Legends of Amberland

The Forgotten Crown

★★★★☆

A fun throwback to the early Might and Magic and Bard’s Tale fantasy games of the 1980s and 1990s. Grid- and turn-based, with old-style pixelated graphics and lots of side quests. Probably most comparable to Might and Magic III in terms of both style and complexity.

It’s not quite as engrossing as I remember those games being. But that could be my own change in perspective. I could be remembering the games through rose-colored glasses, or it could simply be the difference between playing a new cool type of game as a teenager vs. playing an old familiar type of game as a middle-aged adult.

That, and the most recent party-based RPGs I’ve played were Outer Worlds and The Bard’s Tale IV, both of which are incredibly more complex and immersive. (One of the character graphics reminded me of the first player character in BT4, so of course I made her my bard and called her Melody.)

The mainline quest sends you all over the map collecting components and plot coupons. You can explore and do side quests, or you can stick with the main ones. I always like to do every side quest I can find.

One key difference from the older games is that it has a fast travel option. There’s a griffin-based taxi service, and once you rescue the griffin, you get free lifts whenever you want to places you’ve been already, as long as there aren’t any enemies nearby. It’s super convenient, but I found myself relying on it too much after a while. I can understand why there’s a Steam achievement for completing the game without using it!

Character classes and races are more flexible at the start than in the older games, but there’s no progression tree. The spell system is simple: you just get more spells as your characters gain experience. There aren’t separate spheres of magic to learn, or specific skills you can pick up.

It only took about 16 hours’ worth of game play (probably another reason it felt less engrossing than the classics), even doing all the side quests. I’m contemplating going back and replaying it to pick up some of the other achievements, but there are also a couple of sequels I may pick up instead.