I mean, the entire game is a masterpiece. The graphics, the soundtrack, the animations, the story and the way it is told, the characters...
It's one of those survival horror games that will really put you on the edge, almost always putting something life threatening in your way
The puzzles are pretty smart too. Sometimes the way you move can be troublesome and trigger some trap or something, but aside from that, thinking the puzzles and solving them is a pretty solid experience. The password system is also great, since it gives you every item you need to have in any given room you put the code for. Every password game should be like that, because that's the point of having passwords I think. No reason to "skip ahead" with zero items.

The only really bad part is that worm detector part. Fuck that part.

Cleared on July 16th, 2023 (SEGA Genesis Challenge: 30/160)

The Immortal is a game that I've heard from through the Angry Video Game Nerd's review although other than how impressive the review was for being done in one take, I didn't really think much of the game. Then when I started to catalog Sega Genesis games for the challenge, I had the strange idea to add it onto the list. Apparently as it turned out, The Sega Genesis version (and really just about every other version that isn't the NES) is considered the superior version of the game. It's at least a good impression that the game doesn't have that trap that ambushed you the moment you walked out the first door, but does that mean the game is any good?

Well, I can't verify the differences, so I won't do much comparing here, but the game is... ok. Graphically, it's not too bad although I don't really like the sprite of the main character having this strange mix of white beard with brownish red hair. It just doesn't mesh well together. The music is also ok, but I find it bizarre that the music will force itself to the beginning when you walk to a specific point like a friendly NPC or a haystack where you go to regenerate health.

As for the gameplay, though, I have very mixed feelings on it. The thing is, I don't think of it as an Action RPG as the combat pretty much amounts up to dodging the enemy side to side until their time in-between attacks become lowered which gives you an opportunity to wail at them. Instead I think of it as more of Dungeon Crawler Puzzle game because there is quite a lot of puzzle-solving and thinking you need to do in order to advance with the game. The problem is that the complications of the puzzles are all over the place. Some make sense enough that you can figure it out even without a walkthrough, but others make no sense. Like how do you expect to figure out that an amulet that you get early on is needed to be used at a very specific spot, not to mention that it could genuinely kill you if you read the runes which leaves people thinking they should not use it under any circumstances, and how was I supposed to know that I'm supposed to use that same amulet after the final boss is immobilized? Like I understand that some things are cryptic, but still have subtle clues that it makes sense in retrospective, but there are points where it feels like there's no indication on what you're supposed to do.

If you killed the goblin king because you didn't give him water that you likely already used because you needed healing, did you actually think he was going to come back to life and steal one of your lives?

Did you actually think that by hurling a fireball at a troll that a Goblin is fighting that it would be the only way to unlock a door through the Goblin retreating and unlocking said door?

Did you actually think that you can not only stand in a circle spewing fire after it changes into a purple mist, but you have to use a gem in order to teleport yourself in order progress with the game.

There are also a bunch of death traps which is probably the most infamous aspect of the game although for the most part they should be avoidable if you have got attention to detail. Like if it asks you if you want to "investigate", it could be worded in a way that makes it so that "No, I don't want to investigate". Worst case scenario, you do have the password system, so you aren't forced to start from the very beginning.

There are points where I do feel the game is clever with its puzzles, though. During the final boss, once you figure out you're supposed to use Blink to evade its first 6 fires, you notice that it's about to fire its flames when its eyes give a glow, a "blink" if you will. I see what you did there.

It's a better game than I expected it to be. I didn't find myself raging or clamoring for it to end. Heck, I even found a few unexpected deaths to be kinda hilarious like how I tried to use a goblin disguise to bypass the Goblin King when he was pissed with me and he sent me down, anyway. In the end, however, I don't really think it's that great of a game. I liked some of its ideas, but the execution isn't perfect. But given what I've heard, if you're ever going to play the game, this is one of the better versions of the game.

Playing Through My Evercade Collection Part 9: Piko Interactive Collection 1

Onto yet another game that basically falls squarely into the 'Cult' category. A game with a lot of ambition, but not quite the technical ability. At its core, The Immortal is a pretty basic dungeon crawler action RPG, theres puzzles, enemies to beat up and treasure to find.

Lets get some bad stuff out of the way first, this game absolutely is not a looker when it comes to the environments, you'll be basically just looking at the same identical type of corridors with the same few enemies to contend with for most of the game.

Also the game is BRUTALLY hard at times when it comes to traps and tricks. Do a puzzle slightly wrong? Death. Hit any of the multitude of traps? Death. Take slightly too long leaving the first room? Death death death.

That said, there is some good here. Once you get used to the game's twisted logic and start happily making use of those save states, its quite fun to explore, gather and get to the end of the trials ahead. Also the combat, although quite simple, can be quite fun.

So yeah, theres good, theres bad, its quite a niche little thing. I think its worth checking out but I wouldnt be surprised if you go 'ick no'.

As críticas de The Immortal à época se concentravam na sua linearidade e falta de rejogabilidade. Isso em um contexto onde a maioria dos jogos eram ou arcades, ou jogos curtos com alto incentivo à rejogabilidade, em especial com high scores focado na competição (individual ou coletiva). Ver com os olhos de hoje e com uma mentalidade mais objetiva de "experimentar e finalizar" ignora essa crítica pois ela é extremamente anacrônica.

Apesar de linear, The Immortal (especialmente em sua versão NES que foi a que eu joguei) é um jogo com gameplay "duro" e design um bocado frustrante. O movimento isométrico pelo cenário é lento e limitado à poucas direções. O combate registra os movimentos de forma bem rígida e com um timing bem estreito, além de ter combates com inimigos invisíveis que inviabilizam a antecipação dos ataques e tornam o combate apenas um jogo de apertar botões a esmo na esperança de vencer.

O design de puzzles sofre com itens que se usados em momento inadequados provocam a morte do jogador, voltando ao início, o que inibe a experimentação. A versão NES tem um design ainda reduzido, com alteração de puzzles, além de posicionamento diferente e até inexistência de certos elementos, o que torna a experiência ainda mais desagradável em comparação às outras versões.

Ainda que exista ali um valor de design que é possível enxergar, as limitações técnicas e a execução ruim da programação tornam ele apenas uma pequena fração de seu potencial. Dá pra sentir que tem algo bacana ali, mas que fica soterrado pelas coisas desagradáveis que estão presentes.