Ludography
Hillsfar cover

1993 · DLC · Westwood Studios · Platformer · Role-playing

Hillsfar

Nintendo console exclusiveDLC

Every visit to Hillsfar is a different, exhilarating experience. Explore the city, meet its colorful denizens on the streets or in pubs and discover a quest.

Released
1 February 1993
Platforms
Atari STCommodore 64MS-DOSNESWindows
Genres
PlatformerRole-playing
Developers
Westwood StudiosCrosstalk Inc.
Publishers
Strategic SimulationsPony CanyonFujisankei Communications InternationalU.S. Gold
Modes
Single-player
Country
United States
Languages
English

About

Hillsfar is a role-playing video game for MS-DOS compatible operating systems, Amiga, Atari ST, and Commodore 64. It was developed by Westwood Associates and published by Strategic Simulations in 1989. It combines real-time action with randomly generated quests and includes elements of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A port to the Nintendo Entertainment System was released in 1993. Hillsfar received mixed reviews from critics.

Media

Hillsfar screenshot 1

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Players start their game by creating a character. The game provides three choices: players may select a pre-made character, create their own, or import characters from previous Strategic Simulations Dungeons & Dragons computer games, such as Pool of Radiance and Curse of the Azure Bonds. When creating a character, players may determine the character's race (dwarf, elf, human or gnome), character class (cleric, fighter, magic-user or thief), and alignment. Various characteristics of the new character, such as strength and intelligence, are assigned a random value by the computer.

There are two aspects to the game: action, where the player performs tasks (expressed as mini-games) such as searching for treasure and traveling between locations, and adventure, where the player completes quests. The choice of character class affects the available quests, with three for each class. While the quests need to be completed in a set order, "what you do in your time off is up to you", and thus the player is free to explore other aspects of the game.

Story

The game takes place in the fictional town of Hillsfar. There are guilds for each class; Fighter, Cleric, Mage, and Thief. Depending on the class chosen by the player during their character's creation, the player must go to the appropriate guildmaster, who assigns them several missions. Upon completing all missions issued by the guildmaster, they will increase the player's gold and experience points, and the character then retires.

Reception

Hillsfar was successful for SSI, selling 78,418 copies. Reviews tended to be mixed. On the positive side, the combination of arcade action and adventure was generally well received. Andy Smith of Amiga Format, in giving the game a rating of 72%, stated that SSI succeeded in producing "a good game that is a distinct mix of two very different styles", while Bob Guerra of Compute!

magazine praised the arcade-style sequences, writing that Hillsfar "does a much better job of integrating these high-quality sequences into the story than many others do". Roe Adams of Computer Gaming World gave much praise for the thief's lockpicking sequence, but noted the game otherwise failed to live up to expectations; in particular, Adams criticized both the repetitive horseback travel sequence, and the fact that magic-users and clerics cast no magic during the game.

Editions and related releases

Part of
Forgotten Realms: The Archives - Collection Two
DLC for
Forgotten Realms: The Archives - Collection Two

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Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.