Zeliard (PC, 1990)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-8 Control-6.5 Challenge-8.5 Story-7
Level Design-6 Frustration-9 Fun-6 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-6.5
+
Animated dialogue scenes (clerks, important NPCs)
Ys III/Faxanadu-like gameplay
Bank feature (store, exchange currency, withdraw; no interest rates?),
Up- (above the head) and downstab (Dragon Buster, Zelda II, Rastan)
Large and detailed boss sprites
Ambient sfx (noise outside boss rooms as a warning)
Nice art direction overall (artwork)
Pretty impressive FM (YM3812) music
Game speed option (9 settings - barely affects NPC dialogue scenes though)
Save feature (save only in towns)
Slowly regenerating health (slower than in Ys and you need to stand still - can still attack though and you can speed up the game while waiting)
Pretty fast movement
Nice intro (some animation)
The game comes with basic maps of the dungeons (pretty much required after the first dungeon)
Enemies get hit by spikes, temporary shield item (very expensive though),
Teleport to the first town with the feather (bugged here though - you're supposed to be able to teleport to the last visited sage)
Some shortcuts via slippery slopes (these require the Silkarn and/or Feruza boots)
+/-
Frequently respawning enemies
Almas is also used for experience points (go to the town sage after you've collected enough - they still count after being exchanged for money)
Two currencies (almas (1 almas=6 gold) - seems kind of pointless)
Pretty steep difficulty curve
Deteriorating armor
Can hit an enemy right behind you with your sword swing (similar to Castlevania)
The game seems designed to make you automatically use an upward attack if an enemy attacks from above but it doesn't work reliably
Lose all gold and half almas after death
Looping dungeon areas
Linear structure?
Pretty limited inventory
Can't walk up minor upward steps
Get sent back to the first town after death unless you carry a certain item that sends you to the previously visited sage
-
Some control issues (can't jump onto or off of vines, auto-fire jump, some delay after landing from a jump)
Short attack range and super short invincibility time after taking a hit (makes it hard to even pause and use a potion at times)
Tedious level design (easy to miss a jump and have to redo a fairly long segment, near pixel perfect jumps near the beginning, moving platforms don't reset position until you re-enter the sub area, platforming on slippery ground in glacial caves)
Need to start backtracking and saving after bosses after the third one since you can only save in towns and might die on the way to the next town (losing half the almas reward that you got from the boss)
Some cheap and randomized enemy spawning points (enemies spawning above you as you're climbing a vine)
Plenty of grinding to buy decent gear and to make boss fights doable (leveling up increases HP)
No in-game maps
No control options? (press up+down to swing above your head while standing, up to jump) - can be mostly fixed with joytokey or similar
No difficulty options
Can't skip or speed up dialogue on a per sentence basis (can increase game speed but it barely has an effect on dialogue scenes)
No HP regeneration in town
Sometimes odd color choices (very limited palette though - MCGA)
Found potions are used immediately
Rascar spell (drops rocks) is near useless
Comment:
I gave up on this game after quickly being killed by an enemy while (thinking I was safe) checking a map in the ice cave for the next town location after beating the giant bird boss. If it was the '90s I probably would've soldiered through this one and it does have some nice aspects for the time like the music, fast movement and animated NPCs... but the combination of grinding, repeating long parts after missing tight jumps, super short invincibility time after taking a hit and now the slippery ground in this area is enough to make the game be not particularly enjoyable for me.
Level Design-6 Frustration-9 Fun-6 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-6.5
+
Animated dialogue scenes (clerks, important NPCs)
Ys III/Faxanadu-like gameplay
Bank feature (store, exchange currency, withdraw; no interest rates?),
Up- (above the head) and downstab (Dragon Buster, Zelda II, Rastan)
Large and detailed boss sprites
Ambient sfx (noise outside boss rooms as a warning)
Nice art direction overall (artwork)
Pretty impressive FM (YM3812) music
Game speed option (9 settings - barely affects NPC dialogue scenes though)
Save feature (save only in towns)
Slowly regenerating health (slower than in Ys and you need to stand still - can still attack though and you can speed up the game while waiting)
Pretty fast movement
Nice intro (some animation)
The game comes with basic maps of the dungeons (pretty much required after the first dungeon)
Enemies get hit by spikes, temporary shield item (very expensive though),
Teleport to the first town with the feather (bugged here though - you're supposed to be able to teleport to the last visited sage)
Some shortcuts via slippery slopes (these require the Silkarn and/or Feruza boots)
+/-
Frequently respawning enemies
Almas is also used for experience points (go to the town sage after you've collected enough - they still count after being exchanged for money)
Two currencies (almas (1 almas=6 gold) - seems kind of pointless)
Pretty steep difficulty curve
Deteriorating armor
Can hit an enemy right behind you with your sword swing (similar to Castlevania)
The game seems designed to make you automatically use an upward attack if an enemy attacks from above but it doesn't work reliably
Lose all gold and half almas after death
Looping dungeon areas
Linear structure?
Pretty limited inventory
Can't walk up minor upward steps
Get sent back to the first town after death unless you carry a certain item that sends you to the previously visited sage
-
Some control issues (can't jump onto or off of vines, auto-fire jump, some delay after landing from a jump)
Short attack range and super short invincibility time after taking a hit (makes it hard to even pause and use a potion at times)
Tedious level design (easy to miss a jump and have to redo a fairly long segment, near pixel perfect jumps near the beginning, moving platforms don't reset position until you re-enter the sub area, platforming on slippery ground in glacial caves)
Need to start backtracking and saving after bosses after the third one since you can only save in towns and might die on the way to the next town (losing half the almas reward that you got from the boss)
Some cheap and randomized enemy spawning points (enemies spawning above you as you're climbing a vine)
Plenty of grinding to buy decent gear and to make boss fights doable (leveling up increases HP)
No in-game maps
No control options? (press up+down to swing above your head while standing, up to jump) - can be mostly fixed with joytokey or similar
No difficulty options
Can't skip or speed up dialogue on a per sentence basis (can increase game speed but it barely has an effect on dialogue scenes)
No HP regeneration in town
Sometimes odd color choices (very limited palette though - MCGA)
Found potions are used immediately
Rascar spell (drops rocks) is near useless
Comment:
I gave up on this game after quickly being killed by an enemy while (thinking I was safe) checking a map in the ice cave for the next town location after beating the giant bird boss. If it was the '90s I probably would've soldiered through this one and it does have some nice aspects for the time like the music, fast movement and animated NPCs... but the combination of grinding, repeating long parts after missing tight jumps, super short invincibility time after taking a hit and now the slippery ground in this area is enough to make the game be not particularly enjoyable for me.