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perfectirishgifts · 3 years

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Voiceitt, Amazon Announce Collaboration Between Alexa And ‘Superpower’ Speech Technology

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Voiceitt, Amazon Announce Collaboration Between Alexa And ‘Superpower’ Speech Technology

Nat Grupp and his dad.

In a blog post published Thursday, Amazon and speech startup Voiceitt announced a collaboration that aims to make Alexa more accessible to people with atypical speech. Voiceitt is an app that uses machine-learning and speech recognition technologies to help those with speech impairments communicate and be more easily understood.

In a press release, Voiceitt acknowledged the popularity of smart speakers and digital assistants like Amazon’s Alexa—despite their massive popularity, however, they can prove inaccessible to those with various types of speech delays. This can make the communicatively impaired feel as though they are excluded from using voice-first devices. Teaching a machine fluent speech is hard enough; teaching a machine to learn atypical speech is exponentially more challenging. Thus, Voiceitt “recognized the opportunity to expand its technology offering to facilitate not only in-person communication but also interaction with voice activated and controlled devices.”

“We’re excited to work with Amazon to bring the benefits of voice technologies to a broad segment of customers who, until now, may not have been able to enjoy these products,” said Voiceitt co-founder and CEO Danny Weissberg in the press release. “Voice technologies are increasingly mainstream, and this Alexa integration is testament to the growing awareness among major technology players of the importance of ensuring these technologies address the diverse needs and preferences of their customers, including people whose voices deviate from standard speech. Integration of Voiceitt’s speech recognition with a powerful service like Alexa further demonstrates Voiceitt’s value proposition in a rapidly expanding industry, and of our vision—to make speech recognition accessible to everyone.”

Voiceitt, headquartered in Tel Aviv, was born in 2012. The Alexa integration came about through mentorship via Amazon’s Alexa Fund initiative. Launched in 2015, the Fund’s mission is to, according to Amazon, “[invest] in companies that are innovating in AI, voice technology, frontier tech, robotics, and more.” Participants receive up to $200 million in venture-capital funding for product development. The inspiration for the Fund comes from Amazon’s belief that technological experiences driven by the human voice will “fundamentally improve” how people interact with technology.

In an interview with me, Weissberg explained the impetus behind Voiceitt is about empowering independence. The advent of voice-first computing has myriad benefits to people with disabilities, particularly in a smart home context. One of the chief advantages of a disabled person asking a virtual assistant for help is it lessens the reliance on others for help. These experiences go a long way in instilling greater senses of dignity and self-esteem—feelings elicited from heightened levels of autonomy.

The major downside is voice-driven interfaces aren’t usually kind to users whose speech patterns deviate from the norm. That’s what Voiceitt aims to solve.

“Before the Alexa-Voiceitt integration, many individuals with speech and motor disabilities whom we worked with were accustomed to seeking assistance, whether from family members or caregivers, for simple tasks such as turning on the TV or a light,” Weissberg said. “The ability to utilize an Alexa-enabled device independently for the first time using the Voiceitt app will significantly impact the day-to-day lives of these individuals.” He added Voiceitt represents a “life-changing milestone” for many.

How Voiceitt is trained isn’t dissimilar to how one trains a voice-driven UI like Siri, for example. It starts with a simple phrase, followed by repetition of words and phrases several times over. This helps Voiceitt learn the tone and cadence, among other qualities, of a person’s voice. The app then uses artificial intelligence to create a speech model with which it can process a user’s specific commands.

As for Amazon’s role, Weissberg said the company has been consistently supportive. Members of the Alexa team volunteered as mentors during the Amazon Accelerator program, and were excited by Voiceitt’s premise from its earliest days and committed to see the idea come to fruition. “[We] were inspired by Amazon’s commitment to ensuring that the benefits of cutting-edge voice technologies, which they were pioneering, would become universally accessible,” he said.

Peter Korn, who oversees accessibility at Amazon’s Lab126, is equally effusive of Voiceitt’s potential as an assistive technology. “We share [Voiceitt’s] vision to help people with speech impairments live more independently through voice,” he said in Voiceitt’s press release. “We were delighted to support them through an Alexa Fund investment and now through an Alexa integration via their mobile app.”

Weissberg told me early feedback from beta-testers was “overwhelmingly positive and quite moving.” He said testers have grown significantly more independent because of Voiceitt’s technology, accomplishing more on their own than ever before. A recurring bit of feedback was using the app has been a “life-changing experience,” he said. He added Voiceitt and Alexa has enabled people in ways they never imagined.

“Many [testers] report that for the first time, they’re able to join the millions of people around the world who are already using Alexa to control their smart home devices, listen to music and get information using their very own voices—something they never thought would happen,” Weissberg said.

One such tester is Nat Grupp, who’s been part of the Voiceitt pilot program since last year. Grupp, who’s in his thirties and lives in Philadelphia, has cerebral palsy. He has a passion for his hometown sports teams—the Phillies, Eagles, 76ers, and Flyers—and likes to keep tabs on them through the news and by watching games on TV. His condition has made it difficult to move and communicate; his father has long had to help him turn on the television. While Alexa initially was hard to use because the assistant had trouble understanding him, Voiceitt’s technology was a breakthrough. Grupp now can control his home’s lights, Drop-In on loved ones, and keep up with the Philly sports scene—all made possible by Voiceitt and Alexa’s software.

“It feels like a new superpower,” Grupp said in the blog post.

Voiceitt’s work in this realm is game-changing, insofar as it’s heartening to see people recognize speech delays are disabilities too and require accommodation. The mainstream tech press too often has myopic focus when it comes to assessing smart speakers and digital assistants: all they care about are their smarts. Barely any attention is paid to accessibility of any sort, particularly speech-related. Journalists and YouTubers pit Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri against each other all the time to show how intelligent they are, which is valid in and of itself. At the same time, how well they literally understand you is taken for granted; these robots are built assuming normal speech patterns. The thing is, Alexa’s capabilities mean nothing if she cannot reliably parse your speech and do what you ask. Not everyone has the privilege of being able to effortlessly shout into the ether and have their thermostat adjusted. Some people have real problems with these tasks, as Weissberg mentioned. That he and Amazon recognized the need to wholeheartedly address these concerns is a mammoth development for the disability community—one that should be celebrated by the broader technology media. Intelligence is not everything for Alexa and her ilk.

For its part, Apple—as with silicon, the nigh-undisputed industry leader in accessibility—has tried to combat speech recognition issues with Siri in a couple ways. It released Type to Siri to iOS a few years ago, whereby a user can type commands and queries in an iMessage-style interface. While a good solution for certain populations, such as the Deaf and hard-of-hearing, the speech aspect of ambient computing is moot because typing doesn’t actually solve anything, it sidesteps it. As for tackling the actual problem of speech and digital assistants—it’s my understanding, according to sources, Apple has hired speech pathologists for its Siri team in the past to better understand the physiology of speech, and make Siri more graceful with atypical speech.

By contrast, Voiceitt and Amazon are actually taking a page from Apple’s playbook nowadays and applying a truckload of neural engine-y, machine-learning tricks to try to better the user experience in this regard. Maybe Voiceitt inspires Apple’s work.

Weissberg is excited for Voiceitt’s future, telling me “we never imagined just how much we would be able to achieve.” His team eagerly welcomes feedback from users and their families, as making speech-impaired individuals an “integral part” of voice-first computing is a priority. “Bringing accessible technology to people with speech disabilities, together with Alexa, is our main focus for the near future,” he said.

The Voiceitt app with Alexa integration will launch in Q1 2021 on iOS. It is available for pre-order on the Voiceitt website.

From Diversity & Inclusion in Perfectirishgifts

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tweedpawn · 7 years

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A Lesson and a Meal - Arkley’s first attempt at teaching Della

((A writing warm up I did using the Amazing Arkley (with creator’s permission!). Ark belongs to @awkwardtimezone / @quartervirus /SAK/ Shamine King. You guys should check out her work. I will be releasing writing warmups on a weekly basis. I enjoy doing these. They are excellent for dialog practice, fleshing out rough concepts, and experimenting with writing styles))

Arkley was humming to himself today. In his arms he carried a box filled with various tools, gadgets and toys. He had waited weeks for this precise moment, finding himself requiring of patience only because his guest was so severely limited in her comprehension of Basic. But he was certain that she was much more understanding now.

Della could speak in sentences now. They were short, often childlike, and she would pace and pout when her limitations were quickly reached, which was often. But she could have small talk, make simple requests, and express black and white opinions.

Maybe now, she could comprehend the Force and her connection to it. Arkley’s imagination went back to when he first learned of his gifts with the Force and he imagined the little rabbit in his care being equally excited and desiring to absorb as much as she could from the lesson of today.In his mind danced teachings on meditation, inner peace, and wisdom of the ages.

He was grinning broadly when he found Della lounging lazily on her pile of papers, datapads, and assorted souvenirs she had collected from her travels at the main study of the hostel they were currently staying at. When Della saw Arkley, she quickly hustled to give the illusion of studying, even holding the datapad upside down. Arkley couldn’t help but snort in laughter.

“I am read!” she said hurriedly as her eyes darted back and forth, and her ears stood straight up.

Yes, yes of course.” Chuckled Arkley, biting his lower lip to keep his laughter contained. He then balanced his box under one arm while adjusting Della’s datapad to its proper position. He beamed brightly, practically brimming like a child on Life Day.

Della couldn’t help but feel concerned. A very tall, though well-meaning man, was standing with a box full of only who knows what. Her mother warned her about strange men acting oddly with with boxes. Perhaps reading her expression of concern, Arkley tempered his enthusiasm, though only slightly.

“ Today is going to be a great day! Come. Let’s go to the room, and begin a lesson.” Arkley adopted a persona of a wise and well-versed sage; he was playful about it. Still, a thought flashed in his mind for their safety.

The galaxy was openly hostile towards the likes of him these days, and it had no qualms of selling talented younglings like Della to the Empire like slaves. Della already had an encounter with such vile fiends, though she had still yet to master the articulation required to fully tell her story. Arkley could only surmise from the crude drawings she once made during a night when PTSD suddenly reared its ugly head.

It had to be torment to be unable to understand and communicate with the boundless changes of the Galaxy. Arkley did his best. He tried to show her the good things: good food, the comedies of the holonet, adorable lothcat videos, and whatever he could find.

He carefully observed the surroundings in the low-class hostel as Della gathered her study materials. The common area was pretty sparse, and the cleaning droid was busy polishing the floors. It was the middle of the day, when most guests were out being tourists or working. Della stood to confirm that she was ready. In the room, Arkley unpacked the box. There were bamboo sticks, a combat remote, a helmet, a few wooden blocks, and a prized possession: a Holocron. Della regarded the objects with detached interest. These objects were as strange and novel as any other. They must have seemed like toys to her.

Arkley focused his mind, trying to find the right way to phrase his words. His expression was serious now, and Della sensed that this was going to be an important lesson. Her ears drifted back and she was now anticipating some unknown struggle with worry. Arkley breathed out his own doubts and started his lesson.

“ Do you know the word, energy? Life? Spirit?” Arkley asked. Della considered these words for a moment, her face contorting like a child taking a test.

“I know life. I am life. You are life. I know energetic? I am energetic. Spirit is inside me? Dead, but life somewhere.” Della struggled finding her way with the words. She understood the definitions, but translating the loose descriptions into specific terms was difficult for her.

“Yes, I am alive. You are alive. You are energetic, because you have energy. I also have energy. It makes us move. We both have spirits. But there is a connection between the three words.” Arkley felt excited again. This was gonna blow her mind.

“It is called The Force. It is an energy that connects spirit and life. It is the energy that you and I have. That the birds and plants have. It is how you know a thing is alive. Some of us,” he paused dramatically, reaching his hand towards the holocron and calling it to him. It glided gracefully to him and rested in his palm. “Are called to wield it, just as a painter is-”

“Ah, good trick!” Della piped.

“T-trick?” Arkley said the word to confirm that he had heard Della correctly.

“Very good trick. Stones touch? Ah- What is the word? They are black stones, they-ah, follow? Follow black stone? One stone in your hand. One stone in square.” Della grabbed Arkley’s hands, trying to find some hidden tool on the gloves.

“Oh, magnets? No, no Della. Not magnets. The Force.” Arkley chuckled as Della took one glove clean off in her investigation. She grabbed nearby metal trinkets to see if any of them would stick to Arkley’s gloves or the Holocron. Her childish insistence on a gimmick such as magnets amused the Jedi.

“Can you bed?” Della asked, pointing to the metal framed lump mattresses in the room. Arkley couldn’t help but stifle a humored snort.

“I have never been interested in that sort of thing” He heavily implied. He knew it would go over Della’s head and her blank stare made his joke even more amusing to him. Della started to point to other objects in the room, demanding that Arkley try to use the “magnets” to move them.

“Goodness, it’s not magnets! It’s energy! Spirit! Life!” Arkley grinned as he took his glove from Della. She grabbed his bare hand and intently investigated it before regarding Arkley with a sideways shrewd expression.

“I will learn trick.” She said.

“I know you will.” Arkley replied with a sly smile.

“You teach me, now” she said sternly. Arkley could only shake his head in disbelief at the girl’s streak of pushiness. He held his hands up, as if the request was unreasonable.

“I will! I will! There is much to learn. This is not a trick. It is a teaching, a way of life. Do you understand?” His voice turned serious now. He now felt concerned that he was not coming across clearly enough. There was only so many ways to reduce what he was trying to explain through words. An idea came to him. He moved the beds, in the old fashioned way, to create a clearing. He grabbed the helmet with its opaque blast shield, the combat remote, and one of the bamboo poles.

“I want you to watch carefully.” he said. Certainly, Della would not be able to explain this away. He set the combat remote to a setting that would be harmless, but still smart, if a stray plasma should strike him. The little machine rose into the air. He lowered the visor, surrounding his eyes in darkness.

He was tempted by nostalgia. It distracted his mind, overwhelming him with visions of days that were no longer. First, there was joy that was mellow and sweet like the scent of grass in the morning. His youthful glimpses danced around him, followed by days when his first padawan was assigned to him.

Then, sadness came. The faces of his classmates blurry and yet vivid in color fluttered. The quiet afternoons and childish laughter were echoes in his mind. They were dead now. The younglings, his friends, and the masters.

How much should he have done to save more? How did he not see the signs as they arrived like animals fleeing a fire? It wasn’t right that the teenager before him had to suffer because of the lack of resources to help her. How much faster could she get the language development she needed? The Masters could possibly have seen her mind to get to the bottom of her perplexing past. She had to suffer injustice while the damn sentient-trading ba-

A sharp pain in his leg snapped him back to reality. Arkley could hear Della’s subtle, and skeptical, huff. Della did have help now, she had him, and with the will of the Force would grow into a powerful agent for her people.

Another sharp pain in his leg. Time to get serious. The next shot was deflected by the bamboo pole he wielded. The remote now fired more quickly, and those were also quickly knocked aside gracefully. This impressed Della, though she tried to hide it.

“That is an easy trick!” she chirped proudly.

“Is it now?” Arkley smirked. He removed the helmet. He had a mischievous gleam in his eyes. He smugly placed the helmet over Della’s head, and gave her the bamboo. Her ears folded down comically.

“I can’t see!” Della’s nose twitched as she complained.

“Good.” Arkley said in her ear before stepping back and setting the remote onto its new target. Della was already trying to see if she could steal a glimpse or a look at her target. Her senses her trying to get the advantage. Her restrained ears kept try to move like radar dishes, her nose wanted to get a scent. She was a girl used to the physical realm and being alert paid off for her in the past.

She squeaked at the the first bolt to strike her. She had tried to dodge with her whole body, completely missing the point of the bamboo. She moved spastically like a deer trying to dance.

“Do not dodge. Face your opponent.” Arkley folded his arms across his chest. His voice was authoritative.

“That’s haraka.” Della snapped.

“I assume that’s a swear in your language.” Arkley frowned, he was going to have to start making a credit jar for the crude words this girl was picking up. Della mimicked the fighting stance Arkley had just a moment ago. Okay, that was a start. She tried to listen for the sounds of fire, but she couldn’t hit a single plasma. After Arkley had his fill of watching Della fumble his “trick”, he chuckled and walked towards her.

“Now, try to cle-” WHAP. Della had spun around as Arkley spooked her and got a good smack on his left cheek, nearly knocking him down. Thank goodness that wasn’t a lightsaber.

“Ah Jeez! Thanks for not knocking my teeth out, kiddo!” He yelped. That was gonna bruise in the morning.

“Sorry! Sorry!” Della cried. She blindly spun around, trying to get her bearings.

“No, no, It’s fine.” Arkley grumbled. He recomposed himself, while his face throbbed and smarted.

“ You are relying on your senses. Clear your mind. Focus. Be calm. Remember your running practice? Pretend you are running.” Arkley could never forget watching Della run. The way that she instinctively channeled the Force to move through her, making her fluid and quick. Della seemed completely unaware that she had a gift for moving meditation. She had taken for granted that was how running was supposed to work.

Della had briefly mentioned outrunning a few of her captors when she first encountered them. If he had understood her correctly, the ones who caught her had hastily fired a stun plasma at the exact opportune moment. But Arkley’s understanding of that moment was fractured at best.

Della understood part of what he had said. She was quieting down, becoming less twitchy. It was taking a moment for Della to settle herself. She was having doubts. She was trying to figure out the “trick”.

“Just like running.” Arkley said firmly. He silently rooted for her. He knew she could do this. It was all there already, she just needed to make the connection. The next bolt struck her thigh. Della had tried to block it. But she was still relying her on ears.

“Do not listen for the bolts.” Arkley said. The next plasma that fired was successfully blocked by the bamboo. Arkley wanted to cheer, but he kept himself retrained. She dodged the next one successfully. Such a fast little thing, even faster now that the Force was starting to simmer in her. The other blocks were successful and Arkley now could feel that Della, on a fundamental level, could understand what he was trying to teach her.

Arkley finally called on the remote to stop. He excitedly removed the helmet off of Della, her ears popping straight up like daisies, and grabbed her in a great wampa hug. He swung her off her feet and spun her around.

“You did it! I knew you could! Did you feel it? Like when you run? That’s the Force! That’s it! ” He cheered, his face illuminated with joy.

“That Force? But it is like running!” Della tried to explain what she had felt.

“Della, it is that peace you have when you run, that concentration, That feeling in your body when you run so fast!” Arkley was not only celebrating Della’s skill with the bamboo, but the relief that she had indeed understood. There was a relief in Arkley. She was going to learn so much now. The workings of her world were going to become so much clearer. Little by little, she would see.

“I did good.” It was starting to click with her. She did something special. Something that she had done before when she was training every day after school on the track. She had taken it for granted. She felt that she had suddenly discovered a new way her entire body worked.

“How about…” Arkley stroked his beard as he raised an eyebrow. “We celebrate?”

Della lit up and did a little hop. She gave a great gasp of excitement and started chattering in that language of hers. Their dinner outings were always fun and exciting; Arkley had a skill in finding good meals.

“ Ever heard of a burger?” Arkley asked with a gentle smile. Of course, she hadn’t. She gave Arkley a barrage of questions, fluttering back and forth between her native tongue and Basic. When she was like this, it was impossible to understand her.

“Atanikili! When magnet? Magnets buy? Woounspe-Woh oun spay?” Arkley swore that when Della was this excited, she was running on reactor cores.

“For the last time, No magnets were there.” Arkley replied in annoyance. Della was going to never shake off this obsession with magnets, he feared. Maybe he should have tried using the wooden blocks. He was cautious about trying objects at the diner, and he was becoming concerned that Della’s excitement would attract the wrong sort of attention.

“Be calm. Peace, or we will not go. ” he said sternly. Della quickly nodded and at least stopped chattering off every word that came to mind. The way that she followed him now in comparison to merely months ago was like night and day.

When they first met, Della was terrified and unyielding to explore the galaxy around her. Everything startled her. It had taken a great deal of effort on Arkley’s part to gain her trust. He regretted none of it. Hopefully, she felt the same.

The Blue Nerfer was the best diner on Coreillia. It had everything: a great menu, 24 hours, sassy wait staff, and good caffe. Della’s nose and ears was already trying to gather as much information as possible. She had once described her homeworld as open and wild. That would explain why her senses were so finely tuned. Perhaps her people were not at the top of the food chain.

When they were seated, Arkley ordered what would be quite a treat for him and his friend to enjoy.

“Ark is good teacher.” Della said as she sipped on a glass of water.

“Thank you.” Arkley replied.

“Ark teach job?” Della asked. Arkley wasn’t entirely sure what Della meant by her question. He asked her to clarify. She fumbled for words until she found a good enough string of descriptions to explain that she was asking if Arkley taught for a living.

“Sometimes.” Arkley replied, his eyes already looking around at whoever might start eavesdropping. He didn’t like the idea of having to act so shifty around Della, but she was completely ignorant to galactic culture and politics.

“Teach me trick again. The first trick. Please?” Della asked sweetly.

“Not here.” Arkley’s voice dropped to a quieter tone. Della was now confused by his tonal shift. She wasn’t used to him being so serious. The air went quiet between them. The truth hung heavy, clouded and mysterious like a storm. They were blocked by their own limitations. Della’s ignorance, and Arkley did not desire to risk danger to them both in this public place.

“Della, I will do my best to teach you. Pay attention.” He whispered. Della leaned in, her ears forward and concentrated.

“ There are people who want to hurt us, because of what I teach. You met them already. They were the people who took you far away from home. They will kill us, if they find us. We must be careful.” Arkley prayed she got what he was saying. He was surprised that she understood every word.

“Predator.” She growled. Her face also become serious. Yes, in a way. It spoke a great deal about Della’s upbringing. Another puzzle piece about her past. She started to say something, it almost sounded like a poem. “Be fast. Smart. Have many tricks.” she finished. Her eyes locking with Arkley’s. Arkley nodded in response. He was starting to suspect that he had a little rogue on his hands.

The food arrived. It was a feast. A treat for the eyes. A galactic color nerf burger with the works on it. There were piping hot french fries and onion rings on the side. A beautiful sundae decorated in rainbow and flavors of all sorts; and a refreshing lemon drink garnished with a Coreillia Grapefruit. Arkley had a modest neapolitan sundae. He had a feeling there would be leftovers to spare from Della.

Della looked at the food with surprise and awe. Her eyes were larger than her plate and she seemed at a loss for words.

“Philamayaye” she told Arkley. But she wasn’t sure where to start.

“Burger.” Arkley pointed at the main course. He mimed grabbed it with two hands and biting into it. Della raised an eyebrow, her ears fixed forward. She carefully grabbed the burger, and took a bite.

Arkley couldn’t help but lean forward in suspense. Della was having her first bite of good and proper diner food, one that Arkley had personally recommended himself. He wouldn’t blame her if she hated it, but he also couldn’t help but feel a little offended. She was carefully considering her first bite. She swallowed. Then took another bite, this time happily and eagerly. She was positively chowing down now.

“Slow down, lass, or you’ll give yourself a stomach ache.” Arkley laughed. He started to eat his ice cream.

“There is so much I want to teach you, and show you about this place. I hope that you’ll learn and be patient with me and yourself as we- Della chew! Slow down! It’s not going anywhere!” Arkley had started to hear Della coughing and wheezing as she was almost literally inhaling her food. He gave her back a firm pat to make sure she wouldn’t start choking.

Della offered Arkley a bite of her burger. The oozing cheese was slipping out of one side. Della’s face was already full with another bite of food.

“Oh no, I’m afraid you’d try to eat my hands if I held onto it for too long. “ Arkley smiled. He took his time eating his meal, occasionally helping himself to a fry or onion ring. His mind wandering to various memories and thoughts.

It was going to be a long road ahead. Arkley didn’t know what his role would be at the end of it. Helping this girl was the right thing to do. It made him feel like he was back with the Order again, before it all went to hell. He felt that he had his proper footing again.

But all that was a talk for later. For now, he was just a friend sharing a meal with someone who got to act like a normal teenager.

((Pt.2 will be out next week! ))

#arkley #dellafrey #star wars #oc #jedi #padawan #swtor oc

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recentanimenews · 5 years

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THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH Goes Matchmaking in Episodes 190-196!

Welcome to THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH! I’m Kara Dennison, and I’ll be your host this week as we run through all 220 episodes of the original Naruto anime adaptation like an army of Kyles through Area 51. In last week's episodes 183-189, we left behind the Hidden Star Village and took on the Peddlers Escort Mission. This week, episodes 190-196 close out our journey to the Land of Greens and then take us on a series of one-shot and two-episode missions.

I figured after Joseph Luster nearly tapped out last week that things had to start looking up... but boy, it's been a mixed bag. Out of the frying pan that was the Hidden Greens Village and straight into the fire that was "Chubby Paradise" - probably my least favorite episode to date. And judging by this week's answers, I wasn't alone. Fortunately, that was balanced out with some fun: Hinata awesomeness, a hungry hungry house, and Tsunade being... well... peak Tsunade. Plus, we get the return of Rock Lee and Might Guy!

So, as we approach the threshhold of the final two dozen episodes, let's see what the team thought of this batch of filler!

We’ve seen some pretty nasty jutsu before, but between Jiga’s suffocating magnetized sand and Renga’s “ants under a magnifying glass” treatment, the Janin brought (and suffered) some brutal tactics. What Naruto death or attack has freaked you out the most so far… or are you too stone cold for that kind of thing?

Paul: “Death by Wooly Willy into giant sand pit” is a pretty bad way to go, but honestly the technique that freaks me out the most is the Shinigami one that the Third Hokage uses to seal Orochimaru's arms. If that Jutsu lands properly, then both the wielder and the victim are banished to an eternal hell-realm where their spirits remained locked in combat forever, and that's some messed up metaphysics.

Kevin: A lot of the more shocking deaths and techniques probably would’ve been more effective if I hadn’t seen the show before. That being said, I’d probably choose the Sound Ninja that used the gauntlets and had half his face wrapped up (okay look, the death and character design made an impression. The actual character, not so much). We didn’t see any detail, but we see his terror, we get a silhouette of what Gaara can become (if I’m remembering the episode correctly), and then he’s just gone. There’s so little fanfare that we don’t even hear about it beyond Sasuke mentioning that his opponent didn’t show up for some reason.

Joseph: I’d say it’s that Mangekyou Sharingan move Itachi used on Sasuke and others to essentially lock them in an eternal loop of reliving their own personal tragedies.

Noelle: Same like Kevin, I’ve seen the show before, so I know what’s coming. I don’t think I remember being particularly creeped out by any of the deaths, because none of them were major characters. More than the gruesome factor of character deaths, I react to the emotional weight of them so no, I haven’t really felt anything.

Danni: Getting caught by Itachi’s Mangekyou Sharingan seems like a pretty raw deal, to say the least.

Jared: Mangekyou Sharingan would definitely rank up there in terms of just pure psychological horror. Also any bug attacks. Just yuck.

David: Honestly Gaara’s entire skill set gives me the creeps, just because of how intensely it would set off any sort of claustrophobia (before crushing me to death of course).

Carolyn: I guess I just watch too much horror to really be affected like that. From a writing/storytelling standpoint, the most emotional death was the Third Hokage’s. Every character ended up dealing with his death in their own way (including Orochimaru), while also being a major point of growth for Naruto.

So, that whole Princess Fuku scenario… I’m going to save us all a bunch of time and ask if there’s anything you dislike about Naruto that didn’t make its way into this episode.

Paul: Fat-phobia? Check. Weird assumptions and gender-based hang-ups? Check. Naruto turning into a piss-sprinkler? Check. Jiraiya, even though he's not physically present, still managing to encourage Naruto’s questionable behavior? Check. With the free space in the middle, I think I've got a “bingo” here...

Kevin: Fart jokes, I guess? In looking for something, anything, good in this episode, a few of Ino’s reactions are so over the top and abrupt that I chuckled a little. But even those were humorous more due to the sudden tonal shift, and the more you remember what caused them, the less funny they become.

Joseph: It’s a bad episode through and through. I really disliked the previous arc, though, so I was fine with just letting my eyes glaze over at the screen for this one.

Noelle: I don’t even know where to begin, admittedly. I don’t think I liked a single moment of this one. It’s just... bad, and not worth a watch at all.

Danni: At least there were no dead ghost moms?

Jared: I guess there’s no Jiraiya accosting sexy jutsu Naruto, which is probably one of the few bad things this show does that it didn’t somehow include here.

David: Oh, to be a fly on the wall in the writers' room as they were checking off the list of obnoxious things to include here. Really feels purposeful at this point.

Carolyn: Sasuke.

Up next is yet another “outsider infiltrates with disastrous results” episode, once again with the cast unsuspecting of a disguise in play. If you were a ninja, how could a friend or family member verify you’re you, and not an enemy ninja using a Disguise Jutsu?

Paul: My family would be able to identify the real me by inquiring about embarrassing childhood moments that – even though I'm now 37 years of age – they still bring up on the regular for some reason. My friends would be doomed, though, since they don't know the hidden meaning of the phrase “Baby Brontosaurus." They're not asking. I'm not telling.

Kevin: Until this episode, I would’ve thought that a sparring match would be pretty definitive evidence in a world where practically every named character can fight and knows magical martial arts. But apparently everyone decided to leave their brains at home for a few episodes.

Joseph: They’d probably just ask what my favorite Nightmare on Elm Street movie is and if I ever gave the same answer twice they’d know it’s not really me.

Noelle: Beyond some personal information that I rarely disclose, getting me to start monologuing about doujin and the discrepancy between US self-pub and JP/KR self-pub is a good way to start.

Danni: They’d play either of the Love Live! Sunshine!! ending themes for me and if I did not immediately start crying, they would Hurricane Leaf Kick my doppleganger to death.

Jared: Probably something similar to Danni’s with it being a Sunshine!! question or asking if Garou: Mark of the Wolves has one of the pettiest stories in all of video games.

David: Just start asking me about my hyper-specific opinions on the Fate franchise as a whole, and you’ll know it’s me when it goes on far longer than you were hoping.

Carolyn: If they asked which Stephen King books I own and the imposter actually knew all of them without pulling up a Google doc, they are lying. Also probably anything involving Buffy.

And we’re back to another ghost episode… so yeah, we’re to the point when recycling concepts is much more the rule than the exception, and there’s not long left for that to change. To that end, is there a filler episode whose concept you’d like to see revisited, and how would you improve on it?

Paul: As others have already mentioned, I'd like to see more exploration of the shinobi-inspired offshoots of ordinary jobs, like the ninja chefs and the ninja postal delivery service. In the former case, a straightforward cooking contest without the kidnapping angle would work, and in the latter case, anything that didn't involve Jiraiya's erotic literature preventing a war between rival nations would be a step up. I'd also love an entire episode that's just everyone taking their pets and summons to the ninja veterinarian for check-ups.

Kevin: Two options: One, Naruto as a mentor, maybe in charge of Konohamaru’s group, maybe not, but take the episode to show that he’s changed a little and has a bit more patience now. Two, back to the idea of the Ninja Chefs and Ninja Postmen. Just take normal jobs, slap Ninja on the front, and make a fun episode from it. It may not make any sense, but at least it could be entertaining.

Joseph: I’d love to see literally anyone else but the main crew we’ve been following. Show me what Gamabunta is up to in the land of the big frogs or something.

Noelle: Honestly, thirding the ‘normal jobs, but with ninja’ idea. We get a good enough grasp on the world, not down to the details, but enough that we can have a general idea of how things work. I’m the type of person that likes looking at small details, so show me the gears of this world, and how people function on the day to day (with ninja superpowers).

Danni: Anything involving Might Guy, honestly. I’ve said it multiple times and it’s because I believe it: give me a day-in-the-life episode of Guy and Kakashi as roommates. I want to see them fight over who has to do the dishes.

Jared: Definitely weird ninja jobs that haven’t been discussed yet or maybe something as simple as a non-Naruto focused episode where we just get a look at other characters doing either their routine or how they handle things when Naruto isn’t around.

David: More food episodes, this time without the baggage of an actual “threat”. I just want to see our cast cooking up food in ridiculous magic ninja ways!

Carolyn: My favorite filler episodes so far have been the Scooby-Doo ghost and the live-burial death cult. I’d be happy to explore the actual psychology and lore of the death cult.

We finish out with two episodes of Rock Lee goodness, this time with Lee and Guy beating the snot out of each other via chakra WiFi. Several of us expressed (understandable) concern about Guy’s mentoring style during the Chunin Exam. How do we feel about the sensei/student interaction a couple dozen episodes from the end?

Paul: I like the idea of Rock Lee and Might Guy clashing by proxy through Chakra-controlled practice dummies, and I enjoy how that situation resolves, but I'm ambivalent about Guy's tutoring style and Lee's ambitions. Even though they explicitly address the idea of over-training, and even though Lee ends up on crutches again this episode, I don't feel that Lee has internalized any lessons about not absolutely destroying himself on his quest to achieve ninja mastery through Taijutsu. I’d like to see him fight smarter, not harder.

Kevin: Honestly, Guy and Lee’s relationship may be one of the more complicated in the series. Sure, it’s as simple as “Lee follows after Guy like a puppy,” but that means that Lee is always driving himself far beyond his natural limits, and Guy encourages him pretty much the whole way, until Lee’s body gives out. It’s a self-destructive relationship for Lee, and Guy is enabling it while also genuinely trying to be a supportive figure, to the point that he gets Lee to accept a potentially lethal surgery by telling him that if Lee dies, they’ll die together. There’s a lot of darkness hiding behind the shining teeth and can-do attitudes. As for how I feel about it, I honestly would need to sit down and think for a while, and even then I’m not sure I could come up with a definitive answer.

Joseph: The whole ‘you die, I die’ thing still bugs me. I like where Guy is coming from but these filler episodes don’t do much to convince me he’s the best teacher ever. He may be the most supportive teacher ever, but it’s to a fault. Rock Lee is still great but honestly he’s too good for this show at this point.

Noelle: It’s honestly very complicated, because there is no clean-cut answer. The truth is that Lee does have to work twice as hard to stand up to his peers, because he naturally doesn’t have the talents that they do. Having someone who wholeheartedly supports him is pretty alluring, no matter how you look at it. At the same time, Guy is 100% enabling Lee to go past his limits in an unhealthy way, and that doesn’t really change here.

Danni: Ever since Lee miraculously recovered from his surgery in time to come to Naruto’s aid in the Sasuke Retrieval arc, I’ve kind of just accepted that subplot is entirely meaningless. Plus, at this point in the plot desert they’re clearly rehashing every single concept they’ve had so who cares?

Jared: Guy can be bad about allowing Lee to push past his limits in ways that he really shouldn’t, but at the same time, I think Lee would do that anyways as you’d really have to nail that into him that he shouldn’t. That’s pretty much what we saw here again. As some of the other’s have said, Guy is very supportive, but there’s a line between being supportive and being toxically supportive.

David: Unfortunately given Lee’s insistence, I really doubt there’s a realistic other option aside from someone convincing him that maybe he just isn’t meant to be a combat ninja, which maybe actually is the right answer?

Carolyn: Guy didn’t make Lee the way he is. Lee already had this tenacity and work ethic, Guy just helps it along by being supportive. And I still maintain that Jiraiya has done literally nothing for Naruto. So, as far as I’m concerned, Guy is far from the worst Sensei. Plus, Lee’s injuries don’t typically come from his training but in actual fights with abnormally powerful foes. You could also argue that the fact that he can actually walk and fight again at all is due to his drive, which Guy definitely helps to foster. I think their relationship is fine.

It’s probably a given what half of this answer will be, but for the sake of symmetry, what are your HIGH and LOW points of the week?

Paul: My high point is Tsunade attaching a pair of dummy arms to her overcoat so she can secretly drink sake when she’s supposed to be working, with an honorable mention going to the “ghost” episode which is actually about Naruto, Hinata, and Kiba encountering a “House Hunter” Mimic from Dungeons & Dragons. My low point is everything from the Princess Fuku episode. Fat people deserve to be romantic leads without being the butt of an endless series of lazy jokes.

Kevin: High – Tsunade entire setup before she sends out Tenten, Neji and Naruto to help Guy. She has fake arms to make it look like she’s actually doing work as she sneaks a cup of sake, and when she needs to make a team, she literally just has cards of the available genin and tries to form something half way workable for the few that are around. Low – I mean, is anyone NOT going to say the Princess Fuku episode? It was a 23 minute long fat joke that got maybe a chuckle out of me due to severe tonal shifts.

Joseph: My high was the living house episode. Look, sorry, I’m a simple man who’s a huge sucker for living houses. The low would have to be everything from the Greens arc. I’m just so tired of the bad Saturday morning action cartoon DiC side of Naruto. Don’t tease me with action and fights when it’s all so contrived, poorly animated, and laughably motivated.

Noelle: High point, the haunted house episode. As fun as actual supernatural stuff is, finding out that something is totally ridiculous instead is just as fun. Low point, if I ever have to think of the Princess Fuku episode again, it’ll be too soon.

Danni: My high point was easily when Hinata straight up killed a guy by burying him alive in his own jutsu without even batting an eye. She’s low-key cold-blooded when the chips are down. As for my low point, obviously it’s the Princess Fuku episode, even if it did give me lots of randomly inserted English and an evergreen line about not discriminating based on color.

Jared: High points would be Hinata getting a good bit of time to be super rad, the weird headshots Tsunade had of Lee, Tenten, Neji, and Naruto when she was doing her fake arms bit, Lee just randomly seeing a dojo challenge and thinking that’s a brilliant idea, flesh castle, and that ska ending. Low points would obviously be the Princess Fuku episode, end of the Land of Greens arc, and seeing multiple themes repeated that we’ve already seen in the filler.

David: Totally agree on the high point being Hinata being completely awesome this week (I put it down as something I was highly looking forward to last week and it didn’t disappoint.) The low point is of course Princess Fuku, but it probably deserves an award for being the lowest point of this entire run so far.

Carolyn: Yeah, how could the low be anything but that episode. Most specifically for me, Naruto being totally shocked that two people he considers heavy being in love as if that couldn’t possibly happen. And also … how old is Ino? Because … uh … High point: Rock Lee lives by his own rules! That’s not how medical science works, my dude. That line was hilarious.

COUNTERS:

Ramen: 3 bowls Hokage: 0 Clones: 22 + 1 uncountable scene

Total so far:

Ramen: 185 bowls, 13 cups Hokage: 62 Clones: 811

And that’s it for this week! Remember that you’re always welcome to watch along with the Rewatch, especially if you’ve never seen the original Naruto! Watch Naruto today!

Here’s our upcoming schedule:

-Next week, NOELLE OGAWA shows us the formation of the Konoha 11!

-On August 9, DANIEL DOCKERY returns to explore the mystery of Yakumo!

-Finally, NICOLE MEJIAS guides us through the end of the Gantetsu Escort Mission!

CATCH UP ON THE REWATCH!

Episodes 183-189: No Laughter Allowed!

Episodes 176-182: Reach for the Stars!

Episodes 169-175: Anko’s Backstory At Sea

Episodes 162-168: The Tale of the Phantom Samurai

Episodes 155-161: Quickfire Curry

Episodes 148-154: The Forest is Abuzz With Ninjas

Episodes 141-147: Mizuki Strikes Back!

Episodes 134-140: The Climactic Clash

Episodes 127-133: Naruto vs Sasuke

Episodes 120-126: The Sand Siblings Return

Episodes 113-119: Operation Rescue Sasuke

Episodes 106-112: Sasuke Goes Rogue

Episodes 99-105: Trouble in the Land of Tea

Episodes 92-98: Clash of the Sannin

Episodes 85-91: A Life-Changing Decision

Episodes 78-84: The Fall of a Legend

Episodes 71-77: Sands of Sorrow

Episodes 64-70: Crashing the Chunin Exam

Episodes 57-63: Family Feud

Episodes 50-56: Rock Lee Rally

Episodes 43-49: The Gate

Episodes 36-42: Through the Woods

Episodes 29-35: Sakura Unleashed

Episodes 22-28: Chunin Exams Kickoff

Episodes 15-21: Leaving the Land of Waves

Episodes 8-14: Beginners' Battle

Episodes 1-7: I'm Gonna Be the Hokage!

Thank you for joining us for the GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH! Have a great weekend, and we'll see you all next time!

Have anything to say about our thoughts on Episodes 190-106? Let us know in the comments! Don't forget, we're also accepting questions and comments for next week, so don't be shy and feel free to ask away!

-----

Kara Dennison is a writer, editor, and interviewer with bylines at VRV, We Are Cult, Fanbyte, and many more. She is also the co-founder of Altrix Books and co-creator of the OEL light novel series Owl's Flower. Kara blogs at karadennison.com and tweets @RubyCosmos.

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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ciathyzareposts · 5 years

Text

Lords of Time: Won! (with Summary and Rating)

Narrator: “It was not continued.”

Lords of Time

United States

Hollyware (developer and publisher) Released 1992 for the Amiga

Date Started: 3 January 2019

Date Ended: 2 February 2019

Total Hours: 25

Difficulty: Moderate (3/5)

Final Rating: (to come later)

Ranking at Time of Posting: (to come later)

Summary:

Lords of Time is a fantasy RPG with a science fiction framing story. A character called “Major Thom” tries to find a way back to Earth after an aerospace accident deposits him in a fantasy kingdom called The Realm. The game uses an update of the Faery Tale Adventure engine with an axonometric interface, action-oriented combat, experience-based leveling, and a day/night cycle that force the player to manage hunger and fatigue. Adventure game-style inventory puzzles carry the player across multiple episodes as he uncovers the lore of The Realm. The game has some fun moments, but a horrible combat system and threadbare story ultimately hurt this one.

*****

Lords of Time is a 12-hour game that manages to double its duration by making it unclear what you need to do next. Its open game world is a bit of an illusion because to actually solve the plot, the player has to visit places in a specific order. This results in a lot of backtracking, and because of the relentless spawning of enemies, backtracking in this game–actually, even just “tracking”–is an exercise in frustration. In previous entries, we saw how much random exploration I had to do to advance between points that would have taken but minutes with a walkthrough.

Crossing the ocean as a wyvern.

The same dynamic was at play in the final episodes. I could have won in two hours with some foreknowledge; instead, it took me about five. In the previous entries, I had received the jeweled key to the island keep from the dwarf king and the “Mage Nullification Spell” from the Druid Temple. I saw no reason not to go right for the island keep. I used the “Wyvern Morphing” spell to cross a strait at the north end of the map and fly to the only island where the “island keep” could possibly be located.

There were two sets of mountains on the island. One had a bunch of windows but no entry point.

It looked pretty cool, though.

The second had a large door that opened with the jeweled key. It led to an underground area full of water. Unfortunately, the only paths forward were blocked by locked gates, and no keys I had (nor my lockpicking ability) would open them.

“Sewer-like tang” is an unpleasant phrase.

Sighing, I returned to the mainland and messed around a bit while figuring out my next move. Around this time, I tried a commenter’s suggestion to cast “Portal Activation Spell” on one of the little shrines I’d encountered. It worked. The spell moves the character among four shrines: one on the north coast, one on the south coast, one on the west coast, and one outside Castleguard. These shrines made it a lot faster to move around the map. Between them and “Wyvern Morphing,” I bypassed a lot of the frustration with random combats.

Activating the portal at one of the shrines.

Consulting my notes, I realized that the only lead I hadn’t pursued involved using dragonsbane to deal with the previously-encountered dragon. My notes said that I discovered its cave on Wyvern Mountain, but after crawling all over the mountain for about an hour to no avail, I realized I must have made a mistake. Sure enough, I found the cave a few klicks to the west, at the base of the dwarven mountain.

As I entered, I donned the Druid Cloak, thinking it might protect against the dragon’s breath. I then opened my satchel and grabbed a handful of dragonsbane. The game asked what I wanted to apply it to. I said my sword. It said that the goop just slid off. I tried again and specified my homing daggers. Again, the attempt was fruitless. No other weapon worked either. It turns out that the dragonsbane–for no sensible reason–only works with regular daggers, and I had sold or dropped all of mine. Meanwhile, the cloak did protect me, but the dragon proved immune to every other weapon or spell.

What if I wanted his head?

I made my way back to Castleguard, bought a few regular daggers, and returned. This time, the dragonsbane knocked the dragon out (though it notably didn’t kill him), allowing me to scoot past him into his cavern. In his treasure chamber, I looted a bone, some gems, some gold, and a “slimy key.”

Looting the dragon’s lair.

The slimy key–of course–turned out to open those grates in the caverns below the island keep, but it really doesn’t make any sense that the dragon would have had it.

The game has another surprise up its sleeve when it comes to the slimy key: it only works three times, after which it crumbles away. There are more than three grates in the island keep caverns. If you use it on the “wrong” doors–which of course there’s no way to tell–you enter a walking dead state and you have to reload from outside and try again.

I hope that was the last time I needed it!

Ultimately, I found my way through. The caverns led up to a dungeon full of cells and a torture chamber. New enemies appeared, including slimes and floating eyes. Skeleton keys unlocked the prison cells (fortunately, I’d bought a bunch in some previous session), and from the prisoners I learned that the wizard Kruel was occupying the tower above, and that I could reach him from the “mirror room” via the fourth mirror from the north.

Freeing a prisoner in Kruel’s dungeon.

I couldn’t find anything to do in the torture room, even though there were some interesting graphics of some prisoners in stocks and one on a torture rack. As we’ll see, I should have tried harder.

The level above the dungeon had several cabinets and beds along with wandering enemies. There wasn’t much to do here, but I appreciated the ability to sleep.

In the level above that, I found the mirror room. Following the prisoner’s instructions, I looked at the fourth mirror from the north end of the room, and was sucked through (a one-way trip) into Kruel’s lair.

A flying eyeball and a slime killed me while I took this screenshot.

It was a small area. I was immediately accosted by demons as I entered. Kruel was standing in a little throne room casting spells at me, including “Sleep” and “Paralysis,” but I had plenty of healing and spell point potions to counter them. Confidently, I ran up to Kruel and cast the “Mage Annulment Spell.”

The game told me that the spell uses concepts I didn’t understand. I messed around a bit more, trying different spells, poison, and so forth, but I couldn’t find anything that would defeat Kruel.

How come I don’t have that spell?

I don’t know why I made this assumption, but what I assumed was that my character hadn’t taken “Advanced Spellcasting” at the guild in Castleguard. I mean, I know I had taken it–I had a screenshot and everything–but I assumed that something must have caused me to reload after taking it, and that I had forgotten to take it again. Sighing, I reloaded from outside the keep, flew back to the mainland, returned to Castleguard, and took the course again. I still couldn’t cast the spell.

Now I was lost again. I ended up revisiting several places, including Bessak’s Keep and the king’s castle, just to see if anything changed. Down in Murkvale, I realized I’d never rented the raft or gotten the two raft propulsion spells that makes it move. This all turned out to be a waste of time, and I’m still not sure what purpose the raft serves since you can just wade through the water between the islands.

Well, this was pointless.

After a long time, I decided I must have missed something in the lower parts of the island keep, so I returned to try again. This time, I realized that the figure on the torture wheel must in fact be Bessak, and that the five sticks in the ground south of him, which I had regarded as some kind of fence or barrier, were actually levers that I needed to manipulate to stop the wheel.

Each of five levers had three positions, and it took me a while to find the right combination. I think you’re supposed to watch their effect on the wheel–some of them slow the wheel down, some speed it up–and discern the combination accordingly. The change in speed is hard to perceive. I just made a list of the 3^5 = 243 possibilities and worked my way through them, getting the correct combination when the list was half done.

Bessak crawled off the wheel, thanked me for my help, and said that he’d help me get home. He told me he’d meet me in Kruel’s throne room after he got a “certain spell from the Druids,” taking off before I could tell him I already had the spell.

“Wait! I already . . . bollocks.”

Back I went to the throne room. This time, Bessak appeared in the northwest corner and started casting spells at Kruel. The two locked in their magic duel while I accomplished nothing fighting endlessly-spawning demons and gulping potions. Finally, I ran up to Bessak and the game offered me the ability to give him something. I gave him the “Mage Annulment” spell.

After that, I ran over to Kruel and began attacking him. I don’t know whether my attacks brought an end to the battle or whether I just had to wait a certain amount of time, but eventually Kruel admitted defeat.

The lack of a comma suggests a big change in my quest reward.

Bessak opened a portal and I ran through.

“. . . and maybe not let those demons follow you.”

As I entered, Bessak commented that he “forgot to ask what world [I was] from.”

Did he just choose a “default” world?

I thus awoke on a rocky landscape with two suns. Paralyzed, I watched in horror as an army of dwarves riding wolves bore down upon me. And then the game ended on a cliffhanger. A screen offered my final statistics and score.

Maybe I arrived after the events of 2010?

Who is hoarding dwarves?

This entry is pretty long already, but let’s do a quick GIMLET anyway:

3 points for the game world. The backstory is original but also pretty silly, the main quest (simply to return home) is uninspiring, and the world is distressingly static–to the point that doors close and re-lock if you leave the screen and return. NPCs give the same hints no matter where you are in the game. It would have been a lot better if it had been structured as a series of quests from the king that in some way helped The Realm while simultaneously helping you find a way home.

2 points for character creation and development. There’s no creation; everyone plays the inane “Major Thom.” The development system has you acquire more hit points and spell points with experience and training, but combats never really seem to get any easier, and development is thus largely unrewarding.

4 points for NPC interaction. There are scattered NPCs–far less than you would expect in a world of this size–who impart information about The Realm and help you with the quest. As noted before, they’re quite static, and there’s no opportunity for role-playing in your dialogues with them.

The game’s few NPCs are useful but one-way.

3 points for encounters and foes. The small list of monsters is unimaginative, and the monsters themselves mostly indistinguishable except by graphic. The respawn rate really kills the fun of exploration. Puzzles are mostly of the inventory type, although there a couple of exceptions, such as opening the way to the Druid Temple.

3 points for magic and combat, mostly for the magic. The combat system was awful–a bunch of sword-waving, rendered ineffectual if you’re slightly offset from your foe. Magic is more useful for exploration than combat, but I thought some of the spells were original.

4 points for equipment. There are a few weapon and armor upgrades and spells, and I like that some items can be used on others in creative ways (e.g., applying poison potions to weapons) and that “examining” items gives you a basic description. There are a lot of red herrings–I ended the game with wyvern eggs, bones, fossils, jewels, incense, and other items that I guess you were just meant to sell for gold.

It’s a rare game in the era that allows for interactions between items.

6 points for economy. It remains strong to the end. After you’ve bought everything, bribed everyone, and taken all the courses, you can still stock up on healing and magic potions, which never stop being useful.

3 points for a main quest with multiple stages, but no role-playing, decisions, alternate outcomes, or side-quests.

5 points for graphics, sound, and interface. The graphics are pretty good, particularly when depicting indoor areas. I didn’t care for the constant vibraphone-like music, and the sound effects were sparse, but there were some nice background effects like chirping birds in the forest. The joystick control was sufferable given the many keyboard options.

To me, the indoor graphics are the best-looking part of the game.

4 points for gameplay. It’s geographically nonlinear but very linear in plot. It’s not very long, but still longer than it needs to be. The overall difficulty is moderate. It’s not replayable at all.

That gives us a final score of 37, so I guess I liked it just enough to recommend it–a little. The developer did fix some of the problems with the Faery Tale Adventure approach. Notably, the world isn’t quite as large or empty (though it’s still large and empty), and it has a better inventory system.

The box art would seem to be depicting the end of the game.

Owing to its obscurity today–it escaped MobyGames and Wikipedia, which is unusual for a post-1990 title–I’m guessing it didn’t sell very well. (The failure to develop the promised sequel is another clue.) The best review (87%) came from the September 1992 Amiga Action, which called it a “little gem” and offered a review that repeatedly suggests a greater depth of gameplay than actually exists in the game, particularly in the image captions. It got 78% from Amiga Mania, 53% from Amiga Power, and 45% from Amiga Joker.

Hollyware Entertainment had been formed in 1991 by David Boyles, a former MicroIllusions employee, after the bankruptcy of MicroIllusions. In his history of the failure of MicroIllusions, Jimmy Maher suggests that Hollyware’s raison d’etre was to sue Activision for things that happened during the MicroIllusions era. Certainly, the new developer wasn’t very prolific. Besides Lords of Time, they seem to have published only two action games–Hoi (1992) and Jonny Quest: Curse of the Mayan Warriors (1993)–and the puzzle game Gear Works (1992). Oddly, the company still exists, or at least re-exists, as Hollyware Transmedia, which is apparently working on virtual reality software. I’m not entirely sure how the rights to Faery Tale Adventure made its way to The Dreamer’s Guild in time for Halls of the Dead: Faery Tale Adventure II (1997), but we’ll sort that out when the time comes.

Developer Steve Postma is the biggest mystery here. He has sole credit for programming, design, graphics, music, and sound effects–the only other names are associated with just the manual and game box. He has no other video games to his credit. I can’t find him now. Where did he come from? Where did he go? Maybe he’ll Google himself one day, see this review, and pop by to answer the most important question of all: why is the game called Lords of Time?

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/lords-of-time-won-with-summary-and-rating/

#retro games #dos games #retro #crpg #adventure #amiga #oldcomputers #8bit #16bit #blog #repost

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