Ambrosia | Cythera

    "It is then that blackness comes, but not the blackness of night, not just the absence of light. Instead, the blackness of a void, the absence of all - all sight, all sound, all feeling, all sense of time and space. It comes in an instance, and lasts for an eternity, before slowly fading." - Cythera

    Ambrosia Software has been teasing Mac gamers with Cythera for several years and is now nearly ready to release the long-awaited role-playing game. The game overflows with an abundance of dialog, twists, turns and adventures that warrants such a long development cycle. Even now as the company takes suggestions from the beta testing team, the game continues to improve as last-minute changes are made and small technical glitches are fixed. However, Cythera is already a land with a rich story and intriguing plot that will immerse the player in a struggle with the very forces of nature.

    You begin your adventure by choosing your class of character: explorer, fighter, swordsman, berserker, mage, wizard, mystic, storyteller, or rogue. Each character has its own strengths and weaknesses and the game will play differently for each. For instance, other characters are generally more eager to lend a word of advice to a storyteller than a swordsman, but a swordsman has vastly superior skills when it comes to fighting ruffians and other mysterious creatures on your journey. These dynamics are so great that you might play as two different characters and feel as though you're playing a completely different game.

    You have been summoned by King Alaric, a formerly powerful ruler who was one with the land and its people. He had held the balance together for so long but had suddenly lost its control from an evil force. Alaric asks you for help as an outsider who has not been affected by the chaos of the land:

    As you speak with other people and learn more about Cythera and its inhabitants, you are led on side tasks as well. All of your goals are listed in a To Do list, and each item is checked off once it has been completed. You might also find it useful to save dialog from other characters that you will need to remember for later, which is done with the simple click of a button. You can also record your own notes to your journal, and which acts as a pop up menu that can be retrieved at any time. The entire interface is well-designed and intuitive, using resizable windows, pop up menus, contextual menus, and a wide variety of hot keys that make interacting with the game a breeze.

    The game of Cythera immerses you completely in the land and its story. The music is mystical and reminds me the original Legend of Zelda. It sets a tone that enchants you and soothes you at the same time. You must Also manage your inventory as well as your health. A status in your character's info box shows if you're hungry or sleepy, and you must find your own food and own bed to sleep in. It's not always easy making it back to your own bed, so often you must try to catch a wink of sleep in another person's bed. However, don't be surprised when the owner wakes you in the middle of the night and tells you to be on your way. After awhile, you might find yourself with several helpers that follow along with you on your journey, which becomes essential in certain parts of the game. Soon you might not even need a sword, as your helpers will kill any creature that might try to harm you. Cythera opens its complete self to the player with intriguing dialog and continuous adventure that has not been experienced before in a role playing game.

    Ambrosia has always been known for commercial-quality shareware games, and this history of excellence continues with Cythera. The depth the game provides is an immense offering and will entertain the RPG fan for weeks or even months. With modest system requirements of a 68040 processor, the game should appeal to all Mac gamers and will hopefully live up to the expectations that people have for this anxiously-awaited title. The game has my vote of confidence and I'm sure all Mac RPG'ers will enjoy the epic tale of Cythera.