Aidyn Chronicles: The First Mage
Aidyn Chronicles: The First Mage is a role-playing video game developed by Canadian studio H2O Entertainment and published by THQ for the Nintendo 64 (N64) video game console. Plot. "Aidyn Chronicles: The First Mage" follows a young squire named Alaron who, while searching for a missing farmer named Kendall, encounters a strange spirit and is poisoned by Goblins. He awakes from a terrifying vision of monsters to find himself inside the hut of Oriana, a healer, who tells Alaron that the poison is beyond the powers of normal medicine to cure. Upon returning to  Castle Gwernia, the king, Phelan, instructs him to ask the Mirari people of Erromon to help heal his poison. Upon reaching Erromon, the Mirari King, Txomin, explains that they've been under attack from goblins and seeks Alaron's aid, promising to direct him to a naming wizard named Cradawgh. Alaron clears the goblins off the mountains, however when he returns to Erromon he discovers that Txomin lied, and does not know the whereabouts of Cradawgh, telling Alaron instead to travel to Talewok, and see the sorceress, Ardra. Before leaving, Alaron converses with the Mirari queen Yeraza, who gives him  the Stormbreaker, a blessed tree branch able to calm any storm. At the Wizard School, the doorman asks everyone's True Name, but Alaron cannot answer. Ardra the sorceress begins the healing spell, which brings on another vision. This one includes a feeble, old man in a rocking chair. Ardra explains that the healing spell failed because Alaron is a Wildling – he has no True Name. Without a True Name, his spirit is not bound to his body, and Alaron is incomplete. Ardra tells him to travel to Port Saiid and take a boat to Cradawgh's Island. Alaron  is eventually able to hire a boat at Port Saiid – after an unusual encounter with a cryptic jester but the ship travels into a powerful storm, and as the Stormbreaker is tied to the mast instead of the helm, the ship is damaged and forced to land at Chaos Isle. Following repairs the party sets off for Cradawgh's Island; this time the ship arrives safely, however a group of monsters has already reached Cradawgh. The dying wizard asks Alaron to bring his body to Talewok, and suggests seeking the Jundar King Zaratas in the desert. After Cradawgh's funeral  in Talewok, Alaron heads down to the city of Terminor. He then soon discovers that the nearby village of Pome was destroyed by a wizard with a twisted staff. The final level of Terminor has a house, in which resides Mago, a wizard without a True Name, who went insane several years ago and called up a huge storm when the townspeople tried to kill him. Mago is the feeble, old man from Alaron's earlier vision and can no longer speak. Alaron travels to a nearby bog, where he finds the Tower of Shamsuk, a powerful necromancer who had  previously destroyed Pome and cursed Niesen, slowly turning him into a zombie. Niesen gets the party into the tower where they eventually reach a chamber with a large stone hand. The jester from Port Saiid appears once more, revealing himself to be Farris – a wizard. Farris joins the party, assisting them in defeating Shamsuk, who has already killed Oriana – now revealed to be Alaron's mother. Farris then leaves the party, taking Shamsuk's necromantic staff with him. Alaron crosses a desert to reach the Jundar city of Ugarit, where he speaks with the Jundar Emperor, Zaratas, who explains that  only the dragon Rooughah can name Alaron. He needs to find the Golden Horn of Kynon and play it for Rooughah. Alaron retrieves the Horn, and begins heading back to Erromon. Alaron travels through the Erromon tunnels until he comes across the dragon Rooughah. After Alaron plays the Horn of Kynon, Rooughah tells him he knows his True Name: "Alaron". The Mirari then tell Alaron that the forces of Chaos are gathering outside Gwernia. Alaron returns to Gwernia castle and fights his way to Prince Sheridan, who confesses to always being jealous of Alaron. Sheridan explains that Alaron is the  son of Oriana and King Phelan. Alaron fights and kills Sheridan, only to then meet Pochangarat (the leader of Chaos) – the huge monster from Alaron's first vision in Oriana's hut. After Pochangarat's death, Alaron finds his father, King Phelan, who is dying from the wounds he suffered at Pochangarat's hands. He requests to be buried under the Great Wall of Knights in Gwernia, and appoints Alaron as his successor before dying. The game's story ends with Alaron's coronation ceremony. Gameplay. The game takes place in a 3-D based world. The player controls a  polygon-based figure of Alaron, moving him around both in and out of doors. The view is a mostly a third-person overhead behind him. Time passes in real time, with night and day affecting visibility and combat (see below). There is no way to change the speed Alaron moves, nor the camera view in normal gameplay. The player cannot control any other member of the party except in combat mode. A pop up menu allows the player to equip the party members, view abilities and stats, use items, and access the world map and options menu. Combat is  turn-based, though stats of the player's characters and attacking monsters can affect turn order. When combat starts, Alaron and his party are transported to a separate screen with varying terrain. The player can move each party member a certain distance marked by transparent borders. Positions of characters (such as height and back attacks') can increase/decrease the damage and effectiveness of attacks. Also the characters aspect (solar or lunar) will perform better or worse depending on what time of day it is. Spells and other talents area of effect is shown via a red flame border, and increases  the higher the skill level. Any party member who dies during combat is permanently removed from the game with no ability of revival. If Alaron dies, the game is automatically over. Development. Writing. The plot of Aidyn Chronicles was scripted and designed by Angela Ferraiolo. Reception. In a preview, Daily Radar noted the game's potential as the "defining RPG for the Nintendo 64". Aidyn received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, scoring a 53 on Metacritic. And a negative 47.36% on Game Rankings. In their review, IGN gave the game a 4.2/10 stating, "The scope of it was too  large and led to a really -- and I mean really -- tedious experience. It has no way of pulling you into the story or gameplay."