Qui Domi

Qui Domi is one of those games that has an endearing surreal atmosphere, coupled with fear-inducing situations and events, all of which work together to create a really well-executed result. It has strong RPG elements that are put to really good use, and it's one of those games where putting the effort to explore and find items really pays off in battles. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys adventuring, puzzles and RPGs.

PRESENTATION AND STORY:

The graphics, sound and atmosphere are equal parts surreal, cute, mysterious and intriguing. The art style, as can be noticed in every character art, every tileset, and every asset, is cartoony and rich in personality, making this a pretty sweet and unique game to look at. I particularly like how Annabelle's battle pose changes from an insecure stance in the blue biome to a brave and protective stance in the yellow one, making me feel bad ass while I played.

The story follows the adorable Annabelle, a pale faced little girl who has been grounded by her parents. Having the childish stubborn personality you can expect from a girl her age, she's been grounded for throwing a temper tantrum in an attempt to get candy. As she attempts to escape her bedroom, a messenger from another world, stuck inside her beloved teddybear, talks to her about a deadly monster horde that has taken Filiodomi, the world only children can enter, and the potential threat said monsters pose to Annabelle's "real" world. He then asks for Annabelle's help in stopping those fiends, a quest which she reluctantly accepts. That's when our heroine's magical, yet dangerous adventure begins. I really don't want to spoil anything, but know this: the game features some quite emotional events, and those are very well executed, so be ready for some feels. There's a particular scene right by the end of the second biome that made me extremely sad :(

GAMEPLAY:

As far as gameplay goes, this is a very nice adventure game with strong RPG elements. First of all, I like how clever the save function is in this game, consisting of using candy wrappings to create a "trail" as you put them inside chests all over the biomes of Filiodomi. All these clever little details make it so that the game's mechanics themselves serve to complement the magical atmosphere of the sceneries.

Exploration and adventure:

The game revolves around venturing through dangerous sceneries in order to locate and vanquish a fiendish beast known as an Experior, all while avoiding dangerous obstacles, facing fierce enemies, and gathering useful items as you go. The game manages to make us feel under constant threat, in spite of the endearing looks of some characters and the overall kiddie theme, due to its well balanced difficulty that's never overwhelmingly hard, but also doesn't give much room for comfort.

The one thing I don't like so much is that the game limits our backtracking a lot by not allowing us to return to certain previously visited sections. I do appreciate that it gives us a chance to go back and look for things we missed before moving past a no-return zone, but I'd still prefer it if we could simply go back whenever. As it is, the game is a tad too linear, I wish there was more exploration to do, and the world was a bit more open.

Spread throughout the strange surreal world of Filiodomi are the occasional puzzles. Those consist of mostly simple mechanics, but they're a nice addition to the overall game, always fun to solve, and never too hard. The puzzles seen in the demo include rock pushing puzzles (where you have to open the way by pushing rocks to the right positions) and mazes. I'm assuming the full version is going to contain many more puzzles, and I'm eager to try them all out.

Battle system:

This game has the characteristically RPG-esque turn based battles, experience points and levels, but done in a completely different way from most RPGs out there, a way I find far more engaging.

The battle systems work very well difficulty-wise, not being too hard nor too easy, and being, in general, well balanced. The main character's entire battle arsenal is based on items that you find throughout the game, including jacks, bouncy balls, pencils, tops, yo-yos, and even boomerangs. All items serve a different purpose in battle: some are projectiles that you use once in order to dish out severe damage, others are permanent weapons that you can always use, others cause status ailments to the enemies, and so on.

The only ally (besides Baioulus) that is currently available in the demo version is Penelope, and she's as adorable as she is useful. Her skill set is not directly dependent on items like Annabelle's, and it is of great help to get through the second biome. I'm assuming the other allies we'll find throughout the game will also be useful in battle, but I'll have to wait and see.

While the battle system is one of the most creative I've seen in an RPG Maker game, it does have the flaw of being very, very slow in the beginning of the game. I'm not sure if that's just because I don't usually play turn-based RPGs, but it felt to me like the enemy encounters in the beginning of the game took waaaay longer than they should. I mean, it's the beginning of the game, how much more than four turns do you expect me to sit through?

Still, in spite of that minor gripe with the battle lengths, the battles are still very well balanced and cool. So yeah.

OVERALL:

This game is an excellent choice for anyone who enjoys a well-made RPG or an atmospheric graphic adventure. It's got plenty of bizarreness and personality for the lovers of the surreal and weird, but at the same time, it has the very well made turn based battles that are sure to please most RPG players.

If you're looking for a vast open world full of places to explore, this game might feel a bit underwhelming at first glance. However, once you get over its linear nature, you'll find that the game's sections are always interesting and enjoyable to traverse, consisting of surviving fiendish enemy encounters, avoiding hazardous scenery elements, discovering useful treasure, meeting nice people, and occasionally solving some puzzles. All of the aforementioned elements are very well executed in this game, and are, to me, more than enough to make up for the lack of an expansive open world.