1993/1994

1993 was a disappointing year with a few highlights.

       

(Note: This entry includes a link to a survey that I'm hoping every reader fills out. I wanted to put it here at the beginning in case you don't make it that far.)

 

It's been so long since we had a yearly transition entry that I almost forgot that I had to do one. We last started a new year almost five years ago, in April 2021.

   

At the time, I noted that 1993 was a peak year, containing more RPGs than any year before or after. I had the idea that if I could just get through 1993, it would be all downhill from there. Alas, owing to new discoveries, 1995 is now the top year (77) until we reach 2012 (88) and 2013 (104) for computer RPGs. (I haven't logged everything for 2014 or 2015 yet). If we consider all RPGs (including consoles and handhelds), we'll also hit a peak in 1995. There really is no "downhill."

    

Hence, my announcement a few months ago that for 1994 and each year thereafter, I would be capping the total number of RPGs explored at 25. I will still alternate "primary" year games with "backlist" games indefinitely, so any game that I skip has a chance of coming up as one of the latter titles. 

       

Current results from my master game list.

      

Many commenters have opined that RPGs entered a slump around 1993 from which they didn't recover until the late 1990s. I'll reserve my opinion on the existence, nature, and duration of the slump until I've played games from those years, but I agree that 1993 feels like the beginning of one. The average GIMLET for 1993 regressed to 31.37, lower than not only 1992 (35.64) but also 1991 (32.29), 1990 (33.2), and 1989 (31.89). Only two titles came anywhere near the top of the list, Dark Sun: Shattered Lands and Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds, both of which rated in the 60s. Number 3, Ambermoon, is all the way down at 51.

   

I have some fond memories from some of the titles in the 40s and 50s. I didn't like Betrayal at Krondor as much as many of my commenters, but it was at least unique in its approach. I think Bloodstone: An Epic Dwarven Tale might have been the height of the Magic Candle series. Unlimited Adventures preserved one of my favorite game engines. But most of the rest, even good ones (Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness, Ultima VII: Part Two - Serpent Isle, Dungeon Master II, Might and Magic V) are lesser than earlier games in their respective series.

        

Eye of the Beholder III was one of many titles this year that were shadows of the glory of former games in the series.

        

What astonishes me about such an underperforming year is that we're running out of time! Diablo is coming in 1996, Fallout in 1997, Might and Magic VI and Baldur's Gate in 1998. Maybe as soon as the end of the current decade, I will be blogging about huge, open worlds, immersive 3D graphics, lush ambient sound, in-game lore that a player can get lost in, and NPCs so fully realized that I prefer many of them to my actual friends. I rather expected we'd ramp up to those things. But the way it's been going, one day I'm going to be slogging through Whale's Voyage II and then suddenly, boom, Daggerfall. I suppose it's possible. Ultima Underworld seemed to come out of nowhere, after all.

          

How is this only four years away?

       

So 1993 could be the beginning of a slump. Or—again, I say this in complete ignorance of what awaits me in 1994—it could be a momentary pause in which developers were sort-of gathering themselves. The transition from 1993 to 1994 was at the cusp of a lot of things: CD-ROMs, Windows, the availability of the Internet to the average member of the public, the presence of a computer in the majority of western households. A lot of these things were there in 1993, but not long enough for developers writing games for 1993 releases to have made much of them. Maybe 1994 will see that burst of quality that I've been waiting for. Don't disabuse me.

     

1993 Game of the Year Nominees 

       

I'm going to do something different this year by selecting the nominees, letting you vote, and then selecting the final "Game of the Year." I'm not promising to go with your vote, but I'll at least lean towards it. These are what I would consider to be the top contenders:

   

1. Dark Sun: Shattered Lands. I went into this game expecting very little and came out seeing it as a worthy evolutionary step between the Gold Box series and the Infinity Engine games of the later 1990s. Not only was it the highest rated game of the year, but it also rated above a 5 in every category except "Economy." It had all the trappings of a modern RPG: tactical combat, a complex inventory system, full-sentence NPC dialogue, a world steeped in lore, and copious side quests as well as a compelling main quest. What a delight.

       

Full-sentence dialogue is important to my conception of a good RPG.

      

2. Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds. It would be weird to give the 1992 "Game of the Year" to Ultima Underworld and then next year's to the sequel, but then again, these two games are so good that perhaps I ought to drive it home by giving the top prize two years in a row. Not only did I think that Labyrinth was equal to the original in its mechanics, but I also thought it was a far better Ultima game.

         

And 1993 featured it in two excellent games.

     

3. I'm going to pretend here that Ambermoon has a shot because I honestly liked both it and its predecessor, and as I said in my follow-up: "Almost nowhere does the game achieve, or even stray towards, brilliance. But it is almost uniformly not bad." That's almost hyperbolic for 1993. But honestly, most of its strengths are eclipsed by Dark Sun.

     

Ambermoon: a good game. "Good" is a superlative in 1993.

       

4. Yes, sure, Betrayal at Krondor. As I said earlier, its approach is the most unique of the titles I'd consider for "Game of the Year." Its high-quality prose and immersive storytelling set a standard unrealized by any other title I've played except perhaps quasi-RPGs like Star Saga. It also set the bar for RPGs integrated into the canon of a fictional setting. I also liked the open-world exploration and the variety of encounters, but I think Dark Sun did those things just as well, with better RPG mechanics besides. But if you think Krondor deserves "Game of the Year," you're in good company. Computer Gaming World gave it the "RPG of the Year" award in the June 1994 issue. 

       

I didn't love it, but I will always remember it.

      

Let's consider some honorable mentions that have no chance at the top spot but make me wish I gave out more than one award per year.

       

• Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness. It's a great adventure game, atmospheric and fun, but the authors aren't even really pretending that RPG mechanics matter anymore.

• Perihelion. Talk about atmosphere! I still watch a video of this game's opening every once in a while.  

• Daemonsgate: Some of the best lore, including in-game cataloguing of that lore, that we've seen so far. The developer did a reasonably good job making the physical environment and NPC dialogue match that lore.

          

I didn't do a very good job selling the idea that there's much of a contest, but I honestly want to hear your thoughts. Remember, "Game of the Year" is supposed to be about influence as much as quality. Anyway, I've created a survey for you to vote, but I thought I'd take the opportunity to do something that I've never done before and poll my readership on your demographics and opinions. I'd thus appreciate if everyone reading this entry took part in the survey, even if you don't have a strong opinion on "Game of the Year." And don't let the survey stop you from talking about your preference in the comments.

      

Year-End Superlatives

     

Total Games: 63 played, 11 BRIEFed, 2 put on the "Missing and Mysteries" list. In total, I wrote about 75 games. That's 11 more than 1992 and the largest annual number for my blog so far. I guess that's the highest number that there ever will be.

 

Highest-Rated Games:  Dark Sun: Shattered Lands (64), Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds (63), Ambermoon (51), Bloodstone: An Epic Dwarven Tale (50), Betrayal at Krondor (50), Unlimited Adventures (50), NetHack 3.1.3 (48), Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness (47).

 

Lowest-Rated Games: Ultimuh MCMLXVII: Part 2 of the 39th Trilogy - The Quest for the Golden Amulet (3), Mechanical Anarchy (11), Magische Steine (14), Black Dawn (14), Blade of Doom (15), Schelober's Quest for a Babe (15).

      

The worst game of the year. It didn't even know what it was parodying.

        

Longest Played: Ultima VII: Part Two - Serpent Isle at 112 hours. If you want to know why I didn't even give this one an "honorable mention," that's why.

 

Longest Between Start and End: It took me 372 days (but "only" 62 hours of play) before I allowed myself to admit that I wasn't going to finish Angband.

 

Percentage Won: As of right now, I've won 52 out of 59 winnable games, so 88%. I suspect it will drop to 87% after The Fates of Twinion. 

 

Highest Category Scores

   

• Game World: Dark Sun: Shattered Lands, Daemonsgate, and Betrayal at Krondor (8s).

• Character Creation and Development:  Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds and—gods forgive me—Princess Maker 2 (7s).

• NPCs: Dark Sun: Shattered Lands and Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness (7s).

• Encounters and Foes: Dark Sun: Shattered Lands and Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep (8s).

• Magic and Combat: Dark Sun: Shattered Lands, NetHack 3.1.3, and Unlimited Adventures (7s).

        

Dark Sun is the odds-on favorite for its fascinating game world and tactical combat.

       

• Equipment: NetHack 3.1.3 (9). This is the highest score I gave all year for anything.

• Economy: Princess Maker 2 (8). Maybe this belonged on the nominee list.

• Quests: Dark Sun: Shattered Lands (7).

• Graphics, Sound, and Interface: Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds and Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness (7s). 

• Gameplay: Warlords II (8). This isn't the first time (cf. Pirates!) that we've seen a non-RPG or quasi-RPG take the prize in this category.

   

Best Game with an Awful Category: Dark Sun: Shattered Lands with is 2 for "Economy." The SSI crowd just never learns.

 

Worst Game with a Good Category: Stronghold, barely an RPG at all, got a 7 in "Gameplay" for its utterly addictive and replayable nature. Quenzar's Caverns and DragonMaze were both afternoon RPGs that managed to hit a 6 in "Gameplay" for offering the perfect length and challenge for their content.

    

1994 Preview

    

So, once again, the official 1994 play list, in the order that I will cover them, is:

   

1. Realms of Arkania: Star Trail 
2. Dark Designs IV: Passage to Oblivion 
3. The Elder Scrolls: Arena
4. Yendorian Tales, Book 1
5. Al-Qadim: The Genie's Curse
6. Escape from Ragor
7. Pagan: Ultima VIII
8. Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession 
9. Jiji and the Mysterious Forest, Chapter 2
10. Aethra Chronicles: Volume One - Celystra's Bane
11. Hexx: Heresy of the Wizard
12. World of Arch
13. Darghul
14. Darkmere: The Nightmare's Begun
15. Ishar 3: The Seven Gates of Infinity
16. Nahlakh
17. Robinson's Requiem
18. Crystal Dragon
19. Superhero League of Hoboken
20. Realmz
21. Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager
22. Alien Logic: A Skyrealms of Jorune Adventure 
23. Menzoberranzen
24. Ironseed
25. Newcomer
26. Istanbul Efsaneleri: Lale Savascilari 

 

We will have appropriate pre-play discussions as each title nears the starting date. If any of these games ends up getting rejected or otherwise BRIEFed, I will draw a new title from the list at random.

      

As a devoted Elder Scrolls fan, what will I think of the first game in the series?

      

I believe that this is the first year since 1980 for which I have never played any of the games on the list to their conclusion. I have never played any of the 1994 games that didn't make it on the list to their conclusions, either. In fact, I have never played any of the 1994 games at all except about 5 minutes with Pagan (I quit once I saw it had jumping puzzles) and maybe two hours with Arena about 20 years ago. As such, I have no idea at all what to expect.

 

I am most looking forward to Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager based on the quality of its predecessor. I'm most curious about Arena; knowing so much about the Elder Scrolls universe these days, I'm eager to see how it differed when it was new. I'm equally curious about Ravenloft given the quality of the module on which it was based; though I assume that if the game reproduced that quality, I'd have heard a lot more about it over the years. I also have a lot of curiosity over the foreign games on the list, including World of Arch (Finland), Newcomer (Hungary), and particularly Istanbul Efsaneleri (Türkiye).

   

A preview of the first Turkish RPG.

       

I wouldn't say I'm particularly looking forward to Realms of Arkania: Star Trail, Dark Designs IV, or Ishar 3, but I suspect they'll all be reasonably acceptable. I had a decent time with their predecessors. I wouldn't say that I'm dreading any of the games—I don't know enough about them—but I will say that I don't have a lot of expectations for Jiji and the Mysterious Forest or Superhero League of Hoboken.

     

We'll definitely see a lot less variety in platforms in 1994. Microsoft is dominant, and only three games on the list—Dark Designs IV (Apple II), Darkmere (Amiga), and Crystal Dragon (Amiga)—lack DOS or Windows releases, at least if my original research is correct. Of course, we'll still continue to see plenty of other platforms in the "in between" games. 

     

Please remember to fill out the survey. Without further ado, let's jump into Realms of Arkania: Star Trail!