I’ll be honest: when it comes to games created by solo indie developers, I tend to turn a blind eye to certain shortcomings, that I would certainly point out if they came from larger development studios. I do this because, in my view, such projects require far greater faith and a willingness to take risks than is the case with larger studios; someone really has to believe that their vision, idea and execution will find their place in the market and win over players’ hearts. Besides, these shortcomings often aren’t down to anyone “not wanting to”, but simply because there wasn’t the skill, budget or time to polish everything to perfection.
Having said that, I must admit that this game is truly one of a kind – it draws obvious mechanical inspiration from well-known genres, yet is at the same time brilliantly designed, well thought-out and executed. Not everything turned out quite as well as the developer would have liked, but overall it’s a truly well-conceived world with a serious story told in a tragicomic way. A strange but extraordinary game.
[b]Would I recommend it? Yes [/b]
A brilliant, unique RPG that never loses its freshness, even for a moment. It takes familiar elements from the genre and transforms them into something truly extraordinary. All in all, among the biggest drawbacks, I’d count “jokes” that add nothing to the game and actually detract from it significantly, as well as the combat, which isn’t very well balanced and can be far too easy in the second half of the game.
✅[list]
[*] The pixel art graphics stand out as one of the most striking visual styles amongst other RPGs with similar graphics, combined with bold, hand-drawn manga-inspired comic panels that serve as cutscenes. Furthermore, the loading screens and the intro sequences to boss battles certainly stand out in a positive way.
[*] Ambient-style soundtrack enhances the game’s melancholic atmosphere through the use of classic, delicate piano pieces. Tempo of the music only picks up during combat, when more aggressive rock tracks come into play. Soundscape was very well executed; most, if not all, of the objects we interact with make “some” sound characteristic of themselves. The locations, in turn, sound exactly as they should and as one would expect (e.g. different background sounds in a shop compared to those in a forest).
[*] A pair of protagonists who are complete opposites, yet complement each other perfectly. Akane is a somewhat naive, good-natured dreamer, whilst Bot is an incredibly pragmatic and, initially, rather cold-hearted AI.
[*] Story itself is quite good and build as a tragicomedy. Minor and major gaffes, as well as frivolous behavior, are intended to lighten the serious atmosphere of the world depicted.
[*] A turn-based combat system similar to the one found in JRPGs. The influences are clearly evident, but it must be said that the system itself is very well designed.
[*] For certain actions, interactions, and behaviors, we receive passive bonuses to health and stats. It’s an incredibly interesting system that actively encourages us to explore and test the world, while rewarding us for that curiosity as we go.
[*] Impressive interactivity. You can interact with virtually every object or NPC in some way, resulting in various outcomes.
[*] The life simulation aspects of the game allow us to take on various jobs or side quests, explore freely, expand our home, or invest in a variety of businesses. Not only is this an integral part of the game world, but it also reduces the grind by providing an alternative source of income.
[*] World-building. Let me put it this way: game surprised me here because, as player delves into the story, they discover that, while the world is set in a fairly popular setting, it’s actually designed in quite an original way. On top of that, everything else is thoughtfully integrated and comes together to form a cohesive whole.
[*] Semi-open world structured as a world map with enterable, smaller locations to explore. In addition, almost every map has hidden areas with rewards, bosses, or some additional lore that deepens our understanding of the game world.
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😐
[list][*]While I get that game dev wanted a more organic feel of progress and exploration instead of rigid quest log structure, I still think that it could be designed better than choosing an option of game without a quest log (or any form of journal) at all.
[*] I don’t like the fact that you can only make a manual save in certain places and for a small fee.
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❌[list]
[*] To be honest, this game has way too many crass jokes and situations that all too often border on misogyny. You can turn them off, but in my opinion, it would be much better if the developer had simply cut out 90% of them or left the potential reaction to them up to the players. That said, I’d like to point out that I don’t get the impression this was intentional on the developer’s part. Rather, it seems like an attempt to tackle a topic he felt needed to be addressed but didn’t quite know how to handle skillfully - unfortunately, it turned out the way it did.
[*] I have to point out that the difficulty level isn’t particularly well balanced. The game becomes too easy way too early; even the boss fights (whether main or side) aren’t exempt from this. I’ve got nothing against a world that doesn’t level up alongside the player, but a world designed in this way should still ensure that the player is presented with a challenge.
[*] Following up on the previous point, I get the impression that our stats are rising too quickly, which means we’re closing the gap between us and the strongest optional bosses too fast. Lowering the multiplier by 25–50% wouldn’t hurt the game.
[*] I miss having a wiki or even a library with a terminal in the game where I could read more about the game world and its history. It seems like a rather fascinating setting, which, unfortunately, you can’t fully explore.
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