Ninja Destroyer
Arcane
After finishing Al-Qadim: The Genie's Curse I decided to play another game published by SSI which was made on the same engine. The original version which was made for Windows 3.1 and 95 couldn't be installed on 64 bit system. Fortunatelly GOG has released this oldie as well, so after a brief moment I could admire the title screen in 800x600 resolution. The mouse scrolling is optimal, and there are no artifacts. The only problem that I've stumbled upon, are the random crashes. Sometimes they happened right after saving the game (which aren't corrupted, so nothing bad happens). While later on it occured after some sequence with voice acting. It wasn't as frequent, as I feared, so I could endure this without any problem.
Without further ado, let's start the LP with an intro sequence.
Which doesn't tell us much. Giant bees are attacking some random village.
After that we see this screen.
I've decided to play on medium difficulty for balanced experience and naming my digital alter ego Hudson, because this game is apparently full of bugs. There are no other things that we can change. The box cover is totally misleading since we can't make our hero with blond hair.
We are somewhere in the gigantic web labyrinth, where the giant spider queen is being irritated by seeing us again. I don't know what she means by that, but I'm sure we will learn about it later on. She is bored with humans trying to be heroes, does a devil hand sign with her right hand (seriously, she does that!) and sends us ... somewhere.
Hudson without any feedback tells me, that he was meeting his sister.
"Yeah, but is our sister hot?"
Patience Melcar.
This is a village of Addegun. The crabs may look harmless, but they actually attack and you will loose health. It's best to just avoid them.
The interface is really simple. We have a backpack icon with all our items which we find and the spellbook. The three circles are for choosing the spells from the book for quick use (with Z,X and C buttons). We control the power of the spell, by deciding how long we keep the magic attack on hold. The spell power grows, and we can see how much on the small horizontal bar above the circles. The red bar on the left is our life, and the green-yellow one is for mana. The latter one replenishes itself with the passing time and sometimes when we reach some major plot point. It's an action adventure game in it's heart just like Al-Qadim.
I can go only in the northern direction.
From the nearby hut the doors are smashed and two 100 % white zombie like creatures are really interested in me. I introduce myself properly with both fists.
Damn! Hudson must be a long distant relative of Kenshiro from Fist of The North Star.
He is so powerful that he turned the zombies into pile of intestines and bones without any problem. I found a Mana Bolt spell which one of the monsters had. It's really weak, but I can keep some distance between myself and enemies, and that's what really counts.
Time to start looking for valuable stuff in the village. I need everything what I can get.
But apart from more corpses and empty vases with some furniture the place is empty. I move to the western part of island.
I finally meet another person.
That is a good question. There is something odd happening here.
After that there is nothing more I can talk about. Not that I want to. I walk slowly away. The rocks have created the natural maze, but I find exit without any problems. There is another men who starts the conversation.
I try to be polite and understanding, knowing that most of the island's population has been killed already.
After that he isn't talkative much, so I can ignore him for the time being. He unlocks the path for me and I stumble upon a small boy, who apparently is my younger brother.
It's hard to tell, but since it is basically a tutorial chapter I think that not for long.
Hah, I knew it.
Since the hut on the right is so close I just check up just to be sure I don't miss anything.
Well, it turns out it's aunt Rellia and uncle Vadin. Things aren't looking good.
First I ask about the Sulianna.
At least know I know what will be the next step in our journey, and what to expect. We don't learn much from other dialogue options. I tried to scout the area, but surprisingly a group of giant mosquitoes attacks the villagers. Rumble time!
The pack divides the attack between the smaller groups, and unfortunately the guy who was blocking my path died. We move quicker than them, so basically is a hit and run operation. The mana bolt spell was useful and I can finally scavenge the remaining parts of the village.
I find an amulet nearby. I can't wear it and use it, but I'm sure it will be useful.
In one of the huts I find a really interesting scrolls regarding the resurrection ritual. I've got the amulet already, yay.
I visit Ennest, who is the leader of the village and has some interesting information to share with us.
I ask him about the Shaman, since he is the one I would need to resurrect.
And the Water Nymph as well.
I think we can clearly see what we will have to do here. I finally check up with my brother. He introduces us to the storyteller, who gives us a special Pendant of Communication. This allows him to follow our actions through the course of the game, and comment on them every now and then. It is quite annoying to be honest, but we can't progress without it.
He gives us armor spell, which is quite useful. It creates the grey magic barrier which makes us less fragile.
After that I try to enter one last hut again, but without any success.
Well, I've killed all the hostiles in the area. If you want it to be any more safe, you need to find a new place to live. Whatever, time to move on and find the corpse of the shaman.
A helpful crow is making sounds while he is near the corpse of the shaman. Now I need to find some blood that to start the ritual. Our birdie is really helpful and makes a short trip towards south.
There is one problem though. I'm missing something, since I can't take blood with my bare hands. After quick tour I realize that I missed the spot near the unfriendly necrophile.
A sea sponge, how creative. I return to the corpse and finally the shaman is alive.
Or more like undead, because he resembles the earlier creatures that I have killed. The spell won't last long so we quickly run to the altar to summon the Nymph. I wonder how will she look.
Behold the beautiful...
Nymph !?!? That was unexpected.
Poor shaman is dead again, but he saved the island.
Looks like someone has unusual taste, if you ask me.
The village leader is grateful to the shaman, but he forgot to mention us.
I take whatever I can, although I would expect something more to be honest.
Yeah! I have free BOAT TICKET so I can finally end this chapter. Before venturing I meet a friendly face.
Of course I accept the quest. Maybe we will receive something nice in return.
This ends first chapter of the story, which was rather simple and easy to complete. From now on things will probably get more interesting and more difficult. Time to find Sulianna. All aboard!