The bizarre 1986 MSX2 adventure Relics is now on Switch

D4 Enterprise has released the MSX2 version of Bothtec's 1986 action-adventure game Relics on the Nintendo Switch. It arrived today as part of the EGG Console series, a project dedicated to porting classic Japanese home computer titles to modern hardware. The game is available now on the eShop.

Do not expect a tutorial in Relics. You begin as a disembodied spirit drifting through a mysterious ruin that just rose from the ocean. The game provides zero explanation of your goals or what you are supposed to do. You just have to wander the fleshy, alien corridors and figure it out yourself.

The EGG Console release includes English text options. This is a massive help, because even with translated text, the game is intentionally cryptic. The narrative involves two ancient factions (Heaven and Hell) locked in an endless war. You wake up right in the middle of their conflict, and you have to piece the story together through fragmented notes and vague encounters.

The Spirit Ride system

The core mechanic is something Bothtec called the Spirit Ride system. Since you are a ghost, you cannot open doors or fight on your own. Instead, you have to possess the bodies of defeated enemies to survive.

Taking over a host changes your entire loadout. Your attacks, maximum health, and even your social standing shift depending on whose body you currently occupy. Some enemies will attack you on sight if you are in the wrong host, but they might let you pass if you possess one of their own. You have to constantly swap bodies to solve puzzles and survive combat. Your possession choices also influence which of the multiple endings you eventually get.

The visual style is striking. The environments look organic, almost like the inside of a giant creature. It owes a lot to H.R. Giger's biomechanical art. The developers replaced standard brick dungeons with pulsating walls and weirdly proportioned soldiers.

Multiple ports and versions

Relics originally launched in 1986 across several Japanese microcomputers. The list includes the PC-8801, FM-7, Sharp X1, and eventually the MSX2. D4 Enterprise actually released the PC-8801 version of the game on Switch back in late 2023. This new release is specifically the MSX2 port.

The MSX2 version looks and sounds a bit different from its PC-88 sibling. It retains the same strange aesthetic and the atmospheric sound design that made the original stand out. The ocean waves crashing in the background still sound surprisingly good for 1986 hardware. The color palette is slightly altered to fit the MSX2 specifications, but the core gameplay remains identical.

Bothtec spent two years developing this game. It was a massive departure from the standard arcade action titles of the mid-1980s. The studio would later become famous for its Legend of Galactic Heroes adaptations, but Relics was their first truly ambitious project. It even spawned a Famicom Disk System spinoff called Relics: Ankoku Yousai a year later.

The MSX2 port just hit Steam a couple of weeks ago on June 18, and now console players can jump in. It is a fascinating piece of 1980s design that drops you into an alien world and actively refuses to hold your hand.