Cythera
Posted: September 9th, 2008, 12:04 am
Do you have a mac that can run an older os (OS9)? If so and you like old-school you gotta try out this one.
I had recently played (and loved) Eschalon 1 and it reminded me in more ways than one of this old gem called Cythera. From the company Ambrosia soft, also bringers of the RPG using the Coldstone engine Pillars of Garendall developped by an early Beenox. Both of these games might not of been as popular as say Oblivion, but if you look behond the crude graphics of Cythera you will find a plethora (lol, cythera, plethora) of fun features. Many of these resemble those in Eschalon alot and the theme somewhat resembles the upcoming game Age Of Decadence (roman myth).
The most prominent thing though, is it's interactivity. Almost EVERY object can be interacted with in some way. It makes you realise that a seemingly meaningless object can be actually very usefull. For example, as food is a necessity and you get hungry after a while (it doesnt kill you but weakens you), it is possible to make bread : you spread flour from a bag, use a pitcher of water on it to make dough, use a rollingpin on it and use the result on an oven to create bread! Amongst other things : you can sleep in any bed, though possibly get kicked out by it's owner
, use pen&ink on paper to write notes, use wood planks to repair things (a bridge), use a rope on an abyss to climb down it (and explore), play of an instrument in a certain way to have various special effects, make cloth using thread, open doors and chests using bombs, the list goes on... but lets not forget magic. You can learn magic at a magisterium, learning the basics from the headmaster and the various other spells and spell types from tomes, scrolls and teachers to face the mighty magical enemies (demons [which defeated me at first because I only knew swordsmanship]) and alchemy to back it up, though unlike in Eschalon you need a skill+element+mana+distiller+water. Finaly there's the conversations, which contain a place to ask about a topic that might not be mentioned in their default dialogue... that would get frustrating sometimes... 
and the NPCs all have routines and most of them a house.
It's this kind of thing that I like in rpgs like Eschalon. Of course you need combat, but it doesn't always have to be the primary thing like in Diablo, affected by the blight of GRIND.
If you actually have an old mac and like this kind of game, try this. If you don't , well...
I had recently played (and loved) Eschalon 1 and it reminded me in more ways than one of this old gem called Cythera. From the company Ambrosia soft, also bringers of the RPG using the Coldstone engine Pillars of Garendall developped by an early Beenox. Both of these games might not of been as popular as say Oblivion, but if you look behond the crude graphics of Cythera you will find a plethora (lol, cythera, plethora) of fun features. Many of these resemble those in Eschalon alot and the theme somewhat resembles the upcoming game Age Of Decadence (roman myth).
The most prominent thing though, is it's interactivity. Almost EVERY object can be interacted with in some way. It makes you realise that a seemingly meaningless object can be actually very usefull. For example, as food is a necessity and you get hungry after a while (it doesnt kill you but weakens you), it is possible to make bread : you spread flour from a bag, use a pitcher of water on it to make dough, use a rollingpin on it and use the result on an oven to create bread! Amongst other things : you can sleep in any bed, though possibly get kicked out by it's owner
, use pen&ink on paper to write notes, use wood planks to repair things (a bridge), use a rope on an abyss to climb down it (and explore), play of an instrument in a certain way to have various special effects, make cloth using thread, open doors and chests using bombs, the list goes on... but lets not forget magic. You can learn magic at a magisterium, learning the basics from the headmaster and the various other spells and spell types from tomes, scrolls and teachers to face the mighty magical enemies (demons [which defeated me at first because I only knew swordsmanship]) and alchemy to back it up, though unlike in Eschalon you need a skill+element+mana+distiller+water. Finaly there's the conversations, which contain a place to ask about a topic that might not be mentioned in their default dialogue... that would get frustrating sometimes... and the NPCs all have routines and most of them a house.It's this kind of thing that I like in rpgs like Eschalon. Of course you need combat, but it doesn't always have to be the primary thing like in Diablo, affected by the blight of GRIND.
If you actually have an old mac and like this kind of game, try this. If you don't , well...