Look: 8/10 Maybe it's just me, but there seemed to be more monster sprites than the other plato games. More elaborate, too. But yeah, otherwise, just the usual impressive wireframe graphics, nothing particularly striking, but solid for its time and fundamental to graphic RPGs. The automap feature with the ASCII color is beautiful.

Play: 8/10 Though frustrating too, I'd take pedit5 or moria over this. With that being said, it's still an incredible dungeon crawler / CRPG and absolutely worthy of a play if you're interested in early RPGs. It has multiplayer aspects, technically. The later version I played (83 or 84 maybe, can't recall) had the automap feature that was very aesthetically pleasing. I just wish you could reset the automap, so you could reset your automap each time you notice the dungeon has reset. Not a big fan of magic items being able to be destroyed Also, not a fan of the extra unnecessary menus during combat like having to press NEXT just to start then the extra steps to casting spells. So yeah, those frustrations led me to almost give up on 12/12. I had died so close to my arbitrarily set goal but decided to retry being better conscious about time resetting the dungeon (Which means you basically have to clear the dungeon of enemies again any time you take a break for awhile irl). In addition, I stuck to level 1 much longer and always fleed in corridors back to exit. I suppose I was also more conscious of what I already knew: an area is essentially cleared out after you fought through it. Sure, some random encounters and the chance of a respawn of the dungeon, but for the most part, take advantage of that mindset. It allowed me to dig deeper and get bigger treasures. In the end, I think I loved this game as much as pedit5 or moria, tho those were, hm, rawer? Not sure the word for it. Oh and also on my final retry, I finally gave the Sleep spell its proper value for enemies lvl 4 or less (BESIDES UNDEAD, as usual). Like, I already knew that rule... lol smh. It was fun to rediscover a lot about these PLATO RPGs. And technically this game could drive me to push through to the deeper dungeons. Perhaps.... to contradict myself, this is better than pedit5 or moria cuz I actually could see myself keeping this character that deep as long as I don't screw up the superfluous menus during battles etc. Hm. Still, gonna keep it at an 8 for now, but this could very possibly skyrocket on replays.

Feel: 9/10 As you can see in my Play section above, I went on a lot of fluctuations during this game. Two early thoughts included these juxtaposed assertions: "I lovvvvve the concept and execution of the auto map, as well as the color they used with the ascii version (albeit not in the original version)" and "Welp time for oubliette ive done this before and prefer pedit5." (Of course, that is the source of my terse statement above in Play, which I sorta deny now but also sorta don't. Still not sure till replays.) I pushed through and easily beat my goal of getting on the hall of fame. I suppose it is a testament that I wanted to continue on despite qualifying for the hall of fame. I had the formula down patent, I had several more levels of dungeon and more Mystic enemies to encounter, and I felt confident in my character. That is why I still will definitely replay this. I never did get any magic items/equipment.... not a one even on level 5 with a very well-developed character (my one that got into 7th place on the hall of fame at the time).Though I found issue with the respawning of the dungeon when I died from it, ha, I also found it brilliant. It could be what sold me on the game. I like how structured that was: and a lot of other aspects of the game had that time-based reset aspect. It took me a minute to realize why my name wasn't showing up on the hall of fame, you actually have to retire your character almost like committing to it with the risk of someone upping you soon after. Cool idea. Allows for a looping challenge, especially when the game is more active. Biggest disappointments were the significant fluctuations of enjoyment and the fact I never encountered any of the magic items or equipment not the arrows I wanted for mythic enemies :(... like did I have items off or something? Ha. Tho I dislike that they can break, I would have liked to try em. The fact I didn't continue on even tho sure I thought about it, says a lot too. Hence why it is a great game, but the least of the PLATO RPGs I've encountered so far. Ironically, it's probly the most palatable to modern audiences till I hit oubliette and avatar in 77 and 79, respectively.

Attachment: 9/10 Replayability is built into the very fundament of it, and in a more unique way even than dnd or moria. Sure moria had “resets” in the sense that the ring kept going a level deeper when found, but orthanc’s resets are brilliant imo. Usually I don't like the goal just being getting on a hall of fame--but the way the dungeon periodically resets, the hall of fame periodically resets too in its own timeframe, and thus the challenge resets feel like a better way of perpetual gameplay than the ring finitely going lower till just stuck at level 60 (like in moria). I definitely will replay this and very likely will love it much more on later replays. Hopefully I remember all the tips I realized!