Glory's Fools

I like the game, despite not fully completing the demo. Through the few hours that I spent going through the demo, I definitely see the potential that Glory's Fools offers. It's a really good RPG for those who don't like complex puzzles and just wanna bash enemies - for Glory!

For me what makes Glory's Fools really stand out is its concept. Its story is one that is deeply entwined in Ancient Greek mythology but is delivered in a funny and enjoyable manner. With a rather straightforward premise and short chunks of easily digestible dialog, the game manages to avoid the trend of telling ancient mythology as either overly serious or highly inaccurate and full of shenanigans.

Not that shenanigans don't ensue. It has its moments.



Another thing that immediately stands out is the look of this game. All tiles, characters, and enemies are very original and successfully capture the Gameboy aesthetic that the game aimed to achieve. The music fits really well, and though some sound effects can be pretty jarring (the save sound effect spooks me every time) most of them are pleasant to listen to, like the ones in towns and in battles. Explorations in this game is rewarding as new areas are unique from one another.

I also think the battle system is pretty solid. The characters that you're given fulfill their specific roles and possess skills that further cement those roles. You won't be bombarded with twenty different skills in your warrior character then end up only using the basic attack on every enemy. Admittedly not all skills/items seem useful/necessary, but I was able to mix and match skills/items for different types of enemies to satisfying results. The enemy bulks up with a load of buffs? Just Bully them to oblivion! Enemy deals sudden huge damage to party members? The Mystery Meat will save ya!

Encounters are fairly balanced. I do think Pan's forest was a bit of a sudden upscale in difficulty though. For the most part normal enemies are pretty easy to deal with and the bosses are a little tougher, though not frustratingly so.



The game has plenty of quests to take on too, like the one that famously granted me the title Slayer of Slimes. Talking to NPCs can set you up on some quirky sidequests like fetching someone a single... delicious... egg... or killing a bunch of squirrels that are somehow deadlier than snakes and bats. Exploring also gives great rewards as you can find not only items and equipment in obscure corners of maps but also new characters to add to your party! And if you worry that all these optional stuff may make the objective confusing, don't worry. You can always visit the Oracle of Delphi who will graciously tell you what you need to do. As they say, don't be a FOOL.

I like how that's a status effect that can't be cured other than praying to Dionysius, which is kinda ironic considering he's probably drunk 24/7 himself.



There are some problems that I encountered, however. I wasn't able to complete the demo because for some reason the path up the mountain was mysteriously unpassable despite the original blockade (some NPC) no longer being there at that point of the story. I was recommended to visit Corinth, where I obtained the third member to the party, but returning to Delphi nothing had changed and I still wasn't able to progress up the mountain. Was this perhaps where the demo was meant to end?

I also encountered a bug in Pan's forest where after the satyrs turn hostile, they don't disappear after you kill them. Because of this I tend to get stuck in a loop of fighting the same enemy due to me bumping back into them after winning the battle. With the absence of fleeing in those battles (flee is not always available for all battles) I have to endure fighting them every time, with each battle possibly lasting more than five minutes due to them being speedy little goatmen.

Overall, I still think highly of the game. Some suggestions would be to iron out the leftover bugs in the demo and maybe smoothen the sudden bumps in difficulty between areas. To be honest, I don't really think the difficulty is much of an issue, but one has to be very careful to grind enough levels and Drakma to buy gear and items.

I won't rate it yet as it hasn't been fully completed, but my expectation for the final version is a hopeful 4/5!