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The path is short, the travel is pleasant, but look out for the holes!

Hey! It's me again! With another review about one of these Swap in the Middle 2 event games (I really like the idea and I'm always curious about the result). This time the game is by Fomar0153 and Coelocanth and it's called "The Path we Travelled"

The game start almost immediately with a choice: will you play as Ana or Tómas? It's a nice choice even if it won't affect a lot of the game since they are two childhood friends and for a big part of the adventure they'll be together, and after a bit they will be also joined by Flash, Ana's new dog. But let's start from the beginning.

The Path we Travelled is the story about two families that lives in the countryside, so Ana and Tómas are growing together. I say "are growing" because the adventure is divided in some small chapters that represent the passing of time: not only the characters will grow during the story, but also the scenario changes as the years go by, some miners will come and open a mine (duh!), more buildings will be built (ri-duh!) and so on. It's an interesting scope because the scope is small and the place soon will become familiar. And clearly this contrasts with the usual games about adventures and explorers used to travel the world and visit lost dungeons in every corner of the world.


I don't now if I can, it's so cute! As a player I am used to kill goblins and behemoths, I feel so bad!

But wait! This doesn't mean that our little heroes won't have to explore, solve quests and even fight! Oh no, the forest may be dangerous, and there can also be other kind of supernatural menaces, but I won't spoil the rest of the story.

The game consists in completing various quests to advance the story, starting from some easy tasks and becoming gradually harder as the two heroes grow up. Oh and don't forget the beloved Flash! While his two human friends will become skilled fighter able to cast elemental magic, he will be an extremely helpful companion due to his nose that lets him find hidden objects and details. Oh and he's still a good combatant, able to equip some particular "dog items" (and oddly you can also use him as support character to use potions on his human friends!).

Ok, so except from Flash skill nothing new for what concerns the gameplay. Not a bad thing, since the concept is still original, and also graphically is everything well made and organized (I also liked the simple but nice main menu and music). There is also a place near the end where (if you want but for me it was not necessary at all) you can generate random encounters to level up more (and earn more gold).

Difficulty is well balanced, I had no difficulty and finished the game in about one hour and 15 minutes. Oh and you can also save anytime and anywhere.
So everything good? Well...
... I wish there were no bugs but unfortunately I encountered a couple of issues during my adventure, and all during the last parts when the protagonists are young adults. (I played as Tómas so I am not sure it happens if you play as Ana).
These issues were:

- You cannot rest on your bed when you come back to the village, unlike what says the game.
- Got an error that crashed the game (portrait not present) when trying to enter the bar.
- The boulder inside the mine does not block if you try to walk through it (so you do not need to take the parallel route)!
- The description of the Wind Claws states that they do Fire damage (exactly like the Fire Claws!)

Then there was another issue that instead was present during all the game:

- Life points are gradually lost and gained (that's strange, I think this isn't suppose to happen). Also Ana costantly recharged her mana points, unlike the poor Tómas that was forced to rely on his sword only (since I could not rest and there are no items that restores mana in the item shop)!


Is there a sausage hidden somewhere? The dog mechanic is the best thing of this game!

The verdict we wrote...
"The Path we Travelled" is a nice short story in 3/4 parts that would get a better rating if it wasn't for the bugs. I did not mind the impossibility to rest since it makes sense with the situation, but I was more confused by the gradual loss and gain of hitpoints. Since it's a short game I'd normally give 2,5/5, but considered this is an event game also made by two persons I decided for a 3/5 due to the particular situation. I think that the first part of the game is really flawless, and I also liked many details of the second part (the rotating battle backgrounds, the boss sprite that is visually damaged after it receives enough damage), nice concept, writing, music and graphics. but the nice experience was unfortunatley marred by the problems mentioned before. What a pity!

Posts

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Thanks for the review, 3/5 feels generous but I won't complain.

The HP scrolling is intentional, it's been a long time but I got Earthbound vibes sometime into development, so I implemented the scrolling HP. It probably doesn't add anything to the game, I don't remember if I ever explained it in game. As for the rest of the bugs, oops.

I'm not sure where you draw the line for the first part of the game, but Coelocanth did the first part. I can't remember 100% where the swap happened. I think I did all the battles, Coelocanth did make a tutorial battle but I think I went and changed it later.

Anyway, thank you again for the review. Swap in the middle was a fun concept, sadly it doesn't look like there will be a swap 3 or another chain game anytime soon.
Yeah this one wasn't a clean first half / second half split.
I made most of the maps and character graphics plus the childhood story with the affinity system based on what choices you make when solving the early quests.
Fomar took that and made the skill learning system (with skills learned on level up faster depending on your affinities).
The crash in the pub is unfortunately the one RTP graphic used in the game, supposed to just be the innkeeper chasing you out because you're too young to be in the pub.
Hey! Thanks for the reply!

Ok I wasnt sure about the HP scrolling, now I am! Not a bad thing, I am ambivalent anyway good to know!

Yeah I expected that the crash was due to the missing RTP, anyway not a problem, the only issue was the missing rest point but hey, I finished the game even without it so it can be done. Its a pretty good adventure, and I like the story since it is short but complete and simple, it was interesting playing a low-scope adventure and not the usual epic adventure of heroes travelling all over the world!
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