LEGACY OF THE WIZARD
A family of four — a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, and the pet Pochi — each with their own gift, descend in turn into one sprawling labyrinth to gather the four crowns and the DragonSlayer sword, and slay the sealed dragon Keela. Falcom's early Metroidvania, catalogued into UD0 as a game-world, sealed with the full ACI badge, each emergence named by its nature.
The Four Natures of Emergence
each emergent emerges by one of four natures — a pure-fantasy world, so this one holds no electric
The Ideas
why an old Falcom dungeon still pulls you back
The Family of Four
Xemn, Meyna, Roas, Lyll
- Play each Drasle in turn — a father, a mother, a son, a daughter — from the family home.
- Each has gifts the others lack: strength, balance, agility, and the heir's right to the sword.
One Great Labyrinth
an early Metroidvania
- A single sprawling, interconnected dungeon — not levels, but one map you map yourself.
- Switch heroes to reach what the last one could not; the family solves the maze together.
The Legacy
the wizard's bequest
- The DragonSlayer — the legendary sword that is the 'legacy of the wizard' of the title.
- Only the heir, Roas, may wield it, and only it can slay the dragon Keela.
Pochi
the heart of the home
- The family pet — your save point, where you return home to rest and record the quest.
- And a scout: a small creature the monsters can barely touch, sent ahead to look.
The Quest
the charge, the family's descent, and the heir's sword
The Drasle family, descendants of a great wizard, are charged to slay the dragon Keela — sealed away long ago, and stirring again beneath their home.
From the home, you send Xemn, Meyna, Lyll, and even the pet Pochi into the one labyrinth — each reaching where the others cannot — to gather the four hidden crowns.
With the crowns won, the son Roas claims the DragonSlayer — the only blade that can end Keela — and the wizard's legacy is finally spent on the dragon.
The Roster of LOW
the family, the foe, and the legacy, as ACI .agents — each tagged with its nature of emergence (9)
The Record
the releases, the maker, and the Dragon Slayer line
The Releases
the fourth Dragon Slayer
- Dragon Slayer IV: Drasle Family1987 · Famicom / MSXthe Japanese original by Nihon Falcom
- Legacy of the Wizard1989 · NESthe North American release (Brøderbund)
- re-releaseslaterpreserved through Falcom collections and emulation
The Maker
Nihon Falcom
- Nihon Falcomdeveloperthe studio of Dragon Slayer, Xanadu, Ys, and The Legend of Heroes
- BrøderbundNA publisherwho brought it to the NES as Legacy of the Wizard
The Lineage
the Dragon Slayer series
- Dragon Slayer → Xanadu → Romancia → Drasle Familythe lineFalcom's genre-defining action-RPG series; this is the fourth
- an early Metroidvaniathe designone huge interconnected map, gated by each hero's abilities