This game had potential, but was seriously not well polished on pc/amiga.
It was quite brilliant on SNES.
I think the biggest problem some people have with it, is that it does not fit in any category very well. It is, honestly a completely unique game. There is no other game much like it at all.
It is NOT an RPG game. It is vaguely an adventure game. But it has a very specific bent. It is at heart, a map making game. Or a "compass" game, if you will.
The game itself is played as much on pen and paper as it is with a controller. I have a whole notebook I dedicated to map making in this game.
The way the game is designed, you cannot win, without a very good set of maps. Resources are scarce. You can make it through the first two kingdoms while being careless, but if you want to beat the game, your every move needs to be well planned. If you're wasteful early on, you won't have enough food or weapons to play in the third and forth kingdom.
It is intensely about resource management. For instance, Sir Grumwald, which you encounter in the first forest. You must kill him in order to advance, but how do you kill him? The first time I played the game, I used the blue powder on him. Dead in one strike. Major mistake. You need that powder later on. You need to kill him using the green powder twice, and then switch to daggers. He'll die quickly and won't hurt you too much.
The complaint that it has no plot is incorrect. The game is designed to be mysterious. It's like LOST, you're not supposed to understand everything that's going on at first. Each of the characters you meet slowly impart more knowledge. There are some deeper meanings carried in a lot of seemingly benign talk as well. Stuff you don't pick up on the first time you read it.
I see so many of the same elements on the pc version, but it's just kind of... not quite there. The SNES version was a brilliant game, and there is nothing else like it. It isn't for most people. But for me it was excellent and I think anyone who is intrigued by it's unique elements should check out the SNES version.
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