Caves of Lore 9+

It’s a Friday night in 1994. Your mom said you can rent one video game from blockbuster. At the store, you look around for what’s new and you end up zeroing in on an RPG you’ve never heard of before because, hey, you liked exploring caves, killing monsters, learning magic, leveling up a party, and decking them out in mystic loot as much as a next kid. And the box art said it all. It might have come with a manual, or it might not have. It didn’t matter because figuring it out was half the fun; there was no internet to speak of, no strategy guide - there was just you, your friends, and your collective thirst for investing hundreds of hours conquering a sprawling and unforgiving fantasy sandbox that you knew would actively try to conquer YOU. And it ended up being one of your favorite games ever.

Caves of Lore is that. It respects your intelligence and demands to be -played-, not just clicked on.

Never stop looking for clues. Don’t ignore the dialog. Subtle solutions are hidden everywhere and if you’re not paying attention to your surrounding you’re going to get mercilessly thrashed - just like a real amnesiac trapped in a underground death maze!

First of, this is a really fun RPG. I’m a bit into Act 2 and am really enjoying myself.
There are some challenges though - it doesnt seem like I can raise base stats like Strength which makes it impossible to get to a point where a character can finally equip a cool weapon i found earlier - that has been a fundamental leveling up benefit in most RPGs and that it’s missing here turns a lot of gear into junk.
It is also hard to see what you can interact with at times. Sometimes I accidentally move the right joystick button and it shows me that there is a door I can open…wouldn’t have seen it otherwise and now I feel as if I constantly have to “check” the area by using the button (which I wish wasn’t even there as it confuses more than helps).
The sun/moon system is too complicated and at this point I have lost interest trying to figure it out.
Having said all that it’s still an enjoyable game.