1483 - Anno Domini (1993, PC)

1483 - Anno Domini is a mixture between dungeon-crawler and adventure game. It was developed and published by German company Jumping Bird Press and released as shareware. It was only released in German language afaik.

The story takes place in Britain in the year 1483. King Edward IV. has died, leaving the throne to his 12-year old son, Edward V. Not before long, young Edward gets usurped and thrown into the Tower of London. Historically, Edward probably died in the Tower the same year (he was never seen again), but the game has an alternate scenario in which your can rescue Edward. You play a knight who is asked to infiltrate the Tower and free the prisoner.

The game is played from a first-person perspective with fieldwise movement and 90-degree turns. You have four commands to interact with your environment: talk, look, take/use and fight. NPCs are displayed via digitized photos and do not move on their own. NPCs usually do not attack you, but you can start a fight with many of them, if you want. Some NPCs must be fought as they either block your way or hold certain important items.
Fighting takes place on a dedicated screen. You can attack and block on three different sides. When you attack, you first gather power and then strike. The longer you wait, the more damage is done by your attack, but you give your enemy also more time to block your attack.
Health can be replenished by consuming food. You do not have experience points and levels, but you can find protective equipment and better weapons.