Descendant of Truth

This is a demo review.
This is a review for the file which is downloaded on May 26, 2017. I don't really count the playtime but i think it lasts for about 3 hours.

In order to start this game on Windows 10, i did right click > Properties > Compatibility > Tick Run this program in compatibility mode for: 'Windows XP (Service Pack 3)', Tick Reduced color mode 8-bit (256) color, Tick Run in 640 x 480 screen resolution. After that, i need to install RTP and font patch.

Intro
Descendant of Truth is a turn based RPG Maker game. Although i said it's a turn based, there is a short shooter game play in the beginning of the story. This game also has a lot of custom graphics (and animation!) which works smoothly with the game.

Graphics
The game has a lot of cutscenes (mostly in the beginning). I really like how the animated cutscene for the prologue; it really timed well with the music and it sounds great. The mappings are well made- most of the dungeons are one way while the town mappings are decent. However, there are some instances where the character's head got cut off because it overlaps with another object.



Music
Most (if not all) the musics are retro and they are pleasant to hear, especially the one used in the animated prologue.

Story
To be honest, i'm quite confused with the story. It might be because i'm not really used with these kinds of stories or having a hard time to follow up, but at least i managed to piece them a little. The story has a cliffhanger in the end (due to it being a demo). I somehow forgot who is Orlando though. The writing needs to be improvised- there are also some minor grammatical mistakes on the dialogues.

The game
The game starts with a dialogue and a flash of background screens which has a very long delay in its transition. After that, the animated prologue will comes out and you'll end up in a controllable robot for a mission.



I have to admit that i'm glad that this is not a shooter game because it's horrible- you can't jump, duck, or anything that you can do to defend yourself. The only thing that you can do is to back away slowly with your arrow keys. Some "enemies" have a very short delay between attacks and you have to approach them closely in order to land an attack (which means that you have to take a damage to kill it). The "enemies" can only be killed with a certain attack (there are 2 attacks) too so the attacks that you can use is more limited.

You'll then move into an area with turn based battles. The random encounter enemies can take 2-3 turn to kill with normal attacks. You will also have an equippable special attack that can cost you some MP which is usually dried out in 2-3 turns. Some special attack can deal more damage than normal attack and vice versa; it all depends on which special attack you use on the character.

Although the game offers a save point, the save point is quite scarce. There's usually no save point inside a "dungeon" and you have to run all the way to the entrance for it (or.. use an item or two). Normal enemies drop a decent amount of gold so you can use the items to shorten the time. However, you can't really buy items on the first dungeon so you have to conserve it. Speaking of saving, saving also takes a significant amount of time because there is a delay when you want to do it.

There is at least a boss battle in each dungeon, although i think that the boss fight is too easy; the bosses only takes longer to kill than normal enemies (except the final boss) and you have way too limited skill pool to utilize them all. I usually just use all of my MP skills and then kill the boss with reqular attacks. Item usage is a must to kill these bosses, however, because that's the only way you can recover HP and/or MP in battle.

There is also a "minigame" in the last two areas, where you have to press right arrow quickly when the crosshair comes out. I am quite confused about it at the start and even after i understand what to do, i still fail a few times due to me pressing it too late.

Pros:
- Amazing animated intro
- Equippable special attack

Cons:
- Lack of save point
- Confusing minigame
- Too many delays (especially when you're saving the game)

Conclusion
This is a decent RPG Maker game with some flaws. I'm sure it'll be better when it has been polished.

Final rating: 2/5
As i said before, this game is a decent one. You can reuse the story once it has been polished if you want to pick this up again.

--

There are two bugs that i found when i played the game:
1. Equip Auto Gun in the first mission
2. Buy and equip Combat Glove
3. Choose Sidearm in the status
4. The skill lists Auto Gun.
The list will be auto fixed after waiting for a few mins, i think.

When Cecil goes into "Knight Blade" mode in the trial, there is a "save" machine. The Cecil in the "save" machine hasn't changed from before.