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Right mindset...but lacking charm? (Bugbear Review)

So what does the Chief have to say about this game?

I did ran into a roadblock that halted my progress, which was the Giant Sentinel on Giant's Terrace. I don't know if I was either too low level (which I was level 28 at this point) or that I'm not strategizing correctly. But if you've made it this far and got past him, let me know what I was doing wrong and what kind of strategy is needed. I think this fight could use some balancing.

Now, let me start off with the positives about your game: the level design. Your mapping skills are very strong. The inclusion of labels on the world map is a nice touch to know where I'm going half the time. Some maps are better designed than others, notably in this screenshot.


I found that the flowers becoming impassable is a bit unnecessary and makes it feel cramped. Gynko is another place that could use some work because of how big the buildings are. Not exactly as an easy town to navigate but it's decent. Lots of effort was put into each level with lightning, parallax maps and roaming encounters. Even the puzzle elements feel natural to their surroundings. I can appreciate on how many different obstacles (or gimmicks) you've incorporated to spice up each level's design and look from one another. A good example is the current level I'm on with the earthquakes. In the image below, this puzzle almost made me stop playing because of how difficult it was but I managed to figure it out.


In the ice cave where you euthanize the man with the broken leg, I would suggest removing his sprite after the event and replace him with a cross or something left behind by Petranor. It just seems odd that he is literally chilling there, even after death. Just a thought.

Another thing that I like was the consistency of chests containing Camping Tents at the end of the level. These visual cues are super helpful to alert players when the next boss or event is coming up, especially since there are no save stations and you must manually save everywhere you go.

Visual cues that something can be harvested was also done nicely to tell what was harvestable. I would make the grain tile a different color so that it's easier to distinguish from the other plants that it's harvestable. On the subject of your crafting system, I was a bit confused on how the crafting levels work until I crafted a few pieces of armor and saw the level go up. I think you could go on without these crafting options. I would've kept the harvesting for things like making food and potions, which are far more useful and resourceful than crafting armor and weapons.

In the screenshot below, some sort of visual cue would be helpful to know that you can jump over this gap. I would hate to backtrack on this level.


I like the graphical detail in the menu when you complete certain objectives. It changes color according to which entity you're on and adds a nice graphical touch to your progression. Even the battle themes change as you progress forward. I did found that the wood cutting sound had a longer duration that even after you chop down the wood, there were two extra chopping noises after the first one. This is an easy fix using Audacity to cut the duration to just one chopping sound as oppose to three. Again, a minor detail.

Also, it appears that you got one dialogue box that has cut off text.


Combat doesn't feel too hard or too easy. I do agree with the past reviews that the bosses have way too much HP in fights that it becomes a chore to input commands. At least, there's a strategy element to the game, which I like. It can be a hassle to switch moves and weapons every once in a while but I'm glad that there isn't a cost to reset SP anytime. I like that you added a level up bonuses to the different weapons, which gives you an incentive to switch weapons to maximize a character's stat. I do think that Elara is the only character that I can think of (and maybe Moshran) that could use some refining with her skill set. She has similar moves on both sides (the only major difference is target selection) that she could really benefit from using support abilities with a staff and using offensive abilities with tomes to help diversify her move pool. On the subject of resources, it may be unnecessary to hide FP and MP for certain characters. I can understand that they don't have the right moves to use those resources but I would do either FP only or MP only for some characters.

Now then, time to get critical. The biggest gripe I had were the character personalities. Moshran had a nice quirk of being irritated and angry at times. But I feel like his personality remained a bit flat and I wanted more of his annoyance. Not to the point where he becomes unlikable but to a point where you can easily tease him about something and he would get mad for no reason. Something to that effect. A good example to spice up his dialogue is during the introduction where Petranor tells us to buy items. What Petranor should've said to Moshran was: "Hey, let's buy some cherries before we set out." And Moshran would reply with: "Cherries? I hate cherries. I would rather kill a rabbit than eating cherries." or "I prefer meat, thank you very much." Something to hint us their likes and dislikes. To sum up Moshran, his cold personality melted away after the first level, no pun intended if you know what I mean. =)

Speaking about dialogue, the dialogue could use some work in some places. Don't get me wrong. The dialogue was readable but it doesn't sound natural. Maybe that's why I'm having a hard time finding the quirks in each person's dialogue because everyone sounds too goody-goody. Also at times, the dialogue felt like tutorial messages than a natural sounding conversation. If you're having a hard time writing dialogue, recording yourself while acting can help improve the writing. Audacity is your best friend for this.

Some parts of the story were done right in places like in Gynko. I also like the party banter in the boss fights. The biggest thing that could improve is Elara's introduction. Her introduction feels forced and not exactly a natural way to progress. I think she should've introduced herself with Zelphia and then Elara would be the one to escort us back to her hometown before joining. Something to push the story forward that makes it feel natural and reasonable.

Names were something that bothered me a lot. I had a hard time enunciating the character's name at times especially Prince Apollorian and his girlfriend. The dwarf guy's name was the hardest for me to get right. A good tip to come up with names is to be clever with it. Incorporate certain traits, quirks or background of the character into the name and it'll be easier for players to remember their name because they'll have a point of reference to look at.

Here's a few suggestions on the names: Elara's name could be changed to something like Clarice or Clarity pertaining to her sense of knowledge. I kept mistakening the "E" for a "C" and Clara just sounded natural to me so that's what I've been calling her. Note, I'm not dyslexic in any way. Adron's name could be changed to something like Arich (pronounced 'Erik' but the spelling has the word 'rich' in it because he is a wealthy prince) or Eiron. (pronounced 'Aaron', as in 'heir' to the throne.) Moshran's name wasn't bad but I kept calling him 'Mushroom' so yeah, that's his new name. Otherwise, Bashran was the other name. If I could rename the dwarf guy, I would call him 'Inorman'. Sort of sounds like 'enormous' but with irony. You don't have to change the character's names if you don't want to. I'm sure you have a reason why you've name them the way they are. Maybe in another game or in a potential sequel, a name input option would be most helpful to change a character's name to the player's liking!

In summary, Legends of Illarian 2 has the right mindset to be a great old school RPG. Unfortunately, it falls short in certain areas pertaining to dialogue, memorable quotes and personalities that need some fine-tuning.

What Illarian 2 needs is a certain charm that makes me want to go back to Illarian to save it from its impending oblivion time and time again. Think of 'charm' like a selling point. What would you say is the selling point of Illarion 2? Is it the ascension to god status storyline? Is it the character cast you play as? Discover the charm and you'll discover the fun.

In the end, I give this game a 7/10 or 3.5 stars. -Chief

P.S. Thanks again Dyluck for the game. I hope this review gives you an idea on what to improve on and where your key strengths are in game design. I'll be looking forward to the next chapter of Illarion, if it ever happens.

Just for fun, I redesigned Moshran as an orc because I felt like his backstory fits well for an orc. I know it doesn't look like the human guy but it was a quick concept I had in mind. You can think of it as fan art. =)

Posts

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Dyluck
For thousands of years, I laid dormant. Who has disturbed my slumber?
5184
Hey Chief, thanks a lot for playing and taking the time to write all the detailed feedback! I'll definitely take your feedback into account when I release the next few updates.

I agree that the characters probably need to show their personality more often. I was never fully satisfied with their characterization myself either, and I also left some of it up to optional miss-able dialogue, unfortunately. Another problem is that this game is set as a prequel to my first game, which is based off another game where these characters originate from. So in my own mind, their personalities are already there and I sometimes have trouble seeing them from the point of view of a player who's never heard of these characters at all. That also means I'm stuck with the names =P

Yeah, the dialogue can sound a little stiff at times, and goody-goody when wrapping up one story arc and moving onto the next. It also suffered a bit when I tried to spread out dialogue to so many characters, while trying to keep the cutscene from dragging on too long. I was also trying to keep the dialogue somewhat more in line with a high fantasy setting and not sounding like what modern people would say, but I may have hurt the natural flow of the dialogue in the process.


For the Giant Sentinel, lv 28 does seem a little on the low side. I'd say you should be lv 30, but it's still doable. Don't hit him when his "armour is glowing" or else he counterattacks hard. He can only hit one persona at a time, so don't worry about AOE attacks. Remember to have everyone learn the Passive 10% DEF boost and SPEED boost. Also if you download version 2.033 onwards (and copy your saves over), the boss HP is slightly reduced and accessories give some extra defense. I would suggest the following party setup:

Irmorom (Hammer): Equip Attention Band so that he tanks most of the hits. Use Conservative Trade to boost DEF if needed. Consider just using Parry to REALLY tank it, since his physical attacks are ineffective here anyways.

Sirani: Equip Covert Band (if not on Oldra) to minimize hits.
(Instrument): Use Dissipate Damage on self, Oldra, Elara, then others if you want. Heal others as needed. Attack with magic otherwise. Alternatively...
(Bow): Just spam Drown Damage every turn, and that should probably be enough defense for everyone? Heal others if Adron can't do it. Attack with magic otherwise.

Oldra (Whip): Equip Covert Band (if not on Sirani) to minimize hits. Use Surviving Stem on self at start of battle. Use Reanimate on a dead ally if needed. Attack with magic otherwise.

Adron (Sword): Use Deploy Defense twice to boost everyone's DEF. Repeat after every 5 turns when it wears out. Use him for quick healing as needed. Attack with Yellow Potions or Combustion Jars when possible.

Elara (Book): Keep attacking with magic. Use Focused Flare if available.


Also, if you do continue on, don't forget the Special Menu for skipping puzzles if needed!


Thanks for the cool drawing of the orc too! And well, let's just say the similarities between orcs and Moshran isn't just your imagination! You'll see what I mean, if you ever play the first game, of which this game is a prequel to =)
I had a feeling that I was low level. I skipped a lot of battles just to progress through the story so I didn't take the time to grind up a bit. Thanks again the tip. I'll give it another go with this strategy.

If you need help writing dialogue, I can help you with that. Just let me know if you need some editing or polishing with the writing.

About the natural thing, I should clarify something about this point. What I meant by 'natural' is that the dialogue should sound accurate to a character's mannerism, personality and racial background. Dwarves would have a certain way of speaking than a elf would and same goes with humans and orcs. What kind of words and phrases would they pronounce correctly or incorrectly? It's okay to use odd spelling every now and then because it hints a person's accent. FF 1 is a really good example of this and it's also a classic. The dwarves have a funny way of speaking but the way that they speak sounds natural to their background. That's what I mean by natural sounding dialogue so I hope what I said isn't being misconstrued for modern day English. I should've made that clear in the review so I apologize for any confusion.

Glad you like the drawing. =) If Moshran was an orc, that could set up some interesting dialogue exchanges between the character. I had a funny scene that I wrote up where Sirani meets Moshran as an orc and she would poke his ears to the absolute annoyance because of the colored tips.
Dyluck
For thousands of years, I laid dormant. Who has disturbed my slumber?
5184
Oh ok I see what you mean about the dialogue. Yeah, I have to admit I got a little lazy with Irmorom's accent. I tried to do it in the previous game, but I felt like I didn't know any dwarven accent words, other than Ach! and Ye and Smithin' =P

Thanks for offering to help, and I'll keep your offer in mind =)
And feel free to ask me if you get stuck on anything else.
Will do. If I need a tester, I'll let you know asap. =D I know I can struggle with writing too so a second pair of eyes can really help.

Dyluck
For thousands of years, I laid dormant. Who has disturbed my slumber?
5184
I actually meant if you get "stuck" in the game, but sure I'd help with your stuff too =D

Btw, I hope you don't mind if I display the fan art on the first Illarion game page since orcs exist in that game.
author=Dyluck
I actually meant if you get "stuck" in the game, but sure I'd help with your stuff too =D

Btw, I hope you don't mind if I display the fan art on the first Illarion game page since orcs exist in that game.


Oops, yes I'll let you know if I get stuck anywhere in the game. I think that needed some clarification lol.

Yes, by all means, feel free to do whatever you want with the fan art. It was made for you, my friend. =)

Update: I managed to beat the Giant and currently at the Elven forest. I'm really liking Malachin so far.
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