Crazy.

[GAME GOD FLUENT]

Not exaggerating when I say I just had one of the nuttiest experiences in a dungeon-crawler I've ever had. Spoilers ahead.

So, I made it to the dark area in the first dungeon completely healthy. After fumbling around in there and somehow finding the door out (got a bit lucky, really), I immediately run into a group of 3 thieves, a mage, ranger and a priest. Long story short, tough battle, I lost 2 characters in the scrum. Thinking I was all but done for, I didn't save (one save file, after all), and pressed on.

Shoot, a few tough encounters later, and while I packed medicine and all, 2 more characters end up dying. I'm down to my Fighter and my Thief, and we're running out of medicine. I encounter the boss of the area, the commander of the Royal Knights! No way I win this battle, just no way. I employ a strategy of attack/heal when necessary with the Fighter, and Hide with the Thief (learning that attacking from the shadows lets you use the Sub weapon as well, nice!) Long story short again, I win! Unreal. I was literally down to a few HP with my Fighter and one medicine left!

So I get the ring, and I'm pleasantly surprised to see a Skyrim-esque "quick exit" door that leads me right back to the healing fountain area. Sweet! I'm outta here! Well, not so fast...

I am about to walk out the door of the dungeon when a cutscene happens. Demons! Demons everywhere. After some yapping they decide to attack me. Oh, no. No WAY I survive this one. I got lucky in the last one, after all, and there were 6 freaking demons now.

I quickly kill Fendel (somehow, in one hit of like 5 damage), get rid of the demon on the right and all that's left is a spore casting magic, a green slime and a red demon dog. The spore's magic is rocking me, had to use my last medicine from constant attacks with the Glass spell. I manage to Hide again and kill all the front line fighters. Sweet! But I'm out of medicine and my Fighter is about to die.

Next round, another Glass. Fighter dead. There's 2 demons left, just my Thief alone and no healing items at all. He's equipped with a whip and a dagger sub.

So, before I can be discovered, I kill the spore in one shot. Nice. Now this demon dog thing.

Shoot, I'm discovered. Hide again. Discovered, damn. Hide again. Hide successful. Missed my surprise attack, discovered again. Hit for a few HP, down to red health, haven't saved in about a half hour. Shoot, gotta make a move here.

Unsure if I could escape, I roll the dice and go for it. Successful escape. Fendel remarks about the coward running away, and I say, yup!! I bolt my way out of the dungeon.

Back in town, 5 dead characters, little money. Resurrect 2, success. Pool our gold, resurrect 2 more characters, success. Last character, my level 3 Mage...

No dice. Turned to ashes.

Rather than pray or donate as I'm already low on money, I roll the dice again. Gone completely. Blast. RIP Rachele, you will be missed. :/

Overall, it was probably the craziest "emergent gameplay" sequence I've ever seen in a game like this. Maybe even any other RPG. My party is back to 5, have to create another character and equip some of the sweet loot I found in the caverns.

Was *this* close to having to retrieve the fallen party with another, newbie party. Got real lucky to say the least.

Whew. Thanks for the fun, Star Fish!!!

[Shackleton]

Would /brofist if I could here.

Experiences like this are what makes a good crawler all the more engaging, not fancy graphics or cutscenes.

I'd be a bit of a grognard and prefer it if we could only save in town or save on exit to make things like this all the more likely, but I realise that might not be a mainstream opinion.

[Caramel Maid]

You got extremely unlucky on the mage getting ashed. I played this to completion on the PSP and not once did any of my characters get ashed at all. Also yeah, Fendal and crew are extremely weak in the first fight (I think each Elminage game has a group like this, 2 had Micro for instance), but you have a very rare chance of running into them with each battle, and they get stronger each time. There's a room late on that guarantees an encounter with them.

The game is really tough at the start, but once you get some levels (and the Flamberge) under your belt, it becomes much easier. Original's difficulty is largely in finding the sidequests to power up the compass.