The world of Alefgard was cloaked in darkness until a brave
warrior used an item called the Ball of Light to drive off the forces of
darkness. After this, a period of peace lasted for many generations until one
day the Ball of Light was stolen by an evil wizard calling himself the
Dragonlord. This resulted in evil flooding back into the world and monsters
roaming everywhere. The people start looking for a hero to bring back peace
again and it just so happens that you are a descendant of the original hero.
Looks like it's time to go on a quest again.
It's about time that Dragon Warrior got an English
conversion. This game came out way back in 1986 in Japan under the title Dragon
Quest and it's only now three years later that the game reached western shores.
Thankfully the game was given some minor graphical improvements but overall it
still looks pretty dated. Unlike other Role Playing Games you play through the
entire game by yourself and have no help from party members. You still have
some weapons and items to use as well as magic spells to cast. The game
reminded me a lot of some of the earlier Ultima titles with a similar world map
and town layout. Your quest to retrieve the Ball of Light and defeat the
Dragonlord ultimately boils down to finding items to allow access to his castle
and gaining enough experience to survive the final showdown. There are very
little puzzles in the game and most of the time you're just fighting random
creatures or looking for a certain item.
The game has only a few towns and even less dungeons so it's
pretty hard to get stuck or lost. There are a few obscure parts where you have
to find an item that's quite well hidden but overall there's nothing here to
really tax the brain cells. The gameplay is quite simplistic but that's hardly
surprising for such an old game. The game has a bit more animations than the
original and maybe a bit more color here and there but overall the game looks
pretty much the same as the three year old Japanese version. Only a few sprites
seem to have been changed here and there and as far as I can tell the game
plays exactly the same.
The music in the game is quite good although a bit more
variations in the tunes would have been nice. Don't even expect to hear sound
effects though. Controls are the usual RPG fare although Dragon Warrior seems
to like its menu system a bit more than other similar games. Where you usually
just have to walk over stairs to go up and down in this game you have to stand
on the stairs and then go into the menu to choose the "stairs"
option. Likewise with doors that are locked. This can be pretty annoying at
first but you'll soon grow used to it.
Playing as a single character instead of a group means you
have fewer people to worry about but combat can also be a lot tougher. There is
only one place in the entire game where you can save and this is at the castle.
This means you have to trek all the way back there each time you want to switch
off. Fortunately the gameworld isn't that big and you have a few items and
spells to get you there faster. Dying also dumps you back here although you do
lose some money as a penalty.
While Dragon Warrior doesn't come close to the Final Fantasy
series it's still challenging and interesting enough to warrant a play. Hard-core
role playing fans will enjoy the challenge although it has to be said that
gaining levels takes quite a long time. The game is also quite slow paced and
there is virtually no plot revelations or twists while you play. The game can
also become quite tedious at times as you slog your way through armies of
monsters to reach a location. A few more boss monsters, some new story elements
and a few other minor improvements and Dragon Warrior could have been a
classic. As it is, it is still a solid and entertaining title.
[8]
No comments:
Post a Comment