I would like to thank Silver Lemur Games for the review key to this title.

Back in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, there was a golden age in CRPGs (computer RPGs). Game series like Ultima, Wizardry, and Might and Magic entertained an entire generation of computer-using RPG fans. The Legends of Amberland series is a love letter to this era, and Legends of Amberland III: The Crimson Tower is a fond capstone to this nostalgia.

For those unfamiliar with the CRPG genre, it has a few constants. You utilize a party of six characters from a first-person perspective (with the option to use fewer if you prefer). The game world is in 2D, with a top-down map on a grid-based world. The overall game aesthetic is very high fantasy. You do quests, explore the overworld and dungeons, fight monsters, and so on. It all takes place in a world where time passes, and various new areas can be explored depending on your equipment, skills, and story progression.

The game engine is largely identical to the prior games in this series. There are some new additions, most of which are fairly minor. Some of the more notable features include variable difficulty depending on the size of your party (so it may be possible, if very difficult, to do a single-party-member run). There is also a “Monster Respawn” feature. In prior Legends of Amberland games, they modeled themselves after the classic Might and Magic games, where the world had a finite amount of monsters (and thus a finite amount of experience and money to be derived from monsters). The Respawn feature effectively uncaps this limit. This can make the game easier (you will never run out of gold or exp) and harder (as almost any enemy, save some bosses, can respawn).

Graphically, this is a retro-inspired title that adheres closely to the hand-drawn Western cartoon art common during the eighties and early nineties, and it all has a very pixel-based aesthetic for the authentic old-school experience. It's very simple yet charming, and if you enjoy this aesthetic, as I do, you'll feel right at home.

The music and sounds are a throwback to the days of chiptune-style music, except with more modern instrumentation, and set the high fantasy mood pretty well.

The game controls harken back to the old days of early mouse movement, where you had to manually change your direction in places by pressing left or right to turn until you faced the proper direction, and forward and back would help you move. Thankfully, unlike the days of old, these tank-style controls are far more responsive, and I found it easy to get used to them. You can use a mouse, and frankly, it does make using certain menus feel better, but the game can be played entirely with a keyboard, though you'll need to remember some key shortcuts. Steam-compatible game controllers are also supported, though you'll have to use the controller's shoulder buttons for turning and using key shortcuts modified for the controller for the menus. Thankfully, the game does have a built-in guide for the shortcuts, so they can be memorized with a bit of practice.

Game stability is solid. If you can turn your computer on, you can run this game. It natively supports Windows, but will run on Linux via Steam Proton and is Verified for the Steam Deck.

This game does not have very many moral issues. The creator was kind enough to answer questions, confirming they are a Catholic who at best used a small portion of J.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion for inspiration and strove to keep this as tame as possible.

Violence is typical RPG style "Give orders and watch it happen". There is no blood or gore. Language is quite clean, and there is nothing of concern in the sexual content area. The game takes pains to avoid the occult, and all magic is entirely fictional and generic. At best, some mild fairy tale-style magic is shown, but that's about it. Morally and ethically, your party is a legitimate band of heroic adventurers who do standard quests for various people and legitimate authority is sought for many of them. There is a reference or two to alcoholic beverages, mostly their existence and little more.

It’s a pretty similar title to its two previous entries, but if you enjoyed their gameplay, this game provides more of that. Technically, there is little wrong and much right to recommend. Morally, aside from some mild violence and an alcohol reference or two, this title is suitable for almost any age. If you enjoy CRPGs or liked the previous Legends of Amberland, then this title comes highly recommended.