Legacy of the Wizard: Part 2

Here is how everything went down: the night was becoming quiet, and I had nowhere to go. Sami, my girlfriend, was coming in to town for the weekend, and I wanted to beat Legacy of the Wizard before she arrived. So, last Thursday I started the journey for the Final Crown. Xemn's. As some of my readers might know, Xemn's area is the block puzzle area. The puzzles revolve around pushing blocks, riding blocks, fucking up block puzzles and having to restart the area, and sometimes using blocks as a weapon.



His area is extremely twisted, and can take several hours to complete. I was stuck on several puzzles, but none of them proved too challenging. Finally, I saw the crown.

But there was a problem.

I couldn't reach it. I tried all possible block combinations, but nothing worked. Frustrated, I backtracked and saw a ladder that I had missed, and climbed it. I wondered on this path for a while until I fell through the floor (a hidden hole) and appeared on the opposite side of the crown. Tricky. Using my now-perfected block-pushing skills, I got the crown and watched as I flew through time and space to battle the Golem. Luckily, I had the Dragon Shield equipped and his bullets were like drops of water on a hot summer day. With Xemn's massive strength, he didn't last long.

I looked out of the window, and watched mosquitos and cicadas swarm the streetlights. A lone dog trotted down the road, and I thought of Pochi. The glow from my alarm clock told me that it was 3:30 a.m., and as my vision swayed and slightly blurred I decided it was time to crash. But all night I dreamed of Legacy of the Wizard, within the context of the game itself. I was a block-shaped, 2-D spite, but this made sense. I was hopelessly lost in a maze, throwing axes and swords like greased lightning, unlocking doors, and generally freaking out because of how fucking bizarre this place was.



When I woke up, I had to beat the damn game. For ten years this game haunted me, and I wanted to destroy it. So I started playing as Raos, and warped around using the pictures. I managed to get the DragonSlayer with no trouble. The sword was mine. Victory was eminent. I had heard rumors that Keela was unbeatable on emulators, but I was already playing on one (for screenshotting purposes), and decided to continue (after writing down my password!). Keela descended from the painting, and I instantly died. The emulator clearly wasn't working.

So I connected my NES. It was now 8:00 and I had to leave for work in 10 minutes. I had one shot at beating Keela. Back down to the grand antechamber... once again I engaged in battle. I discovered the Dragon's pattern quickly. If I kept my distance, he wouldn't even attack. his health was down to one single bar, and I had half life. Frantically, I threw my sword, hoping to win. This was the medieval version of spray-and-pray. But I was hasty and stood too close to the Monster. He burned me to a crisp with his fire breath, and it was GAME OVER. The cold stench of defeat hung about the air. Also, it was time to go to work.

And so I worked, and it was a pleasant morning.



Lunch arrived, and I sped home to play Legacy of the Wizard. I entered my password, and embarked on my final journey. Raos looked like an alien, but he had the DragonSlayer and a determined disposition! (one must be, above all else, determined to conquer this epic game). The battle begun, swords were thrown, fire was breathed, and both sides suffered heavy damage. My final sword stuck in the Dragon's neck, and he was defeated, finally. I didn't imprison him in a crystal palace, or a painting (lolwot?), I fucking killed him. And as I walked back home, I said goodbye to Menya, Lyll, Xemn, Pochi, and Raos. The said goodbye to me as well, and waved goodbye during the final scene. The credits rolled, I had beaten the game.

The Legacy of the Wizard

Legacy of the Wizard was released in 1987 for the MSX and Famicom in Japan. Two years later it was ported to the NES in America. Unknown to many American gamers, this game was actually the 4th in the Dragon Slayer series (most of which are Metroidvanias). Hence its Japanese name: Dragon Slayer IV: Drasle Family.



Who are the Drasle family? Well, let's meet them! Xemn is the head of the family, a brave woodcutter who lobs axes at his enemies. His wife, Mayna, is a wicked wizard and can fly (provided you have the right item). They have two children: a daughter, Lyll, and a son, Roas. Lyll looks like a Native American, and Roas is clearly an alien. Lyll is capable of incredible jumps, and Roas knows how to use a sword. Jiela and Douel are the children's grandparents, and can assist the player in saving at any time. Last but not least, Pochi, the family pet is actually a sentient monster (and as a result he is immune to monster attacks).




Legacy is a side-scrolling adventure action-rpg... in other words: a Metroidvania. The goal of the game is to guide the family deep into an underground maze, where you must recover 4 crowns. Each character (except Roas) has a crown to find, and Roas must find the legendary sword, DragonSlayer.

The key aspect to understanding Legacy of the Wizard is an appreciation for its massive scope. The maze is comprised of 16x16 screens... effectively doubling the overworld in Legend of Zelda. It sounds less impressive than it actually is, to get a good understand of the scale, just look at the full map. To continue the comparison: Zelda's map is very open, though there are some twisted passages and secrets, the player can move around the screens easily. In Legacy of the Wizard, however, the rooms are devilishly designed, and players will spend hours trying to navigate a single room (obviously, this only applies to the most difficult of the rooms). Puzzles are everywhere. Hidden blocks and blocks that disintegrate are plentiful, and monsters run loose and regenerate.



When you kill a monster it will drop either food (which increases your life), a potion (which refills your magic), a key, some gold, or poison. Every regular attack drains your magic, so you'll have to rely on more than brute strength to get you through the game.

I found the game at a Flea Market sometime around 2000, and had never heard of the game. It had a decent title, and cool cover, so I figured, "What the hell?" and bought it. Immediately I understood how incredible this game was. The graphics were simple, as all NES games are, but crisp and inspired. The monsters were block-sized, the characters where block-sized, and all the blocks were block-sized... it was such a unique little world begging to be explored. Exploring was definitely the only thing I could do with the game, because I couldn't figure out what the fuck I was supposed to do.



But it didn't matter. I could play as several characters, each with distinct powers, and explore underground castles, mazes, puzzles, huge expansive chambers, towers, ladders... and every area has a rich, bright, and wonderful color palate. The game has some pretty catchy tunes, which is always a plus. I hope the pure intensity of the game is apparent in the screenshots I've taken.



This went on for years, every now and again I'd pop the game in (with a little blowing and cart-wiggling) and see if I had magically gotten better at the game, or if I would solve its mysteries. No dice. A few months ago I decided to beat this game, once and for all, and, as of the writing of this article, about 80% finished with Legacy of the Wizard. Yes, I caved and started using a walkthrough, but it increased the fun ten-fold. In thirty minutes I was able to accomplish more than I had in 8 years of stumbling around the dungeon. Believe me when I say items are hidden... and that items are hidden very well.



Also of note is that Faxanadu, which has been previously covered, is something of a side story. Both games are excellent. Hopefully this game won't elude me for much longer, I've got nowhere to go and it's getting dark outside. Time to turn the music up, print out some maps, and finish off that motherfucking dragon, once and for all.