El Obscuro Files Alert! This time it’s a lovely 1995 Cryo title called
Lost Eden.

I expected this game to be a sort of “Lost World”
story, but it really took me by surprise. It’s actually an ambitious fantasy and
was quite a charming way to spend a few hours with my PC.

The story of Lost
Eden is captivating: It takes place in a time when various tribes of humans
shared the world with intelligent dinosaurs. You play Adam, a young prince who’s
the heir to a not-particularly-admirable dynasty of human kings. Yes, your great-grandfather
was a great builder and peacemaker, but your grandfather was an evil butcher,
and your father is a weak do-nothing.

At the beginning of the story, you
are sent out into the world to help the humans and dinosaurs deal with a deadly
common enemy, the Tyrans (think smart T-Rexes, eek). You are sent out from the
safety of your father’s citadel into the dangerous world.

The format of
the game is first-person point-and-click, with many instances of fully animated
movement. The game is DOS, but it loaded on my machine with no problems.

Lost
Eden is very much an adventure, but it contains mild RPG and even strategy
elements. The way your character travels with an ever-changing band of allies
is very reminiscent of RPG gameplay. These characters help you in your quests,
either by actions or by providing information.

The strategy element involves
the care and management of building strong fortresses in several different areas
around the world. To do this, you must charm and cajole many different types of
humans, as well as brontosauruses, herds of triceratops, velociraptors, and others.
Each is important, and each must be won over in a different way.

The game
if full of enchanting cutscenes, most of which deal with traveling from one place
to another. Whether it’s in a caravan of brontos fixed out like imperial elephants,
or soaring through the sky on the backs of friendly pterodactyls, these scenes
are always great to look at.

The game’s puzzles are pretty simple but
diverting. They mostly deal with the above-mentioned challenges with getting all
the various groups to work together. But there are also mysterious mirrors, talisman
eggs, embalmed corpse gateways, and other exotic elements to add spice to the
proceedings.

The game does have some problems. For one thing, it has only
three game save slots–sacrilege! Also, the gameplay does allow you to get into
some dead ends, which I’m never fond of. After making a couple of mistakes, I
had to go back to a saved game from much earlier in the story to be able to successfully
complete my missions.

However, this is a charming, offbeat little game that
I recommend you get your hands on if you can.

Final Grade: C+

If
you liked Lost Eden:
Watch: Baby: Secret of a Lost Legend
Read: Dinotopia
Play: Death Gate

System
Requirements:

Macintosh:
68030
processor or better
Double speed CD-ROM drive
4 megs of RAM
256 color
display