This journal may come as a surprise to many, taken into consideration that I seldom delve into the subject of computer games. The truth is, I loved playing various games during my childhood, but I’ve never been what you’d consider a devout gamer. Just like most other people of my generation, I also grew up with Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario during their age of glory and had much fun playing games on old consoles that are now discontinued. Many of the most popular franchises still haunts the market with their infinite amounts of sequels, prequels and silly spin-offs that may or may not have been successful. The producers use their beloved mascots to milk as much profit out of their customers as possible, knowing that the most devoted fans will buy almost any game if only it features one or more of the famous characters that we grew up with. To mark my point with an example, everyone’s favorite plumber has been taking his occasional break from stomping turtles and eating mushrooms, in order to teach children typing or compete with every character from Sonic’s universe in the Olympic Games. These are just a few out of many examples of where a famous character is removed from his classic environment to goof around with activities that aren’t exactly up his alley. But alas, that is not the topic which I plan to discuss for now. Despite that I have never been any sort of hardcore gamer, I have come to the conclusion that there is a specific game from my childhood that deserves to be honored and respected. Not least, because it has had a major influence on me and inspired me to write “Medieval Cohesion”. I have now finished the first volume of this grand adventure after having written on it for more than 3 years, but I am convinced that Wesley Lightweaver’s journey would never have taken place if I hadn’t been so deeply enthralled by this rare gem found in the archives of games for the Sega Genesis. Today, I am extremely proud of owning that game and being able to acknowledge it as part of my humble collection of games. And yes, in case you wonder, the game still works just fine.

So what is this mysterious game that I keep babbling about? Back in the early days of 1991, a very unique game was released by Naughty Dog and published by Electronic Arts, named “Rings of Power”. Have you never heard of it? Don’t worry, not many have. It hit the market as an incognito product that didn’t draw much attention, possibly because it lacked popular and recognizable characters, meaning that few people were tempted to give it a try. It was eventually completely lost and forgotten in the mascot wars between Sega and Nintendo. “Rings of Power” was one of the first respectable roleplaying games, mildly comparable to the ever so popular Final Fantasy series, making it evident that even the old 16 bit consoles had the potential to support deep and genuine gameplay capable of keeping the gamers occupied for longer than one or two hours. The controls were slightly stiff, because it was relatively new to apply the 3D element to gameplay, but it never took long for players to adapt to. The graphics were surprisingly underwhelming for its time, but the games true qualities were found in the complex storyline, absorbing gameplay and gloomy atmosphere. It’s a prime example that graphics isn’t the key to success.

In this dark tale, you take control of Buc, a young and ambitious sorcerer who has been send out on a long quest to gather the eleven fabled rings used to forge the divine Rod of Creation. The rod was shattered during a dramatic battle between Nexus, the God of light and Void, the God or darkness, and now the pieces are scattered all over the world in the shape of golden rings. These rings are each identified by unique names such as the “Ring of Thought” and the “Ring of Intuition”. Buc’s goal is not only to travel around the world and collect these fabled rings, but also to gather a party of five potent adventurers destined to accompany him on this journey. The fictional society in “Rings of Power” features six different classes, and once Buc has forged the complete fellowship, the group will consist of one of each – A sorcerer, knight, archer, necromancer, enchanter and conjurer. All the NPC’s devoted to these classes throughout the game are visually generic, except the one character meant to join your party at some point. If we take Mortimer the necromancer as an example, you’ll find that he is the only necromancer in the game whose sprite is featured with blond hair, where every other necromancer has brown hair. Buc is also the only sorcerer in the world to wear a green hooded cloak, where every other sorcerer in the game wears the same robes but in blue. So when the players head out to explore the world and eventually discovers this one character looking significantly different, it’ll awaken a sense of excitement because they’ll know that there is a way to make this character join you in your quest. But the question is, how? The player can open dialogues with their soon-to-be party members, but in order to actually make them join you, you’ll need to solve cryptic riddles and tasks for their masters to prove your worth. Trust me when I say, Buc will need all the help he can get on this quest, so bolstering his party is vital.

“Rings of Power” is a dark, relentless and extremely cryptic game. Once you start your adventure, you’ll take control over Buc on the mapscreen after being greeted by this gloomy soundtrack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYUllnFjQUw Take a moment to close your eyes and listen to this tune. It makes a chill run down your spine, doesn’t it? It has an overwhelming tendency to make the player feel small, vulnerable and alone in a vast unexplored world. This game is also among the first to introduce “random encounters”, where the protagonist will occasionally be interrupted on the map screen by NPC’s with hostile intentions. Many will recognize this phenomenon from the Final Fantasy series. But in this game, you’ll quickly discover that discretion is the better part of valor, and insisting on emerging victorious from every battle will lead to much more failure than success. The random encounters does not adjust to Buc being a low leveled sorcerer with no allies to support him, so it is not uncommon that the players are attacked by large groups of enemies that would beat them into a pulp with ease. This has led to many instant deaths in the early stage of the game, and it is incredibly challenging to level up your characters before they’ve grown powerful enough to wield more effective spells and techniques in combat. Many have surrendered and left this game, simply because it is so mercilessly difficult, but the key is to pick your fights wisely and not hesitate to flee when you sense the odds are against you. In fact, some battles will require a bloody swift retreat to avoid getting creamed. “Rings of Power” features a raw wilderness where players have to work their way up the food chain from the very bottom, and it’ll take a long time before a player can traverse from one town to the other without worrying about instant game overs sneaking up on them from behind. This constant danger lurking in every nook and cranny is one of the reasons why the players got overly excited once they came across the special characters fated to bolster their party at some point, and the game’s difficulty could easily push a player towards such desperation that he’d part with a limb for even the slightest spark of assistance. Recruiting a new party member has never felt more satisfactory.

The difficulty of surviving in “Rings of Power” is legendary, but it is only half of the challenge that players had to endure to beat the game. Another major obstacle was the extremely cryptic riddles that had to be solved in order to obtain the eleven rings and enlist the aid of the five companions destined to join the quest. Nothing was self-explanatory and it was necessary to explore every tiny inch of the huge world to find the important items and NPC’s required to solve the riddles. The game had next to no rules for the player to follow. You could enter the home of residents, have a little cozy conversation with them and then kill them for the heck of it. Even the children and elders. Did you not approve of the way that the guard in the castle glanced at you when you walked by? Challenge him to a fight and kill him. No one will rush to his aid or hold you responsible for his death. Unfortunately, going on the rampage and killing everything in sight can result in them challenging you if you attempt to talk with them afterwards. This also includes certain important characters in the game, which will ruin your opportunity to solve certain riddles in your quest. NPC’s killed does not return from the dead at any point. But the lack of rules also means that it is a completely non-linear adventure. Even though some riddles are easier than others and more convenient to tackle in the early stage of the game, you can go anywhere you wish and connect the dots in any order you see fit. This freedom greatly enhances the replay value of the game, and there is so much to explore in this huge world that few players would cover it all on the first adventure.

Keep in mind, “Rings of Power” was released in the dark age of gaming where there was no internet, which means that the players weren’t able to seek help from an online guide or walkthrough. They were on their own with all the cryptic riddles and confusing clues, and I am proud to say that I am one of the few that managed to see the end of the game after many hours trial and error when the game was new. It really came in handy for me to be so experienced with the English language at a young age, because it is vital for the player to follow the storyline and understand the information provided by important NPC’s. Even today, I feel this is one of the best roleplaying games that I have ever witnessed, because it really put the players to the test and had them work for the victory. Because of this, it also provided a magnificent sense of satisfaction every time you managed to accomplish something. It made you feel proud of every little bit of progress. It deserves a lot more attention and appreciation than it was able to attract back in 1991, and this is the reason why I have taken my time to write this journal as a memorial for “Rings of Power”, a brilliant game that should never be forgotten. I want the spirit of this grand tale to live on in Medieval Cohesion, the book that I am writing myself, partly inspired by Buc’s quest to collect the fabled rings and survive in a raw wilderness where only the strongest will emerge on top. Let me end this journal by introducing you to the overwhelmingly epic intro screen of “Rings of Power”, featuring memorable music that even today makes me feel tingly inside. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeyiMImbPfA Keep your eyes peeled during the second half of the video, and you’ll see an airborne dragon exploring the world on the map screen. And yes, “Rings of Power” did have a night/day feature as well.

This… was my childhood.