Legends of the North: Konung

by Michael Murphy

Michael's Comments: Legends of the North: Konung starts off pretty much like any other RPG – get the background story, create your character, talk to everybody – nothing new here. (Why is it that the same old plot still captivates us?) The difference is that it is set in a fantasy Russia. There are no elves, no dwarves -- not even a fairy. The task before you is to get the three pieces of a broken amulet, one of which you already have. When made whole again, the amulet will allow you to control the dragon who guards another amulet – notice a recurring theme? – that can control the minds of men. Using this second amulet will allow you to bring the peace you so desire to the lands.

The character creation is a little on the dull side, but adequate. It’s not very different than character creation in any other game, with less customization than most. You pick a profession – merchant, hunter, warrior, or leader. The merchant can carry the most, but isn’t as strong in combat. The hunter is skilled with a bow, but relatively weak in hand-to-hand combat. The warrior is your common fighter, and the leader is basically useless in combat, but can have more companions assist him in his journey. (I chose hunter.) Now, tweak the stats a little bit; make sure that your dexterity is as high as you’d like, etc. You don’t get to choose a name for your hero, but it makes little difference, anyway. Now I’m ready to go get that Amulet.

Giant Ants do not a picnic make

Or so I think, until I step outside of town only to get my tail kicked by five giant ants. Dying is pretty cool in this game, the first time you do it. When you die the game plays a pretty sweet little video of a snake racing along the grass next to your body, and into your skull. The death video never changes, though, so the novelty wears off quickly. Early on, I saw the video a lot, too. It’s tough getting started off, but once you get your character built up a little and learn some basic tactics for combat in this game, it gets easier. All combat takes place in real time, and the interface is pretty straightforward – just your standard click-to-attack style combat, but not nearly as fast paced as, say Diablo, or even Baldur’s Gate.

I’m getting thrashed by these giant ants so I think "Hey maybe if I run back toward the village, those warriors will help me!" Oddly enough, after just a few steps in the opposite direction, the ants stop chewing on me. This is a pattern that repeats, making hit-and-run tactics with a bow a valuable combat strategy. Time to visit the healer and try to better equip myself.

And so it goes. Quickly I discover that development in this game is painfully slow. There are some neat concepts, though. You distribute experience points to your attributes as you obtain them, rather than waiting until you "level up." And the weapons and armor have different attribute requirements, in a more varied fashion than most games, like Diablo, where strength is usually the determining factor, with the occasional dexterity check. Some weapons and armor require a high strength, some a high vitality, and some a high dexterity. In this way, Konung forces you to work on all of your stats, not just one. Charisma is helpful, too. A higher charisma allows other characters to join your party and aid your quest. Unfortunately, my hunter still has to travel alone – even after increasing my charisma by ten points, it’s still not high enough to allow me to have companions.

Okay, so I’ve taken revenge on those dang ants, killed some spiders and some giant worms. Cool. Time to meet the witch doctor. He sells fun toys – such as the globe of jumping, which allows you to travel to any location on the map that you’ve already visited – and will, for a price, tell you which ingredients are needed to make various potions, from healing potions to oil, which can make flaming arrows. I quickly noticed that you don’t actually have to buy the recipe to be able to make the potion. You can simply save the game, buy a recipe, jot down what you need, then reload the game and repeat the process. I was both psyched and bummed by this discovery. I was glad I didn’t have to fork over all that gold, but at the same time, I was a little disappointed that they would ship a game that you could take advantage of so easily. The witch doctor can also identify items for you for a small fee.

 

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