The Unlife of Gorlak

A charming Princess-Maker/raise your character style game! I found the character writing quite pleasant and liked the music overall (I love how, the more you progress an area you explore, the more it changes, becoming a little more bombastic). The one thing I might not vibe as much is the combat, I like what it is doing with the 'quick action before your actual action' but I feel it might just not click with me. Similiar to some other reviewers, despite my overall positive opinion, I too suffer from the "screen freezes but the game continues, making this a very blind playthrough" problem that I am not sure where or why it comes from. Adding my hardware specifications to this review, if that helps in any way.

Absolutely a great time with this, love the dialogue and the gameplay. Couldn't resist going for 100% and a had a fun time doing it.

[Extremely light spoilers, but you saw the LGBTQ+ tag, didn't you?] [Reading time: ~2 minutes] --Summary-- The Unlife of Gorlak is a 3-6 hour raising sim about an undead dragon training to fight his arch-nemesis at the end of the month. I’d describe this game as somewhat narrative, with a large focus on traditional turn-based RPG combat. The writing is simple but charming and effective, and the “good ending” was challenging enough to be inaccessible in the first playthrough but easy enough to achieve in the second playthrough. This game is worth $9.99, especially with the lovely artwork and indie charm. --General Vibes-- Overall, I’d describe this game as lighthearted, quirky, charming, retro, and a bit like “peeking into another world,” like an old fantasy novel. It has some rough charm to it that makes it feel oddly real. It’s hard to find words to describe the vibe of this game. Think “RPG from the 90s,” complete with the feeling that there might be more systems and secrets at work in the background than you think. For example, if you equip the musical weapons, it's hard to not wonder if those unlock or influence paths in the story—there’s a sense that it’s not quite possible to know. The artwork is a treat, and the small window showing the characters/environments is actually charming rather than limiting. One thing that stood out to me is that battles never felt overly sad. I don't think enemies (or Gorlak) are ever actually described as dying, for example. --Engagement Value-- High. The game is quite short, and the systems are engaging enough to keep you entertained for that time. There are multiple endings for those truly devoted to Gorlak’s story, but I found myself satisfied with two playthroughs. (You can make multiple saves at key points in the story if you’d like to try out different combinations of area completions to see what happens.) Also, I really like playing as a dragon (who'd have guessed)! --Complaints-- There are a number of typos! For example, instead of “trials,” the message at the end of a day spells it “trails.” There aren’t too many typos overall, and I am willing to overlook these for the sake of the gameplay and the story. However, the typos can be slightly distracting at times. Also, I think I would have appreciated more build-up to [spoiler]Gorlak's realization[/spoiler], and perhaps a bit more time in-game dedicated to the story, watching Gorlak grow and change and think about things, etc. --Final Thoughts-- Charming indie game that I was very happy to pick up! Made me smile and feel quite good. I hope that more RPGs like this, with the themes of queerness and queer discovery, are made in the future, maybe with longer stories? Especially with anthro dragons as the main characters! I think some of the characterizations for Gorlak were interesting, and I liked a lot of his subconscious/intrusive thoughts, especially because they give hints about where the story is going. I will be looking into the developer to see what else they make in the future.

Played up to one ending on normal difficulty, which offered a moderate challenge (some of the late-game enemies can be unexpectedly tough). Classic/standard JRPG battle and "raising sim" systems; the raising aspect is somewhat light (balance training and going on excursions while ensuring you don't build up stress and reduce your own efficiency); the JRPG mechanics give you a decent amount of ways to approach combat. Very fun spritework. All around I enjoyed it and will probably give it a replay at some point to see the different endings!

It's good.

Love the humor and art, highly recommended!

very fun short and sweet raising sim game. Always good to find a hidden gem. Can't wait to get the other endings, and I know you will to if you give the game a chance.