• Add Review
  • Subscribe
  • Nominate
  • Submit Media
  • RSS

This... IS a horror game. Right?

  • Marrend
  • 07/03/2015 12:59 PM
  • 2543 views
Game Title: Vigiles Lucis
Engine: RPG Maker VX Ace
Status at review: Demo/In Progress

Background:
My motivations for checking this game out was 50% fulfillment of a reveiw request and 50% jelly. Thus, I didn't know a heck of a lot about this game going in.


Graphics/Audio:
I didn't take too many notes about either of these particular aspects, to be honest. Though, I did note that "Meja's Theme" and "Unite Your Light" are probably my favorite tracks from the game.


Story:
The game starts off with the protagonist (which players can name) as a child being told a bed-time story. Some time after his father leaves, he hears a noise. Curious, he sets out to find the source.

After a bit of exploration, the game jumps forward 12 years, with the protagonist explaining that players were experiencing a dream about the past. One that, as it turns out, he barely remembers. Of course, pursuing that past doesn't really occur to him until he meets up with an old friend.


Playing the game:
Within the hide-tag are stream-of-consciousness notes taken while playing the game. As such, expect spoilers.
Show

Name entry screen, no default name to use. I am terrible at coming up with names!

Meja's a childhood friend, huh?

Is all this supposed to build up to something? I dunno, right now, this feels very slice-of-life as opposed to the "horror" mentioned in the game description. Not that I mind, it just seems weird.

Lots of stuff to interact with!

Ugh. Still can't run in the house when I'm an adult. Must mean it's the same map.

Okay, so, there's an on-touch GAME OVER event wandering in a room that's hard to see in. BEAUTIFUL.

I have no idea what this thing is, though. I mean, there's vague references to missing people and strange murders. Which this whatever-it-is could be responsible for, but, not necessarily.

Right, I can't save anywhere when I'm in a flashback. Ugh. This is gonna be annoying.

Not sure what was up with that running sequence.

Protag-kun is feeling a bit uncomfortable sleeping next to Meja. Can't entirely blame the guy.

Hrm. Will the game let me leave the house? I'm kinda thinking "no".

Well, having the train delayed for an indefinite period of time is pretty much the same thing!

All right, combination lock, let's see if 3-00 is your combo.

Maybe... 3-12?

Okay, well, it reveals a switch that opened a door, but, it's timed. Lame-ish.

Crashing through the ceiling while Maja's taking a bath? THAT was messed up. And embarrassing. JUST WHAT ARE YOU DOING, PROTAG-KUN!?

She doesn't seem that angry, but, still.

Let's chase a cat in a foreboding forest! Darigaaz, this is such a bad idea.

A foreboding forest with a "Lost Woods" mentality. This is probably what that note I found earlier was referring to.

An old, abandoned church in the middle of a forest? Oh boy.

This wine cellar puzzle befuddles me. Since the screen got red, I take it there is some kind of time limit to solving this puzzle. Also, I have no clue what this notation means. All I know is that, given the clue, they need to be sorted by weight, somehow.

Oh, duh. The commas indicate a decimal point, not... whatever I thought they signified when I first saw it.

Can I skip this sequence, and just get to the puzzle to write notes on what I should do? Of course not.

Pinot Noir (0.7L), Cabernet Sauvignon (1.0L), Reget (1.2L), Merlot (0.5L), Spatburgunder (0.3L), Shiraz (0.3L). So, keeping in mind that everything needs to be "well-balanced", we can probably assume that both wine rack that I can interact with needs to have an equal weight/volume of wine.

Total volume is 4.0L, so, 2.0L on each side. Thus, on one side, we would have the Reget, Merlot, and one of the 0.3L wines.

Well, the puzzle is solved, but now, I've got insta-death coming after me, in Lost Woods no less, and it's just as fast as me. Maybe a tad faster. So, if I make even the slightest mistake, GAME OVER.

It's pretty easy to "make a mistake" when I can barely see where I'm going.

Screw this. I'm looking at this map in the editor.

Almost had it! But, of course, I ran into too many "walls".

Er, well, I guess I sorta cheated with that by walking through walls rather than into them. I mean, I guess it's possible to out-race the thing normally, but, you'd seriously have to know where you're going!

ACT II! Except it's not implemented yet.



General Observations:
I'm not a huge fan of horror games to begin with, but, this game's pacing through me off-balance for a bit. I mean, for a while, I was doubting I was even playing a horror game!

What's with the timing-based puzzles in this game? Well, okay, the second one, I can understand the reasoning behind why that should be timed. The first one, though, I fail to see the point of making it timed.

The scenes with Meja are pretty cute, though. I'm most interested in seeing this relationship develop!


Summary:
I legitimately enjoyed the game up until the point the horror elements started to sink in. Which was at about the mid-point of Chapter 1. I dunno, maybe the beginning of Chapter 2 might allow for some more cute scenes with Meja, but, the horror elements will inevitably come back and ruin everything.


BOTTOM LINE: N/A

Posts

Pages: 1
NTC3
5625
07/04/2015 11:15 AM
So... is the developer supposed to make the full game not-horror? That's pretty much the only thing one take away from the review design-wise (well that, and allow running in the "present-day" house, make the first puzzle not-timed and tone down the difficulty of a chase scene under hide tags.)

I get that it's a demo and all, but unfortunately, it still feels like the least helpful review I've read on here so far.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
07/04/2015 11:38 AM
author=NTC3
So... is the developer supposed to make the full game not-horror?


Hrm. I'm pretty sure the game wants to be a horror game, and give players a sense of what's "normal" before delving too deep into the horror elements. Perhaps, I'm questioning the execution of that tactic too harshly for my own good, though.
Kylaila
I LOVE MEAT
13239
07/04/2015 12:40 PM
Granted, there is little advice or analysis to draw from.
But it can still useful to see that the characterization will interesting quite a few of people, and how one experienced going through the game.

There are a couple of reviews being notes of going through the game, so it is an accepted method.
Lyrahel
805
07/04/2015 03:23 PM
Thank you for the review Marrend. I guess you'll have to wait for the second act to see how the horror aspect of the game will evolve. There is a reason for almost no horror until you actually reach the house. This is the first act after all. :)

Purpose of the first act:

In Act I the conflict of the story is discovered. In this act, the exposition, the introduction of the protagonist, and other characters that the protagonist meets take place, as well as the dramatic premise and inciting incident (the incident that sets the events of the story in motion) occurs approximately halfway through the first act.

There are reasons for us why we wouldn't let the main character run inside the house, as well as why one riddle is timed. There is a lot of information inside this game, but some will only make sense later in the game.

We've gotten some interesting feedback over all so far and can say that the difficulty or the riddles as well as the chasing sequences etc. are pretty balanced. Most people enjoyed the story as well as the characters and keep on wondering what is coming next.

Show
Most players so far have been able to outrun the rake at the end within the second or third try. Balancing these challenges and riddle is not easy, but we've been working on that constantly. :)


The horror aspects of the game will ramp up a lot with each act. Thanks again for playing. :=)
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
07/04/2015 03:37 PM
Well, yeah, I guess I would eventually been able to out-run the Rake without cheating. I would probably appreciate a bit more wiggle room with that, though. Like, maybe, move the event where it appears a tile or two up?

*Edit: Keeping it's speed is probably fine. Reducing it would probably make that particular encounter too easy.
Pages: 1