''Doriath'' is a side-view action-adventure platform game released for the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Plot

The wizard Elidaan the Loremaster descends into the underground labyrinth of Doriath in search of the immortality-granting Coronet of Arien, which was crafted by the Lord of Time, Atelan, and thrown into the abyss after he was spurned by the object of his affection, Fianna.

Gameplay

''Doriath'' is a side-view action-adventure platform game set in the vast underground maze of Doriath, which the player explores in non-linear fashion by controlling the

player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...

, a wizard. Basic movement (running and jumping) is handled with the joystick. Spells are used by holding down on the joystick and pressing the fire button. The ultimate goal of the game is to retrieve the Coronet; in order to do so, the player must find the eight pieces of the Riddlescroll of Wurslea, which, when assembled, will show the Coronet's location. In addition, the player has a wisdom meter which they must increase to 100% by acquiring various useful items hidden throughout the caverns. Many of these items will expand the player's abilities, particularly the

amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects ...

s that teach the player spells. There are also

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

s guarding some of the items that serve as rudimentary

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a ...

monsters and require specific spells to defeat. The player can also heal and protect themselves to various effect by drinking several types of potions (created from ingredients found in the labyrinth), as well as pick up various keys to get through different kinds of locked doors. The player selects items in their inventory with the F1 key, and uses them by pressing F7.

Reception

''Doriath'' received mostly positive reviews at the time of its release. ''Commodore Horizons'' gave the game 5/8 for graphics, 5/8 for sonics, and 7/8 for gameplay, calling it an "excellent little cheapie", and comparing it to "

Sorcery Sorcery may refer to: * Magic (supernatural), the application of beliefs, rituals or actions employed to subdue or manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces ** Witchcraft, the practice of magical skills and abilities * Magic in fiction, ...

, Staff of Karnath, and any number of similar arcade adventures." It also praised the game for its "true combination of arcade skills – avoiding guards and hazards – and adventure strategies and mapping." However, the magazine considered the game's graphics to be merely adequate, and, judging it among budget titles, felt it inferior overall to ''

Blackwyche ''Blackwyche'' is an action-adventure video game published by Ultimate Play the Game for the Commodore 64 in 1985. The game is the third instalment of the ''Pendragon'' series and sequel to '' Entombed''. In the game, aristocrat adventurer Sir ...

''. Laurie Sampson of '' Commodore User'' gave it 3/6 for graphics, 3/6 for sound, 4/6 toughness, 4/6 for staying power, and 4/6 for value, saying it was " lit fairly and squarely between adventure and arcade", and noting that the game's audiovisual qualities were above average for a budget title; he also compared it to ''

'' in its focus on acquiring spells and items to overcome enemies and obstacles. He concluded that the ''Doriath'' was " good helping of entertainment for those itching to get lost in a labyrinth."

Zzap! ''Zzap!64'' was a computer games magazine covering games on the Commodore International series of computers, especially the Commodore 64 (C64). It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact. The magazine ...

’s two reviewers were somewhat split;

Gary Penn Gary Penn is a former British games reviewer who wrote for Zzap!64 in the 1980s and is a video game industry veteran. He later was editor of The One from 1988 to 1990 and was Creative Director at DMA Design where he supervised the release of the ...

called it " fairly competent release and certainly a lot better than the other Rabbit/Virgin game, '' Zyto''", but found the wizard’s jumping controls awkward and the game as a whole "overpriced for what it offers". Julian Rignall, on the other hand, called it "a pretty gruesome game", saying that the graphics were "very poor" and "badly animated", and also found the music "grating". He also said " e instructions are very poor, with practically no indication of what you’re supposed to do", concluding that publisher Rabbit Software would have to "get their act together" in the future. The magazine gave the game a mediocre overall score of 47%, concluding that it was " t one of the better arcade adventures available but even so there’s a lot worse." A retrospective article from Retro Gamer said it is still "tremendous fun to explore & track down the spell amulets needed to kill the various types of monster that range from snakes to dragons and kraken" but noted a long-standing rumor (apparently unconfirmed) that the game is "impossible to fully complete due to a missing amulet." In another retrospective,

Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

also looked back on the game fondly, likening it to ''

Metroid is an action-adventure game franchise created by Nintendo. The player controls the bounty hunter Samus Aran, who protects the galaxy from Space Pirate (Metroid), Space Pirates and other malevolent forces and their attempts to harness the powe ...

''. Doriath Dungeon describes the game in great detail, including confirming that there is an ending, achievable despite the missing amulet.

References

External links

*{{Lemon64 game, id=751
''Doriath''
at GB64

1985 video games Action-adventure games Fantasy video games Platform games Metroidvania games Commodore 64 games Commodore 64-only games Video games about witchcraft Virgin Interactive games Video games developed in the United Kingdom