Okay, finished

[Star Sage]

Earned all the stuff on this one, and boy howdy was it a treat. I bought this on a recent PSN sale, as I'd seen it a few times, but specifically had it brought up in a conversation regarding a recent new release involving a Cult and a Lamb. In this case, it was said to be a cute, adorable little action RPG, with a load of ever increasing numbers, and some pawsitively adorable art.

And it delivered in spades. It even managed an interesting twist or two, which I was not expecting, as well as using the side quests to help flesh out the world, not only foreshadowing the, admittedly, dinky main story's twist, but also simply showing us how this world operates, and where it all comes from. Mixed with the sheer amount of looks and gear you can get, and this one was a joy to play.

And it doesn't stop there. Magic is quite varied. No two spells function exactly the same, and the difference in how they operate, and the order to find them in really makes a change in how you play, with my own personal being ice and spike traps for most of my duties. But all the spells have their uses, and the fact that enemies use them too is just fantastic, showing you what you can do overall, and even including a few late game/boss type enemies that have several spells at their disposal was good design.

Music was great too, it really only had 8 tracks, I think. Two dungeon types, one final dungeon, an overworld theme with a variation for one part that I'll count different. Two success jingles, one for chests and one for quests, and finally a 'this moment is important' background music for those story moments where it wants you to know something's up. Given the short length, none of the tracks overstay their welcome, especially thanks to the most common, the overworld, being a jaunty tune that counterpoints nicely the two dungeon themes.

Graphics are adorable, with each enemy sprite having a few bits of animation to it, even if a lot is just moving the image around to indicate damage, it works a lot, and the use of almost no reds outside the fire dragons, and even then going darker, to help the 'attack' markers stand out is great. Sometimes you could lose some in a group of enemies, especially in story/side quest lines final fights, but that seemed intentional, and was there to challenge you, more than a flaw with the system.

Finally, I would like to complement the writing. It's a game that's basically a kid's first action RPG, but it does well within that premise to keep it interesting. The characters work for the roles given, and none of them pushes boundaries, but they're made for purpose, and as I said, it still pulled out a few interesting twists, and one of the better Xanatos Gambits I've seen. It does leave me with a question regarding my own origin, given the revelation at the end, but perhaps that's answered in CQII

All that said, thank you for the fun playtime, and I will be starting on the sequel later today. Gentlebros did a great job, and I hope to see more of their work in the future.

[kaki_gamet]

If only you had it on Steam that would have done for a great review, nicely written

[Star Sage]

It's an old game, so it's likely to be a review lost to that, and this way at least, I can tell the devs their work is appreciated. Loved the cameo they gave themselves too. That can go really wrong sometimes(Just look at what some of the Team17 published games do with theirs). But here, it was made to be a gag, and it keeps that tonality throughout, while still rewarding the player that sought them out, not with a direct powerup, but more with a way to gain more power.