The Faery Tale Adventure: Book I

The Good
This game represented the apex of adventure for my childhood. It contains a large mainland that is open to exploration the moment you start the game (however survival is a different matter.)

The sound effects are well put together, particularly for the fighting. Considering the advanced graphics for its time, the game has a large amount of playability, with random elements and treasures spread out to find on different occasions.

The atmosphere the game provides is wonderful. There is nothing more terrifying than running from wraiths at night into an unfamiliar landscape, especially considering they are not slowed by obstacles.

The music was also great for the time, with suitably medieval style synthesized tracks. The music for night time wilderness is haunting in more ways than one.

The Bad
There were numerous small but annoying glitches when the game was released. Mostly graphical problems, nothing which really disrupted the game play.

There is limited interaction in the game between the protagonist and the NPCs may leave some people feeling lonely and isolated in the game. It is also somewhat odd that the brothers in the adventure never meet.

The level of difficulty is also frustrating at the start, but can become very easy by the end of the game.

The Bottom Line
As an isometric action/adventure game it does have some similarities to Legend of Zelda games, especially a Link to the Past. The graphic style is very different, however and the characters look fairly realistic and are not cartoony at all in style. Another similarity is it does contain a fairy that returns you to life if you have enough luck.

It is a very difficult game to begin with, as the character is armed with a small knife (dirk) and the opponents you face are generally as hard as at the start as they are at the end, so be sure to not travel far from safety.

The game is easy to recommend from a nostalgic point of view, and having played it fairly recently, it hasn't aged badly at all.