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Very promising demo !

  • Tsuba
  • 04/14/2019 02:33 PM
  • 1014 views
I have a rule to never rate a game before it's complete, since you can't really judge something when you can't see the whole of it.
Still this demo was enough to allow me to give an honest opinion here.

I say that because that was one looooong demo (at one point I wondered if it wasn’t a beta)
So if you’re searching for some quick little game…skip away :p


Story
I have to admit this is not a game I would have tried if I hadn’t been asked to.
The presentation tells us it’s going to be exploration and trying to uncover lore and history…and basically that’s what it is (not exactly my thing, but if that’s yours…then enjoy !!!).
When we start the tribes have already been attacked and divided which throw us in the heart of the action right away !!
An hour later, we’ll leave Kaan for Ragno, and go back in time to see the trib before the attack…things are much, much calmer.
Too calm, even.
We leave a warzone with a lot to do for a calm city, and we pass from killing enemies and fighting off an army to…mini-quests like fetching wood and buying some clay to repair a house.
It’s a way to start a game more and more popular, but one I’ll always found unsettling.

So, we’re aiming to learn characters background, the history of their tribes, and what caused the war (and the origin of their faith, which is what tie everything together).
Classic, but in an original setting and universe.


Combat
The combat system, if quite interesting, is also full of shortcomings.
In fact, I’m not sure it’s working as intended…I sometimes run after TP, sometimes I have 100 of them and can’t seem to use them…
Also, at first, I skipped the tutorial thinking I would have explanations in the menu I could read later.
There was nothing in the menu. I'd chalk that as a bug.
So, I took the tutorial, but it wasn’t as complete as I thought it would be.
We got the explanations about the row system, a few things we could easily figure out for ourselves and that’s all.
No explanation about the different points used during fights, nor how to earn them.
No explanation about how the weapons skills can be unlocked (sometimes I have all of them available, sometimes none, and I still can’t figure out why)

A few bugs (or things I couldn’t explain) happening during fights :
- during the fight with the boss in the cave, he just…died, after a while. His life bar wasn’t even empty…
- we can use as many items as we want during the same turn (from any row). So, one character can heal everyone, use battle items, and still attack ! a limit would be more realist…
- damages caused by items, but also by bleeding/poison/whatever, are not showing.
- one scorpion managed to attack 6 times in a row one of my character. It didn’t seem to be a special skill, just…it’s attacking non-stop.
- I had the same graphics bugs than the other reviewer, that is to say the black squares upon characters during fights (maybe that’s why damages didn’t show ?)

I think the battle system might be too focused on the row system.
I don’t see the point of the supportive row since characters are able to use as many items as they want from any position (or heal from the row3)…
Some characters (like Timal) are only good in ONE row, and when this row is the supportive one (like for Timal) the character (Timal!!!) is, basically, useless.
Basically, in the first team, the boys attack and the girls support.
I agree with the other reviewer on that point, no matter what, Timal is useless.
(She is a chieftain, we’d think she’d have some other skills than supportive ones.)
Mila is as useless until she got to use her magic.

The row system would be pretty nice IF we were to chose which characters to use where (which we "sacrifice" to be the support, which we like best to be on the front row for attack...).
But their roles are pretty defined from the start, so...the player style doesn’t matter, and strategy is not as present as it’s supposed to be (grinding works).
Everyone in their row, you keep them that way, period.
We can try disrupting the enemy's formation, but I tried disrupting and not disrupting, without much of a difference...


Soundtrack
It’s a killer.
It puts us in the mood, enhance the atmosphere…but is never annoying or too present.
Kudos here.


Talking about atmosphere, you got those right.
The cave was wonderful on that point !
Warning for the cave : it can easily be skipped/forgotten, since we find ourselves outside the mountain (and so, invited to move on) and if we skip it the game freeze after the next fight.


Conclusion
In short, I do agree with a lot of what the other reviewer said.
But, unlike them, I didn’t enjoy the dialogues that much.
Some were… awkward, uselessly long, and could very well be trimmed a little (many things repeated too many times).
I really wanted to just skip them at some point (but didn’t, you never know where and when a useful information might show up) or we could be spared some characters’s reactions (the bubble above their heads. A little too much sometimes).
I wasn’t feeling like I was playing anymore, but looking at a flow of not-so-short cinematics.
(The police of characters is maybe not the best choice when characters are shooting…)
I get that it's a game where history and lore are central, but too much dialogues and cinematics don't create an atmosphere, they're just breaking the rhythm and downright unnerving sometimes.


Reading this people might think I disliked the game, but I didn’t.
I liked it !
I’m just focusing on the shortcomings : adjustements needed in the combat system, a little reduction on the dialogue’s side, and we’re all set !

A few things I loved (besides the very good soundtrack, rich universe, and the fact we’re never bored) were the compass (This thing is a life saver in such a vast world !!!) or the fact that useful object are named once we’re close enough to see them. It saves us from searching extensive zones, and it’s very, very nice !!!


All in all it’s a very rich and enjoyable game, but with still too many things not working together to be thoroughly appreciated.
It’s a matter of adjustement and dosage, I think.
Finding the balance between "telling a story" and "allowing players to play".

Posts

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Thank you very much for your feedback, I think I get most of the things you mentioned and will look into some of them. It is weird for me that the youtube lp'rs that download the game from this website don't see the black squares and you and the other reviewer did. Still great to hear you enjoyed yourself!
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