Wardrum

[u] Early impression review, so keep in mind that I experienced only the first act of the game so far [/u] I'll talk about the strengths of the game first - [b] TRIBAL MUSIC WITH MONGOLIAN THROAT SINGING AND SOME MARCH MOTIVES, BABYYYY. IVE LISTENED TO THE MAIN THEME FOR 4 HOURS BEFORE EVEN LAUNCHING THE GAME[/b]- ehm, apologies, the soundtrack hit the spot precisely. I'm in no way a music expert, but this soundtrack is both unique and extremely well done. Also, I think I got addicted to the main theme, and probably should seek professional help... The main gimmick of the game is having a "casting" system for each ability as a rhythm game. Firstly, I love casting spells, so i am biased(as all of us are). Second of all, this system is brilliant -the rhythm is very clear for each ability, the transition between the main battle theme to the beat of a singular ability is smooth enough to trip over, and each rhythm represents the action segment of the ability - for example, your archer's basic attack consists from putting an arrow onto the string(press A), then start drawing the bowstring(holding space for about a second) then releasing the string to fire the arrow. The animation is synchronized with the rhythm, and your performance during the rhythm casting influences how potent an ability will be. I provided an example of a basic ability, but the more powerful abilities you'll get during later stages of the game will have more complex rhythm sections. This provides an interesting element to the tactics, and an overall refreshing and very engaging gameplay loop. It is, in a way, similar to Expedition 33 - both tactical turn-based games with an "action" element integrated into the loop. Oh, and all the debuffs applied to your characters will influence your rhythm casting - cunfusion will mix your keys randomly, slow will... let me check... yes, slow the music, the bleed damage can be reduced if you hit a new bleed key during your casting, poison duration can be reduced in a similar way, and so on. All of those mechanics were in the 1st act, so I'm excited to see what's next on the menu And the obvious - artsyle, interface design and all adjacent is immaculate(I love how each character has a unique idle dance animation). But you can inspect that by simply watching the trailer. My only gripe - the text font in the events is a bit dull. But nothing can be perfect Let's focus now on the weaker parts of the game. The "pure" tactical aspect of the game, if we strip away how rhythm casting influences your decisions(combat scenario - perfect casting will kill a dangerous enemy, but if you perform badly enough, they will survive and your low-on-health character will get killed. So, if you aren't confident enough in your rhythm skills, in this scenario a defensive approach maybe better), is decent and rather satisfying - I'm yet to meet anything particularly impressive in enemy design, or an unconventional ability from the playable roaster. That being said, it seems like the game uses the first act as an introduction to the combat rhythm system, and in later acts/unlocked characters will introduce further complexity The rougue-light aspect is decent as well. Just as the tactical part, there isn't any noteworthy problems, it's more of an extreme competition that market provides. Progression of the characters is made by either leveling them up, which increases their statline and progresses them on their respective skill trees, getting new, more complex active or passive abilities, providing some build variety. You also can equip two trinkets on each character, which may provide some peculiar buffs that can synergize really well with each other. You also can create rhythm chains and equip one per character - these chains are the most interesting element of the in-run progression, as they are custom build abilities. Outside of the run, you get nice upgrades to either entire team, individual characters(which include new abilities in their skill trees), new mechanics for the exploration and new characters - overall, you get more variety and substantial buffs, and the acquisition of the meta-resource is also quite fast The story exists. The lore, the premise and the progression are quite simple, so if you come for an engaging narrative, this game is probably not for you. Overall, highly recommend it. This is a unique game, and a very well-made one, considering that it is the first project of the team. I usually want to write more coherent reviews, but seeing how few reviews this game has, I need to at least give this game a well-deserved positive review. I will revisit this later, after completing the game, but for now, I hope that the game will get the popularity it deserves. Good luck, Mopeful games!