Are there still updates?
Response from developer
Hey, the game is finished and I'm working on rebuilding it for PC and Console. That said, I still continue to add quality of life improvements (eg. difficulty selection) and am always open to suggestions. Feel free to email me contact@emergentfates.com
A hidden gem.
Gameplay: 4/5
At first it seems like standard JRPG fare, but there’s a surprising amount of depth that can be gleaned from the mechanics. Battles are turn based with a turn order list present at the top of the screen. Striking combat units with their elemental weaknesses staggers them for an entire turn. Normal battles don’t push this mechanic too far, but there were some boss fights where victory hinges on effective exploitation of enemy weaknesses. Makes the battles feel more like puzzles. The only reason gameplay isn’t 5/5 is because certain basic attacks miss far too often for them to be reliable.
Music: 4/5
The music is odd. It’s not necessarily what I would have expected from an RPG, but it’s not bad. Some of it is really catchy, like the regular battle theme or that one boss theme that had a woman’s vocals echoing in the background in a hypnotic manner. The shop theme is absolutely terrible, however. That song was just eargrating.
Devs, if you’re reading this, I’d love it if you released the OST on some music platform. I really want that boss theme.
Story: 4/5
The story is entertaining and engaging, although I found some parts moved a tad too quickly and were somewhat hard to follow.
The part of the story where Glass and Tristessa suddenly joined you were a bit…fuzzy. Maybe I read the dialogue a little too quickly, but they did a rather quick 180 when they realized that the Spectr of Ice (I think?) starting turning on the people.
Both Rasch and Ava’s backstory with the political corruption in Tyr had me hooked, however. I effectively despised the authority figures in Tyr, so the story there definitely did its job. Seeing Ava regain her sense of self was engrossing. Seeing Rasch put his foot down and realize the kingdom he admired was just a load of balogna was a very inspiring scene.
The flashbacks to Karellen and the four Spectrs left me wondering if they were just heavily affiliated with the main squad or if the four MCs were actually reincarnations of them in some way.
I only have a few gripes with the game, all of them minor.
1.) This game originally had one single microtransaction in order to unlock the full game. The current payment model is vastly superior, yet there are some lingering elements of the original payment philosophy. Sometimes the game will tell me it failed to connect online and that it needs me to connect to an appropriate source of internet. The most prominent example being the two NPCs in the beginning of the game.
They stopped me to ask for 100 Gold, and I obliged. I realized rather quickly that they were originally meant to ask the player for real life currency.
If the original payment model was removed, then I think the game randomly telling you to connect to the internet should also be fixed in some way. I was very confused when I found an option in the menus to ‘Restore Purchase’ when this game doesn’t have that payment model anymore.
2.) I think this game could benefit from a map. It’s very linear and it’s…probably my fault in the first place, but I was lost for a good half hour when the game told me to go to the Altar of Fire. It was a facepalm worthy moment when I eventually realized it was in the Weeping Woods. Regardless, I think a map would still benefit the game.
3.) I think a fast travel point should be added to the Altar of Fire and the Altar of Ice. The Altar of Earth has a fast travel point, so I don’t see why the other two didn’t. It would help the pacing tremendously.
4.) Cutscenes should be skippable. All the cutscenes are relatively short, yet with the occasional difficulty spikes, some bosses may take another try or two. Being able to skip cutscenes would alleviate some minor tedium.
All in all, I enjoyed the game quite a bit.
I’d rate it 4.5/5
Response from developer
Hey huge thanks for writing this up and providing all feedback! I also feel that it's "absolutely criminal that a game of this quality has received this little attention." Please spread the word. And apologies for taking so long to respond, the past few months have been a bit chaotic. Overall it looks like you understood and appreciated where I was coming from. This is my first proper game so I was learning along the way. I'm not sure why you were seeing those "failed to connect" errors. If you want to send a screenshot to contact@emergentfates.com I can try to look into it. I'll see what I can do about the posting the soundtrack somewhere. Some of the songs are licensed but I can easily post all the ones I wrote. I agree with your other feedback about maps, fast travel, and skipping cutscenes/dialog but it's a bit hard to justify sinking more time into this right now since not many people are playing it. Instead I'm in the process of remaking it for PC so I can eventually release it on steam and consoles. Seriously appreciate you playing the game though!
Nice game
Response from developer
Thank you so much. I'm glad you're enjoying it!
Best rpg
Response from developer
Thank you so much. This means a lot. I'm really glad you're enjoying the game! EDIT: Thanks again for your support theredpanda269! Globally the game has been rated well so I'm happy about that. And while I don't have immediate plans to make another game like this, I am working on new projects. I encourage you to subscribe to the mailing list on https://megaphemeral.com if you want to keep updated. Take care.
Feels simple but fun
Response from developer
Thanks for checking out the game. The idea behind the demo is to drop the player into the world and get a sense of what the gameplay feels like, instead of having to buy the game blind. I would appreciate if you can message me through the website with more details about what you feel is missing and would like to see in the demo. Also if I can send you a video or provide more info about the game I would be happy to.
Probably the most interesting iOS RPG I’ve encountered in a while.
I think the best feature of this game is the art: it’s beautiful.
Response from developer
Thank you very much, I'm glad you're enjoying the game, and especially its artwork, so far! I appreciate you leaving a review.
Boring
Response from developer
Thanks for trying the game and I'm glad you like the artwork, however I'm sorry to hear you did not enjoy the demo. I would appreciate if you could provide more info about what you'd like to see that isn't present in the demo. Personally I think if you didn't like the demo though, it's unlikely you'll like the rest of the game, and I want to save you the money. Feel free to reach out through the website if you'd like to discuss this.
Fun iOS original RPG
Also, the dev is very quick to fix bugs, so the support is there too.
Response from developer
Thank you very much for the kind words. I'm glad you're enjoying it!
Information for the players.
The first forest level (a tutorial really) gets you acquainted with the game and it’s mechanics, allows roughly three level ups and 10-15 minutes of linear gameplay. After completing this mission you are greeted by two non player characters blocking the road, who in turn demand that you hand over five ninety nine USD real life money if you want to pass. It does not inform you if it is to unlock the full game or not. And it goes as far as to taunt the player if they decline the purchase. There is no indication if there will be more of these ‘pay walls’ later on or if this is a one time purchase for the full game.
There is no auto save feature, if you die, all progress will be set to your previous Manuel save. Not necessarily bad on its own, however, there are enemies in this game that can ‘ambush’ you and defeat you within a single round of combat. This is a bit unbalanced for the players, and not necessarily what some might consider ‘fair play’.
The final criticism here is the lack of balance regarding economy. If you reload an area (takes less than 3 seconds) all things in it re-spawn, including the free money sitting on the ground right at the beginning of some areas, that you do not need to fight to gather, grinding up 6000 in under 5 minutes...
Response from developer
Hello, sorry to hear you had a less than stellar experience. Regarding the in app purchase, it's specified in the App Store that there is only one, and that it unlocks the entire game. Additionally when you are prompted to pay, it should display as "Unlock full game for $5.99". I'm sorry you found that confusing. The rest of the game is working as intended. Sometimes you can get unlucky. I think it's best to make peace with that. And regarding the economy, ultimately it's up to you if you feel excessive gathering is the best use of your time. You can't buy much with gold alone though since augments also require essences acquired from defeated enemies, and items (of which there are only 3 kinds) are capped at 5 each. Thank you for trying out the game.
Why can’t we load from within a game?
Also, if there are side quests, it would be great to have a quest log to be able to keep track of them. It would still be helpful as a reminder for the main quest as well if you go off somewhere and you forget what you need to do.
Response from developer
I didn't add loading from within the game since most people only use it after their players die, in which case they're returned to the main menu, and able to load from there. If more people request this it's something I'd consider adding though. And there aren't really any side quests, but if more people buy the game I could potentially add more content if they're interested. Thanks a lot for playing and reviewing the game. Your support is really appreciated!
