The Dark Spire

[Zeno]

The Dark Spire is an RPG for the Nintendo DS. It's heavily inspired by classics like Wizardry and The Bard's Tale.

In other words, it's a first-person turn-based RPG with a penchant for kicking your butt.



The story is very barebones; essentially some evil wizard stole the royal jewels and holed himself up in a massive monster-infested spire. You goal is to reach the top and defeat him, of course!



It's got all the usual aspects of an old-school dungeon crawler; you create a party of characters utilizing 4 different races (technically 6) and 4 different classes (not including the 6 prestige classes) and set off into the spire to fight unrelenting thieves, bats, mushrooms, wizards, zombies, ghosts, goblins, and even the occasional killer bunny.

The battle system works just like any other turn-based RPG; when battle starts, you have three options: Fight (start the battle), Run (flee), and Look (examine the enemy). If you choose to fight, you can attack, defend, cast a spell, run, etc. A neat little aspect is that each command has a few sub-commands; i.e., you can choose to attack precisely, for increased accuracy but slower speed, or quickly, for less accuracy but higher speed.



There's a few quirks, derived from the mostly AD&D rules. The most counter-intuitive is that the lower AC (Armor Class) the better. Why that is is pretty confusing, and I'm not sure I understand entirely myself, so look up THAC0 on Google if you want to know. Also, spells work without magic points; instead you have an allotment of spells (like, say, 7 1st level spells, 5 2nd level spells, and 3 3rd level spells) that, once used, can only be restored by a stay or meal at the inn.

Among other things, it has an awesome soundtrack. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umaIdApRcuQ

Finally, if you're feeling particularly nostalgic, it has a "Classic" mode which reverts the graphics and sound to look like it jumped straight out of the eighties!



And a side-by-side comparison:



My party currently consists of a level 5 dwarven warrior, a level 5 human priest, a level 5 elven mage, and a level 4 elven thief, because halflings aren't good at magic and I want my thief to learn spells.



The only catch is that it was published by Atlus. For the uninformed, Atlus published loads of the incredibly niche games, but not in high quantities. It'll probably be hard to find, but since it only released a few months ago, there may still be a chance. So what are you waiting for? Go! Go get it!

[azraelck]

The magic spell system is yanked right from the classic Wizardries prior to 6. There, you had a set number of spells for each level you could cast. The lower AC is better bit is another staple of classics, though a lot of the newer indies seem to have thankfully done away with it. I tried it with my design, but finally just went with the D20 standard, You have to roll to beat the AC. Makes more sense, and easier to calculate in my head.

This game almost got me to buy a DS earlier this year with my tax return. I ended up with the PS3, and still halfway regret it. The quantity of games for the DS vs PS3 at the same price point, plus the fact that I've not found a whole lot on the PS3 worth buying (most of the time I've been disgusted with what I bought) has me almost wanting to see if someone wants to trade.

I'm eventually going to get it, a DS just for this game. Maybe a DSi, since I have a GBA.

[Zeno]

If you get this, also get Etrian Odyssey (2). It's another Atlus-published RPG in the same style. In my opinion, it's not quite as good as The Dark Spire, but it's easily worth getting. Also, if you ever plan to play, you might want to buy the game now, as it's going to be out of print soon, knowing Atlus.

So Wizardry 1-6 used the same magic system? I figured it had been taken from somewhere. It works pretty well, but it kinda is annoying that there's no way to gain back spells mid-dungeon.

[azraelck]

Wizardry 1-3 and 5, specifically. 6 Has the same system used in 7 and 8. I don't know about 4, as I lost my backup disk years ago, and someone stole my copy of the Ultimate Wizardry Archives. Dark Spire's 'classic' mode also replicates the early Wizardries exactly.

I can always go to Amazon and find things. I've found stuff you wouldn't believe on there. The only thing I haven't found is a cheap scythe. Those things are expensive. I'll probably pick up that other game as well, if it's a classic-style RPG. Just got to do other things first.

[Zeno]

Hum. Amazon it is. I'll check there for the Wizardrys (I suppose that's how you'd write it) later. Although Abandonia lists Wizardry 7 as abandonware... I don't think that's correct.

And, yes, Etrian Odyssey is a similarly styled RPG. It has a Japanese-y art style, though, so that knocks off a few points in my book. (What? ) It also goes to just a few more modern-RPG elements; it has an Magic Point system (think Eschalon), and instead of using EXP to "purchase" skills and levels, EXP is doled out and levels you up automatically. There's still quite a bit of customization, however, as you're given a few skill points each level to allocate into a massive skill tree, which varies for each of the 12 classes.

Also, the game's most defining feature is the existence of creatures called FOEs. They're actually visible outside of battle as large, floating balls of fire, though in battle they all look like particularly menacing creatures(There's many types of them). They're near unbeatable (near) so generally, you'll want to run from them. However, should you get engaged in a random encounter, the FOEs can join mid-battle. Mid-battle! And just to top it off, they give no EXP and poor drops if you actually manage to beat them. That's just cruel.

Aside from that, it works much like other Wizardry-likes, so it's instantly recognizable. One last qualm about it, though, is that the exisitance of a one-use item to warp you back to town makes the game substantially easier.

[Saxon1974]

Dang, almost makes me wish I had a nintendo DS.

Looks interesting.

[getter77]

Yep, and if you've got a PSP, do give Class of Heroes a shot as it is heavily influenced by Wizardry and then some. Also, as a bit of a long shot, there is supposed to be an excellent and improved PSP Wizardry game that is a port of one of the PS2 ones that never made it stateside...so should Class of Heroes get decent enough sales I hope the sequel it recently has in Japan as well as that Wizardry game also make it stateside. Wizardry: Tales of the Forsaken Land on PS2 was quite robust afterall...

[Zeno]

Unfortunately, I don't have a PSP.

Also, I was not aware that there was a Wizardry for the PS2. Now I must have it.

[azraelck]

Try Gamestop. They may be evil, but I found my PS2 Wizardry is the bargain bin for $4. Works fine.

[getter77]

Unfortunately, I don't have a PSP.

Also, I was not aware that there was a Wizardry for the PS2. Now I must have it.

Yep, Atlus brought Wizardry: Tales of the Forsaken Land stateside. SirTech was already dead at this point though, so it is one of MANY Japanese-only Wizardry games that appeared here and there over the years and a bit more frequently after SirTech faded IIRC. Tis pretty awesome stuff, an especially insane boss that I think is optional to fight, tis right hardcore.

I found my copy in seemingly good condition complete with the manual off of Amazon.com's sellers about a year or so ago...so I'd reckon either there or maybe somewhere like eBay would be your best bet(or gamestop, as they do have nifty things for cheap here and there depending). I wish I could find somewhere on the internet that did a Let's Play of it as I'm sure it could be a hoot to read/view.