Rhell: Warped Worlds & Troubled Times

Usually when people say "this game doesn't hold your hand" they actually mean "this game is difficult" and that's not what that's meant to mean. [i] This [/i] game doesn't hold your hand. This game drops you into a world with a vague gesture in a direction that kinda helps. This game rarely gives you the tools you need to solve problems, and instead gradually drip feeds you the resources and methods to create your own tools. This game does little-to-nothing to tell you if you have what you need to pass a puzzle, because the game has no idea. This games whole world makes you feel lost, and that's the whole point! That's the narrative of the game, and that's what makes it so satisfying when you finally start connecting threads and find a goal. This is an incredible immersive sim with one of my personal favourite kinds of magic systems: magic as a programming language. Not a complex programming language like C++, just combining different properties of magic to get different result. Half the time I was developing spells not to solve a puzzle, but just because it's fun and, as a magic user, I feel like I'm obligated to have my own catalogue of cool and elegant spells. This is legitimately a contender for my favourite game of the year, and deffinitely gets a spot in my top games of all time. (It also has a built in randomizer mode that's really fun to play around in. I've more than doubled my play time with that alone)

This is quite a unique and ingenious game idea that surprisingly hasn't gotten that much attention yet. The start is a bit slow but once you have a few more spells opening up more possibilities, it hooks you pretty tightly into the game's world and exploration becomes pretty fun. For some people constantly switching spells is a chore but I felt it just is part of the gameplay loop and even with a controller it didn't feel annoying to manage. In that aspect it feels more like a turn-based strategy game and even though I despise that genre, it's very tolerable here. Just sitting down for a minute and thinking about your next spell instead of brute forcing your way through the game seems the way to go. That is just speaking of the core idea itself but that isn't the only thing this game does right. The world building and puzzle designs are very well thought-out and the writing definitely made me chuckle more than once. Rhell and your companion Beesle are kept simplistic at times with their dialog but synergise well with another and other characters. The mystery you are trying to unfold kept me engaged throughout the game and constantly made me theorise and search for new areas. I am also mildly proud that I managed to solve everything without a guide with every item and rune found. Only one specific secret (ending) was a bit of a head scratcher but once figuring out (with a hint from the forums) what to look for, it became just a task of exploration (again). tl;dr definitely worth your time if you value very well designed puzzle mysteries with a unique gameplay mechanic.

Very creative concept, but I feel like a sequel is needed to really refine it and fix the annoying aspects of the game that stop it from being truly great. Annoying music, overly saturated visuals and frequent spelling and grammar mistakes cheapen the experience, so I can imagine that a sequel or remaster would really elevate it. More annoying than that though is, for me, the camera. I find it odd how it works with its fixed perspectives. Maybe there's a good gameplay reason for this (probably how Rhell is animated?) but for me, it just made the gameplay frustrating when I was trying to aim a spell. Overall, I still wanna leave a positive review because this game clearly had a lot of love and passion put into it. It's a fun experience regardless and I do adore the spell system, but I think it's too unrefined to be a true classic. Let's hope for a sequel.

I loved playing Rhell! For every puzzle I felt super rewarded coming up with a new solution, and each time I gained a new rune I was immediately excited by the possibilities. I even started a second save with all the randomizer modes maxed just to tackle a bunch of the areas with a different set of runes than I had before! It reminded me of the joy I got from scribblenauts with how many different solutions I could apply to each area. Thats not to forget the amazing art in the game, every sprite is drawn so charmingly that I really felt the love and hardwork put into the game, there were so many things I didnt expect to be drawn but were! The dev has def earned my investment and I look forward to their next project!

对我个人而言，这游戏在玩法和质量上算是当之无愧的神作了，但是不知道为什么这游戏能冷成这个样子，好游戏不应该被埋没的。 重新谈回游戏本身，这是一个类塞尔达游戏，在游戏里你将扮演一位贤者（其实就是魔法师啦）去拯救世界，对于超级喜欢魔法的我来说，这个游戏的题材就超合我的胃口。游戏本身有40种不同的法术，除了刚开始给你的两个法术，剩下的法术全都需要通过去世界各地寻找散落的符文页来解锁。法术之间可以相互组合来达成更强更复杂的效果，例如两个旋转法术结合可以让被施法对象旋转幅度更大，火法术和冰法术结合会变成水法术，最多可以同时组合五种法术，这直接使得游戏拥有极高的自由度与可玩性！所以说，这是一个极度考验玩家想象力的游戏。游戏整体的地图是非常大的，由许多机制、设计与形态各异的区域组成，每个区域又是由许多关卡和谜题组成，同时隐藏了许多秘密内容，结合游戏的法术机制，让游戏的体验极其丰富，在游玩过程中极易发现意料之外的惊喜与新的机制。游戏在剧情上也是可圈可点，刚开始游戏会告诉你世界上的人因为未知原因几乎消失殆尽，仅剩数人，而你则要去探明原因。这个设定很好的回答了一个长期以来在游戏界非常令人费解的问题，为啥世界观那么庞大的游戏能遇见的npc却只有少得可怜的几个人。同时游戏的剧情紧紧贴合关卡设计，让人觉得一切都非常自然，外加游戏对不同角色的刻画也是相当优秀，让玩家的代入感更强。 总而言之，这绝对是一款值得所有喜欢冒险游戏的人游玩的作品，我会给这个游戏打上几乎满分的高分

Cute and a very interesting system with tons of creativity. The big downside to this is the unbelievable clumsiness that comes with switching your spells. It's so annoying and made much worse by the fact you have to do it constantly. There are also very few saved spell slots for some reason. Why? To make it more annoying to get around?

          游戏整体的美术风格我一开始可能没那么喜欢，但后面越看越可爱，而且作者还挺擅长整活的，很多时候主角都能摆出很多颜艺的造型，非常雷人非常好玩。而且除了可爱的一面，游戏里也有一些看上去很抽象或者超现实点的东西处理的也挺好的。           游戏的人性化设计做的挺好的，很多地方就是很方便的。首先，游戏有一个特别好的地方就是全图可传送，也就是说可以节省很多的跑图时间，而且你在别处突然get到解法了你可以立即传送过去，很方便。然后游戏也自带有提示系统，包括对你主线的提示和关卡的提示，而且主线的故事线和一些关键的内容也会记录下来，让你可以随时查看。而且由于游戏内还有很多很多的收集品（五百），每一小块区域都有收集数/总数，中期还能解锁指南针看大致位置。           然后这个游戏最好玩的地方就在于它的魔法搭配上，有非常丰富的魔法搭配和各种奇怪和好玩的解题方法。整体给我的感觉就是自由，游戏一般就是前期通过简单的关卡教你魔法的基础运用，然后后面你用学到的方法进行解题，当你手上的魔法越来越多的时候，到后面解谜的方法也会特别多，就像一个地方我和三个不同的群友有着四种完全不一样解谜玩法。这时候我最直观的感觉就是这个游戏的主动权是在自己上的，自己学习，思考然后再通过一种脑洞大开的方式呈现最后的解法，这个过程体验下来是真的很爽很有成就感。            就以一个后期的谜题为例子。这一关是一个很窄的房子，要求你用道具和屋子里的其它物品到达高处并把最高处雾化的箱子弄下来。这题的难点就在于你不仅要爬高，且在最高处的时候你是可以施法的状态。所以我就想通过魔法道具像木偶把自己升上去，然后考虑到单魔法只能释放一次又会掉下来，所以我需要持续性的魔法也就是屏障，然后还有加上三个上升。但问题又来了，木偶放法术后屏障是不会覆盖住木偶的，那么就不能持续地升高，必须木偶释放法术的同时也会把自己同时抬上去。所以我最后的想法就是把房间内板凳变大，然后把木偶放在板凳上，利用屏障的边缘可以把板凳抬起来，这样我和木偶就都能持续的上升，一个简易的爬楼小装置就搞定了，且我是在板凳上的可以随时随地继续施法。通过这次实践，我也几乎解决了后续所有的登高问题！          关卡上做的有趣的内容也很多，每一个大关的核心机制都好玩且蛮让人惊喜的。从温泉的时间回溯到海底的镜像到实验室的电力和传送，每一个的体验都印象深刻，和游戏核心玩法魔法搭配的配合也很好。而且弱引导的部分做的也很舒服，对于不同的机制玩家也可以从简单的谜题引导中学会更多的新东西。         大世界探索部分做的很自由，地图四通八达，几乎每个玩家的探索流程都是不同的。隐藏的数量也很多，喜欢钻各种角落登各种高的玩家也有福了，游戏在很多角落的位置都放了各种各样的收集品，有些藏的确实挺阴的。而且游戏隐藏的秘密也很多，越喜欢探索的玩家往往越能找到一些蛛丝马迹的地方解开秘密。 然后一些游玩过程中我不是很喜欢的地方或者能做的更好的地方。 1. 游戏的最后关卡做的我有点不是很满意，有点短且太普通了，感觉没能很好的把关卡和如此庞大的法术搭配结合起来，到结局的时候确实有点点遗憾，就是有种没打够的感觉， 2. 游戏的玩法上注定了操作会比较繁琐，需要一直打开魔法页更换，特别很多时候你可能时机差一点点或者不小心放错一下，你可能前面整了半天的很多东西又得重来，打的时候确实会感觉有些累。         综合来说，瑞尔：扭曲世界与动荡时代是一款让我完全沉浸进去且游玩过程充满着惊喜，充满着快乐的游戏，它绝对是我今年GOTY有力竞争者。也希望这个游戏在汉化出来以后有更多的人去尝试这款游戏，它一定会给你带来一场令人难忘的游戏体验的

I got the game for its magic system, but put it down because of its level design and control. The premise of having those runes/spells that you can combine is genuinely inspiring and opens up very interesting gameplay. What kills it for me however is two fold: * The level design is too vast. An inordinate amount of time is spent just walking around from point A to point B. Rooms are too big. Some rooms exist just to... be there. * The controls are too floaty. Aiming spells are a chore. I suspect the game would work better with either a fixed camera (assuming that the game is designed around a fixed camera) for a following camera. As it is, I spend more time trying to implement the solution I have in mind than coming up with solutions. Still, would I recommend it as an experience? Definitely, but play the demo first to see if you can jive with the controls.

By far my current favorite game at the moment. I've 100% my save file, and just need to finish the challenges and roll to reach that on steam, I really only do this for games I love. The world is vibrant and great to explore, the characters are strange, unique, and lovable (langli <3), the moment I saw the demo and tried it out I kept thinking about it until I beat it in just a couple days. Great for anyone who loves fun puzzles and matching art.