This piece by Jeremy Signor is one of my favorite articles from the most recent issue of GameSpite, because it’s about a game way off the beaten path — one I’d never heard of before editing this retrospective. So, it’s very enlightening, and it’s also very personal. Read it!
When you’re done, please to check out my unexpectedly involved Skyward Sword preview. As with my Castlevania retrospective, it turned out to be a lot longer than I really intended. I still haven’t shaken my tendency to keep writing and writing and writing. Hopefully it’s interesting anyway?
woo, dragonlance!
This article brings me back. It’s rare to find people these days who have played MUDs, but there’s something akin to the experience of reading a book that liberates your imagination to create the visuals for the environments you’re exploring. I frequented a different MUD than Arctic, but Strahd’s Solace zone was a common sight on many Circle-derived servers.
The thing I miss most about them was the attention to detail, how it was akin to reading a book rather than seeing watching someone else’s vision of what a given zone should look like on TV, and the exploration aspect was reinforced by the multiclass system revolving around exploring and familiarizing yourself with the world.