"Alchemist" is a distilled action-adventure. It is only slightly more complex than the genre originator, "Adventure," on Atari 2600. In Alchemist, the player will explore an open location, search for items, figure out their uses to progress, and then test his abilities and understanding of the game's mechanics against a challenging path leading to a tough boss.

The fun of Alchemist lies in exploration and experimentation. The player is free to traverse from screen to screen and uncover new areas. There are no hard-coded limitations or boundaries as to where he can go. However, there are enemies to prevent him from progressing too far without properly equipping the main character. To progress, the player will have to unravel the functions of items he encounters while exploring. There are no explanations, so it's up to him to figure out where to go and the uses of the items he finds. The more proficient he is with the game's mechanics and the more knowledgeable he is about game items, the more freely he can explore the location.

The goal of the game is to find four pieces of "The Spell of Destruction" and cast the spell on "the Warlock." Finding the pieces will require the player to experiment with the found items. Fortunately, the solutions are not obscure to the point of requiring a walkthrough. After finding the pieces, the player has to locate the Warlock, get close to him, and cast the Spell of Destruction. This, however, is easier said than done, as getting to the Warlock requires careful preparation and planning.

The less you know about the game, the better. This game is not so much about using game mechanics, but rather exploring them. Read the game's manual online and dive in!

If you study game design or are a retro games enthusiast, I recommend playing Alchemist to experience the action-adventure genre in its purest form. Seeing a game genre in isolation can teach you a lot about the game mechanics that define it.

I will continue my review with critique and as such I draw a spoiler-line. Reading beyond this point may be detrimential to your experience of Alchemist.

SPOILER LINE

The player can traverse the location in either the Alchemist form or Eagle form, between which he can switch freely, provided he has enough Spell Energy. My first assumption was that the Eagle form is for mobility, whereas the Alchemist form is for functionality. However, this has proven to be wrong, as the Alchemist form is redundant and serves no purpose. Alchemist cannot traverse most of the location, whereas Eagle can go anywhere. In the Eagle form, the player can perform every action, such as picking up items, using spells, and fighting enemies, all while being much more mobile than in the Alchemist form. It's a puzzling design decision to allow the Eagle to perform these actions, rendering the Alchemist useless. The only unique ability of Alchemist is shooting lightning from his hands, but as the next paragraph will showcase, this contributes to nothing.

Based on common gaming conventions, the player would reasonably assume that shooting lightning would be the primary way to fend off enemies. However, after applying this theory into practice, the player will inevitably be disappointed. First of all, the enemies struck by lightning will most likely still be alive. Second, the main character's Spell Energy would be quickly depleted to zero. Having no Spell Energy in the Alchemist is bad news. It takes FIVE MINUTES for Spell Energy to regenerate from "00" to "99". Spell Energy, as the name suggests, is needed to execute spells, including switching to the Eagle form. Keep in mind, the enemy might still be there. And the next room will have enemies too. Enemies also randomly respawn upon the player re-entering the room. At this pace, the player won't see the end of Alchemist until retirement!

You can imagine the feeling of despair that comes after seeing how ineffective the lightning is and how long it takes for Spell Energy to regenerate. If this were how combat worked in Alchemist, the game would be borderline unplayable. However, lightning is nothing but a spoof - a beginner's prank, if you may. The most efficient way of dealing with enemies is to face them. Literally. When the main character touches enemies, they receive damage! Of course, the main character also takes damage in return. The touch between the main character and an enemy is supposed to simulate a "physical fight" (the player has to use his imagination!). As in real life, it's best to come prepared for such occasions.

Around the location, there are weapon-shaped items. Carrying such items allows the player to defeat enemies quicker while receiving less damage. The most powerful weapons can trivialize most enemies. However, violence is not always the answer in Alchemist. The main character can carry only one item at a time. While weapons do allow for more freedom in exploring the location, to progress, the player has to find the four pieces of The Spell of Destruction. As such, the player will have to figure out how to use non-weapon items to progress. The one-item-at-a-time limitation provides interesting decisions for the player: should he keep the weapon and explore more? Should he take the item and return to the base? Or should he return to the base with the weapon, restock his health, and then attempt to pick up the item? Although this mechanic may sound arbitrary, it does provide gameplay depth and contributes to the overall enjoyability.

To further assist the player on his journey, there are "lesser spells" all over the location. The main character can carry one lesser spell at a time, and each spell provides a unique ability. This is a cool concept idea, but again, there is an issue with balancing. One spell has only one use, and it's used purely for progression (it's more of a key than a spell). Among the other three spells, there is a clear winner. See if you can spot it:

• Shield - mitigates all enemy damage for some time. Uses 24 Spell Energy points, lasts 3 seconds.
• Bewitch - freezes all enemies on the screen for some time (enemies can still deal damage). Uses 24 Spell Energy points, lasts 3 seconds.
• Regenerate - exchanges Spell Energy points into Stamina points (stamina = health). Uses 1 Spell Energy point per 1 Stamina point.

Two spells prevent damage to health for a ridiculously short amount of time, one spell generously restores health. There is no competition. Perhaps if there were enemies so tough that they could instantly kill you upon touch, then the Shield spell would be useful. Similarly, if there were enemies that chased the main character or were extremely quick, the Bewitch spell might find some utility. However, as it stands, the Regeneration spell is the best pick for any situation in the game.

There are no "situational" nuances in Alchemist; there are only the best solutions. That's precisely why I stated that the game is not so much about using game mechanics, but rather exploring them. Initially, the player does not have knowledge of what is "the best." This knowledge comes from exploration and experimentation. Moreover, this knowledge is not useless; it is essential to defeat the main boss. If the player goes to face the Warlock with anything less than the best spell and the best weapon, he will perish.

That's why I don't think the imbalance in Alchemist is necessarily a bad thing. Yes, most of the items are junk, but that's the point. It's up to the player to find the gold among them. The only way to discover this (aside from going online and cheating yourself out of fun using walkthroughs) is to explore the entire location, find all the items, and determine which is the best through experimentation.

I had a lot of fun doing exactly that: exploring and experimenting. Finding out how to get the four pieces was also fun and exciting when I finally figured it out.

Alchemist provided me with a tough, but rewarding experience. It was fun!

"Games are objectively unreal in that they do not physically recreate the situations they represent, yet they are subjectively real to the player. The agent that transforms an objectively unreal situation into a subjectively real one is human fantasy. A game creates a fantasy representation, not a scientific model."

Ever since I first encountered it in Chris Crawford's renowned book, "The Art of Computer Game Design," this idea has remained deeply ingrained within me. It shaped my perspective on video games on a fundamental level: I view games as mediums that stimulate fantasy and allow us to engage with its contents through interactivity. No game has ever made Crawford's idea more evident to me than "Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer."

Slayers X evoked a profound sense of nostalgia within me. This nostalgia surpassed the typical feelings one gets from familiar imagery or reminiscent tunes from the good old days. It didn't arise from my senses; rather, it originated deep within my mind.

The game presents itself as a product of the fantasy of a 16 year old teenager from the year 1998. But the contents of the game are not what 16 year old teenagers imagine. In fact, it is antithetical to what they imagine. I am not an alien and I was once a teenager, so I believe I can make such judgement. When I was a teen, I did not imagine secret underground bases under buildings. When I was a teen, I did not imagine myself possessing cool magical superpowers. When I was a teen, my friends and I did not share a power fantasy where each of us had a unique super weapon that we used against the bad guys united under a catchy name, whom only we could stop from destroying the world. In fact, teens actively distance themselves from such "nonsense." It is a part of growing up. Teens' interests change, and they are pressured to adapt their fantasies to something more "realistic" and "adult." Instead of shooting beams of destructive power from their hands that decimate bad guys, teens imagine themselves as hyper-successful geniuses who will change the world, earn a lot of money, excel in some field beyond everyone else, make an important social change, succeed romantically, and engage in other such things. They are still fantasies about being super cool, but their content is adapted to suit the real world rather than engaging with a fantastical one. Teens who cling onto their "childish" fantasies don't socialize well. Their peers are moving forward, rejecting "childishness" in favor of being perceived as "adult." It's okay for a five-year-old to call himself a super mutant ninja turtle who is an unmatched sword master and a hacking genius. When a teen does it, it's better to be a joke. Because if it's not, it will raise eyebrows.

The older people get, the more pragmatic their fantasies become. The more time passes, the more distant wild fantastical imaginings of underground bases, superpowers, space mutant ninjas, cool mega guns, and other whimsical creations of a young mind become. Those fantasies are not completely forgotten, but there is nothing to trigger them to surface in the day-to-day life of an adult.

Unless there is a child around. A child who is completely engrossed in a fantastical play. Children can awaken the dormant fantasies that lie within the hearts of adults. The presence of a playful child can transport us back to a time when our imaginations knew no bounds and our dreams were filled with fantastical possibilities. When we watch a child lost in his play, imagining secret underground bases and pretending to possess extraordinary magical powers, we are reminded of our own youthful wonder. The child's uninhibited belief in the impossible temporarily rekindles a spark within us, reigniting the flames of our long-abandoned fantasies. It's endearing to watch a child play because we are reminded of ourselves.

Slayers X goes beyond watching a child play. It offers an opportunity to actively engage and immerse oneself in the play itself. You are not passively observing a child's fantasy. You are actively engaging with it. You are not watching a child pretend to shoot bad guys called "Psykos" with a chainsaw machine gun named "X100 Rapid Mutilator." It's YOU who shoots them.

In Slayer X, there is no child in between the fantasy and you.

So, what's the fantasy? You shoot members of the Psyko Sindikate with cool guns. This description may feel a little too dry, but that's the point. If you were to ask a child to describe his fantasies, you would get an endless flow of imaginative nonsense that is used to justify the "shoot bad guys with cool guns" play. Describing the fiction of Slayers X is exactly that. Oh, well!

The Psyko Sindikate exploded the main character's apartment, blew up his mom in her car, attacked Slayers X training Dojo, kidnapped his potential girlfriend, and turned her into a murderous werewolf that shoots a rocket launcher, killed his cool Hackblood master mentor Mikey Sikey, captured the town of Boise, and worst of all, stole the Hackblood Talismen from the Steel Sewer (the biggest secret base in the galaxy). The main character, Zane, has to defeat the Psyko Sindikate and find out who is behind Psyko's master plan.

Zane is no regular schmuck: his signature weapon is double pistols, and he was trained to harness the power of the Hackblood energy by Mikey Sikey himself (the first X-Slayer). Besides pistols, Zane is armed with the S-Blade (a melee weapon that can shoot Hackblood energy beams if Zane's Hackblood charge is above 95), the Glass Blasta (a shotgun that shoots glass), Explosive Sewage Launcher (launches explosive sludge cans that are also full of rats), X100 Rapid Mutilator (a chainsaw machine gun that does not use ammo when shot up-close to an enemy and is so powerful it can make Zane fly for some time if he shoots from it directly down), Triple Helix Missile Launcher (a rocket launcher that shoots 3 rockets at the same time), and the Hackblood Talismen (which allows Hackblood masters to shoot Hackblood energy charges from their hands. It also allows them to shoot a super powerful beam that makes Zane fly, causes time to slow down, and decimates any living creature it touches).

Armed to his teeth, Zane will visit numerous secret bases, supermarket, mobile home park, potato festival, sewer, highway, landfill and other cool locations. Locations familiar. Non-stop, Zane will have to blast away Psykos who are stupid enough to stand in his way! As Zane puts it himself: "You mess with Zane?! You got no brain!" (Zane has a lot of cool one-liners, such as "Your grandparents are turds. Literally," "Shove it up your bunghole and smoke it!" "You are lucky I did not kick you in your nards," and other masterfully crafted insults).

That's just the tip of the iceberg. When playing, I frequently caught myself with thoughts like:

"I have to break windows and bottles to get glass ammunition for Glass Blasta"
"Needleheads! Time to use Sewage Launcher!"
"There are too many Psykos! I have no choice: I must use the Hackblood Talismen to decimate them with the Hackblood energy beam!"
"I will shoot werewolves with my triple rocket launcher and then finish off the remaining Psykos with the chainsaw machine gun!"
"The S-Blade has a Hackblood charge"

It's all nonsense. But Slayers X makes this nonsense REAL. When you play the game, you immerse yourself in the fantasy it offers. As such, you engage with its nonsensical terms as if they were reasonable.

The game reminded me of the way I used to engage my imagination. It reminded me how I would spend hours concocting elaborate stories and adventures in my mind. Slayers X tapped into that inner childlike wonder and brought it to life. Zane's fantasy is a fantasy of a child, not a 16 years old teenager. And that's awesome!

Slayers X made my childish fantasies real again. It reminded me of who I used to be. I consider it to be an important experience. Do you think it will be for you?