The RPG Consoler

Before we get to the full rating--in case anyone is curious how the game measures on the scale--I've included the RPG scale here because the game actually gained a point overall.

Willow - Rating(12 RPP)
1)  - Character advancement: practice/experience based advancement, stat or level increases, multiple classes or characters, customize characters
2)  - Combat: character stats used for combat, additional combat options, turn based
3)  - Items and equipment: store to buy and sell, equipment decisions, item decisions
4)  - Story: main story at the forefront; world full of hints and lore; descriptions for objects, people, and places
5)  - Exploration: open world from the beginning, visited locations remain open
6)  - Quests and Puzzles: side quests not related to the main quest, puzzles and riddles to solve

The point gain came from the descriptions for each item. It's an interesting addition, but it would be better if it were available to read in the menu as well. On to the review...

Combatant
Willow is small, but he wields a big sword. The range of his swing is pretty forgiving, making landing hits very easy; of course, this is also true for enemies as well. Many times I wondered how an enemy even hit me, as I was sure Willow was out of range. There's not a lot of time between vulnerability either, so many times one hit turned into two or three before I properly reacted. Bosses are the worst offenders, and Kael wins first place. Strangely healing items are disabled during these battles where they'd most useful. Fortunately, the cheap hits are spread far enough apart not to overwhelm the experience.

There's no deep strategy as MP is best saved for healing, and many enemies are easily killed by continuous swings or hitting their weak spots. A variety of enemies are introduced throughout the game, but many are recolored to indicate a higher difficulty. One sword is used on magic wielding enemies, while all others are only effective against normal enemies. This gives our first taste of a weakness dynamic; however, it's gone a bit too far here since there's no choice involved when selecting a weapon, it's either right or wrong. Each weapon has a level requirement; if not met, swings are slowly executed. It's not difficult to compensate for this, but it really doesn't add anything to the fun. By the middle of the game, combat becomes stale. Other than the bosses, no new enemies are introduced.
Rating: 4

Face Eborsisk, the two-headed dragon... one head at a time

Admirer
In case you didn't know, you play as Willow. There's no customizing his appearance, and while the sword and shield aren't present when one isn't equipped, they all look the same readied. By the end of the game it's necessary to be close to max level to ensure you have enough MP for Bavmorda, and gaining the couple extra levels to max out really doesn't affect much. Experience is only gained through defeating enemies while magic spells are acquired from chests or taught by NPCs. There's no way to customize Willow into anything personal. Controls are handled well, except for when getting stuck on corners.
Rating: 2

Most enemies are just as big as Willow

Puzzler
Most goals are clearly defined when speaking to all NPCs, which is necessary as there are many hidden triggers for certain events. However, there are a few glaring omissions where you're left to wander around until you find the proper place. I don't know what's worse, the NPC you need to return to later, or needing to enter a previously barred area to find an item. There are no hints for either. Other puzzles have no hints, but the solution is fairly simple to figure out by trying every combination of magic.

There are a few side quests available, and the rewards for them are beneficial. Also, some magic is optional, although not very useful. Don't expect any branching solutions here, and trying to skip ahead will only mean the NPC you need isn't there yet.
Rating: 2

I don't remember the game telling me the slime avoids monsters, but I got it eventually

Instigator
Oh the NPCs, why do they like to hide so often? The conversations will change based on some events, but the last full village we find is the second one. Kchil spoke of his village, but we're never able to visit. Everything is geared towards getting us to the end by the time we leave Dew. It's almost as if the designers ran out of ideas for the world, or maybe they attempted to follow the movie too closely. Many events of the movie are at least paid lip service even if their impact on the game is negligible. Immersion is often broken by these elements and the constant wandering around aimlessly looking for the next trigger. The player isn't an active participant of the story, but merely pushed along a certain path.
Rating: 2

I don't believe there really is a village

Collector
There are a good number of items, swords, shields, and spells to collect on this adventure. Not all of them are on the beaten path either, so searching every corner is necessary to get everything. Items are passively used, but the manual and game suggest otherwise. Inventory isn't an issue as there's only one of everything in the world and no shops. Everything is found in chests or given to Willow. The best weapon or shield is obvious as shown by increasing the proper stat; spells don't have obvious descriptions, but the only mystifying one is Renew (which apparently turns some enemies into weaker monsters). When receiving an inventory item, a short description is given, but a number of times it only hints at its use.

Collecting all items is obvious as every slot is filled; however, swords, shields, and spells stop short of the bottom. Knowing if you missed a piece of equipment is possible if you pick up a later one, as a previous slot will be empty; this doesn't work for spells or items though as they're more or less randomly placed. Getting the password for the game is only available after dying. Having everything doesn't make the game any easier, and you're still in for a challenge.
Rating: 3

Couldn't come up with three more spells?

Explorer
The music is enjoyable, but the graphics are a little washed out for my taste. Maybe it's my TV though, as the screenshots seem to have more color. Sound effects are missing for swinging or stabbing the sword through the air, which seemed a little odd. Everything goes well together, and the final town's devastation is evident by the abandoned and boarded up houses. The caves repeat the same layout quite often depending on the number of exits from the screen. Wall color changes based on which cave you're in, but in a single cave there's no telling where exactly you are. There aren't any really interesting sites to see, and even the final boss room is similar to all others. Exploration doesn't feel as open as it should because of the event triggers that much be tripped before the next area opens. With NPCs only appearing after certain times, exploring is most often futile by having to do it again.
Rating: 4

Best view in the game

Final Rating: 17 [28%]

Now this score may seem low, at least it did to me at first, but I think it deserves it when compared to other CRPGs. It offers the least of any aspect so far, and while it's a solid action game, the story and interaction aren't up to par. Still, there's a certain charm to the game. Maybe it's colored by my past experience with it, but I enjoyed it this time around. If you plan on playing it, then I suggest you do so while keeping a walkthrough handy unless you enjoy canvasing the countryside multiple times.

For those that want to take a look at the game and missed my playthrough. There's always the speedrun of this game located at Speed Demos Archive. It'll last about 1 hour 40 minutes.

In case you didn't know

I'm fairly sure I could have finished the night before, but I was feeling the fatigue building to intolerable levels. My reflexes were definitely taking a hit, and my thoughts sluggish. Last night though, I beat Kael the first try. That's it, first try, done. I felt foolish for having died three times before. My strategy was "stand away from his sword and hit him."

Why didn't I think of this last time?

Having just beat Kael--and gained quite a bit of experience (8,000)--I decided it'd be best to take advantage of that and gain another level. Ten minutes later, I gained 1 level, and checked my stats. They didn't raise much at all. In fact, I second guessed that they had changed at all.

That was so not worth it

New level achieved I head back to face off with Bavmorda. One thing I noticed was how empty the way up was. There are some enemies, but at this point they're a joke; most of my the time I was walking through empty rooms, and climbing stair cases. Three levels up I unceremoniously stumble upon the room where the final battle takes place. It looks like any other.

Compared to Kael, Bavmorda is a piece of cake. The only problem I had was I ran out of magic the first attempt, so I had to kill Willow off and try again. During Bavmorda's first form, she only takes damage from the magical cane infused by the power of Fin Raziel. If you run out of MP, tough luck. Her second form falls to the sword easily. 'Form' is probably the wrong word since she looks the same, but it'll suffice.

This fight is really easy. They should have sped her up or something.

Overall, I enjoyed going back through a game I remember enjoying as a kid; however, I don't think I'd really recommend this game to anyone that enjoys playing games without walkthroughs. There are three or four pain points that I'd suggest looking up at the very least if you do plan to play: finding the Wakka Seed, crossing the cursed bridge, getting the key to Nockmaar, and not looking for the crest at the end. Cut all those out, and the seven hours I spent on the game becomes four.

On to the final rating, and then on to Dragon Warrior to once again crush my childhood memories with ideals of good design.

Not all done, but I'm fairly sure I'm at the last boss before the fight with Bavmorda. General Kael is extremely tough. I don't know if I'm missing a way to make this fight easier, but magic seems to be blocked, so I can't heal, and he kills me in 4 or 5 hits. I'm thinking I'll just need to find a good strategy, or grind some.

Death screen

We left off after finding Fin Raziel, and getting a flute from a forlorn ghost searching for a lost love. Turns out this lost love was turned into a monster by, you guessed it, Bavmorda. After beating him down he reverts back to his human form. Our path is once again open, and leads to two towers; at the base of which is the baby Elora Danan. That's right; she plays a minor role, mentioned in passing as the future queen. How much influence could a baby really have though right? At least she made it into the game in some form.

Pay no attention to the person holding me, she is just an unimportant NPC

So, I led Willow round and round the tower floors, which are strangely devoid of challenge in the first tower. Reaching the top, I'm given a blue crystal and a red crystal. Then I receive a crest of some kind because I collected these two crystals. It all just felt like busy work in the worst way. Wasting time here has given "time" for Sorsha to move on, and open up the next area.

Hello! *Hello*... hello

We head into another maze, this time in the mountains. Mapping really distracts me from playing. Many times I'd find Willow getting hit by enemies that weren't there just a second ago. Most enemies only appear while crossing the screen. A couple of game over screens later I decided to take a trip to the bar (in-game) so I didn't have to start again from the towers. I also found that my previous assumption that I lost my items when I continue was wrong. It's possible that only applies to caves since the only missing items were those I found inside shortly before succumbing to overwhelming odds (or lack of skills).

However, when I started, I still had the flute; later I still had a spell that turned Willow into a slime after finding it in the mountain maze. That spell is actually really useful since it stops monsters from spawning, unlike the enemy spell that turns Willow into a pig during which time the enemy gets to take 5 - 10 pot shots while unable to transition to the next screen. It's a very costly spell at 50 MP; I currently have a max of 238 at level 14. Being the slime is also necessary to talk to a guard later on.

I don't remember this part of the movie

After mapping out the mountains I head through a monster infested path with living mouths. Guess what spell we need here. Continuing on we find some random NPCs in a couple of caves, and a cursed bridge. Also, we receive one of the weakest swords in the game, the Wing Sword. Actually, it becomes the most powerful, but first we're allowed to wield it in futility.

Pretty sure he wasn't from the movie either

Now I'm stuck, again. I remember the Nail Clan rodent Kchil, and how he appeared after a triggered event. With low HP, I start heading back towards the hut where I received the spell Thunder, one of the few places to rest. On the way back I decide to talk to the random NPCs again, and this time, one gives me boots to cross the bridge. I'm not sure if it was the attempt to cross, receiving the Wing Sword, or the other random NPC, but what hint do I get that I need to go back to this guy? None. Not a single word indicates that he holds the secret to this bridge. I only succeed here because I've learned to distrust the game.

Realizing that I don't have the MP to cross the monster infested path, I head back to cross the bridge and find the town of Tir Asleen. Here the full force of devastation from Bavmorda is evident. Over half the houses are deserted or boarded up. Beyond this town I find what looks like a castle, and I consider if Bavmorda is here. I wasn't able to enter when first arriving, so I thought I might need Fin Raziel's power to enter; I searched around to ensure there wasn't anything else I missed. A small cave is nearby with a treasure chest blocking another passage, and an old woman who told me she was waiting for the prophesized (it's a word Google! (prophesied sounds wrong, sorry)) savior. Well, here he is standing right in front of her, and Willow continues his silent protagonist act.

Now, it's time to grind. With nothing else to do, I head back to find a good grinding spot near the hut where I learned Thunder. I chose here because it's the closest recovery point to high level enemies. It actually doesn't take too long once I have a good rhythm going, although it's probably the low point of entertainment. Even clocking in at under 30 minutes, one of the fastest grinding sessions I except in the genre, I felt bad for putting viewers through it.

Sorry guys

Level 13 reached, I head to Fin Raziel to change her back to her human form. Why level 13? Because the manual told me so. It actually has some other less blatant common sense hints like "Willow can only walk on pathways," and "Many creatures are best avoided instead of fought." So, I ended up glossing over that section at first. Fin Raziel charges the wand with her magical power, and we're ready to fight Bavmorda. Yet, I feel like I'm missing something.

I bet you want me to beat Bavmorda for you now too

Po! I still haven't found this creature that allows me to warp between places. Rather than spend the time to trek back to Tir Asleen time is better served by finding Po to warp back. Once again, knowing NPCs only appear after triggered I figure he is in an area I've already searched. He ended up being inside the dragon's cave; the one I had previously searched completely. Why game? Why give me an item to help Po if to even have him appear I need to have it? Why can't he be there asking for medicine?

I believe I would have noticed the flying pterodactyl the first time

No use arguing with a game...yet. Having Po allows me to get back to that stronghold, which turns out not to house Bavmorda. Instead it's another boss fight with what I would guess is the two-headed dragon Eborsisk, but only one head appears at a time. Maybe it's just a giant worm though. After this fight I get captured along with Madmartigan, have the crest stolen, and then am freed by the brownies Franjean, and Rool. I'm fairly sure this scene--along with a few others--are in just to say it's based on the movie, but in the original context it was Elora Danan that was captured. Maybe the thought of Willow carrying a baby while fighting all these monsters was edited out because of skittish executives.

Somehow, the treasure chest blocking the cave passage near the stronghold was removed. This opened up the final castle where I found the other bird warrior that enhanced the Wing Sword. He then tells me I need to find a key he gave to an old woman. He gives no hints to her whereabouts, but I do remember meeting her on top of a mountain. Excited to near the end I rush back to Tir Ansleen, head north, up the side of the mountain, and finally reach the plateau where the old woman... was. That's right; it's never easy. Why did she leave? Where did she go? Alright game, now it's time to argue.

More like, "from him"

I eventually find her, head back to the castle, and realize just how small it is compared to the mountain it sits on (the castle base floor is just 5x5). Quickly I find Sorsha, which leads to another scene from the movie. Madmartigan's magically infused professions of love win her over to the side of good, and they live happily ever after. Of course, I still need to take care of Bavmorda. Sorsha tells me the crest is hidden in a cave below the castle. All my searching turns up one empty chest. Really game, this is the most blatant waste of time yet. Not satisfied with me wandering aimlessly after something I need to find, I'm sent wandering aimlessly searching for something that's not even there. Game troll count: 4.

While you're at it, there's this wild goose you could chase

After a few attempts to search the same chest, I give up on this as a red herring, and head to face off with Bavmorda. However, General Kael has other plans, and let me tell you, he's pretty good at executing them (and me). Hopefully my next attempts prove more successful as I know I'm near the end.

This game definitely has irritating design choices, but I'm still having fun with the combat. At least until I got to Kael, which seems like a cheap fight. There's no explanation for why I can't use magic, and Kael does so much damage that I probably need to exploit his AI to have any chance. If only I didn't keep forgetting to switch back to the Wing Sword my attempts might actually succeed.

There are better passwords for the end of the game, but here's what I'm using

I was looking forward to wrapping up last night (a whole night earlier than I thought), but no such luck. Even though I fully expect to beat Willow early tonight, I won't start Dragon Warrior until Saturday. I may play some other games, or may just call it a night and get some rest (possibly do an early write-up).

"We began our journey in the quaint village of Nelwyn. Willow introduced me to his family, and I politely stood by as they bade their farewells. Stopping by his neighbors the High Aldwin, and Vohnkar, Willow further prepared to face off with Bavmorda. Heading north towards Dew we heard rumors of an evil man twisted by the witch queen's influence. It turns out the father of the current man in charge had succumbed to the dark forces abound in the outlands. He sunk to level of stealing food...which doesn't sounds all that bad except he's doing it with evil powers! So, we travel further north into the forest, and come across the entrance to his cave. Standing guard is a skeleton that requests tribute to enter. Instead of dispatching this abomination to nature, Willow believes it's best we listen because...well, I don't rightly know why."

*Plop*

Willow (the game) leads a long line of upcoming games that follow a certain formula to create a good action-adventure-RPG mix. It's obvious that Zelda and Ys are inspirations for much of the game, but many who played this game had probably only enjoyed the former. Many games come from a similar point of origin; though, depending on what we're first introduced to, we will compare (fairly or unfairly) new experiences (games) to those of our past adventures (games). While it's easy to say games like Lagoon and Crystalis borrow heavily from Willow, it's probably more true that all these games are born from the lineage of Ys (or some other obscure game). I've even heard someone call the Shin Megami Tensei series a rip off of Pokemon, most likely due to their experience with Pokemon first. Soon we'll see how things look once we get to Ys, and then I'll get to call it a ripoff of Willow.

Why do you need to tell me your name every day Vohnkar?

With that little aside out of the way, let's get to what happened the first night. There's an introductory narrative when first powering up the game that describes the setup for the story. Bavmorda is the big bad, and Fin Raziel has the power to stop her, but failed. Enter our intrepid hero to save the day. Willow starts very unceremoniously in front of his house. Like Zelda, Willow starts with no weapon, and only by exploring the starting village do we find our first sword and spell.

Fighting is a little awkward at first. Willow seems unfamiliar with all swords at first, which causes him to swing slowly. As more enemies are defeated the sword strikes become faster. Luckily the training time for new swords isn't all that long, but it still seems like an area where realism is creeping over enjoying the game. There are two attacks: a thrust that occurs when pressing a direction and attacking, and a stationary attack that swings the sword in a wide arc. This is definitely a nice feature, but would be better on a system with more than one button to attack.

Willow's magical floating sword (not real magic)

The second button is relegated to activating magic. These come in the form of spells or items that imbue magical powers. Acorns are the first magic item available, but I've yet to get these to work properly. They're supposed to stone (freeze) the enemy for a short time. Maybe the snakemen are immune to the effects, but other than those enemies, I don't have much use for a 'hold' spell. Healing magic is always a good fallback when deciding what to spend magic points on, and before getting to the first boss we are given a healing rod. This proves to be the best magic item yet.

The coolest spell so far, too bad MP is rather limited ('real' magic)

After retrieving a golden statue to give to the skeleton guard, we're allowed access to the first cave, which is a maze of twisting passages that all look the same. I've been able to get through without a map up 'til now, but I think mapping is the way to go for the later caves. So, I've gone back through the video, and mapped everything. It seems I've done well at not missing anything so far.

Once the boss here is defeated--after some game overs--I head back to the entire village thanking Willow. Well here now is a first, a game that acknowledges accomplishments by changing NPC dialogue. I must note this to compare against Ys when I get to that in a few games. Dragon Warrior may also do this, but I'm unsure to what effect as my memory is a bit fuzzy on that game's particulars. This technique is used many other games, and I'm more surprised when completed quests pass without a nod from those I've just saved.

Scene change for boss fights (First boss: Bogarda)

Wandering around is what I've enjoyed the most. While the game is fairly linear by locking areas until I've found a "key" or accomplished some task, it still feels open enough that it's not a concern. Also, the game is quick enough that once I do reach a barrier, it's overcome within minutes. Even if I had tried to venture ahead, a helpful NPC tells me that I would have been blocked at a bridge by an invisible wall, but it's been expelled with the defeat of Bogarda.

Not long after this we run across two of the supporting characters from the movie; up until now the only clue this was based on the movie were the Nelwyns, and back story with Bavmorda and Fin Raziel. The comedy relief brownies make an appearance here, and request that Willow steal the Crystal Ball of Life from an aging dragon. Not being into dragon slaying, and the dragon not into fighting (nor inclined to part with his treasure), Willow instead receives a bracelet dropped by previous thieves. There's no description for the bracelet, and unsure what to do next, I head back out of the cave.

Let's be friends!

Just as I'm about to exit the cave, a wall opens up. This new exit leads to the lake of the Fairy Cherlindrea whom I was searching for. My only guess is the bracelet belonged to the brownies, and magically allowed passage to the lake. From her, I gained a magic cane that would allow me to transform Fin Raziel back into her human form. Next step was to find her. First though, we get to run across a main character from the movie, given a supporting role here.

Well, it's the thought that counts

Madmartigan is one of the characters I remember most from the film. At first I really couldn't tell if he was a good guy or bad guy (the only distinction I had at the time). I was torn between the two because at first he's caged up for crimes, but then he takes care of the baby, yet loses her later on and doesn't care much (this is all from memory). He's a good guy in the end, but it really had an impact on me that someone could seemingly go back and forth between bad and good. It may have been the first shade of gray character I knew.

In the game we meet him on the side of the road sitting down handcuffed. I can only imagine that he's shackled to the ground as well because he's made no effort to move; stranger still, the key to unlock him is stashed in a chest nearby instead of on the person who bound him. After releasing him, he mentions his gratitude, hands over a cheap necklace, and leaves. We seem him make another appearance in a nearby inn where he tells Willow of the wakka seed that allows someone to breath underwater, helpful for the next area where the path is flooded.

Nearby, I found a strange sword that had double the attack strength of my current weapon, but it wouldn't hit anything. At first I thought my swings were just too slow, and I wasn't landing any blows. After some time I switched back and wondered if it was cursed; maybe I needed to unlock the ability to use it. Forgetting the sword for time being, I searched for Kchil of the Nail Clan whose supposed to have wakka seeds; however, he's moved on from his position at the bridge.

We would have met again sooner if you hadn't moved

A good 20 minutes pass wandering around before I run across him again in an area I previously explored. I hope this isn't a theme, as searching places I've already looked is something that I don't appreciate. Maybe I could forgive this if the area was obviously inhabited, but no one was around and this was on an otherwise normal looking side of the road off the beaten path. One thing this did force me to do though was explore a previous area where an old woman asked me to find her pet Po. I remember this bird creature allowed me to warp between different areas quickly, so I'm glad to have stumbled upon the quest to find him.

Maybe I should keep trying anyway to see what else you turn into

Fin Raziel was on the other side of the waterlogged path, but attempts at returning her to her previous form proved futile unless you consider a goat closer to a human than a opossum. Helpfully, Willow is informed he's just not 'experienced' enough, which I took to mean that I need more magic or levels. Continuing on, I ran into Sorsha; she's too busy searching for Madmartigan to bother with me, but she's also blocking the path. The only recourse is to explore a nearby cave.

The cave system here twists and turns once again, and I got fairly lost on where to go next. Some good came out of this though, as I thought about the enemies I couldn't hit, and the sword that couldn't hit any normal enemy. Trying the sword out on these previously invincible enemies proved the right thing to do, and I could finally take revenge on the wizards that continuously turn Willow into a pig.

Oink!

In one area, I found a ghost woman who's searching for her lost love. She gave me a flute, but shortly after that I succumbed to a game over once more; this means most of the progress I made is negated. I stopped for the night after retrieving my password.

That's right, unlike Zelda, many game companies didn't want to risk the expense of battery backup, so they relied on password systems to restore progress. This means I don't need to fear losing my save, but it does mean I need to write these down correctly. Back in the day, I know I'd look at a password and not know if something were an I, an l, an i, or a 1, not to mention O and 0. Today, I'm recording the game, so there's no fear in losing the password, but I still might find trouble entering it back in. Passwords were great for things like continuing an adventure on someone else's cartridge, or sharing a game while being able to pick up the game where you left off without change; however, I don't know anyone that prefers them over battery backed up saving.

Many of the batteries are still going strong today, over 20 years later. I've suffered my share of lost games, but sometimes keeping the game in the system will charge the battery enough to keep saves intact. Hopefully this method continues to work for me in the case of any games with a faulty battery. I know it's possible to replace them, but I don't have any desire to mess with the internal workings of these magical devices.

In case anyone wants to play along

Many of these games feel like visiting old friends. I remember the week or two we had rented Willow; having watched--and adored--the movie, I jumped at the chance to play the game. Like many games during my youth, I don't recall with any accuracy if I completed this game. My memory of this is about as good as it is for Ultima: Exodus.

This is a cooler title screen

Willow is based off the film of the same name. The movie was a pet project of George Lucas that took over a decade to come to fruition (conceived in 1972, released in 1988). While it did make a profit, it failed to meet the high expectations a Lucas film had, and the planned trilogy was finished in book form. The story follows Willow Ufgood who finds a baby, tries to give it back to the big people, and gets caught up in a magical adventure.

From this beginning, two games were created by Capcom. An arcade game with side-scrolling action, and the NES a top-down action-RPG. It may be strange to see an RPG coming from a company best known in the US for the Mega Man series at the time, but their RPG legacy had already begun with Destiny of an Emperor (not yet released in the US), this game, and Sweet Home all in the same year. At the start of the year, Capcom had just merged with another company, and started using small development teams to create multiple games targeted at the NES.

There is a PC game, which we'll just ignore; please pay them no attention (I hear they're dismal). The review at hardcoregaming101 is much more detailed, so check it out if you're interested in knowing more.

Actual title screen

While the game was well received, there was no sequel in the cards for Willow. This I suppose may have been a combination of using a license that didn't continue in its original form, and a licensed game even in these early days was a red flag for many potential buyers.

Here's a handy recap of the Willow story from the manual:

It is a time of great turmoil to the world. Bavmorda, a former messenger from the Spirit of the Skies, has turned towards evil. Her plan is to rule the world through her twisted magics. Her force is incredible and her armies are unstoppable. She even dared to transform Fin Raziel, the messenger from the Spirit of the Earth, into a small animal. Bavmorda believes that there is no one that can stop her.


But she had not heard of the tribe of the Nelwyns. There had been a prophecy among these people that one of their tribe would help lead the world out of its darkest hour. The High Aldwyn, the wizard of the Nelwyn tribe, recognized Willow Ufgood as the chosen one. The adventure begins for Willow as he leaves his family and friends and sets out to stop all of the evil that Bavmorda has created.

Magic? I've never head of this before...

Wait... what? What happened to the Willow I know from the movie? No mention of Elora Danan? I tend to agree with with the review linked up that suggests Willow might have been a mostly complete game that only sought to take advantage of the film license by inserting familiar names and graphics. I guess I didn't realize the difference because in my young mind I was playing through Willow instead of watching it.

I don't think there are any games I'm particularly not looking forward to--even some of the bad have an  appeal in understanding where they went wrong--so to avoid repeating myself every introduction, I'll say for the last time that I'm really looking forward to playing this game.

Let's begin