Hi all, I saw a lot of old gaming threads and I thought I'd just start one with the games I've personally played. Many of these were played years ago, so I may mess up some of the titles a little bit. If someone has a question about a particular game I list, feel free to post it here. This will give somebody a good list to Google on
Azalta! Yah! Someone else whose played the game. I helped beta test that one and made my own side adventure. It's been a long time ago and it was Amiga version, which I no longer have. (Wish I did)
Sometimes the dragon wins... Help save the earth. It's the only planet with CHOCOLATE!
Parhedros is a weird game. It has an unbelievably detailed game system underlying it, but the actual game itself is mostly empty. You cannot play a human in Parhedros, although one of the classes looks completely human. Instead you play a creature of Faerie. You can be a Pan-like creature, a centaur, a spider-human mix, or a human looking creature. Each class has different strengths and weaknesses. The spider is the best magic user, for example. The premise of the story is that 3 sisters went to destroy a daemon and something went horribly wrong. Your job is to solve this quest in the best interests of your race. The game has about 20 maps, and you'll only play about 8-10 of them in a particular playthrough. My problem with the game is that the gameworld is almost completely empty of NPCs, except for the three sisters. The combat is fun but the random battles get old after awhile and there's nothing to relieve the monotony. The NPC's are all Elizas. You can talk the 3 women into having sex with your character, although it's all text based. The language can get very naughty. You can also strip your male or female down to nothing and it's anatomically correct Some of the males seem to be "excited" all the time.
I see where Parhedros is coming from. If you read through the site, the backgrounds of the people that developed it, and take into account their approach to the subject matter and business/game dev philosophies....it all adds up nicely. It is going for a rarely used "Historical Mythological Artsy" style---to put it crudely.
The price is not bad during this holiday deal they have going though it would seem...$15. Seems to have a ridiculously huge rulebook available too (over 100pgs).
We really need to collaborate on a sticky thread for this forum in terms of people's awesome lists of unsung and upcoming games/impressions appropriately grouped respectively. Unless there's already some site out there in the Internet with the same apparently breadth of varied experiences out there as I'm led to think the denizens of this fair forum collectively possess.
That first spider can be a pain, Iane. What I like to do is wait til the spider has gone past the opening heading left. Run over to the shrine and pick up the rune there. It will give you a spell with which you'll have a better chance against spidey. Another ploy would be to let the spider go right and you go left. There is a skeleton that has a random treasure near it and there are a bunch of barrels and a chest just past the first NPC. You can sometimes get a piece of armor or two, which will help you survive the few outdoor combats. Be sure to mention tunnels or Sethir to Sigrune and she'll open up the main dungeons of the game for you.
Cannot say I am overly thrilled with Parhedros. The combination of using the keyboard for walking or running and the mouse for camera movement is awkward. Combat mode could be smoother, I can attack with a left click and select a spell with a left click, but to to cast the spell I have to hit C on the keyboard. If I want to see my potions I have to hit P on the keyboard and then to use it hit 1 to 5. No quick slots. More use of the mouse would have been useful. The keyboard is used to examine an object, use an item, talk to Npc, toggle status bars, camera mode and vanity mode. I like keyboard shotcuts, but sometimes I prefer to make greater use of the mouse. Using the mouse for movement would have been better. I like the system Eschalon uses for movement. Parhedros should have use the mouse for movement and the keyboard for camera movement. Also do not really see the purpose of chapters 5 and 6 of the manual except to promote their view of religion. Never could understand why you have naked women wielding boardswords unless they are barbarians. If men are going to wear armor I assume that the women would also or risk getting their breasts lopped off! The manual seems to include nudity for the sake of nudity. The game does have a mature rating and they warn you if you are easily offened to stay away. Characters in the game at times mock monotheistic beliefs. But the good news is that it ony cost $14.95 if you order during the holiday season regular price is $22.95.