Look: 8/10 Welp, turns out both Dragonfire (1984) and Dragon Fire (1981) have great, different title screens! Ha Other than the title screen, though, the graphics are basically Adventure in a maze setting heh, but with a very useful UI, as can be seen below

Sound: 7/10 Essentially just annoying beeps and boops that occasionally pop up heh. Almost no function to them, either, which would have rationalized their presence at all. Well, I mean certain events trigger them, but it feels like it's just to annoy you heh. Tho wow, gotta give credit that the game gives an option (N) to turn off the sound effects. These programmers were ingenuous with a lot of these crucial innovations to make this era of RPGs more fun rather than simply more complex/new-tech-means-can-fit-more-data-arbitrarily. And ok nevermind, some of the sounds are great: lol the classic farty crunch when you're teleported up to a higher level via blue smoke trap.

Play: 10/10 As per usual, the manual here is critical to enjoy the game. I love that it has a Rapid Start option, although I did make my own character and buy his own equipment. Still, one of my biggest gripes about these early microcomputer and console CRPGs is that there is so much convoluted setup and shop menus (I know that's an infamous part of JRPGs as well, but I dunno... I suppose I'm biased... but we shall see. Maybe I wont even enjoy JRPGs as much as I used to, after being spoiled with the macrocomputer PLATO RPG games being exactly what I like--simple linear equipment upgrades/progression, simple menus, user-friendly UI. Anyway, I love that this includes the Dunjonquest-esque descriptions of each room but in the UI/gameplay itself hallelujah (rather than in the manual booklet like with Dunjonnquest) Also, gotta love the auto fight. This is feeling very modern for fricking 1981. This might be the RPG that finally pushes me to start engaging with the RPGs on my Backlog again! Turns out even the equipment progression is quite straightforward, which is how I prefer my RPGs, and it brought back fond memories of when I actually played the RPGs on my Backlog and enjoyed stumbling back to town barely alive to buy better equipment/upgrades. That rush of seeing the exit on the map but not sure whether you will make it. Ahhh, yes. (lol , imagine my surprise when I first got to what I thought was the proper exit back to town and instead was me going lower in the dungeon bahah) Regardless, this is what I love from roguelikes, dungeon crawlers, and early CRPGs. Oh and cool, you can use your stat points along the way in the dungeon as long as exit a level properly. Not a huge fan of the "timed" aspect of Life Points being lost in real-time, you know me and my preference for turn-based vibes, but other than that, this is essentially the perfect early CRPG!

Feel: 9/10 Good writing and good humor. This is, by far, the best microcomputer dungeon/RPG game I've played yet. Tho perhaps, Rogue is better because it was more addictive. Nevertheless, this game was more fun. The randomization is well-done, the random events like cave-ins are well-executed, and the battles surprisingly fun and well-balanced (one of the main faults of the PLATO RPGs and most other early CRPGs is how frustrating they are at the start, rather than having a good balance and progression to the challenge). I love that there's a set goal, even if the story is goofy. Not a game I will finish completely every time I pick it up, but one of the best I've come across so far. Gotta love when the manual itself admits you will have to grind a crapton, including giving the sage advice of going back and forth at Levels 9 and 10, buying equipment and trading in experience points between the levels until truly ready to take on the final boss. Plus, a final boss. Gotta love it.

Attachment: 9/10 I will certainly be replaying this and beating darn Salmadon. This is a game you could just jump into to show a friend early CRPGs, a game you could spend hours on, and a game you can save and spend weeks on exploring all it has to offer. Play this game if you have any interest in early dungeon crawlers, roguelikes, and RPGs. I'm so glad I pushed through and figured out how to play this (there's also an Apple II 1984 game called Dragonfire, which can overwhelm searches for this game)