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In Progress Lets Play: Shannara

Andhaira

Arcane
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Nov 25, 2007
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Shannara is an adventure game by Legend Entertainment that came out in 1995. It is based on the Sword of Shannara series of novels by terry Brooks. The original trilogy of the novels was good and readable; nothing epic, but certainly good intellectual entertainment. The books series has declined in quality since, with the second Quadrology good but not as good as the ones before it. The new series of novels released in the 21st century (starting in 2003 I think) pretty much sucked bad.

The Game takes place right after the first trilogy of novels. The story revolves around youn Jak Ohmsford, the offspring of the main protagonist of the first novel, and his adventure to stop the evil Warlock Lord Brona who was defeated by his father in the first novel. Brona is a shade, an evil spirit, and he has somehow returned.

Shannara_Coverart.png
 

Andhaira

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Before the game starts we are treated to an opening cinematic of poor quality, which shows a minion of Brona, an imp, resseructing his master using an evil book of magic. The evil shade Brona comes back to unlife, thenstarts preparing his armies of evil creatures to attack the world. He then empowers the minionwho resseructied him by giving the minion the power to change his shape aka making him into a shapeshifter, then tasks him with the task of destroying the one object that can destroy the shade: The Sword of Shannara

Then the game begins...

shannara_000.png


You are Jak Ohmsford, and you have come to this stream to fish and loose of some steam after a verbal fight with your father. You have two items in your inventory, a dagger and your journal both of which will be invaluable in your quest.

shannara_002.png


Being an adventuring wannabe, Jak knows the first good step is to start picking up every mundane object he can lay his hands on, so he decides to pick up this fishing pole.

shannara_003.png


And tries to break it...obviously jak needs to eat more calcium and more protein! But wait, whats this? Jak see's something glinting in the branches of that tree. To reach it, he must use the fishing pole...

shannara_004.png


Voila! He finds a bird holding a golden locket.
The pole is to short to reach the bird, so Jak ties it to the branch that was lying nearby and scares the bird off.

shannara_007.png


Uh Oh!! The brid has dropped the locket into jaks hands but it has also disturbed something from a living nightmare! A monter!!

To be continued...
 

Darth Roxor

Royal Dongsmith
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Being an adventuring wannabe, Jak knows the first good step is to start picking up every mundane object he can lay his hands on, so he decides to pick up this fishing pole.

This reminds me of one freeware adventure game called Permanent Daylight, where searching through a dustbin would make a message like this pop up:

'Like a true adventure game player, you search the dustbin...

...only to find a failed experiment from the gene lab! YUCK!'


And I see you took my advice concerning photobucket.
 

someone else

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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
I didn't know there was a Shannara game, The Sword Of Shannara is really similiar to LOTR, without the epicness.
The other adventure LPs are in general gaming forum, maybe this should join them? Also, spellcheck, visually atleast.
 

derill

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Mar 24, 2009
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Ontario, Canada
i played this years ago, when a fully copy came with a magazine i was suscribed to. <3 andhaira. look forward to this
 

RK47

collides like two planets pulled by gravity
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Dead State Divinity: Original Sin
Oh dear lord, this game isn't that great. I don't know why they even put combat in this adventure game. Visually it's pretty pleasing and the clean interface is much alike the Companions of Xanth, but overall, the puzzle and plot fell short.
 

Andhaira

Arcane
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Nov 25, 2007
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@Mighty Mouse: Yes I will spell check from now on (visually most likely)

@RK47: Its easier puzzles is one of the reasons I like it. I normally loathe daventure games, due to their puzzles but this one I really liked. While the plot leaves some to be desired, the game is quite good over all with some amazing production values. I mean the screens look good even today.
 

Andhaira

Arcane
Joined
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shannara_009.png


Now here we have our combat screen. Combat in this game is phased, like the wizardry series. You issue your party a series of commands and then the battle is carried out in turns. The picture of the creature is actually a real time movie that plays out when its the creatures turn. Looks pretty sweet, though the combat itself is not too exciting for rpg lovers due to lack of stats. Since he is alone and inexperianced, Jak seems to be no match for the creature...


shannara_010.png


But wait, what do we have here? A mysterious stranger with powerful magikal abilities has joined in the fight! He kills teh creature with a blast of arcane fire! It turns out that he is the legednary druid Allanon, who helped Jak's father in his own quest. Now he tells Jak that the spirit of the Warlock Lord has returned. Jak must flee to the large city of Leah where the Sword of Shannara is kept, and recover the mystical blade for it is the only thing that can kill Brona once and for all.

shannara_011.png


Since Allanon has to stay behind and protect Jak's village from monsters, Jak agree's and sets out on his own to get the blade and bring it back.

shannara_012.png


Suddenly a call for help is heard through the forest. A feminie call for help, and being a ladies man Jak decides to check it out. Lo and behold, a maiden most fair is trapped underneath a huge log!

shannara_014.png


Others might rush to help the woman, but Jak decides to ask her some questions first. Knowledge is power after all! Amazingly, the girl turns out to be Shiela, a childhood friend of Jak's. Shiela is the daughter of Morgan Leah, the ruler of Leah. Being young and rebellious, she was out alone in the forest hunting when the log fell over her. Luckily no monster found her as she was like this.

shannara_015.png


Using his brains and the items in his inventory, Jak figures out how to move the log even though it is much heavier than him.

shannara_016.png


Sheila is up and ready for action! She quickly shoots an arrow at a monster that was creeping up behind Jak, killing it in one shot! The gal is good ppl.

shannara_017.png


All this danger and hot women is making Jak horny, so he decides to kiss Sheila. But she just laughs and says the above. We also find out that the golden locket belonged to Sheila, who had taken it off while bathing. Amazing! We return the locket back to Sheila and set out for Leah. At last, we have our first party member! (or the second, if you count the member between Jak's legs)

shannara_018.png


After only a bit of travelling the party is ambushed by another one of the monstrosities! Luckily, both Jak and Shiela together make short work of it, albeit with some wounds.

shannara_019.png

shannara_020.png


The city of Leah at last! What wonders await the heroes inside? Will they find and recover the Sword of Shannara from its vault in the city in time?

To be continued...
 

Wyrmlord

Arcane
Joined
Feb 3, 2008
Messages
28,886
What a fascinating little game. Made entirely of detailed 2D artwork and textual interaction.

It really does look amazing.
 

JrK

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Good memories of this when I played it at 10. When replaying it I found it a bit too easy as well as cliched in a lot of parts, but the atmosphere was awesome. The dwarven cottage outside that city!

Anyone who liked this should download Death Gate NOW!
 

Andhaira

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yeah Death Gate was made earlier bbut was superior in some aspects, like the rune spell system and using it to solve puzzles.
 

RK47

collides like two planets pulled by gravity
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Dead State Divinity: Original Sin
Death Gate > this by a long mile. Definitely worth a look if you really love adventure games, the amount of text and art in there is amazing.

I'm not sure why I grew apathetic to adventure games these days, maybe I was spoiled with quick action and RPG, but the my latest adventure game, Ceville didn't grab me at all.
 

SCO

Arcane
In My Safe Space
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Messages
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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
AndhairaX said:
Shannara is an adventure game by Legend Entertainment that came out in 1995. It is based on the Sword of Shannara series of novels by terry Brooks. The original trilogy of the novels was good and readable; nothing epic, but certainly good intellectual entertainment.

[/i]
 

Brother None

inXile Entertainment
Developer
Joined
Jul 11, 2004
Messages
5,673
Holy shit, Andhaira, you can't even spell the names of the main characters right? Chris, man...

Game looks great, tho'. Nice style.

AndhairaX said:
But wait, what do we have here? A mysterious stranger with powerful magikal abilities has joined in the fight! He kills teh creature with a blast of arcane fire! It turns out that he is the legednary druid Allanon, who helped Jak's father in his own quest. Now he tells Jak that the spirit of the Warlock Lord has returned. Jak must flee to the large city of Leah where the Sword of Shannara is kept, and recover the mystical blade for it is the only thing that can kill Brona once and for all.

Hurray for a most consistently weak fantasy trope. Awesome dude who saves hero from getting asswhooped decided the hero he just had to save is the right man for the job!
 

RK47

collides like two planets pulled by gravity
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Dead State Divinity: Original Sin
That guy's name is really J-A-K.

It's too cool to have a 'C' in it according to the writer. And the trope, don't forget he is the son of the original hero too. And must carry on a family tradition of wielding the sword of Shannara.

And the box art is awful.
 

RK47

collides like two planets pulled by gravity
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Oh. Well. That's your girlfriend right there, man. Damn now I regret misplacing my Death Gate CD when I moved to my own apartment. Wonder if there's a torrent out there for it. Legend adventure games are always like this. Clean, first person interface and lots of text that contains clues plus dialogues.
 

Andhaira

Arcane
Joined
Nov 25, 2007
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shannara_021.png


The streets of Leah at last. Shella is ager to get you to meet her father so he can help you on your quest, but wait, something is wrong. The mood of the city is somber. We ask the guard what the problem is and he tells us that Menion Leah, the ruler of this city, has been taken grievously ill!

shannara_022.png


Shella quickly leads you towards the manor proper. On the way you pass the manor gardens, as well as have a brief, yet disturbing conversation with a spooky looking gardner. Hmm, wonder what his deal is.

shannara_023.png


Menion at last. He does appear very ill. His eyes ar shut and his breathing is erratic. Being the suspicious sort, we scan the room for clues and find the presence of some...disturbing ingrediants in Menion's empty teacup. It appears Menion was POISONED!! *gasp* We talk to Menion's chamberlain downstairs, who informs us that he saw the shady gardner snooping around the kitchens earlier.

shannara_024.png


We take the teacup to the kings herbalist. He tells us that there was indeed something shady in the tea. Finding out who did this will have to wait, first we need to get an antidote. The herbalist says he needs certain items and then he will make the antidote, so we rush off to get the ingrediants for him (which are all convieniently in the city and its gardens) As we search the gardens, we come across some evidence that the gardner was growing a poisonous plant there in the gardens, the very same plant in fact whose petals were used to poison Menion!

shannara_025.png


We return with the ingrediants only to find that the herbalist has been MURDERED! The guardsman outside says he saw the gardner skulking about before leaving the city. Luckily, he is still grasping the formulae for making the antidote. Since jak is a bit of an outdorrsman who knows his way around herbs adn the like, he is able to mix together the antidote using the herbalists mortart and pestle. Shella than leaves to apply the antidote to Menion's still body (force feeding basically)

shannara_026.png


The next day Jak rises to find his antidote worked! Not only that but Allanon is there with them.(Allanon is the guy who saved Jak earlier form the monsters. He is a powerful Druid, one of the Shannara series order of spellcasters.) After some hearty laughs and relived sighs, Jak updates menion with all that he knows: Brona has returned, and monsters are set to invade their land.

shannara_027.png


After a brief conference Allanon tells Jak that the Sword is all that can stop Brona, and it will be found in the city of Tarsis. Furthermore, as a member of the Ohmsford family line, only Jak can weild the sword. Great, now Jak has more travelling ahead of him as well as a potential showdown with the big bad. Shella wants to come as well but Menion forbids her. Shella appears to agree then bids you goodbye. The mysterious gardner, who was the center of suspicious activity is nowhere to be found.

shannara_028.png


Jak sets off from Leah. Unsurprisingly, Shella joins him outside the city gates, having taken a secret passage. She is the rebellious sort and wants the thrill of adventure. Soon they reach the banks of a large river which they must cross in order to get to tarsis, but wait. There seems to be somone there...

shannara_029.png


Well well. Our old 'friend' the gardner. Guess we caught up to him after all. Well he will get whats coming to him to be sure; after all, how much threat can an old gardner be eh?

shannara_030.png


Sadly he is not alone....

To be Continued!
 

Wyrmlord

Arcane
Joined
Feb 3, 2008
Messages
28,886
Darth Roxor said:
How... generic :shock:
Come on, you have to admire the idea of an interactive fiction game made of situations shown in special vignettes, intercut with exploration on a top-down map.

The game's plot and setting might be generic; its style certainly is not.
 

Andhaira

Arcane
Joined
Nov 25, 2007
Messages
1,868,966
When we last left our heroes, they had just caught up with the evil gardner who was responsible for poisoning Menion Leah, Shella's father.

shannara_031.png


We defeat his minions but it seems very hard to damage the garnder himself. He is togh for an old coot, if thats what he really is. But wait...whats this? It appears he does not want to fight once his minions are defeated.

shannara_032.png


He then teleports away leaving us to find a way to fix the bridge using our intuiition. There after we continue our journey.

shannara_034.png


shannara_035.png


Tarsis at last but wait, whats this? There are UNDEAD ZOMBIES attacking the town walls!

shannara_036.png


We fight a couple. They are not that hard indivdually, but there are so many of them.

shannara_037.png


The gatekeeper wont let us in for the undead could get in if he opens the gate.

shannara_038.png


We scour the walls to see undead everywhere, until we come across a dwarven cottage right outside the city. The dwarf tells us of a way to get rid of the undead, but to do that we must find ingrediants for him to make a special sort of censure that will drive the undead away. For some reason I didn't get pictures of the cottage or the censure but anyway, thats what happened. The dwarf also temporarily joins our party; he is searching for an ancient dwarven artfact thats inside but the gatekeeper is RACIST, and wont let him in. We leave the dwarf back at his cottage for now. Maybe we can get him in later.

shannara_039.png


The kings chamberlain. He explains that undead somehow appeared one night recently, and at the same time mystical flames sprang up around the vault where the sword of shannara is kept!

shannara_040.png


No one can get inside the vault now!


shannara_041.png


The chamberlain wont even let us see the king but since we helped drive the undead frmo the gates temporarily using the censure he lets us in.

shannara_042.png


We explain things to the king and start working with him on a plan on how to get rid of the flames around the vault containing the sword. Apparently the secret to doing so is here somewhere in the castle. We decide to read old books in the castle library in the hopes of finding a spell that will help us penetrate the barrier.

To be continued...
 

Jasede

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Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
This is funky, I never ever heard of this game before, yet it looks fantastic. Game on, AndyX!
 

ElectricOtter

Guest
AndhairaX said:
Shannara is an adventure game by Legend Entertainment that came out in 1995. It is based on the Sword of Shannara series of novels by terry Brooks.
AndhairaX said:
by Legend Entertainment that came out in 1995. It is based on the Sword of Shannara series of novels.
AndhairaX said:
It is based on the Sword of Shannara
AndhairaX said:
Sword of Shannara
no


That said, looks fun. Might give it a try.
 

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