Curse of Enchantia
Curse of Enchantia | |
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Single player |
Curse of Enchantia is a
Curse of Enchantia, at first known as Zeloria, was Core Design's first attempt in the adventure genre as they set up to compete with
Nevertheless, Curse was generally well received upon its release, especially by the Amiga magazines, where the game's graphics and animation received particular praise even as its illogical puzzles and unusual design choices were often criticized. A direct sequel was briefly planned but eventually turned into a spiritual successor game titled Universe and released in 1994.
Gameplay
Curse of Enchantia uses a
Unusually for an adventure game genre,[4] Curse of Enchantia does not feature text-based object descriptions or conversations. Its few short scenes of rudimentary communication with friendly non-player characters use only a minimalist system of pictograms in comic book-style speech balloons, usually displaying the objects that the characters need to be delivered. Instead, the game features several action-style sequences, such as dodging hazards or timing the use of items. This resulted in some classifying it as an action-adventure game.[5] However, the character is never at risk of dying, being effectively 'immortal' no matter the dangers,[6] and thus every such task can be repeated until successfully completed, risking only losing a few points from the score.[2] Jewels, gold coins, and other objects of value can be collected throughout the game for a higher score.[7]
Plot
You take part of a twentieth century kid who has been snatched off to this magical world. The idea is that a witch needs a young boy as an ingredient in a rejuvenation potion — you are the unlikely target. Once you get there the witch has you taken off to the dungeons where you are to be held (upside down in manacles) until she is ready for the spell. The aim of the game is to (surprise) kill the witch and dash back to one's own time.[8]
—Ian Sabine, designer
In a
After breaking out from his prison, Brad falls into a moat before coming to a halt in a cavern maze. Reaching the surface, he arrives at a nearby village; this location is repeatedly revisited throughout the game, as Brad comes back there after traveling to the various corners of the land, encountering bizarre characters and experiencing absurd adventures: the Edge of the World cliff, the
Development and release
We looked at
—Rob Toone, designer
It took a month for the project to be
The game's design and plot evolved during development,[22] including the title change. Several revisions resulted in some of the already made some graphics and other content being cut from the game, in particular in the final area of the castle's interior (which at first was intended to be much larger and to feature monsters that would guard it, but in the end was reduced to a small area with the task basically limited to finding a secret chamber). Allison said, "there were whole sections that never made it in, like a roller skating frankenstein, that shattered into loads of tiny versions of him if you 'killed' him, I did the sprites etc, it just never made it to the game."[38] Its working title had been at first Zeloria,[22][23][39][40] which later caused some confusion as a number of video game magazines have continued to use "Zeloria" as the name of the world in the game;[11][31][41][21][42] some other magazines also incorrectly assumed "Enchantia" to be the name of the game's antagonist,[43][44][45][46] who is actually nameless (some articles feature also other names such as "Malizia" or "Meilbrum"[17][41][47]). Some articles also featured an earlier and slightly different version of the plot, which involved a castle of three witches,[12][48][49][50][51] who needed to drink a special potion every hundred years or else they would turn to dust,[48][41] and the protagonist Brad's original task involved a rescue of his captured sister Jenny.[52] In 1991, Zeloria was described as "a mystical and fantastic land, full of lost objects and witches - in fact, Zeloria is the land of the lost where all those loose socks and TV remote controls go."[53] The name "Enchantia" was only proposed by Mohr late in the development as more fitting, to which the producer added "Curse of" to create the title (Mohr would later "accidentally" name Killzone as well).[32][54]
Allison described the projects as a "zany
Curse of Enchantia was officially revealed under this title at the
Reception
Critical reception of Curse of Enchantia was mostly positive, especially in regard to its graphics and animation. According to The One, overall the game "was reasonably well-received."[73] However, the game was derided by some for its confusing user interface system, often illogical puzzle solutions and what some reviewers thought was a lack of quality humor, plot development and atmosphere, attributing it to the absence of text and dialogue.
British reviewers in particular have often praised the Amiga version of the game. Brian Sharp of
There was also much positive reception in the gaming press elsewhere in the English world. The "absolutely enchanted" Ken Simpson from Australia's ACAR said the game's "delightful" graphics and animation "are among the most tastefully executed [he has] ever seen," but noted the problems with its interface system and difficulty.
On the other hand, Ed Ricketts of
In France, Curse of Enchantia was given the high ratings of 84% in Génération 4 (PC),
Retrospectives
In 1995, Amiga Action ranked it as the eleventh best adventure game on the Amiga.[96] A 1996 feature by France's PC Soluces gave it three stars out of five, stating that the game's interesting characters, surrealist feel and varied graphics were dragged down by "a bit weak" plot and an interface that was not intuitive enough.[97] Wirtualna Polska ranked it as the 27th best Amiga game, but noted that "proponents of adventure genre's purity" to this day dislike the game for its "unwise flirt" with action-adventure,[98] as well as the 19th best adventure game in history, opining that the lack of written text "perfectly" fits with the game's story and specific type of humor.[99] It was also ranked as the 26th best Amiga game by Polish console gaming magazine PSX Extreme, noted for its strong playability.[100]
In more recent reviews, the website GamersHell found the lack of any text messages and dialogue in the game to be "an interesting design element."
Curse of Enchantia was also the first Amiga video game owned by
Legacy
In Universe, the hero Boris Verne is mysteriously transported from a quiet English town to a parallel universe in the future which is ruled by a tyrannical emperor. Sharp-witted readers will spot the similarities between this and Core's previous adventure Curse of Enchantia, in which the hero Brad is mysteriously transported from a quiet English town to a parallel universe in the past which is ruled by a tyrannical coven of witches.[105]
—PC Format magazine, 1994
A direct sequel for the game was briefly planned by Core Design. Few details were made available, but it would continue Brad's fight against the witches[106] but his sister Jenny was considered to play a much larger role.[107] However, it was never released (in part because of Robert Toone's departure from the company), as the new game "has grown up so much during the development that it has simply became a follow up."[108] Its working title has still remained "Curse of Enchantia 2",[109][110] but only "for practical reasons".[111] This spiritual successor game ultimately became known as Universe. Released in 1994, the game uses an upgraded game engine of Curse of Enchantia and a similar user interface. Responding to some of the criticism directed at Curse of Enchantia, Core Design described Universe as being "a lot" more logical and less linear than their first adventure game.[27] They also described the text-based system as an improvement over the use of only icons, its benefits including allowing conversations between characters. They also acknowledged that Curse of Enchantia has "suffered considerably" due to inclusion of action sequences, something that "adventure gamers don't want in their games."[112] The game's plot premise has remained notably similar to that of Curse of Enchantia,[113][114] featuring a young man (the protagonist's name was changed from Brad to Boris, but he also has a sister named Jenny[115]) who is transported to another world which has to save from an evil mage-king.[116] However Universe is more serious in its tone, as the game's humor only serves as comic relief and "it was never intended to be as silly as Enchantia."[111]
Simon the Sorcerer, a 1994 adventure game similarly featuring a modern boy protagonist transported to a fantasy world where he has to vanquish an evil wizard, was partially inspired by Curse of Enchantia,[117][118] and a similar cover art was used for King's Quest VII.[56] The game has also inspired the name of the Polish reggae band Enchantia,[119] who chose this name because they thought it "feels warm".[120] The game's chief artist Rolf Mohr said the cover art for Disney's 2007 film Enchanted could have been inspired by his cover art for Curse of Enchantia. He called it "a case of Art imitating Disney imitating Art," since he has been himself "definitely" inspired by Disney while working on the game.[55] The "magical world of Enchantia" is the setting of the video game Enchantia: Wrath of the Phoenix Queen,[121] but it does not appear to be otherwise related. Curse of Enchantia was also a "pretty big" influence on Yahtzee's own adventure games.[104]
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External links
- Curse of Enchantia at MobyGames
- Curse of Enchantia at GameFAQs
- Curse of Enchantia at Adventure Gamers
- Curse of Enchantia at Hall Of Light Amiga database