Well I don't know if it influenced your decision to use this game for the next Matt Chat or not when I said this in the Syndicate response, but I am currently playing Legacy of the Ancients on my Commodore 64. I also was influenced by Shane R. Monroe (as well as his Dual Screen Radio co-host, Chris Hentschel). They would bring up Legacy of the Ancients and the Commodore 64 so often in Dual Screen Radio that I decided to pick up a Commodore 64 with the full intention of picking up a boxed, complete copy of Legacy of the Ancients. I really dig owning the physical game, and the boxed, complete copy is often a must when the packaging and/or inserts are good.
Flash forward to the present and what do you know but I am playing Legacy of the Ancients on the original Commodore 64 hardware (except hooked up to a 27" LCD monitor). The monitor I am using supports picture in picture, so I can goof around on my windows machine (like watch Matt Chat) while playing Legacy in the bottom corner! Loads of fun.
My general impression of the game is that it's a good one. I am having a blast, quite honestly. I dropped by Target and picked up a spiral notebook of graph paper as I finally encountered my first dungeon in the game just this past week. I never saw a castle after entering the Thornberry area, Matt. In fact, I eventually got a few topaz gems, returned to the museum, and entered the Pirate Treasure exhibit (I believe that is the name) before ever encountering a dungeon or some sort of 3D navigation other than the museum. I found a dungeon in there, entered, and am having quite a fun time navigating and mapping the 3D dungeon.
Bill pointed out that there wasn't very much to the manual, and I totally agree. It definitely gives you something, but most things are explanations of what you pretty much already know if you are an RPG gamer. I am not exactly sure what my direction in the game is. I try to exhaust the resources, cities, locations, and now - dungeons, obtain some item or armor or stat, go back to the museum, try to have a level granted to me, and then move on to another exhibit. I believe I am supposed to find a amethyst at the base of this dungeon, but it goes on forever! I keep going down, healing, mapping, and running back up to save. Now I just go there with a inventory full of healing herbs and run down as far as I can to do map work (until I die).
I have to say they really throw you into it. I am used to being able to walk out, fight a bit, get some gold, and run back in to heal. That didn't happen at Thornberry! You have to trek across the land just to find a place where you can heal. I ultimately decided to just hang out in the town and play blackjack until I had enough money for good equipment and food to start adventuring across the land. After finding a town with healing capabilities, I made that my home base and started trying to best monsters.
This is a game that has absorbed me, and I had a feeling it would. Shane would probably classify me as a Final Fantasy, JRPG gamer that doesn't really know the true RPG. However, I would say that while I am a fan of Final Fantasy, I also like Dragon Warrior/Quest (JRPG with tougher roots) as well as other games that are a bit more of your traditional, American RPG. Games that challenge you from the start and require that you have a bit of strategy rather than the ability to save here and there, level grind, and buy weapons at your heart's content. I play Final Fantasy for the story. I play Dragon Quest and other games for the combat and adventure (although DQ has some good stories, too).
I look forward to playing this game every chance I get. I have to say I am curious as to just how close I am to reaching some sort of goal in this first dungeon! We'll see.
Hey Matt and Bill!
Well I don't know if it influenced your decision to use this game for the next Matt Chat or not when I said this in the Syndicate response, but I am currently playing Legacy of the Ancients on my Commodore 64. I also was influenced by Shane R. Monroe (as well as his Dual Screen Radio co-host, Chris Hentschel). They would bring up Legacy of the Ancients and the Commodore 64 so often in Dual Screen Radio that I decided to pick up a Commodore 64 with the full intention of picking up a boxed, complete copy of Legacy of the Ancients. I really dig owning the physical game, and the boxed, complete copy is often a must when the packaging and/or inserts are good.
Flash forward to the present and what do you know but I am playing Legacy of the Ancients on the original Commodore 64 hardware (except hooked up to a 27" LCD monitor). The monitor I am using supports picture in picture, so I can goof around on my windows machine (like watch Matt Chat) while playing Legacy in the bottom corner! Loads of fun.
My general impression of the game is that it's a good one. I am having a blast, quite honestly. I dropped by Target and picked up a spiral notebook of graph paper as I finally encountered my first dungeon in the game just this past week. I never saw a castle after entering the Thornberry area, Matt. In fact, I eventually got a few topaz gems, returned to the museum, and entered the Pirate Treasure exhibit (I believe that is the name) before ever encountering a dungeon or some sort of 3D navigation other than the museum. I found a dungeon in there, entered, and am having quite a fun time navigating and mapping the 3D dungeon.
Bill pointed out that there wasn't very much to the manual, and I totally agree. It definitely gives you something, but most things are explanations of what you pretty much already know if you are an RPG gamer. I am not exactly sure what my direction in the game is. I try to exhaust the resources, cities, locations, and now - dungeons, obtain some item or armor or stat, go back to the museum, try to have a level granted to me, and then move on to another exhibit. I believe I am supposed to find a amethyst at the base of this dungeon, but it goes on forever! I keep going down, healing, mapping, and running back up to save. Now I just go there with a inventory full of healing herbs and run down as far as I can to do map work (until I die).
I have to say they really throw you into it. I am used to being able to walk out, fight a bit, get some gold, and run back in to heal. That didn't happen at Thornberry! You have to trek across the land just to find a place where you can heal. I ultimately decided to just hang out in the town and play blackjack until I had enough money for good equipment and food to start adventuring across the land. After finding a town with healing capabilities, I made that my home base and started trying to best monsters.
This is a game that has absorbed me, and I had a feeling it would. Shane would probably classify me as a Final Fantasy, JRPG gamer that doesn't really know the true RPG. However, I would say that while I am a fan of Final Fantasy, I also like Dragon Warrior/Quest (JRPG with tougher roots) as well as other games that are a bit more of your traditional, American RPG. Games that challenge you from the start and require that you have a bit of strategy rather than the ability to save here and there, level grind, and buy weapons at your heart's content. I play Final Fantasy for the story. I play Dragon Quest and other games for the combat and adventure (although DQ has some good stories, too).
I look forward to playing this game every chance I get. I have to say I am curious as to just how close I am to reaching some sort of goal in this first dungeon! We'll see.
Chris Kennedy, Editor
Location: Houston, Texas, USA
Email: chris@armchairarcade.com