Genre: RPGDeveloper: SaadaSoftYear: 1993
Rating: 0.00 / 10.00
(based on 0 votes)
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I'm not a big fan of the rogue-like genre but... seriously, Castle of the Winds kept me playing for, like, *thousands* of hours. It has many of the ingredients that made Rogue a very popular, addictive and replayable game.
From the helpfile included in the game: "Castle of the Winds is a two part graphical adventure game, loosely based on fantasy role playing games, and drawing much inspiration from Norse mythology. Part one concerns the character's efforts to avenge the deaths of his or her godparents, who were foully murdered by unknown agents. Along the way, you will do battle with evil monsters, brave deadly traps, and collect the money and magical treasures guarded by dangerous foes. As the story unfolds, the character will also learn of his or her mysterious past, and the legacy left by the character's long dead father." I'm not going to tell anything else from the story as it could spoil its twists. Suffice to say that it's fairly cliched, and even a bit obvious sometimes. Castle's strong points are in other qualities.
Let's start with interface. Castle is very simple to play and even to master. Soon you'll be casting spells up and down, buying/selling artifacts, finding your way through the dungeons. The game has shortcuts for all commands, and this makes its engine quite agile and easy to use.
You start the game by choosing your mental and physical features, name and difficulty level. If you're starting part two, restoring the game from the point where you stopped in part one is higly adviseable, provided you completed the first setting. Quite resourceful for a Windows 3.x game isn't it?
Along the game you'll meet all kinds of monsters, traps and treasures. And since the game generates new maps everytime you start it, Castle is *very* replayable. The choice of difficulty level also gives a lot of balance and challenge to the game. It's never impossible to complete the game, but it could take some sweating, which is good actually. Over time you'll rapidly grow in power and see that the monsters grow a lot too. Hundreds of weapons, armor, spells, it's all there. Part one is long and has a lot to see and do. Part two is even longer and has many more monsters to choose from!
Personally I think this is a must-play for any Rogue fan, and a must-try for all others looking for an unusual challenge from an addictive game.
