Cursed Crown

This game was created and successfully posted for the RMN 10th birthday retromania event, I am reviewing the 1.3 version that has a big fix or 2 posted slightly after the contest close (which I think is good, the author was willing to fix a game-crashing bug).

There will be spoilers. Fair warning.

Before I get into detail, I want to say that there were things about this game I liked and things I did not. That is normal for most games, what I am going to do is compliment the things I think the author did well, and offer my constructive criticism on what I think could be done to improve the experience.

Story/Setting:
The setting is very unique, and the story is like none I have seen for a game this size and scope. The history of the setting and the approach that you are clearing out the area around a town and re-claiming the land was a great idea, and from a pure story perspective, was very well thought out and realized. The ending was so well written, it raised my review score up a half point from what I was feeling up to that point. I also loved the extra thought-bits you can read in the final dungeon that really help you understand the events that led up to the current situation in a deeper perspective.

Graphics:
Done in a very cool and retro monochromic/grayscale style, there were very small splashes of color occasionally, I am not sure where the sprites are ripped from, but the style and consistency is very well done, very reminiscent of a game from the NES-era.

Sound:
I found some files in the sound folders that led me to look up a game called Senshetta, which looked to be a side shooter if I got the right game, that I think the tracks were taken from. Regardless of where the tracks are from, this is a non-commercial game so I have no problem with that, and the fidelity and mood of the tracks were appropriate and consistent with the game setting. There are a few BGM tracks for standard battles and they are randomized on normal encounters. Nice touch.

Gameplay/Battle System:
In the beginning, you start alone, you are the hero, so you assume you will have a somewhat balanced skillset. You are told you can recruit party members at the pub. Common for old school fare. You have 6 characters to choose from and 3 slots to fill, the characters are reasonably varied featuring a black mage, fighter, pirate, ninja, cleric, and a warrior (knight). Nice feature that you can auto-level up any members to your hero's level very cheaply in town, making it easy to try out different party members. Truth told, IMO, it does not matter all that much how you fill your party as long as you have a couple physical damage dealers, and at least one character that can deal magic damage (your hero has one), which guarantees fixed damage values (some enemies cannot be hurt otherwise). You can aid your dungeon crawl by selecting a 'blessing' from the church that will last until you come back to town, basically it just temporarily boosts one of your stats, and you can only have one at a time.

Here is where we hit a few bumps. Once you have your party setup and grind a small amount to get money and better gear the game becomes noticably monotonous, every battle comes down to pretty much the same formula, even bosses are essentially just higher HP versions of same. You do not gain any stats on level up, only hit points, and you do not gain any skills or spells either. You can only improve your characters by buying better gear. It would make such a difference if you could buy or learn better spells as you clear areas, seeing as you can dramatically boost your MP with new gear and gems if you want to, why not also offer more powerful spells/skills too? It could spice up (and speed up) battles considerably.

Replay/post game (big spoiler here):


I still recommend playing this game as it is, just for the story. It is worth finishing just for that alone.