It would seem that Elona (
http://homepage3.nifty.com/rfish/index_e.html ) hasn't been covered at all, neither on the frontpage nor in the database.
What is it? Well, on first sight, it just seems like another graphical roguelikes with anime-style graphics. It is however in many ways a very unique game:
- large overland world and multiple cities and dungeons
- mix of fantasy and scifi content
- has a lot of content which you would usually expect from a MMORPG: You can own your own house, shops, museums, castle and more - and you can outfit and design them down to every minor details. There is crafting, guilds, arenas, and more - just to remind you in case you forgot it by now: this is a singleplayer roguelike!
- ability to get additional companions - either by making friends, by hiring them, or by forcing them via magic.
- there are many other heroes like you in the gameworld, and you can interact with them.
- ah yes, there's also trading
- and more varied random quests than is usual in a roguelike
- also includes postapocalyptic-style game elements. Just interprete the "etherwind disease" as "radioactive radiation" which causes mutation, and there you go.
So, its more like a mix of elite sandbox gameplay + life-sim + rpg + roguelike, instead of "just" a roguelike.
Where's the catch?
Well, the catch would be that even though there isn't really anything important missing in the game, and no frequent bugs, it shows that its still in heavy development, and that its done by a one-man-army.... there are difficulty and balance issues all across the board, and the companion AI really is stupid and has some defects (though, that supposedly is gonna change in the next versions). Also, learning and using magic really is a pain right now, so if you try the game, then better dont start a caster. Still, if you sadly miss a well worked out "adventurer mode" in DF, then you will get something similiar to that much earlier in Elona, than it will appear in DF.
Player
