CaptainD's Freeware Game Digest #5 - Ahriman’s Prophecy
May 21 '04 (Updated Sep 18 '07)
The Bottom Line Another excellent freeware RPG - if you like the genre you really should try this one.
CaptainD's Freeware Game Digest #5 - Ahriman’s Prophecy
Ahriman’s Prophecy is a traditional RPG created by Amanda Fae (Amaranth Productions). The original version was created with RPGMaker2000, but that was just a test run for the official launch of version two – for which Amanda used Enterbrain (paid) – which as far as I can tell is by the same designer as RPGMaker but obviously an improved version (I’ll update this description if I can find out more!).
I really enjoyed v.1, and one of the things I liked about it was the fact that it had a good storyline (yeah it was a little cliché but so what?!?) – it borrowed from a lot of different fairy tales along the way, and even had a bit of poetic language thrown in for good measure. (Could it be that Amanda is a Tolkien fan?) There’s quite a bit of wry humour scattered about the different conversations and quests too, which adds to the game considerably. Although there was a certain amount of tedious fighting needed to level up, there was quite a lot of problem-solving to be done too, which made it much more than a simple “hack n’ slash” game. The graphics, while relatively simple, we colourful and very animated, and the sound FX / MIDI files were good ones. There was a certain logic to the way the weapons worked – you didn’t just have to use the most powerful one available, but fire weapons were extremely effective against snow and ice creatures, etc. You could perform quests that either made you “good” or “evil”, and this affected whether one of the characters would join your party – though at a certain stage she couldn’t anyway. There were enough “good” quests to counteract the bad ones, which was good as the main quest involved you getting a glass key, which could only be obtained if you were “pure of heart”.
That was version one, made with RPGMaker2000. There is an active forum that was used to bug-test the first version and see what suggestions people had for v.2. And now that the second version is here, how does it compare?
Well, thankfully all of the elements that made the game good in the first place have been retained and augmented – the game map is the same but you no longer have a map screen, so everything is done on the more local level. Strangely the game world actually felt smaller to me as a result, though it’s not much of a problem. The graphics have been greatly improved, especially the main character graphics, resulting in one of the best looking freeware RPGs to have been made so far.
The major difference in v.2 is the battle system – no longer are you taken to a separate screen for battles, and you can actually see the monsters etc and thus avoid them – or simply run away from the battle if you are taking a pounding. This is better in many ways – the first game had sections where you encountered a new enemy every couple of steps, which was extremely frustrating – and makes it easier to explore new areas. Of course, just because you can walk away from enemies doesn’t mean they won’t follow you… though there doesn’t seem to be a very high level of AI programmed into them, so some just leave you alone. (You might take a hit from them if you’re close enough, even if you’re avoiding them.) The version of the game I’m playing has a slightly buggy battle system that often makes it difficult to use magic in the battles, but the game is being constantly updated (either through updated versions or patches), and if you encounter a technical problem with the game and leave a message in the forum, you can bet a solution will be available within a few days. (If only certain other software houses’ technical support was as good…!). Although it’s not perfect, on the whole this new battle system works well and is certainly a nice change from the normal RPGMaker2000 system. It runs in real-time as opposed to the old turn-based system, though it still falls into the trap of basically being a case of hitting the space bar repeatedly!
I mentioned the storyline earlier – it involves a young girl (Talia), who starts out journeying to the old woman in the forrest to be told what she will become, as is the custom in the village she lives in. However, all she is told is that the future is unclear, and she must travel to another town for more information…. In the end, she and whoever her companions are (you can have a team of up to four merry travellers, out of six characters that become available at different stages of the game) become involved in the unravelling of an ancient prophecy, and of course have to save the world. :-O The nice thing about it is that many of the side-quests are completely unessesary as far as completing the game is concerned, so you actually have a choice of whether to accept / complete them or not. (If you’re like me, you’ll end up trying to do all of them anyway!)
It’s hard for me to be utterly objective about this game as I can’t help comparing the two versions – and I did really enjoy version one. It’s a close call, but on balance I feel this new version is better – it’s got better graphics, more side-quests (up to around 50 hours of playing time to complete it, depending on how straight-forward a path you take), the battle system is better in some ways, and all of the elements that made it so good in the first place. (Oh, and it has enough differences from the original that you won’t just sail through it if you’ve completed that!) If you like RPGs but get annoyed by the childishness of some of the free ones (which, let’s face it, are often created by teenage boys who think hand-drawn pictures of semi-naked Elvish maidens and constantly suggestive dialogue is the way to go – if that is your sort of thing, download Laxius Power: Random Story right now… oh did I mention insanely repetitive battles? It could have been a really good game otherwise… pity…), then you’ll find Ahriman’s Prophecy a refreshing change.
Amanda is also working on a new freeware graphical adventure game – I can’t wait for that to come out, it looks more promising than a promising thing labelled as promising by an expert in promising things!
Final Ratings
Graphics: - 9/10 - this game is quite impressive graphically (particularly good GUI), probably the best I’ve seen in a freeware RPG.
Sound: - 7/10 - nice enough MIDIs (though they get a bit annoying eventually), good but not outstanding SFX.
Playability: - 7/10 - it did take me a little while to properly get used to the interface, but it works very well once you have. Some small bugs but I know they’ve already been sorted out in updates / patches, I just haven’t had time to download and install them yet.
Longevity: - 7/10 - 50 hours for a free game? It has to be 10/10!
Replay Value: - 6/10 – you’ll might come back to it after a while as it’s a lot better than most freeware RPGs. These games never really have particularly high replay values, so the low rating is not a bad reflection on this particular game.
Overall Rating: - 8/10 – a very good game overall that’ll keep you playing for a long time. Definitely in the top 5 freeware RPGs I’ve played so far, probably in the top 3. If you like this sort of game, you won’t be disappointed by Ahriman’s Prophecy.
Download Size: - 17Mb
Where to get it: - http://www.amaranthia.com/index.php?load=AhrimansProphecy
System Requirements
Pentium II, 256 MB RAM
Windows 95+, DirectX 5.0+
Thanks for reading,
Dave
Copyright 2004 Dave Seaman
Please feel free to link to this article. If you wish to quote from it, please feel free but I would appreciate it if you also include a link.
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See CaptainD’s Freeware Game Digest #1 & Index for more freeware game reviews.
See also: My Top Ten Freeware Adventure Games (September 2007 Edition)
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