Rings of Zilfin is one of those early CRPGs that really makes you wonder how differently the genre could have evolved. The game is a unique mix of light RPG mechanics with King's Quest styled adventure and fast-paced arcade-like battles.

The plot is the usual save-the-world fare, but it's played with some twists. The world of Batiniq is threated by the evil Lord Dragos, who has one of the two legendary Rings of Zilfin. Your rather ambitious goal is to somehow get both rings for yourself and use them to destroy Dragos once and for all.

The world is divided into a series of locations, such as villages, forests, mountains, dungeons and deserts. You must journey the land, collecting items, purchasing equipment, talking to NPCs in search of hints and battling the occasional enemy.

Most of these foes are fought in the ground, in real time; you can slash them with your sword, cast spells or use the bow at point-blank range. However, some foes are flying creatures that must be shot down with the bow or with projectile spells – Space Invaders-style.

Your endurance will go down with each hit you take, but you'll also have to manage fatigue, which is necessary to perform actions such as attacking, casting spells or just travelling. Luckily, there are plenty of magical mushrooms and healers in Batiniq.

However, while Zilfin has an interesting world, it bears a critical flaw. Instead of directly travelling from one area to another, you must always go through a long and repetitive side-scrolling journey, battling monsters, collecting food and resting. These journeys all look and play exactly the same, which gets boring really fast, especially when you must cross a large number of areas. You'll eventually gain access to a teleport spell that speeds things up, but few players will still be playing by that point.