My Review on the Demo Download.
Intro and Prolog...The title Screen came up, Great Music and image... Not sure on what the image is, kind of a jewl like magic looking thing... but looks sweet as
Then the Intro... Teen T... RMXP... Wicked... (I am a member at RMXP, but I have not seen this postered about there)
Then the game stuffage:-
This is amazing... Some area's My jaw fell and I looked at what I was seeing... I just could work out how it had been done... VERY PROFFESIONAL.... The scrolling and mixing of the Backgrounds overlayed with tile sets... FANTASTIC... I still don't know how you did it... but WOW....
The music fits well.... And there's one area the game fades from Black and White to Colour... very nice transitions... the War part of the intro... would have been nice if the soilders animated like hitting each other and when you mention the Swords CLashed and the Arrows flew you heard (Faitly that happening)....
The Text overlay again nothing short of Perfect... VERY NICE !!!!....
I was Dumbfounded with the whole thing... way above any thing I have seen created thus far... WOW.... Its worth the download just for the sheer amount of idea's you can teeth from the intro... its certainly set me a new bench mark to reach...
92/100
(a few sound effects chucked in every now and then would have added more atmostphere)The GameYou start off in a Tent with a Female... The Tent Graphics look custom and fairly nice... You can pretty much interact with every thing in the tent... I love the noise of the Thistle Grinder... (Them Thistles must be made of rock... CRUNCH !!!!)... The Woman can't be asked with getting up and feeds you some cobblers about you getting your breakfast 1st... (She just wants a lay in the lazy bint...LOL) Any ways after I ran around for a while (You can go Diaganal in this game.... Not sure if I like that or not the anim looks wrong, like your gliding).... I noticed these little red arrows that indiacte you can leave the screen only in various area's... I found the Kitchen ate some stuff... then this crazy dude comes in who has hurt his head (not gunna say how as it will spoil stuff... but it had me laughing...)
Things I likedThe humor is great
The Battle System is really cool, its kind of live action and zooms in and out
Summon Spells, great Graphics on the four Element type spells...
The way the game changes setting from morning to day and so on... VERY NICE....
The Battlers are really nice... Accept the Wolves they are really pixeled up...
The Thistle Machine... Wicked !!!
The amount of Custom stiff...
The Item Screen rocks and so to do the icons...
The message windows are great, showing pictures of who is talking etc...
Things I didn't like (and I am being SUPER picky)1. Now back to the Diaganal walking thing... Actually I dislike it.... in some of the building, on corners you get a clipping effect if you brush past them...
2. Doors on buildings are wide open yet you get told they are locked... It would be nice to have doors that are animated
3. Catching a Rbbit has never been harder.... Setting a trap for one to go in... I got stuck... Call me crap or whatever, but I got fed up... Fricken killing the end boss of Shadow of the Coloussus was easyer than catching a Rabbit... I laid the trap and wayched 1stly for about 5 mins... then I tried chasing the rabbits into the trap, I got them on it, but nothing happend... So I thought right the rabbit aint big enough... so I tried it on every rabbit I could see... all the time being attacked by Wolves and Chickens... and getting caught up on blinking butter-flies...
4. BUTTER-FLIES keep getting in my way... and other small bug bears keep holding up the game play, like too much Foliage and ground blemishes...
5. I don't like how the tree's have another layer plastered over the top of them and meld into each other and the Shadows under the tree's look to hard (not C-through)...
6. Maps have hard black outer edges to them really squared off... (Like inbetween going south from the church to the Priests house) Small area of land that looks out of place...
7. Small odd bits like in the Grave yard East of the Church the top right grave stone for a pet cat you can walk right through the cross and the others you can't... (and I found a few little bits that just feal very unfinished in comaprrison to the Intro....)
OverallThis game really draws you in at the start, its amazing... the Intro and the amount of work thats gone into it, is evident from the word go....
But then the game play is hampered by clutter and annoying tasks... It just doesn't have a fun sort of vibe, more a serious one... Its like comparing Boulders gate to Dragon Quest though... I love Dragon Quest type games... this is more Boulders gate, a brillaint game but not every ones idea of fun...
Oh... and the monsters are no real challenge you can just use a Summon spell and kill pretty much any thing... in the woods... may be if I trapped a Rabbit (even though I went hunting for dear) I would have got to a real Monster and had some fun... But I kind of got fed up...
Game wise I was not impressed... the usic and visuals are cool... but it is messy to navigate... I hope this is some thing thats addressed in the full version... CUt some clutter and make it so you don't have to weaver around a village to get from A to B make various routes... and please make the Butter-flies passable...LOL
I don't think there is much that needs doing to really raise the bar on this game... I did notice the summon spells said test by them and costed nothing to cast so I guess they are there just to show what to expect later on in the game...
Its hard for me to rate this fairly as I don't think I gave it a fair trail... so I will break it down in catagories:-
Sound:- 90 / 100 (great music and very fitting for the game)
Graphic:- 85 / 100 (the Mapping is slightly hap Hazzard and cluttered, but the battle system and item screen and icon kicks arse)
Playability:- 80 / 100 (Hindered and hamperd by the surroundings makes it come-some)
Events:- 96 / 100 (The events end after they are actioned, and the tea making skill counter is cool, Very good)
Over all:- 88 / 100Overall this is Majorly impressive... In another league compared to other games I have seen and played... This game over shadows many others in ploish and flare but I feel lacks in game play... or may be its game play is good but I feel should be better or as good as the Intro was... Yet the game play its self seems underated and falls short of expectation after such a MASTER CLASS of an intro...
I will still down load and play the full version... and its some thing I want to watch closely... A Proffesional looking game...