Crystals of Arborea

Release Date: January 1, 1990

RPG, elements of strategy, classic RPG, singleplayer

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A classic cRPG game by Silmarils studio, which has become a precursor of the cult Ishar series. We play Prince Jarel to find the legendary crystals together with a team of 6 daredevils - the only weapon capable of stopping Mogroth, the deity of chaos spreading its revenge for banishing the gods from the pantheon.

Crystals of Arborea is the first feature game in the heritage of the legendary French studio Silmarils and at the same time one of the first titles offering a three-dimensional environment and a huge world with almost complete freedom of exploration. Set in the climates of fantasy, the game has become a pioneer of one of the most important computer series cRPG, the Ishar trilogy.

The story takes place before the events known from the first part of Ishar. The deity of chaos, Mogroth, is banished from the pantheon by the decision of the gods. In retaliation for his banishment, he spreads bloody revenge, poisoning the minds of successive nations and races, and his subordinates become black elves and orcs. The last bastion that has not yet become entangled in enemy forces is the island kingdom of Arborea, and the only hope of the gods turns out to be Jarel, the last prince of Sham-nirs - similar to the elves of the race inhabiting this land. He must find allies to help him in his dangerous mission to find four crystals - the only weapon capable of defeating Mogroth and restoring the balance of the world.

Crystals of Arborea is a classic cRPG game in which we lead a team consisting of Jarel and 6 other heroes, and we observe the course of events from the first person perspective. Our team travels the huge, three-dimensional world of the game, confronting Mogroth's minions and gaining experience points, thus becoming stronger and stronger. Unlike later games from the Ishar series, Crystals of Arborea offers us an innovative combat system. It is played in turn-based mode on a separate screen, where we manually control each member of the team. Tactical sense is useful here: Archers and mages can stay behind and attack enemies at a distance, while warriors at the forefront of the array deal direct damage in melee combat.

The graphic design is sophisticated and detailed, which distinguishes it from other games of the period. Equally high level is held by the sound and music layer, which perfectly matches the atmosphere of the game. Adding to the list of advantages the intuitive interface and the aforementioned innovative combat system, Crystals of Arborea blazed new paths in the development of cRPG computer games and set new standards in this genre, developed in the 90's by such well-known series as Ishar or Might and Magic.

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Last updated on August 14, 2015

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