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Sacred Reviews: Frozen Ember

Introduction

"Frozen Ember" is a rather short turn-based RPG developed by pianotm, Arcmagik, & Gourd_Clae. A game that was initially rushed according to the game's latest blog, but was updated in order to address a few major bugs. Sadly, Liberty appears to have missed one major bug in this game, but I suppose I'm one of the few people who would be dumb enough to jump into a cave entrance from the side rather than simply walk into it. All and all I'd say this game is serviceable for its length, but contains several elements that I'm not particularly fond of.

Story

On the story side of things "Frozen Ember" starts off alright I suppose with our heroes being banished from their homeland and cast out into a world coated in a never ending sea of ice. A beginning that sets a rather dark tone about the future of heroines as they are forced to struggle against harsh conditions, killer robots, and potentially aggressive natives that call the ice sheets home. A scenario that setups up some pretty obvious struggles and challenges as well as leaves the story open for pyrrhic victories where the heroines loose as much as they gain. Unfortunately the game really doesn't go on long enough for any of that to occur. In fact, I'd argue the game doesn't reach a natural conclusion so much as the developers decided to put this game on ice. As a result the game sort of just peters out as it's about to get interesting.

Gameplay

"Frozen Ember" is a similar to "Final Fantasy VIII" in one regard. In both games, monsters level up as the player does. A decision that really annoys me. After all, it means the player is punished for grinding rather than rewarded for it. A system that really gets under my skin. It also bugged one of my subscribers as well who left this comment on one of my videos covering this game.

author=Seth The Anime And Gacha Kid
I really hate when enemies get stronger when YOU level up, wth is the point of levels if they don’t mean much?


I suppose on the bright side the game does give the player new skills as they level up, but after a certain point the player becomes unable to use their best skills at the start of a fight. As a result, I'd say the player is best off avoiding enemies in this game, but I'll admit this is a lot easier said than done in a lot of places. After all, the majority of this game takes place in rather narrow hallways.

Graphics

The game features a lot of custom assets, but the portraits used during cut scenes are so ugly I almost wish the developers stuck to the default assets. After all, I'm left ripping off redlettermedia every time I see one of the character's portraits pop up.


WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE!?!?!

Though, I'm not sure if I'm alone or not in questing the game's aesthetics when it comes to these portraits.

Bugs
Game Breaking



If you jump into this cave from the side it causes the game to forever lock up on a black screen of death! Thankfully, this area is near the beginning of the game so I didn't lose that much progress.

Minor Bug



You can see Gabe in the top left corner before she enters the room.

Conclusion

"Frozen Ember" is a game I'd largely tell people to avoid, but I'll admit my biggest issues with this game are all personal hang ups. As a result, I'm not willing to rate this game, but I do hope the team does address the game breaking bug I found.

Posts

Pages: 1
pianotm
The TM is for Totally Magical.
32347
Thanks! I'd really like to forget this game exists!

For the enemy leveling, I don't remember. Did we have them level, or just give you stronger enemies as you leveled up? I know I scaled the boss because I was worried that if you got to her at a low level because of avoiding enemies, that she'd be too hard, so I figured if I scaled her from easy to hard, it'd solve that problem. I thought that's what we did. This game was so poorly balanced and my art was so bad, I just hate anything to do with this game.

As for the game-breaking bug, I have no idea. That jump mechanic was Gourd's contribution to the game. I need to ask him, but I thought he'd at least be seeing these posts. I looked at it and tried to fix it, but I have no idea how beyond just building an unjumpable box around that transfer.
author=pianotm
Thanks! I'd really like to forget this game exists!


I suppose that's understandable, but I've played far worse games on this site in the last couple of months like "Faint Dawn".

author=pianotm
For the enemy leveling, I don't remember. Did we have them level, or just give you stronger enemies as you leveled up?


Considering the changing art work I'd assume stronger enemies would be a more accurate description.

author=pianotm
I looked at it and tried to fix it, but I have no idea how beyond just building an unjumpable box around that transfer.


That may not be the most elegant way to skin this cat, but it would be an effective one.
InfectionFiles
the world ends in whatever my makerscore currently is
4622
I appreciate that you mention RLM and applaud you for it.
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