Status Chovus Dec 30, 2020
Beat, though I used a walkthrough and world map for pretty much the entire game as it did not take long before the tedium of the game got on my nerves. I started out exploring each town and talking to everyone, then liberating the respective shrine. I started at Britain, then Trinsic, Skara Brae, Yew, Minoc, Jhelom, Magicina and last …
Beat, though I used a walkthrough and world map for pretty much the entire game as it did not take long before the tedium of the game got on my nerves. I started out exploring each town and talking to everyone, then liberating the respective shrine. I started at Britain, then Trinsic, Skara Brae, Yew, Minoc, Jhelom, Magicina and last Moonglow. I opted not to buy anything but ended up with plate armor for everyone, 4 halberds and enough crossbows for everyone. Along the way I recruited Jaana the druid, who has 0 mp and thus can't use magic. What kind of druid is she?! Everyone did the 1st level up at Compassion for +3 dex, after that the avatar always did Spirituality for +1 to all while everyone else did a mix of dex and str. The avatar was my tank and mage, mostly using a halberd but sometimes a sword and shield, or shield and energy wand, or shield and spellbook, or spellbook and wand. I did not find magic all that useful and mostly used support spells: heal, greater heal, greater light, unlock, dispel magic to cure poison, dispel field, and negate magic for dragons. Dupre was the only follower that did not upgrade to a magic bow; I had 1 for him but I also had 200 bolts to shoot. He also had a halberd. Shamino had halberd and magic bow, and was the guy to carry attack items like explosive oil and barrels. That oil came in very handy early on. Iolo also had a halberd and magic bow, and I gave him a spellbook and all the potions. He never used any spells or potions. Jaana used a magic bow and 2 handed sword. The last slot I kept free for a while, swiping people's gear to sell. Then I found Gorn while doing the balloon quest and used him with a magic bow and 2 handed sword. Until the end game when I swapped him for the gargoyle kid. The avatar was the only max level 8 while the others were slightly below. I then went through the rest of the game to the end.
I enjoyed the setting since I am intimately familiar with Britannia from playing Ultima Online for years, and making a very detailed level for Heroes of Might and Magic 3 based on UO. It was interesting to see the world in a more primitive state. The characters and dialogue were very well done and immersive. The combat was great, though it was sometimes annoying how the combat would end and then start back up if the enemies were close enough to attack but not quite close enough to the avatar. I put everyone on manual control and used auto combat for the easy battles. The main problems with the game relate to navigation and direction: no world map or dungeon overview map, the little map you get is way too small and costs an item or spell, all dungeons are on the same map so you see areas you can't get to, the actual game screen is a bit small, and nighttime makes it even worse. Then there is the moonorb teleport system, which requires looking up the codes in the walkthrough. Or I guess you could experiment and write them down on paper. I hated waiting until morning to talk to people in town, and then they don't wake up at the crack of dawn! Lazy bastards, making me run around in turbo mode for several more seconds. Quest direction is not quite as bad but it is still a pain to figure out what to do sometimes. And the underground areas are far larger than they need to be.
Ultimately, the game is better than other western style rpgs of the time but is too tedious for its own good.
7.7/10