Nox Archaist

Mad props to anyone willing to create a brand new game for the Apple IIe in this day and age, with full on maps and books to go along with it. Just like how games used to be made before the internet. Works great on separate Apple II emulator, and I wish I still had original hardware to play on. Keep up the good work, and I hope this gains more popularity to encourage future titles of this nature. I'll try and recommend it to everyone I know who used an Apple II back in school.

Absolutely *killer* old-school CRPG! Love this one. It combines a strategic, turn-based world (complete with combat), an intricate planning and character development layer, a bunch of cool party members to find, equip and level up and classic CRPG exploration! Just a really well-tuned overall experience that begs to be explored further. Cool story too, with TONS of content that requires some clues to follow and a "use your brain a bit" type of approach. Awesome! Definitely *do NOT* sleep on this one! Thanks, devs, for an awesome RPG for the ages!

とにかく最高のゲーム。 純度の高いRPG体験ができる、稀有な作品だと思います。そして、システムやコンセプトへの理解度、解像度が高い方ほど楽しめるゲームでもあり、逆に言えば、8bit風の画面に対して色眼鏡で見たり、また適当にプレイしたら、多分つまらないでしょう。 できればセールではないときに買って欲しい。 じっくりと腰を据えて、この奥深い世界への冒険を初めてください。 そうそう、付属の「日本語マニュアル」はしっかりと読むこと！ 読み物としても面白いですし、過酷な冒険に必要な知識も、そこにすべて書かれています。 それではよい旅を。

This is just over the top way too cool!! that is, if like me, you grew up playing the old 8 bit Apple IIE RPGs like the Ultima series. The game is great! My only complaint, about an hour in, is that the text is quite hard on these middle aged eyes. This just comes with the Apple II territory though - you need to understand there is not much the developer could have done here. Nevertheless, I found as I got further into the game that I did adjust to the font. I hope to see more games like this from 6502 Workshop!! Perhaps the next release could target the Apple IIGS for more readable fonts. This game is worth every penny of that $19.95! 5 stars!

Brilliant Ultima (3-4-5)-like tile-based old school RPG! Loads of quality of life improvements that avoid much of the tedium that was present in the older games. Every fan of the Ultima series should give this a try. It has large maps, lots of things to find, and interesting quests to do. It really brings back those feelings of playing the best of the early 80s RPGs! Takes about 60 hours to complete (my reported time is much higher due to leaving it open all the time when not playing--Steam still counts that as play time).

I grew up in the 80's and 90's. My first console was a NES. I did not play computer games. About 5 years ago I started to get into retro gaming. This led to me to here. I really enjoy this game. The main factor is that I am having fun. Yes, it does have a "ugly" retro look, and yes, the controls take time to get used to, but this adds to the feel of the game. It feels authentic and different from the normal games I am used to. It's slow paced but that adds to the feel of accomplishment. It has a lot of charm and the writing is great. I am still early in the game but I can see how this game will test my intellect, which is sadly missing in a lot of games today. I am truly happy that I stumbled across such an interesting and fun game. If you are a fan of retro games or just interested in something different, give this game a try.

I have long eyed out this item before buying. I tried to play the old Ultima 1,2,3 and IV without being hooked. But when this came on sale I gave it a try. Fantastic game! I was hooked right from the start. The UI is much better than for similar games for its time and very smartly navigated. The emulator speed can be increased which makes a huge difference in how effective you can play or grind. The story is nice with many, many side quests. You can buy horses, different types of ships and explore the huge world. The curiousness never leaves and exploration is so funny. You are constantly out of cash which you need to upgrade your equipment but around level 5 it gets much easier. You can go anywhere you like and there is no scaling of enemies. The game is challenging but it rewards patience. You do need to write downs important informations and even draw maps, at least in the underground caves. After 40 hours I bought the hint book on sale just to get some directions and maps because this game is a huge time sink and I fear I will not have the time to go back and forth to everyplace in order to finish all the quests. At least not when having a job and family to take care of :-) You have huge amounts of different weapons and armours to upgrade and a lot of spells. Resurrection is possible. The only drawback is that it allows you only 2 saves and it is easy to get stuck in a too difficult area without means to escape unless you have a safe save. You could also take a bacup of the discfile itself. Comes highly recommended. The best game of this style I have ever tried. Never was a fan of the Ultima series but I played Dragonwars but think this game is much better than any of them.

I'm sure there's something nostalgic to be had here for some players. I'm sure it's an astounding technical achievement. For me, as a player, it's completely unappealing. The game is slow and unresponsive and janky. I can barely read the text. (Even with the help of Nox Companion, downloaded separately, it's still eyestrain city.) And the manual for this phenomenally simplistic game (besides being tucked away in the game files instead of shown on the Steam game page as normal) is phenomenally bloated, at over one hundred pages long. The key information on how to actually interact with the game is buried in reams and reams of flavor text about a story I have had no chance and no reason to become invested in yet, and which for that matter seems awfully generic and non-distinct. It's as though this game was made to be admired rather than actually played by anyone. It's neat to see it, I guess, but I can't recommend trying to play it firsthand.

Если вас не смущает графика, то это отличная игра, достаточно простая и понятная при должном внимании уделённом прокачке, позиционированию в боях и квестам, и на самом деле это прекрасно, что даже в 2021 (20) году выходят настоящие CRPG в старом стиле, без на*ба и повестки чтобы набрать классы, просто честная игра, честно заявляющая о том, чем она является. 10/10 в своём жанре.

I am not too far in yet, but I am already enjoying this a LOT. This is a wonderful tribute to the RPGs of the 80s, such as the early Ultima games. If you played those and enjoyed them, if you have some nostalgia for those kinda games, definitely give this a chance. Because of the way the game was made, the system it was programmed on, this is true to the genre and era it pays tribute too, yet has some QOL features, such as a quest log or a quick battle system (I recommend to not use that too early, as you may take damage you wouldnt take if you use the tactical battle system.... you get to choose at the beginning of each encounter) You are free to explore, yet you should be careful to not get overwhelmed by animals that are too tough. Get more companions (6 maximum), equip them with the weapons and armour you can buy, level a bit and test your strength. I recommend to save often. The game has two quicksave slots. Also, I REALLY recommend to take a closer look at the manual and the map and consider taking a lot of notes and mapping the dungeons you go in. Even with the quest log, you will most likely need to take notes and draw your own little maps... it was pretty much mandatory back in the day in order to not get lost in games like U1-U6 or Wizardry, and the same is true here.. and I LOVE that, as playing this with some nice dungeon synth music in the back takes me right back to those days. A fall evening, darkness outside, dim lights, nice music and a game like this truly is an experience! I'd say this game is both for people who played those kinda games back in the day and those who are interested in playing a game pretty much authentic to the 80s. Don't be put off by the old school graphics - back in the day, the "mind filled the gaps", adding details and imagination to the very basic graphics and at least for me (I played the Ultima games back in the day, and just recently completed another playthrough of Ultima 1), this still works well. Kudos to the developers for such a heartfelt and lovingly-made tribute, I love it!