Look: 9/10 As simple as the graphics are, and sometimes hard to discern what they are, I still like them. Maybe it's from the nostalgia I garnered from attempting it way back. Someone online review said all the enemy sprites look the same, but in my opinion, those are some of the easiest-to-discern sprites in the game! Heh. Certainly more than the swamp region graphic. The town/shops, the dragon sprite, the amulet sprite. All just very well-done.

Sound: 7/10 Mostly forgettable sounds, tho I kinda like the encounter-enemy "music" lol. (Oh, turns out that's the start of "the Dragnet theme," a show I am not familiar with... I am such a bad nerd). Turns out most the "music," albeit all very brief, are Atari-fied preexisting music. This likely is the first game I've played yet where the encounter sound is particularly useful, especially during the long-ish grind when ready to just get rich enough to cross the Bridge (after getting Paper etc).

Play: 8/10 Honestly the wilderness part feels very vast, and certainly for its time. Wow so elaborate for a console RPG at this time, and yet without most of the annoying overdoing of character creation and shopping steps, etc. You can just jump in and earn your equipment via battle -- how I like it. Truly bringing the dungeon crawler RPG origins to the open-world RPG concept. It's so exciting to get a good drop early in the game, so frustrating when you can't get what you need. Now, if you just jump into this, you'll probly be as frustrated as I was about a year ago jumping into this game before I started this chronology project (I simply had heard it was the first RPG, which isn't true, tho certainly one of the first console RPGs). I also wasn't a fan of the essentially-real-time aspect of the game, while I was still struggling to figure out what was going on. The controls are remarkably tight and use their limitations very well: I love how the fight sequence can be controlled by a joystick alone--well-done. As always, online info and the manual are essential: this definitely helps. Welp, and here too ha. Oh and in case you are more of a video guy, tho this isn't super helpful

Pro-tip: the Chests can actually be worth quite a lot, worth a Key in the later parts of your pre-Village grind. This probly would have a higher rating if it didn't get a bit chore-feeling near the end. The fact I pushed through and finished it means, I must like it a lot! Still, if it weren't for all the online info I perused at length (I enjoy doing that, even before starting a game heh), I probly would have simply been frustrated like in the past. Also, a lot of it comes down to which items have which random function, etc. Maybe when I replay it, I'll fall deeper in love with the gameplay. But for now, it's undeniably frustrating and tiring eventually.

Feel: 9/10 Heh rehabilitating the dragon, I like it. And gotta love that the church prayers do nothing lol :-X I like how it's essentially Wilderness Campaign and Dungeon Campaign in one :-p Oh wait, they already were one. Or something. I dunno, you know what I mean. Yesss, "the Opressed Village." I love the feeling of such a specific set goal (only really known thanks to the manual heh, but still), especially one of prepare/equip yourself, journey through a trap-laden cave, and kill a powerful dragon (even tho technically can evade and still win, but). Point being, it gave me vibes of 2002 being proud of finally surviving what felt like a brutal journey, down into a dangerous cave, to fight Elvarg the Green Dragon in the original Runescape. Simple, but epic. Not sure how to word it, but the perils of the dungeon/journey to the Dragon in this is what most gave me those "feels." Wow, even the Scorpion Pit heh. Oh shoot, and how did I not even think of the Rope part. Needing the darn Rope for the Kalphite Queen, ugh, sometimes I miss my Old School Runescape addiction, and other days I am infinitely grateful I've pushed past it. Anyway, as important as it is to point out that this game's feels reminded me of the game I have spent the most amount of time on's feels, back to this game lol! It's got an open-world feel, multiple ways you can achieve the goal, and sure, another frustratingly RNG/spawn-based challenge, but one that I surprisingly pushed through. It's the right length for an RPG from this time, imo, as I haven't had the energy to push through the lengthier games like Ultima and Rogue. Interesting that when I first attempted this about a year ago, I wasn't all that impressed. And now that I am playing it in the context of its time, as was the goal of this chronology project, I "see clearer" I suppose would be the phrase.

Attachment: 9/10 I mean, after all, I already have replayed it a couple times, a year ago a few times and again now a few times, so that says a lot. Even tho the gameplay is, admittedly, frustrating (and frankly repetitive, but I like that part heh :-x ), I have a soft spot for this game!