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There is one sort of person who is likely to get very excited about this indeed – the die-hard Lords of Midnight fan. Hey guys, this one is aimed directly at you, being nothing less (or more) than a French interpretation of Mike Singleton’s 8-bit classic. Younger players may find it easier to liken it to Midwinter, but without the solid 3D graphics, futuristic scenario and certainly without the depth. They might also find themselves wondering what all the fuss was about.
So yes, it is a sort of strategy role-playing adventure, with you leading a team of six characters (a mix of warriors, wizards and rangers, of which you would be wise to take two of each) around a mysterious island in a mix of so-called 3D and overhead view map modes. The search is on for four crystals which have to be recovered and restored to their rightful places in towers dotted around the island – both crystals and towers are placed randomly each new game, so if you are so taken with Arborea that you would like to play it again and again it will be a different experience each time.

Most of your time is spent searching of course – not just for the crystals and the towers, but for various magical abilities (like healing potions, the ability to teleport and so on) which have to be found or earned (often by entering the house of a local warrior or wizard and answering a simple question) to give you any chance of completing the game. It is not all walking about though (but there is a lot of it – the French programmers claim there are 16,000 different locations in the game!) as every so often things are broken up by the odd scrap with groups or baddies you will encounter. And I do mean ‘odd’ too – these are strange, grid-based strategic affairs, not unlike chess. This certainly is not a game you could accuse of being packed with gratuitous violent action.

And there we have it really. Crystals of Arborea can certainly be quite pretty (especially at night) if not outstandingly so, but while it has a lot of screens it does not seem to be blessed with a great deal of variety. Add to that a distinctly slug-like pace and rules that seem to have been picked at random (you can only enter a wizard’s house when you have another wizard with you – why?) and it all seems rather pointless. I found it one big snooze.
MATT BIELBY

Title Crystals of Arborea
Game Type RPG
Company Electronic Arts (Written by Raven Software)
Players 1
Compatibility Not AGA
HD Installable ?
Submission Cathy Macdonald Profiled Reviewer

Review
Effectively the prequel to the "Ishar" series, this game introduces the
Elven prince, Jarel, of the land of Arborea. Arborea was corrupted by the
rule of the evil Morgoth, a banished god (direct Tolkien reference:
Morgoth, the evil Vala). In order to destroy Morgoth, and restore the
Kingdom, Prince Jarel and his trusted companions set out on a quest to
find, and correctly place, 4 magic crystals. This is the object of the
game.

At the time that this game was released (about 1989? - can't recall) the
Silmarils graphics, gameplay and style were beginning to push the
envelope. They were something special. Also this was rare - to have good
(contemporary) graphics AND gameplay. There, 2 major pluses for the game
already! It also introduced a view concept which I think more
RPG/Adventure could have used and advanced: That being the ability to turn
around and view your fellows. Oddly, even Silmarils left this out with
the "Ishar" series. Perhaps too much programming/processing requirements?
The game had lovely landscape and character graphics as well as intro,
"event" and finale graphic sequences (for the time). As I recall, the
general interface was nothing special, but it functioned well.

You played the part of Jarel, principally, but you could control movement
of your team mates. The game was played in 2 different view modes - 2D for
travelling over the landscape as a team, or 3D with Jarel's POV for
exploring underground tunnels etc. Some extra inventiveness (again, not
followed up in the sequels) was the ability to send each of your team
mates off separately to explore other areas, deal with enemy groups, etc.
This helped cover more ground, but it did leave characters vulnerable if
they were alone, weak, or in limited numbers when accosted by enemies.
The different characters were identified by coloured dots in the 2D
landscape overview mode (a monitor, rather than a TV, makes this easier on
the eyeballs). Another novelty, was the changing light between day and
night. The latter held increased likelihood of a certain enemy encounter -
the Dark Elves. Characters also had to take time out to rest, so you had
to find a (relatively) safe place.

So, how was it to play? Even for a novice RPG-er, I reckon the difficulty
level was fine, and therefore an excellent introduction to the genre.
Although the more experienced could perhaps use something a little more
taxing, it was still a highly enjoyable romp and a nice game to call up if
you didn't want to be overtaxed, just for the pleasure of it. However, as
hinted above, many enemy encounters could be troublesome, so
overconfidence could be penalised! There wasn't too much wandering around
(some other RPGs fall down here) and there were few places to go without
event or encounter - trouble (especially at night) or friendly characters
e.g. in dwellings who could give you (slightly crytptic) hints. One or two
of the crystals were quite easy to find, as was one of the towers to which
a crystal belonged (hope I'm not giving too much away here?). The rest
were more tricky and risky. This was good, as it allowed encouragement,
through a little easy achievement, to embolden you for the increasingly
difficult stuff. Also, it avoided being too linear - you could complete
the quest without having to do things/meet people/go to places in a strict
order.

Overall? Let me put it this way - if there was a way to make it work on
my A1200HD, I'd try to obtain it again! Recommended, if you have a
non-AGA OS2.x machine.