The year was 1987. Japan was trying to cash in on the PC game market. In an attempt to do this, they exported one of their more popular arcade games into PC format. Because of this, the game itself, Sorcerian, plays more like an arcade game than a PC game. This doesn't make the game itself bad, just very different. The game itself is very interesting in many respects but because of its flaws, the game can become very dull very fast. Let's begin with the more interesting aspects of the game. Sorcerian is a game where you create the characters from scratch. These characters not only have certain powers and abilities, such as fighter, cleric and wizard, among others, but each character can have a different race and profession. The characters actually age, progress in knowledge and levels and eventually die. This makes the game very interesting as you attempt to build your characters as strong as possible. The game is also very different from many other PC games in that it has multiple scenarios. Each one of these is like a separate game unto itself. Solving one scenario has no effect on any of the others, other than to increase your characters' levels and skill abilities, along with their age. It appears after completing each scenario your character will age one year. The scenarios themselves are fairly interesting but there doesn't seem to be any connection between them. This is one of the game's flaws. Plus, you can do each scenario as many times as you want. Some of them are so easy to begin with that eventually your characters will become so powerful that nothing can stop them. This is another one of the game's flaws in that eventually it can become rather dull to play when the challenge is gone. The look of the game itself is rather odd. The characters are extremely small and don't look anything like real people. They follow each other in a line in an almost comical fashion. When one character battles, they all battle. There is no way to separate their actions. You can equip them with a variety of weapons, however. You can use spells, some of which are very powerful, especially in the upper levels. The game comes with a very interesting and beautiful musical score. This is actually one of the high points of the game itself, since the graphics of the game leave a lot to be desired. Of course considering when the game itself was made, they're not too bad. Just don't expect too much. The game is very old, so don't expect to be able to play it on the newer operating systems. Anything past Windows 98 is probably going to crash and burn. The game comes on floppy disks. Yes, we're talking very old. In spite of the flaws, there is a charm to Sorcerian. The characters are so cute when you view them in their inventory screen. There is enough to do besides fighting, such as training, buying items and other odds and ends. If you can get around the challenges becoming too easy as you progress, this is actually a very enjoyable game. All you have to do is find a computer to play it on. |
