Icarus

Icarus is a role-playing adventure game developed and published by JC Research for Windows 95. Released in 1998, it blends anime-style aesthetics with turn-based grid combat. The story follows a young knight who swears vengeance after an evil wizard annihilates his mercenary band. Joined by his mage fiancée, he pursues the wizard through a world once home to warring gods. Cutscenes unfold through static character portraits and text-based dialogue without voice acting. Combat takes place on a tiled grid where characters move, attack with normal, magical, or special skills (which consume hit points), and rest to recover. Treasure chests scattered on battlefields provide equipment and currency. Icarus is noted for its lighthearted, sometimes risqué humor and its budget price. The manual covers weapon, armor, and spell statistics comprehensively, while story and character backgrounds are revealed through in-game conversations. The game features no multiplayer and a linear plot with low replayability. System requirements are modest: a Pentium 75, 16 MB RAM, 130 MB hard drive space, 4x CD-ROM, and DirectX 3.0-compatible video and sound cards. The interface is simple enough for children, and battles avoid graphic gore.