Lionheart Legacy of the Crusader Unboxing (PC) ENGLISH
9Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader
Developer: Black Isle Studios, Reflexive Entertainment Inc.
Release Year: 2003
Genre: RPG
Platform: PC
Edition: US
wikipedia.org: Lionheart's historical chronology puts forth that Richard the Lionheart's massacre of 3000 prisoners at the Siege of Acre, during the Third Crusade, was used by a villainous character as fuel for a ritual which tore the fabric of reality. This resulted in magic invading the game's world from other dimensions. The game itself takes place during the 16th century, which, due to the alternate reality setting, has been ravaged by uncontrolled magic and demonic creatures. During the course of the game, a villain seeks to fully and permanently open the dimensional rift which was only temporarily cracked during the Third Crusade, while the player character, who is a descendant of Richard the Lionheart, attempts to stop it. Several famous historical personas appear during the course of the game, most of them residing or imprisoned in Barcelona: Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare, Galileo Galilei, Niccolò Machiavelli, and Leonardo da Vinci. This is impossible in the real-world history, but it is implied that they are being kept alive by the spirits inhabiting their bodies or other magical means.The PC (Player Character) is introduced as a slave who has been suspected of possessing magic. To prove this to the slave master, the slaver captain has thrown the PC unarmed and alone into an arena to face a firing squad of archers, with the intent of forcing the PC's magic powers to publicly manifest through a near-death experience. Sure enough, as the arrows strike and the PC falls wounded, his/her resident spirit shows itself and rebukes the slavers. The slave master, convinced, declares that he will hand the PC over to the religious authorities per an arrangement with a mysterious "benefactor". Later, the PC awakes back in his/her cell and gets a chance to converse with his/her spirit, who, depending on the player's choice, can be either the Elemental Spirit (which favors Divine magic and has a compassionate personality), the Demonic Spirit (which favors Thought magic and has an impish personality), or the Bestial Spirit (which favors Tribal magic and has a gruff personality). Shortly after introductions are made, however, the slave pens come under attack by mysterious, powerful warriors known as "Assassins", seeking "the one with the spirit of Lionheart". In the chaos, the PC, guided by his/her spirit, has to make good an escape through stealth, outright bloodshed, or diplomacy with a drunk guard. Outside the pens, the PC is rescued by Signor Leo, an elderly wizard, who casts a transport spell to teleport them both to the gates of the city of Nueva Barcelona (New Barcelona). Here, safe at last, the PC will be able to get some answers out of both his/her spirit as well as Signor Leo, who is actually the great inventor Leonardo da Vinci. Among other things, it is revealed that the PC is in fact a distant descendant of the legendary King Richard the Lionheart himself, and it was none other than him/her the attackers were seeking. DaVinci has taken an interest in the PC thanks to a bond shared by both the spirits that dwell within them, and advises him/her to secure allies within Barcelona against the dark forces that are in pursuit. The PC will have to seek out and join one of the factions in the city to accomplish this. The factions present in Barcelona are the Inquisition, the Knights Templar, the Wielders, and the Knights of Saladin. The Inquisition, much like in real-world history, is a holy order of priests zealously dedicated to rooting out heresy and unsanctioned magic. The Knights Templar were not destroyed in this alternate history and are now an army of noble, disciplined warriors who defend Europe and protect the sacred relics that were responsible for the Disjunction. The Wielders are a congregation of renegade wizards, on the run from the Inquisition's persecution, who maintain a secret lair within Barcelona itself. The Knights of Saladin are the Middle Eastern equivalent of the Knights Templar, come to Barcelona to speak with their ancient allies of the West, but are forced to camp outside the city gates as the local authorities do not trust their tolerance of desert magic. With the exception of the Knights of Saladin, who do not accept Westerners as full members but only as recognized associates called "Favored Ones", all the factions are open to the PC to join. (The PC may also opt to join the Dark Wielders, an evil splinter faction of the Wielders, but in gameplay terms there is little difference between it and the latter.)