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5 /5

300 years ago, the high priest of the Kingdom of Cheshire tried to disturb the balance of good and evil by summoning the dark god Arliman. Sabrina, Goddess of Light, saved the Kingdom by giving great powers to two of Cheshire's leaders who defeated the high priest and helped the King's high wizard to entrap Arliman in a magical jewel. Velonese, the high wizard's apprentice, was given the task of guarding the imprisoned Arliman on the Island of Raven. Over the years, his anger towards the kingdom grew and now he is commanding four generals to conquer Cheshire while he is trying to free Arliman.

You take on the role of one of four playable main characters and must re-conquer the land that has already fallen into Velonese's hands and find a way to defeat him and prevent Arliman's resurrection. The four main characters feature largely different stories, however, every game begins with the King's death and your character becoming the new ruler of Cheshire.

The most important part of the game takes place on various hex maps where you are fighting your enemies in turn-based tactical combat. During these battles your main character - provided he is standing on a castle-field - can summon various monsters like serpents, manticors, harpies etc. or hire human troops (Humans, Dwarfs, Elves and Hobbits). Monsters need magic points to be summoned, whereas humans have to be paid with tax money. Depending on which main character you have chosen, your amount of MP and tax money will vary, as well as the types of monsters you will be able to summon. Your troops, including your main character, gain experience points and humans can even adopt several different jobs (Priest, Mage, Ninja ...) through gaining classes. Your units can also enter towns during battles, to buy weapons and items, hear the latest gossip and maybe even discover a side-quest. In-between battles, you can equip your troops, send out search parties and allocate troops to different towns, as they can be re-conquered by the enemy.

Also noteworthy are Dark Wizard's long animated cutscenes with spoken dialogues and its high quality orchestral soundtrack.