Celdran's Curse

Ordinarily I don't rate demo's but Liberty had requested some rated demos on a thread somewhere, so okay.

Graphics: Liberty, outspoken lover of RTP, uses it quite well in this game. Being the mapping expert herself, Liberty's maps are, of course, gorgeous with plenty of exploration possible. Some of the sprites are custom, or more likely edited RTP, but very few. Most aren't.

Music: The typical RPG fare. Nothing really to write home about. Well implemented and perfectly fit.

Balance: Okay, the first dungeon is really a throw away. You can die all you want and never get a game over screen. The centipedes aren't terribly difficult, but you're not going to make it through this dungeon on your first try. The fact that you can't lose makes it perfect for your first grinding session. Every time you're killed, you wake up back at camp. The second dungeon is your last one for this demo and it has the boss, who is kind of hard, but easy enough to prepare for. My real complaint is the severe lack of antidotes. You're constantly poisoned, but have access to only three or four antidotes and none you can buy. Apparently children only want to buy biscuits (that's cookie in American speak), and nobody is particularly concerned that this child has a poisonous insect bite. You get money by selling tradeable loot that the enemy drops.

Gameplay: Liberty is a master at sidequests. She really, truly is, and while the flower watering game and chicken catching challenge don't seem like much, they are a solid indicator of good things to come. Combat is easy enough and as one would expect, a child needs to find her fighting legs before she can really get into it. She has child like skills such as Curl Up and Throw Tantrum. Once you make it to level 2, the fights get manageable. This game uses touch encounters and while the first dungeon seems to empty out when you've killed everything, you can respawn enemies by going to the garden and coming back.

Story: Long intro, yes, but it's skipable and even if you don't skip, rather than just feed you a wall of text, it is a set of cut scenes that are interesting enough to make it forgivable. There is a rebellion against the king. He's not well liked, and while he seems affable enough, the intro calls his character into question. The rebellion thinks he cares more about power than the people he loves. Two orphaned children, Orcena and Jasp, come into the care of the kings guard. Their father was one of the kings guard and they take care of their own. It's a heartwarming opening that shows men being real men better than any fight scene can.

The king insists that Orcena and Jasp be raised alongside his two children. When they are kidnapped, they are infected with a disease called Celdran's Curse, a disease that drives any animal nearby into a frenzy until it attacks the carrier. The king, concerned for his own children, sends them away with a story hook that's right out of a Tamora Pierce novel: Orcena, who wants to be a knight, is sent to a nunnery. Jasp, who wants to be a magician, is sent to study under a famous knight. So of course, they disguise themselves as each other and switch places. Like Tamora Pierce, Liberty chooses to follow Orcena's side of the story.

The journey to Orcena's new residence becomes an adventure in and of itself, with some promising story elements, including a witch who seems sweet enough, but has some rather sinister elements to her that seem yet to be fleshed out, and a group of mischievous but lovable street urchins reminiscent of Oliver Twist.

Overall, I have absolutely no quibbles about the story or the writing, loving absolutely every bit of it. There are a few technical glitches that occurred for me at the end of the demo. Gourd_Clae's review pointed them out so I think Liberty may have fixed them in the meantime.

Conclusion: All the makings of a story about an underdog character overcoming the tired tropes of traditional society. Complaints are minor at worst and the problems take very little from the overall quality of the game.