History

Zen Again was the sequel to Quest For Zen. It included many features not available in the predecessor, including non-player characters (NPCs), and an advanced battle system.

Zen Again was advertised in the Moonshae Telecomm Summer 1989 catalog, however, it was never finished. Developer Jeffrey Kobal states that he finished a little over half of the game, but other Moonshae Telecomm/Galactic Innovations, and later, Galacticomm projects hindered the completion of the game. He was interested in completing it, and we hope to work with him to finish this fantastic game and bring it to you!

Game Information

After years of training through the ranks of nin-jitsu in the secluded lands of the Shinto Trilogy (in Quest For Zen), the time has come to journey into the outside world. This time, not only must greater discipline of the mind and body be achieved, but the fighting arts of Oriental weaponry and the many mystical powers of nin-jitsu must be mastered. In a complete Oriental world of elaborate Japanese gardens and ancient Far East castles, players learn the deadly arts of katanas, nunchakus, shurukins, sais, and more. They then must use this knowledge ans mastery to combat both rival ninjas as well as computer-controlled enemies. Yes, true NPCs who act as guards, merchants, and assassins, actually fighting the players, talking with them, and playing essential roles within the context of the solution. For the actual combat, Zen Again contains the best real-time battle system of ANY Major BBS adventure/strategy game. Instead of using User-IDs (which subtract from the "suspension of disbelief"), Zen Again uses a four-quadrant "attack by location" scheme that adds realism and new strategic components to game play. Also, freeing up the previous reliance on User-IDs allows the elements of "player disguises", espionage, and deception among the players... delivering excitement and intrigue unmatched by any other multi-player game. The solution levels are true tests of players skill, creativity, wit, and wisdom, requiring both puzzle solving (based upon Japanese folklore) and defeat of rival nin-jitsu opponents.

Developed by a fantasy author and a true black-belt, this world of ancient Japanese adventure explores new horizons in gaming by combining true history with legend. Computer role-playing has new meaning in this interactive, multi-player masterpiece. Let your users seek their destiny in this full-scale world of Oriental rivalry. Beware the Zen Master ninjas!

Gameplay

Gameplay within Zen Again is fairly typical of text "adventure" games (now more commonly called interactive fiction games) like Zork, Colossal Cave, etc; and MUD games, like Dungeon, Rogue, etc. Players issue simple verb-noun command pairs, such as "north", "get object", "kick player", etc. Players can interact with other players in the game, as well.