Albion

The Good
The whole idea of the game is incredible! The story-line reminds me of a well-written episode of Star Trek:TNG. The characters are well thought out and the graphics are gorgeous for the time. The sounds and music are above average and fit well in the game's universe. The native Iskai race are very creatively brought to life.

Also, I found the combat system really well done. My preference is for turn-based combat, and Albion delivers well here. What I found odd though was how it switched back and forth between top-down and 3D perspectives. You choose your combat options in a 2D grid, then switch to first-person view to watch the battle unfold.

The Bad
Unfortunately for me, there were two issues with the game that made it difficult for me to continue playing the game after giving it about 10 hours of gameplay.

First, while I loved the initial 2D above-view perspective, when it switched to 3D first-person view in the cellar and cities, I found it extremely hard to navigate. The sense of "being there" (which is done so well in the Ultima Underworld games) is missing. For whatever reason, I could not tell perspective well in the 3D view -- I found myself turning into walls by misjudging corners, and I found myself turning completely around rather than making 90 degree turns. It just did not come across well for me. Everything was "flat" with no dimension. I personally would've preferred if the game kept the same 2D top-down perspective throughout the whole game, rather than switching between three different perspectives. Yes, there is a third perspective: in the outer world it's a top-down view from a much higher viewpoint (your characters appear much smaller onscreen). Additionally, it was confusing as to how they determined which parts of the game would be in each perspective.

Second, movement, whether in the 2D or 3D perspective, is handled by continually holding the left mouse button down. Other games that had similar type of movement (for example, Ultima VII) use the RIGHT mouse button instead. Personally, I found that holding the left button down continuously caused muscle fatigue and cramping beneath my index finger. This never happened in Ultima VII with the right mouse button and ring finger. This may have been a non-issue for me if they provided a good keyboard movement alternative. But they were very minimal in allowing only arrow key movement via keyboard. Since I had no comfortable way to move my party around through the game world, it was only a matter of time before I had to discontinue playing.

The Bottom Line
Albion is a role-playing game in a very well-written science fiction setting. It uses turn-based combat and three different views: a close-in 2D top-down perspective, a higher-up 2D top-down perspective, and a 3D first-person perspective. The game is very highly-rated and I can see why. The quality of the writing, graphics, music, and sound effects are all top notch. But for me, the interface weaknesses proved too hard to surmount and I had to discontinue play after about 10 hours. If these issues do not effect you, you may find this one of your best RPG experiences.

The Good
The fact that this game has proven to be one of the best RPG's I've ever played. This game felt so realistic due to the character's personalities, I'm a bit like Tom, a fool sometimes but a helpful supporter at others. Albion has rich detail, from the plains of grass to the well built indoors - homes and caves/dungeons. I’ve enjoyed interacting with people and getting interesting and unique remarks/comments back. Blue Byte have had a great idea of space and adventure and somehow combined them into a great game. The music brought the whole game to life.

The Bad
The monsters, sorry to say that, but the monsters scared the hell out of me. Agrim's cave was the worst; monsters kept repeatedly kept coming at me. Although this is not really negative I could not figure out what Tom's dream meant and I kept wondering what it was about.

The Bottom Line
One of the best RPG's of all time; it is a shame a sequel was not made. It would have been a nice follow up to see what the "Albion" group were up to in modern times.

The Good
It's great. The layout is creative for the battle, the exploring, the map. It's all good. The 3D "dungeon exploring" was great. Never boring. Few faults if any. The story and graphics put this game up there with some of Squaresoft's classics. I was surprised that such an un-advertised, un-popular game could be so much fun.

The Bad
I found it hard to heal my party. You can rest in lots of places but only if your party is tired and if you have rations. I found myself buying lots of rations because the enemies are so tough. It's rare to win a battle with all of your party members alive early on in the game.

The Bottom Line
Overall it's a great game. Blue Byte did amazing work with this one. One of my all time favorites.