Dragonsphere

You start Dragonsphere as Callash, the newly crowned King. 20 years earlier, your father had imprisoned an evil sorcerer called Sanwe with the help of the Wizard Ner-Tom. The Wizard had placed the tower in a magical force but knows that Sanwe would eventually break free. An orb known as the Dragonsphere shows the state of Sanwe's prison barrier.

The Dragonsphere shows that the force is waning, so Callash takes action to defeat Sanwe while he is still weak. On his journey, he will meet a race of faeries living in a forest, a race of shapeshifters who live in barren lands, and a race called Sopus Ecliptus who live in the desert. As the story unfolds, you discover that all is not as it seems, delivered by a major plot twist which makes the story very interesting.

The game is a point-and-click adventure with an old style interface where you need to select a verb before an item in your inventory or environment e.g. “pull” “lever”, or “open” “book”. The five areas are open from the start although you might not get far without certain items. The lack of direct objective at the start of the game makes you feel a little lost and will wander aimlessly. Once you venture to each place, the progression becomes a bit more obvious, but you must pay attention to make sure you do not miss vital items.

Sometimes to progress, you need to have learned about the different races. In the faerie kingdom, the King will quiz you and will only part with his magic orb once you answer correctly. To make it through the desert, you must learn about the language of Sopus Ecliptus to understand their directions. You can't even get into Sanwe's tower without proving you are a friend of Sanwe.

Your quest is a perilous one, but when you die, the game restores you to the point prior to your mistake, and a message appears which often gives a hint on how to progress. It can actually be quite fun to find all the ways you can lead Callash to his death. The voice acting seems to be a negative point for numerous players. The fact that there is voice acting is a plus, and I found the voices were suitable for the characters and setting. The animation of the characters is particularly impressive, given the limited graphics.

Dragonsphere is surprisingly impressive given it's age. The lack of direction was interesting given adventure games are inherently non-linear. This often became its downfall when areas or items are missed, especially when the missed item could be located anywhere. There's definitely a couple of strange puzzles, and quite a few are based on magic which makes them a bit less obvious.