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A good game with some glaring flaws
Rowan- 04/26/2010 10:16 AM
- 1597 views
REVIEW #1 Chronology of the Lost Era:
By: Feldschlacht IV (Mog)
By: Feldschlacht IV (Mog)
Okay, my first review in what I’m hoping to be a string of reviews. I glanced through the main page of the game, saw some screens and immediately my impressions of the game soared. Then I read through a couple of reviews and suddenly my initial impressions weren’t that high anymore. Nevertheless, I was curious and wanted to play through it myself.
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• Story/Characters/Dialogue:
The game begins with a somewhat long monologue telling the tale of a great war between 2 nations and its history. Afterward’s, the player is introduced to the passionate Tryscal Seiros, A.K.A Leo fleeing from military troops and the game kicks off from there. From the intro all the way to my unfortunate dilemma (*see below), the story doesn’t disappoints and the author develops it at a beautiful pace. Sadly, the characters that were introduced were sadly lacking in the development department. Leo’s Mercenary group The Freelancers, while an interesting crowd, lacked any fascinating characteristics that set them apart from one another (except for one). I was craving to know more about the bunch but was further disappointed after a specific plot point. Aside from characters, I noticed several spelling errors in the dialogue (*see below for one example). Overall though, conversations kept my attention and were exquisite enough.
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• Graphics:
I dig the title screen, yo. Anyways, I found the faceset edits to be quite pleasant. I also found the chipsets, layout, and the overall presentation quite good; not beautiful, but good. This IS coming from a guy who hasn’t played that many 2D RPGs, specifically FF6 (which I do know the author heavily based the graphics on), so take what you will from it. Battle animations range from gnarly to moot. One of Leo’s beginning skills were pleasing enough to watch, while others… just weren’t. Some glaring graphic annoyances do occur, such as this very glaring black line shown here:
*The dialogue in this instance is of particular note as well, but this guy gets away with it because he’s manly.
There are also some graphic issues with some of the hero’s poses during battle but they’re not too glaring.
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• Music/Sound:
I came into the game hearing a somewhat nice sounding midi, but unfortunately said midi abruptly ended with a very long silence at the end; oh well. I ventured forth and battled my way through legions of vicious enemies all while listening to a very vexing song I know I’ve heard before. Speaking of battles, because of the low volume of the battle theme/boss theme, the transition into them is very odd especially at certain points of the game. This inconsistency is especially noticeable following an encounter in this area:
*Even though the music used in this area was from a commercial game, it really set the atmosphere and was a personal throwback for me.
The music definitely isn’t {*Insert your favorite video game composer here*} material, however they are suited during the events in which they are heard. The sound effects, while lacking, are nice (except the alarm in one cutscene). Still, the sounds are nothing to write home about.
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• Gameplay:
I, the author, and basically everyone else who’ve played the game know of the balancing issues so I won’t go too in depth about it. To be honest I personally thought these issues actually helped the game a little. Knowing of the difficulty beforehand gave me a sense of thrill. I had to properly strategize on what I had to do or else I risk wasting IP or a healing item that could’ve been used later. Most skills available were interesting and varied while others were somewhat situational. Balancing issues are most heavily seen when facing enemies in the ruins with Dmitri. I felt the monorlith enemy being immune to everything besides fire was unnecessary considering Leo is the only member with fire spells, the spell in question takes 5IP from a max 31IPstat (at level 6), and since enemies are random encounters.
*Says the one hitting me for 30-36 damage... ¬_¬
Gameplay outside of battle is my biggest concern about this game; in fact it’s almost nonexistent. It’s basically from point A to point B; you travel down a long series of corridors, collect the occasional chest and that’s it. There’s hardly any interaction, no puzzle’s or anything. Lots of creativity could definitely be explored here, especially at the conveyor belt.
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As I was taking a serious beating from the monsters in the ruins, I decided I should return to town and restock. Unfortunately my grand adventure came to an abrupt end as soon as I left the ruins and found myself swimming with nemo in the middle of the ocean.
*Nice clouds, btw.
Yeah.. I decided to stop playing at this point.
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• TL,DR:
Chronology of the Last Era is a game with a great story, interesting yet undeveloped characters, and pleasing FF6 style graphics. Players should expect battles to be challenging. Where this game excels at, it lacks in other areas. Music and sound are subpar. This game is also starving for more gameplay elements as well.
Overall Score: 3.5 / 5
Even though this demo is somewhat old, I personally enjoyed the game and am anxious for a proper update. Good job :). ‘Till next time, partner.
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CloseThanks, bro! Although the demo you played was pretty old! I'm thinking of taking it down because it doesn't really represent what the game is currently, much less what'll be when it's released. I appreciate the review, although I fear it's for a game that doesn't technically exist the way it does now! Hopefully you'll give it another shot and update it when the first chapter is released!
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