Review TC Retrospective Review: Sword of Aragon (1989)

[Crooked Bee]

Tags: Strategic Simulations Inc.; Sword of Aragon

Esteemed community member Deuce Traveler has played SSI's strategy game Sword of Aragon and is here to tell you all about it.

So, despite these disappointing final battles, do I still recommend the game? Emphatically, yes. Sword of Aragon is a linear enough affair that it is fairly obvious to the player which problems need to be be tackled first, yet with enough randomness in how events unfold to ensure replay value. It has enough flexibility to allow you to play as a benevolent ruler or as a terrible tyrant. The quests are varied enough to be interesting, with choices and consequences that must be taken seriously. Sword of Aragon is an experience like no other, and since there don't appear to be any Kickstarters or indie developers intent on reviving it, the only way you are going to be able to experience it yourself is if you suppress your prejudices against older games with primitive UIs and limited graphics and sound, and download it today from your favorite abandonware site.​

Read the full article: TC Retrospective Review: Sword of Aragon (1989)

 

[sser]

Great article. Never played the game before but have read a lot about it. Definitely an ambitious title for the time and arguably moreso than what comes out these days. My takeaway from this is that the genre hasn't gained much distance from its (digital) foundations - a lot of those game mechanics still hold true and some others, even good ones, have largely been avoided for the sake of some streamlining. I bet a cheap recreation/facelift of this game would actually sell well today, given the uptick in interest for the genre and 'oldies' alike, nevermind the resurgence of Lord of the Rings, whose popularity has largely squandered the grand strategy themes it contains for action RPGs and Assassin's Creed knockoffs.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Great article. Never played the game before but have read a lot about it. Definitely an ambitious title for the time and arguably moreso than what comes out these days. My takeaway from this is that the genre hasn't gained much distance from its (digital) foundations - a lot of those game mechanics still hold true and some others, even good ones, have largely been avoided for the sake of some streamlining. I bet a cheap recreation/facelift of this game would actually sell well today, given the uptick in interest for the genre and 'oldies' alike, nevermind the resurgence of Lord of the Rings, whose popularity has largely squandered the grand strategy themes it contains for action RPGs and Assassin's Creed knockoffs.

I agree that a facelift of this game would do well enough, and I can see some user interface tweaks also going a long way. Really, I can see a small indie team putting a remake or spiritual successor together and doing well selling it. Now if only we could find someone to buy off on the idea and put in the time. Oh, and thanks for the kind words. Glad you liked the review.

 

[Monstrous Bat]

I couldn't help feeling that the first half of the article felt like more of a strategy guide than a review. Or maybe that's the correct way to write reviews?

Have you tried War of the Lance? Another SSI strategy game which supposedly paved the way for Sword of Aragon. I've never played it myself, but mondblut loved it so it can't be all bad. And you seem like a Dragonlance nerd so you might like it better.

 

[octavius]

Great review.

Also, I sure would have liked to see a remake of this game to make it nicer looking and with better UI and AI.
The developers do have an online version of the game, so it looks like there should not be much problems sorting out who own the rights.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Monstrous Bat , That's a decent critique of the review, but I felt I needed to get deeper into talking about how the game plays out than I had in previous reviews since this game is much different from other genres in which gamers would be familiar.

I never did play War of the Lance, but I will look into it as I am indeed a Dragonlance nerd... or at least I really enjoyed the first couple of trilogies.

 

[dehimos]

Great review.

Also, I sure would have liked to see a remake of this game to make it nicer looking and with better UI and AI.
The developers do have an online version of the game, so it looks like there should not be much problems sorting out who own the rights.

Is it an MMO? Or you can create your own games?

 

[Trash]

Great article on a great game. It's a shame that games with features and mechanics like this never made it into these days.