Legends of Amberland: The Forgotten Crown Live on Nintendo Switch

Silver Lemur Games’ old-school Might and Magic-inspired dungeon crawler Legends of Amberland: The Forgotten Crown that was originally released last year, has finally made its way on to Nintendo’s portable Switch console thanks to Silver Lemur’s collaboration with the Pineapple Works team. Priced at $19.99 or your regional equivalent on the official Nintendo Shop, the game offers you a chance to create a party of adventurers and explore an expansive fantasy world, one tile at a time. Here’s the official description:

Embark on an epic fantasy fairy tale adventure in Amberland, a place full of mythical creatures, with your party of noble heroes ready to do heroic quests and fight the forces of evil! Nostalgia strikes true with this 90s-inspired, old-school, western RPG dungeon crawler in which you command a party of up to seven characters!

Its grid-and-90-degree-rotation-based movement system evokes the classics of dungeon crawler genre. The game tells many little stories, that help make it's vast, open world feel very much alive.

The larger story revolves around the player's party of heroes (custom or pre-made) and their search for a relic of days past - the Amber Crown - an object allowing its wearer to control a great power, cursed by evil forces to be forgotten, erased from history. It supposedly belongs to the ruling king by birthright, and with the ongoing Ogre invasion, is something the kingdom desperately needs to survive the onslaught.

Experience the expansive world of Amberland, with many towers, castles, caves and dungeons hidden around every corner. Uncover the whole map with the help of the Griffin Riders Guild (assuming you manage to find their imprisoned guildmaster). Help many troubled souls along your quest per proper adventuring etiquette, and reap the rewards. Face many different foes, from underpaid halberdmen to fearsome arachnids and dragons. Brave swamps, frozen tundras, scorching deserts and more, as you travel the world, edge to edge. Do your best to uncover, understand and ultimately become... Legends of Amberland.

Key features
  • Classic, 90 degree rotation, FPP, turn-based, tile movement RPG.
  • Up to 7 highly specialised party members. (Pre-made or established through extensive character customization.)
  • Expansive, meticulously designed open world, with organically designed progression paths.
  • Many modern takes and improvements on the classic dungeon crawler formula. (Simplistic, fast-paced combat; easy inventory management, unlockable fas-travel, and more!)
Other features
  • Easily digestable, fairy-tale story of noble heroes on an epic quest in a high-fantasy setting.
  • Streamlined gameplay mechanics for ease of use with complex calculations behind the scenes.
  • Designed with people who don't have much time for gaming on a day-to day basis in mind.

And a message from the creator:

Legends of Amberland: The Forgotten Crown is available on Nintendo Switch now!

It’s a retro RPG, inspired by the games from the 90s era which I played as a youngster. It’s a travel back to the good old times where good was good, evil was evil and everything was much simpler, or at least that’s how I remember it today. You are on a noble epic quest to save the land, there are dragons to kill, stray princesses to rescue and treasures to find. All this was designed to work with modern machines and using somewhat modernized mechanics while preserving the look and feel of the old games which I have so fond memories of. It’s a journey to a beautiful mythical land filled with magic, mysterious creatures, royal castles and other goodies.

It was ported by a Polish company Pineapple Works who were consulting with me all the time, so this is a fine and a faithful port “just as the author envisioned”. Basically all the changes are those required by the platform or things that were simply more natural on Nintendo Switch, but overall, it’s the same story and experience you get as if you played the PC version. The port was well done.