Door of Shadows

This is a demo review.
This is a review of v0.3.0 which is downloaded on June 20, 2021.
My playtime: 04:13:34

Intro
Door of Shadows is an RPG Maker game featuring furry characters. You'll play as Theo, a fox, which is trying to become a hunter with his tiger friend Maxxe.

Graphics
The visuals might look amateurish with the simple-looking trees and rocks that look as if it was made quickly in Microsoft Paint, but it gives a unique charm in it. The more that you get used to the art style, the more that you'll be in love with the cute-ish, simple-looking view. Characters are still designed in a similar style, albeit with more detailed features to make clear of their species. However, monsters in battle don't seem to follow this art style and look weird with their blurred image.

Story
The game states its objective right at the start. It tries to settle one thing at a time by introducing more objectives and expanding the lore as you progress. However, the story feels as if it only serves as a quest material most of the time, with it ending you going to another dungeon to fetch something. It starts to expand more of the story near the end of the demo, but as the game is still in an incomplete state, there isn't much plot to cover as of now.

The Game
Settings
What surprised me at first is how the game has a lot of customizable options in the settings. You can customize the text chat speed, choose whether to auto-dash every time you walk, display the battle animations, and most importantly, choose the battle speed. I usually find that battles in turn-based games are too slow and this option helps me to play the game up to my liking. I just wish there is an option to see the combat log since the text can be easily missed sometimes.

Gameplay
Most of the gameplay revolves around fetch quests. You'll get a quest to go to a dungeon, beat the boss(es), report your quest, and do it all over again. Sometimes, it can feel redundant, although the conversation between the characters helps to make it more enjoyable.

Despite the game involves in series of fetch quests, there are a lot of areas to explore. Going to point A doesn't mean that you'll end up exploring one area - you might have to go to 1-3 areas before reaching your actual destination, leaving you with a boss fight right at the end of each area. Given the numerous side quests that you can take alongside the main quest, most of your time will be spent exploring the areas.



Combat
Battles are using the touch-encounter system, where you need to touch an enemy to initiate a battle. I'm usually not sure how to gauge whether I'm underleveled or not, and the best way to check it is by fighting all enemies on sight. However, there are just too many enemies in each area. A lot of enemies also tend to crowd in a small area, and while it's not mandatory to beat them all, it can be overwhelming to explore the whole area the way it is.

Luckily, monsters don't respawn. They will respawn if you use the healing crystals to heal, but you most likely won't explore that area again anyway. Chests and other side quests can also be finished in one go as long as you explore the area carefully.

Length and Difficulty
I finished the demo in ~4h in the easiest difficulty. You can choose to play the game between 3 difficulties, and while I played the easiest one, I found that the battles can be troublesome sometimes. There are a lot of enemies to fight and since you can't beat them by spamming your normal attack, you need to be attentive in battles most of the time. While I don't mind the game being too easy, I'm afraid that the harder difficulties might be way too hard in this state. I mean, I even got bored of fighting the enemies sometimes.



Problems
I liked how the game tries to remind you of your objectives by sticking your active quest to the screen, but seeing that there are a lot of side quests that you can do, it would be nice to stick all actives quests on the screen instead of only doing it for the latest one that you got.

Pros:
- 3 difficulties
- A lot of customizable options
- Various side quests

Cons:
- Too many enemies to fight
- Might be too repetitive at some point

Final Rating: 4/5
I didn't expect that the game will be this enjoyable. I can see that the developer is putting a lot of effort into customizing the menu, giving all of those customizable options to tweak the game up to your liking. The visuals become more lovable as you keep on playing it, with it showing a lot of different sceneries. However, the game can feel repetitive at times, especially with the number of enemies that you have to fight and the series of fetch quests. I hope that more variations will be added to reduce the repetitiveness.

---
Typo:
- When talking to Reyner for the first time: "You're first trial is a simple one." should be "Your first trial is a simple one."
- When Theo is talking to Maxxe about his dad in Veridian Plains South 2: "I can tell your not convinced." should be "I can tell you're not convinced."
- After beating the first boss: "Yeah, that's conventient." should be "Yeah, that's convenient."
- When getting Ancient Secrets side quest from Jasmine: "This ledger may contain details of the materials purchased that were used in it's construction." should be "This ledger may contain details of the materials purchased that were used in its construction."
- When getting Flowers of Life side quest from Marie: "However, I like to keep stock of the ingredients just incase." should be "However, I like to keep stock of the ingredients just in case."
- When talking to Robin in Rosewood: "Hey, Maxxe, after this mission, how about I teach you how to become better aquainted with girls?" should be "Hey, Maxxe, after this mission, how about I teach you how to become better acquainted with girls?"
- After reporting That Really Stings side quest to Millia "You brought me the vendom glands?" should be "You brought me the venom glands?"
- When entering the house in Zephyr Crag: "I hear some noises comming from downstairs." should be "I hear some noises coming from downstairs."
- When Robin talked about her family in Talen Highroad: "The locals took me in as one of there own." should be "The locals took me in as one of their own."
- When Theo talked to Robin about Jack in Port Renhold: "Good old fasioned blackmail, eh?" should be "Good old fashioned blackmail, eh?"
- When the trio row a boat to Azcanta: "Could you atleast TRY and keep the boat steady?" should be "Could you at least TRY and keep the boat steady?"
- When Reyner is giving another mission after the incident with Oxford's dad: "I trust his request his genuine, so I accepted it and am sending you four to his aid." should be "I trust his request is genuine, so I accepted it and am sending you four to his aid."