Play AD&D Hillsfar Online

Hillsfar came out on the NES in 1989, developed by Westwood Associates and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. It was part of that wave of late 80s games trying to bring deeper computer RPG concepts to the console, though it often felt like its own peculiar thing. You don't play a traditional hero's journey; instead, you're an adventurer trying to earn a place in the city of Hillsfar after being exiled, which immediately sets a different, more grounded tone.

You control your character from a first-person perspective in the city and dungeons, navigating screen by screen. The main goal is to complete quests for various guilds, which involves a lot of dungeon delving, combat with swords or bows, and some light puzzle solving. Two mechanics stand out: the arena minigames, where you joust or race through an obstacle course on horseback to earn money and renown, and the lockpicking, which requires careful timing. The pacing is slow, and the difficulty can be unforgiving, with sudden enemy encounters and limited resources. It feels like a strange, ambitious experiment that doesn't always work, but there's a certain charm in its rough, hands-on approach to fantasy life.