Hillsfar offers a vast world to roam around, tons of content and depth for an 8bit game. Suffers from clumsy controls.
Certainly it is not a jewel for experienced RPG-players, but for a regular NES-collector who is too busy to embrace the never ending story of the Final Fantasy series and the like, it really is an interesting piece of game history full of ACTION and very DIFFERENT from other NES-games you are used to playing.
As usual in RPG's you get to create your own character , but unlike other NES-rpg's (say Swords and Serpents, Shadowgate, Gauntlet 2) you have a lot of options to choose from including the goodness level of your character. Some of these attributes do not seem to play a big role in the game but it gives you that deep feeling from the start. Also recognize: no passwords, and you can save up to NINE characters, unheard of in a NES-game. Battery save seems to function well after years of usage. However, you can only save when your character is located in a city. In between locations you are vurneable to dying.
It seems that the developers poured their hearts on the table creating this peculiar game but were forced to compromise due to the lack of performance ablity of hardware of the time. Despite of the from-the-ground-up clumsy performance of the game, the player is given the impression that this game was not made in vain. What you have to realise when playing this game is that you have to absolutely let go of all assumptions and submit to THE rules of the game (much like playing a board game or card game) and let go of what you have come to appreciate in common modern video games. Only then will you find this game worth the hours of play that it takes to get you to the end. I even suggest getting your hands on the FAQ's provided by gamefaqs.com to help you understand what you are getting into.
Basically in this game you loot places to get gold and clues to advance int he game, visit your character specific guild building to take on missions to advance in the story, build your character, visit different locations in the world including a tree, wizards maze, Hillsfar city, Fighting Arena etc. The most annoying pace braking thing I'd say is the looting of places. After all, why should one steal against his own will, there should be an option for it, but in this game, wether you are a thief or a mage, you will have to loot places.
Long story short:
The Good:
- You do not have to be an RPG-fan to understand and enjoy it
- Depth of gameplay
- Detailed world and lotsa characters
- Lots of straight forward action
- Interesting world
- Missions
- At least it has a story
- Battery save feature
The Bad:
- Bad frame frequency when inside buildings (reference: ghosts and goblins scrolling for a more familiar example)
- You are pretty much lost without the printed manual or a walkthrough
- Some bad gameplay when looting places, seems there was a bit rushed development there
- takes time getting used to the game play
- sticky controls
You might want to give this game a chance if you love the NES-game experience and want some deep adventure in between your regular Mario and Zelda roaming - especially if you are a sucker for exotic gaming. Many players however will be put off by the overall clumsy appearance of the game. It is certainly not one of the most polished games but it does have depth and a point. I am glad this game was published and it shows that the NES is cabaple of delivering different gaming experiences.
Feel free to comment this review by sending a PM. I know it is a bit biased by my personal subjective views but it still would be nice to hear from you wether you agree with me or not. I just wanna know that people actually read my reviews.