Every now and then a gem of a game sneaks up on me and I’m surprised at what a small team of developers can accomplish. Morning’s Wrath is high up there on the list of these pleasant surprises because Ethereal Darkness Interactive really got it right. Admittedly the game doesn’t have the “spit and polish” that an RPG created by one of the big name game companies might have, but frankly I’ve seen products come out on the shelves from such companies that were much rougher around the edges than Morning’s Wrath, and without half the storyline or fun gameplay. It’s the combination of storyline and puzzle-solving gameplay that makes this game a gem among games.
Morning’s Wrath is different from most roleplaying games for several reasons, not the least of which is that the “hero” of the story is actually a heroine. This is the story of Princess Morning, a spunky little blonde who happened to make a bad choice in fiancйe. Morning’s family has been contentedly ruling the quiet little kingdom of Leowyn for many years. Unfortunately what they didn’t realize is that below this seeming peace was brewing a war. The story has all the classic elements of orphaned princess, betrayed by the man who said he loved her, and yes, even the ethereal advisor from beyond the grave giving advice to our heroine.
The gameplay reminds me of one of the classic roleplaying games of my college days. And yes, I realize I'm dating myself by saying that it reminds me of games like the King's Quest series of games. But I'll at least make you look up when those games were current if you really insist on figuring out my age. Instead I'll explain what the gameplay is like. Movement is the simple “point and click” method, where if your character can find a path to the spot, she'll walk there. Occasionally this means that you have to backtrack a bit to help Morning figure out how to get from point A to point B, but generally the pathing is clear enough that you can get where you want without difficulty. What is more difficult is the combat in game. Or at least, getting Morning to attack who you want, when you want. I'll willingly confess that I've played the game in “god mode” since I found the command to turn it on. I really just wanted to play the game, not have to worry about every creature that came after me. If you do want to leave it set so you have to fight everything, I'd suggest that you learn the magic system and buff yourself up to be a caster.
The spell system is another part of the game I've not seen anywhere else. And, something I wish more games would do, in fact, to give variety to their casters. As you advance through the game, Morning learns new “magic” abilities and new “kinetic” abilities. To cast a spell, you combine at least one magic with at least one kinetic ability and create a spell scroll. You can use more than one type of magic and kinetic ability when making a spells scroll for varying effects (at a higher mana cost as well, of course). For example, you could make a “Fire Blast, Fire Magnet” spell that would have one effect, or a “Fire Blast, Stone Magnet” spell that would have a different effect. You could even create a “Fire Blast Magnet” spell that would do something different. As you can use each more than once (2 magics with one kinetic, etc) and there are 12 magic and 12 kinetic abilities to combine to make spells, the possibilities seem nearly limitless. When you create a spell scroll, you then right click to memorize it. This spell then becomes the spell you will cast each time you right click on an enemy or area. The game uses mana to limit spell casting ability, and health to limit how long Morning can take a beating before she dies. Of course, if you play like I did, her health never drops, so your only limiting factor is mana. Carry enough mana potions, which can be found in various supply around the world, and you won't even really have to worry about mana.
So, if you have turned off the need to worry about the various denizens of the game world, what's the point of playing, you may ask. Puzzles, that's what. The game is one big puzzle with other small puzzles tucked within. These are mostly logic puzzles where you have to think “outside the box” a bit in order to advance through the game. I'm only going to give one example so as not to spoil the gameplay for you. At one point you'll find an enemy soldier who has locked himself inside a room and refuses to come out. Take note of what the soldier's weakness is, or fear is in this case, and find a way to use it to your advantage to get the artifact that is locked in the room with him.
On, and speaking of artifacts, that's the main storyline of the game. Morning is looking for artifacts to place in a mana well to restore an ancient magical power that she'll then use to defeat the Ashidian army. To quote from the official site...
The Mana Well lies in the ruined atrium under the foundations of The Castle Iridine. It was first discovered by the folk of The Lost Region, and with its power they built a great city under the plains of Summerfound. Before long it was discovered that the manaquifer had seeped into a vein of lead which brought a tainted the mana. The folk of The Lost Region fell victim to mana poisoning and their city became a desolate graveyard where evil things dwelt.Morning has unsealed this chamber, and in fact gone into the Lost Region, in hopes of restoring the mana well, and perhaps even cleansing it so that it can be used without the fear of becoming tainted. That, in a nutshell, is the story of the game.It was this same well that the Leowyn people discovered when they settled on Summerfound. They too grew mighty from it's power, and so also began to fall into darkness; but instead the ruined atrium was sealed and never again would the mana be used except in the greatest hour of need.
I've played for at least 12 hours now and am still not completely through the game at this point. I've made a few mistakes along the way and had to go back to my last saved game. Silly things, really, that if I'd been thinking wouldn't have happened. But, it is things like that which make the game fun and challenging. From where I am in the storyline, I'm guessing that I'm near the end, so the game isn't a huge long one. And that's ok in this case, because I think if it were it would begin to feel rather tedious by the end. There's a decent variety of creatures that you face, but not enough to supply an epic scale game.
Which brings me logically around to the other point about this game that impresses me. Often times when I look at a game created on a small scale like Morning's Wrath was, something ends up having to give. Sometimes it is the storyline, sometimes it is sound, sometimes it is graphics. I honestly can't say that I feel that way in any respect when it comes to MW. Graphically the game has a lot of variety to it. There are little things like chests, books in the book cases, minute details that make the world seem much more real but are often left out of games. And there are a vast variety of creature models, and varying AI for the creatures, as well. Most recently I encountered a creature called a Zalamatern that is simply a glowing ball of lava, or at least that is what it appears to be from a distance. If you don't close with it and attack it fast enough, it blows itself up like a lava bomb and, if I weren't in god mode, do a lot of damage to poor Morning. The only real thing that I can say I wish they had added before releasing the game was a way to turn off (or adjust) the music vs. the sound effects. I tend to play most games with the musical score turned off simply because there is enough noise in my home at any given time that I don't need more. I'll sometimes leave sound effects on if I can toggle them separately to add depth to gameplay, but in this case I turned the sound completely off before playing MW. I played the music enough to get a feel for it, and it is good, no complaints there. If you're a fan of game music, you'll enjoy it. In fact, on the website for Morning's Wrath, you can listen to the music separate from the game even. It’s simply a personal preference on my part to have it off.
The last thing I want to say before closing is that there's a secondary reason I like this game. As a mother of young children who are as into fantasy roleplaying as I am, I have a hard time finding games that I can let them play. Admittedly when Morning attacks someone, little blood splatters fly out, and stay on screen for a few seconds. But this game is far from one I would consider violent. It is a part of any fantasy story that the good guy attacks and, hopefully, kills the bad guy. This game is perfect for an young fantasy fan looking for a light roleplaying game. There's nothing in the text of the storyline that is objectionable. Its simply a fun, albeit sometimes puzzling, story based game. I've let both my 10 year old son and my 7 year old daughter give it a try, and both enjoy it. I laughed out loud the first time my daughter played the game, in fact, because she turned to her brother with a very self satisfied grin and said “See, girls can to swing swords” as she proceeded to take Morning through the upper levels of the castle swinging at every soldier that moved.
The one bit of advice I gave my kids for being able to complete a game like this is simply this. “If it moves, kill it. If it doesn't move and you can see a name on it, pick it up. You WILL use that item somewhere, somehow. Even if you have to store stuff somewhere in the game world, pick it up.” My kids have been challenged to think creatively, and to think before just acting, as they play Morning's Wrath. Perhaps if they play more games like it, these lessons will start to apply to real life as well. At least, a mom can hope.
Overall I highly recommend Morning's Wrath to anyone who is looking for a quick, occasionally challenging, storyline game. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at what you find. I know I was.
I’ve played computer games since college, addicted first to story type games like Might and Magic. I have 3 children who also love computer games. My oldest son is a typical kid who loves the challenge of pressing the right combination of buttons and levers on a joystick in just the right way to make something happens, and frequently gets frustrated with mom’s slow fingers. ;) We use computers for both education and entertainment, and sometimes even bribery for good behavior.
The “glory days” of computer gaming for me were when games like Spectre Supreme, Pirate’s Gold, the Might and Magic series, the original Prince of Persia… those sorts of games were coming out on a regular basis. Back then I owned a Macintosh and was a die hard Mac fan. I was one of the first in my area to buy an iMac and on it learned the joy of playing games on the internet like daily crossword puzzle and “mind bender” type puzzles. My first online RPG was given to me for Christmas the year EQ was released, and I was hooked from day one. I played EQ for about a year. I started playing DaoC during late alpha testing, and was hooked on it.. well, to be honest I still am. I’ve tried pretty much every MMORPG I can get my hands on, from big names like EQ, to more obscure ones such as Underlight. I’ve been writing for IMGS since the first DaoC guide, and find I love the challenge of learning a game and presenting what I’ve learned (and sometimes my opinions), to other players.
I’m not a very strong player as far as learning PvE or quick reaction times, so I tend to stay away from games where I’m pitted against someone else in a way that requires physical (rather than mental) response. I still enjoy story and puzzle games, and in a way that’s how I still approach online games. I would much rather spend hours working through a quest than 5 minutes in combat against another player. I still get lost in simulation type games, obsessing over them until I’ve gotten them beaten. And I like being able to sit down at the computer when I’ve got less than half an hour and playing through a few levels of a puzzle game. I tend not to like first-person shooter type games, or anything with person to person violence, so I steer away from them unless they are fantasy based settings. All in all, I enjoy computer gaming so much that my life feels incomplete somehow when my computer is down.
