The Fifth Disciple Review

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            The Fifth Disciple

Review by JenAugust 2004

The Fifth Disciple is an odd blend of adventure and simplified RPG-style turn-based combat, with some platform-style side-scrolling movement (there are no arcade-type play sequences, though). I played it together with a group of women on our forum.

You are a young man named Engeor; after a lengthy intro, you find yourself in a prison camp not because you committed any crime but because you attended a wizardry university that fell victim to a magic-fearing new ruler’s pogrom. Your first job is to escape, and ultimately you are to learn what happened and why and figure out how to stop the inexorable doom that is about to befall the land.

About half of The Fifth Disciple is the typical third-person inventory puzzle style of adventure game. On top of the usual inventory system common to these games, Engeor also learns magic spells and has a whole separate inventory of those; the list numbers 25 and the spells light up as they become available to use. The spells each have five levels. Every time Engeor gains another level, he earns five “lessons,” which are like skill points, to be distributed among his various spells to increase their strength. When using a spell, holding down the mouse button “charges” them from the minimum strength of one dot up to the maximum you have designated for that particular spell.

The spells sometimes can be used like ordinary items in the course of the adventure parts of the game. Mostly, though, they are for use in the combat sequences, which comprise the other half of the game. Engeor employs only magic in the fights; he has both offensive and defensive spells to use against a single or multiple enemies. Battles are like those in turn-based console RPGs a la Final Fantasy, except there is no random element and they are grossly simplified (although not necessarily easy).  Every battle location is either marked by an emblem on an overview map or by a specimen of the actual enemy you will face, every spell cast by Engeor always causes the same amount of damage to each particular type of enemy, and there are only about five or six different kinds of foes throughout the entire game. There is no haste required in combat; winning is a matter of formulating the right sequence of spells to cast and on whom.

Not only do you gain experience points and levels the usual way, by winning battles, but also by successfully completing puzzles in the adventure portions, sometimes even by simply picking up items. Higher experience levels give Engeor more mana and health from which to draw. In addition, every five levels he gets another action per combat turn, e.g., at level 10 he has three actions, the initial one plus two gained by experience advancement. Possible actions are magic attacks, potion-drinking, or moving; moving does not cost any mana or count as one of your actions but you are limited as to where you can go (indicated onscreen by big gray arrows) and you can only move once per turn. Mana and health are automatically refilled after every battle, and there are a couple of opportunities to obtain refill potions. It is possible to beat every enemy without resorting to the potions, but they are nice to have for those times when you don’t feel like dying and reloading to refine your mana-usage strategy for success.

You will die, and frequently, in both the adventure and the RPG parts, but you can save anywhere, even in midbattle. Theoretically, there are unlimited saves; however, one of my playing companions reported problems when she had more than 99 save files.

The Fifth Disciple was developed by the Czech company Napoleon Games; the game’s original Czech name is, best as I can tell, Brány Skeldalu 2: Pátý uèedník.  It is actually a sequel to an earlier game called, surprisingly enough, Brány Skeldalu. A cursory bit of ‘net surfing indicates that not only was the first game never released in English, it also had a totally different play style involving a party of six.  Whatever the case, The Fifth Disciple stands well enough on its own, although here I must admit I never had much of an idea of what the story was; I think this situation would not have been improved, however, by dint of having played the original.

Graphics are hand-drawn with care; the backgrounds are unfailingly nice but the human characters all have extraordinarily flat heads, especially in the cutscenes. At first, to me, the art appeared rather primitive, but after a while I grew to really like the look of it.

The music is worth mentioning here—it is very nice! Hats off to the composer, David Hájek. As well, the English-version voice acting is surprisingly well done, especially considering the game was developed in another language.

Gameplay is fun fun fun, with the two caveats that there is too much too-tiresome combat near the end of the game and there are two or three unfair puzzles in the adventuring part, unfair meaning nigh unbeatable by anyone at all without outside help. Look for a walkthrough by kwbridge, another of my playing partners, to be posted somewhere sometime soon. She had been in contact with one of the developers, who was kind enough to help our group get past these points.

Outside of those few frustrations, I think I can speak for all of us who played when I say The Fifth Disciple is a fine ol’ gaming good time. A big part of the fun for me, though, was playing the game with these three other women. I can’t quantify and separate the fun of the group play from the fun of the game itself, so I guess in closing I’ll say this: I had a great time but your mileage may vary. The Fifth Disciple has a high cheese factor that is offset by its skillful and unique genre-blending. The End

The Verdict

The Lowdown

Developer: Napoleon Games Publisher: Cenega Release Date: Q2 2004

Available for: Windows

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System Requirements

Pentium 350 MHz 64 MB RAM 30 MB free hard drive space CD-ROM drive Windows 95 or later DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card DirectX 8.1 compatible graphics card

Where to Find It

Links provided for informational purposes only.  FFC makes no warranty with regard to any transaction entered into by any party(ies). 

      Copyright © Electric Eye Productions.  All rights reserved.  No reproduction in whole or in part without express written permission.

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14 Responses to Fear Factor

  • Fear Factor | Tap-Repeatedly.com | Reality Topics Blog

    […] nobody@flickr.com (graftedno1) wrote a very interesting post today.   Here’s a quick excerpt:My greatest fear is to be trapped alone in a confined space with a blind human, in total darkness. They have a heightened sense of smell and hearing, and. […]

  • Matt "Steerpike" Sakey

    Lewis, you made me think of the scariest moments I’ve experienced in gaming, and we’re very similar people.

    Bioshock had two moments – the dentist and the flooded room filled with mannequins.

    Thief had Return to the Cathedral, which was terrifying to me. Thief 3 had Shalebridge Cradle, which is so scary it ought to be fined.

    System Shock 2 kept me on the edge of my seat, but it was more lonely panic than true fear.

    Korsakovia was so scary that I uninstalled it.

    And STALKER. Oh, god, the haunted labs in STALKER. The latter two games don’t have scares like that. Few games do.

    It’s especially rare for a game to have more than mere “moments” – for a game to be scary from beginning to end, that’s a triumph.

    Wonderful article. As if Gregg’s review wasn’t enough to convince me that Penumbra is not something I have the courage to play!

  • DPenn

    I’m with you Lewis … I’m a bit of a puss. I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of dread as entertainment.

    Still, I’m drawn to dark stories when they have something interesting to say, whether it’s a game like Thief or a film like, say, Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible. So I’ll push through, sometimes peering through my fingers.

    The trouble with games, though, is that if you look through your fingers, you’re probably just going to have to play through the scenario again. :~)

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    I wanted to play this game. I downloaded the demo but the controls were just too wonky for me to get my head around. I liked the atmospheric vibe a lot. I think I’m a bit desensitized from an overdose of horror movies in my youth so I don’t so much get the dread thing from these games as a nice creepy vibration. If only the controls were better…

  • Lewis B

    @ Mike, what’s wrong with the controls bud? As someone who despises poor control schemes, Penumbra’s is just like any other FPS, except to examine things you right click on them.  To use things you left click.  I’m not sure that can be considered difficult 🙂

  • Gregg B

    @Steerpike: Yeah my greatest shit-scared moments were with those games too. A few spoilers below people, so beware.

    Bioshock – Haha, I remember the dentist. I didn’t really find the game that scary overall but the bit where you go into the wine cellar and notice a mannequin facing the wall and after upgrading your weapon it’s stood directly behind you motionless and quiet just for a moment before attacking you. I shat a brick. I also missed that bit originally until Lew told me about it.

    System Shock 2 – same as you really, more unremitting tension all the way through rather than specific terrifying moments. Oh actually, theres a bit where you call a lift and it breaks then you realise a service droid is coming to fix it… I do remember having sleep issues after my first encounter with the cyborg ninjas though.

    Thief: The Dark Project – The Sword and Return to the Cathedral and Down in the Bonehoard and well, loads of them. The Sword made me break out into goosebumps though because there was a bit where you could hear this creepy giggling which seemed like it was following me about then it suddenly changed to this horrible throaty noise. What made matters worse was that the EAX (bless you Creative) made my foot steps sound like somebody else was there with me. That level was incredible, a bit too incredible as it seems I missed great chunks of it because I was so eager to leave.

    Thief II: The Metal Age – Trail of Blood where you end up in that opening with those damn tree beasts. God the first time I saw one of those hurtling towards me I actually died shortly afterward. Do you remember that Mechanist child walking around on one of the levels? That was a little creepy.

    Then there’s Penumbra: Overture – quite a few bits but I’m not mentioning them here.

    Oh and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – The brain scorcher lab just because it was so damn quiet. My imagination seriously got the better of me there. Those stuffed animals and heads I’d seen in various buildings led me to believe that those creatures were lurking somewhere in the Zone, specifically that lab.

    @Mike: My control setup was perfect after some tweaking (as well as the simple weapon swing fix). If you ever fancy giving it another go, give me a shout and I’ll let you know my setup.

  • Lewis B

    I’m not sure why guys, but one of my starting paragraphs had gone missing, even though I copied it straight from the original source, and It was fine earlier. 

    Incase you missed it due to some technical issue you might want to re-read just after “Well no she wouldn’t in truth, but in Penumbra: Overture you don’t want to move anyway.” at the very start for those who’ve already read the article. Apologies 🙂

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    Lewis, it was the weapon swing. It had this terrible, unresponsive feel to it, like trying to hit through molasses. I couldn’t stand using it. I tried the .ini fix as mentioned in the review but it didn’t seem to help. Of course this was the demo…but that shouldn’t have made any difference. I might try the second game instead as I guess they did away with the weapons thing.

    I’m see your first paragraph just fine. It’s the dialogue, right?

  • jdeuel

    I like the argument that weapons can remove fear, but even loaded to the teeth with ammo in AVP’99 the Marine missions were frightful because the enemy was anywhere at any time.

    As for Penumbra Overture, if the controls are anything like the original Penumbra they need to hack in some Wii-Remote 3d controls. I did not like using my mouse for 3d movements.

  • Gregg B

    @Mike: I’ve read that many people avoided conflict altogether in Overture which incidentally is something forced upon you in Black Plague. As somebody who has been renovating a house over the last 6 months with no DIY experience I can safely say that swinging a hammer is significantly easier in real life than it is in Overture without the fix. The fix balanced that for me.

    I’d highly recommend completing the first Penumbra because it’s one big build up to Black Plague which spoils the ending to Overture in the intro. And it’s a great ending too. Just so you know!

  • Lewis B

    @ Steerpike, those moments you mention are all my worst too!!  Do you remember the Robot labs in SS2? Absolutely terrifying, waiting for robots to burst out on you! 🙁 oh and have you ever player Condemned?

    @ Mike, The use of weapons in Penumbra is different to say HL2, where the player is physically holding the weapon, as in Penumbra it floats slightly infront of you.  However, if you change the control method to normal weapon swing, it’s no different!  Speak to Greggi and he’ll tell you what to do 🙂

    @ jdeuel, AVP the original and its sequal were scary however what type of fear do you think it is? I don’t think it’s anything more than sheer tension.  Having a Smart Gun makes you feel incredibly powerful.  I can honestly say in Penumbra the fear is sheer unrivalled terror, where you actually have to force yourself to play on.  It genuinly is that scary! 🙂

  • Jason Dobry

    It’s so true, an arsenal of weapons and ammo rapidly deflates any sense of horror or uneasiness in any game for reasons you already mentioned. Sakey, I thought Bioshock was more “lonely panic,” while I was pretty much always terrified in System Shock 2. I really, really, REALLY did not want to enter The Many’s nursery, and my weapons were so unreliable and ammo so scarce that I never felt safe.

    Silent Hill was terrifying for the same reasons. Ammo was rare and I frequently had to rely on my pipe for self-defense.  Even when I had ammo, the game mechanics prevented my character from being anything other than marginal with any firearm.

    Fear had one moment for me: I was climbing up a ladder, and as I reached the upper platform, my guy briefly looked down as he climbed off. As my perspective looked up again, that Ring-esque little girl was RIGHT THERE, reaching for me. I screamed and she was gone.

    What else…the original Aliens vs. Predator sent me into a locker room and I could only hear the facehuggers scurrying about somewhere within. I had to go in there. I advanced about three steps before the damn thing screamed and filled up my screen with its repulsive underside as it implanted me with its spawn. My roommate made fun of me for weeks for screaming like a girl child.

    Korsakovia–meh.  I was too annoyed and frustrated by the box rearrangement/jumping puzzles to be scared. I uninstalled it after an hour of play, I think. Maybe the scary parts were later, but I doubt it.

    As for Penumbra, I did play through about half of it before other games distracted me. I remember unease and creepiness, but no sweaty fear. I think I’m to blame here, or, more precisely, my daughter, who was still an infant at the time and generally allowed me only to play during the day for 45 minutes at a time. I was denied total immersion and the fear effect suffered. Maybe I should give it another go after I finish Call of Pripyat since she sleeps through the night now. With any luck, Penumbra will keep me from doing the same.

  • Gregg B

    I played the demo of F.E.A.R. but that ladder scare is the only bit I remember. Christ, that made me jump. I’m not too good with cat scares.

    Also I felt exactly the same about Korsakovia. It was creepy at first but then it began to irritate me far too much and it just soured the experience. I stopped playing as a result. Not to mention, when I realised I could bash those smoke-things with my crowbar they didn’t bother me nearly as much.

  • Online Up

    Great article. I look forward to reading more in the future.

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