Traveler's Refrain

Absolutely delightful indie RPG with enticing music, satisfying puzzles, a MELANCHOLY but cathartic story, and clean graphics! The voice acting was wonderful- each character is vibrant and unique. Loved the spell casting mechanic, it flows smoothly within combat and spells are easy to search if you forget combinations. Only had a few issues mechanically (once getting pushed out of bounds and stuck til death/reload on a mini boss fight, picking up a key item more than once) and there are some minor volume level issues between different characters dialogue- I'm sure these can be addressed in future patches and didn't affect overall gameplay. All-in-all I absolutely loved the game and will be running it back again soon! Would love to see support for speedrunning as well~

Traveler's Refrain is game that hearkens back to a certain era of adventure games. A combination of exploration through a mysterious land, fighting mystical beasts, and unraveling a compelling narrative. The hand-drawn art is refreshing in the modern day, seemingly rare nowadays. Anyone who has played a zelda game might know what to expect here: Most sections are separated into narrative guides through puzzles, combat encounters, and dungeons, which will test what you've learned so far. The formula works and most of the implemented mechanics are at a competent level. The games main feature hook its combat based spells, where you play a combination of 4 inputs to cast them. Unlocking the spells is done at a pretty good pace, keeping things interesting as you progress. Some seem quite more or less useful than others, but I could be missing their true purpose. Speaking of that, its worth noting there are lots of secrets and off the beaten path opportunities in this game, so if that's your kind of thing you will have plenty to keep you engaged. The boss fights in the game are arguably the most fun parts, allowing you to engage in using the tools you've earned in creative ways. The story will keep you wondering and searching for more bits about the world, but ultimately players will come to different conclusions. Overall, here you have a wonderful indie game that feels like something you would happen upon during the popular days of xbox arcade. Its a contained story with enough content to be interesting and fulfilling by the end, while also avoiding the teeter into overambitious clutter. I hope the developers continue onward as for a debut title, it's a winner.

I loved the demo so of course immediately bought the full game on release. The game play so far is great; very smooth and intuitive and challenging without feeling overly difficult just for difficulty's sake. Enjoying the puzzles too. I love puzzles in a game but hate when they're the type that feel like they were made with a game guide in mind, and so far I've never run into anything that broke the fourth wall by making me feel annoyed at the devs lol. Really impressive for how small the team is. Atmosphere is great. The music tailoring itself to play is really fun and it also sounds nice too. I'd love to get the soundtrack to listen to while I'm working. Def recommend so far and I'm excited to get more time in.

I'm having so much fun with this game! The artwork is incredibly charming and the sound design is top-notch. I'm also a huge fan of the robot designs and all of the puzzles I've come across so far!

If you enjoy puzzles, exploration, and fighting, this game is perfect! Not to mention the beautiful artwork and music. This game is very unique in my opinion. Mainly being the spell casting through music. I find it to be fun challenging my memory and seeing how fast I can cast. If I had to compare this game to any other game I’d say Hades. It has a similar feel and slightly similar art style to Hades. But I will say this game is its own masterpiece. For anyone on the fence about purchasing this game though, I highly recommend it. Whether you’re planning on taking things slow and taking in all the beauty of this game, or seeing how fast you can experience everything. I believe you will enjoy this game very much.

I really like this game so far. I recommend buying it. There is great voice acting throughout most of the game that I have played through so far. I also really like the art style of the game. I will update this review after I play more of the game.

An ok, but rather short narrative driven metroidvania with lots of puzzles. Pros: -Puzzles Cons: -Abilities are bound to 4 combo tunes, very cumbersome to use in combat -Story turned out to be rather meh in the end -Art design is on the cheap side

This game features a beautiful world with hand drawn animation and extremely unique spell-casting and a very unique weapon. Perfect little side scroll rpg to add to your repertoire. I love the metroid-ish touch of upgrading your attacks and spells as well as the idea that you have to revisit old chapters once you get stronger in order to get all the cool stuff. Swapping to the cute storybook animation for the love story was amazing and I wish it would have carried through the whole story and not cutoff at the end. Can't wait to find out what happens next. your ability to spell-cast using a musical instrument is super fun and even though I have a brain like a sieve I am memorizing the spells as I go. I'll update it with more as I progress!