False Skies review

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Idontknow
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False Skies review

Post by Idontknow »

False Skies was a neat game and I'm really hoping it gets better as development goes on.

The main draw for me in the beginning was the character customization, it seemed to echo of Dragon Quest 3. There are only four different classes, a tank, a fast guy, a white mage and black mage, a very basic setup. However very shortly after the first dungeon this harpy spreads it's wings and opens up with variety of classes for you to try out, which was a welcome breath of fresh air. The sprites look fine, however one thing I didn't like was that the party members all look the same, Everyone just looks like slightly different variations of the same guy. Maybe some variation based on classes would have been nice (tanky classes have armor and big shoulder-pads, mages have robes, ect There is also a system where different weapons have different efficacy in the hands of certain classes, but it all feels kind of superfluous in these early-game scenarios. I hope in the next build of this game we will be multiclassing around and having wizards slapping dudes' slime with broadswords. Either way, all the customization options avaliable will hopefully give this game good replay value.

By far my biggest criticism is the COMPLETE AND TOTAL LACK OF MUSIC. The sense of hearing is very important to a game's atmosphere and mood. In this game, there was nothing. Not even a sad classical midi or some Kevin Macleod songs, just absolute silence. I really should have named my main character “Charlie� and put a medley of ragtime piano hits in the background, because this game is completely silent. There is no real reason for this.

The battles ran smoothly (though constantly looking at my party's faces got old fast, I'd rather see their portraits on the bottom of the screen) and the game felt satisfying to play in the same way a Dragon Quest game usually does, albeit the game being very easy.

Overall False Skies is a pretty good game. I enjoyed it. Just give it some music please.
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Not a huge fan of my party's faces taking up that much of the middle of the screen
Not a huge fan of my party's faces taking up that much of the middle of the screen
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Feenicks
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Post by Feenicks »

Thanks for the review.
Re: the lack of music in the demo: what I'm able to throw in is limited by both what I know about, what I was listening to at the time, and what I have on hand. I don't have much knowledge of GBC RPG soundtrack, Ys games have unfitting soundtracks for a near-future setting, and I'd already used stuff from megaten games (and, er, actually looking for new music was a low priority for me).
The other stuff is a bit easier for me to get to/do myself, though.
And yeah, what's here is still early stuff. Referencing FF5's dungeons, the back half of the demo is the ship graveyard or north mountain (that is, still kinda easy). It's definitely going to ramp up in difficulty once you start encountering enemy types that aren't just reminders of certain mechanics, or do more than just scan you for no reason.
And yes, I have a class or two planned to make heavy weapon-wielding mages somewhat viable (as opposed to the base classes, where their off-color equipment choices are there mostly to make solo ventures slightly less painful). Witches with death scythes will probably happen, so don't worry there.
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