LOOKING BACK: THE SONG OF ELEGIN

"A field burns; a plague spreads; a dragon preys upon a village. All the pains of our world concentrated in the perpetual hatred of a single entity. He never sleeps; he never eats; he instead lies deep within the bowels of the world, playing a perncious nocturne, an overture in dedication to sorrow and destruction. And as we cry out of hopelessness, or scream in agony, his instruments become louder, the lyrics more pronounced. We cannot protect ourselves from the dirge of malevolence, and so we pray to the angels for salvation. These, my dear friend, are the songs of Elegin. I can only hope that your soul is hard of hearing."

The power of evil wanes across the world. The demonic forces that once kept humanity under the claws of tyranny have been violently banished from the realm and it seems as if, finally, their influence is vanishing from the scarred planet. Prosperity and happiness reestablish themselves as intregal pieces of the human experience.

But as the vast majority of humanity find smiles on their war-torn faces, those who had once proteted the realm now find themselves purposeless, lost in a sea of change. In the war for our world, the Xiannodel Wars, select individuals trained in the arcane arts in order to combat the black magics of the demons. As memory of their honorable deeds disappeared like morning dew, so did the belief in the sanctity of arcana. The masses began to grow suspicious of the practice, an attitude developed believing that magic was rooted in the black arts, a demon's craft. Suspicion grew to distrust, distrust grew to fear, and fear grew to hatred. Magic, as practiced by the mages of old, was effectively terminated.

Caught in the backlash, we find Oroth Naraskodel, an apprentice mage who's 10 year training at the arcane academy known as The Order. A deeply caring and empathetic individual, Oroth now heads back to his childhood home of Innarlith, back to a father whom he believes abandoned his responsibilities as a parent. Embarking on the long odyssey with his childhood friend, Berundd, he will attempt to find purpose in a purposeless world.

What will start out as a journey home will evolve into a far-reaching march into the depths of Hell and the heights of Heaven and end as the greatest conspiracy the world has ever known is finally revealed.

The gameplay was good. It features some unique characteristics in it that set it apart from the standard Rm2k3 game. Probably the thing you'll notice from the get go is the day/night system & random weather. It does suffer from random encounters, which like most people, I am not a fan of. Thankfully the battle system in The Song of Elegin is just edited enough to not dull the experience. The battle system Madriel has added several features giving it it's own unique feel and better overall functionality. The Custom Menu System however is quite well done, a feature not so much needed but does the job. I know I've said this before, but new makers looking to bend and expand the boundries of Rm2k3 can look to this game as an example.

Graphic wise this game was and some would say still good. The towns and forests are well made and colorful. Although admittedly I didn't like how some of the interior maps were done. Something of note as I've already stated were the graphics for the Custom Menu System. The only graphical inconsistencies I found were with the games night cycle, it's sometimes hard to grasp whats going on because of how dark it seems. Also the numbers in the gauges during battles are kinda hard to read.

Overall The Song of Elegin is a game long forgotten, but still provides a decent enough story to tell. It was never overbearing or overly ambitious, but it still managed to never be dull either. Madriel crafted what was a decent game & a fairly nice showcase of that time and era in the community.