One of The 80’s Best Rpg Games Brought to You by Joe Marquez

Computer game fanatics! If you would remember back to 1998, what computer game would you think of that starts with an R? “Rage of Mages”? Or maybe Tom Clancy’s “Rainbow Six”. While both of those are excellent computer games, I’m going to have to choose return to krondor as my favorite.

                           Why Return to Krondor? Well for this first simple reason, it’s Graphics. Today’s video games are much more appealing, but I find return to krondor’s graphics are just simple enough and just complex enough at the same time to create just the right balance. You get the nostalgia feeling of playing an old DOS game but with modern Graphics. Why is this cool? Well when you’re playing an old computer game like kings quest, you have the nostalgic feeling but the hassle of old game play. Not with RTK. Although the game does feel really sluggish at moments it’s worth the wait for just one battle!

                           So here’s another reason why return to krondor is my favorite game. The battles! Most each battle is the same, a couple of ruffians, maybe a sailor or two, so mostly humans fighting other humans. But it also includes creatures throughout the story line like; monsters, dragon-like creatures, giant crabs, and elementals. So with all these battles going on what are we going to do? Do we fight with our hands? Well you can… but it won’t get you anywhere fast, because even if you’re unarmed your opponents are not. Never fear because there are weapons in the game! There are swords knives staves maces and a lot more. My personal favorites are the scimitars. Makes you feel like a pirate. There are also magic weapons and magic armor to obtain. Some have effects in battle and others just do mass amounts of damage or a mass amount of defending. The armor system is a little limited but it suffices when you put the whole game together.

                           So is that all you do is just fight random humans and creatures? No. There is indeed a story line to follow and a small amount of quests to do on the way. The game won’t drag you through it according to story line either. If you have to be in the sea gate sector but you want to fight in the rainbow parrot sector the by all means go for it. There are many doors around krondor. Most of them will let you walk into them for the chance of a battle or maybe some loot or both. But the main idea of the game is to listen to people and solve their problems. Each quest you do gets you experience points. Depending on the decisions you make determines your EXP payout. Aside from gaining experience on quests, the story line is amazing if you just pay attention to it and get into it. The story line is extremely short but I can’t help but play it over and over again. The only thing I hate about the ending of the game is the fact that there is no sequel. Though there is a prequel called Betrayal at Krondor. Your main character is a thief named James. Your next companion is a mage named Jazhara. These are your two main characters throughout the game.

                           Like any RPG, you level up. I must confess that the highest level your going to see is maybe 15 at most. No worries for this is compensated by gaining one hundred skill points per level up. Our main character James starts out with some decent blade handling skills, and some thieving skills. James is going to definitely be your highest leveled character by the end of the game. He levels faster than the rest and he is the main offensive support in your team. Where as Jazhara is a mage packing some fire skills and mind skills. For the people reading this who have never played I wont go too detailed if you decide to play this game for yourself. The skill leveling up gives the game a nostalgic feeling. From times of betrayal in Antara. Simple leveling makes it easier to concentrate on the game play. If our patient it will all come to you. But for the people who love to strategize their skill points the game will last a lot longer and it will be an overall better experience.

                        We got graphics, battles, weapons and armor, simple leveling and mad skill point counting, and last but the most important is the nostalgia. This game is great for teens and adults and has made my top ten by far. You can see why its my favorite game, and why its worth it to give this game a chance.