3DO

Kingdom: The Far Reaches

Far Reaches is no salve for traditional RPG warriors, but it makes a great forage into another strange fantasy world. If you think you're going to get the fast action of Dragon's Lair or the solid elements of Chrono Trigger, however, you'd better Reach for something else.

A given clip may be interesting the first time, but repeats can grow tiresome (fortunately, they can be cut short). Step-by-step decisions limit control over Lathan between or during clips, so while Saturday-morning-TV fans may thrill to the thought of manipulating a cartoon, older players aren't likely to be much impressed.

Still, there are a few dozen of hours of puzzles to solve and very entertaining voice acting --- shame about the so-so animation. The verdict: Kingdom is one of the most playable FMV games for the 3DO, which isn't saying much, but hey.