Faery Tale Adventure, The

lunarjetman 2014-03-20
I played this game a lot when I was younger. It was great. You had three brothers whom you controlled one at a time. It had a fairy tale quality about it. I remember one was called Julien. The spelling of it always annoyed me. I always thought Julien deserved to die (and he normally did). The music was good and I liked how it changed and sped up when some enemies started chasing you. I remember the software protection for this was lame. It asked questions about making haste etc. And basically asked you to fill in the missing words of proverbs. I didn't get very far into this game although I always found it intriguing.
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retrogameguy 2012-10-05
(10/10)
I can count the number of games I have completed on one hand, and this game is one of them.

I played it on and off for a couple of months and used save-game cheats to conserve my "map" totems. I joined large sheets of graph paper together and mapped out each "screen" (the view from the totem). You could tell when you moved from one "zone" to another by the tiny load delay. I would then save, use the totem and then carefully add the section to my map. (The reload). Unfortunately I finished the game before I finished my map (3/4 done), and a few years later sold the amiga and the uncompleted map went with it :-( It's possible that I was one of few people to make such and intricate map.

It was the sort of game where you could play it right through and still not discover some of the secrets. I remember wandering across a desert and finding a tomb, by using the grid search and making sure I saw and mapped every area I just about saw everything.

Once you got the bird travel was so much easier. But the turtle was cool!

I'd rate this a 10/10 perfect for the era.
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Colonel Kurtz 2012-08-26
(6/10)
My first attempt at an RPG ever. A bit too dispersive IMO: the freedom to explore almost the entire map from the very beginning came at a price.

I came back to it some 15 years later, and was still infuriated by the need to consume food at inns and taverns rather than carrying some along.

Maybe one day I'll take a deep breath and give it another try as a homage to its historical value - and why not, maybe even ''Halls of the Dead'' too. Right now I'm busy with ''Hard to be a God'', which I'm told is awfully long.
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Kodoichi 2012-07-28
Somehow this game scared me as a child and I can't remember why, either the music or the enemy sprites. I think that's the only RPG game for the Amiga that resembles videogame RPGs (Final Fantasy, Secret of Mana, Earthbound...) and at that time there weren't many with such audiovisuals. Was this really created by a single person? That's seriously impressive considering back then you had to learn Assembler or C and furthermore have the skills for graphics, music and the whole gameplay design, along with the commercial software to create it all.
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Scrawffler 2009-06-20
(7/10)
Ooh, I'd forgotten about this one. Pretty good for it's time, though some parts seemed to be a little glitchy. All in all though it's actually quite impressive, and one of the first of it's kind too if I'm not mistaken.
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franklipscomb 2009-03-31
This game entertained me for many weeks back in 1989. I won the game so I thought I would refresh those of you that won it but have forgotten how awesome it was.

In order to win you would have to play the game a long time to build your strength and acquire keys and other things you would need to win. I won by building up enough invincibility to be able to walk through a lava moat. You then use a key to enter what I remember as a castle. The inside was dark and you had to skate on ice through numerous mazes. It was difficult to stay on the ice due to the paths being somtimes narrow. Also it was difficult to change direction on the ice without sliding off. And once you slide off you die from the endless fall.

At the end of the mazes was an ice field where you had to fight the final foe. But once you get on this last ice field all the controls start to work backwards. Forward is backward, left is right, etc. It was very intense to control and fight at the same time. I saved the game just before the end so I could replay the end numerous times.

I rate the game a nine because I would spend many hours going round and round due to not knowing exactly what I would need and in most areas there was not much to be found.
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radioman970 2008-04-01
(10/10)
I remember buying this along with the shoot-em-up Vyper (or was it Terrorpods? I don't remember!). This is the one the blew me away. That little wagging sword, creatures showing up, waiting their turn to kick my ass. Wonderful! Good times! The amount of space in the game was staggering at the time. Right now on my PC I have Oblivion and Stalker, both with big huge worlds to play in, but at the time this game was my Oblivion and Stalker. I'd put it in my top 10 along with my favorites like Dungeon Master. It's a real shame there wasn't a whole series of these on Amiga. Imagine Faery Tale Advetnure 2, 3 and 4?

Anyway, top notch stuff. I can't give it anything than 10/10 or I'll not get to sleep tonight.
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ennio 2008-04-01
(9/10)
This was one of the 1st Amiga games I loaded up. I was absolutely blown away by the beauty and huge scope of it all, not to mention the gorgeous soundtrack. The non-linear aspect made it feel "real" and completely different than anything I had played on my beloved C64.

I didn't get very far, but had fun getting lost. I think of the music and the nostalgia kicks into high gear.
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jhandt 2008-03-31
(10/10)
My apologies for disrespecting the "give your OBJECTIVE" vote directive. I admit that objectively this game migth be mediocre. But the atmosphere (and in particular the MUSIC!) was so enchanting. I just love this game. I never got far, though. It was too difficult for me, also I just had a copy without manual... Nevertheless, one of my strongest gaming memories.
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realale 2007-09-27
I loved playing this, even 20 years later. So I was happy to find that there WAS a sequel. Its called Faery Tale Adventure 2 - Halls of the Dead. The company that produced it went bust about a month before release and it never really appeared on the market. There's some unfinished oddities in it but it is playable. This time you can control the characters as a group.
Have fun with this one, I did!
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dhakbacz 2007-07-09
(8/10)
I'm kind of torn on this one. The graphics and animations are sub-par, same goes for the interface and music. But then ... It's a 1987 game and probably one of the first 'Action-RPGs' ever ... I really liked it and still do, despite oh so many flaws.
For a good laugh, take a look at the PC version, where graphics, sound and controls are really abysmal, nowadays.
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Arkhan 2007-05-10
I have just been sold on buying an Amiga!
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auryn 2006-12-14
(10/10)
I loved this game, playing with my sister on cold winter nights back when I was 9 years old was pure magic. Some of the good points are the great music and general atmosphere. The storyline is less detailed/complicated than most modern RPG's which I don't mind much, because it makes the game easier to get into, and leaves gaps that you can fill up with your own imagination. Also the huge playing area makes you really feel like you're exploring a huge continuous game world, unlike most point & click adventures which hop between locations. I remember finally getting a map for the game after my sis & I pleaded my dad to buy the game, and then visiting sorcery isle for the first time. Woooo, a crystal palace! I was awestruck.
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amiga_nostalgi 2006-12-09
I played this game during the summer. I remember I had a friend sending me a paper copy of the map to our summer house. I spent 2 month playing this game and in the end I finished it. There were places in this game I found once but could never find again, like a small boat at a lake shore. On the paper copy of the map I remember a place called something like 'hidden city of azal' in the desert region...I never found it
I used to save game and use bird totem, memorize, and reload (to save them totems), guess I was cheating a little bit

This is one of the one game I remember the most from my Amiga days (86-89) - it was my first rpg/adventure like game. Really loved it and I tried it on WinUAE a year back, it was nice but ofcourse not the same.

Very good game...be prepared to spend some time if you want to finish it
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Eltar 2006-11-22
(9/10)
Being fortunate enough to have a cracked version with trainer, I've been able to explore and adore this game with no restriction. It was huge and pretty, it wasn't monotonous (different kind of landscapes, different styles), it was just a delight to play, or even cheat through it (for instance, arrows allowed me to jump whole "screens", and navigate from house interiors to house interiors, enter in a build in and pop out of a different one). It was a great "sightseeing" game, which is what I'm looking for in modern RPGs too (like "morrowind" ). But I admit it could be quite unforgiving without that trainer, especially in the beginning. Also, without the arrows cheat, the distances would be huge to cross. I can only try to imagine how frustrating or rewarding it must be...

Hence my careful 9 instead of 10.
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Little Monkey Lost 2006-10-07
(10/10)
When I was eight years old kid this game was some kind of ultimate super best game that was better than anything else. Retroperspectively this is rather some kind of labyrinth adventure than real computer-RPG. Of course, the game has very nice atmosphere and several nice places to see but I'm not sure if I would give much value for it if I tried it now for the first time. The soundtrack is excellent. Download it from Unexotica if you have not heard yet.
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EvilCensor 2005-07-07
(6/10)
Very restricted gameplay compared to Ultima 5 standards.. Empty buildings lack of interactivity with objects etc.. But 1st rate musical score.. Worth loading for a listen.. Suits genre of game well.. Unlike the game itself. Large world map to explore.. Just spoiled somewhat.
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VBR 2005-07-06
(9/10)
Not as deep as the Ultimas but has enough to hook you. It's a shame there wasn't a sequel.
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SupraTT 2005-02-04
(10/10)
I'm a big game player and all-in-all I cannot rate this game high enough. It hooked me to the end, yes I managed to complete it (sad I know) - in the process it slightly affected my school work at the time (truancy is brought to mind). The game was a beautiful world, full of surprises; the landscape was vast but not empty when the character had the dragon available, okay it takes much perseverance to get the dragon but it's worth every milli-second. It's so long ago I can't actually remember the ending, I recall it's somewhere at the bottom left of the landscape where the awesome volcanos were, can anyone recall the ending?
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cadaver 2005-01-31
The enormous gameworld is a bit on the empty side but the atmosphere (awesome music!) & feeling of heroism & adventure is what counts. Some of the puzzles still eluded me until about 15 years later... Some bad sides too: the game is extremely dependant on your Amiga configuration (kickstart & memory config) to work properly and not corrupt after loading a savegame. Enemies also don't animate nearly as good as your character.
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rsherbine 2005-01-21
(9/10)
I agree with bbagnall; I think of this game and The Bard's Tale when I play modern RPGs. I don't see why there can't be a remake/update/enhancement of these two classics. (No, the recent Bard's Tale for Xbox/PS2 doesn't count - it was quite fun, but WHERE WAS SKARA BRAE?) And, like The Bard's Tale, this was one of the first Amiga games to make me crawl with envy; I still consider the graphics from these two games to be beautiful. The control interface is a little iffy, but then, when this was published designers were still trying to figure out how to integrate the novel computer MOUSE (remember Psygnosis' control interface for Barbarian? Ugh.).
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thechap 2005-01-21
(10/10)
I really wanted to vote 10 for this game, but resisted and gave it a 9. The game that got me into RPG's and one of my first Amiga games. It may be dated, but definately worth checking out if you have never tried it.
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bbagnall 2005-01-20
I always had a C64 through the eighties but Faery Tale Adventure is the first game released for the Amiga that made me want to switch over. I was amazed at the detail of the world and the sheer area that could be explored (I think there were many thousands of screens to explore, according to magazine ads). I was overjoyed to get the C64 version, but the disk access ruined the experience. Times of Lore made up for it though. Today, when I play Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance or other overhead games on the XBox, I think of this.
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