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Video Game / Excelsior Phase One Lysandia

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Excelsior Phase One: Lysandia is a shareware, old school computer RPG in the tradition of the early Ultima games. The PC is a "Fixer", part of an interdimensional watch agency whose purpose is keeping the history of various worlds in line with their destinies. In this case, you are assigned to the world of Lysandia, where chaos of an unknown origin is turning them off course. Your job is to discover the origin of this problem and set them back in line.

It has a sequel, Excelsior Phase Two: Errondor, with much-improved graphics and controls. In it, you are sent to the world of Errondor, tasked with solving a problem that could derail an up-coming peace treaty, and then finding the Fixer who was originally sent to fix it, but has disappeared.

Its official website, where the Windows shareware version may be obtained, is here. The DOS versions can be found on other websites.


This game provides examples of:

  • An Adventurer Is You: Tons of race & class options, as well as possible stat allocations. This game is interesting for having options for golems, imps, giants, trolls, etc., which only affect stats.
    • In Phase Two, your only choice is between whether you want to play as a male or female Human, which has no effect on gameplay. There are only five skills, instead of Phase One's twelve, and the secondary stats have been removed.
  • Big Bad: In Phase One, it's a Chaos Spirit that has possessed The Good King. In Phase Two, it's a minor villain who somehow escaped after being killed by you in Lysandia, and kidnapped the original Fixer in order to magically clone them and use them as an army to destroy the Council of World Watchers.
  • Demonic Possession: It turns out all of the problems of Lysandia started when the king became possessed by a chaotic demon.
  • Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The two brothers who make balloons are supposed to be German or Swiss.
  • Get into Jail Free: Part of the main quest.
  • La RĂ©sistance: The PC joins a literally underground group attempting to overthrow the king's destructive rule.
    • In Phase Two, there's one plotting to overthrow the Chicken Emperor
  • Monster Town: For one quest, you must get information in a town populated by various monsters (of the same kind you've spent the rest of the game killing).
  • Nintendo Hard: Try surviving the first few levels without using exploits.
    • Much less present in Phase Two, especially if you deal with the wine problem before doing anything else.
  • Now, Where Was I Going Again?: This game was made before journal systems became popular. If you're lucky, you might be able to figure it out based on certain items in your inventory.
    • Phase Two has a journal, but it's organised main quest first, sidequests later, and you can't cycle back through the pages if you overshoot by skipping straight to the last on the assumption that it's in chronological order.
  • Skeleton Key: Although they are called keys, functionally these work as lockpicks, and you need the lockpicking skill to use them effectively.
  • Translator Microbes: You need to get the Miracle Ear to talk to the inhabitants of Grethal, the Monster Town.
  • Unobtanium: A mineral named Eramel, used to make magical weapons and armor. Bizarrely, as far as we know it is only mined in a tower.
    • In Phase Two, it's rather more sensibly mined in a cave. You get to do the mining.
  • Weapon of X-Slaying: Only a special sword can harm the final boss. At the same time, that weapon refuses to harm anything else - so don't equip it until you need it.
  • Welcome to Corneria: This game is interesting for its NPCs having the same possible classes as the player, with each class always saying the same thing.
  • Wide-Open Sandbox: There are many things to do beyond the main quest.
    • Again, less present in Phase Two. The sandbox is still there, but it's much smaller, and the main quest is more explicitly spelled out.


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