Rings of Power (video game)

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Rings of Power
Developer(s) Naughty Dog
Publisher(s) Electronic Arts
Platform(s) Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
Release date 1991
Genre(s) Console role-playing game
Mode(s) Single player
Media cartridge
Input methods gamepad

Rings of Power is an isometric console role-playing game released on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in 1991. The game was developed by Naughty Dog and published by Electronic Arts. The player takes on the role of a young sorcerer whose quest is to collect 11 Rings of Power and use them to remake the Rod of Creation to defeat the evil god, Void, and bring about the fabled Golden Age.

Contents

[edit] Background Story

A great battle was fought between the holy Nexus and the demonic Void - who battled over the Rod of Creation, which created the world of Ushka Bau. Their battle was so immense, the rod broke into two pieces, and both gods fled with half. This then took the form of eleven rings:

  • Thought
  • Evocation (Ring of Calling in EU version)
  • Mutation
  • Division
  • Variation
  • Advancement
  • Blood
  • Will
  • Bile
  • Perfection
  • Intuition

These rings were then entrusted to representatives of each of the six classes. All of the rings have been lost, and the story of the rings has turned to a legend. Master Thalmus has requested the presence of a young sorcerer named Buc, his most promising of students. You must attempt the quest of finding the rings, restoring the Rod of Creation, and destroying the evil Void once and for all.

[edit] Classes

There are six classes in the game, each representing a school of magic. Buc must recruit one student from each of the other 5. They are as follows:

  • Sorcerer
Buc's chosen field, their capital city is Mind and they take the symbol of the eye as their own. They believe in achieving their goals through will, and usually fulfill roles of librarians and scholars through the world. In combat, they cast spells that confuse opponents, and buff allies in battle. Their leader is Master Thalmus, Buc's teacher.
  • Knight
Buc must travel to the city of Division to recruit Slash, the knight representative. Their leader is Hack and they believe in physical power above all else. Their symbol is the sword, and many knights can be found as private soldiers and guards. Their attacks cause great physical damage, and can remove limbs that can only be healed by a priest.
  • Necromancer
The city of Blood is the Necromancy capital in the world, and Buc must travel their to meet Mortimer. Their leader is Flemm, and they take the symbol of the skull. Necromancers believe that death is the beginning of life, and should be celebrated instead of mourned. Their attacks in battle are usually curses.
  • Archer
The master of archery, Arrow can be found in the city of Speed, and Buc must help her to recruit Quill to your cause. Archers are the only all female class, and their attacks use the elements as well as their bows to cause damage to the enemy. The take the symbol of the arrow.
  • Conjuror
Perfection, the capital city of the conjurors is home to Haze, their master. Buc can recruit Alexi here to join him. They take the circle as their symbol to represent perfection, which they strive for.
  • Enchanter
Buc must travel to the city of Kaos to meet Xylotyl, the master enchanter. The enchanter Obliki will join Buc once he has helped the enchanters. The symbol of the Enchanters is infinity.

[edit] Gameplay

Unlike most console role-playing games of the time such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, Rings of Power had a style that shared many similarities to PC role-playing games such as Dungeon Master, Wizardry, and A Bard's Tale. The game is very open ended, contains hundreds of non player characters with many different dialog choices, and dozens of quests and random events. Practically every location is available from very early in the game.

Due to the fact that the ingame map did not have any locations marked and there was no quest journal, many players criticized the game's difficulty as the goal of the game was achieved through careful attention to detail and constant exploration.

There was a glossy paper map sold seperatly from the game itself that aided in game play.

Many fans regard this as one of the largest console role-playing games if not the largest of the 16-bit era.

[edit] Cheats

Pressing and holding: down, right, A, B, C and start on the second controller and then reseting the console changes the Naughty Dog Software splash screen into a topless woman.

In the game, at an isolated place in a desert the Sun Temple and the Moon Temple are two adjacent pyramid shaped temples. Between them is a bridge, by zooming in on this square the character appears on a screen with red priests. By answering the priests' questions one of the rings can eventually be found, however each time a question is answered correctly experience points are earned. The player can simply leave the screen re-enter and answer the same question again and again for easy points; it is best used when the player has all six characters and can get them all to reach their maximum experience points quickly and easily.. The answer to the first question is "Sorcerer's Eye" or "So Eye as it appears on screen.

[edit] Production Credits

Design
Andy Gavin
Jason Rubin
Vijay Pande
Programming
Andy Gavin
Vijay Pande
Art
Jason Rubin
Producer
Christopher Erhardt
Associate Producer
Chris Wilson
Assistant Producer
Michael Meischeid
Technical Director
Jesse Taylor
Sounds and Music
Alexander Hinds
Jon Medek
Product Management
Chip Lange
Package Design
William Gin
Cover Illustration
Eric Lee
Back Package Illustration
Michael Winterbauer
Documentation
Marti McKenna
Documentation Layout
Evelyn Spire
Manual Illustrations
Adrian Bourne
Testing
Gerald McLane
Mike Wallis
Quality Assurance
Kevin C. Hogan
Brett Alan Weiss
All Game Guide

[edit] Trivia

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The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

[edit] External links