Software:Neopets: The Darkest Faerie

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Short description: 2005 video game
Neopets: The Darkest Faerie
North American box art
Developer(s)Idol Minds[lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s)Sony Computer Entertainment
Director(s)John Hight
Allan Becker
Jon Steele
Producer(s)Jacob R. Buchert III
Doug Dohring
Lee Borth
Designer(s)R. Scott Campbell
George Weising
Bo Kinloch
Programmer(s)Jim Mooney
Artist(s)Peter Walters
Andy Meier
Shaddy Safadi
Composer(s)Jack Wall
Keith Leary
Platform(s)PlayStation 2
Release
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single player

Neopets: The Darkest Faerie is a 2005 action-adventure game developed by Idol Minds and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It was only released in North America and is a spin-off of the browser game Neopets.

Neopets: The Darkest Faerie has received mixed critical reviews.

Plot

Neopets: The Darkest Faerie is set in "Neopia", the land of the Neopets universe, which is inhabited by anthropomorphic versions of Neopets species. The plot is based on a story written by Neopets founder Adam Powell.[2]

A long time ago, the Faerie queen Fyora imprisoned a dark faerie at the bottom of the Maraquan Sea as punishment for attempting to take over the realm, with her name erased from history and being remembered only as 'the Darkest Faerie'. However, after a thousand years, the spell imprisoning her has weakened and breaks, and she escapes, returning to the surface intent on conquering the realm of Neopia and exacting revenge upon Fyora.

The game begins with Tormund Ellis (nicknamed "Tor"), a young restless Lupe farm boy who dreams of being a knight in the city of Meridell. After being accepted into the ranks and training under the discipline of the castle's master-at-arms, Torak, Tormund is knighted after saving the neighboring village of Cogham from The Ixi Raiders. Afterwards, while answering a plea to defend the nearby forest glade of Illusen the Earth Faerie from an invading tribe of Werelupes, the mission fails, and Tormund returns to Meridell to discover it and its inhabitants have fallen under a cloud of dark magic and the control of the Darkest Faerie. Though unaffected himself, the Faerie's minions drive him out of the castle and city.

Meanwhile, the neighboring kingdom of Brightvale notices the dark clouds and sends a diplomatic envoy to the city of Faerieland, home of Fyora, to investigate, including Roberta, a young Acara who is the niece of Brightvale's king Hagan. That night, the Darkest Faerie attacks Faerieland, capturing Queen Fyora and covering the castle in a dark aura. Roberta escapes, but is pursued by monsters and falls to the countryside of Neopia below.

Roberta and Tormund meet and go to warn King Hagan about the Darkest Faerie. It is revealed that they were given amulets to protect them against the Darkest Faerie's power. Upon research, they discover that Fyora's magical rod was used to seal her away and is now lying deep underneath the city of Meridell. After freeing the neighboring regions from the control of dark magic, they infiltrate the castle of Meridell and head deep underground to recover Fyora's ancient wand. With its power, they drive the darkness out of the city and return to Faerieland to stop the Darkest Faerie. However, it turns out to be a trap, as the Darkest Faerie seizes the rod and a fight between her and Fyora ensues. Fyora teleports Tormund and Roberta to safety before being captured.

Tor and Roberta awaken to find themselves in the lost Kingdom of Altador, which was thought to have been destroyed by the Darkest Faerie one thousand years ago. Through research, they learn that the Darkest Faerie was one of the Kingdom's founders who later betrayed them, and that her spell can be broken by awakening the other founders, known as "The Protectors". After awakening the Protectors and restoring the kingdom to Neopia, the sorceress Jerdana gives them the same orb that Fyora used to imprison the Darkest Faerie in the ocean, and opens a portal for them to return to Faerieland, where they have a final confrontation with the Darkest Faerie.

Tormund and Roberta defeat the Darkest Faerie and imprison her once again with Jerdana's Orb, then free Fyora and retrieve the Rod. Fyora uses the Rod to stop Faerieland's descent just before it impacts Meridell and returns it to the sky. Tormund and Roberta are hailed as heroes, When Roberta asks Fyora what became of the Darkest Faerie, Queen Fyora replies "Don’t worry. She’s been placed somewhere we can keep a close eye on her.” The Darkest Faerie is then seen as a statue on a fountain in Faerieland, and the game ends.

Development

A PlayStation version of the game was being developed by The Code Monkeys, but was cancelled in favor of a PlayStation 2 version.[3] According to the Neopets team, this was done because they "felt that it couldn't achieve everything we wanted it to on the PS1" and "so the graphics will be much better."[4] It is believed that the protagonists were largely the same and a new antagonist to the series would have been present, who was named Master Nola, and spanned two discs, one for each protagonist.

Gameplay

The game features two playable characters: Tormund, a swordsman, and Roberta, a magician. Each character is equipped with unique abilities, including 'specials' or 'motes', which have various effects such as poisoning enemies or generating beams of light during power-up attacks. The potency of magic diminishes as the character's magic reserve depletes. To counteract this, players can replenish their magic gauge by consuming items like Purple Juppies and various fruits or potions found within the game.

In Neopia, there are many motes that assist Tor and Roberta in their quest. These motes can be equipped to their weapons, shields, and armor, and include Light, Sun, Fog, Wind, Fire, Lava, Nova, Supernova, Dark, Shadow, Leaf, Rock, Bubble, and Water.

Players can feed petpets, which are found throughout Neopia; when fed, it will follow the character for a certain time depending on the type of food it was fed and its inherent species. Each petpet gives a special effect, such as seeing invisible objects and restoring health. After feeding the petpet the same kind of food for too long, it will not accept it.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings66%[5]
Metacritic61/100[6]
Review scores
PublicationScore
G4StarStar[7]
GameSpot6.1/10[8]
GameZone6.2/10[9]
IGN6.5/10[10]
OPM (US)StarStarStarHalf star[11]
X-PlayStarStar[12]

Neopets: The Darkest Faerie has received mixed reviews. The game has praised for its ambitious scope, faithfulness to its source material, strong storyline, decent length, enjoyability, musical score, and graphics, but has been criticized for its numerous technical issues, uneven pacing, and overly expansive open world. The game received a score of 61 on review aggregator website Metacritic, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[6]

The game has a 6.5 rating on IGN, with its review stating, “Simple, clean, straightforward and bland, Neopets is a baked potato without fixings, a bed without blankets, a cake without frosting, or a chair without cushions... It's a minimalist's action adventure.” </ref> | IGN = 6.5/10[13]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Santa Monica Studio assisted in development.

References

  1. ↑ "Neopets: The Darkest Faerie". http://ps2.ign.com/objects/744/744714.html. 
  2. ↑ "Neopets: The Darkest Faerie (Video Game 2005) - Full Cast & Crew". https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0467411/fullcredits. 
  3. ↑ "Neopets: The Darkest Faerie by The Code Monkeys PS game". https://www.uvlist.net/game-166849-Neopets+The+Darkest+Faerie. 
  4. ↑ "New Features: November 1, 2003". https://www.neopets.com/nf.phtml?nf_date=2003-10-27. 
  5. ↑ "Neopets: The Darkest Faerie – PS2". GameRankings. Archived from the original on May 24, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20060524215819/http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages4/927825.asp. Retrieved March 12, 2021. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Neopets: The Darkest Faerie for PlayStation 2 Reviews". https://www.metacritic.com/game/neopets-the-darkest-faerie/critic-reviews/?platform=playstation-2. 
  7. ↑ Padilla, Raymond (December 6, 2005). "Neopets: The Darkest Faerie". G4. Archived from the original on December 29, 2005. https://web.archive.org/web/20051229203200/https://g4tv.com/xplay/features/53073/Neopets_The_Darkest_Faerie_Review.html. Retrieved March 12, 2021. 
  8. ↑ Gouskos, Carrie (November 16, 2005). "Neopets: The Darkest Faerie Review". http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/neopets-the-darkest-faerie-review/1900-6139952/. 
  9. ↑ Bedigian, Louis (November 27, 2005). "NEOPETS The Darkest Faerie - PS2 - Review". GameZone. http://www.gamezone.com/reviews/neopets_the_darkest_faerie_ps2_review. 
  10. ↑ Sulic, Ivan (November 15, 2005). "Neopets: The Darkest Faerie". http://www.ign.com/articles/2005/11/16/neopets-the-darkest-faerie. 
  11. ↑ "Neopets: The Darkest Faerie". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine: 99. January 2006. 
  12. ↑ Padilla, Raymond (December 6, 2005). "Neopets: The Darkest Faerie Review". X-Play. http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/features/53073/Neopets_The_Darkest_Faerie_Review.html. 
  13. ↑ Sulic, Ivan (November 15, 2005). "Neopets: The Darkest Faerie". http://www.ign.com/articles/2005/11/16/neopets-the-darkest-faerie. 
  • Official website
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
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