We say "RPG" all the time, to describe a kind
of game that, thirty-five years ago or so,
wouldn't be considered an RPG.
They often have swords and sorcery (or, barring
that, baseball bats and psychokinetic powers),
they often focus on epic storylines and battling
great evils, dungeons may be trekked through,
dragons may appear.
Yet to the pen & paper gamer, there's always
been a disconnect, an illegitimate use of
the term.
Theirs is a world of constant adaptation,
where there's no such thing as "programming
limitations."
So it seems even more strange to take this
free-flowing concept of "the RPG" - using,
in fact, the most venerable name in the industry
- and try to fit it into an Arcade format,
where it's not about creative solutions to
problems or diplomacy checks, it's about shovelling
more quarters into the machine.
Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara
jams Capcom's two attempts at arcadifying
the D&D franchise together into one package,
just like they did on the Saturn in Japan
back in '99.
Only now, since it's on the PS3, you can enjoy
the full four player experience, online or
locally, with leaderboards and trophies and
the rest of the trappings of the modern era.
But rest assured, this is still a woefully
abusive, mid-90's brawler, full of enemies
with egregious reach advantage, swarms of
foes from every side (thus requiring you to
recruit your friends, who plop THEIR quarters
into the machine) and loads of crap to pick
up off the ground.
Cash?
Sure, cash makes sense, especially since you
can shop between stages.
Weapons?
Okay, stuff like daggers and hammers what
can be used as projectiles, that makes sense.
Rings of Magic Missile?
Yeah, I guess it really is D&D.
At least, the setting and certain familiar
elements.
Two separate games, Tower of Doom and Shadow
over Mystara, are compiled here, and while
they share plenty of similarities, it's pretty
easy to see the improvements the latter made
over the former.
Tower of Doom only offers four character classes,
has more limiting controls, and only shows
the sub-weapon you're currently holding.
Shadow over Mystara adds the magic-user and
thief characters to the standard, Elf, Dorf,
Cleric and Warrior, features ten chapters
of action to its predecessor's seven, and
incorporates a Secret-of-Mana-esque item ring
for managing secondary weapons.
This makes it easier to take inventory at
a glance... though both games feature a massive
array of items that, due to limitations on
the display, might get crunched down into
unintelligible masses.
A ring of Cure Serious Wounds, for example,
may display as just "C.S.W." on your item
ring, leaving you to puzzle over its meaning
while being harried by two kobolds and a gnoll.
(Named "Chuck.")
This is exactly the kind of game I'd never
want to come upon in an arcade, because it
works so much better when the 25-cents-a-play
limit is removed.
The branching storyline is actually fairly
engaging, and you find yourself really wanting
to take down the evil dragon sorceress, regardless
of how many trips you make to the change machine
that no longer exists.
Further, the total collection of items acts
as a separate goal, as the title screen for
each game chronicles just how many trinkets
and baubles you've managed to obtain in each
title.
And then there are in-game achievements that
award Vault Points, used to unlock the original
artwork, alternate game modes, and even the
original promo flyer that still has the address
of Capcom's arcade headquarters in Arlington
Heights, Illinois.
Talk about a blast from the past.
Just, uh, turn down the audio a bit.
Sure, it'll be tougher to hear the lifted-directly-from-Mega-Man-X
soundtrack, but at least you won't have to
hear the Dwarf constantly herniating various
things, or a Lich who sounds like a bad LARPer
on speed.
