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Celtic Tales: Balor of the Evil Eye

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Celtic Tales: Balor of the Evil Eye
Developer(s)Koei
Publisher(s)Koei
Designer(s)Julie Carlson
David Johnson
Stieg Hedlund
Platform(s)DOS, Windows
Release1995
Genre(s)Strategy
Mode(s)Single-player

Celtic Tales: Balor of the Evil Eye is a 1995 strategy video game developed and published by Koei for DOS and Windows.

Gameplay

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Celtic Tales: Balor of the Evil Eye is a strategy game in which the player is a Celtic chieftain.[1][2][3][4]

Development

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Celtic Tales: Balor of the Evil Eye was primarily created by a group of US designers for Japanese developer Koei. The lead, Julie Carlson, was originally hired by the company as a Japanese-to-English translator for in-game text and instruction manuals before expanding her roles into design and scenario writing for titles like Aerobiz, Romance of the Three Kingdoms III: Dragon of Destiny, and Genghis Khan II: Clan of the Gray Wolf. For Celtic Tales, she would remotely correspond with Koei via fax, sending work then receiving and making corrections each day.[5] When devising the game's rune spells, Carlson hoped that the transition to CD-ROM technology would alleviate problems due to time constraints.[6] The other main conceiver and designer, David Johnson, had been the US development manager of a majority of Koei releases starting in May 1990. He admitted that having an international team for Celtic Tales was not planned and that conflict was a regular hurdle with the collaboration, but that the process was ultimately helpful and stimulating.[5] Koei released the game in Japan on Windows 3.1 as Celt no Seisan (ケルトの聖戦, Keruto no Seisen, "Celtic Holy War").[7] A novel adaptation written by Nadine Crenshaw was published Prima Lifestyles on December 22, 1995.[8]

Reception

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Next Generation rated the game four stars out of five, and stated that "As well made as it is [...] Balor is not for everyone. The game's intense complexity of play will make it unaccessible for all but the most devoted and persistent of strategy gurus. If you're the kind of player who likes to rip into a game without the instruction manual, this game will leave you completely cold."[1] Computer Game Review was strongly positive, awarding the game a "Golden Triad" score, and the magazine's Tasos Kaiafas wrote, "For a game that involves many hours to reach the end, Celtic Tales should hold your interest all the way to the finish."[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Finals". Next Generation. No. 10. Imagine Media. October 1995. pp. 116–117.
  2. ^ Dembo, Arinn (November 1995). "Skatha's Scrollwork: Giving Balor The Wink In Koei's Celtic Tales: Balor of the Evil Eye". Computer Gaming World. No. 136. Ziff Davis. pp. 294, 296, 298, 300. ISSN 0744-6667.
  3. ^ Mayer, Robert Riley (November 1995). "Celtic Tales: Balor of the Evil Eye Or, what Yeats never told you about Old Eire". Computer Games Strategy Plus. No. 60. Strategy Plus Inc. pp. 86–7. ISSN 1546-5101.
  4. ^ Mayer, Robert Riley (December 1995). "Celtic Tales: Balor of the Evil Eye Part II: Battle Tactics, End Game, and Poking Out Balor's Eye in three easy lessons". Computer Games Strategy Plus. No. 61. Strategy Plus Inc. pp. 104–5. ISSN 1546-5101.
  5. ^ a b Katz, Arnie; Yates, Laurie (1996). Inside Electronic Game Design. Prima Publishing. pp. 156–8, 168–171. ISBN 1-55958-669-9.
  6. ^ Yates, Laurie (January 1995). "Industry Spotlight – Julie Carlson: From Translator To Designer". Electronic Games. Vol. 2, no. 11. Decker Publishing. p. 24. ISSN 0730-6687.
  7. ^ "遥かなる霧の彼方 導かれるは遠いケルトの物語" [Beyond the distant mist, we are guided by the story of the distant Celts] (in Japanese). Koei. Archived from the original on May 25, 1997. Retrieved April 13, 2025.
  8. ^ "Celtic Tales: Balor of the Evil Eye - A Novel". Goodreads. Archived from the original on April 13, 2025. Retrieved April 13, 2025.
  9. ^ Dembo, Arinn (September 1995). "Review: Aye, 'Tis A Bonny Land Indeed". Computer Gaming World. No. 134. Ziff Davis. pp. 214, 217, 219. ISSN 0744-6667.
  10. ^ a b Honeywell, Steve; Chapman, Ted; Kaiafas, Tasos (July 1995). "Review – Here Be Monsters: Pulling Back the Shroud of Mythology in Ireland". Computer Game Review. Vol. 4, no. 12. Sendai Publishing. pp. 56–7. ISSN 1062-113X.
  11. ^ Ward, Trent C. (September 1995). "Reviews: Balor of the Evil Eye". PC Gamer. No. 16. Future plc. p. 111. ISSN 1080-4471.
  12. ^ Winding, Mark P. (August 1995). "Celtic Fever Is Back! Koei Reintroduces Us To The Original Celtics!!". Dimension-3. No. 4. Dimension Publishing. pp. 60–1.
  13. ^ Klett, Steve (September 1995). "Strategy Games: Celtic Tales: Balor of the Evil Eye". Electronic Entertainment. No. 21. IDG. p. 64. ISSN 1074-1356.
  14. ^ Ceccola, Russ (August 1995). "Create A Celtic Dynasty: Celtic Tales Brings Early Ireland Back To Life". Fusion. No. 1. Decker Publishing. pp. 80–1. ISSN 1083-1118.
  15. ^ Draken (September 18, 1995). "Celtic Tales: Balor of the Evil Eye". Level (in Czech). No. 8. Vogel Publishing. p. 26. ISSN 1211-6777.
  16. ^ Schnelle, Michael (October 1995). "Der König der Blinden: Balor of the Evil Eye" [The King of the Blind: Balor of the Evil Eye]. PC Joker (in German). Joker Verlag. p. 36.
  17. ^ Langer, Jörg (September 1995). "Evil Eye of Balor". PC Player (in German). Future Verlag. pp. 70–1. ISSN 0943-6693.
  18. ^ Schwindt, Peter (September 1995). "Holzauge sei wachsam! Balor of the Evil Eye" [Wooden Eye be alert! Balor of the Evil Eye]. Power Play (in German). Future Verlag. p. 44. ISSN 0937-9754.
  19. ^ Anastasov, Andrej (July 1995). "Recenze: Celtic Tales: Balor of the Evil Eye". Score (in Czech). No. 19. Omega Publishing Group. pp. 30–1. ISSN 1210-7522.
  20. ^ Jankowski, Paweł (September 1995). "Balor of the Evil Eye". Secret Service (in po). ProScript. pp. 64–5. ISSN 1230-7726.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
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