Games developed by 11th Dimension Entertainment
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Excelsior Phase One: Lysandia
Two of the best shareware RPGs on sale today, Excelsior Phase One and Excelsior Phase Two, are reminders of the RPGs of the mid-1980s, the good old days when creativity and gameplay were far more important than bells and whistles.
Anyone who has played Ultima IV or similar games will be familiar with Excelsior Phase One's gameplay screen: with the world in one window, a status screen in another, and a command screen in the last. Excelsior Phase Two improves on the original with better VGA graphics (isometric view reminiscent of Ultima VI, hundreds more NPCs to talk to and a more intricate plot.
Your goal in Excelsior Phase One is to discover the source of evil in the land of Lysandia and extinguish it. Excelsior Phase Two takes place in Errondor, where you continue in the role of a Fixer, a minor demigod under the orders of the Great Council of World Watchers. Your task here is to investigate the mysterious disappearance of an Arranger who was sent to resolve a minor mix-up in the type of wine to be served at a banquet, a banquet at which a peace treaty was to be signed between two warring nations.
Exploring the world, conversing with various characters and using your head are mandatory tasks to successfully complete both games. The stories are of high quality, well written and interesting, with many twists along the way. The range of commands is quite wide, but nothing that will catch Ultima fans by surprise. Talking to people tends to elicit a response or not; there are rarely instances where the right thing needs to be said. Combat relies more on luck and stats than strategy.
This is perhaps the weakest aspect of the games: it is difficult to survive early in the game unless you choose your starting attributes to favor strength and dexterity. This prevents flexibility in choosing initial attributes. Clerics will have a hard time surviving the first few fights, so if you want a challenge, you know which class to choose.
Excelsior's two games are refreshing RPGs, especially in the age of high-budget action games but with hollow gameplay and thinly disguised as RPGs. The interface and graphics are simple, but the games are fascinating. Nostalgic gamers are encouraged to download the shareware version of the games and evaluate them (you have 10 days to play the full games). The games, in my humble opinion, are well worth it. You may well be surprised at how the designers manage to capture not only the look, but more importantly the heart of what makes the early Ultima games so addictive. Two thumbs up, way up.
