old school cool.
sunday, january 28th, 2024.
Recently, I picked up the game Demon Lord Reincarnation on sale a smidge under $6 from GOG.com. It's one of those games that I've been eyeing for a while. Something about its old-school pen-and-paper aesthetic really grabbed me— it reminds me of D&D manuals from the 1980s. Almost-monochromatic 1-bit drawings with some glorious dithering.
Obviously, I had to try it out. The gameplay is simplistic and draws heavy inspiration from old-school RPG staples like Wizardry, The Bard's Tale, and Ultima Underworld. You're presented a first-person view of a dungeon crawl with random, brutal encounters that threaten to decimate your party at every turn. The music and sound design are brutalist with pipe organs and heavy bass lines that remind my partner of The Phantom of the Opera.
Upon startup, the game insists that you read the manual and actually map out your progress with physical pen-and-paper. My partner has graciously lent me a dot-grid notebook, and so I do just that. This isn't much of a spoiler, but here's my current progress on the first floor of the dungeon (the right side of the map is still unexplored):
To me, there's something really neat about the game including pen-and-paper as part of its core gameplay. I love writing and doodling, so this sort of thing is straight up my alley. It's not everyone else's cup of tea, though, according to the online reviews:
And that's okay— really! Demon Lord Reincarnation fits a very specific niche of old-school gaming, but with a modern coat of paint that makes it quite compelling for anyone that loves that old-school pen-and-paper RPG aesthetic. The developer, Graverobber Foundation, knew exactly what they were going for and knocked it out of the ball park. :)
other things.
This morning, I've enjoyed watching a couple of videos on YouTube where folks were restoring old electronics:
- Shelby from Tech Tangents restoring a Xerox 645S typewriter.
- David from Usagi Electric restoring a Bendix G-15 computer.
Thanks to jbauer for the great YouTube channel recommendations that led me to these videos. They're inspiring and a great accompaniment to a Sunday morning cup of coffee.
I woke up this morning feeling a lot better after the flu I've had this week, so I think I'll be back to work tomorrow. Not sure if I'll be riding my bike there or not— I'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow before I commit to the exercise. Still, I'm grateful to have this round of the flu in the rear view mirror!
Until next time, be well. :)