So, whenever talk about Tower of Druaga's community guides from the '80s comes up, I struggle to find good primary sources for that trend. After all, either arcades trashed those books/boards years after Druaga's peak, or they became private heirlooms.
Then comes this tweet!
Then comes this tweet!
https://twitter.com/chirisi2015/status/1533004679734448133
Another example, this time for the console ports. It's neat how this game, with all its inscrutable traps & tricks, spawned a grassroots strategy guide scene. (Arguably less cool how it heralded an age of games only fun when using said strategy guides.)
https://twitter.com/Aran_Saijo/status/1533281111538749440
This user points out the ubiquity of similar guides anywhere you'd find a Druaga cab, even ones in English! It's this "help a stranger help you" attitude, predating the Web even, that influenced the Souls series & others with similar kinds of mysteries.
https://twitter.com/Crybaby_JUN/status/1533223613071245312
Immediately after Druaga arrived & popularized the concept of games you can only beat by sharing tips & secrets (schoolyard knowledge!), Japanese PC developers adopted the concept for many new titles.
The original Xanadu, for instance, was very hard w/o knowing its secret items!
The original Xanadu, for instance, was very hard w/o knowing its secret items!
Druaga's closest sales competitor on J-PCs in 1984—The Black Onyx, a Wizardy-inspired dungeon crawler—also introduced Japanese players to more complex xRPGs which incentivized making maps & sharing "the meta" with friends & classmates (ex. which classes/party comps worked best). 
Druaga, Black Onyx, Hydlide, & finally Xanadu were a quartet of popular but considerably lengthier, more difficult games vs. what one usually played in arcades & on consoles in '84 & '85.
They all shared one thing in common: an explicit or implicit push towards sharing strats.
They all shared one thing in common: an explicit or implicit push towards sharing strats.
When Druaga, Hydlide, & their ilk came West via console ports, little if any of this cultural context came with.
Nintendo's own take on the concept with Zelda & Metroid involved literally giving players maps & hints in box. Hydlide was both older & had a far worse help bundle!
Nintendo's own take on the concept with Zelda & Metroid involved literally giving players maps & hints in box. Hydlide was both older & had a far worse help bundle!
Back home, Druaga had already done well enough to have a large presence in player fanzines like this one:
'Zines & big publications for both PC & console players filled a niche for learning to play these otherwise inscrutable games during their heyday.
https://twitter.com/gosokkyu/status/1532269740344737792
'Zines & big publications for both PC & console players filled a niche for learning to play these otherwise inscrutable games during their heyday.
I don't mean to say that Nintendo Power, EGM, etc. somehow weren't doing anything similar, but neither Druaga nor Hydlide got the kind of coverage & guides in those mags that they had back home (Dragon Quest fared better, but arguably didn't need as much help as its predecessors)
By the late-'80s, even Xanadu had its own console reimagining (Faxanadu) to accommodate players who couldn't easily afford mags/zines or get a friend's help. Meanwhile, Druaga had enough cachet for its sequel, Return of Ishtar, to require a second player!
https://twitter.com/ohfivepro/status/1531094224191598596
It's useful to track how these regionally beloved, yet globally obscure & demanding games influenced design trends that people often just call "Nintendo Hard".
Only 2 years after Xanadu, Falcom famously launched their "age of kindness" with Ys & Sorcerian, both a lot easier.
Only 2 years after Xanadu, Falcom famously launched their "age of kindness" with Ys & Sorcerian, both a lot easier.
Many new developers around that time themselves used guides for the games they enjoy. A schism opened between teams creating increasingly easier, more intuitive titles like Ys & Zavas vs. those still valuing difficulty & guide/hintbook usage for titles like Ishtar & Hydlide III.
When I see current design/fandom talk about whether or not games should cater to intuition or shared prior knowledge, I can always think back on this era & what trends arose from the confluence of meta-driven arcade & PC games.
Games had become more than just you @ the joystick!
Games had become more than just you @ the joystick!
I don't think I'm exaggerating the importance of these titles too much, either. Game Freak famously started as a fanzine covering arcade games, from Namco to Taito & beyond. The early mid-'80s saw many paradigm shifts in Japan's arcade & PC games communities which we feel today.
Anyhow, I need to get back to editing today's #PasokonSunday video. This one's another PC-98 game which, big surprise, really wants you to use the manual & share hints with friends! Only it's a decade after these greats, and a raising/survival sim at that.
Back to recording!
Back to recording!
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