 |
| Almost. |
It's that time again! Take "upcoming" with a grain of salt as games seem to take longer and longer. I could easily see getting stuck on the Star Trail/Arena pairing for a couple of months.
As a reminder, this discussion is to offer:
- Opinions about the game's RPG status. While applying your own definitions to such a discussion is fine, what really helps is if you apply mine. The FAQ (7th question) covers my definition.
- Tips for emulating the game
- Known bugs and pitfalls
- Tips for character creation
- Trivia
- Predictions for my reaction and/or the GIMLET score (without specifics that will spoil the game).
- Sources of information about the game from around the web, particularly obscure ones that I might otherwise miss during my pre-game research.
These are the next six titles:
- Dark Designs: Passage to Oblivion (1994 | Apple II | Softdisk). As the series transitions from John Carmack to Peter Rokitski, it adopts a new plot, a new party, and a new platform, abandoning the Apple IIGS for the older Apple II. [Ed. I guess this is wrong. Both the original trilogy and the second triology had both Apple II and GS releases.] I liked the previous three games' blend of Wizardry and Phantasie elements. We'll see if the magic continues.
 |
| They've got curved swords. |
- Cursed Chambers (1981 | Sharp MZ-80 | Kuma). For the hundredth time, El Explorador de RPG turned up a lost oddity, this one a weird combination of The Wizard's Castle and The Devil's Dungeon. It ought to be quick, at least.
- The Elder Scrolls: Chapter One - The Arena (1994 | DOS | Bethesda). I was doing some research on Bethesda in preparation for this game, and I came across this unintentionally hilarious quote in the company's Wikipedia article: "In 1994, the company released its best-known project at the time, The Elder Scrolls: Arena . . . Several sequels have been released since including The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, which was released in September 1996." I wonder if the page has been updated since then. In any event, I'm really looking forward to this one. I get to see which of my favorite Elder Scrolls elements were there at the beginning, and the folks over at RPG Codex get another excuse to call me a "Bethestard." Everybody wins.
- Buio! (1984 | ZX Spectrum | Editoriale Video). The first known Italian RPG has what I would have said is a very Italian-sounding name, though it turns out it means "dark." (I thought it was a contraction of buongiorno or something.) I don't know what to expect from this one, as I haven't been able to get it running past the title screen. Hopefully, I'll have fixed that by the time it comes up.
 |
| Ciao! |
- Yendorian Tales: Book I (1994 | DOS | SW Games). I have no history with this one. It appears to be an Ultima VI clone.
- Arena of Death (1991 | Commodore 64 | Hibbs). This is such a simple game that I'll probably BRIEF it or combine it with another review. I doubt I could get 1,000 words out of it. A single character fights a succession of battles in an arena.
 |
| Imagine this for a couple of hours. |
I await your thoughts. Please remember to keep the discussion spoiler-free.
Been a long time since I played Arena, but one piece of advice is that you probably do not want to play a pure fighter, you want to have at least a little protective magic. There's one difficulty wall I remember distinctly about halfway through the game and it's on the first room of the first floor of a dungeon that you really do not want to enter if you lack Spell Reflect or Spell Absorb.
ReplyDeleteI haven't visited RPG Codex in many years, I see the community is apparently as delightful as always. Wonder if No Mutants Allowed is still as bad as it used to be? Before the 4chan days, that was probably the biggest toxic waste dump on the internet.
RPGCodex has arguably gotten much worse. Before, it was somewhat worth it to put up with the toxicity because of niche games discussions that you wouldn't find elsewhere. But I stopped checking in a few years back because by now you won't find them there either and every thread is just an anti-woke circle-jerk.
DeleteI wouldn't say it quite that bad, but it has definitely declined the past five or so years. I think 4chan closed or something, and much manure spilled over, in the form of edgelords who are more interested in endless political "discussions" than games.
DeleteRPGCodex has gotten worse since they had a couple of accounts hacked and implemented 2FA (which I think they have now reverted) as a result. This caused many of the few reasonable and knowledgeable people remaining to leave and now the signal to noise ratio is much lower.
Delete> the folks over at RPG Codex get another excuse to call me a "Bethestard."
DeleteSay what you will about the Codex folks, their generosity of spirit is matched only by their ear for euphony.
Surely being insulted by "the folks over at RPG Codex" is a badge of honor at this point?
DeleteAs an active Codexer for almost 20 years, we're still the best place on the internet to discuss RPGs on and discover hidden gems nobody else talks about.
DeleteAlso, Bethestard only applies to fans of Bethesda games from Oblivion onward. Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind are good. Battlespire too. Redguard is janky and not really an RPG but is fine. Oblivion, though...
Well, for me personally Oblivion was the biggest disappointment of my life. It single-handedly turned me from optimistic teenager into jaded old prick who eyes every new game with suspicion. It killed all the potential Elder Scrolls had as a series, and poisoned the gaming industry as a whole with decline features like the quest compass which ruined exploration and made questing trivial. No matter what happens to me in the future, nothing will ever disappoint me as hard as Oblivion, especially since Morrowind is my favorite RPG and it threw away everything I loved about it.
JarlFrank, my man, you are really not making the argument you think you're making with that post.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteOblivion being the game with the highest negative influence on the genre and the greatest waste of potential in gaming history isn't an opinion but objective fact btw.
DeleteThat is literally an opinion, JF. What objective metrics support that statement? "I hate what it did to the genre and so do others who agree with me" just reinforces that it's subjective, not objective. (Plus we could probably delve into other sad departures from greatness - coughultima8cough - to find opposing opinions (again) on greater wastes of series potential.) I don't know that anyone is discounting your opinion, but recognize that it IS opinion, especially since folks clearly disagree with the statement (which again reinforces that it's subjective, not objective fact).
DeleteJarlFrank knows the difference between opinion and fact. He's indulging in the old "my opinion on this matter is so strong that I'm going to use the word 'objectively' as if no one could deny it" trope, which I find tiresome. Jarl, while I certainly understand disappointment with Oblivion after Morrowind, I have trouble comprehending the extremity of your reaction. Nonetheless, it's fine--it's your reaction--and this blog is about our reactions to games. Let's just not muddy the waters by conflating the subjective with the objective.
DeleteMy opinion is strong because Morrowind is one of my favorite games, was one of the formative RPGs that made me realize the potential of the genre, and showed a promising future that never came to pass because Oblivion squandered it all for broader mainstream appeal. Let's just check the facts:
Delete- Oblivion severely reduced the amount of equipment slots, merging armor pieces and preventing you from wearing clothes & armor together, like you could in Morrowind & Daggerfall
- Oblivion introduced quest markers which made navigation trivial and removed all directions from dialog and journal entries so you can't play it without those stupid markers even if you wanted to; this feature was copied by almost every RPG afterwards. In Morrowind, you had to actually read instructions and observe your environment
- Cyrodiil was supposed to be a jungle inhabited by a people inspired by ancient Rome and renaissance Venice; what we got instead was the most generic fantasyland with no visual identity at all.
- not only did they make the setting less exotic, they also forgot to do the same level of worldbuilding that Morrowind did: in Morrowind, you truly explore a foreign culture, with its own traditions, warring factions, religions, etc. Almost none of this exists in Oblivion beyond simplistic "the lord of this city is in conflict with the lord of that city", but without Morrowind's distinct faction identities
- there is no attention paid to building a coherent world that shows how people live and work. Morrowind was filled with farms and mines that served no gameplay purpose, but were there to show how people got their food, the local economy. Oblivion barely has any locations of that kind.
- Oblivion's level scaling was horrendous. Truly the worst implementation of this feature ever. Getting a legendary artifact at low level would scale down its stats, meaning that it actually hurts you in the long term to go for unique items early. All enemies scale to your level, which defeats the purpose of leveling in the first place.
I could raise many other points, but the fact is that Oblivion is a downgrade from Morrowind in almost every way. The only good thing I can say about it is that it has the best quest design in the series, but that's about it. Everything else is horrendous.
To see what The Elder Scrolls could have become, simply check out the Tamriel Rebuilt mod for Morrowind. This is what they took from us and I will always be angry at Oblivion for doing so.
Hi everyone! I’ve been reading this blog for a long time, but I only just decided to comment because we're talking about one of my favorite RPGs :D
DeleteI know Oblivion has plenty of objective flaws, but I was lucky enough to play it without any expectations. I’m 32, so I’m younger than many of the commenters here. When Oblivion came out, I was 12, and it literally became my gateway to PC fantasy games. I knew nothing about The Elder Scrolls before that, I hadn't seen any presentations, and maybe that's why it hooked me so hard. Even though I’d definitely played other RPGs like Fallout before.
After exploring every corner of Oblivion, I bought Morrowind—which was a massive cult classic in my country—and... I absolutely loved it too. Years have passed, and I still go back to Cyrodiil every now and then. It’s normal for people to feel differently about this game, but there are things you can sincerely love it for, like its great stories and the world.
I spent a good year of gaming playing Morrorwind (I was 22), and Oblivion was a huge disappointment for me. Daedric stuff didn't make any sense and broke balance, and autoleveling approach was just wrong.
DeleteI absolutely can understand why people hate it.
Mods fixed most of the faults with Oblivion, of which the level scaling was the most glaring one (even more glaring than the default radioactive Bloom effect). Radiant AI made the game much more unpredictable than Morrowind; no mods could fix MW's static world.
DeleteI played Morrowind after Oblivion, I liked Oblivion but Morrowind blew up away and is one of my favourite RPGs of all time - so it's not nostalgia speaking.
DeleteI believe Skyrim is much better than its RPGCodex reputation. The RPG ruleset is still mediocre, though somewhat improved over Oblivion, but the world feels more alive than any earlier Elder Scroll. Of course, Skyrim's lore and writing is still parsecs below Morrowind's.
*blew me away. Oh, please correct if you can, Chet, then remove this message:).
DeleteJarl's right in that it's absolutely possible to go at a game and say it was objectively a negative influence, but it's debateable if that's true of Oblivion. Outside of a handful of games which are themselves hotly contested, there's not really much I've seen which was directly influenced by Oblivion. All the complaints Jarl is making applies only to the series itself or are parts of general bad trends throughout the industry. It's saltiness over Bethesda selling out. Justified, but part of such a larger trend that it can't really be pointed at for making everything worse. (And regular, real life trends argue that Bethesda, if they did invent some of these things, is just tapping into a market of people who don't think about anyone but themselves)
DeleteWhen I think about an objective negative influence, I think about something that either kills off a genre or warps the genre around it so that it either effectively becomes the genre or causes games which would have been something else to become something like the big game. Things like Diablo dominating the action half of RPGs or World of Warcraft causing so many games to chase after it when otherwise it would have been a single-player game that wasn't tied down to a central server. Oblivion did not invent casualization, it merely took advantage of it. It's just an easy target.
Another Codexer here.... I agree with the above comment. Do not go pure fighter for Arena. The magic system makes the game entertaining and creating spells is a fun part of the game. I played a pure mage and created some spells that made the final dungeon both ridiculously easy and a rollicking good time.
ReplyDeleteI've been playing Arena lately because I wanted to get a ways in before the coverage starts, and it's been an interesting experience. It's definitely Elder Scrolls 1, in that it has the skeleton of an Elder Scrolls game, but with a lot of missing bits and names that later games would give more meaning to. If I had any advice, it's that potions are relatively cheap and well worth keeping in large supply, it's a very good idea to clear out the starter dungeon, unless you want to be stuck doing fantasy gig work for a few hours, and that this is an Elder Scrolls game that lets you make spells, so naturally you can make some *real* good ones... but only if you pick a class that can use magic from the start, because if you don't have it you don't have it
ReplyDeleteIs it actually possible to clear the starter dungeon? I thought the jailer was either unkillable or very high level
DeleteRe Buio!:
ReplyDeleteIf the problem is due to an issue with the file on the different Spectrum sites (identical on all of them, I assume) and not with an emulator setting or so, maybe it helps trying the version included as part of the publication it was contained in, Computing Videoteca n.3, which can be found e.g. here or again as standalone game separately here.
For the instructions on a single printed page, see e.g. here or under the second of the previous two links.
In case you can't get it to run, you might consider trying what I understand is a C64 version of the same game, published with Videoteca Computer n.6 (same publisher, different publication series, for C64 instead of ZX Spectrum) the following year, see e.g. here. It's also on GB64.
[I hope it's OK to link these pages given their nature and the game in question, otherwise delete once you've copied the links you want/need and I'll send an email instead next time.]
I couldn't get it to load using the "ZX Spin" emulator but did using the "ZEsarUX 9.2" emulator using a 48k machine and the "smart load" option. However if you press "esc" on your keyboard at any time, it will reset the emulator. Once loaded it takes about 5 minutes to build the gameworld so this emulator is handy in that it allows you to increase the CPU speed to brings this to under a minute. Once the game world builds then I have no idea what you need to do as a) it is in Italian and b) no key which I pressed seemed to do anything (although messages and battles occurred - I think). If you really need to, I could probably create a "snapshot" of the game once loaded which will allow you to load the game directly into memory from the point it loads.
DeleteSeconding what Twin Valley says. In Spectaculator it only runs in 48k mode (I assume it's one of the few games incompatible with 128k), it only accepts input (asking if you want to read the instructions) after the Dies Irae tune stops playing, and you really do want an emu with some manner of "turbo / unthrottled" mode. I don't expect you'll like it much.
DeleteIt might be worth trying Fuse, but I know from experience that that emulator has some trouble working with some games. Zesarux is probably the best Speccy emulator, but it has the problem that if you need to enter the menu for whatever reason, it won't pause. Which is a problem if you're playing something you want savestates for.
DeleteI have had a quick go at playing this and not sure it qualifies as an RPG under this sites rules and at very best it's probably a brief as you'll do everything in the about 10 minutes of play. You play in a 16 level tower on a 10x10 map. The map has monsters which give gold if killed. There is a key on each level which, if you also have enough gold, move you to the next level. There are 'mystery rooms' which do something good or bad. There is a weapon specific to each level (which is removed when you change level) which increases your 'strength' (however strength just means health in this game).
DeleteTo fight you hold down 1 of 3 keys to attack the head, arms or legs (or it might be you attack with your head, arms or legs - the translation was not clear for this part). For each 5 monsters you kill, you can look at the map once (which does add an interesting mechanic to the game). The levels are identical except for monster toughness.
Just to make clear it's 16 levels and each level is a 10x10 layout
DeletePretty sure it's you choosing to attack the opponent's head, arms or legs. While those options were still rare at this stage, the potential alternative you mention would have been even more interesting - a 1984 (quasi-)CRPG where you can kick and headbutt people could be worth an entry for that alone ;-).
DeleteChester - As this game barely reaches a Brief status, I am actually quite happy to write something up which you can use on one of the occasions when you are too busy to do so. It can mean you don't waste your time on this one but have something available when the workload gets too much to publish anything
DeleteI suggest playing a class in Arena that can pick locks, critically hit, cast magic, and fight. Bard, Spellblade, and possibly one other (it's been a while). Pure fighters are the most handicapped by lack of magic,but they do get access to all the tiers and types of armor and weapons, and most of the artifacts. Depending on how much of the empty open world you explore (empty by modern standards at least), I could see Arena going very quickly for you
ReplyDeleteRe Cursed Chambers: - "It ought to be quick, at least.".
ReplyDeleteLet's hope you're right and luck and your exploration pattern favour you. I'm not sure from which ad El Explorador de RPG got the number of up to 4500 rooms, but the ads (and notice) I saw still mention "up to 4000 rooms" initially and later "[up to] 1500 rooms"... . So maybe another game potentially worth trying for the mechanics (as per El Explorador potentially the first CRPG where you can hit separate body parts?), but not necessarily investing the time to win it, depending on how interesting it is and how fast it goes.
The problem is that it's no more of a CRPG than The Wizard's Castle, increasing the character's attributes by consuming potions or through some random effects, but not by fighting monsters.
DeleteThe good news is that you can choose the size of the dungeon and make the game shorter.
I can hereby confirm that The Elder Scrolls - The Arena is a computer RPG.
ReplyDeleteGlad to have helped.
Hehe, maybe as opposed to the other Arena on this list, the Arena of Death.
Delete@Chet: Not sure how exactly you apply the new(er) rules, but couldn't you even outright reject the latter instead of investing time on a BRIEF? It seems to only be listed as "Adventure - RPG Text" on GB64 which, as already seen in the past, is a very broad category used loosely, and the game appears not to have character development, unless your first impression was different.
Speaking of which, neither might Buio!. However, maybe it'll get more leeway as potential first Italian CRPG and/or is short or otherwise interesting.
And since I'm talking about character development, if any character-related elements in Dark Designs IV lead to a problem, bug or the like, there is a Dark Designs Character Editor on Softdisk 134, FWIW. Released after the first, but before the second trilogy, so not sure if it works with Dark Designs IV.
TES evolution is kinda funny: you can easily recognise Arena in Daggerfall, and you can easily recognise Daggerfall in Morrowind - but arguably the only Arena mechanic that remains there in Morrowind is the spellmaker.
ReplyDeleteWittgenstein refers to this phenomenon as a "family resemblance", and funnily enough he explains it giving games as an example, where all games will share some features with some other games, but some games will have no features in common at all..
DeleteBeen looking forward to Arena popping up for you. Of course, no real controversy that this is an RPG. It's available free on GOG and Steam - there shouldn't be any issues obtaining and running it. I'll echo what some others have already said: be able to cast magic in some form. It's too crippling to go without magic, at least on your first run-through (I ran a Spellsword on my re-play last year). Although, similarly, being a pure caster might be a bit crippling as well. Cure Disease (whether spell or potion) is critical - there are so many ways to get diseased and they'll all kill you when you leave the dungeon. Don't even consider trying to map (or even visit all the) towns - massive, and 99.9% fluff or otherwise redundant. You won't even visit the majority of them through the game. You'll always be able to ask directions to where you're trying to go, at least during the day. Mapping dungeons will be fairly crucial, however (IMO). Outside of some names of places, classes, and such, there's very little of Arena that has survived to today - mostly with good reason. It isn't a FANTASTIC game by today's standards, but it's got the seeds of one and is a good beginning to the TES series.
ReplyDeletePlaying a non-caster isn't a huge detriment. You can always find items/potions/scrolls to cast spells for you.
DeleteWhat I will say is that the choice of class in the pre-Morrowind TES games is far more important that it is in later games. Class determines which weapons/armor you can equip, and whether you can cast spells or pick locks at all. Certain classes also have innate abilities (e.g. the Knight is immune to paralysis). If you want to be able to do literally everything, you have to choose your class carefully. But not being able to do everything isn't super important. I mentioned spell-casting items already, and anything that can be picked can also be bashed.
Something important to mention is the equipment system. Only plate armors come in exotic materials. If you pick a leather- or plate-wearer, you'll have your end-game set pretty early in the game (barring artifacts and enchanted items).
You've written plate twice, did you mix something up?
DeleteHe meant that chain armor doesn't come in exotic materials, only plate.
DeleteMorpheus: correct.
DeleteYup... I definitely was saddened when I realized my Spellsword could never wear "interesting" armor - only generic, non-improvable chain. Although he (eventually) made up for it with a nice amulet artifact and all ebony misc gear and weapons. (Excepting always a generic battle axe to "open" doors.)
Delete"...the folks over at RPG Codex get another excuse to call me a "Bethestard." "
ReplyDeleteOtherwise it would be 'Obshitian' or 'Biowhore', so there's really nothing to win there.
Where are the derogatory terms for people who like SSI or Origin?
Delete“SShItheads” and “Originalists”, presumably (real-life originalists are already so flagrantly foolish and evil that there’s no need to gild the lily).
Delete"PuSSI" / "SiSSI" and "BOrigin" maybe?
DeleteIf some old Origin games (U1-4?) were perceived as too clunky/cumbersome for newer generations, it could also be 'OrdealGen'. Though due to the GIMLET, in your case 'OralGin' might be more fitting.
DeleteBig misunderstanding of Codex culture right here. We don't need derogatory terms for people who like SSI or Origin because old games are automatically high status, therefore people who like them are prestigious gentlemen.
DeleteOf course some of the more hardliner combat-focused Codexers will call Ultima VII decline for having such a simplistic, uninvolved combat system, but he still respects the older Ultimas, particularly the ones featuring tactical turn based combat. Most Codexers respect Ultima VII for its implementation of simulationist elements, and Ultima Underworld is widely considered a masterpiece there.
If you like the Gold Box games and can prove that you played them, you're considered an educated gentleman of good taste.
Obshitian is used to insult the company, not its fans. Not that it has many fans on the Codex (apart from a few shills who keep defending their mediocre games while most Codexers ignore them).
Early Bioware is generally respected - BG1 and 2 in particular, but many also like NWN. I'm the biggest NWN hater on the Codex, perhaps even the entire internet (I consider it one of the most boring & tedious RPGs I've ever played) and will shit on it at every opportunity, but the overall reputation of that game is positive, mostly due to its modding tools.
Later Bioware falls off hard though, as their games become very formulaic and focus on companions and romances instead of adventure. People who praise those are called Biowhores, particularly if it's because of companions and romance.
Is this JarlFrank guy actually a deliberate, on-the-nose parody? I'm not sure.
Delete"Codex culture" sounds like an oxymoron. From what I've read, Mr Addict wasn't exactly seen as and called a "prestigious gentleman" or "educated gentleman of good taste" over there, even though Ultimas including the two UUs and SSI games top this blog's highest rated list.
DeleteAnyway, the terms I suggested were just ideas for derogatory terms, not specific to that site. Doesn't sound like there are many "newer generations" over there, I was more thinking of examples like The Brainy Gamer trying to get his students to play Ultima IV (and that was already >15 years ago by now...).
JarlFrank is for real, all right.
DeleteIn these days of avatars of virtue signaling, he's an avatism of sincerity.
Many people are not "virtue signaling" but are sincerely not like that.
DeleteYou keep forgetting "Time Horn: Il corno del tempo" ;)
ReplyDeleteActually, my mistake - I see it's an 1984 game, not 1994. I stand corrected.
DeleteFor the MZ-80, this is the emulator to use:
ReplyDeletehttp://takeda-toshiya.my.coocan.jp/common/index.html
You will also need the ROMs (not distributed with the emulator as Japan is very strict on copyright stuff). You need both the Monitor ROM and the font ROM. European, if this is a Kuma release.
https://sharpmz.no/original/mz-80k/dldrom.htm
Wait, sorry! You wrote MZ-80, so I assumed it was an MZ-80K game. It's not. :)
DeleteYou need the MZ-80A binary instead (same emulator archive), and the MZ-80A ROM files (euro):
https://www.sharpmz.org/mz-80a/dldrom.htm
Also, I just checked, this is a BASIC game. So you need BASIC SA-5510. Here:
https://www.mz-archive.co.uk/downloads/jHichPTLjMUuueGkiK0PX1JALU9JmHM7FmqcJJSDgtotz3sq.html
So load (L) BASIC in Monitor, load (LOAD now) the game from BASIC, and RUN it.
I can help you with an emulator savestate if you send me an e-mail. My name @spillhistorie.no
DeleteThanks. That'll be a new emulator for me, so it's ice to have some advanced information.
DeleteArena - Mapping spells and pass wall spells will make your life soooo much easier. One of the RPG's I finished. This one began my love for the Elder Scrolls.
ReplyDeleteToo bad knowledge of Passwall faded from history before Daggerfall takes place, that would have been a game-changer in those nightmare labyrinths.
DeleteDon't need Passwall when the geometry is so jank that you can easily slip between the seams and go out of bounds.
DeleteThe GIMLET score for Arena will be 51.
ReplyDeleteI see what you did there.
DeleteHmm but your mark scheme is as objective as possible, while "Bethestard" is a subjective label....
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't expect too much of Buio!; it'll be the same sort of thing as these smaller C64 games you've been encountering. Disk games were very rare on the Spectrum, so rpgs are going to be limited by what can be loaded into memory from tape.
ReplyDeleteThat said, the Spectrum's games could often be surprising in terms of quality, so one never knows...
Despite trying various games multiple times, I've never been able to get into or enjoy any Elder Scrolls games, or Bethesda games in general really, so I'm interested in seeing one through someone else's eyes.
ReplyDeleteArena is perhaps the most different of the TES mainline games, and if you know its history you can see why (it wasn't even supposed to be a CRPG initially; even the name points to its origins). If you've played all the others it'll come as a bit of a shock. It runs fine in DOSBox but you'll have to play with the CPU cycles to find the sweet spot. As others have mentioned spells are ridiculously powerful because of Spellmaker, the game is REALLY not balanced for a character that can cast no spells at all. I love Daggerfall and Morrowind but not Arena, I'm curious to see what you'll think of it.
ReplyDeleteThe balance for non-casters comes with the magic items that can cast spells, if I remember correctly. You just have to get a bit lucky with the loot or shops.
DeleteThe difficulty really comes from the early game in the opening dungeon and when you first get out of there. Once you've got that down, it's really nothing specially difficult. (And its similar to Daggerfall, albeit a bit harder) Considering what Chest has covered in the past, I doubt he'll have much trouble with it.
DeleteI tried the first Yendorian Tales game several times, but the random fights were too hard, killing me too often so I got nowhere. The second game in the series is more popular being a Might and Magic III clone.
ReplyDeleteI played Arena back in 1994, I thought it to be solid but less interesting that Lands of Lore or Ultima. I would never imagined that it would started a series that outlived Ultima and Wizardry.
The first YT also had the issue of having too many mouse controls and not enough keyboard ones. There are certainly better U6 clones out there.
DeleteInteresting how YT2 is a Might and Magic clone and not an Ultima clone
I can confirm that TES - Arena isn't a RPG. Not sure what everyone else is on about, it's clearly a simulation of getting murdered by rats.
ReplyDeleteThe next Dark Designs game should be interesting. Carmack can do some interesting stuff with tech, but he really needs someone more competent to do the content. Nearly all of the Apple II games he worked on got better when someone else took over the reins. It'll be interesting to see if it happens with Dark Designs too.
Is the author of the Yendorian Tales shareware CRPGs really "Rodney R. Smith" (of all names), as the credits say, or is that a cheeky Yendor/Rodney pseudonym?
ReplyDeleteThe fact the trademark "SW Games" was filed by / on behalf of Rodney R. Smith speaks for the former (unless you can file a trademark in the US under a pseudonym, no idea). Also, SW Games was formerly called Smithware.
DeleteWhether the Yendor part was motivated by the ananym tradition of Wizardry or the name from Rogue and its successors or both, no idea.
According to what Glenn Wichmann recalled a while back they came up with the name "Rodney" [/ "Yendor"] in Rogue pretty much out of nowhere, though he suspects they were influenced by the character Sir Rodney from The Wizard of Id.
Cartoonist Johnny Hart seems to have had an outsized influence on names of macguffins you're trying to get in roguelikes. In Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup the Macguffin is the Orb of Zot, which probably traces back to the ZOT! noise that the anteater from B.C. makes when striking an ant.
Delete(Jason Dyer covered a 1975/1979 fantasy mainframeStarTreklike called HOBBIT with the Orb of Zot as the Macguffin. This was I think slightly earlier than the Internet Oracle ZOTting people for bad questions, but I would bet that Linley's Dungeon Crawl in 1995 got the Zot from the Internet Oracle and independently made it an orb. Either way it seems likely it ultimately came from Hart.)
Ah wait, the DCSS wiki says that the Orb of Zot came from Wizard's Castle which is very clearly descended from HOBBIT. So looks like this goes B.C. -> HOBBIT -> Wizard's Castle -> Linley's Dungeon Crawl.
DeleteArena is a bit buggy but you probably expected that. I got stuck in dungeon walls/floors a few times. I also heard that the spell creation system can crash the game sometimes, but my caster never got any crashes from that.
ReplyDeleteRe Arena being too hard with a fighter class: I don't know guys, I had no problems playing as a barbarian in any situation, and I mean ANY. Saying more would be a spoiler. Being able to just tunnel through the huge boring dungeons is a valid point however I guess.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's too _hard_ as a fighter, per se, but Chet would be missing out on the rather innovative spell building system if he plays a non-caster.
DeleteI tried to play Arena a few years ago, but the lack of directional sound in a 1st person view real time game bothered me too much. I guess I got spoilt for life all those decades ago when I played the Amiga version of Dungeon Master, which AFAIK was the first game to have DS. (There were earlier games with stereo sound, but I don't think they used it as DS.)
ReplyDeleteBuio! belongs to your 'Darkness era'
ReplyDeleteYou probably already found this but here is a list of bugs in Arena.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.uesp.net/wiki/Arena:Bugs
ES Arena will score 58 on the Gimlet. You heard it here first.
ReplyDeleteWe get Arena and Oblivion this year?
ReplyDeleteI love Bethesda games also.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Italian RPGs, there is a very obscure Italian ZX Spectrum game, which is potentially a (simplified) RPG but it is missing from the Master List: "Il Castello Incantato" (The Enchanted Castle). The game was published in 1986 by "Load 'n' Run", a Spanish/Italian publishing company, infamous for publishing unlicensed translation of english games in Spain and Italy during the '80s. Load 'n' Run at a certain point started to publish original games made by native developers too, "Il Castello Incantato" is among those. I played it when I was a kid. It is a very simplified RPG, I am not sure if it qualifies. It has a kind of turn based combat (with QTE events, kind of…). Monsters have stats and can be friendly or hostile. Exploration and interactions are reminiscent of classic roguelikes.
ReplyDeleteThe game can be found at worldofspectrum.org. There is also a one page pdf for the instructions, with some info about the code too. The instructions (in Italian) are necessary to understand how to play.
Glancing through this thread I don't see a mention of Final Fantasy VI, it came out in 94 and got a later PC port.
ReplyDeleteEven if its not on the priority list I hope you don't miss out on it at a later time. Maybe before playing FF VII, even if there are no connections more than names and themes.
As far as I know, there was no PC port of FF6. The Steam version from 2015 is a port of the Android version, which was a very strange version of the GBA port, itself very different from the original.
DeleteIn order to be accepted on this blog, it should have been released for a computer system during its original release. Final Fantasy 7 qualifies, but Final Fantasy 6 can only come up on a random roll.
DeleteFor me Morrowind (PC) is the last proper The Elder Scrolls. Oblivion & Skyrim are consolized very simplified action games. I play them for the atmosphere and graphics not for the games that are very basic.
ReplyDeleteMorrowind was a better game on xbox, you could play it without keybored.
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