Take a compelling central character and give them a reason to adventure against overwhelming odds – that is the heart and soul of good role-playing games (RPGs). If a game has that, and follows a story that has some nice little twists and quests, then forgiving other elements is easy.

Take Morning’s Wrath, for example. This is an independent game release, featuring elements that veteran gamers will instantly recognize. But the game has a little more working for it outside of just the graphics, sound and simple gameplay mechanics.

Princess Morning is being presented as heir to the throne to act as reigning sovereign over ceremonies slated to begin. This celebration is marred by the absence of her parents, King Daerid and Queen Anoa. The royal couple were on a journey to the western regions and the royal advisor, the Steward Haliphen, is concerned over their absence. It seems that the western lands have been constantly under attack, but with the king and queen missing, and no signs of the outriders, the court is awash with intrigue. Of course, to add to this is that Prince Ardus of Litania is intent on publicly courting the princess, with her approval.

In the midst of all this, word comes that a lone rider, bearing the royal standard is approaching the gates. It seems to be Lord Oderan, who appears badly wounded. He was, presumably, with the royals on their journey, but he is the only one to return. It is soon revealed that it is not Oderan at all, but a messenger of Ashidia. He tells them that all were slain or left to bleed into the earth and that the Ashidia have come to reclaim what was once theirs. Under the command of General Rhajad Rhul, the Eastern Ashidian Army appears at the gates.

Now comes the first twist – Prince Ardus is a duplicitous cur and is assisting the Ashidians by weaving spells to allow them to teleport inside the castle. He bargained away both Morning and the kingdom of Leowyn in an effort to secure safety for his homeland. Bad move. Morning’s name may seem a soft word, but as many will soon come to find out, you do not want to tick her off.

Encased in the legendary mystical armor of Heona, the princess is now on the path of vengeance, for not only the death of her parents, but the betrayal of her kingdom. As Ardus’ spell allows the Ashidians egress to the castle, Haliphen, demonstrating unknown magical skills, pulls the princess to a place beyond evil’s reach. Haliphen was killed by the Ashidian army, but he still had enough presence and skill to weave the spell and speak a final time with Morning. He tells her that deep within her lies more power than Haliphen wielded. It seems that the castle was the last bastion of mana in the realms. While the Ashidians have the power to use magic, because of her ancestry, so does Morning.

He bids her to find the well-spring, deep beneath Castle Iridine, but cryptically to beware the “Taint.” The royal guard bids her to flee. Ashidians are in parts of the castle, her life is in constant danger, but Morning bows that even as the Ashidians have taken all from her, she will remain and make them pay.

Morning’s Wrath, from Ethereal Darkness Interactive (the indie game developer) begins slowly and quickly ramps up in intensity. Morning must remove the taint from the well by finding and dropping in artifacts. She must also increase her power base and magical skill, while fending off the minions of evil. There is one overall quest and several side quests.

Plus, you are always looking to power up with medallions, crowns, bracelets and rings – these are lying about on the ground and offer buffs to your base skills. The hotbar along the bottom is used primarily for health and mana potions. But they do not stack.

The game’s graphics are reminiscent of early Ultima Online, and using real-time combat, players will have to keep an eye on health. You can slot health potions in the hotbar on the game interface for quick access. Very much a point-and-click, this game is a perfect example of a title that is compelling beyond the graphics. There are some staggered, choppy animations, the whole scheme is somewhat akin to Diablo 2 (run through an area, killing mobs – which do regenerate – and collect items). As you hit the milestones, you can disperse attribute points into a variety of areas to build up your ability to create more damaging effects. This is truly where the game/character customization comes into play. And the special effects are not much to see either. The camera is fixed in an isometric viewpoint, and you cannot scroll the level by moving the mouse cursor to the sides of the monitor window. The musical score is decent, if not truly exceptional; the story dialogue is text driven.

But while the various elements are a bit dated, this is still an entertaining game experience. The Diablo 2-style gameplay and general overture of the plot made Morning a character worth caring about. Throwing the odd twist into the story gave the game some intrigue. You will focus on the main goal, but delight in the sub-text that drives the plot. It does have a bunch of concepts melded together to create an entertaining story.

Each of the spells Morning creates must have at least two runes – one kinetic and one magical. The more runes you use to create a spell, the higher the mana cost of using that spell. Spells created have a scroll that you can put into your inventory. You can only memorize one spell at a time, so essentially you go into battle with your weapons equipped (left click for melee combat) and a spell (right click to cast it).  The minimum number of runs used to create a spell is 2; the maximum is 12.

With save-at-any-time mechanics, the game offers players the opportunity to jump in, fail and pick it right back up. While the overall storyline is very linear, the drops and such are random. While the idea is to drop artifacts into the wellspring of mana to remove the taint, it also has beneficial repercussions in that you can generate runes to create new spells for Morning’s spell book. You begin with simple spells and improve to more devastating ones.

Get past the dated graphics and you will find a game that is easy to play, and somewhat addictive. This is an Indie title, and it is evident that it was created by those who care about compelling game stories.

Gameplay: 7.0
There are some load times but the interface is very simplistic, relying mostly on the point-and-click style of gaming. Right click to cast a spell, left click to melee attack. Point and click on a spot on the ground to move or left click to pick up items. It does not get more complex than that. This is easy, but it allows players to jump in and play quickly.

Graphics: 6.0
‘Serviceable’ is one word to describe them, while ‘dated’ would be another.

Sound: 6.0
The sound effects are not very good and the music does a decent job of carrying the mood of the game.

Difficulty: Easy
If you have played Diablo, you will immediately understand the mechanics of this game. Save often and if you die, you will know what not to attack until you level up a bit more.

Concept: 7.0
Morning is a character you will actually want to see succeed, from the moment she puts the sword to the man she thought was her fiancé through the trials of restoring the wellspring. The game is not overly original in design, and the interface is simplicity itself, but the story is still a very nice draw.

Overall: 7.4
Morning’s Wrath is an indie RPG with Ultima-style graphics, Diablo 2-esque gameplay but a compelling central character and a solid story. Even with the dated graphics and sound, this was game proved to be one of those that keeps luring the gamer back, for either a short time or longer game sessions. It is simple but it is an enjoyable experience.