Amberstar

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Amberstar

Developer(s)	Thalion Software
Publisher(s)	Thalion Software
Release date(s)	1992
Genre(s)	RPG
Mode(s)	Single player
Platform(s)	Amiga Atari ST MS-DOS
Media	Floppy disk
Input	Keyboard, mouse

Amberstar was the first installment in Thalion Software's never-finished Amber Trilogy, a computer role-playing game franchise. Although considerably more advanced, the game had many similarities to Thalion's earlier game DragonFlight, and was by many fans thought to be a "sequel" to this game.

The game was set in the fictional world of Lyramion and begins with the player situated at the graves of his parents. As the player sets out for adventure, it becomes apparent that an evil entity named Lord Tarbos, who was imprisoned a thousand years earlier, is about to be released again to wreak havoc upon Lyramion. The player - helped by the various adventurers who join the party along the way - must recover the thirteen missing pieces of the Amberstar, the talisman that banished Lord Tarbos initially, to defeat the demon once again.

The game featured (for that time) considerably advanced graphics and a very atmospheric musical score by Thalion's Jochen Hippel. This, together with features such as a huge game world, a well-devised storyline and advanced automap features, provided for a very solid game. However, as with most of Thalion's other releases, the public interest was somewhat limited, ultimately leading to Thalion's demise (and the interruption of the Amber Trilogy).

Amberstar was succeeded by the sequel Ambermoon, which unfortunately became the last game in the series. Furthermore, only the German language version of Ambermoon was ever officially released. The English version is available on an unofficial basis on the internet, however, it suffers from several serious bugs. Fortunately they do not detract from playing or finishing the game.