Darkstone

About

You play as a hero in Uma fighting to stop Lord Draak's forces from causing havoc. Choose from four character classes each with distinct skills and upgrade them through a gear and stat system. The turn based combat requires careful positioning and strategy while the open world lets you tackle quests solo or team up with three others in co op. Missions mix dungeon crawling and exploration with occasional real time action sequences. The class diversity and cooperative mode were standout features at release with some players still praising the tactical depth online. Though dated by today's standards the 1999 RPG ran smoothly on older hardware and holds an 80 on Metacritic. Its mix of character progression and multiplayer options made it a rare co op RPG in the late 90s. The PlayStation port added a slightly sharper visual style compared to the PC version.

Storyline

Long ago, a corrupt monk named Draak turned against Kaliba, the goddess of light, and transformed himself into a dragon. He was defeated once before by the power of the Time Orb, an artifact formed from Kaliba's tears, which was afterward broken into seven crystals and hidden across the four lands of Uma to keep it from his followers. Now Draak has recovered and returned with his minions, creating the Darkstone, a force that drains the life from Uma and spreads death in its wake. The player takes on the role of an adventurer who must journey across Uma, brave its dungeons, and recover the scattered crystals to reforge the Time Orb and confront Draak in his lair.