I found this game years and years ago on some "1001 shit games for Windows" CD I had (the one where like 80% of them didn't even work, 10% were demos, 7% were garbage, and 3% were actually pretty effing awesome). It's not really a roguelike in the strict sense but it functions much like one. It's very puzzle-oriented, although you can play a variety of character types and get some badass weapons and spells (which are fun, since all the high-level evil spells have juicy descriptions in the manual of how they gruesomely eviscerate enemies, even though they effectively just do more damage).
Still, because it's puzzle-based, I've had one hell of a time with it and have never managed to beat it. Because of that, I thought I would present it to the brilliant gaming minds of Bay12.
I've managed to get what seems like pretty far in the game, but I've run up against a puzzle I can't figure out. (If I remember right, it's up in Keep Ironthread, and I have some clock I'm obviously supposed to do something with, but goddam if I know what). Anyway, it's a fun game...give it a shot and if anybody manages to get to that point and figure out the puzzle, then let us (me) know!
If you need hints (I sure as shit did to get as far in the game as I did) there are a bunch on this website...but not all the puzzles are mentioned there, and a lot of the hints are in straight-out spoiler form, so be real carefuly when looking at the site if you want to figure things out on your own. The site also has a map, which is crucial because there's no in-game map. Print that thing out for sure...
http://www.geocities.com/lapithes/Here's where you can download the game.
http://www.nwlink.com/~dberke/ex1.htm it's shareware, so after a while an annoying screen starts to pop up all the damn time asking you for money, but the game is fully functional.
There's a bunch of other cool stuff about the game...there's a bunch of skills you can learn, most of them in bizarre ways from interacting with random and/or obscure people. There are a LOT of well-hidden secrets and grueling puzzles and dungeons. One thing though, if you want to be able to use magic, make sure to get the magic skill from the beginning, since as far as I know there's no way to learn it in-game. Same with Seasmanship IIRC, although you can just cast the levitation spell for when you need to cross water. Spells are learned by buying them from merchants, although a couple can be found in dungeons (such as the most powerful evil spell).
Anyway, enjoy.
Author
Topic: Excelsior phase one: Lysandia (Read 2287 times)