Golden Land (2004). Tell Me More.

[Lord_Potato]

This game's fucking great, replayed it so many times back around its release. The game's genuinely great, but it got a lot of flak around release, since it starts just mercilessly – you will get your shit pushed in every random encounter and really have to all those non-combat quests and latch onto whichever companion you can (companions are very, very limited and have permadeath, so careful not to get them killed, you will not get them back) in order to just survive and get somewhere. After you get past the starting city, however, you'll start being able to punch back, and the game starts to really shine with its systems – imagine fantasy fallout, basically, but with a lot more focus on combat/magic system instead of non-combat. The game's really big with a wide variety of enemies and locations, and many quests, which I think are one of the game's strongest points. The game has little in the manner of traditional C&C – you don't get to see consequences of your actions all that often (that is not to say there aren't any such situations, though), but many of the quests offer very different ways of solving them and are usually written with good fluff so as to be interesting (which they succeed at, even the most mundane ones).

As for the weakpoints, the game's plot is one of those "fight BBEG which you can only reach by conveniently being dragged throughout the entire game map" and isn't very interesting, but it's not really the kind of game you'd play for the main quest. World reactivity is also very low, so don't expect much on that front.

Overall, it's a good RPG that I could easily see as being counted among Codex classics (probably not the top contender, but a good position in the polls for sure) if only it were translated into English. If you know any Russian, Polish, or Czech, definitely find yourself a copy and give it a spin, I think you won't be disappointed (unless you give up during the early game, but surely Codexers can handle a bit of challenge, right?)

There was a Polish version?

 

[thesecret1]

There was a Polish version?

I'm actually not sure. I just assumed that since it was translated to Czech, it was also translated to Polish.

 

[JP78]

Hello guys,
This is my first post here on the Codex. Just wanted to say hello! Also, I started a playthrough on Golden Land (Spanish version) because I like to try some obscure RPG's. Anyway, as this game is in Spanish (I know the game is Russian) it just reminded me of one isometric adventure game that I played back in AMIGA:
La Abadia del crimen.
Is an isometric adventure game inspired in "The name of the Rose" romance. It's a very good game that I would like to suggest here. (You can find a remake free to play "The Abbey of Crime Extensum")
Actually, after remebering this game, it also came to mind "Cadaver", an isometric adventure by the Bitmap Brothers. If anyone wants to give these games a try.

 

[Lord_Potato]

Nice that the Spanish version resurfaced. Now if only someone could make an unofficial English translation, even via google translate... one can wish.

 

[JP78]

Actually, I found a patch that translates the game to English.

https://ibb.co/m45Vkyn
https://ibb.co/PxQBDC6

 

[JP78]

Sorry to bump into this old thread. The game is fully playable in English. I'll make a quick guide and upload the files (translation and manual) today.

 

[Lord_Potato]

Sorry to bump into this old thread. The game is fully playable in English. I'll make a quick guide and upload the files (translation and manual) today.

Great!! Keep us posted. I'd love to try it out in English.

 

[Lord_Potato]

Actually, I found a patch that translates the game to English.

https://ibb.co/m45Vkyn
https://ibb.co/PxQBDC6

There once was a Golden Land 2 translation project on RPG Watch, but the guy finally gave up. I'm curious, where's this English translation coming from? Some other enthusiast? Google translation?

 

[JP78]

From a Russian developer forum

 

[wishbonetail]

Highbrow crowd used to shit on this game but I kinda like it. Used to play it a lot back in the day when I searched for something similar to Fallouts. Of course it's not in the same league. Tech with magic mishmash is a bit trashy and quests are a bit go fetchstuff but it has this quaint atmosphere, good isometric graphics, tb combat, some interesting char builds with alchemy. There's an expansion Cold Heaven, don't know about translations tho.

 

[Fargus]

Just to be clear, you people are talking about GoldenLand 2 not 1? There are two games and standalone expansion Cold Heaven. I only played the second game and expansion, still got them on my laptop with some other obscure russian games. It's great to hear someone translated it.

I like this game. While flawed it was certainly interesting one with pretty difficult combat, nice setting and quests. Reminds me of slavic (kinda) fantasy fallout 2. One thing i remember hating with passion though and it was the followers. They are weak, their ai is braindead, some even refuse to follow orders lol, the worst thing is they eat a chunk of your exp. So i'd suggest playing this game solo for faster leveling.

 

[JP78]

I'm refering to GoldenLand 2

 

[Skdursh]

A playable English version has been available for a while now. Here. You might need to make an account to access, but on the second or third page there is a patch-file for a machine translated version.

 

[JP78]

Great! The game is fully playable for non-Russian Speakers (expect some errors in translation)

- Install game
- Patch it to v1.3 here
- Unzip the contents of this zip file (English manual in PDF inlcuded) to the data folder on the installation dir

All set.

 

[thesecret1]

One thing i remember hating with passion though and it was the followers. They are weak, their ai is braindead, some even refuse to follow orders lol, the worst thing is they eat a chunk of your exp.

Wait, they do? I never noticed that I know though that the first companion you can get (starts with an 'I' I think. Iludan? Ivon? Something like that) is absolutely indispensable for early game though. I usually beelined for him as soon as I could since at the beginning, he outclasses you by an order of magnitude. Wipes the floor with dudes that could chew you for breakfast. Come midgame they become about on par with you, and by endgame, they're absolutely worthless and you should just ditch them.

Great! The game is fully playable for non-Russian Speakers (expect some errors in translation)

- Install game
- Patch it to v1.3 here
- Unzip the contents of this zip file (English manual in PDF inlcuded) to the data folder on the installation dir

All set.

Tremendous news. Someone should report back on the quality of the translation. If it's good, maybe there could be a news post on the front page? It's a classic game that I'm sure almost nobody on Codex has playeed, so bringing attention to it would certainly be worth it. Especially since Fallout is so popular here, and this game is basically it's fantasy knockoff.

 

[JP78]

The quality of the translation is ok. Just ok. Expect some errors but for the most part, game is playable to non russian/spanish speakers.

 

[thesecret1]

Oh yeah, I just remembered a "fun" experience I had with this game. I had the game on a CD back around the time it released and... there was a bug. Near the very end, and concerning the main quest. And I couldn't get a patch in Czech (as that was the language I played in). Essentially, for the main quest, you needed to brew a magical potion for which you needed the king's nail clippings. All you had to do was ask the king and he gave them to you, it was kind of a stupid fetch quest kind of deal. Except, due to this bug... he didn't. You got nothing. So I racked my brain what to do – I didn't wanna give up on the game so close to the end. So I thought – I need the potion to give it to the king, who will then give me a magical sceptre. There is a vault with all the king's money and valuable's and stuff inside the castle, couldn't the sceptre be there? So I went and decided to rob the king's vault. It was protected by probably the toughest enemies in the game, and there were assloads of them – you clearly weren't expected to do this kind of shit. So I geared up, got every potentially useful potion I could get my hands on, and said farewell to all my companions for they would all surely die in this mad assault. Long story short, I prevailed by the skin of my teeth, getting inside the fucking vault and killing the king's treasurer there. Inside a chest, there was indeed the sceptre, and I rejoiced that the devs allowed for this kind of play. But before I took it, I decided to loot the treasurer. He had the fucking nail clippings. So, to get the main quest back on track, I looted the nail clippings, brewed the potion, and gave it to the king, who then cheerfully informed me that I can get the sceptre from his treasurer. So back to the vault I went, grabbed the sceptre (stepping over the treasurer's cold body), and continued the main quest with the feeling that I've just beat the REAL boss fight of this game.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I've seen a few rooskies say this game is terrible so I guess we'll find out now.

 

[jebsmoker]

i think Golden Land is checking out if you wanna satisfy your curiosity, but Burut's later RPGs are much better. their game adapation of Hard to Be a God is decent, and i definitely got 5 dollars worth of entertainment out of it

 

[Lord_Potato]

Okay, I checked it out.

The English version works! I started the game, created a character and walked around the first two locations, speaking with characters, gathering stuff and trading. I also started a fight and was quickly butchered - seems like you begin as weak as the nameless guy in Gothic.

The visuals are pretty good for 2004, the English translation so far seems servicable. Combat seems slow. Might try playing more but I have some other games higher on my priority list, so most likely it won't be soon.

Anyway, big thanks to JP78 for exhumating this game and bringing it back to the community!

 

[JP78]

Okay, I checked it out.

The English version works! I started the game, created a character and walked around the first two locations, speaking with characters, gathering stuff and trading. I also started a fight and was quickly butchered - seems like you begin as weak as the nameless guy in Gothic.

The visuals are pretty good for 2004, the English translation so far seems servicable. Combat seems slow. Might try playing more but I have some other games higher on my priority list, so most likely it won't be soon.

Anyway, big thanks to JP78 for exhumating this game and bringing it back to the community!

Glad that it also worked for you! And I think it's fairly easy to install the translation (there are no excessive steps, etc).

Yes. The game is hard at the beggining and that is consistent with what other people who played the game said.

Also, did you check the manual?

 

[c u in da ballpit ashren]

Thought the "Golden Land" was Germany though.
Does Russia give good uh, showers, or somethin'

 

[Lord_Potato]

Okay, I checked it out.

The English version works! I started the game, created a character and walked around the first two locations, speaking with characters, gathering stuff and trading. I also started a fight and was quickly butchered - seems like you begin as weak as the nameless guy in Gothic.

The visuals are pretty good for 2004, the English translation so far seems servicable. Combat seems slow. Might try playing more but I have some other games higher on my priority list, so most likely it won't be soon.

Anyway, big thanks to JP78 for exhumating this game and bringing it back to the community!

Glad that it also worked for you! And I think it's fairly easy to install the translation (there are no excessive steps, etc).

Yes. The game is hard at the beggining and that is consistent with what other people who played the game said.

Also, did you check the manual?

Yes, I checked the manual.

The story is strangely reminiscent of Divine Divinity. The dark lord is coming back after centuries of inactivity, so the Council of Seven chooses three potential champions do defeat him (okay, there is a slight change, because you play as the secret, fourth champion). Similarly the game features a classless character system but provides 3 initial builds (warrior, mage, rogue) and a possibility to create your own. The isometric presentation is also similar, although the locations are much smaller and you have the global map instead of a large seamless open world. At least the gameplay is significantly different, with turn-based combat.

 

[Voro89]

Hello guys, today I skipped my old magazine about games and found some short info about Golden Land game which interested me a lot. Started browsing uncle google about that old RPG game and I'm here I must thank You guys that there are so crazy cRPG fans all over the world who try reach such forgotten games, especially made in Russia which are nowadays hardly available to get by any auction websites or e-shops.

I also registered on the forum that JP78 posted here. Seems there are also ppl who want to make english translation for that game and I hope they will succeed on their goal.

 

[JP78]

I also registered on the forum that JP78 posted here. Seems there are also ppl who want to make english translation for that game and I hope they will succeed on their goal.

The translation is complete but with some errors. Posted in this thread.