Necropolis: Brutal Edition - Finale

Necropolis is a rogue-like dungeon crawling videogame set in a vast, ancient, otherworldly tomb/temple/sanctum, created by the Mage Abraxis. It is currently overrun by wandering monsters of various factions, some of which are hostile to each other, though nearly all are hostile to the player character. To some extent the complex is still maintained and operated by The Brazen Head, which appears in the form of floating pyramid avatars at the beginning of each level, and cracks wise about old times and your chances of survival.

And, after years of playing, I finally got good enough to beat this game.

To be fair, it partly took this long because the game has permadeath, so a couple careless choices can get you restarting quick, even after maxing out advancements and armor. But also, I’m not exactly elite level at these kinds of games.

On the other hand, I played this one over the years at least as much for the ambiance as for the possibility of winning. I still think I’ll play going forward. Despite being a roguelike game, it just sketches such a vision of weird ancient structures and grand vistas, that I really enjoy the feel of the place.

The first few levels are relatively similar, although you're gradually introduced to additional terrain types and variant monsters. Later levels get significantly different in structure, although each level ends in a sort of recovery area where it's possible to gain a few additional gems, upgrade your character (if not maxed out), and equip a different specialty.  From the recovery there's a 2-way elevator platform which takes you down to a staging area for the next level.

[SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT]

The arrangement continues in this manner until the end of the 8th level. At that point, instead of an elevator platform to take you down to the next level, there’s a glowing portal.

Jumping through this takes you to the 9th level, the “Sea of Bones” previously hinted at by the Brazen Head.  Weirdly, this level kind of has a dearth of actual bones. IIRC there was only one Bone Effigy and a couple Crypt Ticks, but no skeletons or piles of bones that I recall. The area is actually just a red wasteland (but not from Grine crystals, as red light would usually indicate) with some fire pits, and mostly various clockwork guys and Nagual (hovering shields) standing about.

Prior to this, there were some tough monsters that could kill even the toughest player character with a couple hits. But none of the levels had a "Boss", completely blocking further progress.  However, to escape the Necropolis, you need to obtain the Amulet of Siuol, which can only be gained by defeating the Clockwork Lord.

Unfortunately I didn't get screenshots of the Clockwork Lord.  He's a bit like earlier clockwork knights, but immensely more massive, multi-armed, and carrying a broken piece of obelisk as a weapon. Up close I think he'd be an incredibly tough challenge to beat while avoiding complete slaughter. But with the right ranged weapon, I was able to defeat him without too much trouble.

Earlier statements lead you to believe the Amulet of Siuol is a unique item, but the Clockwork Lord drops something like 10 of them after being defeated.

I only took a couple amulets. You need to spend one to unlock the last gate, and I wanted an extra for fun or just in case. But I wasn't sure if there were any final traps or enemies after that last gate, so I wanted to keep a few types of potions in my inventory slots.

The final demon-head gate takes you to a final elevator platform.

The final elevator takes you to a platform apparently hovering on starlight or moonlight in the middle of a starry expanse.  In some directions you can barely see dark shapes (boulders?) hovering out in the distance. But in one direction you can see a glowing gate in the distance.

If you head toward the gate a glowing path gradually extends before you.

When you get to the starlight gate, the Brazen Head's voice speaks and you get one more quip at the door.

If you go through, you presumably have exited.  The gate grows distant and can barely be distinguished from other stars.

The credits roll.

I didn't realize Dennis Detwiller worked on it. I was familiar with his work on the Delta Green (Cthulhu-related tabletop RPG). I knew he'd worked on a few video games, but didn't realize this was one of them.

Might explain the couple references to Zothique scattered about in the game.

After the credits, the Brazen Head makes one more remark:

New Game?