Alright well I'm back with my small report.
I've been waiting for this game since I first heard about it, so I may seemed biased but I still went at the demo with a watchful idea for anything that I felt seemed missing. I will leave the story out of the review and just touch on the mechanics and game play.
The character creation is your typical P&P character sheet where you can roll and modify your character (Called PC [player character] from now on.) It's not the same sheet were all used though. The way your PC title is defined is by a selection of three options, the end result giving you an idea of what you basically are:
Origin - This is similar to a Race choice, but these are just human sub-races. Each choice gives a short description and the attribute benefits.
Axion - the Axion is your PC's belief system and will also give you a short description followed by that beliefs advantages or disadvantages.
Class - This is your PC's profession if you will, I say pick one that will be your main way through the game and if you need more just add skills later.
There is a gender box in the right upper corner of the screen, this option cannot be changed and you are forced to play as a male . I believe the story is based around a male character. This didn't bother me much but some may have a problem with it.
The isometric view works out great, there's nothing wrong with it at all, you never lose your PC behind anything as you can always see his head poping out or a limb or two through branches. The graphics are clean and pretty crisp given it's native 800 x 600 resolution, the particle effects are really astonishing as well. I never found myself squinting at the screen and wondering if I was looking at a dagger, fish, or an iron bolt. Although paper dolling isn't 100% accurate but they did a good job showing what your PC is wearing.
The menu system is pretty easy you have your main screen displaying your current adventure, to the right is your automap, which will only be scribed upon if you have at least 1 skill point in cartography, the more points the better a map. Zero skill points means you have to bust out your own pencil and paper or remember where you are mentally. It's not too hard to remember the zones as they are not huge by any means but it does help. The button are self explanatory, as is the message box. The bottom right is your quick inventory slots, think of it as your belt. Although unlike in other games 1-0 do not relate to the slots but to quick binds for spells.
The PC is controlled by holding the left mouse button down and pointing in one of the eight directions you can move. Some people may grow tired of all the fingering (don't we all) and might want a point and click system. While this option is not available you can how ever use mouse button 3 (for me it was the scroll wheel click) to turn on "lock movement" this turns the cursor green alerting you it's in lock mode and your PC will travel which ever direction you point him in with no other action needed. There is no running per say in the game but I'm guessing your speed attribute might effect that, maybe giving you more movements per turn than weaker enemies.
Interactive objects are easily spotted with a change in the cursor graphic. When it's a NPC it will change in to a little talk box, an enemy will give you a red circle around the target, and items such as chests, doors, and such will illuminate when the cursor is over them. Clicking items from a distance will give you a quick description about them and usually tell you to get closer for more info or to interact.
When you find a new important location in the game you get a fast travel option for that zone. You can quickly move from one part of the map to another just with a click of the mouse, once again for some people the time spent traveling is part of the gaming experience and should not be given a simple shortcut, but only certain important areas are quick travel'able.
The combat is well done and holds true tot he "old school" way of walking up into a bad guys face and going at them, or unleashing some arrows from a distance before being noticed. Enemies usually make a certain sound when they spot you or realize where an attack is coming from. Then the normal click-to-kill beings. You can use a variety of strategy to defeat your foes though not everything is stand around and click. I haven't tried magic yet though other than blessings so I have not input on that.
One interesting combat aspect I noticed was the hide in shadows and silent skills. I was crawling through a underground cellar looking for a prized object left there by a local townsman unable to reclaim it. I found myself pitted against two stronger than normal beasts. I led one of them out into a hall way and plucked arrows into it's body, the last arrow had killed the beast but I had one more to slay. I needed a new strategy in order defeat this foul creature that didn't require my trusty arrows (you cannot pickup fired arrows)I moved into the room and lit my touch, gaining it's attention it moved towards me. I backed into a narrow hallway extinguished my torch and stayed tight against the wall giving me a "hidden in shadows" bonus. As the creature passed me unnoticed I took a swing at it from my hidden position scoring a decent hit on it, but reveling myself at the same time. Moving my character further down the hallway near a wall regained my hidden in shadows skill active once again. I continued this move until I was able to slay it. If I would have fought it face to face with a lit torch he would have defeated me quite quickly.
Like I stated earlier I wont touch on the story but it moves along in your quest book, other quests are placed in here as well. Relating back to the old school method of quests you are not given an all knowing big red arrow holding your hand through the quest and then back home. Instead you are given the crucial information you have gathered about this task and have to see to the rest on your own.
All in all I enjoyed the demo very much and this new developer will be receiving a purchase from me very soon. It's too bad 2D RPGs have long been abandoned as this is a work of art that deserves to be sitting on a store shelf, I would recommend this game to any body who enjoys playing through an exciting story, great gameplay with a touch back on the old school ways of cRPGs that have long since passed. If you're looking for a new Dungeon hack or something to that effect look elsewhere as this requires a lot of dialog that must be read in order to understand the present situations and history of the game world.
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