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Reviews
Stonekeep (1995)
Highly recommended for the fantasy gamer!
An excellent game for anyone with Dos Emulating Software. That's right; it's a Dos game, so it's frustrating to get it to work, but it is definitely worth the effort! It was one of my favorite games as a child, and it still rocks! You play Drake, a young man whose home was destroyed by the dreaded Shadowking, Khull Khum. After Drake is saved by a mysterious man in a cloak, he returns years later to look upon the devastation. As he gazes over the pit where his city one had lain, a spirit floats from the chasm and speaks to him. Thera, the goddess of earth, has chosen Drake as her champion against the Shadowking, who now rules over what remains of the empty, ravaged halls of his home.
If he succeeds in returning the Nine Receptacles of the Gods and defeats Khull Khum, then all will be freed and Thera can bring new life to the tortured Underlands; If he fails, then his soul will be eternally trapped in the darkest shadows of the lost city of Stonekeep.
This game is not perfect, as the ending cinematic is somewhat lackluster, but the entire game up to that point is nearly flawless! I mean, you have Goblin-style creatures, you have Dwarfs, you have Elves, you have Faeries, you have Snakes, you have giant green blobs of death; the list goes on and on, from cool, to awesome, to incredible! For those worried about the ending, I will reiterate: Only the ending "Cinematic" is underwhelming, and it is more than worth it for the rest of the game. From puzzles, to traps, to dealing with dragons, this game is more than worth the time and money. A must-play!
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2007)
Hmm...My childhood hasn't been ruined enough...MOVIE NIGHT!
There have been bad movies in the past, but most are fortunate enough to know the works of Uwe Boll, so they know to avoid him. I, on the other hand, had the devastating misfortune to have never heard of him until the release of the movie, so I was absolutely stoked to find out it was based on one of my favorite games of my childhood: Dungeon Siege. The movie was based on this dungeon-crawling adventure, but to those that have played it, could you honestly tell? Why make a movie based on a video game if it has little to nothing to do with the original plot? Isn't the point to make the fans happy? I thought, oh well, as its own movie it should still be okay, but what did we get? A main character actually named "Farmer" (The originality is baffling!), a half-baked story-line with characters more two-dimensional than the cast of "Alien Resurrection" (No, Jason, less subtlety!), the odd mention of the most important enemy of the game known as the Krug with costumes about as convincing as an episode of Power Rangers, and a fight between sorcerers that was more boring than their flat, emotionless monotones. Even the awesomeness of John Rhys-Davies (Sala from Indiana Jones) could not save this film! Overall impression: Save yourself the money and time.
Breath of Fire (1993)
More than a game...
I am not an easy judge to please, but Breath of Fire has qualities that have been forgotten in the world of gaming. A story so complex and engaging, it has you hooked from the moment you turn on the console. In the years to follow its release, people forgot about the Super Nintendo, and games on N64 and Playstation would dominate the market, but among my decently extensive game collection, Breath of Fire sticks out as a gem of storytelling genius. For the gamer interested in beautifully crafted stories of adventure, it is my opinion that this game is comparable to Final Fantasy VII! An easy favorite that is deserving of more praise than it has been given!