I have returned from the land of Mezron
Finally, here we are with the second part of Galdregon's Domain, and if you missed the first - with the hand-drawn maps - then clickety-click to read all about it (the maps are superb!!). Anyhow, what an unexpected ride this has been over the Christmas holidays. But did it live up to my expectations for a deep RPG heavy in exploration, probing conversations, and lots of monster-mutilation? Well, umm, yes and no...
The good points are a sense of adventure throughout its beautifully crafted world of intrigue and strife. Independence to explore is paramount, and that aspect goes hand in hand with the lack of a linear path. This freedom enhances your experience, and I loved it. This is a varied and rich adventure, including interesting characters - many of whom are only too happy to chat rather than actually help.
Sadly, this impressive RPG came with more than a few disappointments overall. As in, it's not an RPG at heart. There are elements, like gathering better armour, weapons, and helpful items, but there are no attributes, experience, or levelling systems at all. Forget the lore or learning from interaction entirely. Also, fights aren't exactly sensational, more like mere mouse-clicking affairs much of the time.
Let's ignore Pandora's trickery and battle on because the king needs our help, remember...
What the king doesn't tell you is that his kingdom is a terrifying place full of psychos & monsters!
The Quest
The land is in turmoil, the evil wizard Azazael has been resurrected, and now searches relentlessly for the five gems of Zator. If possessed, he will gain ultimate power over the entire kingdom without mercy. We don't want that! You have been chosen to battle against the minions of evil to recover all five gems and thus, save the lands of Mezron from utter darkness. Can you get them before Azazael does
There's much to do, and it's gonna be tough from the very beginning! Can you destroy the evil Medusa whose merest gaze turns flesh to stone instantly? Can you outwit the high priestess of Set who holds sway over a temple full of horrors and corruption? Dare you to venture into the dark catacombs of Castle Seenar and cross swords with the dead within. Oooh, this is all sounding rather troublesome indeed!
Fear, not brave warrior, your fate awaits... (oh great...)
The kingdom is teeming with people, but this is one of the few times you're alone in the dark!
You're thrown in at the deep end without any gradual progression. Beat these guys if you can!
This Viking warrior is someone you should seek out straight away. I call him Tom.
Play The Game
Galdregon's Domain is instantly playable, and that's a strength I genuinely love for a game like this. This is thanks to a concise user interface detailing health and providing easy ways to interact and do battle effectively. It's a cinch to master thus, you are able to start travelling about the lands without much hassle at all. Mainly because the map design is great without being unnecessarily complex or confusing.
We begin with little more than a loincloth, a health potion, and a sword - surprisingly shortsighted but an effective start nonetheless, well, maybe. The only way to find new gear will be to win battles and search their rotting corpses for useful items. That's a lot harder than you might imagine, as this game is rather tight when it comes to (quality) loot distribution. Well, that's an understatement, as it's very tight actually.
In most rooms, there are characters, but few initially offer useful information. Talk to whomever you come across and listen to their quaint but silly chat. Most are a bore, especially within the castle, so it can be a chore until later, but even then, it's hardly significant. Which is odd. As an initial priority, it's worthwhile to find the castle's exit as soon as possible to begin probing the outside world for other places, items, and people.
Enjoy reading! Let's check out the next run of screenshots...
I tried talking to the wolf. I just had to... And then I killed it. Yep, that's what I'm all about.
But talking can be fruitful, and this nice chap had a stash of goodies he wanted to share!
One of the spells is a shield amongst the many others. Grab them all!!
Character
You play the same character each time, and it always starts with the king who summoned you for the quest of saving his kingdom. There is no character configuration or any chance to alter skills or other attributes. This isn't what I expected, but the simplicity of starting barebones means you can begin without delay.
His castle is larger than you think, and most rooms are inhabited. Talk to them to see what pearls of wisdom they possess, but you might be disappointed with earlier characters offering little beyond a greeting or compliment. Also, the deeper you venture, your safety within the King's castle isn't guaranteed.
Once you exit his castle, the world is your oyster with great distances to explore in all directions. It's here that several distinct types of stages are accessible from the outset. Each can be attempted in any order and provides a different spin on the adventuring format and challenges. Within any part are dozens of people, creatures, and monsters just waiting to be found and encountered. Talk if you can, and make notes of their snippets of information because you may just need it later on, and they are often very vague indeed.
I think it's a good idea to see some of the folk you're likely to encounter...
These friendly four greet you at a tower entrance but won't allow you to leave!
Although strong and armed to the teeth, I got my ass handed to me by this fella!
Not everyone is out to kill you. Look, I found Robin Hood and his merry men!
Interaction
The people are plentiful, but a chinwag isn't exactly an astounding experience. Conversations are limited by the 'talk' command, which lacks options and produces a short one-liner. Most of the talk is pointless, but some characters will subtly point you in the direction of the gems, people/clans or provide tips.
Sadly, their response is in the form of a scroller. This text zips across the screen in a similar fashion to Damocles, but it feels rather unwarranted here. It's quite hard to read on my monitor compared to an older CRT... I guess that's more my fault than the game?
At times, I didn't understand the context of a conversation at all. For example, entering the temple, I was greeted by a soldier who said "hello..." in a friendly manner. He didn't appear aggressive, but after a couple more Talk button clicks, he asked if I was going the right way - and then suddenly began attacking without warning. I killed him, but none of that made any sense whatsoever! A polite aggressor indeed.
It's often a good idea to stop for a yap with whoever pops onto the screen. Sometimes it's handy when information is freely given; however, most of the time it's rather fruitless. Yes, most of the time. I think 'talk' should have been improved or replaced with more detailed location descriptions to read through.
Let's view some more screenshots, this time from gripping conversations...
This sounds like an invite I should refuse. Are they doggers? Yeah, I reckon they are!!
These guys were waiting for me outside a tavern and had absolutely nothing worthwhile to say!
Let's fight!
Battles are frequent in the lands of Mezron, but that doesn't mean they're riveting and without any tactical element, because the whole affair is little more than choosing a weapon and clicking the mouse until your enemy drops. Sure, I can use any number of weapons, but it's all rather predictable without structure.
This is partly due to no detail being provided for your current weapon or the ghoul you are engaged in battle. So I had no perspective or helpful details - because I knew nothing of my weaponry or how strong the enemy was. Also, most weapons break after a few uses, and that leaves you fumbling through a sluggish user interface to source a replacement. All during a real-time battle, and thus losing precious health!
I support the need to stand your ground but that doesn't mean you should fight every battle like a complete idiot. Consider hightailing it to safety using the 'run' command to quickly scurry off to a quieter place. If at the expense of possibly losing your bearings. Use with caution.
I'm not daft and, for these screenshots, I am fighting three midgets like a cowardly custard...
Typical, and I thought I could sneak into the castle without being seen...
The three dwarfs were easy kills for me and my magical sword!
Inventory & Map
No 'RPG' is worth its salt without a magical backpack to carry loot, spare weapons, and other useful items along the way. Can you imagine how that would look in real life? Talk about encumbrance lol. Anyhow, Galdregon's Domain has a nice inventory screen, which is basic but uses a concise design with ample slots to fill comfortably. It's also the screen used to protect our naked body with items of clothing equipped.
Within the inventory screen are two tabs for backpack and location. The first is what you possess, whilst the other represents what's in your current location at that time. That's a good design and allows us to rummage through a corpse in the hope of finding lots of goodies. However, this is where I felt the Inventory showed its limitations - sure, basic functions are available to eat food, for example, but there is no ability to select a weapon, potion, or scroll directly. This is done in-game instead.
Finally, pressing the right mouse button (for the second time) will display an overhead map of the entire kingdom for reference. This is actually superb and helps navigate between each stage without getting lost when out in the sticks. You should use this as much as possible. Sadly, the game does not feature any auto-mapping within these individual stages - so grab that pen and paper (ala part one) once again!
Surely you're getting sick and tired of all this reading? Thought so. Screenshots are here...
The map also doesn't display this walkway through the northeastern forest.
And the map also doesn't show fellow travellers walking about the land - so always explore!
The mission?
The game is based solely on the objective of finding the five gems. This means that there is nothing more to do other than fighting your way through the hordes during a walkabout to the places that have them. There are side-quests, but these aren't a necessity nor worthwhile. They're just there if you fancy extra leg work.
However, the quest for each gem is a crusade. All have you battling many, many different baddies before you eventually reach a 'boss'. To be honest, I would stay clear of doing this - for as long as possible! Instead, look for clothing, weapons, potions, etc/etc. Take your time, be careful, and turn over every stone.
Look, just forget boss battles unless you're tooled up, and that only comes after massive exploration.
Hey, look, I've found a secret opening into the woodlands. Yes, so dense an opening is needed!
Let's be serious and play properly. I wonder if these two gentlemen have anything to offer?
Sometimes I enjoyed running around killing things, but he's already dead!
Tips to get you started
- You aren't as tough as you think, start slow and don't be too cocky!
- Exploration and communication are always key factors so don't be too quick to rush off.
- Certain smaller buildings will help get you started with a sword, scrolls and potions.
- Don't get lost - use the map when roaming outside in the wild.
- Not everywhere is shown on the game's map...
- Why not seek refuge and friends in the Enchanted Woods?
Here are a few more
- Whenever a dungeon nasty appears, and you don't wanna fight, quickly walk on!
- Similary, why talk to a stranger when you can kill him and plunder his corpse?
- However, think twice before attacking a gang and watch that stamina.
- Forget about looking for gems until you're tooled up with weapons, items and clothing.
Ultimately...
- * * * Save-your-game-regularly!!
This kind soul will freely hand over something rather special that helps get you out of trouble.
I want that gem, but this boss dude wouldn't hand it over. And he killed me very, very easily.
Graphics & Sounds
Like Dungeon Master, Galdregon's Domain employs a similar pseudo-3D first-person perspective, and each move is performed using 90° turns. Worried about getting lost in a dungeon that looks the same at every turn? Fear not, because it's stunning with fantastic attention to detail for each location. I also adore how each character has been drawn with such careful precision. Some of the best artwork I've seen outside of Xenomorph.
There is no in-game music to spoil the atmosphere of this 'RPG', as I would have switched it off if there were. Instead, we have lots of sampled sound effects ranging from the chinks of your sword to excessive grunts and frightening howls emitting from distant places. I longed for footsteps; otherwise, the audio is spot-on.
In other words, Galdregon's Domain looks and sounds superb, which means more screenshots...
The hill with an eye! I wonder where it leads? (Wait, are you armed to the teeth?)
You have to admire the gorgeous details of most monsters, especially when they're killing you!
However, sometimes there are too many to fight at once. Or displayed properly (I count 5)
The CryptO'pinion?
It's hard to know where to begin... Initially, I was fooled into thinking this was an RPG or Dungeon Master wannabe. It's not. It might look the part, but it's nothing at all like I had hoped. It's an adventure game - there is no progression or experience to be gained because this is deceivingly masquerading as an RPG.
The main hallmarks of Galdregon's Domain are an excellent adventure, deep in exploration, with many places and people. Sadly, it's let down by a severe lack of items and combat that feels random and segregated. Don't get me started about the horror of replacing a broken weapon during the heat of battle. Ultimately, it's awkward and feels unbalanced with too many enemies and too few pickups to keep you replenished.
I sense I have moaned a lot about Galdregon's Domain? Well, much of it bugged me, and much didn't make any sense. It's not Dungeon Master, but as an action/adventure, I liked exploring an open world with lovely graphics and superb sound effects. This is an excellent place to lose yourself, and I enjoyed it a bunch.
You'll see this screen a lot. Fear not, brave adventurer - simply reload a saved game.
Hang on, you are using that save game option regularly, right?
