The Eternal Dagger
Encyclopedia
The Eternal Dagger is a 1987
top-down computer role-playing game published
by Strategic Simulations, Inc.
(SSI) as a sequel to Wizard's Crown
, which was released in 1985. Players can transfer their characters over from Wizard's Crown, minus whatever magical items they had on them.
The story behind the game is that demons from another dimension are invading the world, and the only item that can seal the portal is the titular dagger.
described the gameplay as very similar to that of its predecessor, with a few changed spells and in-battle options. The use of a single character to represent the party was praised, as it eliminated the frustration of party members getting lost or stuck behind walls that was present in Wizard's Crown. Dungeon combat was described as having worsened, however, due to the time spent maneuvering party members into a position where they can attack before they can do so. The review also felt the game did not have the same balance as the previous, with magic being a much more effective option overall. CGW also considered combat to be more difficult in general, with wide discrepancies between the "quick combat" option and tactical combat, and monsters that generally take much longer to kill. The new fatigue, which decreases weapon skill as party members go without rest, was also criticized as lengthening travel time and slowing down the game. Ultimately, the review stated The Eternal Dagger was not of the same quality as its predecessor, and recommended a lot of patience when playing the game.
The game was reviewed in 1988 in Dragon
#129 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 1 out of 5 stars.
1987 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* January 14, Nintendo releases Zelda II: The Adventure of Link in January for the Famicom Disk System in Japan only. The game would go unreleased in America for nearly two years afterwards.* February 20, Konami releases Contra...
top-down computer role-playing game published
Video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....
by Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Strategic Simulations, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher with over 100 titles to its credit since its founding in 1979. It was especially noted for its numerous wargames, its official computer game adaptations of Dungeons & Dragons, and for the groundbreaking Panzer General...
(SSI) as a sequel to Wizard's Crown
Wizard's Crown
Wizard's Crown is a 1985 top-down computer role-playing game published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. . It was released for the Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, IBM PC, Apple II and Commodore 64. Its sequel, The Eternal Dagger, was released in 1987....
, which was released in 1985. Players can transfer their characters over from Wizard's Crown, minus whatever magical items they had on them.
The story behind the game is that demons from another dimension are invading the world, and the only item that can seal the portal is the titular dagger.
Reception
Computer Gaming WorldComputer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
described the gameplay as very similar to that of its predecessor, with a few changed spells and in-battle options. The use of a single character to represent the party was praised, as it eliminated the frustration of party members getting lost or stuck behind walls that was present in Wizard's Crown. Dungeon combat was described as having worsened, however, due to the time spent maneuvering party members into a position where they can attack before they can do so. The review also felt the game did not have the same balance as the previous, with magic being a much more effective option overall. CGW also considered combat to be more difficult in general, with wide discrepancies between the "quick combat" option and tactical combat, and monsters that generally take much longer to kill. The new fatigue, which decreases weapon skill as party members go without rest, was also criticized as lengthening travel time and slowing down the game. Ultimately, the review stated The Eternal Dagger was not of the same quality as its predecessor, and recommended a lot of patience when playing the game.
The game was reviewed in 1988 in Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#129 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 1 out of 5 stars.