First Impressions 2.0

The G-Meister

Giga Slime
Hi there!

I've done a couple playthroughs now, one on normal, one on hard, just to get a good feel of the game, and I have to say, bloomin' well done! Here are my thoughts:

-I love it to bits! Haven't played too many other RPGs, so I can't do much of a comparison, but I can at least throw my thoughts at the monitor.

-Love the combat! Although it may be a little button mashy, at least there's more than one button to mash. It's more like baking a cake as oppose to doing a microwave dinner. I spose the same analogy could be used for the way I like how the combat is manual, instead of sitting there taking turns with your opponent to do your automatic attack sequence.

-The shield blocking has been done extremely well, and actually makes the shield useful, unlike in some games.

-The magic attacks are cool, though some seem a little underpowered, and I tend to use some more than others. But it's not like some are too powerful, and they are all distinctly different, which I do like.

-Graphics are amazing, I adore the retro, cartoony look, and the animations are just too cute (especially the bag, I want one irl >_<). I found a couple graphical glitches in places, which I will point out in another thread in the bag squashing section. The faces are great, including the expressions, but I feel sometimes that the cartoony versions of the characters look better that the head and shoulders big versions. I guess I can live with that, as it's probably a big ask to change them all. I also like the way the animations are 30fps, retaining that old feel, but the game runs at 60, making the screen and you moving really smooth.

-Can't get enough of the soundtrack! So glad I bought Jumpkin tier now! Been humming the theme tune for the arena on and off for the past couple days ^-^. Talking of buying Jumpkin tier, my profile says I'm still Green Slime, any way to change that?

-Hard mode is actually hard! I find very few games with optional difficulty where I repeatedly die over and over again because I haven't got a good item combination or I haven't grinded enough. It was quite easy walking into the arena once again and beating the living daylights out of the Giant Slime over and over again on easy... Now I can't get past the Sentry >_<! Guess I'll be trying to get a few more cards before I go back in there then :/

-Questline is good, seems like you don't feel obliged to go straight into the flying fortress for no reason, just because your bag told you to.

-Sidequests seem a little more odd than the main questline, but they give some nice healthy rewards! (I wanna know what's going on between grandpa Joe and the old lady :O, what did she do???)

-I can think of a few improvements I'd like to make, but I'll pop those in the suggestions section, as couple of them need debating (for example, a way to replay bosses after you've defeated the dungeon they're in, so it's possible to get the items you didn't get the first time. I was really annoyed when I didn't get Phaseman's boots on my hard playthrough! >_<)

-No groundbreaking glitches either, but some which do make the game a little harder, but those are for the bug squashing section too!

-I like the pet system, but I'd like a way to turn it off. For example, my Jumpkin (as shown in my avatar) Sometimes confuses me in the pumpkin woods, despite it being a different colour... perhaps have a button to hide it like you can head and facegear?

-Fishing was fun, and provides good resources for feeding your pet, making it productive too! Unfortunately I'd like uses for some more of the fish though, like the rock fish :/

-Arrow minigame was frustrating, but fun at the same time! 5 extra arrows is a small upgrade, but I spose its better than having just twenty

Hope I didn't miss anything, and sorry for not following the format, otherwise the "General Impressions" section would have taken up most of the post!

Thank you for curing my boredom,

~G

<3
 

GarlicJelly

Friendly Moderator (Formerly known as GoodStuff)
-Can't get enough of the soundtrack! So glad I bought Jumpkin tier now! Been humming the theme tune for the arena on and off for the past couple days ^-^. Talking of buying Jumpkin tier, my profile says I'm still Green Slime, any way to change that?
I'm pretty sure that the forum doesn't show what tier you've bought. There is an "achievement system" here on the forum and that's what's showing up under your profile. I haven't actually bought the game but I have the Snowbacca title here on the forum because I've been active and received a lot of the forum achievements. If you go in to your profile and click on your "Trophy Points" you'll find a list of all the things you can do to "rank up" on the forum. :p


-I can think of a few improvements I'd like to make, but I'll pop those in the suggestions section, as couple of them need debating (for example, a way to replay bosses after you've defeated the dungeon they're in, so it's possible to get the items you didn't get the first time. I was really annoyed when I didn't get Phaseman's boots on my hard playthrough! >_<)
You can farm boss items by going up the stair in the Collectors HQ and then go to the left. That's what we call the Memory Room and you can fight all the bosses again there. :D
 

The G-Meister

Giga Slime
I'm pretty sure that the forum doesn't show what tier you've bought. There is an "achievement system" here on the forum and that's what's showing up under your profile.
Ahhhh okay that makes sense, It just got confusing that they're the same as the game ranks :/

You can farm boss items by going up the stair in the Collectors HQ and then go to the left. That's what we call the Memory Room and you can fight all the bosses again there. :D
I literally just read that after posting! xD I guess I have to defeat GUN-D4M in order to unlock that then... Playing it a second ago and I've been killed three times in a row by the last wave of his final smash >_< Dangit game!

Thanks for the feedback :D
 

Own

Moderator
Stable I believe, on Steam

I'll go double check :D

[EDIT], yes stable beta

You'll wanna go to Library, SoG, Properties, Betas and Frontline to unlcok a ton of new content and the Memory room.

Honestly, Frontline claims to be buggier, but I'd say it has a ton more of bugfixes than the Stable version. :p
 

The G-Meister

Giga Slime
Alright thanks :D

Just reading through the wall of patch notes and saw that the Sentry got nerfed... -_- I literally just killed it...
 
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Teddy

Developer
Staff member
Alright thanks :D

Just reading through the wall of patch notes and saw that the Sentry got nerfed... -_- I literally just killed it...

Look at it from the bright side! You got to kill a nightmare beast of a boss most people will never get to experience!
 

The G-Meister

Giga Slime
Now I've experienced what the frontline has to offer, most of the stuff I was complaining about has been fixed!

-The big versions of the characters now not only fit in a lot better with their cartoon counterparts, but also look neater too! Good job @Vilya!

-Managed to get my Phaseman's Boots from the Memory Room, so I'm a happy bunny! ^-^

-The Talent system allows for summore tomfoolery with the Skills, which I assume can improve most of the underpowered magic attacks

-Crafting recipes have been added for lots of the older items, which makes them useful as oppose to something to be turned into money (although I do have around 70,000 coins at this point...)

Think that's all! And I love all the new content too! And the shocking realization that Muffin is a boy! :O
 

Macro11_1

Green Slime
  • General impressions: Fun (near)clone of Secret of Mana, needs more mechanical depth, but is hitting its target demographic well otherwise.
  • What you liked the most: Quick and snappy response in controls, tough Crowd control/aoe bosses, felt almost like a smup/rpg hybrid
  • What you liked the least: Physical feels way over powered right now, magic could use alot of love, it feels like you can DPS the crap out of things with physical attacks and stay way safer than you can with magic. Magic looks pretty though. Also, no movement skills other than dash and a counter that i never looked in to, makes me sad.
  • Confusing elements: None, though access to the quests seems a bit clunky, I feel like the UI could be improved a tad on making high use options easier to access. *shrugs*
  • Optional content: Activities were fun, but getting S ranks is for super hardcore only. probably not worth my time. lol
 

Slash0mega

Green Slime
Here are my first impressions, do mind that this is the demo which is as much as a first impressions that you can get. I played through the demo once by myself and once with 2 other players.

  • General impressions: Was the game as a whole an enjoyable experience? If it was longer, would you continue playing?

It was fun, I love the Zelda style and rpg elements, which is something I find rare. I was enjoying the experience while it lasted… that's the thing though, even for a demo that was way to short. It actually has scared one of the players, who fear that a sub par experience is hiding behind the arena. I personally feel that there was not enough content to get a feel for the game. What is healing like? Any potions? Sub tools? I know there is a bow only because I peeked into arcade mode. But did not travel much farther due to fear of spoilers. I saw fishing in the arena (which is an odd place to introduce a mechanic btw) but not sure what the point was. What is shopping like? How do pets work? Stuff like this has me wondering if its worth it.


My friend also disliked the controls, I loved them (2d Zelda action for the win) but he would much rather use mouse to move and attack, and use keyboard for hotkeys.


  • What you liked the most: Was there some elements that stood out to you as really good?

Like I said, the Zelda style action is excellent, and seemingly rare. Closest I found was Secret of Mana… but the system was wonky (charge bar?) its also excellent that you can rebind your hotkeys from the hotkey menu, excellent feature. (the fact that you can not change any other keybind while in game though. )

one of my friends really liked getting loot from all the smashables and how easy the menus where to navigate.


  • What you liked the least: Was there something which you felt weakened the experience?

Alas, the shortness of the demo, I understand that you need to sell the game, but so EXTREAMLY little of the game showed itself. My concerned friend shared with me this simile while writing this. “it was like they gave you a peanut when having you sample a snickers bar.” I feel its very fitting, it should be a small end of the snickers bar to let you get the full flavor, not a single peanut.


  • Confusing elements: Did you understand what to do and how? Could you navigate through the menus?

Nope, was easy to pick up and play.


  • Optional content: Did you do any side activities, like side quests, fishing or the arena? If so, were the activities varied and enjoyable?

As I said, the demo was way to short, no idea what optimal content there is, other than fishing. No idea what fishing Is like even due to the demo going “ok fish! Ok you are done”






Closing comments. I like what I seen of the game, but some of the problems where a deal breaker for a friend. My personal biggest worry is not knowing what the full experience is like beyond the hit things the demo showed. I might get the game when I get the spare cash but I would much rather co-op it.
 

jjb1214

Green Slime
I have to honestly say that I absolutely love the game that you are all designing. I picked it up off of steam a few days ago, and I already have 18 hours logged; which is about as long as it has taken me to get 100% of all of the droppable items / cards, do every quest, and complete every fishing / treasure map. All things considered, the worst thing about this game, is that it is still in beta (since its hooked me entirely, and all I want to do now is continue the story, and collect new things). =]

General Impressions:
The art is unique and quite interesting to behold, and even textures that are repeated or commonly used have quite varied pallet swaps or small detail changes. The dialogue is entertaining and the inside jokes relating to other games / media is thoughtfully well done. Combat is engaging and easy to get the hang of, and monster mechanics are varied and challenging until you have them figured out. The entire overall experience was very fun, and there wasnt really a moment where I found myself stuck, or without something to do.

If I had to find some form of critique as far as general game play is concerned, it would be to somehow tell the player to not really bother with grinding too much until they have unlocked the very first card via story events, and also until they have unlocked elite versions of monsters, also via story events. That being said, since both of these mechanics are related to advancing the story early on, it would be nice to see the 'base pick-up range' without the Green Slime Card enhanced (which would then cause the Green Slime Card to enhance the base pick-up range even further). As far as elite monsters are concerned; I havent come up with a suggestion on how to possibly work that in a little sooner (or notify the player that any serious farming should wait, given the higher chance for card / item drops with elite versions of monsters).

Likewise, those two points are probably on the nit-picky side, but those would have been two things that I would have wanted to know, so that I could have saved myself a little bit of time early on.

What You Liked The Most:
Definitely boss fights. Bosses were interesting and actually varied; in both their presentation, movements, attacks, etc. I thoroughly enjoyed each fight, and absolutely love that you can replay through boss fights for item drops (or, you know, just because you want to). I wasnt actually expecting the level of interesting and fun mechanics that each boss presents; so, honestly, for whatever its worth--great job!

Suggestions / Feedback:
  • Cards - I love the idea of working cards into this game, and I enjoy the complex aspect that they bring to character growth. However, I personally would like to see the ability to (for instance) spend gold to upgrade specific card effects that synergize with whatever build you're trying to make. Each upgrade gives +1% (or whatever other hypothetical number) to the cards overall effectiveness. Or, that you are able to collect multiples of the same card, with the drop chance being lower each time, and each copy of the same card you collect increases the overall effectiveness. In either event, this would add a potential gold-sink, or increase the amount of grinding that you can partake in.
  • Fishing - Fishing is currently too random and far too time consuming to be effective or efficient (specifically regarding trying to level your pet's stats). Since you are unable to specifically target a fish to farm, I have found that it is more efficient and far less random to simply farm Apples, Carrots, Pumpkin Seeds, etc to level your pet. With my limited testing, I can get upwards of around 2500+ Apples (for instance) in an hour of farming Green Slimes. Which translates to 2500 EXP, since each are worth 1 EXP. While an hour of fishing yielded about 120+ fish each worth 15 EXP, or 1800 total EXP via fish. Clearly, there is some room to work with balancing here; but currently there does not seem to be any real advantage to fishing over farming monsters (as far as feeding your pet goes).
  • Drop Modifiers - I know, I know. Grinding is an inherent mechanic of the game, and I do enjoy that aspect. However, it would be nice if there was some hidden number that increased your chances of seeing loot that you have not acquired yet after 'some-number-of-kills'. Anecdotally, the two hardest items for me to find were the Green Slime Hat, and the Pumpkin Mage's Armor. Each took me about 1 to 2 hours of dedicated farming to actually see drop (when there was otherwise no actual progression for me to attain, while farming them). I suppose what I am trying to suggest; is that it would be nice to see some mechanic where after X kills, your chance to get an item that you have not gotten increases by X amount, until you get the item. Even if this amount would still statistically take an hour to achieve (for instance), at least it gives me--the player--hope that I will actually see the item drop.
  • More 'Grind' Related Mechanics - In a game where grinding is a fairly central theme, it would at least make sense to me to be able to focus on (or put points into) the ability to increase my grind-chances. That is to say, I would like to see +EXP, +Gold, +Drop Chance, etc modifiers. Also, semi-related; it would be nice if there was no level cap, so that you could continue progressing your character for as long as you want, but that is more of a personal wish, I suppose. =]

Final Thought:
I know I only briefly mentioned it at the beginning, but the art direction and art implementation in this game is extremely well done. From the misty / magical fog that permeates the Pumpkin Forest and the machines that power up in the Floating Temple, to the changing of seasons within the Temple of Seasons--its all very, very, very well executed. I work in the gaming industry as well, and I have played lots of indie games where a character is casting a spell, or charging an attack and the animation is simply 'implied' via text, rather than shown. I am fairly impressed at the amount of detail that is given to the world, the NPCs, and even 'one-off' moments where a character will do something during a story event, and there's an animation to 'show off' (where otherwise, the player will never see that animation ever again). Honestly, when I noticed the small attention to detail, like the little bits of rocks that fall off of ledges while in the outdoor areas of the Floating Temple, I smiled to myself and mused that the creators must really love their game. I have personally enjoyed the art direction and implementation, and I only hope that it continues.
 
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Edowyth

Green Slime
  • General impressions: Was the game as a whole an enjoyable experience? If it was longer, would you continue playing?
  • What you liked the most: Was there some elements that stood out to you as really good?
  • What you liked the least: Was there something which you felt weakened the experience?
  • Confusing elements: Did you understand what to do and how? Could you navigate through the menus?
  • Optional content: Did you do any side activities, like side quests, fishing or the arena? If so, were the activities varied and enjoyable?
The game is great! I particularly love the art style as it is absolutely adorable, well polished, and extremely beautiful. Abilities were well-thought out as were enemy movement and attack styles. I love the capability to charge up the abilities (to gold, so far) so that you can spend the optimum amount of time charging an ability based of the number and type of foes you're facing.

I liked the combat the most by far. Everything was well-thought-out including such little (but important!) things as (nearly all) the rooms gaining more and more combatants as you continue to grind an area -- making it easy to do what you need to do, but also fun and challenging.

The mana pool seems extremely low at low levels. You can cast just a few of any particular ability (none of which do tons of damage at first levels) and so it's just easier to forego being a mage until you've been able to invest some points into the abilities so that they begin to catch up to the regularity of the damage available through a melee weapon. This might be designed (it typically is), but it's something I've never liked about the typical magic system's assumptions: magic is just another weapon, there's no reason it needs to be limited by yet another modifier that things like maces and swords simply don't have (mana). That said, at later levels with a few points spent into mage abilities the magic does come back pretty quickly and it's difficult to run out of mana unless you're grinding in a particular area and you (1) don't do enough damage to really grind that area yet or (2) do so much damage that the enemies are respawning in hordes greater than any AoE magic can keep up -- prepare your weapon yet again (even if you're trying to go wholly a mage, I'd say it's probably not possible).

Confusing stuff:
- Those green plants that will (eventually) grow ... it's clear they grow, but there doesn't seem to be a game mechanic to do so yet and there are no characters vaguely hinting that plants can be grown but it's a high-level technique to grow them quickly or anything ... so we're just left in the dark

- That guy kicking his cart ... coming off the introductory area, I'd expect to be able to help him relatively quickly. I'm nearly done with the first (?) temple (the one that flys ... just have to beat the hand and head boss (GlADOS?)) and I've still not discovered a way to help him. I'm frustrated for him ... he shouldn't have to be there day after day ... and there's a city just one screen over, can't he walk over there and get some carpenter? Why can't I kick the wheel towards the axle and put the thing together?

- Burrowing plants ... maybe I'm just a total noob, but I still haven't discovered a good way to deal with these. The only thing I've figured out to do is run while they're burrowed until they decide that they're not going to be able to hit me (takes a long time), then when they pop up I get a single hit ... this is very drawn-out for a game where I need to be grinding them (eventually) to get a card and other drops. If I don't do this, I get hit every single time that I hit them and my health depletes really quickly due to the (designed) lack of healing potions. Either I'm missing something or this is the single poorly-thought-out mechanic I've found. Oo I hate feeling stupid.

- Hidden stuff ... sometimes entire portions of the screen are hidden (including enemies). This might be fun sometimes or for a person who's played the level multiple times but the first time you play a given level it means that you've got to walk all around the edges to find (possible) hidden paths -- there are some good indicators (like portions of hidden paths being visible in such a way to indicate that the path is there), but it might be worth it to consider having an outline of enemies or persons on the path so that one doesn't run into frustrating situations (an enemy that you can only hit occasionally hiding behind a tree, for example ... though this can be mitigated by kiting along a path that doesn't allow them to get behind things).

- The bee sign ... I'm not a melee user (almost always go for a mage / cleric / whatever) and so when there was a sign indicating that I had to use a shield (what's that?) to stun the bees ... I didn't get it. Maybe the introductory shield can contain a device and an image of that can be put on the sign (either above / below the current image or incorporated into it). Very minor thing.

- That fishing rod guy in the MuchGrindingTown (not Starting town). He says something along the lines of "I'm closed because I don't have enough fish. Would you get me some more fish with this rod?" ... but then there's never a quest to do nor a number of fish that I can find where I can help him start his business again. It feels like there should be a quest here ... but there isn't (I don't think).

- The chicken house in Starting town ... that little pathway to the right of the chicken house is difficult to avoid when herding chickens. --When herding chickens here, there was one stuck up the stairs to the right behind a tree against the edge of the map ... I couldn't see it but could hear it and it took about 10 minutes just to find the thing so that I could get the last one in the coop--

- In the hallowed woods ... on the screen with the witch's house, there's an enemy plant. For some reason (different assets, probably), he can't burrow underneath the hollowed, wooden log path. While useful, it's somewhat non-intuitive.

- Bronze, silver, and gold charges on abilities, but only silver and gold level-up points?

Optional content:

I've done all of it that I found before coming here (the arena is open after the contest? I'll be going there next!). I had quite a bit of fun with all the side quests. I hope that the woman in the MuchGrindingTown and the man in the Starting town have a later quest to resolve their issues (or just confirm them as non-resolvable ... though I'm a romantic in the modern sense).


Overall the game is amazingly well done. I've been having a blast and have even ventured into the blizzard-area a little bit to see what's around (yetis? slimes with spikes? :D). Thanks for being awesome. Keep it up!
 
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Edowyth

Green Slime
If there is a blacked out spot for an item you've never heard of then and never seen then yeah it's "hidden" but you still know it exists.

I actually really like the silhouettes in the game as they are ... with a need to grind to even discover the most rare items, those things come in extremely useful and keep one from being so frustrated (for instance, I might know that to make the next weapon I want to use I need 80 star-shaped things ... but I've not found any yet. With the silhouettes, I can look through the enemy list and see if I at least know what I need to start killing to try to find ONE such thing).

If they're just drops which aren't used in crafting ... then I'd be totally ok with the mechanic you mention. But if I'm going to need it to complete something in the game and can see it as an ingredient somewhere ... then I would really like to be able to have at least a direction of where to find it. (An example of this is the priest's quest in the hallowed woods ... afaik, there's no silhouettes present there, but it's ok because you KNOW (by his earlier statements) that something in the woods (ie in ~5 different screens or ~7 different enemies) drops those items. You've got a place to start, so I'm totally ok with not knowing exactly what to kill to find that stuff)

That's all the silhouettes provide, in my opinion: a direction of where to find stuff. You've still got to do the grinding to actually get one and you've still got to continue grinding to get the number you need. Yeah, you lose a little mystery, but there's nothing forestalling the game having other items which are totally un-spoiled by such mechanics.
 

Danny Paint

Green Slime
  • General impressions: I would play this game to completion.

  • What you liked the most: The variety of drops is decent, and the combat is fun.

  • What you liked the least: Arcade is far too difficult for a casual gamer like myself. Even with a high skill cap, I find myself ripping my hair out and cursing at my computer. I would suggest a difficulty selection so those of us who are less seasoned gamers have a chance of seeing our way past floor 5, or even to the end of arcade without losing our minds.
  • Confusing elements: Everything is straightforward, although I needed to map my mouse to keyboard buttons for comfort, which isn't a problem with most games.
-Fishing is a unique concept, but there just isn't enough there. More fish, crafting ingredients, items?

-Shops also don't offer any good alternatives or upgrades to help through post-game. It would make sense if maybe quests could open up further inventory in shops.

-Grinding is also less than helpful in the broad scheme of things, as there is no way to greatly overpower yourself. In a game like Jumpman RPG, one can level to 30 to beat The Smith with ease. In Elf Warrior: Time Flute, one can always get double defense and 20 life containers to beat Piglord. In Stories of Symphonies, one can level to 255 to defeat Blonde Elf using the Cursed Blade, even on maniac difficulty, with ease.

-Defense needs work currently- wearing nothing with defense leaves you as well armed as the best gear, so the game becomes about dodging and never about being able to tank. I'm the kind of person who loves resilient characters over glass cannons.

-Magic is fun, but melee is really not that good in terms of talents and viability against enemies. Ranging needs a set of skills, probably.

-Difficulty. Is this game for elite gamers? For people who want to play casually and grind their way to victory? Both? I feel like there is a way to make the game fun for both hardcore players who enjoy a challenge, and softcore gamers who want to relax and feel like they accomplished something. As I mentioned before, the arcade mode may be fun for some people, but for myself and a few of my friends, it's hell on earth, crying, and just a bad time in general.

-DDR based pet taming is fine... if the requirements are reasonable. My experience with getting the bee was horrendous and angry. I ended up just giving up all together.

-Furious Giga Slime is evil. :(
 
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Enoen

Rabby
Heheh...
  • General impressions: Was the game as a whole an enjoyable experience? If it was longer, would you continue playing?
I enjoyed the living hell out of it; it was an experience I desperately yearned for as I was feeling bored out of my mind from not having a game to play on steam that felt too easy. If it was longer or atleast at the end of the storyline I would be playing this game forever because my interest isn't to just finish the game and call it quits; I want to continue exploring the world and play this on a new game+ where the hard mode difficulty is stuck in place.

As for Arcade? Eh it's fun but I feel the lack of customization of the original area to my tastes just kinda feels odd. I dunno I like building especially if I'm forced to remain in one spot; hell expanding it to a city would be fun and throwing in an arena in it even if it's a small one would be amusing but I'm a Dark Souls PVP maniac anything involving beating up your friends is fun.
  • What you liked the most: Was there some elements that stood out to you as really good?
Yes. Yes. AND YES. THE CLASS CUSTOMIZATION MADE ME RECREATE MY CHARACTER SO MANY TIMES I FORCED MY BROTHER TO PLAY THIS GAME BY PURCHASING IT FOR HIM DUE TO THE STORYLINE BEING AWESOME EVERY BATTLE WAS ALWAYS INTERESTING AND DIFFICULT AND IN THE HARD MODE ALMOST UNFORGIVING WITH ITS BULLET HELL. *Deep breath*

I honestly enjoy the freedom of building up your character to be a two handed/one handed user who throws his sword across the field; switches to his side weapon and at any moment call your sword back to you while you're running away to re-position yourself. Never has a game given me so much freedom in a Legend of Zelda+Secret of Mana type format.
  • What you liked the least: Was there something which you felt weakened the experience?
The spells felt like they were lacking. Like the two handed ability of Berserk felt completely useless as well as the Smash skill since they seem to be only useful for mob farming and even then they aren't that useful or strong. Berserk doesn't even compensate for taking heavy damage since it doesn't dish out enough damage; if Berserk by default allowed you to swing abnormally fast with the great-sword then I could understand why you'd be taking more damage because you are in fact going berserk; having a different moveset and maybe being allowed to spam skills for a short period of time after you attack enough times.
  • Confusing elements: Did you understand what to do and how? Could you navigate through the menus?
I did. The menu is pretty easy to understand.
  • Optional content: Did you do any side activities, like side quests, fishing or the arena? If so, were the activities varied and enjoyable?
I immediately farmed for as many recipe items as I could, did every side quest I could find while praying to jesus that I'd get a card, I fished to make my bunny Alipheese stronger and I spent most of my time at the Arena testing my builds to find some form of synergy. It was fun and I have tortured myself enough to earn the crown that well as a player who enjoys playing with his friends (I forced my brother who didn't even want to try and he ended up loving it himself) I would've been hyped to do some friendly pvping and organize little pvp events within the community to pass the time as I wait for future updates because well ultimately..

I just want to explore the rest of the world. The story is great but I really just want to see everything and collect everything. It's too much fun for me and I've spent hours on end playing Secret of Mana (Including the DS one where you play multiplayer) just for fun.
 

Tal

Green Slime
Hello! I just bought the game two nights ago and had to get on the forums, this is the first time I've ever joined a forum, the game is so unique and interesting, and the community seems so friendly.
Anyway, I'll get started:

General impressions: The game was very enjoyable, everything I did just sucked me in more. I finished the story up to current and explored pretty much every area (I think!), and I just keep wanting to play.
If it was longer or finished, I would love to play more, though I'm going to either way! It was packed with references to other games, humor, and an interesting story, at least up to where it stopped, and some great combat and puzzle solving along with that all.
What you liked the most: I really liked the combat. The skills, magic and melee both were very fun, and I even have some suggestions I'll probably post separately about sometime. Out of everything (the story so far, references, puzzle solving, humor), I'd put the combat first. You get enemies that challenge you later on, and having to dodge and figure out how you should attack the most efficiently for the larger groups was great. It's fast paced and responsive, I'll be playing the game for a long time now, and even more with each update.
Also aside from the combat, Phaseman was a nice nod to Megaman, though I didn't consider it was until I saw the death animation, it was great.
What you liked the least: So far I haven't really done anything I disliked, or that weakened/ruined the experience.
Optional content: I did all the side quests I could find, and I hope I didn't miss any...or maybe I do hope I did, so I can have fun doing them later! I didn't do the arena yet, but I did some fishing, it's all right, though I didn't go for the achievements or anything. The activities seem pretty varied, I really wanted more of the block puzzles though, and I'm sure more will come!
I also did a lot of the Arcade Mode, it was much more difficult than I expected it to be, but it's also tons of fun, getting through the rooms as fast as possible, and trying not to die while doing it, I'm definitely going to put many more hours into that.
Well that's about it, sorry if I happened to copy anything someone else may have said, I haven't read through many posts yet, though I will before making more posts, specifically suggestions, to make sure I'm not just re-posting what someone else already suggested. Well I'm off, keep up the great work!
 

Rusty

Green Slime
General impressions: I have put about 10 hours in so far, and I'm really enjoying this game. I would definitely continue playing it if it was longer. I really appreciate the art style, the story, and especially the combat. I like the fact that it's live action instead of turn-based. I also enjoy the weapon designs and the animations are great! Another thing I really like is the music and sound effects.

What you liked the most:
Definitely the combat system and also the customization options for weapon/special slots. I find it awesome to be able to easily switch between 16 potential weapons/specials with the easy press of a trigger button (I use a controller). I really love all the variety/vast amount of specials you have to choose from as well.

What you liked the least: The spawn system. I haven't played multiplayer yet, but it feels like it's more targeted to that playstyle from how fast and how close the enemies spawn to you. In singleplayer mode, if felt rather relentless having the enemies continuously spawn immediately after you kill one, especially when they spawn right by you and start attacking. This can be looked at as a good aspect, because it makes grinding go by a bit quicker/easier, but I personally find it a bit irritating.

-On another note, combat felt particularly cumbersome at first, because of how slow the character swings his weapon in the beginning. After I played for a while and upgraded the stats (attack speed?) it felt much better and more natural.

Confusing elements:
-Gold points. It took me forever to figure out what they were for. Purple points could probably be a little more clear somehow too.
-Pets. It wasn't clear how to get them or what they are for. Also, It's not very clear what feeding them/upgrading their stats does. Is it for the character, or the pet itself?
-Where you are supposed to be going is a bit confusing sometimes. I'm not saying the game should hold your hand, but a hint on the map or something might be nice.

Optional content: I did a couple of side activities so far. No complaints here, I liked them.



That's it for me on impressions. I've got some suggestions I'll post in the other parts of the form. Keep up the great work. I'm excited to see how this game is going to turn out, and I can see myself playing it for a long time if it continues to improve :)
 

Liteyear

Green Slime
Just realized I never got to post my first impressions.

In short, I love this game and thank you so much for what you have made thus far.

General Impressions
Graphics made me immediately think of Mana and Chrono Trigger. Basically, SNES action-RPGs. The gameplay helped that impression. Kind of a Seiken Den / Mana meets Zelda: Minish Cap. The graphics caught my eye. The demo caught my attention, and considering I played over and over... I'd say you have a winner on your hands.
Story-mode is fun, although a few obvious side-quest NPCs (doll girl and the flower-crown scarecrow) lacking side-quests keep frustrating me. Dialogue is amusing, character art and sprites are great. Thank you for including a skip option. Replaying story mode with a different set of skills makes skip vital.
I really want to see how the first dungeon's history connects with Grindea as it is now. So far the story feels a little disjointed.

What I Liked the Most
Combat is fluid but I really love the variety in enemies. While some appear to function similar (ex: Slime, Jumpkin, and Gift Box) they have abilities that keep them from feeling too suimilar between slippery floors and bombs.
Also, the arena and arcade mode are great. While I find Arcade amazingly difficult at times, it is a nice change of pace from just running around doing quests.
Oh and summons are awesome. I'm surprised there isn't a Fire summon. And I don't believe there's a Talent that softens the EP cost for spells/skills like there's one for Summons?

I Loved the Dungeons
Yes, this deserves its own category. The first was awesome though I've usually seen Flying Fortresses and SciFi-Tech-in-Middle-Ages closer to the end of games so this being the first was a delight. The mini-boss and boss felt like they came from a different genre, which made it a challenge the first few times until I noticed holes in their curtains.
The mid-dungeon was rather disappointing after the first, but while it was short . Just a workshop with some obstructions and a rather difficult puzzle/boss fight. The second dungeon was great. Felt like a condensed form of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons. I've never seen season-puzzles since then so I had a blast running around fighting what I mentally dubbed "Seasonal Darknuts and Wizrobes". I just wish I could fight Spring enemies too. The mid-boss was, honestly, more difficult in my eyes than the boss. The boss's attacks were telegraphed although it took a lot more time and effort to beat him.

What I am Mixed About
Pets and fishing. On one hand, I've gotten good enough to get them fairly painlessly. On the other, I kind of wish there was a fish-monger so I could use some of my excess gold to just buy the fish I want (at at least double or triple the sell value, obviously).

What I Liked the Least

The drop-rate. It takes so long to get anything and you'd think that the special versions of common enemies would have better odds... It might just be bad luck on my end but the drop-rate is agonizing for anything that isn't Rabbe's carrots or Slime's apples.

Confusing Elements
A lot of things felt intuitive. I've played similar games before so all I really needed were a few instructions on controls and where to find some things. I am having difficulty sorting through my inventory (as in: I know how to access 2h and Misc., but I can't sort it by new/best). I did have to look up to see whether the pet was a passive boost or if it fought.

Optional Content
I fished, I fought in the arena, I treasure hunted, and I side-quested my way to treasure. I think a few side-quests are either unfinished or missing some skill because I can't find Santa's Grinch and I can't get that damn boulder out of the way by the farm. I think I've gotten all the treasure maps so far. Fishing, while cumbersome at times, is easy to follow and the rewards are worth it. Arena is suitably difficult for an optional fight.
 
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