LogFAQs > #949601063

#69 The Aethra Chronicles - Volume One: Celystra's Bane (MS-DOS, 1994)

This is another nice old indie DOS game, made mostly by a single person. The Aethra Chronicles is a 2D overhead view party-based RPG loosely based on the Rolemaster system. The game starts with a party of three custom-made characters from a variety of fantasy races and classes. It's all mostly the usual suspects (Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, etc.) although some of the classes are unique. The story begins with the mundaneyour character's father is accused of a crime and needs to clear his namebut predictably escalates with the discovery of conspiracies and demon cults and the like. It's pretty standard fantasy fare.



The game is played in a sprawling overworld with towns, caves, dungeons, and more. Encounters in the overworld are random but in dungeons are fixed. During battles, the game enters a turn-based instance based on the geography around where you are standing when the battle starts. So you can take advantage of the positioning of walls, trees, or other obstacles to protect yourself from ranged attacks. Like many old RPGs, the game is very open-ended and if you go to higher-level areas early on you can get instantly wiped. The initial party of three can be expanded to six by recruiting either story NPCs or mercenaries from towns.



The game is not perfect, certainly. There are balance issues at higher levels that can make certain classes into unstoppable killing machines, and the normal assortment of glitches that crop up. But as long as you make an effort to play fairly, the game has a decent amount of challenge throughout and the character progression is very satisfying. The title implies there would be sequels, but for some reason they were never made. But the one game is good enough to stand alone.



As for my time with The Aethra Chronicles, it was one of my earlier experiences with RPGs and stands out mostly because of this. It was really the only game of its kind that I played until Baldur's Gate came out a few years later, but it has several substantial differences that made it more enjoyable for me. To this day, I have not found a game that does what The Aethra Chronicles does better, although I must admit this is mostly from lack of trying.

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At least your mother tipped well