ICOVOC'S PROFILE

Hey guys, loved the game. There's something so simple and clean and polished about this. Great writing and solid mapping from Indrah; fresh, innovative systems and impeccable balance from Fomar (with a splash of very nice art from Hirei)... all in just a few days. You guys do some brilliant things with these short games. Can't wait to see your longer one looks like whenever it's done.

This is a great review. I'd say it's easily one of the most in-depth on RMN (especially with the discussion in the comments). Awesome of you to take the time to look at the game so closely.

Took me quite a while to get around to it, but I've played for about an hour and so far the game is stunning. The writing is the standout element I think, but there are fantastic things going on with the music, gameplay and the art. I'm detecting some broad influences (everything from literature to prog rock) which makes a serious difference.

Also, for the record, I couldn't believe some of what people were saying on Greenlight, since I think the art is pretty great.

I'm planning on expanding this into a full review later, but the only problems so far:

--Might have been a good idea to add an idle pose for Ardus when he's standing still, rather than the stepping pose.
--Also not sure the synopsis does the game justice. I think you might be able to expand on the interesting elements of the world while condensing the description of the game's background and using a more palatable description of the combat mechanics. (It really interested me, but the Greenlight comments in particular made me feel like the current one doesn't work... some people seem to be taking it as suggesting there's no actual battle system.)

Anyway, this game is pretty inspiring so far and I'm really hoping it gets more attention soon.

Hey Sailerius: I played about an hour of this game and was really impressed with it. Was pleasantly surprised when I checked the page and saw the Act III revision was still coming; it's really cool that you would still invest this much time in a remake while also working on a commercial game. I'd sort of just assumed the remake was abandoned, but it's great to see activity here over the last few weeks.

Edit--Thoughts on finishing Act I:

The common opinion seems to be that Act I is generally weak, but I don't think I agree. (Though it was definitely short, and I can tell it's been cut down some.) I think it's great, in particular because of some really unconventional design decisions: the way you just toss the player into the world and make them figure it out, with the unconventional blend between modern and fantasy; the generally thoughtful game systems, contrasted with your willingness to put battles in the background in order to tell a story. (Like, just because the system was strong you didn't abuse it just to increase playtime, which is something that really bothers me with RPGs in general, but especially lazy RM games.) Plus, the fantastic presentation that seems to be what got this game its reputation to begin with. Some of the design decisions seem to have alienated people but I liked almost everything--except the slow walking speed, but I'm pretty sure that's just how xp works?

I'm probably going to stop here until Act III is out (this game feels sort of like a teaser, with most of the substance in the next two and I don't want to get right in the middle of things and have to wait however long to finish), but I'm really looking forward to whenever it's done. If I like them as much I'll probably write a review as well.

This looks really exceptional. I'll try to review it on here if I end up liking it.