Being the connoisseur of rpgs of all kinds since I was a kid (shut up im old) this game was a real interesting treat to behold since I always been a big fan of the old school games that were real popular in the 90's. Knowing Bara-Diction's work already and being familiar with his tastes I started investing and playing this game when it was halfway through it's infancy and just starting to pick up some real steam. At first I had BIG expectations from the story and watching it change, evolve, and ripen into a fully released and well polished game was an inspiring journey that tbh I wish I could repeat again, and again. There was something truly special about being there to watch it become what it is now. It was like watching a smith forge and fold a real katana blade. You see every hammer strike nail out the imperfections until becomes a work of art that is truly remarkable. for all you here in the comment section giving a read-this is my collective opinion on My Time at Etheria.
If ya want spoilers or for me to discuss certain points-sorry. But I truly feel this game is like a mystery dessert. Needs time and patience to appreciate every bite. This little review is not going to be entirely positive, I do have things to say that are critical so brace yourself for those lil tidbits at the end of every paragraph that contain minor potential spoils.
Character Dev.
The start of the story opens up alot of questions about where the character comes from and throughout the story you are told some real important details about where Drey is from and where he is going. You know right from the start that he is not from this world and he is about to go on a pretty interesting journey that has alot of acceptance, self-discovery, and growth. I am actually really glad this character was not a blank slate like so many rpg characters. He is a bit token and tropey but this is kinda what you need when you have an old school rpg and you need to give the main character a personality. Something to relate to and sympathize with-and plenty of that is given down the road. Something you are gonna need to discover for yourself. I do like Drey, or however you like to name him as a character and I think Bara-Diction has done a good job personifying him by giving him a sense of humor, some brains, and strength. And bad stuff does happen to this character, often. This to me was very important because the more you make a character look vulnerable the more human they simulate. I didn't get all my questions about the main character that I been speculating about since the start of the adventure and that to me is a real huge loss. I genuinely do feel like we needed to know more about where Drey comes from and how he got to Etheria. That plot point felt like a big pit needing filling because it was the key turning the car on to start the engine.
Garet is a character who has a real interesting story to him from start to end. He is a totally different person by the end of the story and seeing how he got there and how his relationship with Drey grows is where alot of the heart of the story comes from. It is actually real hard to talk about the character without giving very much away but I really hope that you all enjoy this character as much as I do. Totally not biased by his looks. At all. Ever. Lex is best boy and remains best boy throughout the story. Easily my favorite character and party member. Lex is the gooey little comic relief that is there to be the 'awwww' factor for the story and the massive fuck off button in battle and I love that. RPGs really like to utilize deadly but cute characters in games and this was a fun little way to get in on the trope.
Overall, the characters feel like they all fulfill their roles very well. We are given time to know them and see them establish themselves in the story to mark their importance. For the most part. Some of the characters feel like they needed a bit more time to them so that we can have a deeper feeling for them, particularly one near the end who shows up beside another very well established character from the late game. I had so many questions about this person so it felt a bit rushed to see them fall off the game after a deus-ex machina with little understanding.
Design
The world is beautiful. Absolutely pretty to look at and well crafted through and through. The effort when hand-drawing the backgrounds and dungeons are speaking for themselves quite loudly. Every environment you walk in has a feeling that it is designed in just the right way. You have your mystique filled misty forests, dark and deep dungeons with big monsters, and happy towns with happy town music that makes you instantly recall towns with similar feels like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 6, Earthbound, etc. It really puts a smile on your face. The best ones would be places like Lemuria City-it feels like the perfect hub town like Goldenrod City where you can come back and rest after a long journey, find anything you are looking for, and you have such a big place to move around in and explore. This was the game at it's finest. When the story starts to pick up some real momentum. This is an aspect of the whole game that I can find very little to say anything negative about. I can't say each location on the map is absoluterly perfect but I can happily say that it has been tended to very carefully. If I HAD to say anything negative I would say that some of the puzzle made me want to pound nails into my eyeballs a few times and the Emerald Forest really forced me to play hard to avoid dying to the few obnoxious bosses I ran into there. I don't think hard games are a bad thing tho-I love having a real hard few moments in games that are meant to enjoy the journey now and then. Sometimes you just get hit with unexpected difficulties and I think this is good. One of my favorite design choices throughout the game are the bosses and the mobs. The creature designs range from generic to truly unique. I mean that is ok of course-there is only so many ways you can make a skeleton soldier lol. Some of the mobs have some designs that really give them an identity that I will be able to point to and instantly say 'oh this is from Etheria!', which is exactly what I was hoping for. If I could change anything I would try to see what I could do about the early bandits. Their design makes them look like they are a bit of an asset flip because their design is so different from the others. They don't feel like they belong and might need a bit of a change to make them look a bit consistent with the rest of the mobs you can encounter. The battle system is a typical turn-based rpg style that allows you to see the turn order so you can plan out your moves and each character is given their own movesets, strengths, weaknesses, and tactics. You CAN make everyone absolutely OP with the right build if the grind doesn't bother you at all and you just want to breeze your way through the fights. Sometimes the effects can be a little glitchy and stay on the screen after you use them but this has rarely happened and fixes itself when the fight ends. Despite the real strong attempt to utilize spells and powers in the game that give status effects like paralysis, poison, and confusion or sleep-they all feel inefficient when you can just spend a turn bashing them and wittling down their health. This is likely what you are gonna be doing too-ignoring the cc's. You will be having your hands full keeping your constant hunger for AP on the rise with food buffs and magical attacks so the cc's are in an awkward spot. Particularly poison. It doesn't feel worth the slot.
Music and Sound
The game has GREAT music! The dungeons feel like they have dungeon music, the battle music for each region I could listen to on repeat, and some of the boss themes are amongst some of my absolute favorites. The early boss music is easily the best piece of music in the game when it comes to fights. The sound effects are timed and orchestrated nicely too. The explosions feel like explosions, slashes are your general generic slash noise. I got a pleasant surprise to see that the characters eventually got their own little bits of vocals added later in the game's developement that really enhanced their expressions. Nice touch! The music has it's own cheese tho-and I love cheese in doses when it comes to games. Some of the music particularly during a particular camping night in the woods early in the game felt like it was SUPER awkward to listen to and really needed to stop. It fit to the moment like a thumb tack to the ear drum so I usually need to tune it out. And the last dungeon music was where I felt the game was at it's weakest. The expectations for the final dungeon and it's music was the only blemish I felt kept the game from having the epic ending that it deserved. I don't mean to sound harsh because I do accept it for how it is-I can just look and listen to the final act and only think of what could be so much better.
The story
Satisfied beginning, GREAT middle. And bit of an end that felt like it needed more time. The story was at it's strongest from the beginning to the middle, had some real muscle and good storytelling nearing the end and then it felt like it was just getting tired. I am satisfied with the story to a great degree and I am definitely going to play this again, and again in the future to relive the moments that were VERY good. Some places in the story really hit you in the feels, and a couple of them make you feel like something was lacking but the best times far, FAR outweigh the bad times. It is like the tip of an iceberg, the small problems in the writing are so small compared to the rest of the depth and body under the water. There were SO many moments where I was smiling and roaring in laughter, and from the looks of it some of the characters were too haha. I would say the story here has a real predictable outcome of course and you can see where the plot is going from miles away but the journey to get to that end is what makes it special. It feels like it's own story with a familiar feel to it that you heard before but the way the story is told and how different it is make it feel like it really has a place and should be experienced by anyone whose into a typical RPG but in this case- way more penises lol.
Overall!
There really is something special about this game and I encourage you to take your time with it. Don't speed your way through it and enjoy the best of times in it from the dialogue to the battles. Take in the sights and also take into account that this was constructed by hand by one man. It took a good couple of years to finish but I am glad I was there for the days when the gas pedal was stomped on. I wish I was there for the very beginning cause I would be backing this the entire time. I am still very satisfied with the investment and testing I conducted to see this game through to the end. This was a road trip I would repeat again for sure : ) It was an honor to test the game and give Bara-Diction some much needed pointers to bring it to the state it is in now. This goes for not just me but every tester who participated. Is it worth $20? Yes. Absolutely. I would buy it for more still. Now I just wonder when and if any merchandising will be done in the future cause my wallet is ready.
8.8/10. VERY solid score I can give. It gets my stamp of approval and my recommendation to anyone I know to pick it up and give it a try. It really has something to offer and I love it!
So im in Dhaliam Town. I need to talk to the poeple to move on. Who exacly am I supposed to talk to? i feel like ive talked to everyone and havent been able to progress
Thanks, I shortly realized after posting that question that all I had to do was push the blocks out of the way and make it to the barrier. The barrier was tripping me up because I thought I had to assemble the pieces in some sort of way to unlock it.
I love your passion for fantasy games and themes. Not sure if this was solely made by you, but it's pretty good for an attempt at a JRPG. And the crystal motifs are pretty cool throughout your creations. The party's variety is unique and entertaining. I also enjoy the development of the relationship of the MC and their love interest.
I'm 8 or 9 hours in and my main issue with the game is with how ... unnecessarily difficult the game can be at times and the level pacing/inconsistencies. I have never made a game myself or been involved in any projects of the sort and I imagine that there's a lot more to it than what most people imagine it takes to make a game, whether short or long. But what I will post is for constructive critique and not to say that it's all over bad.
I'm not sure if I just didn't point allocate my stats properly even though I tried to do it with the characters strengths in mind. Even then, in my personal opinion, the point allocation is too weak to even think that could be why I'm having extreme difficulty in fights. I kinda cheese in order to get rid of most of the monsters. I just flee so their sprites don't appear again in the dungeon until I exit the area and they respawn. I feel very reluctant to get into battle encounters (most of the time.) The only places I feel that should be this challenging are boss encounters.
I also think that AP costs and generation are pretty whacked out. It really takes a lot of time to get enough AP to unleash some really necessary techniques in battle. I know that certain equipment allows AP point generation whether through offense or defense, but it's crazy how much I need those skills and how long it takes to unleash them.
I understand that mages are glass cannons, but Su's health pool is crazy low. I feel like half of my battle actions are taken just to keep Su alive. I know they have a barrier ability, but again, like 100 AP points just to use it and sometimes the enemies have multiattacks or spells that do enough damage to knock it out in a single use. It's kinda nuts how fragile the character is.
** SPOILERS FOR FELLOW PLAYERS **
I'm at the mining dungeon with the boss fight of two robot guardians and then the Darkspore Drey afterwards. I have no idea, through whatever amount of grinding or what tactics to use in order to survive that. Especially with facing the nega-Drey and while the MC is knocked out and just relying on the 3 characters alone. The nega character has the biggest health pool I've ever seen through out the game and my characters barely put a dent in it. I literally thought it was a scripted event where all the characters get beaten and something else happens. I cannot believe how hard these difficulty tiers are stacking.
As far as I could tell, there was one scene where the music was bit too over the top or cheesy where I had to mute it so I could enjoy the scene (first romantic encounter with Garet.) As far as I can tell, everything else works out, but that instance popped into my mind while playing. Something more subtle and intimate would've done a better job. The sound scapy type music from Ad Astra and Far Beyond the World worked perfectly most of the time during intense, emotional, or intimate scenes, just as an example.
I have not bothered to make food recipes in the game because of how many ingredients that they require and because of how expensive the economy is in general.
Another thing that kinda bothered me is that the quests, side quests, and arena encounters didn't give the party XP (maybe I'm overlooking it, but I know there's absolutely no XP from the fights in the arena, just medals for the arena exclusive goods.) And I could've sworn that the MC suggested that the arena would be good for training or something like that.
I will try to finish the game, hopefully I can adjust the difficulty since whatever I have it at is making it hard to enjoy. Challenge can be fun, but more so when it's an option like hard side quests for lots of XP or rewards or secret bosses/encounters.
Thank you so much for the constructive critique! I appreciate this and your feedback on the game! This project is made by myself alone except for the character voices, bg music and some battle animations.
This is my first time making a full RPG, game balancing was quite difficult since it's easy to break the balance based on stat distribution. After watching some testers play the game, some were able to breeze through the game with ease and some had a slightly harder time with it.
So I can totally understand if some areas are slightly challenging than other areas, but I have tried to incorporate other means for the players to overcome these tougher battles.
-Depending on the equipment you have with your party members, you can have an easier time overcoming many battles. - Synthesized equipment will always be better than store-bought equipment (give or take where you are in the game). - Exploiting enemy weaknesses with magic/synth - damage is based on M.ATK and with the armor/magic def skill, you can deal quite some damage. - Using magic will also increase AP. - Cooking, can give party members a good boost in terms of stats, HP/MP/AP recovery and some will last overtime for more than one battle and recovers AP when consumed. Since AP gained through battle can be slow at first with equipment. - Synth healing/revive for group heals will help a lot in tougher battles. - Money, make sure to sell your scraps, for more earnings.
Hopefully, these will help you progress the game better!
Ok, so I was able to progress and I'm able to handle the battles better. Thank you for the tips. Some of them I was aware of or experimented with during lower level grinding areas. I think the mine instance was what tripped me up since I thought I legitimately believed that we had to beat Darkspore Drey in a battle of attrition. I can't wait to find all the slibs so that I can get more AoE or powerful spells to whack some major tail haha
did you ever figure out how to beat the lex part where you have to meet lex’s father I’m stuck at the part with the fire if you can help me I’d really appreciate it thx
Could you tell more about the game world besides just "you find yourself lost in the middle of the woods" ? Like, who are the main characters, they pictures, who's romanceable and how many cut scenes we can expect? I'd gladly pay much more, but for a decent bara game with lots of mature content, not just another RPG maker clone full of long repeated fights (not saying your game is like that, I'm just asking).
Hi there, the main character is the human protagonist that you will be playing, along with three other members, one in which you will develop romantic feelings for. There are no multiple romancing choices as the whole game is based on a linear story and a single ending. As for the gameplay, the game is very much similar to old-school Final Fantasy-type games with turn-base battle mechanics.
need help or BUG???? at emerald garden... direction puzzle that was given (S,SW,W,E) i reverse the directions by mirror imaging E,W,SW,S. gone to the opposite direction (N,NE,E,W) and it still doenst work?!?!!
hi again^^ i tried finding them and got the 2 problems on my hand if you wouldnt mind answering^^: !, what is the MCs ultimate weapon and 2 where do i get the dark matter drops? i tried farming them at fortess soul and it didnt work out...
The game doesn't have a compass. So is N this way ^, E this way >, W this way <, and South this way v? I don't know what I'm doing wrong from your instructions.
Yeah, that's the correct order. Before you do it, talk to the bird to reset the puzzle to get a clean start. After going through all the directions, you should end up on the same map as to where the bird is. Go to the bird and you should be able to see a monster.
No, it's a monster that's in front of the sign. I'll take a look at this on my end to see if it might be a bug.
Edit: I've double-checked the code ran through the puzzle and made sure to do it incorrectly and then I just reset the puzzle by interacting with the bird again to do the puzzle with the correct directions of up, upper right, right, and left. The monster appears in front of the bird.
I could narrow this down on my side with your save file/data that would be easiest for me to figure if there is a bug at this point. If you're still having problems could you post the saved data here so I could take a look at it on my end? https://www.file.io/
Does the game have a complete ending? If I fall in love with the characters in the game and can't experience the ending, I will feel so uncomfortable that I can't sleep.
When I ran through the game when it was bug free, playing from start to finish and trying to 100% complete the game i had 28 hours game time. It took me a good 4 days to finish. I've seen others having 30+ hours. Just depends on how well you do in the game mostly :)
I may have found the issue. I'll make a new resubmit on the download file asap. When playing again, please take your 'Save' folder and move it into the new download and then load from your most recent save file. Sorry about this!
Hi there Jojo, I know the other form of payment Itch.io has provided is Stripe. I've gone ahead and activated this, might take a while before this becomes an option for purchasing.
lol it’s fine I just paid as a guest on paypal been playing through it and it’s extremely fun but a bit difficult with enemies not got gonna lie lol btw amazing work on the game
Unfortunately, this game will only be on Itch. Plans for releasing and publishing on steam is still something I'll be working on very late towards the future.
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Being the connoisseur of rpgs of all kinds since I was a kid (shut up im old) this game was a real interesting treat to behold since I always been a big fan of the old school games that were real popular in the 90's. Knowing Bara-Diction's work already and being familiar with his tastes I started investing and playing this game when it was halfway through it's infancy and just starting to pick up some real steam. At first I had BIG expectations from the story and watching it change, evolve, and ripen into a fully released and well polished game was an inspiring journey that tbh I wish I could repeat again, and again. There was something truly special about being there to watch it become what it is now. It was like watching a smith forge and fold a real katana blade. You see every hammer strike nail out the imperfections until becomes a work of art that is truly remarkable. for all you here in the comment section giving a read-this is my collective opinion on My Time at Etheria.
If ya want spoilers or for me to discuss certain points-sorry. But I truly feel this game is like a mystery dessert. Needs time and patience to appreciate every bite. This little review is not going to be entirely positive, I do have things to say that are critical so brace yourself for those lil tidbits at the end of every paragraph that contain minor potential spoils.
Character Dev.
The start of the story opens up alot of questions about where the character comes from and throughout the story you are told some real important details about where Drey is from and where he is going. You know right from the start that he is not from this world and he is about to go on a pretty interesting journey that has alot of acceptance, self-discovery, and growth. I am actually really glad this character was not a blank slate like so many rpg characters. He is a bit token and tropey but this is kinda what you need when you have an old school rpg and you need to give the main character a personality. Something to relate to and sympathize with-and plenty of that is given down the road. Something you are gonna need to discover for yourself. I do like Drey, or however you like to name him as a character and I think Bara-Diction has done a good job personifying him by giving him a sense of humor, some brains, and strength. And bad stuff does happen to this character, often. This to me was very important because the more you make a character look vulnerable the more human they simulate. I didn't get all my questions about the main character that I been speculating about since the start of the adventure and that to me is a real huge loss. I genuinely do feel like we needed to know more about where Drey comes from and how he got to Etheria. That plot point felt like a big pit needing filling because it was the key turning the car on to start the engine.
Garet is a character who has a real interesting story to him from start to end. He is a totally different person by the end of the story and seeing how he got there and how his relationship with Drey grows is where alot of the heart of the story comes from. It is actually real hard to talk about the character without giving very much away but I really hope that you all enjoy this character as much as I do. Totally not biased by his looks. At all. Ever. Lex is best boy and remains best boy throughout the story. Easily my favorite character and party member. Lex is the gooey little comic relief that is there to be the 'awwww' factor for the story and the massive fuck off button in battle and I love that. RPGs really like to utilize deadly but cute characters in games and this was a fun little way to get in on the trope.
Overall, the characters feel like they all fulfill their roles very well. We are given time to know them and see them establish themselves in the story to mark their importance. For the most part. Some of the characters feel like they needed a bit more time to them so that we can have a deeper feeling for them, particularly one near the end who shows up beside another very well established character from the late game. I had so many questions about this person so it felt a bit rushed to see them fall off the game after a deus-ex machina with little understanding.
Design
The world is beautiful. Absolutely pretty to look at and well crafted through and through. The effort when hand-drawing the backgrounds and dungeons are speaking for themselves quite loudly. Every environment you walk in has a feeling that it is designed in just the right way. You have your mystique filled misty forests, dark and deep dungeons with big monsters, and happy towns with happy town music that makes you instantly recall towns with similar feels like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 6, Earthbound, etc. It really puts a smile on your face. The best ones would be places like Lemuria City-it feels like the perfect hub town like Goldenrod City where you can come back and rest after a long journey, find anything you are looking for, and you have such a big place to move around in and explore. This was the game at it's finest. When the story starts to pick up some real momentum. This is an aspect of the whole game that I can find very little to say anything negative about. I can't say each location on the map is absoluterly perfect but I can happily say that it has been tended to very carefully. If I HAD to say anything negative I would say that some of the puzzle made me want to pound nails into my eyeballs a few times and the Emerald Forest really forced me to play hard to avoid dying to the few obnoxious bosses I ran into there. I don't think hard games are a bad thing tho-I love having a real hard few moments in games that are meant to enjoy the journey now and then. Sometimes you just get hit with unexpected difficulties and I think this is good. One of my favorite design choices throughout the game are the bosses and the mobs. The creature designs range from generic to truly unique. I mean that is ok of course-there is only so many ways you can make a skeleton soldier lol. Some of the mobs have some designs that really give them an identity that I will be able to point to and instantly say 'oh this is from Etheria!', which is exactly what I was hoping for. If I could change anything I would try to see what I could do about the early bandits. Their design makes them look like they are a bit of an asset flip because their design is so different from the others. They don't feel like they belong and might need a bit of a change to make them look a bit consistent with the rest of the mobs you can encounter. The battle system is a typical turn-based rpg style that allows you to see the turn order so you can plan out your moves and each character is given their own movesets, strengths, weaknesses, and tactics. You CAN make everyone absolutely OP with the right build if the grind doesn't bother you at all and you just want to breeze your way through the fights. Sometimes the effects can be a little glitchy and stay on the screen after you use them but this has rarely happened and fixes itself when the fight ends. Despite the real strong attempt to utilize spells and powers in the game that give status effects like paralysis, poison, and confusion or sleep-they all feel inefficient when you can just spend a turn bashing them and wittling down their health. This is likely what you are gonna be doing too-ignoring the cc's. You will be having your hands full keeping your constant hunger for AP on the rise with food buffs and magical attacks so the cc's are in an awkward spot. Particularly poison. It doesn't feel worth the slot.
Music and Sound
The game has GREAT music! The dungeons feel like they have dungeon music, the battle music for each region I could listen to on repeat, and some of the boss themes are amongst some of my absolute favorites. The early boss music is easily the best piece of music in the game when it comes to fights. The sound effects are timed and orchestrated nicely too. The explosions feel like explosions, slashes are your general generic slash noise. I got a pleasant surprise to see that the characters eventually got their own little bits of vocals added later in the game's developement that really enhanced their expressions. Nice touch! The music has it's own cheese tho-and I love cheese in doses when it comes to games. Some of the music particularly during a particular camping night in the woods early in the game felt like it was SUPER awkward to listen to and really needed to stop. It fit to the moment like a thumb tack to the ear drum so I usually need to tune it out. And the last dungeon music was where I felt the game was at it's weakest. The expectations for the final dungeon and it's music was the only blemish I felt kept the game from having the epic ending that it deserved. I don't mean to sound harsh because I do accept it for how it is-I can just look and listen to the final act and only think of what could be so much better.
The story
Satisfied beginning, GREAT middle. And bit of an end that felt like it needed more time. The story was at it's strongest from the beginning to the middle, had some real muscle and good storytelling nearing the end and then it felt like it was just getting tired. I am satisfied with the story to a great degree and I am definitely going to play this again, and again in the future to relive the moments that were VERY good. Some places in the story really hit you in the feels, and a couple of them make you feel like something was lacking but the best times far, FAR outweigh the bad times. It is like the tip of an iceberg, the small problems in the writing are so small compared to the rest of the depth and body under the water. There were SO many moments where I was smiling and roaring in laughter, and from the looks of it some of the characters were too haha. I would say the story here has a real predictable outcome of course and you can see where the plot is going from miles away but the journey to get to that end is what makes it special. It feels like it's own story with a familiar feel to it that you heard before but the way the story is told and how different it is make it feel like it really has a place and should be experienced by anyone whose into a typical RPG but in this case- way more penises lol.
Overall!
There really is something special about this game and I encourage you to take your time with it. Don't speed your way through it and enjoy the best of times in it from the dialogue to the battles. Take in the sights and also take into account that this was constructed by hand by one man. It took a good couple of years to finish but I am glad I was there for the days when the gas pedal was stomped on. I wish I was there for the very beginning cause I would be backing this the entire time. I am still very satisfied with the investment and testing I conducted to see this game through to the end. This was a road trip I would repeat again for sure : ) It was an honor to test the game and give Bara-Diction some much needed pointers to bring it to the state it is in now. This goes for not just me but every tester who participated. Is it worth $20? Yes. Absolutely. I would buy it for more still. Now I just wonder when and if any merchandising will be done in the future cause my wallet is ready.
8.8/10. VERY solid score I can give. It gets my stamp of approval and my recommendation to anyone I know to pick it up and give it a try. It really has something to offer and I love it!
(spoilers) made a meme
Thank you for this!
So im in Dhaliam Town. I need to talk to the poeple to move on. Who exacly am I supposed to talk to? i feel like ive talked to everyone and havent been able to progress
Try the people outside and then the inn, then the mayor.
Got it. Thank you.
This game is so easy and fun! Is there a hard mode? I wish the puzzles were a bit harder in my opinion.
This puzzle is going me crazy! I tried almost every combination. Somebody help me, please!
I found out...
What's the solution?
https://i.imgur.com/Utjv19S.png
Thanks, I shortly realized after posting that question that all I had to do was push the blocks out of the way and make it to the barrier. The barrier was tripping me up because I thought I had to assemble the pieces in some sort of way to unlock it.
I love your passion for fantasy games and themes. Not sure if this was solely made by you, but it's pretty good for an attempt at a JRPG. And the crystal motifs are pretty cool throughout your creations. The party's variety is unique and entertaining. I also enjoy the development of the relationship of the MC and their love interest.
I'm 8 or 9 hours in and my main issue with the game is with how ... unnecessarily difficult the game can be at times and the level pacing/inconsistencies. I have never made a game myself or been involved in any projects of the sort and I imagine that there's a lot more to it than what most people imagine it takes to make a game, whether short or long. But what I will post is for constructive critique and not to say that it's all over bad.
I'm not sure if I just didn't point allocate my stats properly even though I tried to do it with the characters strengths in mind. Even then, in my personal opinion, the point allocation is too weak to even think that could be why I'm having extreme difficulty in fights. I kinda cheese in order to get rid of most of the monsters. I just flee so their sprites don't appear again in the dungeon until I exit the area and they respawn. I feel very reluctant to get into battle encounters (most of the time.) The only places I feel that should be this challenging are boss encounters.
I also think that AP costs and generation are pretty whacked out. It really takes a lot of time to get enough AP to unleash some really necessary techniques in battle. I know that certain equipment allows AP point generation whether through offense or defense, but it's crazy how much I need those skills and how long it takes to unleash them.
I understand that mages are glass cannons, but Su's health pool is crazy low. I feel like half of my battle actions are taken just to keep Su alive. I know they have a barrier ability, but again, like 100 AP points just to use it and sometimes the enemies have multiattacks or spells that do enough damage to knock it out in a single use. It's kinda nuts how fragile the character is.
** SPOILERS FOR FELLOW PLAYERS **
I'm at the mining dungeon with the boss fight of two robot guardians and then the Darkspore Drey afterwards. I have no idea, through whatever amount of grinding or what tactics to use in order to survive that. Especially with facing the nega-Drey and while the MC is knocked out and just relying on the 3 characters alone. The nega character has the biggest health pool I've ever seen through out the game and my characters barely put a dent in it. I literally thought it was a scripted event where all the characters get beaten and something else happens. I cannot believe how hard these difficulty tiers are stacking.
As far as I could tell, there was one scene where the music was bit too over the top or cheesy where I had to mute it so I could enjoy the scene (first romantic encounter with Garet.) As far as I can tell, everything else works out, but that instance popped into my mind while playing. Something more subtle and intimate would've done a better job. The sound scapy type music from Ad Astra and Far Beyond the World worked perfectly most of the time during intense, emotional, or intimate scenes, just as an example.
I have not bothered to make food recipes in the game because of how many ingredients that they require and because of how expensive the economy is in general.
Another thing that kinda bothered me is that the quests, side quests, and arena encounters didn't give the party XP (maybe I'm overlooking it, but I know there's absolutely no XP from the fights in the arena, just medals for the arena exclusive goods.) And I could've sworn that the MC suggested that the arena would be good for training or something like that.
I will try to finish the game, hopefully I can adjust the difficulty since whatever I have it at is making it hard to enjoy. Challenge can be fun, but more so when it's an option like hard side quests for lots of XP or rewards or secret bosses/encounters.
Thank you so much for the constructive critique!
I appreciate this and your feedback on the game!
This project is made by myself alone except for the character voices, bg music and some battle animations.
This is my first time making a full RPG, game balancing was quite difficult since it's easy to break the balance based on stat distribution. After watching some testers play the game, some were able to breeze through the game with ease and some had a slightly harder time with it.
So I can totally understand if some areas are slightly challenging than other areas, but I have tried to incorporate other means for the players to overcome these tougher battles.
-Depending on the equipment you have with your party members, you can have an easier time overcoming many battles.
- Synthesized equipment will always be better than store-bought equipment (give or take where you are in the game).
- Exploiting enemy weaknesses with magic/synth - damage is based on M.ATK and with the armor/magic def skill, you can deal quite some damage.
- Using magic will also increase AP.
- Cooking, can give party members a good boost in terms of stats, HP/MP/AP recovery and some will last overtime for more than one battle and recovers AP when consumed. Since AP gained through battle can be slow at first with equipment.
- Synth healing/revive for group heals will help a lot in tougher battles.
- Money, make sure to sell your scraps, for more earnings.
Hopefully, these will help you progress the game better!
Thanks again for commenting!
Ok, so I was able to progress and I'm able to handle the battles better. Thank you for the tips. Some of them I was aware of or experimented with during lower level grinding areas. I think the mine instance was what tripped me up since I thought I legitimately believed that we had to beat Darkspore Drey in a battle of attrition. I can't wait to find all the slibs so that I can get more AoE or powerful spells to whack some major tail haha
Is the game finished?
Yes, it's finished :)
I am stuck. After completing 3 tasks at the slum, I am supposed to meet the knight captain, but I couldn't find him anywhere. Can someone help?
Make sure to check your quest log in the main menu, if you ever need help with where to go next.
I checked the Fort, but he is not there either.
Have you done the Lex quest at your new home on the upper level in the kingdom?
I missed that. Thanks for the help!
did you ever figure out how to beat the lex part where you have to meet lex’s father I’m stuck at the part with the fire if you can help me I’d really appreciate it thx
Could you tell more about the game world besides just "you find yourself lost in the middle of the woods" ? Like, who are the main characters, they pictures, who's romanceable and how many cut scenes we can expect? I'd gladly pay much more, but for a decent bara game with lots of mature content, not just another RPG maker clone full of long repeated fights (not saying your game is like that, I'm just asking).
Hi there, the main character is the human protagonist that you will be playing, along with three other members, one in which you will develop romantic feelings for. There are no multiple romancing choices as the whole game is based on a linear story and a single ending.
As for the gameplay, the game is very much similar to old-school Final Fantasy-type games with turn-base battle mechanics.
need help or BUG???? at emerald garden... direction puzzle that was given (S,SW,W,E) i reverse the directions by mirror imaging E,W,SW,S. gone to the opposite direction (N,NE,E,W) and it still doenst work?!?!!
Talk to the bird to reset the puzzle, (N,NE,E,W) is correct.
hi thanks for anwering my question ^^ can i ask for hints for the memory stone cgs? i seem to miss since i only got 2
Collecting all their Ultimate weapons will give you the last memory cg.
Once you've collected them go back to the snow village.
hi again^^ i tried finding them and got the 2 problems on my hand if you wouldnt mind answering^^: !, what is the MCs ultimate weapon and 2 where do i get the dark matter drops? i tried farming them at fortess soul and it didnt work out...
MC weapon is at Arcius Ruins. Dark Matter is from doing the quest from the messenger at Regull Port.
What is memory stone cg? is it an item you find?
it's an end game item.
I've tried following that order and I'm still going no where
The game doesn't have a compass. So is N this way ^, E this way >, W this way <, and South this way v? I don't know what I'm doing wrong from your instructions.
I'm going up, upper right, right, and then back and I still end up nowhere.
Yeah, that's the correct order. Before you do it, talk to the bird to reset the puzzle to get a clean start. After going through all the directions, you should end up on the same map as to where the bird is. Go to the bird and you should be able to see a monster.
I go to the owl sign, go the directions, and end back where the sign is and no monster appears. Is it a monster that moves around?
No, it's a monster that's in front of the sign. I'll take a look at this on my end to see if it might be a bug.
Edit: I've double-checked the code ran through the puzzle and made sure to do it incorrectly and then I just reset the puzzle by interacting with the bird again to do the puzzle with the correct directions of up, upper right, right, and left. The monster appears in front of the bird.
I could narrow this down on my side with your save file/data that would be easiest for me to figure if there is a bug at this point.
If you're still having problems could you post the saved data here so I could take a look at it on my end? https://www.file.io/
Does the game have a complete ending? If I fall in love with the characters in the game and can't experience the ending, I will feel so uncomfortable that I can't sleep.
Yes, the game is fully complete with an ending.
How many characters are there to develop relationships with? It looks like there's only one dragonman in the picture.
20 dollars is a bit much so i wanted to know if the game is long enough to last a little while. Can someone give me an aproximative time ?
Not saying that it does not deserve to be sold at 20 dollars but last time i bought a game was knight college and it was good but way too short...
When I ran through the game when it was bug free, playing from start to finish and trying to 100% complete the game i had 28 hours game time. It took me a good 4 days to finish. I've seen others having 30+ hours. Just depends on how well you do in the game mostly :)
Is there a Discord channel for people to look for guides?
Is there a way to rewatch the different cutscenes?
There is! Once you've completed the game :)
our boy be looking different damn
Damn it I need to buy this now I'm going to be so broke this week XD
I may have found the issue. I'll make a new resubmit on the download file asap. When playing again, please take your 'Save' folder and move it into the new download and then load from your most recent save file. Sorry about this!
You can now re-download the game, the black screen should be fixed.
Glad I could fix it ;D
is there another method of payment that we can do or is it strictly PayPal. I’m asking cause I’ve had bad experiences using PayPal
Hi there Jojo, I know the other form of payment Itch.io has provided is Stripe. I've gone ahead and activated this, might take a while before this becomes an option for purchasing.
lol it’s fine I just paid as a guest on paypal been playing through it and it’s extremely fun but a bit difficult with enemies not got gonna lie lol btw amazing work on the game
Synthesized equipment will always be better than store-bought weapons & armor. Make sure to fully equip yourself :)
Congrats on the release, looking forward to playing!
Thank you very much!
will this be on steam?
Unfortunately, this game will only be on Itch. Plans for releasing and publishing on steam is still something I'll be working on very late towards the future.