Below the Root (C64, 1984)
Graphics-7 Sound-6.5 Control-6.5 Challenge-7 Story-7
Level Design-5 Frustration-8 Fun-5 Originality-8
Overall Score-5.5
+
Quest Adventure/RPG hybrid gameplay (5 different playable chars with a few stats and different starting positions, learn skills over the course of the game (heal, grunspreke, kiniport), NPC interaction, verb-based world interaction via a menu - later used in Maniac Mansion, item inventory)
Towns with shops
Three tools used for traversal ("shuba" garment for hover jumps - can break and be replaced via the shop in the beginning town as well as at another house near the "garden" sign, lamps for the dark cave, spirit bell to notice hidden doors) and some movement related spirit skills/spells which are leveled up over the course of the game (telekinesis/kiniporting for moving items and same screen teleportation, "grunspreking" which is the ability to make tree branches grow to create temporary bridges across impassable gaps)
Can check an NPC's current mood with Pense and when it's upgraded you can get helpful telepathic messages from NPCs with it (used to figure out what some NPCs want and if an NPC will try to kidnap you)
Background doors
Video tutorial (pick Sample Quest in the menu)
Can drop items anywhere while outside and they also stay when moving indoors or between screens - doesn't work for honeylamps however
Can move while crouching
Unlimited lives (restart back at your home) and can choose to restart back at your house at any point
Can jump onto and off of vines and ladders - not hover jump though
Day/night cycle with an effect on gameplay
Some decent clues from NPCs
Locked doors and keys
Slopes (movement isn't smooth when going down them though)
Basic ranking based on how long you took to finish the game
Some signs for directions
+/-
Save anywhere on PC (five slots)
Mostly linear structure (can get some items in any order in the first area, can explore but not finish the cave before getting the spirit bell and lamp+kiniporting)Limited inventory (9 items)
No in-game map - the game comes with a partial one for the first area (doesn't name houses nor mark animals, NPCs or items)
Fatigue and hunger mechanics (days are divided into a few times of day such as early afternoon and you rest through one of these each time you rest - you also grow slightly more hungry each time)
Flip screen (no scrolling)
Holding jump makes you keep jumping when landing
Can run but it's initiated by jumping for some reason - takes some getting used to
Can't steal items even if no one is there to see you
Get knocked out for about 2 seconds from falling more than your own height
Die/get KO'd immediately from falling into water
No in-game music besides for jingles for a few key dialogues where you gain new skills and when opening locked doors
The sword is called a wand for some reason and has the exact same function as the beak/scissors though it doesn't break at least
Can get kidnapped while resting in someone's house - don't try it if you can't use pense on them first
Violence (using the sword on people or animals/insects) makes you lose spirit levels and unable to use certain spirit skills
-
Some control/interface issues (get knocked out for about 2 seconds just from walking into a wall (also from jumping into ceilings), can't jump straight upwards, can't speak to an NPC facing away from you (can check their mood with pense) or if you're standing in the same spot or if they're one tile away from you, have to go into the command menu to pick up an item, can only see one item at a time when checking your item inventory and scrolling through it, fall straight down when walking off a ledge, can only browse items to offer an NPC in one direction, can't examine inventory items, unforgiving hit detection near platform edges+tile-based movement)
Non-persistent rope bridges+thorny vines+unlocked doors
Some trial & error (false floor in the cave, various leaps of faith - required to find the animals at various points, so-so clue to the spirit bell's location and the NPC giving the clue is out of the way, have to crouch to move across placed rope bridges, confusing directions to the wise child (not at the house marked with "garden"), no clue that you're supposed to use the upgraded pense to upgrade your spirit stat by using it on animals?, the subtle "gaps" in the ground when walking on tree branches work like pits, pretty vague comments by various NPCs, can't use the scissors at a certain point in the cave where it looks like you should be able to (could cut through the same brown rubble tiles earlier, the jump to the eastern area (temple grunds) where the key is is so tight that it's likely you won't realize you can even get past the locked gate separating it from the first area without the temple key found in the east, need the upgraded spirit lamp to get through the cave - the other lamps run out pretty quickly so you have to keep finding new ones to keep going in the cave and it seems to actually make it impossible if you don't know exactly what you're doing since you can fall into water here, need to have an extra rope or shuba for raamo to finish the game - if you didn't bring one you have to redo the cave)
Various tedious aspects (large cave maze, the unlocked entrance door to the dark cave doesn't stay unlocked, no checkpoints, the shuba breaks too easily, can't rest in a bed if it isn't offered to you even if there's no one around, can't tell who's going to attack or kidnap you nor can you defend yourself even if you have the sword, the scissors can randomly break and it seems to happen fairly frequently, plenty of vertical platforming and you have to replay longer segments from falling down at various points, have to rest in a bed a bit each day or you'll collapse and return to your home - can be hard to find one, can't defend against snakes and spiders and you get knocked down for about 2 seconds when hit by them, making tree branches grow is overly slow - one tile per use of grunspreke)
No response from most NPCs when offering them things
Can't further question NPCs about subjects
Can't offer a token (money) to the kid who lost his
No quest/message log
Bugs:
-Have to stand close enough to an animal or you don't get the spirit level upgrade
-Can get stuck in the small vine wall tiles (outside both the houses where you're put when kidnapped) - you're supposed to have the trencher beak (scissors) found near the beginning to break free here
Notes:
-Down+Action to access the command menu
-Can get to the cave via the sky grund tree (west of garden grund) or the temple grund one - not on the ground level
Comment:
One of the first platform adventure/metroidvania games ever made, being a Platformer/Adventure/RPG hybrid from 1984 with an interconnected world, ability gating, character upgrades and so on. But that's not all, it also includes some NPC interaction, a day/night cycle as well as hunger and fatigue mechanics, five different characters with different starting points, and even a mind reading ability to help with clues and determinining who you can trust. Interestingly violence is also discouraged by the game, and you have unlimited lives plus can restart at your house at any point without penalty.
As innovative and abmitious as it was though, it's not that enjoyable due to some control and interface issues, lacking persistency in various aspects like unlocked doors, and a lot of tedious vertical platforming with leaps of faith required to progress (if you make a small mistake you then have to climb several screens up or sometimes have to climb a different tree and jump again just to get back to the one you were at and reach the point you needed to get to to progress). There are also no checkpoints, you always go back to your house, though to be fair the game is fairly short.
Level Design-5 Frustration-8 Fun-5 Originality-8
Overall Score-5.5
+
Quest Adventure/RPG hybrid gameplay (5 different playable chars with a few stats and different starting positions, learn skills over the course of the game (heal, grunspreke, kiniport), NPC interaction, verb-based world interaction via a menu - later used in Maniac Mansion, item inventory)
Towns with shops
Three tools used for traversal ("shuba" garment for hover jumps - can break and be replaced via the shop in the beginning town as well as at another house near the "garden" sign, lamps for the dark cave, spirit bell to notice hidden doors) and some movement related spirit skills/spells which are leveled up over the course of the game (telekinesis/kiniporting for moving items and same screen teleportation, "grunspreking" which is the ability to make tree branches grow to create temporary bridges across impassable gaps)
Can check an NPC's current mood with Pense and when it's upgraded you can get helpful telepathic messages from NPCs with it (used to figure out what some NPCs want and if an NPC will try to kidnap you)
Background doors
Video tutorial (pick Sample Quest in the menu)
Can drop items anywhere while outside and they also stay when moving indoors or between screens - doesn't work for honeylamps however
Can move while crouching
Unlimited lives (restart back at your home) and can choose to restart back at your house at any point
Can jump onto and off of vines and ladders - not hover jump though
Day/night cycle with an effect on gameplay
Some decent clues from NPCs
Locked doors and keys
Slopes (movement isn't smooth when going down them though)
Basic ranking based on how long you took to finish the game
Some signs for directions
+/-
Save anywhere on PC (five slots)
Mostly linear structure (can get some items in any order in the first area, can explore but not finish the cave before getting the spirit bell and lamp+kiniporting)Limited inventory (9 items)
No in-game map - the game comes with a partial one for the first area (doesn't name houses nor mark animals, NPCs or items)
Fatigue and hunger mechanics (days are divided into a few times of day such as early afternoon and you rest through one of these each time you rest - you also grow slightly more hungry each time)
Flip screen (no scrolling)
Holding jump makes you keep jumping when landing
Can run but it's initiated by jumping for some reason - takes some getting used to
Can't steal items even if no one is there to see you
Get knocked out for about 2 seconds from falling more than your own height
Die/get KO'd immediately from falling into water
No in-game music besides for jingles for a few key dialogues where you gain new skills and when opening locked doors
The sword is called a wand for some reason and has the exact same function as the beak/scissors though it doesn't break at least
Can get kidnapped while resting in someone's house - don't try it if you can't use pense on them first
Violence (using the sword on people or animals/insects) makes you lose spirit levels and unable to use certain spirit skills
-
Some control/interface issues (get knocked out for about 2 seconds just from walking into a wall (also from jumping into ceilings), can't jump straight upwards, can't speak to an NPC facing away from you (can check their mood with pense) or if you're standing in the same spot or if they're one tile away from you, have to go into the command menu to pick up an item, can only see one item at a time when checking your item inventory and scrolling through it, fall straight down when walking off a ledge, can only browse items to offer an NPC in one direction, can't examine inventory items, unforgiving hit detection near platform edges+tile-based movement)
Non-persistent rope bridges+thorny vines+unlocked doors
Some trial & error (false floor in the cave, various leaps of faith - required to find the animals at various points, so-so clue to the spirit bell's location and the NPC giving the clue is out of the way, have to crouch to move across placed rope bridges, confusing directions to the wise child (not at the house marked with "garden"), no clue that you're supposed to use the upgraded pense to upgrade your spirit stat by using it on animals?, the subtle "gaps" in the ground when walking on tree branches work like pits, pretty vague comments by various NPCs, can't use the scissors at a certain point in the cave where it looks like you should be able to (could cut through the same brown rubble tiles earlier, the jump to the eastern area (temple grunds) where the key is is so tight that it's likely you won't realize you can even get past the locked gate separating it from the first area without the temple key found in the east, need the upgraded spirit lamp to get through the cave - the other lamps run out pretty quickly so you have to keep finding new ones to keep going in the cave and it seems to actually make it impossible if you don't know exactly what you're doing since you can fall into water here, need to have an extra rope or shuba for raamo to finish the game - if you didn't bring one you have to redo the cave)
Various tedious aspects (large cave maze, the unlocked entrance door to the dark cave doesn't stay unlocked, no checkpoints, the shuba breaks too easily, can't rest in a bed if it isn't offered to you even if there's no one around, can't tell who's going to attack or kidnap you nor can you defend yourself even if you have the sword, the scissors can randomly break and it seems to happen fairly frequently, plenty of vertical platforming and you have to replay longer segments from falling down at various points, have to rest in a bed a bit each day or you'll collapse and return to your home - can be hard to find one, can't defend against snakes and spiders and you get knocked down for about 2 seconds when hit by them, making tree branches grow is overly slow - one tile per use of grunspreke)
No response from most NPCs when offering them things
Can't further question NPCs about subjects
Can't offer a token (money) to the kid who lost his
No quest/message log
Bugs:
-Have to stand close enough to an animal or you don't get the spirit level upgrade
-Can get stuck in the small vine wall tiles (outside both the houses where you're put when kidnapped) - you're supposed to have the trencher beak (scissors) found near the beginning to break free here
Notes:
-Down+Action to access the command menu
-Can get to the cave via the sky grund tree (west of garden grund) or the temple grund one - not on the ground level
Comment:
One of the first platform adventure/metroidvania games ever made, being a Platformer/Adventure/RPG hybrid from 1984 with an interconnected world, ability gating, character upgrades and so on. But that's not all, it also includes some NPC interaction, a day/night cycle as well as hunger and fatigue mechanics, five different characters with different starting points, and even a mind reading ability to help with clues and determinining who you can trust. Interestingly violence is also discouraged by the game, and you have unlimited lives plus can restart at your house at any point without penalty.
As innovative and abmitious as it was though, it's not that enjoyable due to some control and interface issues, lacking persistency in various aspects like unlocked doors, and a lot of tedious vertical platforming with leaps of faith required to progress (if you make a small mistake you then have to climb several screens up or sometimes have to climb a different tree and jump again just to get back to the one you were at and reach the point you needed to get to to progress). There are also no checkpoints, you always go back to your house, though to be fair the game is fairly short.