by Michael Murphy
Michael's Comments: Legends of the North:
Konung starts off pretty much like any other RPG – get the background
story, create your character, talk to everybody – nothing new
here. (Why is it that the same old plot still captivates us?)
The difference is that it is set in a fantasy Russia. There are
no elves, no dwarves -- not even a fairy. The task before you
is to get the three pieces of a broken amulet, one of which you
already have. When made whole again, the amulet will allow you
to control the dragon who guards another amulet – notice a recurring
theme? – that can control the minds of men. Using this second
amulet will allow you to bring the peace you so desire to the
lands.
The character creation is a little on the dull side,
but adequate. It’s not very different than character creation
in any other game, with less customization than most. You pick
a profession – merchant, hunter, warrior, or leader. The merchant
can carry the most, but isn’t as strong in combat. The hunter
is skilled with a bow, but relatively weak in hand-to-hand combat.
The warrior is your common fighter, and the leader is basically
useless in combat, but can have more companions assist him in
his journey. (I chose hunter.) Now, tweak the stats a little bit;
make sure that your dexterity is as high as you’d like, etc. You
don’t get to choose a name for your hero, but it makes little
difference, anyway. Now I’m ready to go get that Amulet.
Giant Ants do not a picnic make
Or so I think, until I step outside of town only
to get my tail kicked by five giant ants. Dying is pretty cool
in this game, the first time you do it. When you die the game
plays a pretty sweet little video of a snake racing along the
grass next to your body, and into your skull. The death video
never changes, though, so the novelty wears off quickly. Early
on, I saw the video a lot, too. It’s tough getting started off,
but once you get your character built up a little and learn some
basic tactics for combat in this game, it gets easier. All combat
takes place in real time, and the interface is pretty straightforward
– just your standard click-to-attack style combat, but not nearly
as fast paced as, say Diablo, or even Baldur’s Gate.
I’m getting thrashed by these giant ants so I think
"Hey maybe if I run back toward the village, those warriors
will help me!" Oddly enough, after just a few steps in the
opposite direction, the ants stop chewing on me. This is a pattern
that repeats, making hit-and-run tactics with a bow a valuable
combat strategy. Time to visit the healer and try to better equip
myself.
And so it goes. Quickly I discover that development
in this game is painfully slow. There are some neat concepts,
though. You distribute experience points to your attributes as
you obtain them, rather than waiting until you "level up."
And the weapons and armor have different attribute requirements,
in a more varied fashion than most games, like Diablo, where strength
is usually the determining factor, with the occasional dexterity
check. Some weapons and armor require a high strength, some a
high vitality, and some a high dexterity. In this way, Konung
forces you to work on all of your stats, not just one. Charisma
is helpful, too. A higher charisma allows other characters to
join your party and aid your quest. Unfortunately, my hunter still
has to travel alone – even after increasing my charisma by ten
points, it’s still not high enough to allow me to have companions.
Okay, so I’ve taken revenge on those dang ants,
killed some spiders and some giant worms. Cool. Time to meet the
witch doctor. He sells fun toys – such as the globe of jumping,
which allows you to travel to any location on the map that you’ve
already visited – and will, for a price, tell you which ingredients
are needed to make various potions, from healing potions to oil,
which can make flaming arrows. I quickly noticed that you don’t
actually have to buy the recipe to be able to make the potion.
You can simply save the game, buy a recipe, jot down what you
need, then reload the game and repeat the process. I was both
psyched and bummed by this discovery. I was glad I didn’t have
to fork over all that gold, but at the same time, I was a little
disappointed that they would ship a game that you could take advantage
of so easily. The witch doctor can also identify items for you
for a small fee.
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