Moonstone: A Hard Days Knight
| Developer: N/A | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Mindscape | Sound: |
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| Year: 1991 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Action-RPG | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 4 alternating | Rating: |
9/10 | |
Moonstone is a turn-based medieval fantasy game with RPG elements, but it leans more towards combat (very violent).
The objective is to visit various locations on a map, searching for four keys and other treasures guarded by terrifying monsters. The first knight to gather the four keys, enter the Valley of the Gods (at the centre of the map), and defeat its guardian, will earn a precious Moonstone, which, when handed over to a group of druids, grants them “the ultimate power”…
The catch is that at every stage of this quest, the player’s three rivals (controlled by the computer or other players) will do everything they can to snatch away the precious relic, the keys, or, failing that, to strip them of their gold and hard-earned equipment.
When a man has proven he has talent, the next step is to prove he knows how to use it.
I do have one complaint: the loading times are a bit long…
Oh, and actually, one more complaint: if you happen to face two blue giants at the same time (the ones living in the swamps in the southeast), and if they raise their clubs simultaneously, a lovely little red blinking rectangle will appear, inviting you to restart!
It’s frustrating to see a game of this caliber falter like that, just because the developers didn’t take the time to fully test it.
Update:
I replayed it years later (2022) to take new screenshots, using a non-cracked version on an emulator, and to my surprise, I didn’t encounter any crashes.
Additionally, I wrote a “review” for the website obligemment.fr years ago. Notice the effort to remain objective in the rating.
Ugh, tired.
During your turn, press “Space” to display the inventory screen and use items. Don’t forget to convert your experience points by clicking on the stats at the top of the screen (“strength”, “constitution”, and “endurance”).
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