Roland Clarke's Blog, page 37

T is for Tomb Raider

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The aim of my Blogging From A to Z Challenge is to find the origins of online games, some relatively modern and some with ancient roots. Gaming might well be a modern take on an art that is almost timeless – storytelling. A perfect excuse for a writer to delve a little deeper.
[Visit here for links to other A to Z participants.]

Game: Rise of the Tomb Raider is an engrossing action-adventure video game that promises and delivers. It is the sequel to the 2013 video game Tomb Raider, a reboot of the franchise of the same name.

Release Date: Xbox 360, Xbox One – November 2015; Microsoft Windows – 28 January 2016; PlayStation 4 – 11 October 2016; macOS – 12 April 2018; Linux – 2018.

Developer: Crystal Dynamics

Publisher:  Square Enix

Genre/gameplay mechanics: 3rd-person controlling Lara Croft through various environments, battling enemies, and completing puzzle platforming sections, while using improvised weapons and gadgets to progress; semi-open world; open hub zones with resources and side missions; crafting system allows player to create items like different arrow types; combat options including stealth and sneak attacks; quick time events and dodging to avoid deadly traps.

Setting: Siberia – via a snow-bound Soviet-era mining installation as a base of operations to the lost city of Kitezh under a glacier. Realistic and atmospheric.

Storytelling: Builds on 2013 Tomb Raider storyline so strong storyline. Lara Croft turns to her late father’s research into the lost city of Kitezh and the promise of immortality. Lara organises an expedition to Syria, hoping to uncover the tomb of the Prophet of Constantinople, a key figure in the legend of Kitezh. Although successful, the tomb is empty, and Lara is interrupted by Trinity—an ancient order of knights that now exists as a paramilitary organization investigating the supernatural—and their leader Konstantin. Discoveries prompt Lara to go to Siberia, where events unfold.

Releases + Expansions:

The  Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch DLC sees Lara investigating a disturbance within the Soviet mining facility.
The Cold Darkness Awakened DLC sees Lara enter a decommissioned Soviet weapons bunker that has been breached by a Trinity patrol.

Sequels: On 15 March 2018, the third game in the rebooted series, Shadow of the Tomb Raider was officially confirmed by Square Enix. It will serve as the third and final game in the rebooted origin story. It is currently set to be fully revealed on 27 April 2018 and released worldwide on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows on 14 September 2018.

Formats: Xbox 360, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, macOS, Linux

Origins (Chronological):

2013 – Tomb Raider  is the tenth title in the  Tomb Raider franchise . Rather than a sequel, the team decided to completely reboot the series, re-establishing the origins of Lara Croft for the second time, following  Tomb Raider: Legend . Tomb Raider is set on Yamatai, an island from which Lara, who is untested and not yet the battle-hardened explorer she is in other titles in the series, must save her friends and escape while being hunted down by a malevolent cult.
1993 – Core Design, began to develop Lara Croft as the lead protagonist for its 1996 video game Tomb Raider. Lead graphic artist Toby Gard went through about five designs before arriving at the character’s final appearance with inspiration that included pop artist Neneh Cherry, comic book character Tank Girl, the film  Hard Boiled  and an  Æon Flux He settled on a tough South American woman with a braid named Laura Cruz. Eidos management preferred a more “UK friendly” name and selected Lara Croft from similar-sounding British names found in an English telephone directory.
1981 – Raiders of the Lost Ark : although developers wanted to avoid being derivative, Lara Croft must share some of her origins with those explored in my Indiana Jones
However, there were many notable female explorers and archaeologists in the 20th century and earlier. This Pinterest board on Women Explorers in History illustrates the breadth, as does this post on Biographies, which includes:
1831-1892 – Amelia B. Edwards was an English novelist, journalist, traveller and Egyptologist. Her most successful literary works included the Egyptian travelogue A Thousand Miles up the Nile (1877), which described her 1873–1874 voyage. In 1882, she co-founded the Egypt Exploration Fund (now the Egypt Exploration Society).
1776-1839 – Lady Hester Stanhope was a British socialite, adventurer and traveller. Her archaeological expedition to Ashkelon in 1815 is considered the first modern excavation in the history of Holy Land archaeology. Her use of a medieval Italian document is described as “one of the earliest uses of textual sources by field archaeologists”.

Adaptations set in the ‘Tomb Raider’ universe numerous from the video games to the 2018 film – include:          

VIDEO GAMES – there have been eleven main title games to date, and the twelfth, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is due out on 14 September 2018.
FILMS – there have been three including the 2018 movie which received mixed reviews, but Matt Zoller Seitz said, “Although it borrows from the game (and, partially, its sequel) for structure and most of its key action sequences, “Tomb Raider” never feels like a pointless companion piece to a work that was created for a different medium.” And his final words intrigue me, “and a female hero who’s as elegant as she is deadly: an ass-kicking Audrey Hepburn.”
COMICS – The original series of comics, which were released between 1999 and 2005, was published by Top Cow and were primarily based on the games released by Core Design. In 2014, following the reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise, the series was revived and is currently being published by Dark Horse Comics. The new timeline of events is based on the rebooted iteration of Lara Croft and her adventures.
NOVELS – Four official novels have been written. The first three, set within the original timeline, were published between 2003 and 2005 – The Amulet of Power, The Lost Cult and The Man of Bronze. Another novel set within the 2013 reboot timeline, Tomb Raider: The Ten Thousand Immortals, was published in 2014 as a continuation of the original story. A fifth book, titled Lara Croft and the Blade of Gwynnever was published in late 2016 and is a stand-alone adventure

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Recommendation: Rise of the Tomb Raider was critically acclaimed. GameSpot’s Mike Mahardy lauded the believability of the game’s characters, as well as the addition of more tombs and the variety of options in combat. He concluded that “Crystal Dynamics has found equilibrium in almost every way.” Lucy O’Brien of IGN praised the depiction of Lara and the world design. She claimed that the game is “the most fun I’ve had with a Lara Croft game since 1996” and stated that it “takes its predecessor’s winning formula and improves on it in every way”. Metacritic gave it an average score of 86/100 on Xbox and PC. In August 2016, Rise of the Tomb Raider placed 18th on Time’s The 50 Best Video Games of All Time list.

4.8 Stars: I never played Tomb Raider until very recently, daunted by the puzzles, death-defying jumps and elements that I believed put it beyond my gaming abilities. Attempting an Assassin’s Creed game, my failings were confirmed. But Rise of the Tomb Raider has reversed my thoughts – and my rating reflects that. Not only have the settings felt realistic and immersive, the storyline kept me engrossed and the game kept me entertained, but also the gameplay has been straightforward – once I had discovered the basic tricks. Just forget about my ability to kill dangerous wildlife IF Lara gets cornered.

Setting: 4.75*
Storyline: 4.75*
Gameplay: 5*
Entertainment: 4.75*
Genesis: 4.75*

Alternative ‘T’ thoughts:

T is also for another favourite movie The Truman Show (1998), but there was no video game.

+ ‘T’ Games played: Tantra

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG

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S is for Star Wars

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The aim of my Blogging From A to Z Challenge is to find the origins of online games, some relatively modern and some with ancient roots. Gaming might well be a modern take on an art that is almost timeless – storytelling. A perfect excuse for a writer to delve a little deeper.
[Visit here for links to other A to Z participants.]

 

Game: SWTOR or Star Wars: The Old Republic is an immersive MMORPG within a vast and detailed SF/fantasy galaxy based in the Star Wars universe.

Release Date: NA: December 20, 2011; EU: December 20, 2011; AU: March 1, 2012

Developer: BioWare

Genre/gameplay mechanics: open world; action-adventure; high production values; ten playable species – with restrictions; eight classes – four Galactic Republic & four Sith Empire; two subclasses per class; unique interactive fully-voiced storyline for each class; great companion system –  five per class with own skills and story; class-based starships; planetary exploration; optional warzones and open-world PvP. Tons of extra features like space combat/missions, crafting, strongholds (housing), etc. FTP with restrictions + sub + cash shop.

Setting: SWTOR is set 300 years after the events in Bioware’s Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and more than 3000 years before the events in the movie, Episode 1: The Phantom Menace as a time of tenuous peace seems about to vanish across numerous planets, many controlled by other species and factions than the principal combatants, the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire.

Storytelling: Expansive and immersive. Players are thrust into a galaxy where the Jedi Order and the Republic are struggling to maintain control of the core worlds after yet another war while the Sith plot their downfall and the expansion of the new Empire. The conflict opens on many fronts and across many planets, where native factions are engaged in political struggles or civil war. Each of the eight classes has a three-act storyline, against a background arc, that progresses as the character levels up. Players’ choices permanently open or close storylines and affect players’ non-player character (NPC) companions. All class storylines converge in the expansions.

Releases + Expansions – six expansions with last two changing companion system:

Rise of the Hutt Cartel – April 14, 2013: The expansion is centred on the planet Makeb and the rising threat of the Hutt Cartel. The campaign is fully voiced. The level cap was raised to 55, with the levelling from 50 onwards centred on Makeb
Galactic Starfighter – February 4, 2014: introduced 12v12 space-based PvP combat on two maps, with 2 ‘capture-the-flag’ combat missions. Three stock starfighters were made available – a scout, a strike fighter, and a gunship.
Galactic Strongholds – October 14, 2014: introduced player housing and flagships for guilds.
Shadow of Revan – December 9, 2014: centred on the Order of Revan seeking to establish a new galactic order, led by the reborn Revan himself. The campaign raised the level cap to 60 and takes place on two new worlds: Rishi, a tropical pirate haven on the edge of the galaxy, and Yavin 4.
Knights of the Fallen Empire – October 27, 2015: with the emergence of a new threat from another Empire, the storyline departed from the original Jedi v Sith conflict. New companions available to all classes replaced the old class-based ones, although they are slowly returning – for everyone. The level cap rose to 65.
Knights of the Eternal Throne – December 2, 2016: continuing from KOTFE expansion, KOTET focuses on defeating Empress Vaylin and the Eternal Empire. The level cap rose to 70.

Formats: Microsoft Windows

Origins (Chronological):

1977 – The Star Wars franchise began in 1977 with the release of the film Star Wars (later subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981), followed by the successful sequels  The Empire Strikes Back  (1980) and  Return of the Jedi  (1983); these three films constitute the original Star Wars A prequel trilogy was released between 1999 and 2005, which received mixed reactions from both critics and fans. A sequel trilogy began in 2015 with the release of  Star Wars: The Force Awakens  and continued in 2017 with the release of  Star Wars: The Last Jedi .
1934+1936 – Flash Gordon is a 1936 science fiction film serial. Shown in 13 chapters, it was the first screen adventure for the comic-strip character Flash Gordon that was invented by Alex Raymond only two years earlier in 1934. Originally, George Lucas wanted to adapt the  Flash Gordon  space adventure comics and serials into his own films, having been fascinated by them since he was young. In 1979, he said, “I especially loved the Flash Gordon serials… Of course, I realize now how crude and badly done they were … loving them that much when they were so awful, I began to wonder what would happen if they were done really well”.
1920s – 1940s – Nazi era parallels include: The stormtroopers share a name with the Nazi stormtroopers (see also Sturmabteilung). Imperial officers’ uniforms resemble some historical German uniforms of World War II and the political and security officers of the Empire resemble the black-clad SS down to the imitation silver death’s head insignia on their officer’s caps. World War II terms were used for names in Star Wars. Lucas himself has drawn parallels between Palpatine and his rise to power to historical dictators such as Adolf Hitler plus Julius Caesar, and Napoleon Bonaparte.
Other historical comparisons include the plot climax of Revenge of the Sith being modelled after the fall of the democratic Roman Republic (27 BC) and the formation of the empire.

Adaptations set in the SWTOR universe, include:

Chronicle Books released The Art and Making of Star Wars: The Old Republic in November 2011, which chronicles the creation of the game and includes concept artwork and interviews with the development team. The book was written by former Star Wars Insider editor Frank Parisi and BioWare writing director Daniel Erickson.
Comics – An internet comic titled Threat of Peace, produced by Dark Horse and written by The Old Republic developer Rob Chestney offers backstory to the game. The story spans ten years from the signing of the Treaty of Coruscant to the events that start the game. A second internet comic titled Blood of the Empire is set 25 years before the Treaty of Coruscant and offers readers a new perspective on the events leading up to the start of The Old Republic.
Novels – A 256-page novel called Deceived was released by Del Rey on March 22, 2011. This story, by Paul S. Kemp, tells of Darth Malgus, the Sith Lord responsible for the sacking of Coruscant. Another novel written by Sean Williams called  Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance  was published on July 21, 2010. Drew Karpyshyn wrote a novel titled  Revan , published on November 15, 2011. It features Revan, revealing his fate after the  Knights of the Old Republic Karpyshyn wrote another novel,  The Old Republic: Annihilation , that was released on November 13, 2012.

 

 

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Recommendation: SWTOR has received generally positive reviews from critics, with a score of 85 on Metacritic and an 83.87% on GameRankings. PC Gamer gave a 93/100, praising the story, voice acting, and the amount of content available. Gamespy gave a review of 4/5, praising the storylines and companion system but criticising the “standard kill and fetch” quests. GameSpot gave the game 8.0/10, saying “[The Old Republic] isn’t the next step in online role-playing games. Instead, it’s a highly entertaining refinement of what has come before it. The game has received a 9.0/10 “Amazing” rating from IGN.com. The final verdict of MMOs.com was “Good” There is an extensive community although player numbers are falling in the face of newer games and some problems – as below.

4.47 Stars: My partner and I have played SWTOR extensively, completing all eight class stories and every expansion except the Starfighter one, as we ‘suck’ at space combat, and the latest one. The settings feel realistic from an SF angle and the story-lines were excellent with some classes more memorable than others, plus some favourite companions – like ‘the bug guy’. Gameplay was good, although there are a lot of skills and the crafting can be a slog. Great fun playing the class stories, but from there the game gets repetitive as each class begins to follow a similar line. Then, we lost our companions and when they came back – one-by-one and not all – our relationships were minimal. I have two ‘instant’ level 70 characters, but only one that started at the beginning. Will she ever get to 70?

Setting: 4.75*
Storyline: 4.6*
Gameplay: 4.5*
Entertainment: 4*
Genesis: 4*

Alternative ‘S’ thoughts:

S is also for Shawshank Redemption as in the 1994 movie and also Stephen King’s 1982 novella. The movie is in my top five of all-time. No game.

+ ‘S’ Games played: Star Trek Online and Shaiya.

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG

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R is for Resident Evil

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The aim of my Blogging From A to Z Challenge is to find the origins of online games, some relatively modern and some with ancient roots. Gaming might well be a modern take on an art that is almost timeless – storytelling. A perfect excuse for a writer to delve a little deeper.
[Visit here for links to other A to Z participants.]

Game: Resident Evil: Revelations 2, known in Japan as Biohazard Revelations 2, is an episodic survival horror video game. It is the tenth major instalment in the Resident Evil franchise (22nd overall). The game is a follow up to Resident Evil: Revelations and Resident Evil 5.

Release Date: February 25, 2015 Episode 1 and then weekly

Developer/Publisher: Capcom

Genre/gameplay mechanics: Survival Horror; mystery; puzzles; Single-player, Cooperative; four-episode structure; stealth elements; ability to switch from main to ‘sidekicks’; bonus Raid mode – a comeback from the first Revelations with new changes, more missions and characters.

Setting: a facility on Sushestvovanie Island, where the “Afflicted” are in wait. It is unknown where exactly the island is located, as it is not listed on any maps. However, the island was previously affiliated with the Soviet Union, harbours many inhabitants of Russian descent, and the main language was Russian, placing it somewhere close to Russia, Latvia, Estonia or Kaliningrad Oblast.

Storytelling: The main storyline of the Resident Evil games primarily concerns a group of individuals who battle against the Umbrella Corporation as well as characters in relation to them who have developed the T-virus which, among other things, can transform humans into zombies as well as mutate other creatures into horrifying monsters. Resident Evil: Revelations 2 references previous instalments and is set between the events of Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6. Developed storyline with decision-based alternative endings. Two storylines: (i)  Claire Redfield is one main protagonist and Barry Burton‘s daughter, Moira, plays her ‘sidekick’. (ii) Barry is the other playable protagonist and he is assisted by Natalia Korda, a little girl with supernatural abilities.

Releases + Expansions – 11 major instalments – 24 releases overall:

First release     Resident Evil                          March 22, 1996

Latest release   Resident Evil 7: Biohazard    January 24, 2017

Formats: PS3, PS4, Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch

Origins (Chronological):

1989 – The development of first Resident Evil , originally titled Biohazard, and the first game dubbed ‘survival horror’, began in 1993 when Tokuro Fujiwaraconceived it as a remake of his earlier 1989 Capcom horror game  Sweet Home , borrowing gameplay mechanics and the mansion setting. Based on the 1989 Japanese horror film of the same name, and supervised by the film’s director, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, the Sweet Home game used the same setting, storyline and scariness.
The German novelist and story writer, Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924), was a major inspiration behind the Revelations 2 game story, and the idea came from the scenario writer, Dai Satō. Since the first Revelations used passages from Dante Alighieri, the team felt that would be a common element from the Revelations series. Also, that would give a deep meaning for the quotes and themes approach, like “The Transformation” to the story of the game. Scattered notes and books quote or echo Kafka. His work typically features isolated protagonists faced by bizarre or surrealistic predicaments and incomprehensible social-bureaucratic powers.
The title of the four episodes of the game are allusions to his work,

Episode 1, called Penal Colony, is based on a short story by the name: In the Penal Colony, (October 1914), set on an island with an elaborate torture and execution device.
Episode 2, named Contemplation – Contemplation (short story collection), (1904-1912). Some of these stories echo with events in the game.
Episode 3, called Judgement – The Judgment(1912) – in which some read complex views concerning the notion of judgement itself.
Episode 4, called Metamorphosis – The Metamorphosis, (1915) in which the main character find himself transformed into a giant insect, much as some game characters are transformed into something else.

Adaptations set in the Resident Evil universe :

FILMS – The six Resident Evil films follow Alice(Milla Jovovich), a character created for the films, who battles the Umbrella Corporation, whose bioweapons have triggered a zombie apocalypse. Characters from the games also appear, including Jill Valentine, Carlos Olivera, Claire Redfield, Albert Wesker, Chris Redfield, and  Barry Burton. These have been the most successful movie adaptations of any video-games.
ANIMATED FILMS – there have been four made.
NOVELS – seven written by D. Perry; five novelizations of live-action films; three other novels, two in Japanese.
COMICS – four comics and two manga.

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Recommendation: On release, the reviews were mixed to positive, there was praise about the setting, story, characters and the co-op gameplay, but the graphics and some technical issues were largely criticized. For example, IGN writer, Lucy O’Brien, said the game “kept me hooked right up until its finale”. She felt the game’s “horror does not frighten” and criticized the graphics details and overused enemies. Her review praised the elements of action-adventure, the co-op gameplay, the implement of some traditional puzzles and spoke well about the bonus Raid mode.

As at the end of December 2017, the title reached a combined 2.3 million units sold, surpassing its predecessor and becoming the 24th best seller of the company.

3.75 Stars: I admit that I have only played Resident Evil: Revelations 2 – and then only Episode One – so starring the game fairly is impossible. The setting was scary but not in the nightmarish sense that Hellblade was. It’s clear that ‘survival horror’ is not my genre – even if there are challenges that spark my determination. I’m best with a sword, which may be why Moira with a crowbar survived so well. Fun but not immersive.

Setting: 4*
Storyline: 4*
Gameplay: 3.75*
Entertainment: 3.5*
Genesis: 3.5*

Alternative ‘R’ thoughts:

R is also for Ready Player One, both  Ernest Cline’s 2011 book and the 2018 Spielberg film based on it. A worldwide virtual reality game that can’t be ignored and yet I must – I’ve yet to read the book, or see the movie, plus the game is probably…still in development. I do love all the cultural references in the movie trailers and in the book’s outlines, so I suspect the origins might be fascinating and I will succumb.

+ ‘R’ Games played: the enjoyable MMORPG Rift, plus Revelation, Runes of Magic, and Raiderz [shutdown August 2015].

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG

Hela da

 

 

Q is for Quake

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The aim of my Blogging From A to Z Challenge is to find the origins of online games, some relatively modern and some with ancient roots. Gaming might well be a modern take on an art that is almost timeless – storytelling. A perfect excuse for a writer to delve a little deeper.
[Visit here for links to other A to Z participants.]

Game: Quake is a first-person shooter video game and the first game in the successful Quake series.

Release Date: June 22, 1996

Developer: id Software

Genre/gameplay mechanics: single-player and multi-player. Single-player mode – players explore and navigate to the exit of each Gothic and dark level, facing monsters and finding secret areas along the way; reaching the exit takes the player to the next level; three pathways with easy, medium, hard and Nightmare skill levels. Multi-player mode – either the single-player campaign together in co-op mode, or play against each other, popularly in deathmatches.

Setting: players must find their way through various maze-like, medieval environments while battling a variety of monsters using a wide array of weapons.

Storytelling: in the single-player game, the player takes the role of the protagonist known as Ranger, who was sent into a portal to stop an enemy code-named “Quake”. The government had been experimenting with teleportation technology and developed a working prototype called a “Slipgate” The mysterious Quake compromised the Slipgate by connecting it with its own teleportation system, using it to send death squads to the “Human” dimension to test the martial capabilities of humanity. The sole surviving protagonist in “Operation Counterstrike” is Ranger, whose main objective is to collect four magic runes from four dimensions of Quake; to stop the enemy and end the invasion of Earth.

Releases + Expansions – various for Quake and for the sequel; includes:

There were two official expansion packs released for Quake. The expansion packs pick up where the first game left off, include all the same weapons, power-ups, monsters, and gothic atmosphere/architecture, and continue/finish the story of the first game and its protagonist.
An unofficial third expansion pack, Abyss of Pandemonium, was developed by the Impel Development Team, published by Perfect Publishing, and released on April 14, 1998; an updated version, titled Abyss of Pandemonium – The Final Mission was released as freeware.
An authorized expansion pack, Q!ZONEwas developed and published by WizardWorks, and released in 1996.
In honour of Quake’s 20th anniversary, MachineGames, an internal development studio of ZeniMax Media, who are the current owners of the Quake IP, released online a new expansion pack for free, called Episode 5: Dimension of the Past.

Sequels:

Quake II, released in December 1997, made the design more technological and futuristic, rather than maintaining the focus on Lovecraftian-Cthulhu-ish fantasy.

Quake 4 followed the design themes of Quake II, whereas Quake III Arena mixed these styles.

Formats: MS-DOS, AmigaOS, Classic Mac OS, Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64, Linux, Microsoft Windows

Origins (Chronological – The various realms consist of several gothic, medieval, and lava-filled caves and dungeons, with a recurring theme of hellish and satanic imagery. Inspiration includes:

Several dark fantasy influences, most notably that of  P. Lovecraft – (August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) an American writer who achieved posthumous fame through his influential works of horror fiction. He was virtually unknown and published only in pulp magazines before he died in poverty, but he is now regarded as one of the most significant 20th-century authors in his genre. Among his most celebrated tales are  The Rats in the Walls ,  The Call of Cthulhu ,  At the Mountains of Madness ,  The Shadow over Innsmouth , and  The Shadow Out of Time , all canonical to the Cthulhu Mythos. The Cthulhu Mythos is a term coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, to identify the settings, tropes, and lore that were employed by Lovecraft and his literary successors.
Lovecraft cited Algernon Blackwood(14 March 1869 – 10 December 1951) as an influence, quoting The Centaur in the head paragraph of “The Call of Cthulhu“. He declared Blackwood’s story “The Willows” to be the single best piece of weird fiction ever written.
Lovecraft’s most significant literary influence was Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849). Like Lovecraft, Poe’s work was out of step with the prevailing literary trends of his era. Both authors created distinctive, singular worlds of fantasy and employed archaisms in their writings. Poe’s best-known fiction works are Gothic, a genre that he followed to appease the public taste. His most recurring themes deal with questions of death, including its physical signs, the effects of decomposition, concerns of premature burial, the reanimation of the dead, and mourning.

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Recommendation: Quake was critically acclaimed on the PC. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the original PC version 93.22% and 94/100, the Nintendo 64 port 76.14% and 74/100, and the Sega Saturn version 64.50%. A Next Generation critic lauded the game’s realistic 3D physics and genuinely unnerving sound effects. Major Mike of GamePro said Quake had been over-hyped but is excellent nonetheless, particularly its usage of its advanced 3D engine. He also praised the sound effects, atmospheric music, and graphics, though he criticized that the polygons used to construct the enemies are too obvious at close range. Next Generation listed Quake as number 9 on their “Top 100 Games of All Time”.

 

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG

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P is for Perfect World

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The aim of my Blogging From A to Z Challenge is to find the origins of online games, some relatively modern and some with ancient roots. Gaming might well be a modern take on an art that is almost timeless – storytelling. A perfect excuse for a writer to delve a little deeper.
[Visit here for links to other A to Z participants.]

Game: Perfect World, commonly abbreviated as PWI, is a 3D adventure and fantasy MMORPG with traditional Chinese settings. This is a special game as I met my wife in Perfect World at a birthday party, and my elf Archer avatar took her human Blademaster avatar flying…

This is the third of the oriental games that I am looking at – this one originating with Chinese mythology.

Release Date: CN: July 2005; EU: 2008; NA: September 2, 2008

NA Publisher: Perfect World Entertainment

Genre/gameplay mechanics: Flexible character customization with twelve classes, each with unique skills and roles; large-scale territorial PvP; free-to-play BUT shop/boutique [pay-to-win culture]; quest or grind to level and develop; exploration; unusual crafting; pets/genies plus unique pet class (Venomancer); open world bosses; WASD point-and-click and auto-navigation; flying.

Setting: set in the mythical world of Pan Gu with attractive environments and semi-anime graphics. Chinese-style buildings and costumes.

Storytelling: The lonely first god, Pan Gu creates the universe, then a world out of his own essential elements: fire, metal, wood, earth, and water. But his world is largely imperfect—wraiths and monsters infect it like a plague. And it’s up to the races that embody Pan Gu’s vision to create order from chaos. Basic story is sound and there are clear threads, but also plenty of dead-end side-quest distractions.

Releases + Expansions: From the original release with six classes, there have been six further chapters that develop the storyline and introduce more races and classes.

Formats: Windows

Origins (Chronological) – The fiction is based on Chinese myths and the quest text reflects that. Unfortunately, this rich literary tradition isn’t used imaginatively enough:

Chinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religious tradition that has been passed down for centuries in oral or written form. There are several aspects to Chinese mythology, including creation myths and legends, and myths concerning the founding of Chinese culture and the Chinese state.
618-907 – Hei’an Zhuan (Epic of Darkness) is the only collection of legends in epic form preserved by a community of the Han ethnicity of China, the inhabitants of the Shennongjia mountain area in Hubei, and contains accounts from the birth of Pangu until the historical era.
184-194 – Pangu is the first living being and the creator of all in some versions of Chinese mythology. The first writer to record the myth of Pangu was Xu Zheng during the Three Kingdoms Recently his name was found in a tomb dated 194 AD. Various myths exist. One legend is a Chinese version not only of the Norse myth of the Giant Ymir but also of the Babylonian story of Tiamat.
4th century BC – Shan Hai Jing (Mountain and Sea Scroll) describes the myths, witchcraft, and religion of ancient China in great detail and also has a record of the geography, sea and mountains, history, medicine, customs, and ethnicities of ancient times. It has been called an early encyclopaedia of China.
12th century BCE – Historians have written evidence of Chinese mythological symbolism in the Oracle bone script . Legends were passed down for over a thousand years before being written in books.

Recommendation: Neilie Johnson’s IGN review (29 Jan, 2009) said, “Perfect World is a beautiful, well-made MMO with a few of the seemingly inevitable flaws of the genre. While it offers all the mechanics MMO players have come to expect and allows you to see and do some spectacular things, it suffers from an inconsistent, buggy and obscure UI, an imbalanced levelling system and frequent bouts of quest-induced tedium”.

Sean Sullivan’s more recent verdict for MMS.com was ‘Good’, saying, “Maybe Perfect World was great three years ago. But it has aged and fallen far from its original standing. Its reigning feature is the character creation system …but beyond that, the game is a clunky mess. It feels dated, a relic from some bygone age that should only be appreciated at a distance.”

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4.35 Stars: Back in 2009, I went to Perfect World with my ‘guildies’ from Corum OnlIne, and was immersed in the story, characters and beautiful graphics. I created a pet-taming Venomancer [a female shapeshifting class based on the Japanese kitsune], and we formed a clan. Playing with others is essential as dungeons are part of the quest-line, and we had to know our job. There were also social occasions like the party where I met my wife-to-be – we first married in a Chinese ceremony in-game. (Now we game together.) Yes, there were problems that moved us on to other games – but not all PWI.

Setting: 4.25*
Storyline: 4.25*
Gameplay: 3.75*
Entertainment: 4.5*
Genesis: 5”

Alternative ‘P’ thoughts:

P is also for Poirot one of my favourite detectives, whose appearances include the brilliant The Murder of Roger Ackroyd – but no games.

P is also for Pan’s Labyrinth, one of my top twenty movies – but again, I found no games.

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG

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O is for Onigiri

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The aim of my Blogging From A to Z Challenge is to find the origins of online games, some relatively modern and some with ancient roots. Gaming might well be a modern take on an art that is almost timeless – storytelling. A perfect excuse for a writer to delve a little deeper.
 [Visit here for links to other A to Z participants.]

Game: Onigiri is an action MMORPG set in a fantasy land reminiscent of ancient Japan in which humans and non-humans such as Oni and other Yōkai coexist. The game has a unique progression system – rather than picking classes, players swap between weapons which each have different skills available.

This is the second of the oriental games that I am looking at – here originating with Japanese mythology.

Release Date: JP: February 6, 2014; NA: July 1, 2014

Developer/Publisher: CyberStep

Genre/gameplay mechanics: players choose one of five traits that will determine which weapons they can use; each player unlocks eight NPC partners that each have distinct personalities and abilities; real-time combat and multiple difficulty modes for each dungeon; stylish anime graphics and Japanese voice acting.

Setting: The game is set in a fantasy version of ancient Japan that is filled with creatures of myth. Landscape and inhabitants have a firm basis in myths, even though anime graphics reduce realism.

Storytelling: Ages ago the terrible Kamikui wreaked a trail of death and destruction across the land before being stopped by the goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu Oomikami. The goddess places three great Seals that forced the Kamikui to retreat. Now one of the Seals has shattered. The player character is an Oni whose peaceful life in the Western island of Onigashima is disturbed by the revival of the Kamikui

All the NPCs have backgrounds and stories.

Formats: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One

Origins (Chronological):

1st century – Japanese myths were originally transmitted orally, as in most cultures. An early source of Japanese mythology is the Nihongi, or Nihonshoki (Chronicles of Japan). Completed in 720, this work includes various myths and legends, and it helps establish the genealogy of the imperial family. The Nihongi was greatly influenced by Chinese and Korean history and mythology.
The first written version of the mythology was in A.D. 712 when the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters) was compiled for the Japanese imperial The tales tell of the creation of the world, the origin of the gods, and the ancestry of the Japanese emperors, who claimed descent from the sun goddess Amaterasu. Both the Kojiki and the Nihongi contain elements of Taoism, a Chinese religious movement that was introduced to Japan by the 600s. 

Adaptations set in the ‘Onigiri’ universe:

TV Anime – An anime television adaptation of the game was aired from April 7, 2016, on Tokyo MX and BS Fuji until June 30, 2016.

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Recommendation: Onigiri has garnered a number of favourable reviews, from Bradly Storm of Hardcore Gamer saying it was “a fairly competent and enjoyable hack-and-slash experience” even though the launch suffered from server-side latency issues to Crunchyroll calling it “a very solid title.”

However, the game has remained low-key with a moderate anime fanbase. Many players have criticized the game for its monotony after reaching a certain level.

MMOs.com gave the following summary:

Pros: +Unique weapon system. +Great NPC Companion feature. +Stylish visuals.

Cons: -Repetitive dungeon designs. -Appeal limited to anime fans. -Collision and imprecise control issues.

Alternative ‘O’ thoughts:

O is also for Oz, as in the L Frank Baum’s wonderful book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz or the subsequent films, including the strange prequel in 2013, Oz the Great and Powerful. There were numerous adaptations, including games, but none that sparked my research brain – despite Baum’s origins.

Plus, I needed to look much further East to make my gaming POV representative’ of the breadth of gaming origins. So, tomorrow we are in China.

 

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG

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N is for Nexus

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The aim of my Blogging From A to Z Challenge is to find the origins of online games, some relatively modern and some with ancient roots. Gaming might well be a modern take on an art that is almost timeless – storytelling. A perfect excuse for a writer to delve a little deeper.
[Visit here for links to other A to Z participants.]

 

Game: NEXUS: The Kingdom of the Winds, alternately known as Nexus TK or simply Nexus, a pay to play MMORPG, is loosely based on Korean mythology and on a series of graphic novels by an artist named Kim Jin. Nexus is a classic 2D MMORPG famous for being the North American version of Baram, the world’s first MMORPG.

This is the first of the oriental games that I am looking at– here originating with Korean mythology.

Release Date: KOR: 5 April 1996; NA: 1998

Developer: NEXON Inc.

Genre/gameplay mechanics: distinguished from other MMORPGs by its 2D tile graphics, intense player involvement, a central storyline, and its manhwa-like style. Flexible character development system – four “basic” paths, four sub-paths each, plus a choice from three alignments symbolizing death, balance or life. Learn about moral virtues or obtain unique abilities. Player-run game through clans. Most players are known by others and are treated with a general amount of respect by the average player, so the fanbase community is solid.

Setting: Nexus is set in a land similar, geographically, to the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Other lands such as Han and Ilbon, though not present in the game itself, are often referenced. In addition to the three kingdoms, there are nine villages in which a player may live. Three exist for each kingdom, containing houses which players may rent for a fee. Homes may be customized as a player sees fit using “floor plans” offered for homes of different sizes.

Storytelling: Rich and well-developed – “At the heart of the stories lies the struggles of three kingdoms which fight to protect their lands from enemies across the seas or beyond the mountains. The heroes and adventures of Koguryo, Buya and Nagnang face threats from mythological and historical invaders who constantly attack the lands lead by King M’hul, Queen Lasahn and King ChaeRi respectively. Together, these three nations form a region of Asia called “The Kingdom of The Winds”. This is a place shrouded in myths and legends, a land where many heroes are born, rise to great heights and occasionally, fail.”

Releases + Expansions:

Development of Baram began in Korea in 1994 and the game was released on April 5, 1996. One year later, it also entered beta in the United States, going commercial in 1998.

In 2005, the US subsidiary of NEXON changed its name to Kru Interactive and took over running Nexus, Dark Ages, and Shattered Galaxy as an independent company’

Formats: Microsoft Windows

Origins (Chronological):

Baramue Nara is the series of graphic novels by the artist named Kim Jin that is one of the origins. However, my internet surf failed to find more on what sounds like an interesting guy. Can anyone enlighten me?
1st century – The Three Kingdoms of Korea  refers to the kingdoms of Baekje, Silla and Goguryeo. The latter was later known as Goryeo, from which the modern name Korea is derived. The Three Kingdoms period in Korea extends from the first century B.C.E. (specifically 57 B.C.E.) until Silla’s triumph over Goguryeo in 668, marking the beginning of the North and South States period.
Korean mythology  refers to stories passed down by word of mouth over thousands of years on the Korean Peninsula. These stories serve as creation myths about the world and origin myths about nature or the social world. The earliest Korean myths are rooted in Korean shamanism. Rituals that glorify shamanistic gods are central to the retelling of Korean shamanistic myths. Only a fraction of Korean myths believed to have existed in ancient times were ultimately documented by Confucian and Buddhist scholars, many of whom modified the stories to fit within their own belief systems. The gods and goddesses of Korea are the topic of this article on an underappreciated pantheon of deities.

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Recommendation: Well received on its initial release and with a staunch community, today the game looks outdated compared to modern games. Current reviews are sparse and moderate.

Alternative ‘N’ thoughts:

N is also for Narnia as in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, mentioned under my C post. Or N is for New Hope as in Star Wars and that will be under S. Plus N is for Neverending Story, a wonderful book by Michael Ende and a good film.

+ ‘N’ Games played: Neverwinter.

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG

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M is for Might & Magic

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The aim of my Blogging From A to Z Challenge is to find the origins of online games, some relatively modern and some with ancient roots. Gaming might well be a modern take on an art that is almost timeless – storytelling. A perfect excuse for a writer to delve a little deeper.
[Visit here for links to other A to Z participants.]

 

Game: Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven, commonly abbreviated to Might and Magic VI or simply MM6, is an RPG that was praised for its non-linear, user-friendly and interactive approach.

Release Date: April 30, 1998

Developer: New World Computing

Genre/gameplay mechanics: player chooses & controls four adventurers; character improvement and ageing; fully explorable maps; battles can be conducted either in real time or in a turn-based mode; single-player, 1st person viewing with 360 degrees turning; keyboard controls – arrow keys not WSAD or mouse; main and side quests.

Setting: Medieval fantasy world of Enroth on continent of same name, Seven years after the events of Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars. As semi-realistic as blocky-graphics of era allowed. Terrain varies between grassland, swamp, desert and extra-terrestrial constructs.

Storytelling: Continues the 1500-year war between the Ancients and a Devil-like race of alien beings, the Kreegans, from some of previous M&M games. The war spills over into nearby planets. On Enroth, the adventurers aim to keep a rightful dynasty in control amidst various plots and machinations.

Releases + Expansions: Might and Magic is a series of RPGs created by Jon Van Caneghem. Might and Magic is considered one of the defining examples of early PC role-playing games, along with The Bard’s Tale, Ultima and Wizardry series.

The majority of the gameplay takes place in a medieval fantasy setting, while later sections of the games are often based on science fiction tropes, the transition often serving as a plot twist. Combat is turn-based, though the later games allowed the player to choose to conduct combat in real time.

From Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven onward, the interface features a three-dimensional environment.

There are ten games in the series:

Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum (1986)
Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World (1988)
Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra (1991)
Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen (1992)
Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen (1993)

Might and Magic:  World of Xeen (1994)


Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven (1998)
Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor (1999)
Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer (2000)
Might and Magic IX (2002; known as: Writ of Fate)
Might & Magic X: Legacy (2014)

Anthologies

Might and Magic Trilogy(1993), includes Might and Magic games III, IV, V, and the fanmade Swords of Xeen.
Might and Magic I, II, III, IV, V: Collection Classique(1998), contains the games I-V
Ultimate Might and Magic Archives(1998), includes the first five Might and Magic games, World of Xeen and the fanmade Swords of Xeen.
Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven – Limited Edition(1998), a collector’s edition of Might and Magic VI that included the first five games on CD-ROM as well.
Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven – Special Edition(1998), included Might and Magic games I, II, III, IV, V and the fanmade Swords of Xeen as well.
Might and Magic Sixpack(1998), includes the first six Might and Magic
Might and Magic Millennium Edition(1999), includes the Might and Magic games IV, V, VI and VII.
Might and Magic (Platinum Edition)(2002), includes the Might and Magic games VI, VII, VIII and IX.

There were several spin-offs from the main series, including Heroes of Might and Magic, Crusaders of Might and Magic, Warriors of Might and Magic, Legends of Might and Magic, and the fan-made Swords of Xeen.

In August 2003, Ubisoft acquired the rights to the Might and Magic and has since released multiple new projects using the Might and Magic brand, including a fifth instalment of the Heroes series, an action-style game called Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, and a puzzle RPG called Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes.

Limbic Entertainment has developed the latest game in the franchise, Might & Magic Heroes VII, for Ubisoft,

Formats: Microsoft Windows

Origins (Chronological):

1983-86 – The original Apple II version of Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum was written almost single-handedly by Jon Van Caneghem over three years. Van Caneghem had difficulty finding a publisher to distribute Might and Magic, so he self-published as New World Computing, handling the distribution himself from his own apartment until he was able to broker a distribution deal with Activision.

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Recommendation: Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven was a critical success upon release. GameSpot gave the game a 9.1 out of 10 and called it “a standout game in what should be a great year for role-playing game fans”, as well as saying “the graphics in Might and Magic VI are the best yet seen in a 3D first-person-perspective role-playing game.” GameRankings compiled reviews for an average of 85.14%. Might and Magic VI was nominated for the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences‘ “Role-Playing Game of the Year”, Computer Gaming World‘s “Best RPG”, PC Gamer US‘s “The Best Roleplaying Game”, GameSpot‘s “Role-playing Game of the Year”, IGN‘s “Best RPG of the Year” and Computer Games Strategy Plus‘s “RPG of the Year” awards, all of which ultimately went to Baldur’s Gate – see my post B is for Baldur’s Gate.

3.55 Stars: I played Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven, obsessively, around 1998 – determined to find a final secret cache defended by dragons in the desert – a side mission as I completed the game. After dying a few times – nothing has changed – I learnt how to manage a party and stormed ahead. Re-visiting the game after 20 years, I’m dying as I re-learn the tricks of the past – but it’s fun as I re-learn forgotten tricks.

Setting: 3.5*
Storyline: 4*
Gameplay: 3.25*
Entertainment: 4*
Genesis: 3*

Alternative ‘M’ thoughts:

M is also for A Matter of Life or Death, one of my top ten movies for so many reasons – 1946, Powell, Pressburger, Niven, Hunter, Goring…

+ ‘M’ Games played: Mabinogi, Medieval: Total War.

 

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG

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L is for LOTRO

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The aim of my Blogging From A to Z Challenge is to find the origins of online games, some relatively modern and some with ancient roots. Gaming might well be a modern take on an art that is almost timeless – storytelling. A perfect excuse for a writer to delve a little deeper.
[Visit here for links to other A to Z participants.]

Game: LOTRO or The Lord of the Rings Online is an engrossing MMORPG set in Middle-earth, the high-fantasy universe based upon J. R. R. Tolkien‘s writings.

Release Date: April 24, 2007

Developer: Turbine

Genre/gameplay mechanics: MMORPG mechanics with special features such as traits, deeds and reputation; PVE and PvMP (Player vs Monster Player); avatar selected from six races and ten classes; evolving/learnable skills; questing through virtual game-world; six-player Fellowships (groups); Kinships (clans); crafting; housing; musical instruments, festivals.

Setting: 25 distinct and semi-realistic regions of Middle Earth during the time period of The Lord of the Rings (LOTR). Each Region of Middle-earth is represented as being permanently “frozen” at a certain point in time. For example, it is always September of the Year 3018 of the Third Age in the Shire, December 3018 in Rivendell, February 3019 in Lothlórien, etc.

Storytelling: The player starts simultaneously with Frodo and company leaving The Shire and their actions on the Epic Quest Line (main storyline) are helping the Ringbearer on his task, while combating the forces of evil. These are extra events created by the makers of the game but based on LOTR lore. Throughout, the player interacts with characters from The LOTR at key moments. Standard side-quests are new stories.

The game’s milieu is based on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. However, the developers do not have rights to any other works in Tolkien’s legendarium, such as The Silmarillion, but intend to develop their interpretation of the Middle Earth world.

Releases + Expansions: In addition to regular free updates, six expansion packs have been released:

– Mines of Moria: 2008 – this expansion featured the underground world of Dwarrowdwelf.

– Siege of Mirkwood: 2009 – introduced Mirkwood region and the skirmish system.

– Rise of Isengard: 2011 – introduced Dunland region and new instances in Isengard.

– Riders of Rohan: 2012 – featured mounted combat and introduced East Rohan.

– Helm’s Deep: 2013 – introduced “epic battles” and a new region in Rohan (West Rohan).

– Mordor: – 2017 after three years of minor free updates. It introduced Plateau of Gorgoroth region and new instances in Mordor.

Formats: Microsoft Windows and OS X

Origins (Chronological) – :

Published in three volumes over the course of a year from 29 July 1954 to 20 October 1955, J. R. R. Tolkien‘s The Lord of the Rings is one of the best-selling novels ever written, with over 150 million copies sold.  Although a major work in itself, the story was only the last movement of a larger epic Tolkien had worked on since 1917, in a process he described as  mythopoeia . In 2003, it was named Britain’s best-loved novel of all time in the BBC’s The Big Read.
1937 – The Lord of the Rings started as a sequel to J. R. R. Tolkien’s work  The Hobbit , published by George Allen & Unwin.
1936 – “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics” was a 1936 lecture given by J. R. R. Tolkien on literary criticism on the Old English heroic epic poem  Beowulf . Tolkien also revealed how highly he regarded the poem: “Beowulf is among my most valued sources”, and this influence may be seen throughout his Middle-earth legendarium Plus, reading the lecture in my teens was my first encounter with the Professor.
1920-1959 – LOTRencompasses many influences , including religious and mythological sources from Tolkien’s academic studies and from personal experiences.
The  Völsunga saga  is a legendary saga, a late 13th-century Icelandic prose rendition of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan featuring, in particular, a magical golden ring and a broken sword re-forged.
1220 – The  Prose Edda , also known as the  Younger Edda ,  Snorri’s Edda often assumed to have been written, or at least compiled, by the Icelandic scholar, lawspeaker and historian Snorri Sturluson. Tolkien’s Elves and Dwarves are by and large based on these and related sagas.
9th-11th century – The influence of the Welsh language, which Tolkien had learned, is summarized in his essay English and Welsh: “If I may once more refer to my work. The Lord of the Rings, in evidence: the names of persons and places in this story were mainly composed on patterns deliberately modelled on those of Welsh (closely similar but not identical). This element in the tale has given perhaps more pleasure to more readers than anything else in it.”
10th century – Beowulf one of the most important works of Old English literature. A date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars; the only certain dating pertains to the manuscript, which was produced between 975 and 1025. Tolkien was a Professor of Old English/Anglo-Saxon and Middle English language and literature, and this literature, particularly  Beowulf , influenced his own writings.
A final question: was Tolkien creating a new mythology or building on others? See – Simon J Cook’s J R R Tolkien’s Lost English Mythology.

Adaptations set in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ universe – (Middle-earth would be too numerous):

FILMS – Three film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings have been made. The first was  The Lord of the Rings  (1978), by animator Ralph Bakshi, the first part of what was originally intended to be a two-part adaptation of the story. The second,  The Return of the King  (1980), was a television special by Rankin-Bass. The third was director Peter Jackson‘s  The Lord of the Rings  film trilogy, released in three instalments as  The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring  (2001),  The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers  (2002), and  The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King  (2003).
TELEVISION – there has been a Swedish TV series and a Finnish one. Amazon is reputed to be developing an adaptation with Warner Bros. Television and the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien.
STAGE – several adaptations have been made including musicals.
AUDIO – over a dozen recordings and radio plays have been made, notably the BBC broadcast dramatisation in 26 half-hour instalments. It starred Ian Holm as Frodo Baggins, the protagonist; he would play Bilbo Baggins, his character’s cousin/uncle, in the Peter Jackson films.
VIDEO GAMES – over two dozen games have been produced including The Lord of the Rings Online . The two most recent are: 2011 – Lord of the Rings: War in the North  is an action RPG that takes place in Northern Middle-earth; 2014 – Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor  is an action RPG – with a sequel, titled  Middle-earth: Shadow of War in 2017.

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Recommendation: The Lord of the Rings Online received wide universal acclaim on release, and positive reviews continued to appear after the game’s release. For instance, GameDaily awarded the game 9/10, praising its rich, fantasy-themed universe, well-integrated trait and title system, and a story that remains true to the works of Tolkien. Metacritic gave the game 86% (40 reviews). See also: MMORPG.com, and MMOS.com.

However, the release in July 2017 of the Mordor expansion received largely negative reviews, and there are signs in its eleventh year of operation of burn-out.  But the game has a staunch core following and Middle Earth is still populated. This interesting in-depth 2017 analysis at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j22DC4axaQ gives the pros and cons.

4.7 Stars: My partner and I have played The Lord of the Rings Online since 2011, for a time in an active kinship and more recently on-and-off, especially for festivals. Great soundtrack and setting make it enjoyable. Classes and races give enough variety. For me, this is the nearest I can come to being in Middle-earth – interacting with Frodo and Elrond were highlights. Lore is very true to Tolkien with acceptable developments within the restrictions of rights. There’s a huge world to explore and we have yet to visit everywhere. Nor have we tackled the end-game grind that we have been warned about.

Setting: 4.75*
Storyline: 5*
Gameplay: 4*
Entertainment: 4.75*
Genesis: 5*

Alternative ‘L’ thoughts:

L is also for Lagaan, a superb Hindi movie that I highly recommend, even if it’s very long at 225 minutes – drama, romance, cricket and so much more.

 

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG
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K is for King Arthur

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The aim of my Blogging From A to Z Challenge is to find the origins of online games, some relatively modern and some with ancient roots. Gaming might well be a modern take on an art that is almost timeless – storytelling. A perfect excuse for a writer to delve a little deeper.
[Visit here for links to other A to Z participants.]

 

Game: King Arthur: The Role-Playing Wargame is a strategy game with an Arthurian theme that builds on the mystery-shrouded tales of the Round Table – and yes, he gets his sword.

Release Date: November 24, 2009

Developer: NeoCore Games

Genre/gameplay mechanics: turn-based strategy; diplomacy; campaign map; real-time battles with victory locations; heroes; heroic quests; recruitment; single or multi-player; RPG elements.

Setting: Quasi-historical Britannia made up of numerous provinces in a post-Roman Britain. For an ex-pat, this could be England, even Wales.

Storytelling: Open-ended single-player campaign storyline has many scenarios, some built around Arthurian lore, but others delve into fantasy realms, even intermixing foreign elements. The player takes the role of King Arthur himself and commands his knights and armies to expand his kingdom. It is explained that Uther Pendragon, Arthur’s father, failed to draw the sword Excalibur from the stone. Arthur, years later, pulls the sword from the stone, unleashing ancient forces upon Britannia.

Releases + Expansions:

Bug fixing patches versioned 1.02, 1.03 and 1.04 were released after publication.
NeoCore released two downloadable content items: Knights and Vassals (adding further units and heroes), and Legendary Artifacts (adding additional weapons, relics and other items) on January 19, 2010.
July 2010 expansion – King Arthur: The Saxons added an additional campaign set after the Arthurian period, during the Saxon era of Britain; sandbox game style.
January 2011 expansion – King Arthur: The Druids, set in Wales, ‘sandbox’ type game format.
September 2011 stand-alone expansion – King Arthur: Fallen Champions was released, with a story-based mission structure. Intended to act as a bridge between the stories of the original game and the sequel.

Sequels: September 2011 (EU) + April 2012 (Worldwide) –  King Arthur II: The Role-Playing Wargame. Single-player but no multi-player.

Formats: Microsoft Windows

Origins (Chronological) – the core sources for King Arthur :

Most later Arthurian works are derivative of   Le Morte d’Arthur , Thomas Malory‘s retelling of the entire legend in a single work in English – first published in 1485 by William Caxton.
c1170-1190 –  Chrétien de Troyes wrote five Arthurian romances that had the greatest influence with regard to the development of Arthur’s character and legend.
The first narrative account of Arthur’s life is found in Geoffrey of Monmouth‘s Latin work  Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain), completed c. 1138. Over 200 manuscript copies of Geoffrey’s Latin work are known to have survived. It is one of the central pieces of the Matter of Britain.
The 9th-century Latin compilation   Historia Brittonum describes the supposed settlement of Britain by Trojan expatriates and states that Britain took its name after Brutus, a descendant of Aeneas. The work was the “single most important source used by Geoffrey of Monmouth and was the first source to portray King Arthur, who is described as a dux bellorum (‘military leader’) or miles (‘warrior, soldier’) and not as a king.
Based on a chronicle begun in the late 8th century in Wales,   Annales Cambriae  (Welsh Annals) also sees Arthur as a genuine historical figure, a Romano-British leader who fought against the invading Anglo-Saxons in the late 5th to early 6th century.
Excalibur was associated with the Arthurian legend very early. In Welsh, it is called Caledfwlch and appears in several early Welsh works, including the Culhwch and Olwen , a work associated with the  Mabinogion  and written perhaps around 1100.
The earliest literary references to Arthur come from Welsh and Breton sources.  A 2007 academic survey, Concepts of Arthur by Dr Caitlin R. Green, identifies three key strands to the portrayal of Arthur in this earliest material: the first is that he was a peerless warrior who functioned as the monster-hunting protector of Britain from all internal and external threats; the second is that Arthur was a figure of folklore and localised magical wonder-tales, the leader of a band of superhuman heroes who live in the wilds of the landscape. The third and final strand is that the early Welsh Arthur had a close connection with the Welsh Otherworld Annwn.

Adaptations set in the Arthurian universe – notable & seminal examples:

BOOKS – Since H. White‘s  The Once and Future King (1958), there have been some noteworthy adaptations, some listed in this excellent article by historical-fiction writer, Annie Whitehead. These include my favourite, Marion Zimmer Bradley’s  The Mists of Avalon .
POETRY – the most notable poet, for me, is Alfred Tennyson, whose first Arthurian poem “The Lady of Shalott” was published in 1832.
ART – William Morris and Pre-Raphaelite artists are among the many to produce works with an Arthurian theme.
FILMS – personal preferences are John Boorman’s 1981 film  Excalibur , Antoine Fuqua’s 2004 film King Arthur with Arthur as a Roman cavalry officer rather than a medieval knight, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), with its watery tarts and swallows.
TELEVISION – favourite and historically the most interesting was the series  Arthur of the Britons (1972–73)
VIDEO GAMES – around twenty video games reference Arthur, from Tomb Raider to King Arthur: The Role-Playing Warga me .

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Recommendation: On Metacritic, the game received an aggregate 54/100 and within the industry was well-received…including this Gamespot review, which mentions “watery tarts”, and says, “While the overall game is well worth playing because of the outstanding development of the Arthurian theme and some innovations on both the role playing and strategy sides of the fence, the flaws that mount up after a while will leave you hoping for a patch.”

3.8* Stars: I first bought the game anticipating a similar game to Medieval: Total War  (2002) and its expansion pack, Viking Invasion (2003) which I had enjoyed. King Arthur: The Role-Playing Wargame had echoes but with different elements, such as the RPG quests and heroes. Combat-wise, I got my armies wiped out at the beginning – too much trial and error as the Gamespot review said. But the game is addictive.

Setting: 3.25*
Storyline: 4*
Gameplay: 3.25*
Entertainment: 3.5*
Genesis: 5*

Alternative ‘K’ thoughts:

K is also for King Kong. I enjoyed both Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack’s great 1933 movie and Peter Jackson’s excellent 2005 version. Plus, there are video games that I haven’t tried.

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