Game #55: Order of the Griffon (TurboGrafx-16) - The Order of Things (Finshed)

Game 55

Title: Order of the Griffon
Released: 1992 (US only)
Platform: TurboGrafx-16
Developer: Westwood Associates
Publisher: Turbo Technologies; Strategic Simulations Inc.
Genre: RPG
Exploration - Top-down + First-person
Combat - Tactical Turn-based
Series - Standalone

Was the group from Warriors of the Eternal Sun  still remembered?

It's the lesser known games that I'm usually more excited about playing. Yet often times those are the ones that seem to disappoint the most. Obviously there's a reason they're not well known, but I had hoped it was due the console they were on. Order of the Griffon was exclusive to the TurboGrafx-16, and only in the US. It mixes first-person exploration and tactical combat similar to the gold box games, but the strategic depth is on the same level as Warriors of the Eternal Sun. With rules based on original Dungeons & Dragons, the simplicity is evident from the first combat. Try as I might, I could never reliably protect my spellcasters, and ranged combat options were limited.

These classes look familiar

Fighters, dwarfs, thieves, and halflings are all very similar. Elves are like fighters with less HP, but able to use mage spells. The drawback being they level slower. Clerics can turn undead, and eventually cast unique spells (mostly healing and hold person). Unlike Warriors of the Eternal Sun, spells go up to level 4, although my elf never reached high enough to cast them.

Summary text lies, and all spellcasters memorize the same number of spells

The selection of characters is limited to three pre-made characters per class. There's a summary text for each character that doesn't reflect the reality of each character's ability. Falcone memorizes the same number of spells as any elf or mage of the same level, and another elf that claims to cast spells more quickly usually ended up going last each turn. I figured that once again thieves would be completely useless. I decided on a dwarf, elf, cleric, and mage.

The story begins

The party was hired to investigate a rumor of  a vampire in the area. While Lord Korrigan doesn't believe the rumors, he is concerned about the rising number of undead. He offered a 200 gold advance on promise of full payment once the situation was resolved. The party was rushed out of his room.

*Plop*

As I turned around to speak with Lord Korrigan again, my way was blocked by a guard. After a short speech I was given the option to leave or attack. At my level I didn't dare attempt it, but later on (when I was stuck) I found there were two battles and a reward of a ring of protection; however, Lord Korrigan was nowhere to be found inside. Radlebb Keep had a number of such encounters, many of them not so friendly.

Purchasing some gear at the armory

The characters came with melee weapons, but lacked shields and armor. I purchased some slings as well, but ranged weapons are a bit cumbersome to swap out on the spellcasters. They are permanently equipped with their respective sources of spell power. Swapping weapons took a trip into the inventory screen each time per character. Most of the time I didn't bother with melee weapons at all for them.

This option never succeeded, but I wonder what the party gets out of it if it did

A tavern offered little more than random events. The magic shop sold spells, but I gathered more scrolls than I could scribe in two spell books. The shop had a couple of strange options: "look around" did nothing all game in either shop, and "identify" is listed in the manual as identifying magical items but neither it nor detect magic do much of anything. Magic items are always identified. The temple offered healing, raising dead, as well as potions. Strangely the potions were the most expensive, but the least helpful.

Joining the Order of the Griffon and getting my first quest

Most of the other buildings were unmarked, and I stumbled into a number of combats with rats, skeletons, and thieves before I finally found the titular Order of the Griffon. Before I headed out to slay some wolves, I finished up my survey of the keep. I ran into a group of guards angered by our presence. There was a locked door I decided not to tempt open. A plot to poison the duke was averted when I stumbled upon some ne'er-do-wells in the kitchen.

The riddle sounds interesting, but wasn't necessary to solve any quest

I made my way to the wolves' den without much incident. The overworld display is a top-down view where random encounters occur without warning. There are two ways to save in the game, either via a password or using a console with a RAM expansion. The password only works while outside. Luckily I had the later, and saved often. Dungeons only offer fixed encounters. Although, random encounters can still occur while the party rests to restore spells. Falcone and Chanda had such little HP that they'd often die to a single blow.

As always, sleep is a powerful spell at low levels

The fixed encounters in the wolves' den included a few patrols of men and wolves, a group of prisoners (adventurers on the same quest), and a hidden cache of items. The prisoners told me of an old village beyond a door in the back of the cave. There I would find the staff I sought. In a large hall was a wolf with a key around his neck; the key to the door. He was meeting with humans working for the vampire. They disputed an agreement concerning a rival group of wolves. The bandits claimed to have killed the leader, but the wolf Collum wanted the entire pack wiped out before he would relinquish the key.

I seem to have found a bug while trying to equip a scroll during battle in order to attempt to read from it; equipping outside of battle merely attempts to scribe it in the character's spellbook

A passage beyond the door led to the old village of Koriszegy. In addition to some magical equipment, there were encounters with skeletons, bug bears, and devil swine. The last of which held a key to a door with a dragon emblem. Beyond it was an easy riddle to choose the center door of three, followed by some undead, and then the staff of life that I sought. Attempting to take the staff caused my party damage three times before I was finally able to take it with me. The third was too much for Falcone, and he keeled over.

I'm not sure who's voice this is, or where the place is\

I quickly returned to the Order's Guild, and became full fledged members. Our first real mission was to take the staff to the crypt of Koriszegy. I was told the staff would open one of three doors, and recover two gems. I then raised Falcone, and headed to the crypt. Inside was a mural with a slot to place the staff. Doing so caused a faint blue light to glow, but I strangely found myself unable to enter any of the three doors. I was thoroughly stuck, unable to progress, and I had already saved over my game slots. I tried each slot to no effect. With no way to progress I tried to speak with Lord Korrigan again.

For anyone curious, this is the password for the save outside the crypt where this issue happened

I restarted with another party, ran through all of the above once more, and two hours later arrived at the crypt with a working staff. The only difference this time was ensuring all my characters were alive before I spoke with the Order, and a different set of characters. Beyond the first door was a pool of red. Dipping the staff there unlocked the red mist door. Another series of chambers led to a green pool, which turned out to be fake. In a side passage was a blue pool that allowed access through the blue door.

I'm glossing over most of the encounters, but the above obvious trap was the most interesting

Beyond the blue door was a rather annoying maze, followed by a second maze filled with teleporters. The lack of random encounters made it a bit less cumbersome walking through the maze many times, but at the same time there was nothing to break up the monotony. Eventually I came upon a statue where I placed the staff and gained a diamond. A final teleporter in the middle of that room led to an area where I found the death gem, a lot of fixed encounters, and a dragon.

By this point, Lhaeros had learned web, which apparently no one is immune to, not even dragons

Upon my return, the Order took the gems and destroyed them. Next quest was to infiltrate the vampire's keep through his cellar. However, before I set off into another dungeon, I had thousands of gold pieces and nothing to spend them on at the keep. I made my way to Specularum to the east. There I stocked up on all the magical equipment I could afford. The manual had a map that showed a third city to the northeast. The store had the same equipment as Specularum, but there were a number of encounters that offered great treasure and experience without combat.

The over world offers random battles while the party walks about

The cellar door locked behind the party as they entered. There were many were-creatures such as rats, bats, and boars that required magical weapons to kill. Stand out spells were sleep, hold person, turn undead, and web. I didn't quite have fireball yet, and third level cleric spells were useless as always. I fought a Nosferatu, apparently not the vampire I sought. Web works on any enemy with no saving throws. It stuns them so they can't act, but unlike sleep they don't die to a single blow. Strangely, hold person works similarly.

Cleric spells, level 3 consists of only curse

The Order then directed me to Duke Stefan in Specularum. His daughter was kidnapped by a group called the Iron Ring. They requested as ransom the staff of King Halav, which is apparently one of three items necessary to kill the vampire. I was provided a pass to see Master Higgins at Stefan Manor. The duke was suffering from some malady that he directed I ignore until his daughter was safe.

Web is also effective on spectres of all things

The duke's daughter was easily rescued from a cave deep inside the forest of Radlebb. My elf reached third level spells and started slinging fireballs nearly every battle. There was one difficult battle with four mages that resulted in a few resets. Charm person is very effective against my party as well as web. On the other hand, I found my silence spell was completely useless. Returning with his daughter, I was informed by the duke that he needed king Halav's chalice to cure his ailment. The tomb was an easy task to complete. It dragged on for quite a while as I collected the chalice, shield, and then four keys to escape.

"Oh yeah, have this staff" -- Order of the Griffon

The chalice and shield unlocked the final battle with the vampire, and the staff was used to kill him once he retreated to his coffin. His lair had a lot of difficult battles including a number of dragons. A couple of webs locked them down individually, but more than one made for difficult adversaries. There were three levers to pull once I entered the vampire's inner sanctum. This unlocked the path to the final battle, which wasn't the most difficult battle I'd faced. Defeating all enemies led to a short sequence before ending on the final screen shown at the beginning of this post.

This the second game to use the trope of a vampire retreating to its coffin

Elapsed Time: 19h06m (Final Time: 19h06m)

Combatant - Combat is relatively satisfying, even into the mid-game where the party slowly becomes nigh unkillable. Magic is really influential on the outcome of battle, and in turn so is initiative. There's rarely an easy battle that includes multiple mages. Enemy AI is lacking when it comes to pathing, and most of the strategic options revolve around magic. It would have been nice to get more utility out of spare scrolls and certain spells like silence. By the end of the game I was running from nearly every random encounter since the rewards were pitifully small. It's too bad only elves and mages could use wands.
Rating: 6

Half of the final battle group, the vampire chills with his pet red and green dragons

Admirer - Pre-generated characters are rarely customized, and this is no expcetion. Every character in a given class is the same. Each has different stats, but they seem so poorly implemented that differences are hard to distinguish. Equipment doesn't change appearance, but each character has unique art. Controls are a little awkward, especially swapping weapons, and how combat spells initially target the caster. There aren't any advancement options, and equipment boils down to relatively simple options.
Rating: 2

You've reached this point in the plot, time to kill a vampire

Puzzler - There are some encounters, but most of them lead to combat no matter the option. The main quest is well laid out, but there are no side quests per se, merely side encounters. The world is nicely built, but only a single solution exists. All of the riddles and bits of story presented as clues don't have any bearing on how to approach the encounters.
Rating: 2

You fools! You have played the game!

Instigator - The story is acceptable, but it's the detail in the odd side encounters that carry it into a believable active world. Descriptions are lacking, but there are enough NPCs to ensure the direction to the next plot point isn't hanging. There aren't any decisions to make though, as most are rendered ineffectual soon after.
Rating: 3

A random bit of story from the very beginning where none of it really matters

Collector - There are a good number of items in the game, but most of it boil down to a basic piece of equipment with a +. The problem is there's no way to tell the difference between weapon types in the game. The economy only peters off after the staff is obtained near the end of the game. Inventory space is limited, but not enough to make it an issue. No massive collection, but even so, I did carry around the Sword +1, +3 vs dragons just because it had cool art.
Rating: 4

That final battle loot I'll never use because the game doesn't let me play anymore after this

Explorer - While the world is completely open from the beginning, it's so empty and devoid of reason to explore. At least one town offers some nice early equipment if one can avoid all the random battles along the way. The music has a glitch where it cuts out after the first action in combat. Very little eye candy or unique areas to explore leave the game feeling underwhelming.
Rating: 4

Final Rating: 21 [35%]

Much like my enthusiasm for this game

Overall I enjoyed the encounters. The game dragged on for a bit longer than necessary, especially the filler near the end that was hardly balanced for high character levels. I'd always thought I'd find a hidden gem on one of the more obscure systems, but (while not terrible) this game is hardly what I'd recommend to others. It's a curio of the time. By today's standards it's hardly worth a play unless you're like me and enjoy delving into this type of game. I think having a second mage instead of the second fighter wouldn't have made much of a difference.

Moving on, I have an Ultima game to cut that's not really an Ultima game. Then we can finally get to Might and Magic on the NES. We'll be in for the long haul on that one. It's predicted to be the longest RPG on the system. Actually, I got a bit excited. See, I've already beaten Knight Quest, so I'll write a bit about that as well before getting to Might and Magic.

Game #53: Pool of Radiance (NES) - Getting My Feet Wet

Game 53

Title: Pool of Radiance
Released: April 1992 (June 1991 JPN)
Platform: NES
Developer: Marionette Co., Ltd. (Originally developed by Strategic Simulations, Inc.)
Publisher: FCI / Pony Canyon
Genre: RPG
Exploration - First-person
Combat - Turn based
Series - Standalone (on console)

Come to Phlan they said, see the sights they said

Now it's time to return to another childhood classic. Of course, instead of the DOS version I played hundreds of times (not beaten, just played), I'm diving into the console port on the NES. I haven't completely decided how I feel about it yet, but suffice it to say it's definitely lacking. A single save slot is available, and luckily the battery still works in my cart. I bade farewell to the previous adventuring party. There were three default characters, not quite enough to fill the party of five, but I always enjoy the character creation process (it's probably the reason I played this so much).

Instead of choosing class, race, and gender separately, the game lists all possible combinations

I decided on a dwarf fighter, a cleric, a fighter/magic-user, a fighter/magic-user/thief, and a magic-user/cleric. One of the greatest drawbacks of the NES version is the inability to modify stats. I was left to re-roll stats for nearly 2 hours before I settled for slightly above average. My dwarf did max out at 18 (99) strength, but the other two fighters settled for 17. Adjusting the character's combat model is also missing (the aspect I enjoyed the most as a kid).

At least Rolf is still here, although he looks a bit worse for the transition

There's no grand world saving plot in Pool of Radiance. Some time ago, the city of Phlan fell to an invading monster horde. More recently, a group of enterprising individuals have retaken a portion of the city, dubbed New Phlan, and have sent a call to all adventurers whether interested in fame, treasure, or good deeds. They've established a council, have shops, a tavern, training hall, and multiple shrines. The party found themselves working together for the good of the city (or themselves). Rolf ended the tour by showing us the way into the slums; the first area to clear in our quest.

*Plop*

The first thing to do was properly equip the party. They started with no gear and a mere 540 gold to their collective names. I managed shields for everyone, long swords for the fighters, maces for the clerics, and a mix of banded, chain, and leather armor. I bought a couple slings to have some ranged weapons, and found clerics weren't able to equip them. Seems I needed something called a staff sling for them. The council is the hub for quests. Three quests are given at a time by the clerk; to start I was commissioned to clear the slums, clear out Sokol Keep, and recover some old books on old Phlan. I memorized my spells, and headed off into the slums.

You forgot the "yet"

Memorizing spells is a necessity in old D&D. Spells must be selected for memorization each and every time. It's a shame this game doesn't recall which spells were previously memorized. It gets a little tiresome, and I recall it in the PC version. It can only be done while camping, and requires a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. Clerics have access to the full assortment of spells if they're capable of casting a particular level, but mages must seek out scrolls to scribe into their books. To offset this, each level gained grants a magic-user one spell to scribe from any spell level they're able to cast. All mages start with detect magic, read magic, shield, and sleep. Detect magic in this version is not useful at all as no non-magical items are ever found outside stores. Sleep is over powered in the early game, and I'm glad to have the ability to cast it three times.

The mix of voice makes this strange to read; stopping by the friendly tavern

The slums proved relatively easy. The game limits the number of random encounters per map. Once cleared I was free to explore the area unhindered. I discovered a number of treasures that allowed me to deck out my party with long swords +1, some chain mail +1, some magical shields, and banded mail for everyone. I'm saving a dust of disappearance for when I really need it, as well as a necklace of missiles (fireballs) that I gained by retrieving a potion for a mage named Ohlo. Most battles were limited to 3 or 4 enemies in the beginning, and easily taken out with sleep. However, I avoided the troll battle in the lower left. From previous experience,  I knew it was going to be trouble.

I didn't bother to argue with this scary looking man over the 1,000 gold price tag for every level

Taking a break from the slums, I headed over to Sokol Keep. In front of the gate I found the skeletal remains of an elf. He had a scroll on his person that the party thoroughly memorized. Using the words from the scroll allowed me to avoid fighting the patrolling undead (a rough battle for my low level party). In the main hall I encountered a large party of goblins and hobgoblins led by a couple ogres. The keep was mostly free after taking them out. The had a letter that ominously referred to "the boss." I learned that the old guard of the keep were bound as undead; their leader had long ago locked them to this fate. Speaking to the head cleric, Ferrann Martinez, I told him of the current reconstruction effort, and he imparted the names of those that destroyed it long ago: Tyranthraxus, Edranka, and Torath. Before departing, he told me of an armory behind an illusionary wall, and of Mendor's library with records of the attack.

Nothing I could do with the floor lamp... the pile of treasure next to it was nice though

With Sokol Keep wrapped up, and a couple more levels under my belt, I decided to have my hand at the troll fight back in the slums. Trolls are harsh enemies at such a low level. I suspect the developers intended a party to use the necklace of missiles or dust of disappearance to make it manageable, but I'd rather save both for later. Capable of attacking three times, and regenerating hit points every round, it's nearly impossible to do on the first visit to the slums without additional magic.

Unlike the DOS version, there are kobolds (instead of ogres) capable of being slept to block the trolls, which are immune

It turned out I was worried for nothing. The trolls were paired with kobolds that I slept, trapping the trolls at range. I took them down with well placed arrows and staff slings, and cleaned up the kobolds before the trolls regenerated back to life. I fulfilled another commission, and then headed to the library. On the way was Kuto's Well, which I'll come back to later. I left the well alone, but rescued some woman in the area. More importantly I gained some treasure hidden in her cell.

Searching randomly for books; ACTUALLY random whether any useful books are found

I fought a basilisk in the library. I recalled this fight, and had brought brass mirrors, but they didn't reflect the gaze of this beast. I shamelessly restarted the fight rather than walk back with a statue for a party member. There was also a madman trapped in the library, but he ran off when I tried to take him back to town. I refused to make him go by force. A garden took up a corner of the library, but it was covered in green acidic slime that I could find no way around. So, I gathered as many books as I could, and went on my way; however, my way was blocked by the specter of Mendor.

Give it up man, you're already dead

I recalled having a way to avoid this fight in the PC version, but could find no way of doing so here. I was stopped every time I attempted to exit the library. The fight took place without any option to parlay. Most encounters give the party the option to attack, flee, wait, or parlay (this has additional options for tone as well). I reloaded this fight a single time as I was completely unprepared the first time, which resulted in a few level drains.

I came away with a number of good items, including a manual of bodily health, which I have yet to see a benefit to having read

One of the biggest gripes I have with the game is the limited inventory. At just 8 items per character, it leaves little room to collect all treasure in an area. This is especially true as I continue to collect useful scrolls, and other items that I'd rather save for later. I haven't fully searched the town, but I don't recall any kind of bank or storeroom. I returned for my fulfilled commissions, and was given three more: discover what item was to be auctioned at Podol Plaze and who wins it, discover who now resides at Kovel Mansion, and assist Braccio with a special task. In addition to those, another council member, Cadorna, had a side task to recover a package from the old overrun textile house.

Braccio ordered Dirten to join me in restoring the Temple of Tyr that was now overrun by followers of Bane

Since I was kind of following the order of commissions, I dragged Dirten along to Podol Plaza. Along the way I cleaned out Kutos Well. Apparently, an infamous thief named Norris the Gray resided under the well. I picked up some new gear, including a ring of warmth.

I didn't even know this was a thing to do

Podol Plaza was rather sparse. Most of the buildings were run down stores or abandoned houses.

Sorry, I mean, "naban doned" houses

I found a hidden shrine of Il-Mater where I was able to rest and recover. I based my exploration of the area from here, but only found an inn called The Pit, and a temple of Bane that I trashed. The auction was held in the central yard. When first entering Podol Plaza, I had the option of disguising the party as monsters, but either my charisma wasn't high (or low) enough to pull it off, or I was really unlucky because any encounter with monsters would reveal myself. Instead, I chose to hide, and only could listen to the auction proceed. A strange man bought a wand of illumination for 5000 gold. The auction ended peacefully, and everyone went their separate ways. I was rewarded for my report.

The price of healing is steep in the beginning, but isn't too bad by the mid-game

The next area I cleared was Kovel Mansion. It was filled with thieves, but most encounters were a single 6th level thief that would try to run away. The mansion was filled with traps, and locked treasure troves. I left them for later as my thief had no way to open them, and my mages hadn't learned 'knock'. I fought a couple tough battles against six 6th level thieves and a bunch of 1st level thieves, but with stinking cloud and hold person now in my arsenal, I easily dispatched them. Actually, my biggest enemy was fighting the limited inventory; usually finding treasure enough to fill me up before I had depleted my combat resources.

This letter found on the thieves' leader didn't seem to alarm the council or the party that Cadorna might betray them

In the wealthy district I ran into a group of orcs with Bane's crest. I picked up a leather symbol of Bane off their bodies, which allowed me to enter the temple without raising the alarm. One quick battle later against their head priest, Mace, and I had removed the evil aura surrounding the temple. I'm not sure how lucky it was, but I landed a silence spell on Mace, so I didn't have to worry about hold person from him. Dirten stayed behind to look after the temple while I looted the room. Good riddance; his AI was terrible. He'd often burn through hold person on enemies already held, and only cast cure light wounds on himself.

There were three treasure hoards of this size that each filled my inventory

Combat is the standard AD&D fare, initiative based turns with THAC0 (hitrate), and the lower armor class the better. Strength gives a bonus to hit and damage. Dexterity reduces AC and a bonus to hit with missile weapons. Constitution gives an additional bonus HP each level. The last three (Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma) are either class specific or don't factor into combat. Spells have a casting time, although sleep and magic missile are instant. Buff time for spells like empower (bless renamed), meditation (prayer renamed), and protection from evil seem to last less than they should. In fact, I had slow poison going on my front line to prevent poison attacks from frogs and scorpions, but it didn't last more than an hour. I have a feeling a few of these spells are bugged. Also, ranged weapons seem to have a higher chance to hit compared to melee attacks, but that could come down to randomness.

Dueling myself in the training hall as I'm short 100 experience

So far, having a thief doesn't seem worth it. Combat lacks critical hits, and more importantly backstabbing seems non-existent. There's no way to distract an enemy; they always turn towards their attacker. I haven't tried it while invisible yet, so I'll report if that changes things. The only use I've gotten from my thief is attempting to disarm traps, which is about as useful as it was in Warriors of the Eternal Sun. There was a section in Cadorna's Textile House where a thief was useful, but I'll get to that next post.

How every battle begins

Elapsed Time: 15h12m (Total Time: 15h12m)

Game #41: Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday (Genesis) - Just a 25th Century Man (Finished)

Game 41

Title: Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday
Released: 1991
Platform: Genesis
Developer: Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Publisher: EA
Genre: RPG
Exploration - Top-down
Combat - Turn based
Series - Buck Rogers (standalone on console)

There's not really a final screen, so this will do

I'd like to know the story behind how this was chosen as a title to port to Genesis while none of the other gold box games made it. Possibly FCI already had an exclusive license for those, and only released them on the NES. It's a difficult engine to port completely, even on the Genesis' trimming content was necessary. Half the races, those based on planets, and one class was cut from the game.

We prefer the term cannon fodder, now where do we pick up our red shirts?

There's a default party, but where's the fun in that? I created six new characters: 2 Desert Runners that excel in warrior classes, 3 humans that are, as always,  jack-of-all-trades with access to all classes, and 1 tinker that can only become a medic. This port misses out on the engineer class. Rerolling stats happens with the press of a button, and HP is rerolled whenever race or class changes. I wanted a good mix, so I settled on two warriors, one rocket jock (pilot), one rogue (security expert), and two medics. I thought medic skills, or any skill really, was an active ability rather than passive, and I liked the idea of maximizing my healing potential. Turned out that nearly every skill was automatic or encounter based.

My party configuration

In addition to stats, characters have a combination of 10 generic skills and 1 class specific. Every level a character gets 4 points to distribute among them, and characters begin the game at level 2. Skills are a mix of combat and encounter related abilities. Only 2 points per level can be put into a single skill. I'll explain skills as they become relevant.

The back story given in the manual describes a history of near collapse. After a period known as the Last Gasp War major countries formed alliances: the Russo-American Mercantile (RAM), the Euro-Bloc faction, and the Indo-Asian Consortium. These three formed a larger alliance to create technology that would allow for space exploration. Terraforming makes Mars and Venus habitable, and they're claimed by RAM and IAC respectively while the Euro-Bloc settles on the moon. Years later, old Earth fell to RAM forces. Many of the inhabitants were displaced to Mercury. Over a hundred years later rebels known as the New Earth Organization (NEO) start to fight for the independence of Earth.

Being briefed in-game

Buck Rogers thwarted a plan by the Soviets in 1995 to launch a weaponized space station called Masterlink. He successfully destroyed it, but in the ensuing blast his ship was damaged. As it hurtled through space he activated his cryogenic sleep, not knowing when he'd be rescued. The destruction of Masterlink is what triggered the Last Gasp War. The legend of Buck Rogers was repeated throughout history, and taken up specifically by NEO. In the year 2456, Buck Rogers was recovered, and now he fights on the side of NEO. With his help RAM was forced to abandon their interests on Earth; however, the threat of their forces still lingers while NEO attempts to rebuild. The party has signed up, and is ready to be transported to a space station orbiting Earth called Salvation.

when all of a sudden...

Good thing we've come prepared with laser pistols. Not my first choice of weapons, but I didn't exactly have a choice. Warriors gain a weapon specialization every even level, and I had chosen the rocket pistol for one and the mono blade for the other. I suppose I'll have to search for these some other time. The party came across a wounded officer during the attack. He commanded me to find the missile defense override; the automatic defense must have been jammed. With no specific direction I stood there blankly as the devastation around me escalated.

*Plop*

I wandered around disoriented, pressed back by explosions, and was reminded of just how much fun I had with the gold box titles once I entered combat. Those games, and this one, were known more for their set encounters rather than purely random battles. In this first area there were no less than eleven by the time I was finished, and a handful of those included decisions I had to make on the fly. Combat is handled via top-down turned based square grid movement. Turn order is based on each character's dexterity plus a random number. Thankfully for these early battles I was joined by other novice NEO recruits. Each battle allowed me to upgrade my armor from the spoils. While a few of them bit the dust, my party came away with no causalities. At the end of each battle, medics healed the party automatically based on their specialized skill. I couldn't tell if two medics made a difference.

The warrior's special skill allows them to take direct control of NPC troop, as well as give a chance to boost hit rate for the entire team

The final encounter for the base pitted my party against a group of elite Terrine fighters guarding a RAM technician working on the missile control console. After the battle I still had to deal with the technician. Instead of surrendering, he began to open fire with his laser pistol while still working the console. I had the option of firing, which could damage the console; charging, which is the one I chose; or duck and take cover. Charging seemed the most prudent option. I rushed forward and pinned him to the ground. Still some fight in him, he then pulled out a grenade and let the pin fly. Suddenly another choice, do I dive on the grenade or run away? Well, we are would be heroes after all.

Alright, who took the human shield skill?

Since Jinn had the highest current hit points, I elected for him to dive on the grenade. Luckily he survived, and the controls remained undamaged. We quickly brought the missile defenses online, and RAM's air superiority was eliminated. The surviving NEO troops secured the base and I received a small reward. After a debriefing I was sent to Salvation to begin my first mission. What an entrance! The commander greeted my party, and told me to look around a bit before getting my first mission from him. I unloaded my spoils in the equipment shop and purchased rocket pistols for everyone as well as some poison antidote, which turned out useless (I'm not sure how it's used, but I never got poisoned once during the game). My first mission was a simple salvage mission from nearby debris.

If that's not foreboding then I'm not sure what is

I'm out! Back to the ship guys

As soon as I stepped on board a ghostly figure wailed as it floated through the left wall. This was then punctuated by ship fire, followed by silence. Checking nearby scanners, the tug I had brought with me wasn't registering. My only course, figure out what happened to this ship, make it right, and fly it back to Salvation. It wasn't long before I ran into the first set of genetically modified creatures, affectionately called Gennies. Even though they looked like a cross between spiders and the predator from Alien, they were easily dealt with. The security robots on the other hand (I'm assuming they were released to contain the creatures) deflected my rocket pistols, so I had to fall back to lasers again.

That can't be good

I found the ship's hydroponics lab with a strange vine that wrapped itself around my party. I thought it might drain out whatever was causing the rash, but if it did, it didn't stop there. The party was quickly drained to death. So, it's going to be that kind of game. I reloaded, and investigated the room to my left immediately upon entry (the one the ghost escaped through). It was a an office where a body floated weightlessly about with various tapes. Listening to each one I gathered small bits of information about what happened here. They were planning some kind of attack on Earth, but something went wrong. I retrieved a sigma code from one Dr. Williams, and learned about someone named Scot that he couldn't reach. The rash, which started with an itch, grew into a headache. This sounded bad, and it was getting worse. It was also spreading to the other party members.

Yep, definitely getting worse

On the third floor of the ship I learned that Scot was pro-Earth, which explained his sudden unresponsiveness. Another man by the name of Vilnikov was dead in a room surrounded by the ECG (I'm not certain what this stands for, but the G is Gennie). He had another sigma number on him, and a log that identified a gas that could subdue the creatures. I then found an air shaft that I took me to the fifth floor. In the engineering room I found Scot.DOS, a personality program created by Scot, who confirmed he was trying to defect to NEO. I connected him to the main computer, and he warned me that the creatures would soon molt to stage 3.

Oh good, he's awake, wait, he's attacking now

In another room I found the security console that controlled the robots. My rogue disabled them; one less threat to worry about. I ascended one more level using the main ladder, and found the creatures had control of the bridge. There was a barricade that attracted them every time I tried to move it. I returned to the fourth floor I bypassed earlier. There I found a medical bay. The computer announced, "Please enter Sigma number." I had the choice of entering the sigma numbers for Williams, Vilnikov, or Conchitez, who lay on one of the medical tables splayed open. The autopsy logs noted a parasite, and a method to protect against it. Just then Jett Phewl (my pilot) collapsed. I needed to act quickly. My options were to speak a sigma number or reprogram it. I didn't have faith in my party's programming ability since I didn't devote many points into that skill. I took a gamble and spoke the sigma number of Vilnikov. It worked, parasite removed and party fully healed.

Buck? That should work on a RAM ship

Scot tapped into the medical computer, and found it was Argon gas that could subdue the growing infestation. With my party now at full health and free of impending doom from within, I now had to deal with the one surrounding me. In the first floor cargo bay I found the Argon canisters I needed. Installing those in the air pumps on the second floor was an easy matter once I found the correct room. However, we weren't out of the woods yet. The Gennies were evolving rapidly, and learned how to operate the controls. They reversed the air flow, preventing the gas from dispersing. I scrambled for the correct console to override the air flow, but finally located it on deck 1.

Nice inconspicuous console in the middle of a wall

The ECGs started to swarm on my position, but instead of retreating, I stood my ground to ensure the argon gas was sent to all decks. The effect was quick. Finally a reprieve... just then Scot shouts at me to get to the control room quickly as a mechanical voice announced the self destruct system activated with a count of 20. This game does not let up. On deck 6, I quickly broke down the barricade without the threat of ECGs, and found the control panel to disarm the sequence. Then a stage 3 ECG, a humanoid creature with black eyes, appeared from the airlock. As I neared, another appeared. After that battle I found another alone, setting a demo charge. I opened fire, shot him into an escape pod, and launched it. The resulting explosion rocked the ship, but all was safe.

Back at HQ the party received command of the ship, and the responsibility of figuring out what's going on

After the first real mission I was already level 4 out of a max of 8. I focused leveling up two skills for each character, mostly their class specialization and one other skill. For my second warrior though I decided to forgo the leadership/tactics. Instead I made him a demolition and climbing expert. Library research turned out to be a fairly useless skill as it reveals only minor hints. I invested at least one point from everyone into first-aid and rocket repair so I would never be without some way to regain health. The Zero-G skill was a minor distraction. I had the warriors and rogue invest in stealth, but it's only use is in battle to gain back attacks. Had I known that I wouldn't have bothered. One of my medics specialized in fast talk, which helped in a number of situations. My other warrior was a pro in perception, although it was difficult to tell when that came into play. Knowing what I do now, I would have trained my rogue more in programming. Whenever it came time to use it I never succeeded.

Encountering a RAM scout on patrol

Ship to ship combat is another turn based affair of a different sort. Ships range in distance from 4 to 0. Withdrawing at range 4 ends combat. Getting to range 0 allows the crew to board and possibly capture the enemy ship. Doing so awards the party a salvage fee based on what condition the ship was left in. Each party member in order gets to act, either firing or arming weapons. The ability to hit is directly linked to their normal combat ability. Lasers, missiles, and cannon fire are the only options, and only available at certain ranges. The last two also have limited ammo. Causing damage to weapons reduces the number of attacks. Damage to the controls and engines reduces a ships ability to maneuver. Reducing the hull to 0 destroys the ship. Balancing the reward of a salvage with the proximity to active weapon systems takes some finesse, although money isn't really necessary so I avoided this kind of combat as much as I could.

Exploration mode opens after the acquiring the ship. RAM scouts act as random encounters while the four inner planets and asteroid clusters act as points of interest

Equipment is limited to grenades, guns, and melee weapons while a linear armor line acts as the only line of defense. All equipment aside from grenades come in either a standard, martian, venusian, mercurian, or lunarian variety, which essentially ranges from +0 to +4. Guns come in a pistol variety that are either laser, heat, needle, or rocket based, and a specialty variety such as rocket and plasma launchers. Some enemies are able to deflect or absorb certain types of guns. There is also a grenade launcher, but it only acts to enhance the range of grenades. The variety of grenades includes defensive, inhibiting, or damaging. The inhibitors are the dazzle, which blind the enemy, and stunner. For defense, mist blocks laser fire while chaff blocks rockets and grenades. My party ended up carrying two or three pistols, and my medics had an assortment of grenades.

Second mission, infiltrate a base on Ceres where the destitute ship was headed

Upon arriving at Ceres I posed as part of the crew, and used my fast talk skill to convince the guard when questioned about Dr. Williams. The base was locked down, and I was led to the only accessible elevator to rescue some children on the second floor. The guards destroyed the elevator shaft to ensure the creatures didn't escape. The children were easy enough to find, and the creatures weren't half as bad as the ones I'd faced on the ship. There were a number of interesting bits of information I gathered, especially with the help of one eager child that seemed to know I wasn't really part of RAM.

Like this super powerful laser, which was too heavy to carry

I managed to get the children out to their evacuating ship. While making my own escape I was too focused on reviewing all the new information, such as the location of their Mars base at Gradivus Mons, that I accidentally ran headlong into a band of pirates. I put up a valiant fight, but I was outclassed by the persistence of the game designers that I be captured during this particular encounter. After being ambushed, immediately boarded, and fighting through three waves of pirates, I entered a scripted event where my entire party succumbed to a flood of stun grenades. I found myself in the clutches of Talon, a well known pirate. I challenged him to a one-on-one match, but he had weapons and armor while my guy was stripped down. Not exactly fair, so I tried to make a run for it. Talon didn't appreciate that, called me a coward, and ordered me into a cell. Back in my cell I saw an opportunity to break free. I disabled the security field and rushed for the door only to nearly run headlong into Buck Rogers himself, coming to my rescue of all things.

Just look at him... no, can't trade equipment from an NPC to a PC

Buck had a plan to get us out, and provided my equipment. The ship was too well guarded to make a break for it, so first we headed to Talon's office to look for a way to distract the engineers. I stopped by the armory on the way and picked up a rocket launcher (which I accidentally sold soon after my escape).  Honestly, every time there was a skill check Buck was there to lend a hand in case I couldn't cover it. In battle, he never got hit, actively dodged grenades, and tended to my fallen members. He led me around from setting up a distraction in the mess hall to sneaking past the engineers to blast apart their consoles, crippling the ship. This whole endeavor was completed by Buck dragging my party around half-dead as we escaped on our separate ships.

I don't think I ever did find Garrity or the secret base he was supposed to send me off to

Back at headquarters I received two direct missions: find Jason Dupare in the radium mine on Thule to get information on the Doomsday Project, and investigate the Mars base at Gradivus Mons. Well, I stopped by Thule, but didn't find Mr. Dupare at all. There are various space stations floating about the solar system with generic hubs. Headquarters and gyms act as training centers to increase character levels. Bars can have some good info, and on occasion have minor encounters, but cost money to stick around. The equipment shop will buy up battle spoils, and sell weapons. I hardly found use for purchasing equipment as most of the best ones came from combat. The library is a good source of hints for future encounters as long as someone has a good score in the library research skill. Each time a new hint is learned 100 experience is awarded. On Thule I didn't find anything more than a prison operated by robots. There was one door that I couldn't bypass with my programming, and if Jason was in there I never got the chance to speak with him due to my lousy skill level.

While Thule was a bust, Mars proved quite fruitful

On Mars I bypassed a RAM scout (by obliterating it), and made friends with the Desert Runners. They tested my mettle, and I helped defend their village from RAM forces. In the end though, the village was overrun, but I left a booby trap that took out the rest of the invaders. The remaining villagers assembled near a blue rock; Atha and Tuskon, the tribe's leaders, led a raid against the nearby RAM base. While the Runners distracted the troops, Tuskon and I secreted into an access tunnel to take the base from the inside. I freed some apes that helped scramble the guards, announced a level three bio-hazard warning for the base, and then opened the front gates. RAM never stood a chance.

How does RAM's plans go from ECG invasion to giant doomsday laser?

As I continued to chase down all research on the laser, I found a functional mini laser. I set it to self-destruct, a standard function on all space age technology. I shouted a warning over the intercom to evacuate, and then ran for the door myself. The entire base went up in flames as the tribe celebrated a great victory. As a parting gift, Atha gave me some security cards she happened to find while exploring the base. I could've sworn I checked every room for items.

Sounds like Buck, good luck man, I'm going to focus on the main quest, thanks

Checking back in with HQ, I found that a base on Venus was manufacturing the lens for the lasers I'd found. On the planet's surface I were another group of natives at arms against RAM. It seems RAM was trying to clean up all the evidence of this laser. I found one by the name of Leander, who sadly died in the next battle. When I returned to my ship to heal him he vanished from my party. In the village, there's only one, I rescued a small child who accompanied me for the rest of my infiltration. I accidentally gave him a rocket pistol, but he put it to good use actually. At the RAM installation I found an unguarded access tunnel where for the first time I used by climb skill. I destroyed the fleet of gliders poised to attack the natives before accessing the main lab.

Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right...

Information on Venus pointed me to the Mercurian Mariposas as the next stop in this interplanetary adventure. Before I made my way there I helped the Lowlander Landon, who's son I'd been dragging about, and his friends escape from this facility. He informed me of a retinal lockpick, which should come in handy during my next mission. With that I climbed back through the access tunnel to my terrain rover, and blasted off back to HQ. The commander informed my that Atha had been kidnapped, but my top priority was to go to Mercury. "That's an order," he added.

Then Buck showed up

So, I went to Mercury. Sorry Buck, not everyone can be a maverick like you. The security cards Atha gave me granted me access to the Mariposas. This place was an elite resort, the perfect place to build a deadly space laser. I did my best to blend in without drawing attention to myself, and managed to slip through most of security and into the core. Ascending the core I found medallions on three floors, which granted me an audience with the sun king. I had to stretch my brain a bit as he enjoyed communicating mostly in French.

Viva la bluff, actually I just agree with everything he said

The sun king controlled the defense system further up the core. With those disabled I painlessly made my way to the top. I think I agreed to disable and deliver the laser to him, but like that's going to happen. I climbed up from the fourth to ninth level without incident. Upon arriving, an announcement sounded over the intercom: "Weapons system armed..." Scot.DOS yelled at me to find the power room on the weapons control level to disable the countdown. No time to check every room I ran straight to what I hoped were stairs up. Luckily I was correct; I climbed up.

That looks fun, but maybe later

Past the level with escape pods I arrived on the weapon control floor. With a 15 count to spare I found the power, climbed up (skill check), and disabled the weapons system. The backup power kicked in, but the countdown was already interrupted. I bypassed a door with the retinal lock pick, and made my way to the weapons control room. Inside were a couple of tough battles back to back. Actually, only the first was difficult with three attack bots, engineers, and officers. Chaff grenades are the only reason I survived. I activated the self-destruct sequence, and watched the fireworks... wait, I'm still on the station.

Yep, definitely agreed to give the Sun King the laser

Yep, definitely shouldn't be here anymore

I raced back to the escape pod level, found the first pod, and opened the door. Well, attempted to open the door. I received a warning that I had not yet prepped the pod for departure from the escape pod control terminal. What kind of emergency escape pod needs prepping? With a count of 15 on the clock, I took a chance and blew open the hatch door with a demolition charge. Escape pod still intact we were fired to safety. Back at HQ I was commended for my actions. Suddenly everyone in the galaxy was then aware of what terrible people the RAM forces were.

and a special thank you from Bucky boy

This was a fun game although rather easy. I'm really looking forward to Pool of Radiance now, as this sparked a lot of memories of playing gold box games, especially that one. You may have noticed that I cut Robin Hood early from the list. I had planned to play through it, but it didn't turn out quite enough. Once again I seem to be slow in writing up these posts. I meant to divide this one, but then the game just ended. Sorry for the long post, but enjoy the short rating.

Elapsed Time: 10h18m (Final Time: 10h18m)

The credit roll was well done

Combatant - Combat was a bit too easy. I rarely felt challenged even when half my team was dying off. Enemies tended to feel samey, and their AI varied more based on their available weapons than anything else. I suppose it makes sense for grenades, rocket launchers, and plasma guns to do lots of damage, but it really hampers the strategic aspects.
Rating: 6

Some artists to blame or praise

Admirer - There's a great deal of customization for the team, and even individual characters. The skill system comes into play often enough to matter. There might be ways to completely cripple a character, but who's going to invest in a perceptive librarian. The character portraits only include a male and female human version, even if other races are used. The battle icons are chosen from a set instead of built, but I suppose trying to fit one of the old gold box's mix-and-match creation kits might be a bit much to hope for on console.
Rating: 6

Why couldn't I be a predator?

Puzzler - I gave this a rather average rating due to weak side plots, puzzles that work well yet are limiting (didn't get programming, can't do this part), and while multiple solutions exist for some everything leads to the same outcome.
Rating: 5

No slight against you guys, you made a good game

Instigator - One of the weaker points was the story. Everything seemed rather disconnected. The numerous space stations are rather sparse, and there aren't a lot of descriptions in the game for the various locations or equipment. Encounters spice this up a bit. In the end the story isn't formed around the player's actions, it's laid out as a path to follow.
Rating: 4

I don't even remember seeing this guy

Collector - Nope, this is not a collector's game. There are quite a number of limited items. One could choose to attempt to find all the best equipment, but I'm not even sure where to start looking. Actually, it might be kind of fun to locate it just for the sake of doing so. The economy is well balanced, but there's not enough places to store equipment. I was lugging around armor off dead soldiers to earn a bit of extra coin, but the encumbrance system encourages slimming down inventory.
Rating: 3

Ah, now I understand why there's only one death cry for creatures

Explorer - Graphics for the game are good, but the detailed scenes are great. Music had a good mix, but sound effects seemed more limited or rushed than other games. There's a good number of locations to find, but most are generic outposts until someone sends the party there. Overall there's not much to see here, and it all looks very similar.
Rating: 4

Final Rating: 28 [47%]

Thanks for the many bugs you found, I didn't find a single one

Overall a good game, and I recommend it (possibly the PC version) to any RPG, and especially gold box, fans out there. The tension kind of petered out at the mid-point, but the game didn't overstay its welcome. I do wonder what would have happened if I found that one Dupare guy, went to rescue Atha, or even investigate the ship escaping from RAM to Ceres, but in the end the game is won and RAM was routed. I'm sure everyone is doing fine.

Now on to cutting a game from my childhood. ActRaiser is a simulation-action game with very slight leveling mechanics. Someone called it an RPG, so hopefully I can explore it enough to show why it's not according to my scale. After that we have The Faery Tale Adventure, which I believe Chet tried to play, but gave up on it as it was too boring. Let's see if I can manage any better.