ITT I'm Doing a Blind Playthrough of Battlespire

[Johhny]

I picked up this game knowing absolutely nothing about it other than it being an obscure title for the series. I'm currently on chapter 5 and I'd say it earns its forgotten status, it isn't a very well made game.

It has almost every flaw Daggerfall has, from weird melee combat, both you and the mobs constantly clipping into world geometry, broken dialogue options, and being somewhat crash prone. But it's worse for Battlespire to have these issues than it was for Daggerfall because Daggerfall is an open world rpg game where you don't have to constantly do combat. There's faction quests, thievery, exploration, plenty of downtime, etc. Battlespire is closer to a King's Field game than it is to an Elder Scrolls, where combat is the main point and all you do, so it had to be polished to a sheen, and instead it's Bethesda's brand-name scuff.

I chose to be a High Elf because they have Dunmer racial skill bonuses for some reason (+10 to long blade and a healthy +5 to a lot of magic skills) and the pre-made Spellsword class for a martial focus with magic on the side. This was a huge mistake. Altmer still have their weakness to magic damage, and starting from chapter 4, a lot of the enemies love quick firing spells at you from afar, and if you don't have the speed to strafe it or ways to cast reflect you're fucked. On top of that, shield spells are an absolute requirement for melee, so its important to have a high skill level so the cost isn't prohibitively expensive, which is hard to do because Spellsword has jumping as a major skill instead of something useful, and doesn't even come with a cure wounds spell to offset how high damage from enemies is. There clearly is a limited selection of viable endgame builds and I fear I didn't pick one.

There is no wait hotkey for the game and even if there was, passive restoration for spell and hit points has to be taken at character creation (which Spellsword doesn't come with) so the game is a constant test of resource management, when to use magic items or arrows to whittle down health at a distance, how often you can afford to smack enemies up close, whether to use healing potions now or make the trek back to the healing station, etc. Level 4 also had the dubious honor of having extremely tanky, nigh unkillable enemies that you are meant to run past using ethereal and reflect potions, and not, say, waste all your arrows trying to kill in vain (so did level 3, but it was spelled out for you there). The whole experience is low level stress, punctuated by high level stress.

That being said, I love the game. It appeals to me specifically, someone who likes first person dungeon crawlers, and obtuse games that murder me for not instantly learning the intricacies. The tiptoeing through combat encounters and inventory management is really rewarding, because it feels like I'm fighting for each step of progress. This coupled with the art direction and music draws you in to the realms of oblivion you're murdering your way through. The level design on top of these aspects is really strong too, proving Bethesda can actually make good dungeons when they aren't relying on procedural generation. Level 1 is the best so far, with the other ones being at least Good.

The story is great, with you following the breadcrumbs left by your friend, piecing together what the lore behind the new dungeon you found yourself in each time, and negotiating with the mobs to either avoid combat or peice together more backstory. The voice acting ranges from good to "bored amateur", but the personalities behind them usually carries through. Some highlights include the scamp leader breaking apart the level 2 McGuffin just to fuck with her fellow generals, meeting the talking crystals who entice people into joining their death cult so they can betray them and turn them into wraiths, and snapping a topless lesbian out of her depression by murdering her beta bitch.

It might be a copout to say that the game gets by on its atmosphere but, well, the game gets by on its atmosphere. The mere act of exploring Battlespire is enough to keep me drawn in, no matter how many times the game over screen boots me back to DOSBox.

 

[Johhny]

Didn't get too far between skoolwork and other vidya, but I explored more of the island and learned more about what to do. I found a senile old man living in a shack that told me how he hid pieces of armor around the island that will help in getting the last key I need. Turns out he used it to trick Dagon in a contract and in return Dagon killed everyone on his home island and cursed him to live forever, growing older and contracting arthritis in the process.

Rough

Along the way, I learned the Frost Daedra are being used as hound dogs in this Most Dangerous Game as punishment for letting me ruin their position in Level 4

I promised to inform the hunt mistress that it was the fire daedra who fumbled the ball, but she just turned invisible and wailed on me, so it doesnt seem worth it. Also when I quit the game and came back, this happened

It's just a visual bug and it goes away by entering a door.

I journeyed further south until I found a town under quarantine, a mausoleum, and finally a broken lighthouse where the second key is. I know I said that the game is like King's Field, but this level in particular is giving me more Eternal Ring vibes.

I'm a little mixed on this level, the wide open island and houses to explore is a nice break from the Battlespire formula, and the MDG concept is a lot of fun, but the wide plains don't mesh well with Battlespire's engine. The fog isn't thick enough to disguise the fact that the world is materializing a few yards in front of you.

Also, I learned about a game breaking bug in this level: Every time you load from DOS, the filesize gets artificially increased, until eventually it becomes too big for the game to handle and renders the save file unusable. There's a workaround but its a bit annoying, and I have to do it every time I die since the game boots you to DOS upon game over. What a bizarre bit of programming jank, but apparently Oblivion and Skyrim had something similar, so I guess it's Bugthesda being Bughtesda.

Also:

 

[Johhny]

I did some further exploration and found a crypt on an inlet.

It's a return to the cramped hallways of the rest of the game, but its good to fight enemies one on one again and not having to run from swarms of fire deadra. I found some neat equipment plus another piece of the armor set I need for the boss. Even found a heal station, but there seems to be a corner that immediately pushes you out of bounds and softlocks you right next to it.

The game kills you if you're out of bounds for more than a minute, so I just reloaded a save both times it happened.

I also found and entered the emerald palace the boss was supposed to be hiding in, but going inside I just find a note on how he snagged the one weapon that could've killed him and is also holding one of the keys I need behind and impenetrable island fortress. What a bitch.

I ran around some more and found more armor and keys, but I've only got half the items I need and half the island explored, so there's still more to do. But while I was exploring, I found something incredible behind an entire swarm of enemies

A fully rideable hot air balloon that can be used to fly all over the map.

This game is a perfect ten, 1997 audiences were stupid.

It's main function is to get to the enemy stronghold though (which I only learned was where the big bad is after I landed there and got gimped) so I'm calling it a day here.

All that's left is a key and a few armor pieces and I'll be able to take on the boss, but its getting late so I'll call it good for now. The workaround is working and my save file is still outside of game crash size, but I want to get this level over with soon so I don't push my luck.

 

[Johhny]

Took a break to work on skooling but I came back to the game and got pretty far. I got the other armor pieces and had Chimere give me the Spear of Bitter Mercy so I could go oneshot the huntsman

lmao retard.
With keys in hand I went to the bell tower to sound out that the hunt is over as a flex and then went to the horned temple to teleport to the next level.

Level 6 is the invasion forces forward base camp, and it spawns you a little ways away from the entrance to the fort. I panicked for a bit because I couldn't find a way to open the doors, but it turns out you just had to knock over one the log inexplicably set up on the left and the gate breaks open.

There's also some seducers around the place that will proposition you for sex and then take massive chunks off your health bar if you take them up on it.

Imagine being a sex haver.
The fort is actually super easy. The vast majority of mobs are melee fighters that can be easily picked off at a distance with arrows or bashed a few times up close with the help of a shield spell. In addition, the place is littered with equipment, more than I can actually carry.

While exploring, I ran into Xivalai Moath, the leader of the ice demons and one of Dagon's top generals. He asked me if I wanted anything as a favor, but shot me down when I asked to please leave Oblivion with my friend.

Dick.
Found some scrolls listing the effects of some obtuse spell descriptions which has been a godsend this late in the game. Interestingly, it seems like different weapons/armor carry different skill bonuses for the same effect. This causes some pretty nonsensical stuff, like daggers giving bonus to Hand to Hand (not pictured here but trust me, its a thing).

Behind some warding sigils I find Jagar Tharns collaborator who mistakes me for a Daedra.

He informs me of some kind of magica storm on the horizon for the realms of Oblivion and also that Uriel Septim got deposed in secret and Jagar Tharn is posing as him.

After revealing yourself as a Battlemage, he starts panicking and begging for his life. You can kill him straight away but I decided to leave him alive just to see what would happen.

I went to the opposite wing of the fortress and was informed by one of the few daedra in the level that can cast spells that I must kill him and steal his amulet to progress.

I kill him after he gets caught on level geometry, but he doesn't drop anything. I panicked and reloaded an earlier save to see if his item bag spawned out of bounds by mistake, but even when I killed him on a flat surface, he didn't drop anything. I thought the game finally softlocked me with bugs, but it turned out he was just giving me dialogue for the wrong part of the map. I actually had to find a room with teleporting mirrors, tow of which had enemies with the amulet I needed.

One of the mirrors actually had me get stuck inside of it after teleporting for a brief moment, but I wiggled out and came to an arena where two mobs were having a grudge match

Dunno if I could've influenced it in any way because I kinda shot first and asked questions later, but the important thing is I found the amulet needed to get to Faydra Shardai, Dagon's other top general and the third pair of boobies I've seen all game

You can negotiate for her key to Dagon's hunting lodge in exchange for becoming her subordinate, but if you ask her what that would actually entail she gets pissy and sends you to the game over screen.

Dick.
After that's all done, I head north and come upon a fortress within the fortress.

Making my way to the top, I find Imago Storm, the third of Dagon's generals and the guy who helped me escape level 4.

I learned why he's going against his master and helping me take down the entire invasion force: he's racist.

"filthy clanless Seducers and unintelligent Fire daedra. Clan Dagon was much better when it was just us."
He gives me the true names of Dagon, Faydra, and Xivilai and instructs me to send them all to Oblivion. In exchange, I'll get Dagon's amulet, adn the ability to go back to Tamriel.
Xivilai's name in hand, I went back to banish him and get his key, but the apprentice suddenly became a master manipulator out of nowhere and told Xivilai that Faydra was the one who gave me his name. In exchange for keeping silent, Xivilai gave me his key and went off to start a civil war in clan Dagon. Level 6 all done, I hopped in the portal and travelled to Dagon's hunting lodge.

I had the urge to keep playing, but I had also been fighting not to fall asleep at the keyboard from exhaustion, so I called it a day here.
Overall, level 6 is the weakest so far in terms of design. The map is one big open space with not much in the ways of puzzles or secrets, the enemies made it too big of a dip in difficulty when compared to the last levels steady increase, and I got stuck in doorways on two separate occasions. The amount of loot scattered everywhere gave me the impression it was there to let me gather a ton of shit for the last level. I ended up with over 30 healing potions and more magic equipment than I could actually carry. Not bad, just filler. At least level 7 looks promisingly bullshit.

 

[Johhny]

I spawn into the final level and I get a note saying that I need the armor set I dropped back in level 5 in order to beat Dagon. This means beating him will be difficult or impossible. That's why we have multiple save files though. At the very start there's an island that can be reached via knocking over a tree

Mehrunes' main squeeze is over here and she's holding the one sword I need to kill him. She shoots the shit first and proposes that I offer my services to Dagon in exchange for my life, but she makes it clear he won't let me leave and might still kill me for causing him grief.

lol yeah no.
The rest of the level is a winding gauntlet where high HP enemies knock you into lava with hard hitting melee and magic attacks. Its cool, but the game is pretty liberal with healing crystals, so its not like I'm ever hurting for resources, especially after getting showered with them in level 6, so its not as hard as it could be. Also, there are these lighthouses scattered about that have doors but no interiors.

Odd.
Reaching the end of the path, I find this bad boy.

It shoots a rope to the cliff off to the right, but theres a mob quick firing spells at me the whole time, so I just go somewhere away from him and jump across the pit. It so happens that the place I crossed to has one of Imago's boys disguised as a wraith who gives me the armor set from the island back, so I can finish the game properly.

The rest of the trek isn't too bad, but the front doors to the hunting lodge have a crowd of enemies that shave off my health bar unless I spam shield spells and backpedal while firing arrows. Took a few treks back down for healing crystals, but eventually I clear them all out and get access to the final area of the game.

Not too crazy, just a few guys I have to kill so I can steal their sigil amulets. There's like five in a cramped room at the top of the steps but they all get caught on the corner of the room and I snipe them.

After this its a quick teleport down and I confront Dagon, whose looking a bit more normal sized than he does in Oblivion.

I taunt him with his true name, the sword I grabbed from his dead wife, and then have the topless lesbian I rescued back in Level 4 to hold him in place so I can one shot him.

Killing Dagon and escaping with my lady love blows up the Battlespire for some reason.

Between no real final boss fight, the weird interior-less towers, and how the game quits directly to desktop after completion, it feels like the game ran out of money right at the end.
On the whole, I'd say I enjoyed my time with Battlespire and plan on returning some day, but I wouldn't give it a recommendation to anyone but people looking for some extra TES lore. The Daggerfall engine is not something you want to be grappling with when the game has such a low margin of error, so if I ever need to scratch the Battlespire itch I can just turn to something that works properly like Lunacid.
That said, I really like the CRPG approach to the King's Field-like non existent genre. If Battlespire was crafted better, the character creation could have been a great way to make the game replayable. Like if Diablo was in first person. As is, I'll just mess around with some of the other classes before moving on to something else.

 

[abnaxus]

I managed to finish the buggy mess Redguard back in the day but not this one because it crashed all the time.

Good job.