Game Arts, 1987
MS-DOS, NEC PC-8801 和 X1
Game Arts, 1987
MS-DOS, NEC PC-8801 and X1
我之所以记得《神剑封魔》主要有以下三个原因:游戏非常庞大,极其困难,而且我是在最后一个地牢的进度停滞后几年才完成的。当我第一次玩它时,我几乎听不懂英语,所以我错过了一个重要的提示。
该游戏显然受到了日本 Falcom(Nihon Falcom)《世外桃源(Xanadu, 1985)》的启发,但是该游戏还停留在日本市场,而《神剑封魔》则已经被翻译成英文,于 1990 年在西方发行了。
I remember Zeliard mainly for three reasons: the game is huge, extremely difficult and I only finished it a few years after my progress stalled in the final dungeon. When I first played it, I could barely understand English, so I missed an important hint.
The game was clearly inspired by Nihon Falcom's Xanadu (1985) but, while that game remained in Japan, Zeliard was actually translated into English, being released in the West in 1990.
作为早期的“类银河战士恶魔城”类型的游戏之一,它因为略微加入了 RPG 元素而显得与众不同。它有一个隐藏的等级系统,当城里的圣人认为你有足够的经验时,你就可以提升等级,增加命中率、伤害和魔法。
《神剑封魔》也有一个简单的装备系统:一个武器槽,一个盔甲槽和一个盾牌槽——盾牌在被击中一定次数后会破裂。你可以在城镇购买各种药剂来恢复生命、魔法、增加伤害或修复你的盾牌。
你可以用水平、向上和向下的刀剑攻击,在击败每个 BOSS 怪物后,你还会得到新的法术——它们本质上都是进攻性的。与其他“类银河战士恶魔城”游戏一样,也有一些物品可以使您进入无法达到的区域,例如穿靴子爬坡或用披风来抵抗高温。
《神剑封魔》在同类游戏中脱颖而出,重现了老式 CRPG 地牢爬行游戏的感觉。仅仅掌握和擅长于游戏的动作部分并不够,您还必须精心绘制整个游戏的地图,探索每一寸土地,并记下镇民们说出成功的每一个暗示才能成功。
由于后面的地牢由两层或三层的迷宫错综复杂的相互连接,使得整个地图结构有一种非比寻常的怪异,这让绘制地图变得非常困难。地图有可能是圆形的,无论玩家在哪儿,只要你向一个方向走的足够远,都会回到你的起始点,哪怕是在第一层迷宫,也很容易迷路,但如果没有地图,玩家更不可能进入后面的迷宫。
《神剑封魔》的平台机制如今早已被超越,其 2D 动作和 RPG 元素的融合放在今天来看依然绝非独特,但整体的地牢设计使它即使在今天也是独一无二的。如果您喜欢这种挑战,那它就是你的不二之选。
One of the early “metroidvania” games, it set itself apart by having a slight influx of RPG elements. It features a hidden XP system that allows you level up when sages in town deem you experienced enough, increasing hit points, damage and magic.
Zeliard also has a simplistic inventory system: one slot for a weapon, one for armour and one for a shield – which will break after a certain number of hits. The various potions you can buy in towns regenerate health, magic, raise damage or repair your shields.
You can attack with horizontal, upwards and downwards sword slashes, and after defeating each boss monster you will also get new spells – all of them offensive in nature. As in other “metroidvania” games there are also items that grant you access to otherwise unreachable areas, such as boots to climb slopes, or a cloak to resist intense heat.
Zeliard stands out among its kind for recapturing the feeling of old-school CRPG dungeon crawlers. It cannot be mastered by just being good at the action part, you have to also map the entire game meticulously, explore every inch and also note down every hint the townspeople utter to succeed.
Mapping is made difficult both by the fact that later levels consist of two or three layers intricately interlinked and by a very unusual quirk of the overall topology: the maps are circular. Wherever you may be, if you go far enough right or left, up or down, you will end up where you started. It easy to get lost even in the first level, and without a map you won't get far in the later ones.
Zeliard's platforming mechanics have long been surpassed and its fusion of 2D action and RPG elements is by no means unique these days, but the overall dungeon design make it stand in a class of its own even today. If you enjoy a challenge, that is.