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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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?
DeleteAnother 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
ReplyDeleteRe 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 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.
ReplyDeleteBeen 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.
ReplyDelete"...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.
You 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
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.
ReplyDeleteThe 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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?
ReplyDeleteArena 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.
ReplyDelete