Okay, okay, I recall having once said I would write a couple of reviews titled Good RPG/Bad RPG. I also recall that was a couple of weekends. My apologies. I am now finally getting to it. I promise Bad RPG will be tomorrow night. But for now, let us look at a good rpg video game. The game in question is an old nostalgic favorite that I find myself returning to again and again. That game is Betrayal at Krondor.
For those that don't know this game, Betrayal at Krondor came out in the early 90s for the MS-Dos systems and was based on an epic fantasy series by author Raymond E. Feist. The series is referred to as the Riftwar Saga which is about kingdoms fighting other worldly foes from a different dimension and the undead and what have you. I eventually read those first four books later on and at first I wasn't sure if I was reading the Hobbit or Fellowship of the Ring or both. The bottom line is that they are pretty standard fantasy affair. However, the game itself takes place many years later and is more quest-based and less epic war-based. Now with that brief back story out of the way, let us get on with the back story for my experience with the game.
Betrayal at Krondor was one of the earliest video games that I owned. Technically, it belongs to my Dad seeing as how he bought it. But, seeing as how I am the only one that actually plays it, I think that's kind of moot at this point. Anyway, this was a new experience for my brother and myself. At the time, the only video games we actually owned were adventure games such as Day of the Tentacle and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. Betrayal at Krondor was definitely a whole new breed of game for us. It was our very first role-playing video game and we had no idea what we were supposed to be doing. I remember a lot of clicking and thinking that clicking was going to get us places. But apparently, we had to fight in this game unlike in the adventure games which was mostly puzzle-based and quickly we died. Most of the time we selected the auto fight option and watch our characters fall in battle. As you can tell, we didn't make it very far in this game. Yet, we were hooked by its atmosphere and music. I was hooked at the very least. We kept coming back to it and trying again until the computers eventually upgraded and we could no longer get the game to work. Sad day. That was in 1996 or 97. I would be unable to get the game to work again until late 2004 when I discovered the miracle of the Dosbox emulator. And once more, Krondor was alive and kicking. By this point, I had played so many other rpg video games that I had a better understanding of how Krondor was supposed to play. I no longer relied on a hopeful auto fight system and controlled the characters in the battle.
Now, let us talk about the gameplay of his ancient masterpiece. As I stated, Betrayal at Krondor is a role-playing video game with all of that leveling up jazz. The combat is turn based and certainly stresses your tactician skills. You'll have at least two characters who are swordsmen and one magician. Oh and the swordsmen can also shoot arrows too which is nice. Another nice feature the leveling system had in this game involved leveling up by practice instead of experience. The more you practiced your swordplay, spell casting and barding, the higher your stats increase. I thought it was a nice system as I felt I was leveling more often than I usually do in rpg's. Now, I'll be honest about something. I am usually picky when it comes to turn-based combat or gameplay in general. My first experience with Pokemon was dull. I was thinking, "What do you mean I gotta wait my turn? That's bullshit, that's not how combat goes." I thought it was slow and unexciting as opposed to the fast paced, sword swinging action of Zelda. However, as I have played other rpg's, I grew to enjoy the turn based combat in some respects. Krondor is certainly one of them. I don't know why, maybe it's because I do like strategizing a bit during combat which is plentiful here. Also, it always feels exciting and not overly long (unless your character and the enemy A.I. constantly miss each other in combat, then, there might be a wait). Either way, I enjoyed the combat in this game once I finally understood it.
The other half of the gameplay is exploring and conversing. The game is played from a first person perspective during these phases, but during combat, it is third person. You spend a good portion of the game wandering from town to town, collecting a variety of items for use or sale, engaging in combat and chatting it up with the people of the world. And as typical of rpgs, there are optional side quests which bequeath their own rewards and expand upon the world in this game. I personally enjoyed exploring this world and searching for its secrets. It certainly has quite a bit to check out. One of my favorite things are the riddle chests. I love puzzle-solving and felt that was a great way to get loot from the treasure chests. A lot of the riddle-locked chests held some of the better prizes, anyway. There was certainly a lot one can do in this world that would keep them entertained for hours on end. I was even able to exploit a money-making scheme with one of the shopkeepers by selling them the parts for a specialized bow. You buy back the parts at cheaper prices, string the bow and sell it back for a higher price. Repeat the process and you'll be rolling in dough. And then you can go out and buy all of the expensive spells for your mage to stock up on. See what I mean? Lots to do and discover. It certainly makes for a wonderful playing experience.
But what is the story of this game? Well, it's like this. A faction of dark elves decide they want to overthrow the good kingdoms. However, one member of this faction doesn't like it and decides to warn the good guys of the uprising. Gorath the good dark elf is then escorted around all over the land until they can find out what's really happening and put an end to the uprising. That's it in a nutshell, anyway. It is a fun little fantasy romp, I'll say that.
What really made this game for me, however, was the sound and atmosphere. Okay, screw 'was', it still makes the game for me to this day. The music plays wonderfully like it belongs in a fabled Arthurian tale. Any time I feel the urge of classic fantasy rpg game, I instantly think of this wonderful music that is so easy on the ears and so epic at the same time. The graphics and atmosphere have a more western medieval feel to them than the cartoony anime style most rpgs use. And it doesn't hurt that most of the cut scenes and text are surrounded by pages. This makes the game feel like interacting with a fantasy novel. It just feels unique like this. This comes the closest to a classic sword and sorcery game that I sometimes crave.
So, what don't I like about this game? Yes, there is one thing. It is the fact that it feels slow sometimes when you are wandering around. Yeah, I know it is an old dungeon crawler, but there were moments when I felt like I was on the road just a little too long. It takes away from the overall experience only slightly. Otherwise, the rest of the game is perfect as is.
Well, not much more to say, really. This is a classic from childhood that I pull out over the years any time I get that urge. In between those years when I couldn't get it to work, I searched for many rpgs that matched this game to try and get the fix. But, none were able to match up, sadly enough. Krondor truly is unique on its own. Tomorrow, we look at a Bad Rpg that I tried to use to fill in the gaps of Krondor.
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