ones? It’s much more rewarding to just do a BRIEF overview of the minor titles and move on to the next year, full of other quality games.

    In fact, the further we go into more recent years, the bigger the gap becomes between high-quality and minor titles, since production costs for video games increase significantly. So from around the year 2000 onward, I believe just picking the top 10 most notable games per year would be enough.

    TL;DR: For each year, handpick 15–20 RPGs based on popularity and acclaim. Do a BRIEF summary or overview for the rest of the titles. If any of those minor ones turn out to be hidden gems, the BRIEF can turn into a full playthrough. Repeat the process for each year. From 2000 onward, even just 10 games per year plus BRIEFs for the rest should be sufficient.

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  9. I think there are two games I'd make a plug for on the 1994 list:

    The first is Realmz. It's a fairly widely-played shareware Mac top-down tile-based RPG that later got a bunch of updates (and a port to Windows), more official scenarios, and an editing toolkit.

    The second is Zangband. As you move forward, the roguelike section of your list will include a lot of variants of Angband, and Zangband is, IME, one of the most prominent and influential of those.

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    1. I have to tell you, I'm feeling a bit burned out on the Moria line right now. Is Zangband sufficiently different than Angband to prioritize it? In particular, does it have an ending achievable in a modest time frame?

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    2. Hm, that's fair.

      No; it's Angband with a few interesting twists. I believe the first major Angband variant that I would call "sufficiently different" would be PernAngband, which a) is the first major variant (I'm aware of) to include an overworld and separate dungeons*, and b) would go on, over time, to evolve into first Troubles of Middle-Earth, and then Tales of Maj'Eyal—a completely different game with its own engine.

      * To be clear: first *Angband variant* to include these things; I know there were other roguelikes that included them already.

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    3. I have mixed feelings as to whether I should also recommend Realmz. While it wasn't outstanding technically and didn't advance the genre in any significant way, it was a very competent Gold-Box-Like experience - especially the combat - with dozens of fan-made modules. It was one of those games like Marathon that was a 'lifeline' for Mac users. Early versions were very buggy.
      I sunk hundreds of hours into it instead of working on my thesis.

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    4. I want to also recommend Realmz, but I think that's basically just on the grounds of 'I played it a ton as a kid and I'd like to see it here'.

      Despite unregistered City of Bywater being great I'm not even sure it's that good a game. Registered, you start outscaling CoB if you try and do everything (and I'm not sure how a free-form do what you want with no victory condition scenario would even work with this blog unless we provided a to-do list of all the important encounters to beat to count as winning it). My limited experience with other scenarios was that Prelude to Pestilence was buggy and possibly nigh-unplayable, and Assault on Giant Mountain was boring and basically 'one fighter runs around and soloes every combat' despite starting with a recommended-level party.
      Maybe I got unlucky with the scenarios I tried, but my suspicion is that combat falls apart above fairly low character levels.

      If I could recommend unregistered City of Bywater then I would, but Realmz as a whole on its merits as a game? Maybe not. Then again, it, the Exile trilogy and a little later, Jewel of Arabia did feel like the three (six) predominant mac crpg options, at least in my childhood, so I guess there's an argument for noteworthiness?

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    5. I agree with everything that's been said about the pros (and cons) of Realmz. For Mac users of that era, it's almost legendary as a CRPG.

      However, even more strongly, I'm going to recommend Marathon. After your coverage of Pathways, you really should do Marathon. It's a bit outside the lanes, but soooo well written, so very influential, and so much fun.

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  10. This all makes sense to me -- I think 25ish games that include the highest-profile ones should be enough to cover the historical-trend aspect of your project, allowing you to place future games (as well as stuff from that year you pick up later) in context. And in most cases I'd rather have deeper coverage of fewer games than superficial coverage of more games, which feels like the only other option.

    I do wonder, given this approach, if you'd be interested in having guest bloggers who take on some of the games you're not getting to at first? Obviously there's a quality control issue so you wouldn't want to open it up willy-nilly, but when you've done this in the past I think it's been well-handled. I'm thinking especially of stuff like new versions of roguelikes: devoting one of a year's precious slots to an upgrade of a previously-played game might be hard to justify, and that might be especially the case with Angband and its variants since I know you didn't vibe with the first version. But I'm sure there are folks in your audience who do like these games and could write something interesting about them.

    As for the 1994 list, nobody's mentioned Alien Logic yet, but I've always been interested in that -- it's meant to have a pretty interesting sci-fantasy world and have pretty involved dialogue and noncombat interactions.

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    1. Yes, I would be open to more guest postings. I don't think I've ever rejected one. I just don't have a lot of people scrambling to offer.

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    2. Given that and the above thread about ZAngband, I might throw my hat into the ring on this! I do a lot of IF reviewing, though, so need to get through this fall's IF Comp before taking anything else on :)

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    3. I'm not a prolific poster here by any means, but would absolutely love to write about whatever small CRPGs that you're passing over (even if just doing BRIEFs of those deritive games like another commenter noted, and passing on potential diamonds in the rough for you to review with your deeper knowledge). Happy to chat more about this...

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  11. Sounds like a good idea, you can always adjust things later if you're unhappy.

    Would just like to add 2¢ that maybe Ultima 8 should come before Wake of the Ravager. U8 has a scroll dissing E.O.B.3, and Ravager has a reply scroll to that.

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    1. interesting... can you share a few more details about those scrolls/texts? First time I hear about that (and I have played 2 of those 3 games lol)

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    2. With a more limited selection of games, I will try to do the 1994 list in as close to chronological order as I can.

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  12. Any idea that increases your enjoyment in making this blog is a good idea to me. I like the entries about the obscure games, but mostly those obscure games that are weird, and those will get rarer as more people got to know how RPGs are supposed to work.

    As for 1994, isn't Jagged Alliance a 1995 game? I'm interested in your opinion about it (or about XCOM), not really whether you like it, but whether you think such games are RPG enough to appear on your blog. With regards to your rules there's no question about it, certainly not for Jagged Alliance, but I never thought of XCOM or JA as being RPGs. Well, there's still time for that discussion.

    I second Phil's comment about Hoboken, and to a lesser degree Robinson's Requiem. Hoboken because it's fun, RR because I remember it being somewhat hyped (and then disappointingly bad).

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    1. The date for JA seems to be controversial. I find many sites that claim 2 June 1994, but Wikipedia and MobyGames both have it as 1995.

      XCOM isn't on my master list at all. I feel like we've discussed this to death. None of my source sites call it an RPG, at least the last time I checked.

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    2. CGW has "long awaited" JA in the "pipeline" in their April 1995 issue.
      They had ads for it in the May to July issues.
      It's listed in the "Now Playing" column in the May 1995 issue.
      And the review was in the July issue.

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    3. If you play CRPGs for tactical combat, then X-COM is a CRPG. If you play them for the story, then it's not.

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    4. XCOM meets all your criteria for CRPGs from your FAQ.

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    5. All right, I'll move JA. X-COM isn't listed as an RPG by any source that I use.

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    6. Not to stir up the debate, even though I love old school X-COM, I'm totally fine with you not covering it (but you should really try it!). Even though JA shares some X-COM style mechanics, I'd definitely push the CRPG needle more for JA, since the characters are more important in JA whereas characters are more disposable in X-COM (almost a resource).

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    7. I think there could be an article about “Are SRPGs CRPGs?”. On one side, JA and XCom seem to be similar enough to either both be in or both be out (related, Fire Emblem would share the same, except that it’s a console game that didn’t get a proper English release anyway until FE7 in 2003). But then, it’s your blog and you can decide on whether it matches your criteria :) I have no strong feelings either way, except that I’d love to see Terror from the Deep and Jagged Alliance 2.

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    8. >CGW has "long awaited" JA in the "pipeline" in their April 1995 issue.

      Probably doesn't make a difference in this case, but cover dates for old magazines are not particularly accurate. That comment was probably written in January, and the April issue of CGW likely hit the newsstands in March.

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    9. Ah, didn't check the master list for X-COM, but it makes sense to me that no-one would call it an RPG. I'm not pushing for coverage of X-COM or JA, as I don't think either of them is an RPG. But if JA is on your list, I won't complain about you covering it, I'm a fan of this kind of games.

      What I don't understand is that JA is called an RPG by some sources, while X-COM isn't: 90% of the gameplay of both games is turn-based, tactical squad level combat. There are differences, but I'm not convinced they are important enough to make JA an RPG. Characters are unique in JA and randomly generated in X-COM, and I think this is an improvement for this kind of game, but I don't think it makes JA more RPG-ish (I wouldn't call most JRPGs more of an RPG than Wizardry because of the unique characters in those JRPGs).

      Part of why I'm interested in your take on JA is how you assess its RPG credentials AFTER a play-through. But again: feel free to drop it, it's a game with RPG elements, not an RPG with an excellent combat engine. Imagine Pool of Radiance was just the Sokal Keep fight, 20 times in a row with some variations, and not much else. It would still be great, but not as an RPG.

      The discussion isn't new, but as more (and longer) strategy-RPG hybrids and tactical combat-RPG hybrids appear, it'll come back a few more times, among others in... (checks wiki) ... 2002, when Heroes of Might and Magic 4 is released. Yes, I'm totally confident that with your new plan, we'll actually get to see 2002 on this blog ;-)

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    10. To bring a new argument to the table regarding JA vs XCOM: JA has exploration and you improve your stuff by exploring the map or taking stuff from dead bodies, whereas XCOM does not have exploration (instead, it has tactical "fog of war") and you improve your stuff by researching and producing (sometimes based on stuff automatically looted at the end of a mission). I feel "exploration" is a missed criterion for cRPG.

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  13. wait wait hold on. I just realized that there are two Ultizurk games in 1994 that would get skipped under this plan. Please please please please play the Ultizurk sequels (makes sad puppy eyes, rendered as perfect circles above my triangle nose and mouth open in another perfect circle of terror).

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    1. though I remember, with great sadness, that the preview of Ultizurk III showed that Dr. Dungeon had moved away from the elliptical heads with triangle noses.

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    2. I don't think I share your fondness enough to make them a priority, just a possibility.

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    3. Fair enough, especially as my fondness is specifically for reading about you playing them and not for playing them myself.

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  14. I understand your point, and am excited to read your take on any games, but I feel a little sad that this way most of the earlier obscure games will be pushed back.

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  15. I really like this change, Chet! It can't be all that fun for you to encounter yet another shareware Ultima clone on your list time and again. Your new process seems like a great compromise between keeping things fun (for both you and your readers) and covering both obscure and popular games.

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  16. Sounds like an excellent plan. Really looking forward to reading your takes on all these games - we're reaching the era of games that I've all played, very exciting!

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  17. AlphabeticalAnonymousAugust 1, 2025 at 2:50 PM

    It sounds like a great plan to me, too.

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  18. Litil Divil is absolutely not an RPG. It's an unfunny reaction based game with puzzle elements.

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    1. And it appears it's a 1993 game, too. Given that no other site calls it an RPG, I'll dump it now and replace it with another random selection.

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  19. I certainly don't have a good idea what 1994 has to offer. From my limited knowledge I'd say you've covered the well-known games, and the random ones don't ring a bell - with the exception of Dark Designs, which might be a good candidate to push back, as I think the later games mostly reuse the original engine, and would fit it well with the other backlog games. But I might be wrong, I'm not a Dark Designs expert.

    Anyway, I think it would be weird to skip Dark Designs IV and directly go to Dark Designs V. Maybe if your random selection hits a series with multiple titles in the same year (1994 seems to be full of those), just pick the earliest one?

    Games I would make an argument for, or can at least offer some insight:
    * Robinson's Requiem: Since you're playing Ishar 3, you might also consider this. It is another Similaris title and I think there is quite a bit of overlap in the staff. It's also not an RPG (no character development), so you can BRIEF it. Which is perfect, because it is a good game to play around with and find ways to die, but I don't think it's a game you want to play through.
    * Alien Logic: Hey, it's an RPG published by SSI. Actually, it's barely an RPG (but it does qualify). But it's based on the tabletop game Skyrealms of Journe, which has a very interesting setting. I guess the tabletop game, like the computer game, has faded into obscurity, and would deserve some coverage.
    * Iron Seed: because it will likely end up as a BRIEF.

    Also: seriously no Motelsoft games? :)

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    1. Taking another short glance at the master game list, there's an RPG from Turkey in 1994. That should be a first, and would be very interested in reading about it.

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    2. My inclination is not to push back too much on the games from the random list. I still want an element of comprehensiveness to each year, and I can't get that if I hand-pick everything. But I absolutely meant to put Dark Designs IV first, so I've changed that above.

      Motelsoft only had two games that year, so they were unlikely to come up in a random roll. But I agree that the list feels a bit incomplete without one.

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    3. Ha! Motelsoft's Escape from Ragor came up when I drew another random title to replace Litil Divil.

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    4. Ha! Surely the RPG gods intervened. :D

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    5. I think you're right on the Turkish game. That deserves some priority. Any game that's a debut for its country belongs on my hand-selected list.

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    6. I think the first Polish CRPG is also from 1994. No idea if it's even available/playable, but I remember reading an interview with the dev.

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  20. I'd reverse the random/recommended numbers, personally - although in this particular case the RNG did bring up some of the more important indie 1994 titles. That said, Litil Divil is nowhere near being an RPG, even under the most liberal definition.

    As for missing titles, I would second Nahlakh and Realmz, both of which have a sort of a cult following (there's currently a Realmz remake in the works, 30 years later).

    And I'm gonna use this opportunity to once again plug in the Sega Genesis Shadowrun (not the SNES one, they are very different). It's the the unicorn of console RPGs in that it's an open-world sandboxy western-style RPG that's also a very faithful adaptation of TT system (to this day, the most faithful).

    Other games worth checking out are UnReal World and Yendorian Tales Book 1. The former is a historical realism-focused roguelike - although I'm not so sure what state it was in in 1994. The latter is an Ultima 6/7-like that produced two sequels that all of a sudden were MM5-likes. Had also a bit of a cult following.

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    1. The only reason I didn't pick UnReal World is that I'd already played an earlier version:

      https://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2018/06/game-291-unreal-world-v-100b-1992.html

      Though I am aware that the game changes drastically at some point.

      All your other recommendations noted. I'll synthesize them with others and make a decision. Anything that turns out to be a BRIEF (or otherwise eliminated) will get replaced with another game.

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    2. Ah, right. That was so long ago that I've forgotten all about it. It's always the problem with roguelikes - being under constant development, it's never clear which versions to play.
      I've looked at the version history on URW website and it seems to me like the 1994 edition is still a variation of the original 1992 version. I'd suggest then skipping ahead to 1996-1997 releases when the setting first changed to Finnish history.

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  21. Excellent plan and I'm looking forward to your review of each of the hand-picked games - especially Jagged Alliance.

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  22. OOoo I like Aethra Chronicles being on there after your Dungeons of Kairn review...

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  23. Glad to see Aethra Chronicles on the list.

    Would like to see X-COM on the list.

    As for missing titles, I would third Nahlakh and Realmz.

    And as mentioned above, isn't Jagged Alliance a 1995 game?

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    1. A fourth recommendation for Nahlakh from me. It was the only non-roguelike CRPG between U7 and the Fallout/Baldur's Gate/MM6 era that I didn't ultimately find disappointing. It also held up surprisingly well when I replayed it last year.

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    2. Though on reflection, I suspect our Gracious Host here won't enjoy it as much, since distinguishing red and green is very important throughout the game. Might possibly be manageable, since it's a very bright red and a dull, dark green, and the author's webpage says he tested it with colorblind players.

      (Memory is like a thingamajig; it's apparently been almost three years now, not one, since I replayed it, judging from the savegame timestamps I found when trying to come up with an illustrative screenshot.)

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  24. Good plan, I like it.

    Also, finally Ultima 8! Not a fan, but there always Ultima 9 in a few years, lol.

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  25. This seems like a good idea to me -- although it is interesting to see the more obscure games covered, I do sometimes have a "not another magazine game" feeling on seeing a new post.

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  26. Amazing idea! Why not throw few games from top of MobyGames ratings or something?

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  27. Sounds like a great plan.

    And looking forward to another Ultima game!

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  28. I'd suggest Superhero League of Hoboken as reasonably notable, and Shadowrun as a potential due to the TTRPG being notable. As far as X-COM, it is an amazing game, but heavily covered, and there are no meaningful interactions between your characters and any NPCs. Not sure if that is really one of the criteria officially, but it's not an RPG. Jagged Alliance (the original) is barely an RPG (and may be a 1995 game).

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  29. I'm on board with the plan, and if it keeps you going..the more I'm for it. Seriously, even though RPG's did hit a lull for a few years, it is just going to become untenable to cover everything. I mentioned earlier on a reply that I'm cool with you not covering X-COM but I do encourage to give it a try in your very limited spare time :) I still play it to this day, but with the faithful re implementation of the engine that fixed some bugs in OpenXcom.

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  30. Really excited about this plan. At the risk of being that guy, 1994 saw the release of Final Fantasy VI, which is the SNES game to play if you are going to play one.

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  31. I love it - maybe I should do the same for my blog!

    Since everyone chimes in, I believe JA is a RPG (though less clearly so than JA2) and XCOM is not. Robinson Requiem is, in my opinion, an RPG in spirit and plays like one (also: open world!).

    I also cautiously propose that maybe you open your blog to external review for all the games pre-1993 you did not review and are in the "may be picked one day, or not".

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  32. Hey Chet, I'm obviously late to the party, what a lovely community you have here, and hell yeah, you handle the blog however you like it.

    In an extremely rare instance, I also recommend you trying out 'Shadowrun' for the Sega Genesis, it's about the coolest thing consoles had procured thus far. Cheers!

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  33. Strahd's Possession isn't a very good game, but it is an interesting one with incredible atmosphere. Like Dark Sun, I have a character creation diatribe and since I don't know when you're gonna start it I might as well diatribe now.

    In the Ravenloft duo, you have four party slots. You create two PCs at the start of each game and can fill the remaining slots with recruitable NPCs. It's possible to carry over your two from the first game to the second, but you're better off not doing this.

    In Strahd's Possession, magic is super-useful and you will get EVISCERATED without Turn Undead, it's essential (and hilarious. you'll see what I mean). You don't have good divine NPC options: no recruitable paladins, one of the clerics will unavoidably leave your party, and the other has the liabilities of being A. hard to reach, and B. dead.

    Stone Prophet, on the other hand, has capable clerics readily available, but no mages at all!

    If you're making a party to carry over, you need to create a cleric (to survive the first game) and a mage (to have access to arcane magic in the second). That's sub-optimal in each, though. For Strahd's Possession, I'd make a cleric and a paladin and hold the two NPC mages close whenever possible. For Stone Prophet, I'd make a mage and a throwaway character I'd get killed so I could have three NPCs. They have unique stuff going on that game.

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  34. I'd recommend Shadowrun for the Sega Genesis.

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  35. To echo a lot of comments, I'm loving this plan too. I liked that your old method would uncover a few hidden gems, but feels like it's been a rather long time since you've actually found one, and I too really want you to start reaching some of those late 90s classics before you need a walking frame.

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  36. Ah, that's a shame. Part of what I enjoyed about the blog was reading about all these games I'd never have heard of otherwise and not knowing if the entries were going to be thinly veiled (or not at all) scathing criticism or discovering the game was actually quite good.
    That said, I get your reasoning for doing it, it makes sense to do this how you want to do it rather than holding yourself to some other measure for unclear reasons. I suppose that element'll still be there with the random picks and backlist games, too.

    If there hadn't been a Motelsoft game on the list already I'd have been pushing for one, I've started looking forward to seeing what they've come up with this time when one makes its way to the top of the list, doubly so after playing along with Walls of Illusion.

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  37. I took was initially surprised just how often older games keep getting discovered. It shows that we still must be vigilant in preserving these older titles!

    I concur that this will be a positive direction for the blog. Whilst w right miss out on the occasional hidden gem, you have a powerful audience now who can help with the discovery.

    Of this list I only know one well, and that's ADOM. This, like Nethack, has gone through multiple major versions, including a semi recent Steam release with full graphical tilesets and sound effects. It may be difficult to select what is fairly representative of the 1994 release, but we can help there

    Many others on this list in aware of and will be keen to see covered!

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    1. Was there really a 1994 release? The version history archived here says the first public release was 0.7.0 in January 1996. That fits my recollection a lot better than 1994. And I don't anything from before there was a wilderness (0.9.0, from July 1996) would be representative anyway.

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  38. AlphabeticalAnonymousAugust 1, 2025 at 11:04 PM

    Is a "1993 in Review" post forthcoming? I and others are eager to learn whether Dark Sun beats out Ultimate Underworld II for Game of the Year.

    Interesting that 1993 had only 6 games rated 50 or above, while while 1992 had 9. But then 1991 had only 4 so maybe it's tough to read too much into such an arbitrarily-chosen metric.

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  39. I was going to request Exile: Escape from the Pit, but it looks like that was January 2025!

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  40. I have no complaints or suggestions about the plan or game list.
    However, I noticed on the Master Game List, some of the titles are bolded and some aren't. Is there some significance to this?

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  41. This is a great idea. I enjoy most the reviews of the games I grew up with as a kid. Don’t waste your time stubbornly plowing through boring games.

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