Solstice: The Quest for the Staff of Demnos

Solstice: The Quest for the Staff of Demnos is a puzzle game developed by Software Creations for the NES. It was the first original game to be developed by this company and it was released in July 1990. The game features a Tim Follin music theme, which has become one of his best known tracks. The game focuses on the wizard Shadax, who must recover the six pieces of the legendary Staff of Demnos from the castle of the evil Morbius, to defeat his enemy and save Princess Eleanor, whom Morbius intends to sacrifice to complete a dark ritual. The game had a sequel titled Equinox; it was released for the SNES in 1993.

Story
On the eve of the winter solstice, Morbius the Malevolent kidnaps Eleanor, Princess of Arcadia, the land of his sworn enemy. In his stronghold of Kâstleröck, Morbius intends to sacrifice the maiden to complete a dark ritual that would allow him to become the Black Baron of Darkness and dominate the world. Shadax the wizard helplessly witnesses the kidnapping. However once, consulting the ancient writings in the Library of the Oracle of Arcadia, Shadax discovered the existence of a secret passage to access Kâstleröck. He also learned of the existence of the legendary Staff of Demnos, a weapon that would allow those who had it to reign over Heaven and Earth. The staff had been guarded by the wise kings of Arcadia for years, however, fearing that it might end up in the hands of Morbius, the staff was broken into six pieces. The pieces of the staff were then hidden and a spell was cast on them, which made them invisible. For years, in fact, Morbius' minions have searched for them in vain. Finally, according to an ancient poem, the pieces of the staff were hidden in the very last place where Morbius would have sought them: in his own castle. Furthermore, only once every hundred years, during the winter solstice, would the pieces of the staff become visible again. On the night of the winter solstice, Shadax enters the fortress of Kâstleröck and here his adventure begins. He will have to explore the countless rooms of the castle, where enemies and dangers of all kinds lurk, in an attempt to reassemble the Staff of Demnos, finding the six hidden pieces. Only after reassembling it, Shadax can defeat Morbius and save Princess Eleanor.

Gameplay
The game has a non-linear structure. The player controls the wizard Shadax, who must make his way through the labyrinthine fortress of Kâstleröck, consisting of over 250 rooms. The purpose of the game is to fully explore the fortress in an attempt to rebuild the Staff of Demnos by finding all six hidden pieces. Once the staff is rebuilt, Shadax must find the prisoner Princess Eleanor and defeat the evil Morbius.

Only one room at a time is shown on the screen, in isometric axonometry. In each room there can be enemies to avoid and many other dangers, such as floors covered with spikes, moving blocks, conveyor belts, invisible platforms, traps and pitfalls. Sometimes it is necessary to solve puzzles to reach the entrances to other rooms. The game indeed presents a good balance between action and puzzle. Shadax can walk, jump, pick up and drop objects. During his mission, he can count on the help of a magic map, which keeps track of all the rooms already passed through and of four magic potions, each with a different power, kept in as many beakers. In the rooms he will also be able to find useful items to proceed, such as hats that award an extra life, medals that allow you to continue the game in the event of a game over and beakers that allow Shadax to restore his supply of potions. You also need to find some magic keys and teleportation portals to reach otherwise inaccessible areas. It is not necessary to explore all the rooms of the fortress to finish the game, however after the final sequence the percentage of the game completed is shown. To complete the game 100% you need to enter all the rooms and collect all the objects.