Nox Archaist

Nox Archaist is a love letter to 80’s crpg’s. A well executed, humorous, well woven storyline with authentic 8 bit Apple II graphics which inspire your imagination to embellish the world of Vali. If you love D&D, Stranger Things and 80’s retro you’ll appreciate the chance to experience sword and sorcery CRPG’s afresh with Nox Archaist. The richly illustrated manual evokes the feeling of D&D and CRPG manuals from the previous century and is a very entertaining read in its own right. It contains many hints and clues as well as detailed charts and stats to make your adventure that much more rewarding. The carefully crafted fully orchestrated soundtrack album is also evocative of 80’s fantasy and adventure serving to further envelope and immerse any brave party of adventurers. Grab your map, take some notes and even graph the various castles, keeps and dungeons if you so choose as you criss-cross the expansive 8 bit land of Vali by foot, by horseback, by sea, or indeed by air. Rest at any of the numerous inns and enjoy a fine beverage at any of the various pubs as you heal your wounds, resurrect your dead and plan your next quest. Encounter characters with a broad range of personalities and search for companions who will join you on many quests as you unravel the mystery of the dark void. I thoroughly enjoyed playing Nox Archaist meeting many challenges, solving many puzzles and dieing many deaths along the way which made later success that much more satisfying. I was sad but satisfied when the game was over like reading a good book but happy to start again trying different party compositions and combat tactics so there is a fair amount of replay ability. I hope you enjoy it as much as I.

Nox Archaist is a fantastic throwback to years gone by, yet still feels freshly baked. Like a brand new Ultima game straight out of the oven. The fact that you can run it natively on an Apple II is just amazing. Alas, I don't have that particular relic of old, but the binary runs fantastic on Mac/Win and has a few video graphics modes if that kind of thing is your fancy. The game has a lengthy and detailed manual - just like you would expect to find in an RPG from the 80's. There is good solid lore here, and the world feels believable and enticing. Graphically, this is literally Ultima to a T. Pleasing 8-bit graphics and animation just like you remember them. The sounds are great, and what music is there is quite good, though I wish there were more of it. Combat is turn based and does not have any sort of level scaling involved. You can run into areas you should not be yet and you WILL be slaughtered. This adds to the feeling of a sprawling and dangerous world, and hightens the sense or exploration and danger. The conversation system is based on the old NAME,JOB,BYE formula, with the ability to ask about specific keywords found in conversations. Lots of humor and fun quests abound. Easter eggs and references that people who have played the older games will get a chuckle from a-plenty. If you have played and enjoyed the older RPGs and wished that someone would make one for todays gamers, this is it. This is as genuine as you can get without getting Lord British to sit down and code you a new Ultima. I wish the developers nothing but success, and thank them for seeing this game through to completion for what is likely a fairly niche market. Much appreciated, highly recommended!

this is truly retro crpg running on Apple //e which has been designed from modernized point of view. (don't upset. Win or Mac native binary is included.) that is, it's in the vein of early Ultima (Obviously of original series of Apple ][ version,), Wizardry, SSI's Gold Box series or i would say even Baldur's Gate 1 & 2. openworld comes with complex and living story progression. and system wise, its really well thought out. i had no pain to play till end. its incredibly fun if you do right what people had done when playing above 8bit titles... do mapping yourself and taking memo for everything !!! there is already so called 3rd party tool to help your play, but i recommend every player having experience in full scale without easy take. because that's the best for your first through.

In this day and age, we're losing touch with the old school pure roots of the adventure genre. While new games rely on AAA graphics, hardware accelerated SFX, sweeping musical scores and long unskippable FMV, we are slowly inching our way away from that brilliant start we had as gamers, whereby the game treated us like adults, let us use our brains to solve problems and didn't waste bytes with video where our imagination and a few paragraphs of text would do immeasurably better. Nox Archaist is a fast elevator ride out of this modern dystopia, straight back to the old days. Gone are quest markers, irritating inventory management, pointless minigames and QTEs, and back in are excellent story telling, immersive worlds, humorous references and lots of Monty Python. I was never an Apple II person, but I'm seriously impressed by the capabilities of this wonderful machine. This is a wonderful return to the glory days of RPGs, in the true ultima /wizardry style.