14) Legacy of the Wizard {1989}Buckle up, this is my longest write up yet! Probably will be the longest one. For some reason it was a long and easily flowing process of talking about it.
So starting with the title, it was known as Dragon Slayer IV: Drasle Family in Japan, and is part of the Dragon Slayer series. I have no other information or experience with that series. I do wish however that the Drasle Family name would have been in the title, as it fits with the game.
This is a seemingly simple game, but is actually very hard and challenging. LotW is an adventure game, and I would call it an RPG. It is a platformer at its core, so you jump around of course. Your primary means of attack is a magic ranged attack, with characters having different ones which I’ll get to below. Each of your attacks take one magic point, and you start with 90 MP I think. The same with your health. You also have Gold and Keys, and both are equally as vital basically. Enemies drop all these four of this currency so speak, as well as other things that are mostly positive. The game is smart though- you will likely get keys and gold when your health and magic are high. You will get bread (health) and potions (magic) when either of those are low.
So you have a family of seven, and you start out in their house.
However, two of the family members stay at home and are for passwords; grandmother and grandfather. The passwords are quite long, but not the hardest to decipher- that game is still to come! I did have on more than one occasion password failures when I was younger. These days, if playing the original deal, snapping a pic with the phone works.
The other five family members are a mother, father, daughter, son, and their pet. Each have different characteristics, powered items they can use, and areas of the world they basically belong in.
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I say powered items as some require one magic point per use, are not dropped by enemies, and are either bought or found in treasure chests. Some have more passive effects (strength increase, magic range increase, shield blocks projectiles), while others enhance things or create abilities (jump high boots, pushing/destroying blocks, jumping on enemies=attacking).
I guess this is an open game, but has a lot of trial and error in exploring it. I view it as a hub game. There is only one real sequence break option in the NES version. I saw something else in the MSX version of it, and may be possible in all versions. But this game is not commonly played, so I’m not going to attempt it! It comes down to four out of five of the characters having their own area so to speak. Early game then without help, you need to figure out who belongs where. Further complicating things, the items are required for three out of four of the areas. Something I didn’t say- each character has specific items they can use, with some characters having item(s) only they can use. The picture above shows some items with a purple zero- that means the person cannot use it. And for one of the characters, their items are found or bought in other people’s areas. So the game has somewhat of an order, which is why I like it. The creators clearly designed the game to not be broken to heck, while having a sense of adventure and exploration.
{skipable, long winded}Talking in depth about the family, ironically, the “hero” so to speak of the game is probably the weakest character. The son Roas is kind of average in his characteristics. The characteristics each person has are Strength, Jump and Distance- distance refers to attack range, as does strength. He has maybe the widest array of items to use, but isn’t real good at anything. Plus one item does basically nothing. But he fights the final boss, and is the only one able to obtain the sword (I think the Dragon Slayer!) to fight the final boss.
The mom Meyna and dad Xemn are debatably the best characters. Meyna has the most unique items, in that she can fly, open key blocks unique to her area with magic points, and “push” blocks. She also has the second best attack- it has decent range and power. Her jump is second worst, but is a moot point with her Wings that allow flight. Her strengths are also her flaws- she burns magic the most quickly due to her items. Her three unique items all use MP, in conjunction with her not being able to use the attack boots. Several Inn stays therefore are for magic replenishment in her stage.
As a result of Meyna’s weaknesses, Xemn might be my favorite. His jump is tied for the worst, but his attack is by far the best. It has decent range, and is tied for the strongest in the game. He also can push blocks with the Glove, and ride on them basically. Meyna pushes a block, but it flies back and forth across the screen a few times. Beyond that, his item usage is the second worst in the game. He can use the attack boots though, so that becomes useful.
Lyll is the daughter, and has as weak of an attack as Roas. Her attack range however is the best in the game. She also jumps the highest in the game. This is even further augmented with her Jump boots, and she can use attack boots. She can also break blocks with the Mallet, so she rounds out as a useful character. But without the attack boots, she would fall to nearly the worst in the game.
Lastly, we have Pochi, the family pet/monster. He ties Xemn with attack strength, and on the surface beyond that sucks bad. His attack range is the worst, his jump is the worst, and his item usage is the worst. He has no unique items, so items he can use everyone else can too. So why is the pet in the game at all? He is invulnerable to monsters! Well, except to a boss and falling. He can just walk right through (by) enemies. It makes him a great first play and early game option, as he can inform you on what character may belong in an area. And he collect some easy treasure in the general area. Plus the area meant for him is easier with him, although anyone can complete his area due to him not having any unique items. Enemies seem to hit the hardest, collision damage wise however, in his stage. So that is why he is still the best for his area.
{/TL:DR}The game also carries a significant challenge. With the finding out who goes where, and with what items, there is a feelings of slow progress of exploring the area dungeons. Even though I think I can complete the game in an about an hour to an hour and a half, it feels like it takes awhile to get through each character’s dungeon area. Especially Xemn and Meyna, as I would bet their stages actually are longer. There can be some backtracking. Worse though, the end stage bosses are sequentially harder. It seems like button mashing works for the speedrunners, and I guess that is how I did it when I was younger. But now I’m very careful with getting the Shield to block their magic projectiles, and even then taking collision damage from the bosses hurts more and more from the last two. The last boss, the dragon Keela, is the easiest when you figure out his pattern. And so it’s good Roas fights him!
~music
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=45829.msg2098191#msg2098191And the music reprise is in that thread, top notch beginning to end, with a focus on melodies.
LotW is a game that at times could go higher on my list. While I know the game like the back of my hand, I miss not knowing things about it. But that is what holds the game up, in that first timers will have a heck of a game ahead of them. For me now, knowing the game well, as I said it takes me about an hour or so. And this is something I value with NES games as I age- I like plopping down, and ripping through games in an hour or two. I feel like I'm less likely to finish a NES game if it takes longer. Or at least, knowing a game well to beat in in an hour or two works well for a moderate length distraction for me.
***Konami, Arnold jumps through the jungle and fights aliens with his shirt off.***
Topic: Top 25 Video Games Lists v2.0: Cable's NES Nostalgia 15 & 2 (starts pg32) (Read 83902 times)