Together Retro: First-Person Dungeon Crawlers

[BoneSnapDeez]

I'm travelling this week as well, so Shining will be put on hold. Seems unlikely that I'll finish it this month. Curator fail!

I'm on floor four (just barely) of five at this point though, so I have made a bit of progress since my last post.

The game's too long for what it is. I like it, but it very well could/should have been a 15 hour game, not a 30(?) hour game.

Oh, and my daughter has been watching me play and is perpetually irritated. "Why can't I see the characters?!"

[prfsnl_gmr]

I’ve been playing The Keep (3DS).

I bought it on 3DS too, but was kinda irked when it was ported to PC.

Well...the PC version certainly has better graphics. The game uses a swipe-based combat system, however, and a Puzzle Quest-inspired magic system. It is hard for me to imagine how to play it well without two screens, but I’m sure it can be done. I haven’t tried the Apache version, but I strongly suspect that, since it was designed originally for the 3DS, that version is the definitive version from a gameplay perspective.

[Exhuminator]

The game's too long for what it is. I like it, but it very well could/should have been a 15 hour game, not a 30(?) hour game.

That's how I felt about Shining the Holy Ark as well. It too would have been a better 15 hour game versus a 30 hour one.

since it was designed originally for the 3DS, that version is the definitive version from a gameplay perspective.

That's how I plan to play it at any rate. Portability trumps graphics for me in this genre.

[Sarge]

Oh, and my daughter has been watching me play and is perpetually irritated. "Why can't I see the characters?!"

Tell her to use her imagination!

[Sarge]

Double post time!

I've given Lands of Lore more time. I don't know, I was kinda digging it to start, but this cave system I'm in now has been absolutely obnoxious. There are a bunch of stupid bugs and wererats that poison you, some creatures that spit acid that can destroy your armor, and other assorted baddies. But the real problem is that there seems to be no end to them. They just keep coming! And I'm not entirely sure the combat is quite deep enough to really entertain when you're constantly having to fight. Are there shortcuts keys to attack on the keyboard, or is it all mouse-driven on PC? If there aren't, I suspect playing on a tablet gives me at least some advantage in that I can very quickly cycle through characters' attack icons.

I've always been told that the presentation for its time was top-notch, as is the story. I don't know how this stacks up combat-wise with something like Eye of the Beholder or Dungeon Master, but it does seem to be cut from the same cloth as those games. Also, Patrick Stewart provides voice work for the game, so that's neat. I'd pay to hear him say, "Make it so!" at some point in the game.

[MrPopo]

Westwood Studios did Eye of the Beholder 1 & 2, then did their own thing, which was Lands of Lore. Meanwhile, SSI contracted another studio to do EotB 3. Lands of Lore's big thing is it isn't beholden to the AD&D ruleset. I don't recall there being any keyboard shortcuts; when you're playing with mouse you tend to just rapidly click on everything.

[Sarge]

Ah, thanks for that. I'd not given Eye of the Beholder much time, and only with the Sega CD version to give it a test. Didn't realize that it was the same team.

[Exhuminator]

The past week I've been busy with other things, but I managed two sessions with Wizardry - Tale of the Forsaken Land this weekend. I currently have 27 hours logged. On my return trip to the 6th level "Moldy Fort" I was hit with a random boss encounter that nearly killed my entire party (one character made it out alive). The boss was a greater demon...



After going back to town, resurrecting everyone, and making my way all the way back through the 6th level, I then made it past the 7th level (just called "Labyrinth" which is a randomly generated level) and to the 8th level called "Sham Sanctuary"...



Immediately upon entering Sham Sanctuary I was hit with a boss, the Flesh Golem:



This bastard has a random chance to kill with each strike, and he does four strikes per attack. And he had two priests with him to boot, who loved casting debuffing spells on the party. Once again we only just barely beat the golem and its priests, luckily my priest survived. So she resurrected everyone and we started exploring Sham Sanctuary. This place is a maze consisting of one way doors and warp portals. Oh yeah, the good stuff. All of the enemies are hugely powerful too. Still haven't found a shortcut from level 1 to this level either. Every time I trudge back to the Sham Sanctuary, it's level 1 -> level 5 -> level 6 -> level 7 -> level 8. That trip takes about a half hour to make, providing level 7's random generation isn't too asinine.

It's safe to say that not only is W:TotFL's kid's gloves long gone, but they've been replaced with Satere-Mawe bullet ant mitts and I'm wearing them! Indeed W:TotFL is proving itself to be quite the spiteful ride. I still plan to beat this game, but beating it before June is likely improbable. I plan to play it every night this week until next TR starts. Then I'll take a break and play some beat 'em ups. If anybody's looking for a challenging PS2 RPG, this is your huckleberry.

[Erik_Twice]

A shame I can't play with you guys, I'm loving to read your posts. I'm cheering for you Exhuminator!

[Nemoide]

Wizardry: TotFL really sounds like a great (and difficult) experience. I'm definitely going to keep it in mind when I'm looking for more FPDCs.