Game 10: Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord (SMS) - Final Rating

Combatant
Combat is very basic. It always comes down to an equal exchange of blows. Both sides have a chance to dodge attacks, but there aren't any spells to enhance combat. Items take the place of spells, but they're limited to damage, silencing enemies, and healing. It's easy to know if you'll win or lose after the first hits.

Enemies are definitely challenging, and sometimes overly so. The ones that can sleep-lock the party are just plain unfair. Using stones to silence them isn't guaranteed, and the cost doesn't balance out. The final battle in particular demands a lot of preparation and planning to win if you haven't gained extra levels.

Gaining levels do give a small bonus to attack and defense, and more importantly a bump in HP. The difference between levels isn't very noticeable though, and you may not notice the increase in damage. Each level becomes longer and longer because gaining experience is based on either damage inflicted or a set amount each hit, and has little to do with the enemy you're fighting. In other words, you always gain the same amount of experience throughout the entire game. Having only one character able to gain experience from attacking each turn slows things down to a crawl.

All of the enemies are unique to this game, and I don't think I saw anything resembling a goblin or orc. It's interesting to note that this and Phantasy Star maintained a unique set of enemies that are refreshing even after playing through multiple RPGs. Rewards for each enemy is all over the place, one will give 300 Guilders while another in same area gives 2,000. Later on, the enemies in dungeons only give a small number of fangs.
Rating: 4

Items from battle are rare; rarer still is the game telling the truth. The potion heals, it doesn't resurrect.

Admirer
I really don't expect much from older games, so I hope everyone understands this section is going to be very low for the majority of games over the next few years. Experience is gained by each hit landed, and gaining enough experience raises a character's HP, attack, defense, and the amount of exp. necessary for the next level.

Individual spells don't exist. In fact, spells are only used to unlock certain areas, or to recruit the companions. Nothing about the companions is customizable, but you do get to pick the name of the main character. There's no equipment options, and the experience will be the same for all players. Controls are good enough, although they seemed to stick some times. This may have been due to using an emulator, so I'm not going to knock it for that. With the lack of pretty much all options, this area is the weakest for the game.
Rating: 2

At least there are a couple of screens to check out the characters

Puzzler
The main quest is the only quest available here. It stays in clear view, and the next step is usually hinted at by the random travelers and merchants the party can talk to just in case it's been a while since you received the actual directions (which aren't usually repeated). There are a couple of treasures on the side, but I wouldn't really call them side quests.

The only riddle I can come up with is the scroll that gives directions to the final dungeon. It was a bit unclear where to start, but really it only makes sense that it was on the final continent. Any other place for the final dungeon would open up the possibility of early discovery.
Rating: 3

I think this is the only puzzle in the game

Instigator
One thing that made the above puzzle so difficult was the lack of location information. I found out that Medi's town (home town?) was where I needed to start from, but I found no dots to connect between this clue and the actual town I needed to start from. In every other case, the hints from the random NPCs and towns were enough to lead me in the right direction.

The story maintained the same straightforward story about getting to the seal of the dark lord. There aren't any twists to this plot and no way to influence the story.
Rating: 3

The elders of each town will only talk to you if you donate some money to the town

Collector
There are a couple of optional items that make the game a bit easier. One is the mask that illuminates the dungeons 1 square. There's also a helm that allows the party to see messages on the walls of the dungeon. Only two messages exist, one shows a hidden crystal that increases the visible area once again. Also, there's a mantle that's supposed to reduce encounters with weaker enemies, but it only works on enemies that I'd never see anyway unless I visited the first continent.

The inventory fills up well enough, although there is room for more. By the end of the game it's pretty obvious there isn't anything more to find, which is nice for a sense of completion. The economy is a little bloated, although I still felt there I could run out of money if I wasn't careful about my purchases and picking the most rewarding fights.
Rating: 5

My inventory before completing the game

Explorer
The graphics are better than anything I remember seeing on the NES, so it's sad there weren't more RPGs on the SMS. Music is catchy, and sound effects are fitting. The dungeon music was actually a bit familiar. If anyone has heard this before and could place it in another game I'd appreciate it.

Exploring the world map is interesting, and finding the various locations is rewarding. Especially when those locations aren't mentioned in anyway. It doesn't happen enough for my taste though, and the viewing window is a 5x5 tile, which is extremely restrictive. The huge portion of the view that shows the party seems like it'd better be used to show more of the world. It would be nice to have some more variety in dungeons and towns.
Rating: 3

One of the hidden squares; the only obvious ones

Final Rating: 20 (33%)

As an early RPG, it stands up well as a game, although it's rather shallow in comparison. I enjoyed it, but it's not going to make any list of games to play again. I wouldn't really recommend the game to anyone, there are better ways to spend your time. It was good for the time, but even Phantasy Star is better.

Next up are some even older games, but first I'll be cutting a few from the list.

Game 10: Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord (SMS) - Finished!

Well this was rather unexpected. I thought I was going to be stuck a bit longer than I actually was. Honestly, I was really only wandering around aimlessly going back through various towns searching for clues of where the other two keys were located when I decided the first key I found must be the first step.

Why is it so small?

From there I checked every square to see if something was hidden, heading west I found the next statue. North from that one was the third, and again to the west was the last. Looking at the map after adding these locations I realize I made a vital mistake. I assumed the instructions had a distance in days that were equal to steps. It turns out that a day is two steps. It's obvious now that I see the pattern (not obvious a day is two steps, but the overall pattern), but I wonder how many were completely stuck here like me.

I can't remember ever being told which town Medi is from, so the hint that Medi's town was once called Saria wasn't much help. Having the false statues definitely threw me off the idea that this town was the one to use as the starting point. There's also no clue about what kind of distance a "day" means.

Somehow I kept forgetting to take screenshots of the bosses

Once I found the statues, getting the last two keys was very simple. In fact, at this point, these mini-bosses were a cakewalk. I used Qycx to fight all enemies in both dungeons, never running, and he still only gained experience for half a level. At this point I didn't consider grinding necessary anymore, so I wasn't worried.

Here's the third boss, each one takes a chunk out of my fame, but it doesn't matter at this point

The final dungeon is the only one that includes more than one floor. The dungeons haven't provided much variety. One exception is on the second floor here, there are false stairs that lead to other dungeons or place the party in the over-world. The third floor is about as basic as it comes though.

All the dungeons in the game; the last three are the final dungeon

Terarin is waiting at the exit of the third floor. She's the final boss, the dark general attempting to release the dark lord. It was an extremely close battle. One misstep and I was a goner; I only lost once though. On the next attempt I made sure to not underestimate her attack power.

This graphic wouldn't fly on a Nintendo system

It took everything I had, and I do mean everything. Each of my companions gave their life to get in one last hit. I expended all of my magic items, which were maxed out for this fight. Qycx ended the battle by striking before Terarin could end his own life. I really wasn't looking forward to grinding out another level.

On the very edge of losing, but Qycx pulls through

The game ends with many of the NPCs and the companions wishing Qycx well, and thanking him for all he's done. It was fun through until the end. While very basic, I didn't expect much from an early SMS RPG. The game shares a lot of similarities with Phantasy Star, but simpler.

Surely the entire party was victorious; let's remember Guy, Medi, and Treo giving their lives

Session Time: 3h00m (Total Time: 17h00m)

Game 10: Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord (SMS) - Hidden Tiles

My obvious next step was to get Treo's equipment, and the final two shields. After that I figured I'd get the ship and map the rest of the world. The cave housing the lost equipment was a bit tougher than I'd previously had to deal with, so it took me a couple of visits to clear out. Treo finally had his full equipment though, and I got some magical nuts as well.

I tried my hand at the last two shields, but these guardians seemed a bit more troublesome (or I got a bit unluckier with dodging). I decided to skip it for now, grabbed the ship, and mapped the open seas. I figured it'd also give me an extra level or two to take on those beasts.

Over-world map (MS-Paint)

Mapping revealed the final continent, which contained two towns, a village, and 4 statues. Following the directions of the scroll from one of the towns leads me along the path of the 4 statues, but none do anything except the last where an easily defeated creature turns out to be trap set by the black monk.

At this point I'm stuck; I recovered the last two shields, but I'm not able to progress past the beast in this last shrine. Every time I vanquish him, I set off a trap and am told the gate isn't here. I'm guessing this means it's actually hidden somewhere else.

The last shop has the same equipment as the second town

Back to the manual for hints! I discover here that there are three keys I need. Checking out the map I've made, I noticed an odd desert square in the middle of some mountains. Searching here I discovered a hidden shrine of Iason. Below it was a dungeon that contained a chest guarded by a new kind of beast. Defeating him left behind the Key of Heaven.

Those new beasts must be the EVILL leaders!

Finding this one key doesn't seem to help me find the rest though. I tried to follow the prophecy directions from nearby towns, but to no avail. Aside from stumbling upon this dungeon like I did, I'm not sure there are any clear hints that I should actually look for hidden shrines. I'll have to review the hints I've received.

I did happen to discover a couple of useful clues from random travelers that help with the prophecy scroll. For those that missed it from one of the screenshots in the last post:

Hearken, Come, Iason!
For eight days from Saria
calls spring's sweetness.
Eight days, face not dawn
journey north five days
west three days to Dokia.
View the sacred shrine;
yea, the gates below are,
for fools, hell's gates.

The hints are that the spring wind blows south, and Saria is the old name for Medi's town. I really don't know which town is Medi's. Following the directions from the town I found her in doesn't seem correct since the directions go off the map at one point. I can only hope I stumble upon the last two keys and finally the gates of hell.

Great! Medi, where's your town? (Medi: *shurg*)

One last thing I noticed is that my traveling blacksmith left me at some point. I'm not really sure where he disappeared to, but I easily hired another to take his place. Does anyone know if they're on a time limit or something?

Session Time: 4h10m (Total Time: 14h00m)

Game 10: Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord (SMS) - Gathering the Party

Back at it, Guy and Qycx fight through monsters trying to earn enough Guilders for the ship. It didn't take long actually (10 minutes at most), much shorter than when I needed to grind levels.

No one told me it was an invisible ship!

It's unfortunate there's no graphic for the ship. I can see it in my inventory, but there's nothing on the over-world to indicate I'm doing anything other than walking on water. The ship opened up another third of the world map.

Most of the time spent was mapping out the new land, exploring a new monument/cave, and grinding to an acceptable level to overcome some mini-bosses. I really enjoyed map making, but I wish there were a way to make it go a bit faster. I've yet to try Canageek's latest suggestion, as I don't have Chrome installed. I'll have to try that out this weekend. In the meantime, I'm using MS Paint as a quick way to distinguish tiles.

One of the best backgrounds for fights is the one on the open sea

There are two new villages of interest that sell me magic items: a stone and a staff. The stone silences enemy spells for the remainder of the fight, but have a chance to fail. Luckily these items don't actually use a turn (the enemy doesn't react when using an item). The staff hurts the enemy, and all party members gain some experience.

Yes! I mean no! I mean... what are asking?

I'm limited in the amount I can carry (much like herbs), but here I can only have 4 staffs and 6 stones. Not that I'm able to purchase an unlimited supply as one staff is 10,000 Guilders (stones are only 50 fangs though). It's definitely worth it to get the free hit in on some of the guardian creatures I've had to face off with. I haven't found a limit to feathers, but then again, I haven't tried to find one.

It's nice that he describes the use of a feather... not so nice he does it every time I buy one

To get Guy I needed the Axe, which was just given to me by a king. For the next companion, Medi, I needed some ancient armor guarded by a "good" creature. I lost 500 fame for killing it, but it's the only option I had. In fact, there are three such creatures protecting armor for my now party of three.

I see you're not using that armor, can I just have it?

Medi was posing as a dancer in a port town. The brilliant shine of my new armor awoke her inner warrior (or something), and she joined up suggesting that the fourth companion was a pirate turned into a beast. With Medi, I could now enter all of the caves that were previously locked. In most of them were more guardian beasts. Some were the ones guarding armor, but three others proved much more difficult.

These other three beasts are guarding shields (at least one was, so I'm guessing the others are as well); a fact I learned after I explored every other area. The one cave that wasn't locked held a shield for Qycx. Before I could defeat the beast though, I needed to grind a couple of levels (one for Guy and one for Medi). This took nearly 2 hours. 2 hours! For 2 levels. It's so slow because only one character earns experience at a time. There wasn't anything more for me to explore or do to distract from the constant grinding either.

Grinding and fighting enemies in general is straightforward except in the cases when the enemy has magic. I've encountered two types of spellcasters, those with fireballs and those with sleep + fireballs. Sleep is very effective, and more than once I've been sleep locked into an early defeat having come into the fight with full health. I somehow avoided this during my grinding, and it still took a while.

All done grinding, time to save

After finally getting the two levels (I had considered spending another hour to get Qycx a level), I headed off to the beast that had trounced on my earlier effort. Even with the new levels, I barely defeated it (with many lucky dodges) using up all four staffs. It's unfortunate the game forces these "evil" decisions on me with no opportunity to follow a more righteous path. I lose 1,000 fame for my trouble.

Recruiting the fourth companion, Treo, was as simple as going up to him in his cave and shining the Ulysses' Shield in his face to break the evil curse. Apparently an evil monk changed his form (couldn't kill him, that'd be too easy). With him finally around, we formed pieces of a scroll that would lead us to the seal.

Guess we're a bunch of fools going to the gates of hell. To destiny!

Before I even start on that quest I need to find Treo's lost equipment. He mentioned a north cave, but there's no marker on the map. I'll be searching for this next time. I could always go collect what I think are the other two shields, but it's probably better to get Treo decked out first.

I've already found a village that will give me a new ship to sail through deeper waters (where a storm rages on), but first I needed Treo, as only someone with pirate blood could sail such a ship. There's a lot of emphasis on blood and lineage in this game as a reason for having certain skills. Qycx I learned from the manual is actually a direct descendent of Iason (the man who originally sealed the dark lord).

Ancestor worship is prominent in Japan, so it makes sense to see this theme in many games. Sometimes we'll see the contrast, where descendents break from their "predetermined destiny," which was usually to destroy the world in some way.


Session Time: 3h50m (Total Time: 9h50m)

Game 10: Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord (SMS) - Ancient Lineage

 Game 10

Title: Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord
Year: 1988 (1987 JP)
Platform: Sega Master System (SMS)
Developer: Kogado Software Products (Sega ported to SMS I believe)
Publisher: Sega
Genre: RPG
Exploration - Top-down
Combat - Turn-based



"Upon arriving at the castle gate I'm greeted by the king. Without wasting time to chat he tells me I'm the only one that can seal an evil force. My first step is to find the sage Kosama. I'm left to explore the harsh barren land. The town of Garia is nearby, and I realize how ill-equipped I am for this journey. Thankfully the surrounding area provides enough monsters to gain some funds, and one of the villagers tells me Kosama lives elsewhere. Across the land I travel. Crossing many bridges I finally find Kosama, only to be told that I will require the assistance of three companions. The first is said to be in a town where they worship the sea."

*Plop*

Barring the prior consoles, which I have yet to fully explore, Miracles Warriors may very well be the first console RPG. I'm having to play it through emulation due to not having an SMS, and no recent releases of the game. I think it's worked out fairly well so far, except for some lag issues every now and then. If anyone knows where I can purchase this game for a current console, let me know and I'll get it. It's been a good bit of fun so far.

I started out by naming my warrior Qycx, and found myself outside of a castle. The king here explains it's my fate to stop an unnamed evil. It seems some seal of a dark lord may be breaking, broken, or threatened in some way. Also, I should seek out a sage named Kosama to learn more.

And now we begin the cliche...

With no real direction, I have to search the surrounding area. Soon I get into my first combat and see my HP or what I assume is my HP, diminish quickly. In the next battle, I die. I hadn't even located the first town, and I can already tell this game is going to be a grind. Eventually, I get the right combination of enemies and number of encounters that I reach the first town with enough money to heal myself.

I'm about to gain a level, and low on HP

The game actually has two forms of currency, Guilders and Fangs. Some enemies (mostly beasts) will give only Fangs, which are exchanged for Guilders or used to fulfill quests. In addition to that there's a stat called fame that increases slightly with each evil enemy defeated, and reduced if good characters are killed. The best way to handle these good encounters is to talk to them (which gives some hints) or retreating, which appears to be automatic. A high fame is necessary for some townspeople to speak with the party.

What's with the SMS RPGs having a talk command in battle?

The balance of enemy difficulty and reward is a little skewed. Thieves and Evil Merchants are equally easy and give 300 and 2,000 Guilders respectively (some of the best pay out); however, a more difficult Zirod gives 4 Fangs, which is only worth 200 Guilders. Later on the best enemy I've found is the Great Lion, which gives 6 Fangs and 3,000 Guilders.

I spent the first few hours saving up enough to afford the knife, armor, and shield in the first town only to realize that equipment has durability. My knife had broken beyond repair, so I saved up for another. In the second town--after having to deal with repairing my equipment after each venture out--I found the blacksmith required 12,000 Guilders, but this paid for him to follow me around and continuously repair my equipment. It strikes me as odd that the game would throw out a feature like this so early, but I'm glad to be rid of it.


In my wanderings I came across the small village where Kosama stays. He immediately informed me that I need to find three companions born of an "ancient lineage" and also destined to seal the dark lord. He said the first companion would be in a town that worshiped by the god of the sea. At this time, three more spaces for the companions appeared on the display.

Of course they're of ancient lineage fated to save the world, aren't we all?

Finding the village was easy enough, but when I spoke the phrase necessary to recruit him, the game informed me I needed something more. At the time I had been keeping to the plains, as I was warned against--and experienced firsthand--the dangers of the forests and mountains. Hidden in one of these forests was a castle that provided me the item necessary to get my second companion, which I wouldn't find until I started mapping the land.

To help with traveling there are feathers that teleport me back to a town that sells feathers. Unfortunately, the only two towns I've found that sell them are on opposite ends of the map, no help when traveling to the middle. Healing is possible while exploring by using herbs. It's a little confusing at first, but you can purchase them in packs of 5 up to 24. I have to have exactly 19 to get 24, having 20 will give the message that he can't sell me anymore.

It's a trick question. Yes means buy herbs; no means pass...

Stocking up on healing items and feathers just in case, I explored a monument where I found a helm that helps me read messages in caves. The only message I found wasn't very helpful. There was a mask I purchased, which apparently helps me in caves, but I'm not sure how. I also ventured into the forests and mountains as the only other place left unexplored. This is where I found a castle with a king that game me an axe. With axe in hand I could now recruit the second companion, Guy.

Iris? Is this is a girls axe?

With Guy, I went to another castle and traded 300 Fangs for a sword. Apparently, these are weapons of legend, which unlock certain story elements. I'd saved up quite a nest egg of Guilders while randomly traveling, but even so, it wasn't quite enough to upgrade both weapons at the weapon masters' village. It costs 60,000 to upgrade a weapon.

Upgrading Guy's weapon gave it some kind of mystical power to chop through a skeleton blocking my way to the south. Here, on this small lot of land, I found a small village that wants to sell me a ship, for 30,000 Guilders. Time to grind once again.

Selling the 144 Fangs would bring me to 22,830 Guilders, so only 7,170 to go

To explain the display, the $ is Guilders, the pouch is herbs, the tooth or horn are fangs, and the C is character or fame (currently positive 4,020, yes it's possible to go negative).

Experience for each character is gained per hit instead of dispensed at the end of combat. This means characters will only level if they attack. Each round only one character can act, which means only one character is gaining experience. It was already painfully slow with one character, but with two I've yet to gain a single level since having Guy.

Combat becomes somewhat tactical, as the only character that the enemy hits is the one that takes an action. That is, unless the enemy casts magic. I've yet to get any combat spells for my party, but I believe one of my companions will eventually learn some. It's possible to retreat from combat, but if it fails, then each member takes a hit from the enemy.

It's been a little slow going because I haven't found a copy of the manual online. While searching for it recently to see if I missed any resources, I found that the original game came with a cloth map. I've already started on my own MS paint map, which I'll post once it's finished, but below is what the cloth map looked like.

Source: StrategyWiki.org

 
Session Time: 6h00m (Total Time: 6h00m)

Polishing the Edges

In case you missed it, I had a poll up for a few days before starting Phantasy Star. It asked for an opinion regarding how I should apply the RPG scale. Somehow, "rate all games" and "after completing them" ranked out the other two opposite options. I can't realistically weigh something after completing it if I don't plan to play it, so I'll try to give an accurate score to those games I deem not RPGs. I still feel I need to mark the RPGs of the bunch; I put 10 down for games I believe will score 10 or above once I get through them.

I've finished up through the year 2001, and only have about 100 games left to check out. (I'm in no rush though, as that's 300 games in, meaning many, many years.) Any game having a blank value under "RPG?" means I'm not completely sure which way to go on it. If there's a 10 for the scale, then I plan to play it anyway and find out what it's like. If that's blank too, then it means I haven't seen enough of the game yet to make a decision.

This advanced rating is based on my interpretation of game videos that I try to skip through in order not to spoil much, so it's absolutely possible I'm not getting a full picture. I ask for everyone's help here in making the RPG scale more accurate, and on getting me to understand these edge cases a little better. Also, if I've mistakenly included a game, I'd like to know that as well.

As I prepare for the next game year or finish a game, I'll give a more final score and post it. I want to keep this rating separate from the final rating system that reflects my (and possibly your) enjoyment, so I'll use the RPG scale on the ending post of each game, giving a final rating in a separate post.

Also, if there are any games missing from the list (I'm sure there are many, especially recent games), tell me. I'll add them and judge them as best I can, and if I've passed their release date, I'll play it as soon as I can get a hold of a copy and after the current game wraps up.

TurboDuo: $300 retail, now $500 ebay (Picture credit to Wikipedia)

Looking ahead, I see some consoles I'm missing that are going to be major purchases. Expect me to skip the first few games on at least the TurboGrax-16/CD, Sega CD, and 3DO. My plan is to push these to a point where I'm able to get the system and games, play through them in "quick" succession, then sell them off again without much loss in a relatively short time frame. This means waiting until nearly the last game on the system is due.

I'll throw this out there as well (even though I don't expect anyone to go for it), if you have a game I currently show as not having and are willing to let me borrow, then promise I will send it back after I'm done. Currently the only thing I'm really looking for is a Sega Master System with Miracle Warriors and Dragon Crystal (although, I'm strongly questioning if the latter was actually released in the US). Aside from those two, I've got everything up through 1990, which is close to 30 games. That should last at least half the year I'm estimating. During that time I'm hoping to pay off a rather high interest student loan, which will free up some money each month to continue this through my own funding.

Lastly, I want to mention that the list is ordered by year and month for the most part. If I only know the year it'll have a -00 for the month. What I'll do for those is throw them in throughout the year as a sprinkling of extra goodness. Games in a particular month can also come in any order within that month. For the most part the list in the side bar is what I've decided on, but things can change, and I'm open to suggestions (notice a theme?).