Score
Gameplay:	8
Graphics:	7
Sound:	6
FunFactor:	7
PlasmaFactor:	7
Overall:	7

Morning's Wrath Review
February 18, 2006 by Eric Zupevec

by Eric Zupevec - February 18, 2006

The King and Queen are dead and it is up to you to save your Kingdom. Morning’s Wrath combines melee fighting, magic, and puzzle solving. The medieval age always interested me which is why I find this game interesting.

Easy-to-Follow Storyline

The storyline starts out when King Daerid and Queen Anoa are found dead. The Kingdom of Leowyn is now in the control of Princess Morning. You, Princess Morning, take up a sword and armor of a fallen warrior of your Kingdom and go out to save the Kingdom. The castle is constantly under attack by the Ashidians. You are to do anything in your power to help save your Kingdom.

One of the ways that you can help save your kingdom is by using the spell book. The spell book is very complex and takes a long time to master. Once you master the spell book it will be very useful against your enemies and help in saving your Kingdom. You can obtain runes, which are bottles that contain chemicals, from dropping artifacts into the Mana Well, and then they will appear in your spell book. The spell book contains two rows for runes and one row of which contains the types of spells. You can combine the different runes to create many different spell scrolls. The first runes that you can acquire are "Fire" and "Blast". One of the basic scrolls you can create is the scroll Fire Blast. Other spells that you can create are Spark Blasts, Stone Canons, and numerous others. There are 24 runes in the game of which you can mix and match them to create a large amount of powerful spells.

There are various enemy creatures that you can run across, and they can be living or dead. There are objects like runes, empty bottles, and weapons that you can pick up all over the game. Always be ready for what may lay ahead of you; it can be just a rune or a group of enemies. It is not hard to learn the movements of the character since there are not many hotkeys that the game utilizes.

Running across items just lying on the floor seemed odd; usually they are on a shelf or inside an object. Also when you want to pick up something or attack something, it is very hard since you have to click almost in the center of the object. Those are the only things that I found wrong with the Gameplay.

Basic But Sharp

The graphics are one of the things that made me want to play this game. Even though you can not change views the detail is excellent. The graphics are basic but the colors and lines are sharp and not choppy. The most amazing part of the graphics is when you cast a spell, which you have to play to experience it fully, the enemies disintegrate right before your eyes.

The downfall of the graphics is that sometimes it is hard to see which way your character is facing which can be deadly while fighting. Also you can not move the windows, which can be opened through the menu. The windows contain your spells and items that you are carrying. Since you can not move them they get in the way while you are trying to fight an enemy.

Mood Deciding

The music fits each situation very nicely which is what boosts this score. There are more than 21 tracks that you can listen to. It also changes when you move to different locations. The sounds also set the mood for where you are and sometimes tells you what to expect ahead of you. The death cries from the dead are very catching to the ears. The sound effects are nothing special; just swords and footsteps. There is no speech in this game which would have been helpful to allow you to concentrate on the enemies instead of having to read the text.

Easy to Learn

Morning’s Wrath is fun throughout the detailed but easy to follow storyline. The only time that the game is complicated is at the start when you have to get used to all the features that are in the game. The movement of your character is very easy to learn; all you do is click where you want to go. From slaying enemies to casting spells, this game never loses the fun aspect.

Differences and Downfalls

First, it was nice to play with a female character for once since in most role-playing games you are playing as a male character or a monster. There were many things that made this game excellent. Among the top features is the storyline-driven gameplay. Also the music for this game is outstanding considering this is an independent game.

There are some downfalls for this game which should be pointed out. First, the graphics may cause difficulties in determining which way your character is facing. Second, having the ability to run would make some battles of the game much easier and faster if you could make the character run. Another feature this game lacks, included in many other role-playing games similar to Morning’s Wrath, is a mini-map. This would help you find specific buildings since many of the buildings look very similar.

It would be nice to have a tutorial. The tutorial could help teach you how to make spells, tell you more about where you are located, and walk you through some of the other aspects of the game.

 

Worth Buying

Morning’s Wrath is worth while to buy, even though you can finish the game in less than twenty hours. The storyline is catchy and is fun to play again. This game is the first for Ethereal Darkness Interactive and their future games will hopefully fix all the downfalls of their first. If you like role-playing games like Diablo this would be a great game for you to try out. I am looking forward to a sequel or possibly another game from this developer.