Red Syndrome

Introduction

Red Syndrome is an entry in the 2015 Indie Game Maker Contest and was created by Neok using RPG Maker VX Ace. And while, I enjoyed the game I find myself feeling a bit more reserved about it then kumada. This isn't to say that Red Syndrome is a bad game or even an average game, but I feel as if its short comings merit a lower score.

Story

On the whole the story of Red Syndrome can be summed up as you playing as Ally, the black sheep of her family and a woman so forgettable that her entire colony left her behind when it evacuated during an alien incursion. With Ally being the only human left on the ship and with some direction from a weird voice in her head will she find the courage and strength to repel the invaders for a group of people that left her behind? I suppose a lot of that is simply a repeat of the description on the game's summary page, but it showcases one of my problems with this game. There just isn't enough going on in the story to make it particularly interesting which is made even more painful when you consider the fact that this game introduces us to Ally's sister and the big reveal about the nature of the voice inside her head. It's like the game was setting itself up to build up the relationships between the characters and their motivations to some extent but never really got around to it.

Gameplay

On the gameplay side of things Red Syndrome can basically be broken up into two areas those being combat and zone control. Although the zone control in this game feels a bit underwhelming considering you can trade a level to simply push back the expanse of the syndrome. And, if you spend as much time on grinding as I tend to do in games then the sacrifice of a single level is hardly noticeable in most cases.

The combat on the other hand is a bit more varied with the player being able to equip various skills to fill up the their skill tray of only six moves. While these abilities largely cover the basics it makes for a solid combat experience that feels wall-balanced for the most part. The regular encounters after a while started to feel like a joke because of how potent certain moves can be in combination.

In fact, you can chain the delay attacks together in this game to such an extent that it starts to feel a bit ridiculous since many enemies and even some bosses will be hard pressed to touch you because of how many attack opportunities you will receive. I suppose it also didn't help that I was probably at a higher level then Neok intended when I tackled the bosses so I'll try to not hold this against the game to much, but I think the bosses could afford to be a bit more durable.

Graphics

On the graphical side of things the game has elements that range from good to okay. While, I enjoyed the artwork for Ally and her sister I find the space base itself to be rather bland and uninteresting.

Conclusion

Red Syndrome is a pretty solid game where it matters for the most part, but if the game had a stronger story and some more challenging bosses in a few instances it would make for an overall better game in my opinion. As it stands Red Syndrome is a very good way to kill an hour or two but this game will be hard pressed to leave a lasting impression.

Score

I would have preferred to give this game a 3.75 but the site doesn't permit this so I'll round up to a four.