Elderlands: Bringing Back Retro Gaming

While most people got their first taste of online gaming through early MMOs such as Meridian 59 and Ultima Online, I was a little bit late to the party. In fact, it wasn't until the early 2000s that I actually realized there were games you could play online with other people in a persistent environment.

My first MMORPG experience was with a tiny game called Dransik. It was an open beta isometric affair in development by Jason Ely, who was a former Ultima Online dev gone indie. I played from open beta all the way through the commercial release of the game with several fond memories and plenty of friendships still cemented outside the world of Dransik.

A big part of having fun in Dransik was making your own fun, since the few quests that were scattered about the game were usually broken or completely worthles, aside from the guild charter quest which required a ton of effort both from yourself and six other people. When I finally finished the quest line, I formed a guild with the tag HELL, which stood for Hell Hunters. HELL was mainly about player harrassment. We were one of the biggest troll guilds in the game and while I can't say I'm proud of that fact now, back then it was insanely fun.


Eventually it became financially unsound for Jason to continue to maintain the Dransik servers so he sold it off to another company. It was renamed Ashen Empires and the quality degraded to the point it is at today. Ashen Empires is still available and has a pay as you go model with an item store, but the game is so far from its original self I can't even recommend it to anyone.

In 2007, Jason Ely formed If-Else Software and started in his new project, Elderlands. It's a top down fantasy game very similar to Dransik classic. The retro graphics of Dransik Classic have been completely retooled to bring them into the modern era while maintaining their sense of simplicity and unique style. The best part is that Jason has taken the hint from commercial successes on the market in order to create a game that offers more substance rather than online human interaction.



Click any screenshot to appreciate the full-sized version.
The initial builds of the game were very reminiscent of the interface that was present in Dransik Classic, but with a complete overhaul of the graphical style. This is where my love of the game has expanded. The original Dransik Classic was very utilitarian in how it looked. Everything was rendered in 20x20 pixels so it was often hard to tell what you were fighting until you could read the combat log. It was barely one step above an ASCII roguelike you could play online.

However, the work being done on Elderlands is simply amazing. The graphical style is unique and while there are a few oddities to be seen here and there, the party and quest system Jason is incorporating into the game should feel familiar to anyone who has played modern MMOs such as World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, or Age of Conan. It's amazing to see such detailed quest and party systems in what is essentially a top down online roguelike with gorgeous retro graphics.

It is obvious the lengths Jason is going to in order to ensure this creation of his is actually well balanced and caters to the current MMO experience. Whereas in Dransik the traditional moniker of a +3 Long Sword was something to behold, Elderlands features named items that are colored according to their rarity. This accessibility means the game caters to those who love the appeal of a traditional roguelike, while maintaining modern MMORPG roots.

The game is currently in closed beta and access is very spotty, but if you're interested in trying it out at some point, definitely sign up for an account. The client isn't very big and when the servers are up, you'll be exposed to one of my earliest gaming addictions in its purest form.