Wow, I really didn't pay attention to anything last year. Demo is telling me its unfinished, perhaps horribly so. Bet it's gonna take me say, 45 minutes at most. Spirit Chronicles Rift is making me think it's going to very somewhat anime and take itself pretty seriously, which could be good or bad. I haven't been mentioning stuff like this, but there's such a barebones description of the game, no screenshots, the author doesn't even have an avatar that it makes me reluctant to download 60 megabytes of a game that "Is going to be finished in December". There's gotta be some part of your game you want to show off, and people really like to know what they're getting themselves into. You gotta make us want to play it!
(Oh god, "I'm gonna want some review feedback
", how long have you been waiting my poor man)During-Thoughts:
Intro was coolish, music a little annoying, sprinting also cool.
REgain MP after each battle a cool touch. So far, battles very enjoyable.
Accidentally skipped the alchemy lab tutorial, hopefully that doesn't bite me.
These textboxes are annoyingly short.
Jenny has joined the party? WHat happened to Professor Clevenger?!
This goth guy is so goth I can't read his black text on dark blue background
Shockwaves shock effect might last a bit too long. I shocked Christina once in our battle and she didn't even swing at me that I can remember.
Same thing against Samuel, only he shockwaved me first. I've been stunned for at least two minutes straight. Just waiting for him to kill me, really.
...and apparently I was supposed to win that battle. NOT GONNA HAPPEN;.
Post-Thoughts:
Up to the point where I got savagely mauled by a fellow student, this was a pretty good game. The battles were maybe just a little bit on the easy side, especially once you find out your MP restores after every battle so you can cast your guts out. I wouldn't change that, it's very frustrating in games when you have all these abilities, but if you use it even once you're gonna be walking back to town for more MP before you can progress. If the player is using their techniques, the player is probably having fun. The sprint key is also a great addition which lets you explore without having to weigh into consideration the time it's gonna take to walk there and walk back if you don't find anything. Teleporting back to your room after you beat the boss is also a great touch and I never was unsure of where I was supposed to go next.
The music is almost too "epic" sounding for the surroundings. At time it makes things feel awesome and at times it irritates the crap out of you. Graphically this is a good looking game, though I think the interior tiles and battle backdrops are just a little bit lazy. I love the walkabouts and hero graphics, they remind me of what I'd draw if I were better at art. Love the trees too, the forest is superb. I really wanted to see the rest of this world.
Unfortunately, the last battle I got to seemed glitched. My opponent Samuel used nothing but SHOCKWAVE, an attack that paralyzes you. I had noticed in my previous battle with Christina that once I paralyzed her, she never got unparalyzed. Apparently Samuel was watching, because he hit me with Shockwave while my turn bar was only half full, and I was paralyzed for the next five minutes as he kept trying to paralyze me (failing because I was already paralyzed) and occasionally punching me for minimum damage until finally he managed to kill me. I didn't get a chance to do anything. I didn't ever recover from the first paralysis, not even long enough for him to paralyze me again. I believe this battle, and by extension the game, to be totally unwinnable.
Which is a bummer, 'cause up to that point, I would've recommended it to anyone. As it is, I'd only recommend it to someone who likes 20 minute demos and wizard school shenanigans. I knew coming in that it was going to be a demo, but I didn't expect it to yank the rug out from under me like that. I would've liked an "END OF DEMO" textbox a lot better.
