''Demon's Winter'' is a

role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...

developed and published by

Strategic Simulations Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) was a video game developer and publisher of over 100 games from its founding in 1979 to its dissolution in 1994 (though the brand was in use until around 2002). The company focused on computer wargames then lat ...

in 1988. It is a sequel to SSI's 1986 ''

Shard of Spring ''Shard of Spring'' is a role-playing video game developed by TX Digital Illusions and published by Strategic Simulations for the Apple II, Commodore 64 and DOS computers in 1986. ''Shard of Spring'' tells the story of a group of adventurers hire ...

'', set two hundred years after the events of the original, featuring a game world 32-times the size of the previous one.

Plot

The evil sorceress Siriadne has been slain, the Shard of Spring has been recovered, and peace and prosperity returned to the fantasy island of Ymros. Two centuries later, however, great numbers of aggressive monsters have suddenly appeared, devastating the region and its inhabitants. A party of five adventurers must band together in order to combat this threat, starting only with meager skills and supplies after a kobold attack on the now-ruined village of Ildryn. Ultimately, they must uncover the source of the beasts, as well as the unnatural cold that plagues the land, and ultimately put an end to both.

Reception

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...

''s Scorpia in 1988 described ''Demon's Winter'' as a general improvement over ''

'', although not without its own flaws. Combat was described as "uneven", with opponents either being trivial or quite difficult to defeat, while mapping was noted as being quite difficult in some areas. On the other hand, the addition of new classes and changes to the skill system were received favorably. In 1993 she stated that ''Demon's Winter'' had "many improvements over the previous game and an interesting plot, although combat is not as balanced as it could be", and approved of the "refreshing" ending. '' ST/Amiga Format'' in 1989 felt that the game took several steps forward to enhance the genre, but not without suffering in presentation. The reviewer concluded, "Unfortunately so much has been done to make the game play well that the appearance has fallen by the wayside, it looks and sounds awful which is a terrible shame, because ''Demon’s Winter'' is one of the best computer role-playing games to date." This earned the title an overall grade of 68%. ''

Compute! ''Compute!'' (), often stylized as ''COMPUTE!'', is an American home computer magazine that was published from 1979 to 1994. Its origins can be traced to 1978 in Len Lindsay's ''PET Gazette'', one of the first magazines for the Commodore PET. ...

'' agreed, calling the game "unsatisfactory" because of graphics and gameplay.

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control 1988 video games Amiga games Apple II games Atari ST games Commodore 64 games DOS games Fantasy video games Role-playing video games Single-player video games Strategic Simulations games Video game sequels Video games developed in the United States