The RPG Consoler

Game 61

Title: Ghost Lion, Legend of the
Released: October 1992 (July 1989 JP)
Platform: NES
Developer: Kemco
Publisher: Kemco
Genre: RPG
Exploration - Top-down
Combat - Turn based
Series - Standalone

This seems like a strange choice by Kemco, localizing a three year old game denounced as a Dragon Quest clone. I wonder if they'd hoped to ride its success in the west as the fourth title was to release at the same time. The game wasn't well received; even the female protagonist (and the woman on the front) failed to sell the game. It also suffered an identity crisis as the manual, cart, and box list only Ghost Lion as the title, while the title screen shows Legend of The Ghost Lion.

This is another one of those thankfully short games

The story began with Maria's parents leaving on a trip to solve the mystery of the white lion that once attacked their small village. It was driven away by a young warrior that threw a spear at it. The lion fled into a cave east of the village, never to be seen again. Instructed to wait for them, Maria instead visited the village elders who told her to embark on her own journey.

It's dangerous to go alone, take this (this intro is really well done)

According to the manual, her parents were gone for mere days, while the game itself suggests they were never heard from again. The elders gave further instruction to search for a lamp. Providing her with a wood key as well, they sent her into the cave alone. Their last word of advice was that the lion was rumored to reside beyond the Gate of Evil.

*Plop*

So they trapped Maria inside a cave. A menu is used to select actions to take: Speak allows Maria to talk to anyone in front of her, Goods enable her to use or drop items, Look searches the ground (mostly to open treasure chests), and Vigor lists the current status of her and her spirits. The wood key opens up the only door visible. Further in the cave is a chest with the lamp, a dagger, and a second key that opens a gold door. (It's interesting to note this is the only time the game uses keys.) This cave seems intended as a safe area to play with the interface before plunging into the main game.

Literally

She awoke near a lake with three fairies. They explained the hope (level), courage (HP), and dreams (MP) values. There's no experience in the game. The only benefit to combat is money (called rubies). Instead, Maria finds fragments of hope inside treasure chests to level up. This increases her stats as well as the power and spells of the summons she calls upon. The spear summons the young fighter named Moja, and the lamp materializes an old magician called Twana. Maria isn't completely defenseless though, as she is able to attack with the dagger. Still, it's better to rely upon Moja or Twana to do the bulk of the fighting. Their power level acts as their HP and action points. Once it reaches 0 they vanish, but can be called once again as long as Maria has enough dream.

All summons have a defend option, which shields some of the damage done to Maria when she's the target of an attack -- multiple summons using defend can reduce the damage to 0

The game is seen from a completely top-down perspective. Towns serve as a hub for information on the main quest and the next goal as well as shops to buy restorative items: bread increases courage, tears restore dream, a blue ring increases Maria's defense, and a bomb that did decent damage in the early game. Dungeons are rather small compared to those seen in a Dragon Warrior game, even the first.

The first town also has a ship that can take Maria to different locations

Unlike Dragon Warrior, the game has a number of interesting side quests. Not mandatory to the game's completion, Maria can help a woman stave off hunger, find a music box, and exchange a magic horn for a broomstick that allows fast travel to any pixie lake. The rewards for each of these range from hints to the main quest that are easily discovered, or rare items like the broom or a rope that binds enemies. A good number of the dungeons are optional, but hold fragments of hope or summoning items.

Exited the cave above, and missed the town to the left hidden in the mushrooms my first time through

I've avoided going on about the main quest because it's rather rote if you've played RPGs before. Maria is set on finding the white lion (forget her parents). First she has to recover some stardust from a goblin that stole it. Returning the stardust to the Cave of Giants opened the path to Davis, a town hidden among mushroom. Werewolves infest the area. I missed Davis. Instead I discovered the lair of the KingWolf, and recovered the dog's eye before I even knew I needed it. Then in the very next battle I died. Death is barely a setback. Maria regains consciousness at her last save point (pixie lake) with all items she'd already obtained, but half as many rubies.

Finishing up the Bread side quest, I'd like to think this is a bread dagger

The Dog's Eye fit into a statue of a dog inside a cave west of Davis. My reward was access to a passage where I found a magical horn. Blowing the horn at some rocks further west opened the path to the town of Pixie. In an optional cave south of Davis, I found the Red Ring and Rapier, which allowed me to summon Hafling (a defensive summon) and Elf (magic based) respectively. Magic replaces a spirit's fight command. The elf became my most valued member as soon as she learned the hold spell. The halfling is obviously a defensive summon as his menu is swapped (defend first and fight second), and judging by how ineffective his attacks were in general.

Turns out this is a side quest as well, although it didn't feel like one at the time

In Pixie I was told of a pixie that was kidnapped to the south. There I defeated Hugeslug that became another summon. The pixie rewarded me with a rope, which at the time I mistakenly decided was just another quest item. I found out near the end of the game that you can use it to bind an enemy. Once bound they're tied down for the rest of the fight. Elf gets a similar spell called hold, but unlike the rope, she can hold any number of enemies at a time; there can be up to three per battle.

This'll make sense in a minute... maybe

I journeyed north to Ranya Tower where I found a water jug. A young girl told me about a music box she'd lost in the witch's forest; however, I wasn't able to locate it. I found a lake further north, slightly east, where I filled the jug with pure spring water. West of there was the witch's forest where I exchanged the horn for her broom. I doused a rainbow child with the spring water and restored her vigor. As a parting gift, she built the rainbow bridge across a river that allowed me to journey onward.

Strangely the remaining towns are all on top of towers

I continued to find interesting items. The Rockwing was another summon, the Wingman. As a straight up fighter, he was kind of a let down. I took the boat to Alko, but only found an arrow, which was by far the best weapon at that point. I retrieved some pixie wings from a man in Kapi Tower, but the pixie I returned them to only confirmed that I should retrieve a crown from an evil island. I really didn't know where else to go until I took the boat, and noticed a cave to the north of Kapi Tower. The crown was traded with some random man in that cave for access to the next continent.

How pertinent is this to the main quest?

Spirit's Tower held the Town of Hope. There I learned of some shoes that would help me cross certain terrain, and a statue that would allow me to defeat a dragon. The missing doll was rumored to be in Orange Moon, which lay beyond the dragon. I found the dragon to the south, completely immune to any attack. Batasa's Forest Town was near the dragon's cave. An old man there told me that the statue could only be used by one familiar in the ways of magic. I picked up some glasses for a friendly witch before departing. The store sold something called Aurora. It cost nearly all my money, but for that price I figured it must be a good weapon. It turned out to be a better defensive item than the blue ring. I should have gone north all along to get the ice shoes in a pyramid so I could get through two caves to the east and claim the statue. I also picked up a magicaxe that summons a dwarf.

The statue banished the dragon immediately

As soon as I used the statue, Twana appeared from the lamp, and with it confronted the dragon. In a bright flash of light both the dragon and Twana disappeared. The party definitely took a hit to overall power with that loss. While Elf was more useful, Twana's magic had a lot more utility. I returned the glasses to the witch, and she told me that I needed a klein jug to drain the lake that blocked the Gate of Evil. Further, she went on to suggest two statues were needed as well, but I don't recall them ever coming into play.

I happened across this innocent looking lake, which turned out to house a dungeon area where I had to fight a frog to gain it as a summon

I found a silver cup and gold rock in the cave with the witch: two additional summons (centaur and some useless mage). The frog was nearby, and I found him before I gained the hint from the town to the southwest: Orange Moon. I purchased a lightning whip there, and dug up the doll for the little girl. She rewarded me with her father's sword, which was actually weaker than the whip. I took a trip out to Mods Island, and picked up the crystal, which housed the last spirit (a giant).

Someone in town told me of a three-cornered deadlock created by the slug, frog, and hydra

Without the three-cornered deadlock in full effect, the hydra won't take any damage from attacks. I retrieved the klein jug, and used it at the lake to drain the water. The Gate of Evil was a big pyramid. At the end, the white lion lay there waiting for me. He was the toughest enemy by far. Before I could get any defenses in place he attacked for nearly 1/3 of my health. Things started to go smoother once I got Aurora up, Elf cast return (which has a chance to reflect an attack back), and summoned a number of spirits for defense. There aren't any healing spells. Restoring courage is limited to ingesting bread--50 courage at a time.

I should have known! Just look at him

So the white lion turned out to be my friend Twana who joined me since the beginning of the game. He had created these trials to encourage Maria to have hope, be courageous, and always dream of a brighter future.

For a second I thought maybe this wasn't the end of the game, but on reflection this may have implied a sequel that never materialized

Maria received a pendant as a parting gift, and then slowly drifted between consciousnesses. She awoke in her mother's arms. Apparently Maria nearly drowned in the river, and she was scolded by her mother for looking for them, proclaiming the white lion was only a legend. The pendant that still hung from Maria's neck proved differently.

Elapsed Time: 8h16m (Final Time: 8h16m)

See you in the sequel... not really

Combatant - The combat is challenging in the beginning, but tapered off quickly. As rubies became less important, combat really only served as a way to delay the inevitable win. Most of the interesting combat options disappeared with Twana, but I wasn't even using half of them at the time. The enemies are a standard fantasy fare. While Maria's strength didn't raise with each level, the summons did seem to have hidden stats that increased.
Rating: 5

This was the best combat, having nearly all my summons out

Admirer - Leveling up increases the spell selection and strength of each spirit, but it comes at a higher dream cost to summon. This higher cost encourages the use of newer summons, and is the main reason I used the Elf over Twana early on. There's no appearance adjustment or customization other than the choice of who to use more often in battles. Using a summon more often has no effect on their increases.
Rating: 2

The lion waits patiently as I moved to the beat of the music thinking I'd be able to avoid combat... it seemed to work

Puzzler - The main quest is well defined, but it centers around combat. There aren't any puzzles to solve, although the number and variety of side quests is surprising for the genre at this stage in development. Everything presented fits well with the world, although the rewards are sometimes merely hints for the main quest. As for multiple solutions, there's only one way through.
Rating: 4

There's no way to be better prepared

Instigator - There's not much to the main story. It's set in the beginning, and not really clear Maria is making any progress until we're near the doorstep of the Gate of Evil. NPCs are helpful in getting us there, but there's no development of a main plot. Descriptions of the world lore are lacking, and there's no decisions to influence. In the end, it was all a dream (or was it), so maybe the nonsensical nature was apt.
Rating: 3

Mom scolding Maria for doing exactly what she went off to do

Collector - There's a fun assortment of different tools beyond the ones used to call the summons. The economy gets broken near the end, but not until after the dragon. Once it does though, it makes combat pointless. There's nowhere to store items, but inventory space isn't too limited (there is a limit though). It's hard to tell what items do, or how powerful a weapon is without trying it out in combat. Collecting everything is difficult as well. Although summons fit nicely on one screen in combat, there's not a good way to tell Maria has all fragments of hope (26 seems like an strange number).
Rating: 3

I wonder what this magic pendant is supposed to do

Explorer - Developed and produced by Kemco, the music has a distinctive style reminiscent of Shadowgate (same composer). The graphics were well done, and the environments varied enough that I wasn't bemoaning yet another tower town. Exploration was closed off: progress made by finding quest items in dungeons that rarely made sense. It didn't detract from the overall experience.
Rating: 4

It'd be nice if it went through all the summons I'd found

Final Rating: 21 [35%]

Not a bad little game, and one I'd recommend to those looking for a different experience. It's a bit unfair to call this a Dragon Warrior clone when it did so many things differently. About the only thing they have in common is a top-down perspective and similar dungeon presentation. The summoning aspect is rather unique, although there aren't enough times when Maria can make effective use of the whole party.

Apparently only Moja and Twana matter though

Next up is Dragon Warrior 4. I've reshuffled the list to accommodate on-going hardware trouble. I've just recently acquired the tools to repair the system, and--with luck--I'll have a working system by the time I wrap up the next game. First though, a post to cut Gemfire. An interesting strategy game that employs enough statics to be mistaken for an RPG.

Game 47

Title: Lagoon
Released: December 1991
Platform: SNES
Developer: Zoom
Publisher: Kemco
Genre: Action-RPG
Exploration - Top-down
Combat - Real Time Action
Series - Standalone

Was it all just a fairy tale?

These were really the formative years for my perception on console RPGs. Final Fantasy II was great, and I even had fun playing Drakkhen. Lagoon was a short game we rented that I ended buying with my own money because I enjoyed it so much. I don't know if it was the music, the graphics, or the jumping, but something about it resonated with me. The music has a synth motif reminiscent of tunes one might attribute to the Genesis. It's only years later that I'd come to find that this, and Drakkhen, were considered bad games by the majority of opinions on the Internet.

They're probably bathing in it

The story begins with Nasir's mentor, Mathias, instructing him on his destiny. Muddy water drives the plot, and of course there's those demons everywhere. Nasir arrives in Atland to investigate a way to purify the water, and rid the land of demons. There's a short intro sequence that showed a princess, and a man known as Thor that had one red eye and one blue. While traveling in this monster infested land, Nasir failed to realize he should bring a weapon, or armor. So, we arrive in Atland with nothing but the clothes on our back.

*Plop*

The townspeople pointed me towards the mayor, who helpfully funded an expedition into a nearby cave after a man was found badly wounded outside told a tale of a man named Giles trapped within. With some gold in my pocket I purchased a short sword, bandit armor, and an iron shield. The cave was a twisty maze of passages that all looked alike. Combat is a little difficult to get a handle on; the sword has such a tiny range that I found myself running into the enemy more often than actually connecting with it. Unfortunately, that caused damage to Nasir. With a shield I sometimes naturally deflected those hits, but Nasir was wide open while swinging his sword.

Damage causes knock-back, which makes it hard to connect multiple times

Experience and gold increased after defeating an enemy, and there's no real fanfare for leveling up either. HP and MP naturally regenerate while standing still, so the game isn't too difficult with some caution. I found Giles on the mountain top, but he was badly hurt and asked for a healing pot. The first time I tried to give it to him I accidentally pressed the button to use it on myself. I can just imagine the scene, Nasir slowly drinks the potion down to the last drop right in front of him. I purchased another from the item shop, and retrieved him. He followed me back to town at a snail's pace. Once I returned him, Giles pointed me to the faith healer. She told me that a demon named Samson lay behind a locked door in the cave, and gave me the key.

This is how close I have to be to hit him

I gained the fire crystal after defeating him. Magic is equipped by selecting a crystal and staff. The combination allows the use of one spell at a time. An old man in Voloh directed me to find three tablets that could unseal Philips Castle. The mayor provided me the earth staff (combined with the fire crystal gave me the fireball spell) as well as an item to free his people from the castle. The store didn't have much for sale, but there was an overpriced Shiny Ball (10,000 gold), which was said to increase regeneration. There's no way I was going to afford that; I don't think I had that much even by the end of the game. Oh, and some princess named Felicia disappeared. A man named Zerah appeared to be the main antagonist, and was seen right before her disappearance. Thor was in town, and he gave me his third of the tablet as well as helped me find the tablet hidden in the plains. The last was just outside Philips Castle.

Let's be honest, who else has forgotten there was a jump button by this point and walked off the bridge?

With all three tablets found, the old man in Voloh translated the spell (Hieke Larmerila Kemuhi--I wonder if this is just gibberish, or is meaningful to someone) to unlock Philips Castle. Thor had his own business to attend to and left. Inside the castle I found some gold armor and keys to the prison. Once inside the prison, I used the mantle on the elf prisoners who rewarded me with the key to the boss room. I picked up a large shield along the way, and then found myself facing a two-headed lion with wings on the roof. This was the first real challenge, and I'm glad I remembered I to save just outside its door. Magic doesn't work on bosses, and regeneration is halted while fighting them. Items can still be used, but only one of each can be carried, so there's no chance to stock up on potions.

After defeating this boss I learned its name was Natela

Killing off Natela rewarded my with a silver sword and unlocked a door on the side of the castle, which housed a passage to the Dwarf Desert. I picked up the Sonic Armor in Denegul, the next village over, but had to put off the purchase of the Great Shield until another time. One of the old men in town provided an ancient book about a moon blade, made of moon stone, and the sky staff. I ran into Thor who lost his pendant back in Voloh, and he asked me to retrieve it. There's no fast travel, so I had to trek back and forth. One of the elves had the pendant. Thor exchanged the pendant for a powerful mirror, which destroyed a couple large rocks outside the Dwarf Cave. Inside was a wind crystal, magic sword, and a protective ring. Rings constantly drain MP, so they're great for boss battles, but not much else.

Oh, yeah, and I picked up some stone too, which I promptly forgot about

Back in Denegul, Mathias appeared to tell me that the princess Felicia was taken by Ella, who works for Zerah. She escaped through the Dwarf Cave. I showed the moon stone to one of the dwarves as requested, and was rewarded with the freezing pot. That allowed me to freeze a lava flow in the Dwarf Cave, which was the hardest area in the game. Having to go through it three times didn't make it any easier. On the other side was Felicia, being dragged off by Ella. She asked me to save her before they could use her power to move Lagoon Castle, the source of all water. I chased after Ella, but ran into her pet instead. This rock monster was only vulnerable while its eye-stalks poked out.

I never really understood pet rocks, but this one was named Eardon

The next town was suffering from a disease assumed to have come from the muddy water. The priest in Poper asked me to retrieve some mint from Siegfried Castle. He'd go himself, but you know, demons. The enemies there weren't much trouble, and I came away with a maxim shield, thunder armor, and the mint. I was then directed to some spirits underneath the chapel. The thanked me, but also issued a warning of the coming battle between light and dark. I received the star staff, and a key to Duma's room, the next boss guarding the path to Lagoon Castle. On my way there I collected the force sword, and two more rings. Duma could crush with his hands, and his face was only vulnerable during a short time when his mask was open.

I took a lot of damage from being crushed

The power ring was my ring of choice. I gained the water crystal and key of Siegfried for my trouble. At the back entrance of the castle I ran into Thor, apparently working for the bad guys. I watched helplessly as Lagoon Castle rose to the sky on a pillar of water. At least they left a teleportation pad to Lilaty, home of little people. They spoke of an ice cave that required a fur mantle, which was held by a big liar. Someone gave me a fire of truth to smoke him out. Without the fur mantle equipped, the ice cave causes constant damage. Before I headed in, I also gained an angel's bell to awaken some nymphs. Hugging the walls led me to the boss room where I faced a huge snowball, named Thimale. Definitely one of the more difficult battles, but mostly due to not knowing its weak spot. I first had to destroy some ice pillars, and then place myself in such a way as to attack the ball without getting hit.

Then they blew me away to Phantom Hill

Nymphs were waiting on the other side. They gave me the moon staff before sending me off to Phantom Hill in pursuit of Zerah. This hill was sparsely decorated. The only notable feature was a small hole where Ella was hiding out. Ella was another tough battle. She would teleport randomly, and spray out fireballs. The more damage she took, the faster she went. Defeating her made stairs appear. At the summit I watched as Zerah and Mathias faced off in a heated battle. Zerah escaped, but Mathias was mortally wounded. He revealed that Thor and Nasir were sons of the gods, one light and one dark. What's with these games where a big reveal is that the bad guy is related to the good guy? With the last of his strength, he passed on the thunder crystal, and blew me away to the clouds.

Only some clouds can support Nasir, others are death

At the end of the clouds, I leaped on to the floating island supporting Lagoon Castle. At the threshold, I read a message that the moon stone could be used in the moonlight to create the moon blade. By this point though, I had completely forgotten I already had the moon stone. So, I scoured Lagoon Castle multiple times looking for it. I found the moonlight early on, rescued the king and queen, and rescued the princess from a magic mirror. I found a healing ring, the moon armor, and defeated Battler (a magician with two powerful minions). Battler teleported around while his minions stalked the room in a set pattern.

Somehow I ended up getting a double KO on him one time, note the full health bar that is filled after defeating a boss

Beyond Battler was an island where the evil spirit was revived. Inside the cave I found the time ring, a mostly useless item. I was still searching desperately for the moon stone, so after exhausting all paths in that cave I returned to Lagoon Castle. I found the moon shield, and then finally, I thought I could defeat the final boss without the sword. I gave it a valiant effort. The final boss consisted of multiple battles. First a large head inside a bubble, then a gargoyle with a whip, then Zerah, then Thor (two forms), and finally a red gargoyle. However, the game let me fight through all of these monsters without trouble up until the red gargoyle, which only took damage from the moon sword.

This is Thor's final form; why can't I turn into a bird?

Thor and Nasir shared a touching reunion as Zerah's control was broken. Thor's soul entered his pendant ("by the power of the secret place") as his body died. I tried to fight the red gargoyle many times before I finally resolved myself to returning to the moonlight. I then remembered, with the help of my chat, that I had already picked up the moon stone four hours earlier. With the moon blade, I easily defeated the red gargoyle, and was congratulated by the disembodied voice of Nasir and Thor's father. The game ended in a montage of cut-scenes, and the final screen seen above.

Elapsed Time: 7h36m (Final Time: 7h36m)

This screams sequel, doesn't it?

Combatant - Combat was often more aggravating than challenging. Getting into the right position to connect with the small sword was the biggest issue. Magic is available, but quickly becomes useless by either adding long wait times to allow for regeneration or are completely ineffectual. Enemies are varied, but lack animation. Rewards are well paced, and max level just out of reach without grinding. Although an action game, stats play a large role.
Rating: 5

Lagoon Castle returned to it's rightful place

Admirer - There aren't any additional abilities, but magic is customized based on personal preference. In the end, everyone has the same character. Equipment alters appearance, but if you're not using the latest piece then you're going to have a bad time. Controls are a bit stiff, and there aren't any advancement options.
Rating: 3

Nasir remembered his lost brother

Puzzler - No puzzles to speak of, although it's puzzling how I could forget I had a certain item. The main quest does well to remind the player of what to do next. No side quests, and no alternative paths through the challenges.
Rating: 1

Thor's strange eyes stare into my soul

Instigator - The story is a bit strange. While investigating muddy water at the furthest point from the source, we get wrapped into evil plans to be evil. A princess is kidnapped, and great demons are summoned (to stand idly by in dungeons). The NPCs do well to inform the player, but the game lacks descriptions for items and any way to alter the course of events. To move the story along I was often seeking out bosses without really knowing what purpose lay beyond. All in the name of good I suppose.
Rating: 3

I guess Nasir hooks up with the princess

Collector - There's lots of stuff, but most of it isn't optional. Getting the Shiny Ball is probably the true collector's task. The economy keeps a nice balance throughout, and there's a slot in inventory for every item. Only one of each can be had at any time though.
Rating: 6

The final screen pans up to the moon before the book closes

Explorer - The graphics are bland, and lack detail. The music was well done however, and I was surprised to hear such sounds come from a SNES game. The world doesn't offer much reward for exploration, although the background in Phantom Hill is nice. There's definitely not much to write home about. This was a port from the X68000, and it shows how little was done to enhance the experience.
Rating: 3
 
Final Rating: 21 [35%]

The intro sequence made it seem like Nasir and Thor work together

Overall, I had fun. I can see why some might not like the experience; it's definitely a bit trying on the patience with such a small weapon. The lack of magic against bosses limits combat strategy a bit. I just have such good memories of the game as a child that are hard to separate my bias from spilling into the review. It's a fun little action RPG, and at about 6 hours I think it's doable for most fans of the genre. Definitely not a good choice for a first time, and easily skipped by most.

Next up, I have a couple games to cut, and then we'll wrap up 1991 with Crystal Warriors. That's a game I had no experience with going in, and it turned out to be one of the easiest games I've had to date with a little thanks from a strange max level "bug."

Game 37

Title: Drakkhen
Released: August 1991 (May 1991 JPN)
Platform: SNES
Developer: Infogrames
Publisher: Kemco-Seika
Genre: RPG
Exploration - First-Person / Third-person
Combat - Active
Series - Drakkhen

I can't wait!

When I think of RPGs on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) my mind doesn't immediately go to Drakkhen, but maybe it should. As the first RPG available during its launch month, I'm sure many people bought it expecting an experience similar to Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy, or Phantasy Star. Drakkhen is unlike any of those; in fact I can't recall a game similar to it other than its sequel. Exploration outside uses a first-person perspective, but it transitions to third-person when entering combat or dungeons. Combat is in real-time, but unlike most games the player doesn't have full control. Party members act on their own volition based on a designated strategy. Only a single character can be controlled.

It's only possible to re-roll stats three times per character, the third roll you're stuck with or restart all character creation

I've already beaten the game once before, so going through it again wasn't too difficult. The party is comprised of a warrior, scout, magician, and a priest. Each character can either be male or female, although aside from changing warrior to amazon and priest to priestess I didn't notice any difference. I was lucky to get some relatively good stats for each character, some even on the third roll. Once the characters are assembled the story begins. A story that seems so butchered as it made the transition from the Amiga to DOS, from English to Japanese, and then back to the English in the US.

*Plop*

Humans wiped out dragons. An island was made for the Drakkhen; half human, half dragon beings. The drakkhens plan to destroy humans unless four chosen warriors can succeed in figuring out this game. Gone is the part about magic failing in the greater world, and seeking a way to restore it. Before getting dropped in completely, the game suggested to visit the castle Hordkhen off in the distance. Seems simple enough.

Can it be for this one?

Story aside, the controls for the game are very well detailed in the in-game tutorial. That's right, this may be the very first time game controls are explained in the game. The icons read from left to right, top to bottom are: character info (stats, equipment, spells), speak or listen, tutorial, take, combat options, push or use, look, exit castle, and save game. There are two save slots, but they're exclusive, meaning you can't make a back-up. Even rather obscure controls, like pressing L and R to run from combat, are explained in detail.

The in-game map does it's job, but could stand to have some more detail, like the merchant outpost hidden nearby

So let's get to business. Hordkhen's castle was easy to get to, right in front of the party from the start after all. Moving about the 3-D world is a bit odd at times, and the map doesn't help a whole lot when I'm supposedly standing right on top of the building yet it's nowhere to be seen. The first room provided the first challenge. All the doorways have energy fields blocking the path. This theme  repeats in all castles, even the friendly ones. To advance I had to touch the correct symbol, as requested by the disembodied voice when I looked around. Since I knew this was the Earth Prince's castle, a fact described when I first entered, I just needed to figure out which symbol stood for earth. There's only four, so how hard could it be?

Turns out it's incredibly easy

The earth symbol (hidden by my scout) looks just like water, except inverted. I noted these for later even though looking at the symbols in any castle will tell you their order. Exploring the castle I learned of a group called the Ninth Tear Allies, and how I needed to inform Hordkha that Hordkhen is going to betray them. Hordkhen himself gave no indication of any betrayal, and instead sent me on a mission to speak with Hordkha to the east. It's a bit strange after the introduction that any Drakkhen would be friendly to humans. From some battles in the castle I found two bows, and gave them to my spellcasters. Bows in this game are very overpowered, and by the time I left to seek out Hordkha I had gained a couple levels.

I think you mean Hordkha, I just came from Hordkhen's castle and it's fine... don't worry, I get them confused too

Going straight east isn't an option, and the first real obstacle in the game doesn't present an easy solution. There were a few choices. One, do what I did as a kid and walk backwards through the barrier. The game isn't smart enough to push you west, and instead just pushes you backwards. Two, normally you can't cross the border to the north or south because an old man will pop up and say you're not strong enough; however, there's a small section to the north where the rainbow road stops before reaching the water territory border. Third, and one I didn't know until recently, there's a teleporter that will send the party from the west side of the island to the east.

Huh, this is a strange formation, I wonder what happens when I woo...ahh....

It's quite a trip. On the other side of the island was Princess Hordkha's castle. Her attendants greeted me from her ruined castle to inform me that Prince Hordkhen's troops attacked. Well that's strange, I was just sent by the prince to... wait, seems the story is changing and it was in fact Prince Haaggkhen's troops that have captured Princess Hordkha. Back to Hordkhen to inform him of this confusing news. Of course, that is if I can get past the new killer shark installed in the moat.

The trick is to cross only after the fin appears on the right side of the bridge... it's funny that the game already knows my scout is dead before the shark has actually touched him

Prince Hordkhen is a bit miffed about the whole kidnapping news, and directed me north to the swamp castle of Prince Haaggkhen. Before heading over I explored a bit and found the previously mentioned wandering merchant outpost. Not much help at this point, but I bought a couple healing phials. In the swamp I stopped by the house on the map and found the water prince's old adviser, relieved of his post on the whimsy of the prince. He confided that the only way to enter the castle was the unlock magic. I already had the spell, so I set out for the castle. The rooms inside each castle so far have had a very empty feeling. Not only the castles, the whole wilderness is devoid of unique features. Some rooms have equipment hanging on the walls for any would be adventurers to grab, and others might have a red dot or two that indicate something small to look at or take. Some are letters or books, and others are things like keys or phials.

Except for this one, I couldn't find where that red dot in the center actually indicated

Prince Haaggkhen was nowhere to be found; however, I did manage to find my way into his dungeon. A fearsome water elemental dared to bar my way, but with some strategic maneuvering I lured him away from the door and skirted around. Inside was a prisoner who, once freed, told me princess Hordkha was transferred to Princess Naakhtkha's castle. Before heading there I was told to visit Prince Naakhtkhen in the northeast to get directions. Well, I didn't really need directions, but the entryway was guarded until I visited the air prince.

The story is so convoluted that it can't even keep itself straight

Seriously, I'm not sure if the game is purposefully misleading, or if it just keeps getting the names mixed up

So, the story so far is that the fire prince has an alliance with the prince of water and princess of air. The earth prince seems to want to join the fire alliance, but he has yet to be accepted. That alliance has kidnapped the earth princess, and destroyed the air prince's castle. The air prince is willing to assist me in gaining access to the air princess' castle where the earth princess is being held. The air princess plans to kill the earth princess for her gem.

The Anak is the only place to revive a fallen character (unless there's a high level priest spell as well, but I didn't level very high)

The air princess, like the water prince, was strangely absent from her castle. I found a note that suggested a high priest was to carry out a sacrifice, and then send the gem to the princess. Afterwards, there was a plan to do the same to the air prince and send his gem on the Hazhulkhen, the Fire Prince. In the dungeon, I found Hordkha, still alive. She told me of her involvement with the 9th Tear Alliance, and connected the tears to the gems that each Drakkhen lord holds. She then gave me her gem, and she instructed me to seek out Haaggkha, the Water Princess. Before parting she mentioned that I should seek the priest in the middle of the swamp if I ran into trouble. In the end, it was merely another Anak.

It's not like they have bloody signs on them

The water princess instructed me to destroy Hordkhen before he had the chance to join the fire alliance. With the way he reacted to his sister's kidnapping you'd think that'd convince him to stay with the 9th Tear. She passed on a Dragon Slayer sword, and told me to come back with the prince's gem. Hordkhen was less than thrilled to see me again and suddenly attacked.

This is when the game kicks things into high gear

Even with fully decked out armor, the drakkhen lords do so much damage in a single hit that it's impossible to avoid dying. This is probably the main reason every review I've looked at suggests the need to grind. All it really takes is some luck. When I returned with Hordkhen's gem, the water princess rewarded me with her gem. My next task was to follow up with Hazhulkha, the fire princess, another member of the 9th Tear who hasn't been heard from for some time.  When I arrived at the castle to the southwest the door was shut tight. A nearby tent informed me that the doors would only open at dawn.

Uh... all?

Hazhulkha's castle was a mess. Corpses lined every room. Hazhulkha herself was slain, pierced through the heart while she sat on her throne. Her gem was gone. Luckily the thieves had not gone far. In the next room was an easy battle for her gem, held by one of the fire alliance troops. Naakhtkhen entered the room as I recovered the gem, and declared that he would avenge Hazhulkha. By that, he meant order me to avenge her by killing his sister Naakhtkha.

These prices sure escalated quickly

Naakhtkha quickly took out my fighters, but her ranged attacks seemed ineffective. I switched from bows to fireballs for the first time, and eventually whittled her down. I had to use a couple quaffs from the MP phials. As her body fell, her brother showed up, again late for the party. He passed his gem to my party, and the final task of retrieving the water and fire prince's. The water prince was by far the most difficult with a ranged attack that took out everyone except the priest. I ran through 8 uses of the MP phial before I finally gave up on that first attempt. On the next one, I defeated him within a couple of rounds. The battle system in this game makes little sense, and just seems like a random mess.

None shall pass!

The fire prince's castle was guarded, and I didn't have a clue about how to enter. However, while I circled the outside of the castle, I remembered that I needed to enter it from the south. I don't recall where I received that clue from, but there was mention of some kind of secret passage on the south side when I last played. Once inside, I made quick work of exploring the place. The path divided into two. The left way led to a set of dragon armor and sword. On the way I met a drakkhen in the service of Haaggkha who had gained the confidence of fire troops, and he was now working as a double agent. All this intrigue is interesting, but it never led anywhere.

That sounds very unimportant, write that down

The game feels incomplete with all the empty clues, as if they rushed it out the door to meet launch time without fleshing out the game. In another room an old man suggested I needed to pray to some primordial gods, but I found no way to do so, and in the next breath he chastised me. In four of the castles I found tombs with strange inscriptions. The priest at the air zone's Anak mentioned these tombs held the key to eight spells that should be cast at the Stonehenge. The messages are rather cryptic, and I'm not sure how they could correspond to spells:

Earth Castle - "the almighty..." "...the gods."
Water Castle - "of life and death..." "...the source."
Air Castle - "from your humble.." "...servants."
Fire Castle - "remorse..." "...must be accepted."

There's also a couple mentions of "the jade" that baffles me

At the end of the right path from the beginning of the fire castle is the lord of that castle, Hazhulkhen. As the final boss of the game I'd expected a big fight, but someone forgot to give him a ranged attack, and he only sat there. Once defeated one of the priests appeared, and told me to take the gems to island's center. So, I took them to the rainbow road in anticipation of creating the ninth tear. Four giant dragons descended from the sky, used their magical eye-beam lasers, and ended the game. They went on for a bit about how I accomplished a great deed, and how justice was restored. I have no idea how killing the drakkhen and stealing their gems was justified. Maybe everything will be explained in the sequel!

Elapsed Time: 5h40m (Final Time: 5h40m)

Figuring out why this game was made...

Combatant - Combat is a chaotic mess. One character is controlled, while the others are automated. All mechanics are hidden, so it's difficult to tell when someone is hitting, when they've missed, or why they took so much damage. The bow and arrow is completely unbalanced. With experience gained from each successful attack, it can be difficult to get melee characters leveled up. The spellcasters don't get damaging spells until level 3, so they basically require a ranged weapon or will never level up. Luckily everyone starts with a strength spell that seems to increase damage and accuracy. There are some spell options, enemies are strangely interesting yet mostly deadly, and everything is based on stats even if I don't understand the interaction. Rewards for combat are okay, but rarely match the risk involved.
Rating: 3

Alright, who let their kid draw an enemy?

Admirer - I liked the paper doll aspect, although there weren't a lot of choices for equipment. Characters, and even party make up, are set in stone. You'll always have one of each class, and they always level the same way. Experience gained is hidden, so it's hard to tell how much grinding really helps. Controls outside have some slowdown, but transitions are smooth. During combat and indoors the characters move slowly, but the option to quickly switch between characters and even explore solo is welcomed.
Rating: 4

My ending stats; there's really no reason to grind

Puzzler - This game could have been filled to the brim with puzzles, and in other versions may have been. There are riddles, and expositions that suggest there's more to the game than I found. What is the jade? Where is Stonehenge? What are the spells indicated on the tombs? I never got lost for what to do in the main quest, except for finding the clue that would allow me into the fire prince's castle. It might be the water princesses, or possibly a house I missed. There are no side quests, or they're so obscure I didn't find them. The use of the symbols throughout the game was interesting, but their significance wasn't explored.
Rating: 3

The only true riddle in the game can just be brute forced with 16 combinations

Instigator - Wow, the story. An incoherent mess if I ever saw one. It's possible to piece it together, but there are so many loose ends and inconsistencies that make it difficult. In the end it doesn't get in the way of completing the game, but there are times when names get mixed up in such a way that I wasn't sure the game knew what kind of story it was telling. There's no influence I could instill, and any time I started to get into it I was jarred out by confusing names or premise.
Rating: 1

Oh really?

No, not really

Collector - There sure are a lot of items in the game. Rings a plenty, and staffs that enhance the characters. Weapons and armor share a different inventory from those general items, which also includes keys, torches, and restorative phials. Both are limited however, and with the need to keep additional armor since each piece has a hidden durability, they fill up quickly. There's no way to tell if one equipment is better than another except by equipping it and seeing what changes. Even then I couldn't tell what the life or magic staff did at first glance. The currency is called jade, and it's hard to come by in quantities enough to purchase all the available equipment.
Rating: 3

I hoped "see" would mean identify, but it only meant see the inventory of a character

Explorer - I think the best part of the game is its soundtrack. The music uses soothing tunes throughout the game. The graphics are detailed inside, but outside it's barren. It would have been nice to find Stonehenge and possibly other unique features, but there's very little reward for doing so and so much open area to explore. The open world isn't so open right away. Each elemental land only opens up as the story progresses. At least the game is short.
Rating: 4

I do wonder if this sight is actually in the game... looks like the desert land in one of the corners

Final Rating: 18 [30%]

Overall the game feels unfinished, but playable barely. Maybe with another year of polish this could have been a great title, like Dragon View (Drakkhen II). Unfortunately with the flop of this game confidence in the second wasn't very high, so it didn't do as well as it should have. Another game finished, and now we move on to Shining in the Darkness. I've only played it a bit (I remember a crab boss), so it should be fun to complete.