Goblin Noir: Cement Shoes are Highly Unfashionable

Goblin Noir: Cement Shoes are Highly Unfashionable was one of the entries for the IGMC (Indie Game Making Contest) for 2014. As one of the judges for the RPG portion of the competition it is my pleasure to share my thoughts on the game. This review will basically just be the notes I took cleaned up (and possibly some after-thoughts thrown in, in hindsight). It will be based on the competition version of the game, so certain aspects of the game may have been changed.

Presentation
Graphics are a mix of custom and resource packs/edits. Mapping is pretty solid and lighting is used well to create a great atmosphere. It really transports you out of your typical fantasy world and in to another, darker and grittier fantasy.

Music is great - jazz and swing, really fitting for the noire scene the game is going for. Sound effects are standard with a few extras thrown in. The sound for text is nice, too.

Menu GUI is slick and very neat. The custom assets are all really polished and lovely to look at. They convey character emotions really well and just enhance the experience a lot.

Writing has a few little bits out of place but is overall pretty solid. There's a lot of text as the game is dialogue-heavy. The story itself is nothing new - a mystery that needs solving - but the characterisation and world lore thrown in is really nice and adds a lot to the game. The characters are all well-written and the the main character is a little ball of sass and sophistication. Love her.

Gameplay
Gameplay consists of battles and map/NPC interaction. So far there's been no real puzzles, but that's understandable as the majority of gameplay revolves around the battles.

Battles are presented in-game as conversations with willing (and unwilling) characters. They focus on hitting the right spot at the right time. It's dialogue heavy, focussing on reading clues to pick the right skill to unlock more clues. The writing is interesting which is the only reason the battles work as well as they do. The goal is to whittle down the Willpower (health) of the 'enemy' by using different commands to trigger the next 'phase' of battle.

Aside from that, it's all about talking to NPCs and exploring the area.

Items could be used in battle but for the most part didn't need to be.

Fun factor
For all that the game moves slow; the combination of music, characterisation and good writing makes for an interesting experience. I couldn't rightly call it fun - battles are a little too plodding at times and it can be hard to figure out what you need to do to trigger the next phase - but it is interesting and the good writing hooked me in so that I wanted to finish the game.

Overall it was a pretty solid entry. In the IGMC I gave it a 51 out of 60. On RMN I'm giving it a 4. It's a great little gem and while it might not be the most fast-paced game around it was definitely one of the best written and characterised in the contest. Great job!