The Forgotten King
From Spheriki
The Forgotten King is an action RPG in a similar vein to Secret of Mana. It was released as a cancelled demo for a larger project of the same name by ChaosNyte, troupe, Salamando, and SDHawk, but nonetheless there is a substantial amount of gameplay contained in the game as it exists.
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Description
From the official project page:
- 300 hundred years ago, the kingdom of Lezek was under the rule of a king who desired great power. To the west was the Kingdom of Talia, with its powerful magic and army, and to the east was the Kingdom of Malikin, famous for it’s rapidly increasing technology. Paranoid and fearful of an invasion, the King summoned the greatest magicians in the land and summoned a great demon queen, binding her to the land before marrying her, thus producing demonic children. Using the marriage as a pact with the demons, Lezek made war on both its neighbors, and after a long and horrible war was defeated, and the King of Lezek and the royal family fled far south across the sea, to the islands Austuine. The people still left in Lezek found themselves at the mercy of both the now uncontrollable demons and the kingdoms of Talia and Malikin. The two kingdoms, after plundering and looting, left the now ruined people of Lezek to fend for themselves. Years passed, and Lezek was forgotten, a vast territory that Talia and Malikin would not claim, for fear of the demons that still roamed the land.
- The land fell into gloomy chaos, while on Austuine, the royal family forgot their roots and forsake their lost kingdom. Until one day, a rather unremarkable merchant’s son named Thomas had his father pass away, and found the Kingdom of Lezek’s crown, royal sword, and an old map of the kingdom. Thomas also found a list of the family tree, and that nearly 150 years ago the family had diverged, with a distant cousin the current ruler of Austuine. With nothing to lose, Thomas proclaimed himself the lost king of Lezek and caught the first ship to the continent, only to find himself having to walk from Talia, as the former Kingdom of Lezek is in terrible disrepair. The game begins as he arrives in the village of Belafon, the former captial of Lezek, to the ruins of the once great castle...
Gameplay
Aim
The overall aim is for King Thomas to revive the remains of Belafon to its former glory. He achieves this by gathering people willing to live there, and obtaining enough money to rebuild it.
Combat
At its roots, The Forgotten King plays much like Secret of Mana. The player, either as Thomas himself or as the crossbow-wielding Keli, can attack enemies on the map in real-time. Attacking will cause the player to slow down and be left open to attack immediately afterwards for a brief period of time, after which they can attack again. Successfully striking a monster (mostly blobs of varying power) will show the amount of damage caused as a number. The same applies to taking damage.
Thomas
Thomas is the protagonist of the game. As the newly returned king, he wields a sword which he uses in a stabbing motion. The sword is a reasonably fast weapon to use, but has limited range.
Keli
Keli is found somewhere while exploring the expansive game map. Once found, she can be used by the player to fire her crossbow as a weapon. The crossbow is effective at range, but is slower to use than Thomas's sword. The crossbow can be useful for attacking enemies behind obstructions too.
Townsfolk
People willing to become citizens of Belafon are scattered throughout the game. Simply talking to some will be enough to convince them to join, but many require that the player complete certain objectives, such as collecting items, having a certain amount of funds, or already having other people.
Controls
- Cursor keys are used to move, navigate menus, and pick up items (by running into them).
- Z is used to attack and to confirm menu choices.
- C is used to bring up the in-game menu.
Player Comments
- An excellent game with hours of gameplay to be had. Conversations are witty and tongue-in-cheek. Five stars! --Tunginobi 07:54, 20 August 2006 (IST)
Links
- Download game archive (requires Sphere engine, ZIP, 1.6 MB)
