8 /10 1 Votes
4.3/5 My Abandonware Mode(s) Single player Series Dragon Slayer Developers Nihon Falcom, Viacom | 3.8/5 Abandonware DOS Designer(s) Yoshio Kiya Initial release date 20 December 1987 Genre Action role-playing game | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Composer(s) Yuzo Koshiro
Mieko Ishikawa
Reiko Takebayashi
Hideya Nagata
Takahito Abe
Mega Drive
Hiroshi Kubota
Tokuhiko Uwabo Platforms PC-8800 Series, MSX, PC-9800 series Publishers Nihon Falcom, Sierra Entertainment, Takeru Similar Dragon Slayer games, Nihon Falcom games, Action role-playing games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sorcerian pc gameplay 1 3
Sorcerian (ソーサリアン, Sōsarian) is an action role-playing game developed by Nihon Falcom, and the fifth in the Dragon Slayer line of games. It was originally released for the NEC PC-8801 in 1987, and was later ported to other personal computer platforms such as the NEC PC-9801, the NEC PC-88VA, the Sharp X1 Turbo, and the MSX2, for which it was released under the title Dragon Slayer V: Sorcerian. An English version for MS-DOS PCs was published by Sierra Entertainment in 1990, ports for the Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, Apple IIGS and Macintosh platforms were announced, but not released.
Contents
- Sorcerian pc gameplay 1 3
- Sorcerian pc dos game review
- Gameplay
- Add ons
- Music
- American music changes
- Reception
- References
In 1997, Falcom released Sorcerian Forever for Microsoft Windows-based PCs. In 2000, Falcom released Sorcerian Original, a remake of Sorcerian for Microsoft Windows-based PCs. In addition, console versions of Sorcerian with somewhat differing content from their PC counterparts were developed: A version for the Mega Drive was developed by Sega, a version for the PC Engine CD was developed by Victor Musical Industries, and a version for the Dreamcast was developed by Victor Interactive Software.
Sorcerian pc dos game review
Gameplay
Sorcerian is a side-scrolling action-RPG. The player can create up to ten characters, from whom up to four members can be present in a party at the same time. Each character is highly customizable, with four different classes/races (fighter, wizard, elf, and dwarf) and over 60 possible jobs/occupations (ranging from clown to exorcist) available for them to perform; each has its own strengths and weaknesses, affecting the seven primary attributes (strength, intelligence, protection, magic resistance, vitality, dexterity, and karma) in different ways, as well as different equipment limitations.
The player can choose from fifteen different scenarios, or quests, to play through in the order of their choice. The party must battle enemies and perform tasks within the given levels to clear each scenario, before moving onto another scenario of their choice. The player controls the entire party at the same time, with all four members running in a line, jumping in sequence, and attacking in unison. The party members follow behind in a manner similar to the Options in the arcade shooter Gradius (1985). Sorcerian also employs class-based puzzles, such as using a high-strength character to force open doors.
All the characters have a default starting age of 16. Each time a player begins a new scenario, a year passes by, while additional time passes by in towns as a character goes through training or enchants items. The characters age at different rates depending on their race, with humans reaching old age at 60, dwarves at 100, and elves at 200. Upon reaching old age, for every year that passes, a character can die permanently at a random time. There is also an “Advance Time” to speed up the flow of time. Another new feature of Sorcerian was its episodic format that extended across various expansion packs. Besides the default fifteen scenarios that come with the game, there were a number of additional scenario packs released. The aging system was created with the additional scenario packs in mind.
Add-ons
A number of add-on expansion packs containing new scenarios were developed for the PC-8801 version of Sorcerian, by both Falcom themselves and by other companies:
Music
The soundtrack to the original Sorcerian was composed by Yuzo Koshiro, Mieko Ishikawa, Reiko Takebayashi, Hideya Nagata, and Takahito Abe. The Falcom-developed Additional Scenarios were handled solely by Ishikawa. The music for the original Sorcerian was arranged by Kenji Kawai for the PC Engine CD release.
Soundtrack releases for Sorcerian include:
American music changes
Because Romancia: Dragon Slayer Jr. was never released to English audiences, Sierra removed references and altered which songs played during the "Dragon King" level of Scenario II. Further tracks were changed in other levels, but this may be due to a bug, as the original Japanese track order (minus "Dragon King") is maintained in the English Musician's Guild.
Reception
In 1990, Famicom Tsūshin (now Famitsu) reviewed Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) version of the game, giving it a generally positive score of 27 out of 40.
Computer Gaming World reviewed the PC DOS version in its October 1991 issue. They noted it has "an interesting feature or two" and liked the game's division into many miniquests, stating that instead "of the usual long adventure, this one sports fifteen separate small quests" which "allows for a certain amount of variety". However, they disliked the magic system, and stated "the action is arcade in style, which is typical for a Japanese game, and some will find this irksome" but noted "this is not just hack-and-slash, as there are puzzles to be solved along the way". The magazine concluded that Sorcerian was a "good for a change of pace" for those comfortable with "arcade" action.
In 2008, game designer Hideki Kamiya listed Sorcerian among his favorite games of all time, citing it as one of the games that influenced his work. During production of Platinum Games title Scalebound, Kamiya said he was inspired by Sorcerian as well as Hydlide 3. He noted the influence of Sorcerian's fantasy theme, "gigantic monsters," different scenarios, "expansive possibilities", "tons of adventures" and enemies such as a hydra boss and "lots of amazing dragons".