Category: CRPGAddict

Our hero does . . . something . . . in celebration of his victory.            Ishar: Legend of the Fortress France Silmarils (developer and publisher) Released in 1992 for DOS, Amiga, and Atari ST Date Started: 22 February 2020 Date Finished: 10 March 2020 Total Hours: 21 Difficulty: Moderate-Hard […]

Problem #1: Nothing Arthur or Galahad did was done “for power.”           Quest for Power United States Crystalware (developer and original publisher); Epyx (later publisher) Released in 1981 for Atari 800 and Apple II. Rereleased in 1982 as King Arthur’s Heir Date Started: 5 March 2019 Date Finished: 5 March […]

A minotaur takes apart my party while I hit him occasionally for 2 hit points.             Aside from its graphics and sound, which I began my first entry by praising, Ishar feels like a “lite” version of every game that inspired it. It’s like it took a bunch of other […]

I feel like we’ve seen that dragon before. Interesting logo for Sanctum (bottom right).            Might & Magic: The Lava Pits of Aznar United States Sanctum Software (developer and publisher)Released 1983 for Apple II Date Started: 27 February 2020 Date Ended: 29 February 2020 Total Hours: 6 Difficulty: Moderate-Hard (3.5/5) […]

I’d say that’s better than getting membership in a guild.           Ragnarok United States Norsehelm Productions (developer and publisher); distributed in Europe as Valhalla by Optyk Released 1992 for DOS Date Started: 28 January 2020 Date Ended: 26 February 2020 Total Hours: 23 Difficulty: Moderate-Hard (3.5/5) Final Rating: (To come […]

             Ishar: Legend of the Fortress France Silmarils (developer and publisher) Released 1992 for DOS, Amiga, and Atari ST Date Started: 22 February 2020 I’ve been wanting to play Ishar for a while now, partly because I bought the entire series in 2014, and partly because while I thought Crystals […]

About how it goes every time I face a new monster.             Playing Ragnarok is a process of repeatedly convincing yourself that your character is getting stronger and you’re getting better and then suddenly getting torn apart–quite literally–by the next level of foe. That’s not quite a complaint, but it’s […]

         Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny Germany Released in Germany as Das Schwarze Auge: Die Schicksalsklinge attic Entertainment Software (developer); Fantasy Productions (German publisher); Sir-Tech (U.S. Publisher) Released 1992 for DOS, 1993 for Amiga Date Started: 13 November 2019 Date Ended: 7 February 2020 Total Hours: 38 Difficulty: Moderate-Hard […]

You win some, you lose some.             Ah, roguelikes. There’s no other sub-genre in which this kind of narrative makes any sense:             When I walked into the room, I saw a deadly asp on the other side of it. I didn’t want him to get too close, so I […]

The game efficiently blends its title screen with character creation.           The Dungeon of Danger United States Written and published as code in the Mostly BASIC series by Howard BerenbonVersions released in 1980 for the Atari 800, 1981 for the Apple II and TRS-80, 1983 for the Commodore PET, 1984 […]

The chalice and the anchor refer to the two artifacts you find in the game.           Knight’s Quest United States Instant Software (developer and publisher)Released in 1978 for the TRS-80Date Started: 7 February 2020 Date Ended: 7 February 2020 Total Hours: 1 Difficulty: Very Easy (1/5) Final Rating: (To come […]

Since there’s no in-game title, here’s the title from the printed instructions.           The Devil’s Dungeon United States Written and published as code by C. William EngelVersions released for BASIC computers (1978), Atari 800 (1979), Commodore VIC-20 (1983), Apple II (1984), TI-99 (1984), and Commodore 64 (1984)Date Started: 4 February […]

Why are we leaving revelries behind?                 I’m forced to confess that I got a little help on the endgame, both from some ROT-13’d commenter notes and a “low-spoiler walkthrough” that I found when Googling those precise terms. The game is a bit obtuse in its final moments, requiring the […]

            Ragnarok United StatesNorsehelm Productions (developer and U.S. distributor); distributed in Europe by Optyk as Valhalla Released in 1992 for DOS Date Started: 28 January 2020        What a treat. I had no expectations of Ragnarok before firing it up, and I was in love with it within an hour. […]

Map of my journey this session, including an aborted trip south from Phexcaer (ended at the “X”).             My last entry on Realms of Arkania ended negatively, so I’ll start positively here. I like what I now see as the game’s overall approach: 1. Create a large game world. 2. […]

The first attempt at a history of a troubled company.              Our tour through the games developed and published by Paragon software has included some highly-original (if not highly-rated) titles, including Alien Fires: 2199 A.D. (1987), Wizard Wars (1988), MegaTraveller 1: The Zhodani Conspiracy (1990), Space 1889 (1990), MegaTraveller 2: […]

This door brings our explorations to a finish.           Dungeons of Avalon II: Island of Darkness GermanyZeret (developer); published by CompuTec Verlag (German) and Amiga Mania (English) Released in 1992 for the Amiga Date Started: 7 January 2020 Date Ended: 26 January 2020 Total Hours: 29 Difficulty: Average (3/5) Final […]

Yes, I’m as surprised as you to see this screen on my blog.             The Legend of Zelda JapanNintendo (developer and publisher) Released 1986 for NES in Japan; western release in 1987. Date Started: 14 January 2020 Date Ended: 25 January 2020 Total Hours: 15 Difficulty: Hard (4/5) Final Rating: […]