Missed Classic 132: Loremaster (1991) - Introduction

Written by Morpheus Kitami

Valhalla is another game like Twin Valley Kingdom in that it requires an absolute ton of mapping, which in its case, involves a lot of busywork. I'll explain when the next entry on that comes out, but for now, let's talk about the very mysterious Loremaster.

Actually, it's not just me that's going to be talking about this, because Loremaster is another one of those weird RPG/adventure hybrids. Which means of course, that the CRPGAddict has so graciously agreed to do another collaboration with us, so his first entry can be found here. I promise I'll finish this one within a year, I swear. (Note, finish, not win)

This seems to be overselling it considerably, judging by the following screenshots.

As you can see, that's a lot of money. I think this might have been shareware, but if it was that was a hell of a lot of money for a shareware game. Either way this explains why it was missing for a long time, nobody was going to spend that much money for what was effectively a random game. We've had screenshots for a while, but the game was only findable on the internet a few years ago. So, let's get into it.

They really just drop you in it. No manual, no introduction, no nothing.

Then the game begins, and that guy up there moves. This is not some real-time adventure, rather, this is some weird combination of tile-based movement and parser. Turn-based, I hope. I try CAST SPELL, but I am delirious about magic. So I go north, which is one tile north, same screen, and something pops up which tells me there are places east and west. East is a magic shop (?) and I have money, so east I shall go. There is no sound that I can hear, but visually this is nice. (There is a sound option, but this does nothing)

Perspective is a big problem here.

Between screens there's a slow loading screen, and there's a noticeable delay in your commands being carried out. There was another screen between here and there. Now, as you already imagine, this controls awkwardly, but when it comes to collision, it's worse. I can walk in those bushes for some reason, yet I need to walk to the bottom of the screen to get around the column. Incidentally, that's one tile farther down than you'd think. Doors can just be walked into.

Abstraction in showing the interiors of locations is an important thing, so many games need them. Sadly, the authors of this game didn't understand that. I don't quite understand what it is I'm looking at until I try the mouse, which just goes one tile at a time, not very helpful. Talk isn't an action, which is helpful. Speak is the old reliable "say these words". I try help, only to get told to read an empty readme file. Oh, a command list. It doesn't help me that I have to guess the noun, but at least I can get help on these commands too.

I'm trying to figure out anything, anything at all in order to figure out what this guy is, until I type help visual...

Just your average 29-year-old, apparently.

I don't know if this game is supposed to be funny or not, because my annoyance-o-meter is acting up. I'm going to wager funny though. Maybe there's something else I can do with the mouse? None of the keys do anything but type. Right click and...

It goes through a dozen or so actions. I mean, that is useful, but games that do this usually have like 5 actions maximum. Anyway, the most important mouse action is the PICTURE function, because you can't type it in and it allows you to get the names of things on-screen. Now I can ask Francis about something. It has to be something, because that's all I can do as far as dialog goes. Magic?

I'll show it later, but basically you get four lines of text that automatically advances after a certain period of time. No rereading old text. Basically the Japanese system we were seeing not too long ago, but made worse somehow.

This is the face of a murderer, not a wise and gentle cleric.

The inspect action shows you a character's portrait. After saying this is all you can see. (This stays indefinitely, for some reason) So, no useful information. And then it shows the title screen and gives me my information. thanks. Oh, even better, when I approach diagonally his name shows up. Blah. And I also found out that he has very little to say, the first time I fired this up he has a lot to say, but now I don't know what it is that activates that lot of text. No matter what else I say he seems to have nothing to say about it. Blah.

Open is supposed to be a valid command, but what has me curious is what "ope" could be short for in terms of speech.

North is this room. Since this is leaning more into a very cryptic Ultima I-style RPG, let's try liberating these chests for my own good. That griffin to the left is a hostile, but he can't go through the wall. Open chest...I'm trying to speak? Open means speak or something? HUH!? (Seriously, someone tell me, 5 CAPs for a valid answer) It's not because it's an item on-screen, if I try to open griffin I say griffin. It's not an obscenity filter because I can say boobs and a certain other word. It's not actually a command, but I can sneer and smile at things. Why? Your guess is as good as mine.

How do I open the chest? That's a good question. I can attack it, but that's clearly going to take a long time. If I use the actual mouse command to attack it just says I have a mean streak in me. That's not mentioning this command list is clearly lacking, some of the commands I supposedly have are non-existent. Wait, how the heck do I even save? Am I supposed to play this in one giant leap? It automatically saves. What could possibly go wrong?

I can't take the goldring, that is the golden cross which turns into a ring of gold whenever I inspect it, so back south. It turns out you have to type ask [so-and-so] [subject], if you stick in about you get nothing. My quest is to defeat some evil sorcerer in the north with a weapon hidden in the caverns below. Points for originality, it seems.

There's nothing in this eastern selection that can really help me at the moment. Despite the fact that I can damage the chests, that's too tedious to get any enjoyment out of, and everything else seems unwise until I get a weapon or spells. Off to the west.

Nothing screams friendly like a sign that looks like it was painted with blood.

I found a nice, friendly merchant who is very friendly. I can ask him about armor and weapons, there are just the usual stuff. Leather, chainmail and plate; Sword, staff, and mace. Nothing special. I decide to buy leather and a mace, I have no idea what they cost, but I'm buying them hoping I can afford them. Turns out I can't, or at least there's a trick. The leather armor costs 340 gold to my 300 gold, guess that isn't that generous. Despite the guy saying he only deals in cash, I can go into debt...somehow...and I have -98 gold. To top it all off, apparently there's an age mechanic going on here, because while typing this the game tells me I feel older and more tired.

Come crawling faster!

Well, since I'm probably going to die in a fight without a weapon, I might as well try it against something weak. So I attack the merchant. I don't damage him, he doesn't damage me even though he has a sword. This bodes well. At least combat is turn-based. I try a griffin in the next room over, nothing. Well, nothing good seems to be resulting from this.

I explore the game world, and all I'm really getting are clues as to what happened in the past. Supposed enemies just make one move as I go on-screen, unless I attack them, which I won't, because there's no point. Until I inevitably decide this character has irrevocably screwed himself and end it all. I don't see any other way to reset the game, though perhaps the manual, which isn't online, had something about this.

Anyway, the backstory. It seems as though something has attacked the "old town" I'm wandering through, as the gardens were well-kept, but only one guard remains. There's still a king and queen though. Now a lot of monsters roam the land. All female, apparently, which is either a shocking bit of gender equality or rampant misogyny.

Eventually, I meet Gerald. Gerald is the last guard, guarding prisoners if the messages that pop up are any indication. He offers to teach me to fight, but if I ask him about the word fight, which is in all caps, nothing happens. (And yes, I said ASK GERALD FIGHT) Other synonyms offer similar messages. I can ask him about myself, revealing that my character grew up around here, up north, but I should ask the king.

I see no reason to argue with this depiction.

Gerald is probably the best bet for when I inevitably need to off this character, but I decide to explore north first. There are some "ancientcoins" here. Cool. I'm going to take them. I can't. Nor can I attack them. I go to the left for no reason other than hope. There's a trap there, somehow it doesn't kill me despite activating it multiple times. There's also a loose stone on one tile that none of my commands do anything to.

So I attack Gerald, because frankly I want to restart this anyway. He kills me and I die. My character goes off to heaven only to return at a lower level. Level 57. How the **** was I level 58? I guess I should just reinstall the game then. This is proving to be a very curious game. So many aspects of this are questionable, but I can imagine once the hump is over and done with the game will be fun. In theory, anyway. I'm enjoying it despite the problems.

Further notes. I also have stats. Which I didn't screenshot, but the important bit is that my character is already built-up for some reason. I love how my character has IQ as intelligence. With an IQ of 70, well, let's just say my character definitely feels that stupid. Also, Myth, as the character seems to be called, is apparently 29-years-old. They say some people age badly, but I think Myth here has the worst of it.

This Session: 50 minutes

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There's a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no CAPs will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. As this is an introduction post, it's an opportunity for readers to bet 10 CAPs (only if they already have them) that I won't be able to solve a puzzle without putting in an official Request for Assistance: remember to use ROT13 for betting. If you get it right, you will be rewarded with 50 CAPs in return. It's also your chance to predict what the final rating will be for the game. Voters can predict whatever score they want, regardless of whether someone else has already chosen it. All correct (or nearest) votes will go into a draw