Moonstone Download (1992 Role playing Game)

Moonstone is one of those everlasting favourites. Even though the game is over 12 years old, it hasn't aged a single day in terms of fun, addictiveness and gameplay!

The reason why I say this is simple...I had never heard of this game, let alone played it, until a few days back when some friends of mine and I were talking about old classics (at work). Both of them praised this game, and so I decided to find it myself and try it out. Well... I did just that and now I am hooked! The game is excellent in every aspect! Most of the graphics are hand drawn and the sound is awesome. Look at the screenshots to the right, and you will see exactly what I mean.

The story in the game is simple. You are one of four knights summoned by the powerful druids. Your task is to explore the map and locate the Moonstone, for only the Moonstone can save the fate of this land. In order to succeed in this heroic deed, you will need all the help you can get since the world is a dangerous place to wander around in. Monsters lurk in every possible site they can cram their bodies into while rouge soldiers and bandits will do their best to kill you at every chance they get. Blood will flow, gore will splatter, and heads will roll... Hopefully not yours. To keep your head on your shoulders throughout the game, you should visit cities often and buy much needed supplies, like armour and weapons. You can also increase your fighting abilities. This aspect of the game makes it more of a Role Playing Game than anything else. You get experience from your fights, you evolve to better ones, walk wherever you want and meet interesting people... that want to kill you, but they are interesting nevertheless!

If the game has any down-sides at all it is the lack of save possibility. The game doesn't even have a password or code you may type to start from a previous scenario. But then again, the fun bit in this game is walking around killing things. Something you can do from every location.

To sum it all up... If you have played this game previously, you know how great it is! And if you haven't this is your chance! Believe me... you WILL get hooked to this massive game!

You play a chosen Knight who has the find the moonstone to save the land. This game has some what unusual gameplay for an RPG game. You can't walk across the countryside, but has to walk across a map to different places. Those places are only one screen big. There you have to slay some monsters and find some stuff. In a town you can buy equipment or gamble. The game can be played up to 4 persons (turnbased).

Yet another Amiga hit that failed to dent the PC game market, Moonstone is an excellent RPG-flavored action game that puts you in the shoes of a medieval Knight in search of the Moonstones that will bring the Gods' gift that will aid in vanquishing the Great Dragon. In a nice twist from other RPGs, the various phases of the moon affect the creatures' strength and are key to the Moonstones' power. Journey to the five corners of England to fight monsters and opposing knights to gain treasure. MobyGames describes the game in more detail:

"Something's happening in these lands, and the only hope seems to be the moonstone. You, as a chosen knight from the druids are about to find it and bring it back. The game can be played from 1 to 4 players at once, with no difference between solo and multiplayer as no matter how many players play, the story stays the same for everyone. However, if you choose to play with only one player/knight, the other three will be the computer rivals. Wandering through the map, you can visit enchanted places, towns where you can buy equipment or try your luck in gambling, but mostly visited places on the map will be cabins which represents the places where certain enemy beasts are. Each spot has about two or more beasts which after defeating them can be rewarding in a certain way, depending on game's randomize placement.

Also, for example, if the place has three beasts and you kill two before you die, next time you (or some other player) go back there, there'll be only one beast left to fight. It's also possible for two players to run into each other and, once defeating the other, the one who prevails can steal the other player's money and/or weapons. Thus, searching for the moonstone begins, but that's only half of the story. The rest unfolds once you find it. " Overall, a fun, if difficult multi-vel hack & slash fantasy action fest.

It's quite an unusual game. Not a pure RPG and not "only" an Action-Game. Let's call it Action-RPG. The story is quickly set up - your mission is to find the four keys from four continents to enter the Valley to get a moonstone and to bring it to Stonehenge at the correct moon phase. To do this you have to concentrate both on your very own skills at fighting other knights and weird creatures, as well es the skills of your alter ego in the game. The fights remind me very strong of the old game Barbarian (used to play that for hours on my old C64). But there's just more to the game. Once you get accustomed to the controls and are able to master the fighting-sequences you'll begin to have lots of fun. Tehehe... one of this stupid other knights got really angry coz' I always defeated him - seems to be programmed that he longs for revenge. He didn't get it.

How to run this game on modern Windows PC?

People who downloaded Moonstone have also downloaded:
Lost Valley, Monstania, Neophyte: The Journey Begins, Might and Magic 7: For Blood and Honor, Mystic Towers, NetHack, Neophyte: Koplio's Story, Neophyte: The Spirit Master