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BOUNDD and determined
Marrend- 01/24/2014 05:10 PM
- 703 views
Game Title: BOUNDD - Winterfest
Engine: RPG Maker VX Ace
Status at review: Complete!
Background:
In case you missed the reference...
Anyway, this game was intended for Game Chill 2013, but didn't quite make the dealine. Includes Frosty the Snowman's hat, hockey, and gingerbread men.
Graphics:
I might not be able to identify where some of these graphics come from, but I think they fit together nicely, though a few things did pop out at me. Pepper's portait/faceset in general, for one, though I'm not quite sure why. Second, the parking lot near the beginning of the game is a bit large for it's own good. Lastly, the water tiles don't quite sit right with me.
Audio:
As is my want, I checked the Audio/BGM directory before playing the game. I swear, I'm the only person who does this. Anyway, there is a reasoniable sampling of RMN Music Pack tracks. Some of which I seem to recall hearing in another entry in Game Chill, whatever it's name was. Of course, there is nothing wrong with this, but I do find it odd that more entires did not use the RMN Music Pack. Though, not using it is also an option, so, meh.
Story:
Three BOUNDD operatives are assigned to investigate a park, and eliminate the paranormal activity they find. Survivors are assumed to have been consumed by demonic (or like) powers, and are to be eliminated.
Let's hide-tag this next part, as a theory ensues.
If I'm reading things right, the fact that paranormal activity exists is a well-kept secret. For those survivors that somehow resist the effects of whatever happened, it behooves BOUNDD to recruit them. No doubt, they get recruits this way. I'm not sure what happens to those that turn BOUNDD recruitment down, though. I doubt they can live normal lives, but there is also the fact that the paranormal is being actively covered-up. Trying to expose that may see them silenced. Or, maybe not. I'm not really sure, and I'm probably thinking waaay too hard on this anyway.
Playing the game:
What follows are stream-of-consciousness notes that I made while playing the game. As there may be spoilers, I have placed them underneath hide-tags.
The hockey reference is deal with first and foremost, and will probably never be referenced after the initial event.
I'm going say that the walk-speed is about "half normal". I don't really understand how the decision to set the speed down in an RPG. I may dislike the decision regardless of genre, but I can feasibly see a reasoning for a horror game. For an RPG? Not so much.
Encounters don't seem to happen that often, but I'm noticing that Scott can't take much damage. I mean, yeah, he's level 1, but the game specifically said that I have no reliable way to heal. The revive items the game gives me are terrible as they restore, like, 10 HP. Is this going to be one of those frustrating games? Oh man.
Okay, maybe the radio with the hockey game may be a running gag?
Call me crazy, but I just noticed something. During the opening scene, each character discussed their specialties. So, these abilities they are supposed to have. Where are they? I mean, yeah, Pepper fights with her fists, but she has no abilities in any of her three skill categories. Likewise, of Scott's four skill categories, he has a grand total of, you guessed it, zero skills. Claude is the only operative with skills. I mean, they probably get skills later, but, gee!
Darigaaz, this walk-speed is SLOOOOOOW! Er, sorry.
Gingerbread man reference check! Frosty was mentioned, but no mention of a hat. Not yet, anyway.
Oookaaaay, so they don't eliminate any and all instances of the paranormal. Since there's a demon merchant that sells stuff to them. More notably, rest. Aside from that not being my first impression at all, what does this mean about potential survivors? They have the option of not joining BOUNDD? It might not happen in this game, but... uh, let's just keep playing.
The "Reviver" item restores 10% of a character's max health? That... might actually be about right, because Scott has such a small max health to begin with. Man, being level 1 sucks. Wait, Scott isn't level 1 anymore. He's level 3. Pepper is looking very similar with her max health at level 3. Huh.
Several minutes of grinding later: Heloooo, Frosty's hat. I was half-expecting more dungeon, but, whatever.
That was a cute-ish ending.
General Observations:
What's with Pepper's "100 Hand Slap"? It's clearly supposed to be a combat skill, but I can't use it in combat even after having the 25 TP it costs.
Pepper's "Special" and "Fist Tech" categories are empty throughout my play of the game. Same deal with Scott's "Special" and "Wu Shu". Saying that, the skill categories that have skills in them only had one skill in them. What's up with that?
I have to admit to smiling on hearing Subaru's "Resonant Hopes Ignited Wills" with the last boss.
I'm still a little shaky on what happens to people when they do not join BOUNDD, but maybe that's outside the scope of this game anyway.
The game turned out not to be as frustrating as I thought, thanks to the merchant/rest point in the game.
Summary:
The story shows potential. It certainly has room for growth, should the developer choose to do so. The gameplay, well, I was okay with just using normal attacks. Such can be a mixed bag for some, but, it's fun for what it is.
BOTTOM LINE: 3/5
Side note on ratings (since there is/was/will be somewhat of a spate on what rating means what between each user):
1/5 -> Terrible. Forget about hitting an audience. The game is so bug-ridden, or otherwise unplayable, that what entertainment can be found in the game has a hard time coming to the surface.
2/5 -> Bad but playable. I had a poor experience with the game. When played by a player the game actually caters to, it would serve it's purpose.
3/5 -> Average. A solid experience, but snags somewhere along the line cause it to be held back from being "good".
4/5 -> Good. I enjoyed the experience, and have no qualms supporting it if was considered for a featured game (if it wasn't featured already).
5/5 -> Excellent. Among the paragons of gaming experiences, and instant feature material in my humble opinion (if it wasn't featured already).
Engine: RPG Maker VX Ace
Status at review: Complete!
Background:
In case you missed the reference...
Anyway, this game was intended for Game Chill 2013, but didn't quite make the dealine. Includes Frosty the Snowman's hat, hockey, and gingerbread men.
Graphics:
I might not be able to identify where some of these graphics come from, but I think they fit together nicely, though a few things did pop out at me. Pepper's portait/faceset in general, for one, though I'm not quite sure why. Second, the parking lot near the beginning of the game is a bit large for it's own good. Lastly, the water tiles don't quite sit right with me.
Audio:
As is my want, I checked the Audio/BGM directory before playing the game. I swear, I'm the only person who does this. Anyway, there is a reasoniable sampling of RMN Music Pack tracks. Some of which I seem to recall hearing in another entry in Game Chill, whatever it's name was. Of course, there is nothing wrong with this, but I do find it odd that more entires did not use the RMN Music Pack. Though, not using it is also an option, so, meh.
Story:
Three BOUNDD operatives are assigned to investigate a park, and eliminate the paranormal activity they find. Survivors are assumed to have been consumed by demonic (or like) powers, and are to be eliminated.
Let's hide-tag this next part, as a theory ensues.
If I'm reading things right, the fact that paranormal activity exists is a well-kept secret. For those survivors that somehow resist the effects of whatever happened, it behooves BOUNDD to recruit them. No doubt, they get recruits this way. I'm not sure what happens to those that turn BOUNDD recruitment down, though. I doubt they can live normal lives, but there is also the fact that the paranormal is being actively covered-up. Trying to expose that may see them silenced. Or, maybe not. I'm not really sure, and I'm probably thinking waaay too hard on this anyway.
Playing the game:
What follows are stream-of-consciousness notes that I made while playing the game. As there may be spoilers, I have placed them underneath hide-tags.
The hockey reference is deal with first and foremost, and will probably never be referenced after the initial event.
I'm going say that the walk-speed is about "half normal". I don't really understand how the decision to set the speed down in an RPG. I may dislike the decision regardless of genre, but I can feasibly see a reasoning for a horror game. For an RPG? Not so much.
Encounters don't seem to happen that often, but I'm noticing that Scott can't take much damage. I mean, yeah, he's level 1, but the game specifically said that I have no reliable way to heal. The revive items the game gives me are terrible as they restore, like, 10 HP. Is this going to be one of those frustrating games? Oh man.
Okay, maybe the radio with the hockey game may be a running gag?
Call me crazy, but I just noticed something. During the opening scene, each character discussed their specialties. So, these abilities they are supposed to have. Where are they? I mean, yeah, Pepper fights with her fists, but she has no abilities in any of her three skill categories. Likewise, of Scott's four skill categories, he has a grand total of, you guessed it, zero skills. Claude is the only operative with skills. I mean, they probably get skills later, but, gee!
Darigaaz, this walk-speed is SLOOOOOOW! Er, sorry.
Gingerbread man reference check! Frosty was mentioned, but no mention of a hat. Not yet, anyway.
Oookaaaay, so they don't eliminate any and all instances of the paranormal. Since there's a demon merchant that sells stuff to them. More notably, rest. Aside from that not being my first impression at all, what does this mean about potential survivors? They have the option of not joining BOUNDD? It might not happen in this game, but... uh, let's just keep playing.
The "Reviver" item restores 10% of a character's max health? That... might actually be about right, because Scott has such a small max health to begin with. Man, being level 1 sucks. Wait, Scott isn't level 1 anymore. He's level 3. Pepper is looking very similar with her max health at level 3. Huh.
Several minutes of grinding later: Heloooo, Frosty's hat. I was half-expecting more dungeon, but, whatever.
That was a cute-ish ending.
General Observations:
What's with Pepper's "100 Hand Slap"? It's clearly supposed to be a combat skill, but I can't use it in combat even after having the 25 TP it costs.
Pepper's "Special" and "Fist Tech" categories are empty throughout my play of the game. Same deal with Scott's "Special" and "Wu Shu". Saying that, the skill categories that have skills in them only had one skill in them. What's up with that?
I have to admit to smiling on hearing Subaru's "Resonant Hopes Ignited Wills" with the last boss.
I'm still a little shaky on what happens to people when they do not join BOUNDD, but maybe that's outside the scope of this game anyway.
The game turned out not to be as frustrating as I thought, thanks to the merchant/rest point in the game.
Summary:
The story shows potential. It certainly has room for growth, should the developer choose to do so. The gameplay, well, I was okay with just using normal attacks. Such can be a mixed bag for some, but, it's fun for what it is.
BOTTOM LINE: 3/5
Side note on ratings (since there is/was/will be somewhat of a spate on what rating means what between each user):
1/5 -> Terrible. Forget about hitting an audience. The game is so bug-ridden, or otherwise unplayable, that what entertainment can be found in the game has a hard time coming to the surface.
2/5 -> Bad but playable. I had a poor experience with the game. When played by a player the game actually caters to, it would serve it's purpose.
3/5 -> Average. A solid experience, but snags somewhere along the line cause it to be held back from being "good".
4/5 -> Good. I enjoyed the experience, and have no qualms supporting it if was considered for a featured game (if it wasn't featured already).
5/5 -> Excellent. Among the paragons of gaming experiences, and instant feature material in my humble opinion (if it wasn't featured already).
