Retro
2023
This might be just a bit too short (2-3 hours) for the price, but I guess it's better than being bloated. I don't want to repeat too much of what I said here...There are more unique enemies, the levels are great, with maybe just one of them being a drag, and the developer actually makes good use of the scythe-start. Some of these levels are actually very open, letting you choose your own path each time you play the map. Unfortunately, all the weapons you saw in the demo will be the only ones you find in the game. I also wasn't too hot on the treasures (think treasure goblin) here and would have much preferred the standard secrets for some variety, especially on the levels that have no treasures.
1997
Big exploratory maps that try to have some weapon progression, but in the end, it just means you need to play continuously and won't have a few of your weapons until the final map. Most of the maps involve you going back and forth trying to figure out what the switch you pressed did. Especially map 3 which kind of ruins the whole set, doing this like 10 times.
Both of these episodes have some great levels, and I wouldn't call any of them bad except for the terrible ending. It was a nice step up in challenge, similar to other expansion packs, with the first map being a brutal wake-up call. They really just dropped the ball on bosses. A bit weird; they did a sequel, an expansion for the sequel, and then back to the original game for an expansion, huh?
1995
3 very short levels with little to no challenge. All of them have secrets, giving you lots of items and weapons at the very end of the level. Even if you're not doing wand start, it's just overkill for maps that have 20–30 monsters. The levels themselves aren't anything special, but they sure do exist.
1995
A medium-sized map and has some nice tricks. The level has a good number of different ways of going about it since a lot of it loops on itself. Shame it is too easy, even for back then, I imagine.
1994
Slightly worse Doom with held items that feel like you're cheating. Flying? Turning enemies into chickens? Warp to the start of the level? On demand healing and invincibility?
Your BFG equivalent kind of sucks and your normal melee is bad with no berserk equivalent. If you need to use the tome for your staff, you're in trouble... Your starting weapon actually being usable for almost the entire time, not sharing ammo with another great weapon and being good? Though I wish you could see all your weapon ammo at anytime, like in Doom. The music is just as great, and the setting really works for me. The boss set pieces were nice, with some unique monsters I was not expecting. The regular enemies could have made a bit more effort to let you distinguish between the different kinds of gargoyles and golems at a glance.
I'm really excited to see what WADs will do with this foundation.
Your BFG equivalent kind of sucks and your normal melee is bad with no berserk equivalent. If you need to use the tome for your staff, you're in trouble... Your starting weapon actually being usable for almost the entire time, not sharing ammo with another great weapon and being good? Though I wish you could see all your weapon ammo at anytime, like in Doom. The music is just as great, and the setting really works for me. The boss set pieces were nice, with some unique monsters I was not expecting. The regular enemies could have made a bit more effort to let you distinguish between the different kinds of gargoyles and golems at a glance.
I'm really excited to see what WADs will do with this foundation.
2017
It's pretty simple for most of the playthrough until you get to the final stages, which turn into almost 7-minute time trials. I figured there would be a lot more emphasis on the comboing, but outside of the two challenges, it really doesn't matter at all. I was able to get every upgrade by just turning off my brain for comboing.
I checked out hard mode for a few stages, and it is almost entirely different with much harder variants. Every enemy drops like three damaging heads on death, just forcing you to go a bit slower. Maybe I'll go back to it when I get the DLC campaign.
I checked out hard mode for a few stages, and it is almost entirely different with much harder variants. Every enemy drops like three damaging heads on death, just forcing you to go a bit slower. Maybe I'll go back to it when I get the DLC campaign.
2022
The second time I found an obscure, highly praised indie game from a couple of friends. I really only decided to play it because I was annoyed at my computer being too shit to play another game, but I'm glad I did. I got annoyed when I was trying to find the last puzzle, only to realize after a few laps it was right in front of me.
Despite only having seven maps, half of them became too boring for me. I really enjoyed the start, though, so it's not terrible.
I only played the 3 SP maps, but man, he really loves respawning chaingunners.
2002
The levels look really nice, and for the most part, they are great. Unfortunately, a couple of maps just go on for way too long. It's also really hard to see anything in the water. I had to play with the zdoom patch since the OG or EE version would not work.
1997
It's got a pretty good opening, but it seems like the level just gets worse as you go.
1996
It's mostly long, empty hallways with levels lasting for 1 or 2 minutes. Very close to a complete waste of time.
2023
I really wish I could just delete these from the game.
Even though I enjoyed this demo, I was a bit wary of the full game because of the price and how much it tried to be like Chrono Trigger, a game I wasn't the biggest fan of. Fortunately, I didn't have to worry, as I loved this. Combat is a lot more involved than CT, with being able to restore mana on normal hits (and on blocks if you have the accessory), button prompts for nearly every ability, managing your live mana, choosing your turn order, and managing your combo points. Later on, you can even use items as a free turn every round, making the game significantly easier if you want, but it was already easy enough without item abuse. The dungeons are also pretty nice, with some puzzles and great pacing. Sadly, the puzzles in here end up not really stumping you for more than a second, at least not until the optional end/postgame. I had hoped they also had a few fewer rest spots to force better food/resource usage. All the bosses had unique designs, and there are a lot of them! While they don't get too complex, there is a lot of variety in each encounter, making it very satisfying to fight.
Speaking of difficulty, the game is a bit easy on the baseline. There are some relics (pretty much accessibility options with some QoL) that do increase the difficulty, but the first one I found in the early game (4 or 5 hours in) was after I had already spent my gold, and then later on I just misattributed it to being the super expensive item, missing out on it. Meanwhile, the more interesting one was near the end of the game. I know it's partially my fault, but maybe the relic purchases shouldn't have been tied to the main game currency, or just give one of them early on for free like they do for others. I guess I'll just do a NG+ run with the relic later on.
The main cast here is all great, and I loved one of the later characters. You could tell they put a lot of effort into the animation of that character. The story was good, but I don't usually place too much stock in them, so YMMV. It did get me engaged for nearly the entire run-through, with twists I didn't see coming. You don't need me to say it, but the music is great, and I can already see myself spamming the boss music. There were a surprising number of references to the Messenger in the back half of the game. While you don't need to really know any of the story from there, it's nice to pick up on things you would miss otherwise.
Random other things...
- They really love to give you fights with limitations, like 5+ times at least, and I loved all of them (I want more JRPGs to do this)
- I enjoyed exploring here and felt the rewards were worth it. They include skills, cooking recipes, ultimate weapons, and rainbow conches (the main collectible)
- Traversal for everything but the main map (slow as fuck) was fun, especially when you get a certain upgrade
- The "sidequests" early on were mostly just random NPCs having little side stuff to do like clearing a field or feeding specific meals but, they got better towards the end
- The minigame might have a little too much RNG early on, and it's easy to abuse a strategy, although I still enjoyed it for reminding me of other similar games
- Cutscenes were used sparingly, but I felt they were effective
- I liked how it was a low-level numbers game
- This ending is going to be so divisive that some people are going to HATE it
Even though I enjoyed this demo, I was a bit wary of the full game because of the price and how much it tried to be like Chrono Trigger, a game I wasn't the biggest fan of. Fortunately, I didn't have to worry, as I loved this. Combat is a lot more involved than CT, with being able to restore mana on normal hits (and on blocks if you have the accessory), button prompts for nearly every ability, managing your live mana, choosing your turn order, and managing your combo points. Later on, you can even use items as a free turn every round, making the game significantly easier if you want, but it was already easy enough without item abuse. The dungeons are also pretty nice, with some puzzles and great pacing. Sadly, the puzzles in here end up not really stumping you for more than a second, at least not until the optional end/postgame. I had hoped they also had a few fewer rest spots to force better food/resource usage. All the bosses had unique designs, and there are a lot of them! While they don't get too complex, there is a lot of variety in each encounter, making it very satisfying to fight.
Speaking of difficulty, the game is a bit easy on the baseline. There are some relics (pretty much accessibility options with some QoL) that do increase the difficulty, but the first one I found in the early game (4 or 5 hours in) was after I had already spent my gold, and then later on I just misattributed it to being the super expensive item, missing out on it. Meanwhile, the more interesting one was near the end of the game. I know it's partially my fault, but maybe the relic purchases shouldn't have been tied to the main game currency, or just give one of them early on for free like they do for others. I guess I'll just do a NG+ run with the relic later on.
The main cast here is all great, and I loved one of the later characters. You could tell they put a lot of effort into the animation of that character. The story was good, but I don't usually place too much stock in them, so YMMV. It did get me engaged for nearly the entire run-through, with twists I didn't see coming. You don't need me to say it, but the music is great, and I can already see myself spamming the boss music. There were a surprising number of references to the Messenger in the back half of the game. While you don't need to really know any of the story from there, it's nice to pick up on things you would miss otherwise.
Random other things...
- They really love to give you fights with limitations, like 5+ times at least, and I loved all of them (I want more JRPGs to do this)
- I enjoyed exploring here and felt the rewards were worth it. They include skills, cooking recipes, ultimate weapons, and rainbow conches (the main collectible)
- Traversal for everything but the main map (slow as fuck) was fun, especially when you get a certain upgrade
- The "sidequests" early on were mostly just random NPCs having little side stuff to do like clearing a field or feeding specific meals but, they got better towards the end
- The minigame might have a little too much RNG early on, and it's easy to abuse a strategy, although I still enjoyed it for reminding me of other similar games
- Cutscenes were used sparingly, but I felt they were effective
- I liked how it was a low-level numbers game
- This ending is going to be so divisive that some people are going to HATE it
More of the same as episode 1, but the levels are longer. It is a bit annoying when you hit a switch only to change something way earlier in the level, but nothing too bad.