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One of my favorite games, Below the Root, has not one but two named playable female characters: Genaa and Pomma. It's from 1984, so only 2 years after the game

One of my favorite games, Below the Root, has not one but two named playable female characters: Genaa and Pomma. It's from 1984, so only 2 years after the game in this article. I played it on a Tandy 1000. It was a trailblazer in all kinds of ways: a side-"scrolling" adventure type game where you have to explore, talk to people, gather inventory, raise your skills, and solve puzzles. You can play as either of two rival factions. As you play you can really feel the depth of world-building and backstory. There is no set order to do the various things required to win. You can play any of five characters, who have different levels of strength and "spirit skill". And it did it all with four colors and a single joystick button. It is at least as innovative as King's Quest (also 1984), maybe more. It has an intro sequence that explains the goal, but it's quite terse, so you might want to read the Wikipedia page. The game was commissioned by a fantasy author and intended to be a sequel to one of her books. You can run it on dosbox. I highly recommend trying it out!

rabidrat 6y ago
I love this game! If you haven't read the trilogy that inspired the game, I recommend it. I only got to reading it a few years ago, but was impressed by how much of the book world and the game world naturally intersected. I assumed that the shuba (a garment that allows you to glide between trees) was an offhand item in the books that became a central game mechanic out of necessity, but it turns out that it's a major part of the books too! Anyway, yes, it's a great game. The C64 version is better than the DOS version (better graphics, polyphonic sound), but a little harder to get hold of. Worth playing on any platform as a piece of adventure game history (and much better than the original King's Quest in my opinion).
kbelder 6y ago
This is a strong memory. Very sophisticated, compared to other games of the time.
- dudleypippin 6y ago
  I have a visceral memory of a jump that I Just Couldn't GET and the joy of finally hitting it. Looks like you can play online here: https://classicreload.com/below-the-root.html https://classicreload.com/below-the-root.html

rabidrat 6y ago

I love this game! If you haven't read the trilogy that inspired the game, I recommend it. I only got to reading it a few years ago, but was impressed by how much of the book world and the game world naturally intersected. I assumed that the shuba (a garment that allows you to glide between trees) was an offhand item in the books that became a central game mechanic out of necessity, but it turns out that it's a major part of the books too! Anyway, yes, it's a great game. The C64 version is better than the DOS version (better graphics, polyphonic sound), but a little harder to get hold of. Worth playing on any platform as a piece of adventure game history (and much better than the original King's Quest in my opinion).

kbelder 6y ago

This is a strong memory. Very sophisticated, compared to other games of the time.

dudleypippin 6y ago
I have a visceral memory of a jump that I Just Couldn't GET and the joy of finally hitting it. Looks like you can play online here: https://classicreload.com/below-the-root.html https://classicreload.com/below-the-root.html