So, has anyone played the 'World of Aden' SSI rpgs?

[Carlos' Bitch1]

This is what I mean:


http://www.mobygames.com/game/world-of- ... underscape

and

http://www.mobygames.com/game/world-of- ... e-darkfall

These games came out during a very busy period, so missed the bus. I had relegated them to the rest of the garbage RPG's released in those dark years...but then I thought I had better ask here just in case.

So, impressions? Gameplay type? Etc?

 

[octavius]

Weird...I haven't even heard about these games, but the first one sure looks interesting, like Ultima Underworld with a turn based combat and a party.

 

[analt]

I remember Thunderscape having pretty cool turn-based combat. But if furries are a deal breaker, stay away.

Entomorph used the al-Qadim engine and played like Zelda or whatever.

 

[Luzur]

i have tried Enotmorph once, but it didnt really catch on as the other SSI games.

maybe i should try them again (i also need to buy those game...)

 

[DeveloperDude]

Ooops, I totally forgot about Thunderscape! I've played and finished it. It is a good party turn-based combat dungeon crawler.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Those two were among my first cRPGs! Loved them back in the day, especially Thunderscape, but haven't replayed them since 1996, and so can't really say anything.

P.S. Still must have the box somewhere...

 

[Fowyr]

Entomorph is an action/RPG hybrid. Finished it back in the day, was somewhat enjoyable.
Thundercape is a SSI answer to Wizardry VI. Pretty good game, but I quit right after golem factory. Should finish it one day.

 

[Zetor]

I played Thunderscape after reading an article in a local gaming mag... it was actually one of the very few games I bought back then (buying games in the Hungary of the early '90s was pretty lol in general). The game was enjoyable overall, but the entire dwarven mines area was too long and pointless (deep roads v0.1). It was also one of the few RPGs were swords weren't the best weapons (maces and polearms were better, with a few exceptions).

I also liked the soundtrack... listening to it again makes it sound pretty cheesy though. Oh, to be 16 again! :p (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK6-8KXr ... re=related )

 

[MMXI]

Thunderscape is a good game. It's a turn-based blobber with continuous movement, six years before Wizardry 8. As far as I know it's the earliest one of its kind. The graphics are rather terrible and it's sometimes hard to make out what's what. The sound is absolutely dreadful but the music is well above average. The combat interface is great for the time. The combat starts out fun and quite balanced, but deteriorates as you progress through the game. Definitely one of the stand out games in the mid-90s barren period, along with the last two Realms of Arkania games and Daggerfall.

Entomorph is a silly action adventure game. I wouldn't bother with this game unless you liked Al-Qadim, a similar game also made by Cyberlore Studios.

 

[Excidium]

Here's a gameplay video if anybody wants to check it out. It looks p. interesting. But mang, when I read MMXI's post I didn't imagine the sound effects would be so awful.

Fighters can do more than (A)ttack. That's in my book (if the other actions are actually viable).

 

[Fowyr]

The most awesome action in the Thunderscape - "repeat last action".

 

[MMXI]

Oh and it's also better than Skyrim.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

I played Entomorph. It's an adventure/action game. It's gory and has pretty dark atmosphere. It also has shit controls.
IIRC it has some puzzles and has one feature that stands out:
When people tell you about location of some place, they precisely tell you how to get there, together with directions and terrain features.
Like in: go west until you'll see a sign of a white beetle then go north until you'll see a tree and the cave is west of that tree.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

When people tell you about location of some place, they precisely tell you how to get there, together with directions and terrain features.
Like in: go west until you'll see a sign of a white beetle then go north until you'll see a tree and the cave is west of that tree.

No quest compass? How could they make developers(and players..) work like that?!

In any case, I will have to check both of them out.

 

[Lonely Vazdru]

But mang, when I read MMXI's post I didn't imagine the sound effects would be so awful.

The sound in this video is "bugged" (it repeats endlessly) it happens every once in a while. Not that the sound is good otherwise but it's not that dreadful, constant thunder bursts notwithstanding.

Thunderscape was a pretty good dungeon crawler with nice phased based combat. And awesome paper dolls :

It has its flaws like useless social skills and even more useless money, but it mostly suffers from huge levels coupled with constant respawning enemies and useless automap. Damn, that automap !

Nevertheless, I loved it so much back then that I tried to play Entomorph a couple of times but couldn't get into it. Felt too much like an adventure game and not enough of a RPG.

The most awesome action in the Thunderscape - "repeat last action".

Very true. :D

 

[Beautiful Clown Painting]

I remember playing Entomorph but not finishing it. Like Awor said, it was more of an adventure/action game with stats than a proper RPG. I remember it as a kind of a thinking man's Zelda, grimer and less actiony and cartoony than Al Qadim but not very far from it, gameplay-wise.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

What stats?

 

[Beautiful Clown Painting]

Well at least, there are hit-points and power-ups.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

These are Doom-level stats.

 

[Beautiful Clown Painting]

I was being ironic It's been a long time since I played it and indeed, there are no stats, it's even more akin to a Zelda-like that I remembered it to be.

 

[mindx2]

i have tried Enotmorph once, but it didnt really catch on as the other SSI games.

maybe i should try them again (i also need to buy those game...)

Just to let you know I have both games that will be sold :D . In fact, my Thunderscape copy is brand new still sealed in the shrink wrap . You can see them (next to Arcanum and the Krondor games) in the thread with the pictures of my collection. Let me know if your interested.

 

[Luzur]

i have tried Enotmorph once, but it didnt really catch on as the other SSI games.

maybe i should try them again (i also need to buy those game...)

Just to let you know I have both games that will be sold :D . In fact, my Thunderscape copy is brand new still sealed in the shrink wrap . You can see them (next to Arcanum and the Krondor games) in the thread with the pictures of my collection. Let me know if your interested.

well what do you want for them then? im not super rich so you can forget +200 USD levels.

 

[mondblut]

Thunderscape was nice, if monotonous. Entomorph was a stupid action-adventure like Al-Qadim.

Basically, what MMXI said.

 

[mindx2]

i have tried Enotmorph once, but it didnt really catch on as the other SSI games.

maybe i should try them again (i also need to buy those game...)

Just to let you know I have both games that will be sold :D . In fact, my Thunderscape copy is brand new still sealed in the shrink wrap . You can see them (next to Arcanum and the Krondor games) in the thread with the pictures of my collection. Let me know if your interested.

well what do you want for them then? im not super rich so you can forget +200 USD levels.

What?! Not rich with that collection of yours?!

Do you do the ebay thing? If so I'll make sure to get them listed today. Only problem is that shipping is expensive from the US to you guys over the pond. I actually feel guilty charging what I have to to make sure it can be tracked and insured.

My Ultima collection auctions are ending tonight and I'm putting up my Infocom, Wizardry, and Bloodlines tonight.

 

[kofeur]

Finished the game when it came out, it was a decent game but nothing really memorable.
It had good music, and yes swords weren't the best weapons but maces and axes with giant strike or whatever it was called.
Rapiers were also very good with some sort of precise attack option.
The game got way too easy after mid-game to the point where I was considering restarting it with only one character to see how far I could go.