"This is the first RPG I ever played..."

Castle of the Winds is the first RPG I ever played, and is probably the reason why I'm such an RPG addict today. It was an early game for the PC from Epic Megagames, based around Norse mythology. Well now, let us delve into the important stuff.

Gameplay- 10/10
Castle of the Winds plays really well. How fun is it to play? It's a helluva lotta fun to play. You pretty much just walk around a couple dungeons and kill everything in your way, occasionally stopping at the town to sell some loot. Simple, but simple things are cool too. How hard or easy is it? It has a nice blend, not too hard or not to easy. The controls of the game are great too. The directional arrows will move you and the mouse can do pretty much everything else.

Story- 10/10
Well, CotW is about a guy/girl (you can choose your gender at the beginning) who lives with their grandparents, but then their grandparents get murdered. Before their death, they told you that they have something for you, a chest with a bunch of goodies inside, when you come of age. Unfortunately, it was your birthday the day they died, and you were finally old enough to get it. A bunch of bandits have killed them and stolen the chest, which you set out to get. Deeper stuff unravels as you progress, but I won't spoil it for you. It's a pretty good story for its time... Personally, I liked it. It's based on Norse mythology, so that adds a nice touch.

Graphics- 10/10
Nothing in this game really moves, except maybe a couple of your spells, if you count that as moving... But hey, it's okay. It was a really early game, so you gotta take that into consideration. There's a lot of color in the game if that counts for anything. Once again, simple is not always a bad thing.

Sound- 10/10
Okay, so there really isn't any sound in this game >_> I lived fine without it though, so I think you'll live. I think the game was PERFECT already without the sound, and now that I think about it, I couldn't imagine this game with sound. It's a great game, even without sound. So it gets a 10 in my book.

Playtime/Replayability- 8/10
This game will last you a decent amount of time. There's some nicely sized dungeons, and tons of items and spells to collect. It's also a great game to pick up any time and play. You'll get at least a good 5ish hours out of this game, which was a lot for games back then.

CotW is a great game all around, even in its non-existent sound area. If you are lucky enough to find this game, you should definitely get it. It truly is an awesome game, and I probably wouldn't like RPGs so much if I had never played this game.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/27/04