THE BRILEY WITCH CHRONICLES

This Japanese-inspired RPG is based on Sarah Jane Avory’s own series of fantasy novels. Briley returns home from an exhausting day to feed her cat Smokey. Meditating to relax, she’s drawn to another world ruled by magic where Smokey can talk. With help from others, Briley must cure a cursed village as she learns how to be a witch.

Following the intro sequence, the main menu offers New Game or Continue; four save slots are available on cartridge or blank disk. Members of the party dutifully follow Briley around. You can interact with objects and people by pressing fire, or hold down fire to enter the menu system. A useful Remind option hints at what you should do next, while dialogue with others can include a choice of topics. Random encounters lead to Final Fantasy-style turn-based battles, where you can use your earned magic and special skills.

The game is beautifully presented, with miniature portraits of each character when they talk. Other nice graphical touches include the subdued palette when exploring the village at night, and the world map that opens once you have left the village. The music evolves and changes as the story progresses, with some neat jingles and well-suited sound effects. Everything can be controlled from a single joystick, and the well-crafted story will take more than 15 hours to complete. Sarah is starting work on the sequels and an Amiga conversion, so make sure you play one of the best RPGS on the C64.