Whisper of a Rose

Whipser of a Rose is great, until you actually start playing it. In the opening scenes, I was immediately drawn into the game. Whisper of a Rose has an immersive narrative pulling from the real world into a fantasy one with a played out but fitting transition. Everything in the game is quite symbolic of the paralells between the real world and the dream world you enter. Melrose is a unique character to follow around as far as RPG worlds go, and the cast that was starting to form as I played through seemed at least not totally cheesy (but if the super powerful person who can't control their powers! trope bothers you, red flag). Unfortunately, once the opening scenes end and you actually start existing in the game world, the reality sets in that this not an exciting adventure, it's a typical JPRG grindquest without the tension relievers most of them typically throw in. I have to state before I get too far into this review, that I only played 5 hours of the gameplay. Maybe after the 5 hours I played, the game would magically become 200% better, but I find it doubtful. It's obvious from the get-go that the game was not very well play tested early on in the development process. If it was, the obvious feedback would have been that The areas within the game are far too large. How often do you hear people complaining about that in an RPG game? Typically when RPGs have large areas, when you go well off the beaten path, you are rewarded. This is something WoaR attempts to do, but fails miserably at. Let me paint the picture. You are going through the dungeons with your party, spamming the attack button on small groups of enemies because it literally takes less time to do that than to cast a spell that would kill the enemies in one hit (in addition to your turns refilling, your spells have their own cast bar. You also have to wait for every other characters turn to end before your spells go off). So you're going through the area, killing off the exact same enemies over and over and over and over and over again, trying to see if the path you're traveling on is the main one or a little detour. When you get to a dead end, you see a chest. "Ah, this isn't the right way, but maybe I'll get something cool!" you may think. But no, what you'll get is a weapon or armor piece that literally increases a stat by one, or memory orbs. Memory orbs are the currency of the game. So imagine spending literally 30 minutes going through a dead end path (I'm not exaggerating, the game is that poorly planned) only to end up at a chest that gives you more of the same money that you're already frustrated of seeing... and that's it. YOu have to backtrack all the way back to the beginning of that path and find a new one. This is all the game is in the first 4 real hours of playing it. A mindless treck through bats to find very small upgrades or useless money. That's it. I didn't even encounter a TOWN in the first 4 hours of gameplay. The game is a constant motion forward through dungeons. There was one point where I found an inn, but there was nothing to do or explore there, and there were no NPCs worth talking to (about 3 total anyways). Typically in JRPGs, towns offer a kind of tension relief their repetitive nature can sometimes cause. It gives the player a chance to relax, plan, and become immersed in the world they are exploring. Whisper of a rose ingnoring this convention in an otherwise convetional game becomes one of its greatest flaws. I'm sad that I quit the game so soon into it. The environments are gorgeous and inventive, the story, while a bit cliche, is rather interesting and makes sense with the surroundings you find yourself in... but the gameplay is just... boring. That's all there is to it. Perhaps at some point, the game does a complete 180 and the paths becomes more linear and the combat becomes more complex, but I personally couldn't force myself to sit through any more of it after the sidequest boss I spent an hour and a half trying to find died in about three turns.... and then I realized I would have to backtrack all the way back to a teleporter just to get back into the story (would probably take at least 20 minutes to do). I didn't want to hate this game, but unfortunately Whisper of a Rose stands as a perfect example of how a great story and world can be hindered by the actual gameplay of a poorly planned JRPG.

Nice art but quite frustrating. Not in difficulty sense, the game is rather easy. It’s just boring. I thought I was in for a treat as the game went through in beginning phases but it fell flat pretty quickly once it starting moving. Many of the environments are beyond annoying to navigate. Between world objects blocking you such as plants, rocks and the tiresome enemies chasing you endlessly to make you engage in a snooze fest of a battle it really starts to become a chore. Whisper of a Rose attempts at bringing in a skill tree to the genre which works but not as well as it could. You collect skill upgrades in random places or talking to random npcs, many which can be easily missed. You do not earn any skills from just leveling up so It’s nice that they did something different and encourage exploration but this game simple isn’t worth exploring. Its pointless to escape from battles because the enemies simply spawn right next to you only to engage the battle again. If you try running far away hoping you can lose them don’t bother. They can often navigate the annoying terrain better than you. If you do successfully get away you’ll only be met by another horde immediately after or during your escape. Want to find a way to that chest you see on that ledge? Well then be prepared to put 30 minutes at least trying to painstakingly get to it. First JRPG I’ve ever desperately tried not to get into any battles. Not just because they are pointless and boring but because it will cause you to level way to quickly, obliterating any challenges. 5/10

As far as classic rpg's go, this is like a classic that never happened, almost like a dream (pun completely intended) the story is fresh and interesting like the true twisted face of "wonderland". The art style is impressive and the music is amazing, the gameplay is reminiscent of old school final fantasy with some current day practices. My only problem is not being able to select the resolution, my screen seems to cut off a little, but beside that little fact, I wish modern rpg's would take a step back and see what an indie can do with a little passion and a whole lot of style. I give Whisper of the Rose a 9.5.

I love this game and has been playing it for 100+ hours. I would like to recommend this game to those that love good RPG Maker games with an excellent storyline. You can play this game as a Warrior, Paladin or Summoner. In this game the Summoner is the most interesting character which also enables you to unlock a lot more achievements. The combat mechanics is interesting as you play with different form of elemental damages (fire, water, air, earth) which are resisted by different degrees by different monsters. You also alternate between real and dream worlds. Unlike most other RPGs, you do not gain skill points as you gain more experiences and levels. You need to explore every nook and cranny to look for skill upgrade points. You also need to talk to every character and do every quests to get skill upgrade and unlock points as well as better gears. As a summoner, you can also unlock different creatures to summon through various quests as well. There is also an excellent crafting mechanism in this game as well. The best armors in this game, called Relic Armors cannot be bought or received as drops from monsters. They need to be crafted using various crafting items, as well as some very difficult to get monsters drop. Furthermore you need to keep your very first set of armor for all 4 characters as well, because you need to use them to craft Relic armors at the very end. You can buy better weapons from differnet vendors in this game, but the very best weapons, called Ultimate Weapons can only be receive through quests too. Hence this elevate the importance of doing all quests. To get all achievements, you will need to play this game twice, and hence giving it more replay value. This is because there is a New Journey+ mode which can only be unlocked when you finished the game. Furthermore there are quest that are started during your first game which can only be completed during the New Journey+ as well. So the achievements associated with these quests can only be received if you play the game twice. The second time you play this game, you get a lot of benefits, including new skill sets which can only be unlocked in New Journey+ You can also get better creatures to summon and start of with certain crafting recipes which are not present in the first game. I have started on my New Journey+ and this game is still sustaining my interests even though I am playing it a second time. This is a great game. The only shortcoming I can think of is that the graphics are OK, but not top-notched. However, considering that I got the game on sale at about $10, this game is defintely worth its weight in gold, in terms of the enjoyment value and the time played. -------------------Review Update after Finishing New Journey+ --------------------------- I am finally done with this game, after 156 hours I played the game twice, and finished New Journey+ with allthe steam achievements. In the end, all my characters were at level 47, and I had 31 DRAGON TEETH. I just love grinding that green dragon for lots of XP and orbs. That dragon also got me a lot of levels too!!!! All my characters were equipped with Relic Armors and Ultimate Weapons. I also made 4 of those awesome Tanzanite Rings with game my characters +9 magic attack and +3 magic defense. In the end, Helenna's Tornado was so overpowering that she can wiped out all the enemies in a single turn (equipped with Relic Armor, Ultimate Weapon and Tanzanite Ring). I simply fell in love with this game, and that is why I spend 156 hours on it. I put the prequel, "Sweet Lily Dreams" on my wishlist and will buy it when it is on sale. I am sure I will enjoy the prequel very much too. Once again, thank you for the wonderful game, developer Lucia Silvermoon !!

When I first saw the trailer I was immediately reminded of Alice in Wonderland and had to get it! I haven't played far yet (and apparently the game is over 25 hours so I still have a long way to go) but here are my thoughts so far: Story: Very interesting and bittersweet. I feel like the story was written by a 17 year old girl, but in a good way, because it makes the story and dialogue believable. You also see the story behind the other characters, and it seems like the villains are heroes in their own way. It's very good, I almost teared up at a certain scene in the beginning (no spoilers). Graphics: Beautiful! It has a nice old school look. It doesn't look perfect and modern, but that's good, because it fits in with the entire game's "retro" feeling. I've only played a little bit and have already seen SO many different areas with a lot of variation! There's a candy land, sewers, a museum, a dark school, etc. Music: Sounds great. Some songs are just "OK". They fit the mood but are nothing special. Other tracks (like when you fight the first boss) are absolutely amazing. I wish I could fight that boss over and over just to listen to the track! Gameplay: The most important part! I really like that Melrose can summon a helper. It makes the beginning of the game more fun and strategic before you get the other main characters in your party. The battles are also real time so you can time your actions with the enemy! It's a lot of fun! Conclusion: It's a really amazing game. It's right up to par with To The Moon and Skyborn for me. Actually, as a game it's WAY better! But I still have to finish it so I can't say for sure yet which of the three is best.

Whisper of a Rose is a very well done RPG Maker game about a girl named Melrose who has a pretty awful life and very much wants to find some way to escape it. She finds a device called the iDream and uses that to escape into her Dream World. But she ends up finding out that the Dream World isn't as nice as she thinks it is. After all, not all our dreams are nice and happy, there are plenty of nightmares as well. Whisper of a Rose takes us on Melrose's trip through the Dream World. Everything in the game is based on things that happened to Melrose and her own fears and wishes. Even her own repressed memories show up at times. The settings range from rolling hills to unpleasant forests and swamps. And all Melrose wants to do is find a way home. Overall pros: +Lengthy game, it took me just under 30 hours to beat it, though that included having to redo some stuff when I was defeated. +Gorgeous settings, you can barely even tell it's RPG Maker +Wonderful soundtrack. All the music fits great with the scenes and the battle themes are just amazing. You can get the soundtrack for free at the dev's website too. +Very responsive dev which is always a good thing. Overall cons: -Never thought I'd say I wanted random encounters in a game, but this game really would have been better off with them. Visible encounters just don't work here with how difficult it is to avoid enemies and how they immediately respawn with no chance for immunity to avoid the encounter. Monsters also don't stop while you grab treasure which leads to encounters you may not want. (Edit: This has been improved upon as well with a short delay between respawn and an item to avoid encounters. New Game+ mode gets an important item to allow unlimited avoiding of encounters) -Regular battles can get lengthy and tedious. (Edit: This has been improved upon and they are much shorter as long as you aren't avoiding everything and not upgrading equipment) -While there is a quick means of travel, it only covers limited areas and you'll be backtracking a bit for sidequests, which makes the encounter annoyances even greater because you'll get stuck fighting some monsters when you just wanted to make a quick run to grab an item. Achievement wise, it's not an easy 100%. You'll need two full playthroughs to 100% the game and there are a few missables. It's about 30 hours per playthrough from the looks of things if you want to be sure to miss nothing. There is some replay value though since you get some new stuff on a second run and there's one sidequest that can only be finished on the second playthrough and it nets you the best summon in the game. Still, it's a very good game and I do recommend it. It's not exactly short and sweet, but it's worth playing all the way through. Also a little tip for anyone playing it: don't sell your initial armor for any characters. You'll need that later if you want to get the best stuff in the game. It's doable to beat the game without it, but more difficult.

Sedetevi comodi che qui c’è da discutere (linguaggio sconcio incluso). Questo gioco è uno di quelli che mi mette in grosse difficoltà perché devo giustificare la mia bocciatura di fronte a più di 40 ore di gioco e all’ottenimento di quasi tutti gli achievement. D’altro canto penso di poter esprimere un parere che penso non possa venirmi contestato. Parto dal fondo, ovvero dagli achievement: il gioco potenzialmente potrebbe permettere di prenderli QUASI tutti in relativa facilità durante la partita, ma non te lo permette perché inizialmente è possibile scegliere la classe della nostra eroina e se non si prende quella che hanno previsto gli sviluppatori ve la pigliate nel culo, perché un certo numero di achievement va sbloccato solo con la classe dell’evocatore (mai vista una penalizzazione di questo tipo per l’ottenimento degli achievement). Iniziamo quindi con gli applausi. Dopo avervi presentato la frutta prima del pasto, due parole sulla storia. Inizialmente è la cosa che mi ha più galvanizzato, perché sembra che sia curatissima ed anche toccante, con la protagonista una ragazza maltrattata dai genitori e che ha difficoltà nel rapportarsi con il mondo. E non le va mai bene nulla. Il livello di empatia è davvero alto e la mia attenzione per il proseguimento degli eventi è stata subito elevatissima. Poi succedono cose. Tipo che si ruba un aggeggio da un museo che permette di entrare in un mondo dei sogni/delle memorie. Ma questo non disturba, perché inizialmente è tutto molto curato e l’interesse prosegue. Si incontra il primo personaggio (Hellena, che poi risulterà essere una macchietta, altra delusione) che viene introdotto in modo interessantissimo e con esso si comincia l’esplorazione di questo mondo. Ma pian piano iniziano gli alti e bassi per poi finire in un “crescendo” di bassi. Si raggiungono locazioni molto belle e di atmosfera (il villaggio alla Halloween) da una parte, ma nel contempo la trama diventa un puttanaio superficialissimo. Non voglio svelare nulla, ma alla fin fine si accavallano 4 tipi di eventi: quello iniziale della protagonista socialmente in difficoltà, il viaggio nel mondo delle sue memorie, la corporazione cattiva che vuole conquistare il mondo ed una serie di villain che ancora non ho capito che c’azzeccano col tutto. Il boss finale poi: è come andare alla festa della salsiccia e poi trovarci le tortine alla mela, cioè, ma chi è? E il gioco finisce. E il giocatore si chiede: ma tutta la parte empatica iniziale che fine ha fatto? Che è sta roba? Cosa mi sono perso? Cosa si è perso chi ha scritto la storia? Forse l’aveva scritta su un foglietto che poi ha perso da qualche parte e alla fine hanno tutto chiuso con un “e bon”? Boh? Ok, direte voi, ma il gioco è bello. Beh, una cosa molto bella di questo gioco, per essere un titolo RPG Maker, è la grafica davvero molto curata, con ambientazioni estremamente varie e alcune con oggetti di sfondo unici (l’ingresso della casa delle marionette ad esempio). Peccato che il level design ed il game design siano PESSIMI. Davvero è tutto pessimo. Uno dei problemi dei giochi RPG Maker è trovarsi di fronte mappe con oggetti invalicabili sul terreno (tipo pietre, fiori, erba): bene, ogni livello è disseminato di oggettini a terra che rendono asfissiante la circolazione. Inizialmente ci si passa sopra, ma poi quando si affrontano sezioni in backtracking diventa TERRIBILE. Un continuo bloccarsi, sbattere contro qualcosa, slalom perenne. Ci sono i mostri visibili sullo schermo, quindi gli incontri non sono casuali. Peccato che non serva a un cazzo così, visto che nella gran parte dei casi si muovono in corridoi stretti, ti vedono a 1 km di distanza e ti corrono con la Redbull che gli mette le ali. Nemici visibili e scontri al 90% obbligati. Applausi. C’è un oggetto che permette di evitare gli incontri per 1 minuto. Ma questo oggetto (acquistabile nella prima run e una arpa ad uso illimitato nella seconda run) semplicemente non mette all’erta i nemici che quindi permangono sulla mappa. Se dovete attraversare dei corridoi (spessissimo) i combattimenti sono ancora difficilmente evitabili. Questione ostacoli: gli NPC nelle città e nelle case camminano in continuazione e a volte vi bloccano all’angolino addirittura non permettendovi di uscire dalla locazione. RPG Maker ha i suoi anni, ma c’è gente che ancora non ha capito che errori non devono essere fatti. Non lo capiscono, forse si divertono così, boh? Mistero. Gli NPC cominciano a foraggiarci di missioni su missioni e diventa il valtzer del backtracking. Più in là nel gioco si diventa anche molto forti: immaginatevi il backtracking per locazioni piene così di nemici che vi danno 1 punto esperienza (quando a voi ne servono 90mila per passare di livello) e quindi la costrizione a combattimenti DAVVERO INUTILI. Soffocante. Le mappe poi: molte di quelle al chiuso sono topologicamente assimilabili ad una spirale. Entrate dal perimetro esterno e dopo mezz’ora (con combattimenti obbligati visto lo spazio di manovra) raggiungete il centro. Poi dovete riuscire. Niente applausi: lancio di pomodori. Tra le singole locazioni, poi, si viaggia in una mappa del mondo, disegnata da qualcuno che deve avere dei problemi con l’agorafobia. Spazi immensi inutili, uscite da una caverna e viaggiate per 1 minuto verso nord nel nulla (ci sono i disegnini degli alberi, ma qualcuno dica allo sviluppatore che fanno schifo anche da vedere) per raggiungere la locazione successiva. Ma davvero: il senso qual è? Dio bono, i teletrasporti: si trovano per il mondo di gioco, ma tutti posizionati secondo la tecnica informatica detta “a cazzo di cane”. Cioè, mi metti il teletrasporto per aiutarmi e poi non me lo metti per metà delle locazioni? E come le raggiungo le altre? Vedi sopra: backtracking a gogo e combattimenti inutili obbligati. A volte è necessario viaggiare per locazioni così arzigogolate che non si capisce un cazzo con le direzioni, mancando le mappe. Più di una volta ho raggiunto 4-5 volte di seguito lo stesso vicolo cieco, perché ogni scorcio si autoreplica tipo i frattali. Non esistono sistemi di riferimento. E se sbagliate l’uscita da una locazione e ci rientrate. Indovinate? Bravi! C’è il respawn, quello dei mostri che vi danno 1 punto esperienza: altra mezz’ora per rifare quella mappa al contrario. Sperando di prendere l’uscita giusta. Se non lo avete capito, sì, questo gioco è il paradiso del grinding: trovata la locazione giusta, potete stare 4 ore a livellare e acquisire valuta. Poi arrivate al boss finale e questo, casualmente, potrebbe lanciarvi un incantesimo che uccide all’istante tutto il party. Non si scappa: è a caso. Io ci sono arrivato sovralivellato con tanti begli oggettini di equipaggiamento. Ho tentato 4 volte: le prime tre volte mi faceva quella mossa e la partita è finita. La quarta volta non ha fatto la mossa e l’ho sconfitto. Game design con i fiocchi, notevole. Capitemi, mi ha intrattenuto e volevo assolutamente vedere come finiva, nonostante questi difetti. Ma alla fin fine domanda e riposta sono: Ma ne è valsa la pena? No. Però l’ho fatto ed è giusto così. 5/10 EDIT: mi sono dimenticato di aggiungere roba sparsa: 1- il gioco prevede un sistema di crafting scomodissimo, dandovi le ricette per costruire oggetti. Nella schermata del crafting però non potete leggere le ricette, quindi dovete scrivervi a mano la lista degli ingredienti. Terribile. 2- i teletrasporti vanno scoperti prima di essere utilizzati: di base sono così trasparenti da confondersi con lo sfondo. Non ho capito il senso di questa scelta, se ne vede a mala pena il contorno... 3- il menù è scomodissimo come spesso accade nei giochi RPG Maker: volete la pozione per il mana? Scorrete ogni santa volta la lista fino in basso 4- vi è un sistema di skill ad albero: graficamente è terribile, ultrazoomato. Come mangiare gli gnocchi con una mannaia

Sigh. I should have read the reviews. The main character is a loathesome person with a victim mentality. She is played off as the "innocent girl surrounded by big meanies", yet she silently and coldly judges everyone she comes across, even people who are actually being nice to her. Her parents and the childhood bully are cartoonishly evil. In other words, her reality is a lala land of victimhood that doesn't really exist. The NPC dialogue is also noticeably bland. Did a high school fanfic writer from Tumbler write this? It's a shame because the art and spritework was very well done. This boat anchor of a story was a waste of good artistic talent. Next time, devs, find a better writer.

What I will say is that this game was playable enough for me to finish. I will give credit where it is due and say that there are some very nice things about this game. For a small developer (with this being their very first game), there are some things they did well... but they also definitely dropped the ball in some areas. For me personally, the features that I felt needed improvement and things that I found frustrating outweigh the few shining aspects that the game has to offer. [h1]Pros[/h1] [list] [*] Every area in the game is uniquely different. Each dungeon, town and sub area are all different in design, and each new area features its own unique music. Enemies are all unique, there are no "recycled" enemies that are recolored and stuck in various places. All boss enemies are also unique. In addition, all music is great to listen to and suiting. Monsters too, are all appropriate for the area that you are in. The artistic factor of this game is very high, and was well done. [*] A good mix of RPG elements, such as: puzzle solving, dungeon crawling, grinding and completing side quests. There is also a crafting system and skill tree for each character in the game. [*] You can save anywhere you want. This is very helpful in a game where enemies scale up in difficulty quickly. Being able to save before going into a new area or attempting a boss battle is huge. It also makes it easier to pick up and play, or finish without having to trek to a save point. [/list] [h1]Cons[/h1] [list] [*] What this game was trying to do with its story, I have no idea. Everything is completely all over the place. It starts by building a frame that this game is about a tortured young woman who has nothing to look forward to in reality, so she escapes into a dream world. Then, you spend the whole game trying to get back to the real world. Okay? You forget though about 10 hours in that there is a "real" world because the game throws so many other things in the mix. There's no pacing between the game play aspects and the story telling. A lot of the NPCs are barely in the story at all, hardly mentioned, and easily forgotten about/killed off.. or not seen or heard from again until WAY later. The story is clunky and disjointed, and instead feels like one long fetch quest. Go to point a, be told to go to point b. Go to point b. Great, now go to point c.. etc. There is no continuity here. [*] The writing isn't anything to write home about. Melrose just isn't that likable of a character, so reading her dialogue makes it even more painful. Melrose is a 19 year old college student who hasn't matured past the mental age of about 12. She acts as a matyr to gain sympathy, but has not a kind bone in her body to offer in return. Being the subject of bullying herself, you'd think she'd be nice... right? No. She is immature, rude, and selfish. She expects everybody to push their own personal goals aside to help her return to the real world. Anything else is "whatever". She has a very poor attitude that doesn't much improve as the game goes on. Even when it's pointed out that she's rude, she refuses to believe this to be the case. The writing is very juvenile, and doesn't add to the already horribly planned out "story". [*] The combat aspects of the game are off kilter. You have a choice of three classes for Melrose: Paladin, Warrior or Summoner. Regardless of what you pick, Melrose will mostly function as a physical attacker (slash damage) with some varying skills available depending on the class. Hellena is the ONLY character who can use consistent spell casting to cause magical damage. Diamond functions mostly as a healer, but deals piercing damage with a bow. Christina is the "tank" type of character who inflicts heavy blunt type damage. Why would they only give you ONE character who can cause magical damage when magic is so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ useful in this game? Hellena is by far the most useful and overpowered character in the game. Christina, Diamond and Melrose all attacking in one turn sometimes don't do enough damage as Hellena can do on her own with one spell in a single turn. This really irritates me, because you do A LOT of fighting in this game, and I feel like it drags at times. You don't even have access to make other characters learn physical magic spells through the skill tree. The enemies in this game seem to also LOVE to put up barriers or shields that block all physical attack damage. You might be able to remedy this if Melrose has the appropriate skill to break the shield, or if Christina can brute force through it.. but Diamond is useless in these cases. You depend so heavily on Hellena. But, what if she's silenced.. or runs out of MP? Well, then you're left burning through items or using Diamond's skill to restore MP (provided he has it, and isn't silenced/has enough MP). Three physical attackers and one magic user was not a fair balance. It doesn't really provide the game with much challenge (since it becomes easy with much grinding), but just frustrating. It's drawn out, and makes me feel like I'm wasting a lot of time and resources. Considering Melrose is your main character, I also found her to pretty useless as a Paladin when I played. Her attack power is trumped by Diamond and Christina, and a lot of her skills often miss or don't work as they should. She's also got low MP. For a class that's also supposed to be defensable.. she wasn't any more durable than my other party members. [*] Although they have put a skill tree system in the game, I feel as if it's poorly implemented. Navigating through this thing is a disaster. It's hard to put in to words unless you've actually played the game, but I imagine that some people who have played feel the same way. Rather than having a skill tree that you can easily see as a whole right in front of you, you have to tediously scroll around on a sort of "road" with varying forks to find the skills. I feel like I'm just blindly fumbling my way around in the dark. There's no way to zoom out, to see every skill so you know which ones you've already leveled. There's no color coating to showcase the kinds of skills on each different path.. no organization whatsoever. I think this is something they could have easily made more convienent. There are certain skills on the skill tree that are locked for the ENTIRE first play through for EVERY character. There's these "Rose Petal" locks that can only be unlocked with a special kind of skill point. But guess what? There are only 5 available in the entire game, scattered around on the world map.... and they are only accessible in New Game+. I found ONE at the end of the game by completing a side quest in my first play through. [*] There's no map. This game is huge and the dungeons are also big and very complex. They've designed a lot of these dungeons with branching paths, caves, and a lot of random treasure strewn about. I honestly don't think I would have been able to finish this game without the use of a guide that had pictures of the area as a whole laid out. Even if the environments are nice to look at... everything does start to look the same after a while, and there are certain areas that are very easy to get lost in. You're guaranteed to miss chests or skill points because things are so easy to overlook while simply trying to navigate your way through the area. The other extremely frustrating thing is that enemies re spawn every time you leave that screen. So if you go into a cave that ends up having nothing in it, you'll have to encounter all the enemies you just fought again (most likely, most areas are pretty tight, with enemies that are hard to avoid). A mini-map featured in the corner of each map to show things like dead ends, opened chests, etc would have done this game wonders and made navigation much easier. [/list] I wish Steam allowed more space for these reviews, but they don't. So, for now I'm done ripping this game a new ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.