I miss old SSI games and all the beauty and wonder they brought me as a child. Perhaps it’s more of the feeling of playing old MS-DOS games and that no worries feeling of playing games all summer long when your parents are out working; no cares in the world but that of the evil dragons and goblins of an RPG world. Secret of the Silver Blades arrived in May of 1990, developed and published by Strategic Simulations Inc (SSI), a company we covered in our gaming history back in TD Gaming Podcast Episode 9.
Secret of the Silver Blades is actually the third in a four-part game series which was eventually packaged in the Gold Box editing of the SSI games. It was a continuation of the game Curse of the Azure Bonds and the first in the series: Pool of Radiance. The cool part of the series was the leveling system where each would let you level to a certain limit just like most modules in D&D games, this game let you get to level seven which means a Mage could use the cool Delayed Blast Fireball spell which was one of my favorite magic spells in D&D (yeah, I’m a dork.)
The graphics were a whopping 16-colors, with slight graphical improvements over the other two prior games. This game didn’t have an overworld map like the others, going full first person for the length of the game. Another great enhancement was the ability to use the arrow keys to navigate menu’s without the need for “hot keys” like older SSI titles, given the game is very much menu-based for combat, equipment and inventory management it was very handy to have the use of those nice little arrow keys.
You create your party and start adventuring in a game engine very similar to all the games before it, so introduction to game mechanics was minimal, you could advance your characters further in level and, most importantly, import characters from previous games. The D&D world is really a character-driven game environment and you grow fond of your characters and understand the best ways to battle with them, importing is key and still, today, is a big part in well done RPG expansions (Guild Wars is a great example). Unfortunately, many games fall short of character import and it kind of blows away some of the magic of an RPG.
One of the frustrating issues with Secret of the Silver blade is the limitation on levels for the Cleric, because they can’t level up past 7 they can’t get the good ressurection spell, only allowed to use Raise Dead which lowers your characters constitution by 1 (much like the traditional D&D rules). However, given its a video game and not a paper-dice based game, the raise dead penalty is annoying, so it was easier to save often and re-load when you died to try again and avoid the penalty. I do recall their being some scrolls or something to get back your constitution penalty… but it’s been awhile I might be making that up.
Anyway, a well done series, classic RPG and helped build a foundation for games like Morrow Wind and Oblivion in my opinion.
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This weeks gaming podcast covers a bunch of hot topics along with a bit of gaming history. We take a flashback look at Tapper, a great arcade classic and we’ll hit up some popular news articles:
To clarify a part of Jonah’s post, my last episode as a regular co-host of the show is to be the next one.
So, we’ll do follow-ups for some of the older news items. Cool!
@Jay Wilson steps down from Diablo III stewardship
Eh, I guess that’s what happens when you focus a bit too much on making money instead of making a game. Jonah, I’m 100% with you.
I wouldn’t put the blame on the lead game designer though: if you’re not the top dog in the hierarchy, your freedom is limited.
Hmm, Brevik ? Maybe.
@The Secret World sees ‘400% increase in activity’
Buy2Play is a bit weird, since you still have server maintenance to pay for. Dunno. I can see it for an MMO that would use a p2p network system to alleviate server loads, but for a classic client-server architecture? Dunno. To me it sounds like putting a limit to the lifespan of the game.
Time, prove me wrong.
@Mojang: Minecraft XBLA outsold Minecraft PC in 2012
And here’s the XBLA gold rush 🙂
Like the iPhone gold rush before. And the other XBLA gold rush before the iPhone rush.
Joking aside, I can see people interpreting this as a sign to where to publish. Truth is, a good game sells. Regardless of the platform.
@Sony settles lawsuit with Kevin Butler actor Jerry Lambert
This is screwed up. It’s his freaking face. It’s not like Sony owns it. But what the heck, what do I know.
@Pachter: Nintendo is “a few years late” in everything they do
I think the guy has a point. In terms of performance, he’s right. In terms of peripherals, they were left behind by Kinect. As for a games library, again, he’s right.
Paul, I guess you’d like to make a zombie out of him? 🙂
@QOTW
STALKER, but! The former GSC team is working on Survarium, and the STALKER brand did get a new roof, but with a different studio.
So sure, I do want something STALKER like, it’s just I’m not sure it’ll be STALKER2 (not announced) or the Survarium game.
Dan, good news about your employment! You will be missed.
@Diablo 3 beheaded (I wish)
Meh
@Secret World
Double Meh
@Sony and Kevin Buttler
Tripple Meh. Boredom COMBO.
@Minecraft XBLA
The answer is simple. PC version is far to easy to pirate. It’s less than a megabyte and you can store it on a floppy disk. Furthermore, as funny as it sounds Minecraft multiplayer is very processor heavy. The XBLA version is a lot more stable (and even then someone gets dropped once in a while). It may be pricy and lack the mods but there is nothing like it on the Xbox.
@Nintendo is a step behind
If you may recall, I was talking about this for the past year. Nintendo’s problem is that it is fueled by tradition. The Wise Old Men who run the company call all the shots. They make what they THINK the consumer wants. And you can’t define the world by Satoru Iwata’s personal tastes. The reason why Xbox is doing so well is that Microsoft is running a business. Tablets are successful? Que SmartGlass. 3D sucks? Drop it. Kinect is popular? Make Kinect 2.
On another note, I can’t wait till you discuss the newly revealed Wii U titles. I am brewing up a shitstorm in my cauldron as we speak.
@QOTW
Man. Way to many. It’s sad to a see a franchise die just because people spend all their money on COD and FIFA. The obvious answer is Shenmue 3. The story was finished for the last 15 years. They just don’t have the funds to put it into a digital form. How sad…
A proper sequel to the Duke Nukem franchise is another. The game made a profit. They should make a new game. This time for real.
Hello long time listener, love the show especially Paul.
@QOTW : I’m going to cheat and pick two if it’s fine with ya gents, always wanted sequels to these.
1). The Brave fencer Musashi: This was my favorite kirby game growing up.
2). Misadventures of Tron Bon:Its like having your own army made of small huggable Lego people.