Okay, well, to start off, I liked the game. The concept was good, the art was nice, and the music was energetic. But there were a few things that really bothered me about this game. The first was the whole "Lifespan" deal. While it's an interesting idea, the problem for me was that the cost for the soul shrines kept going up, usually bankrupting me while I was trying to save for an armor or weapon upgrade. Second, the monsters got really strong really fast so that you NEEDED the higher upgrades, which you couldn't afford because the lifespan recharge was bankrupting you and the monsters didn't drop enough cash. Third, the fact that you only have one item slot and three items that are super important kind of bothered me. This makes the game challenging, but it was frustrating when I had a Divine Edge but I had to buy an Elixir to heal myself and then a dragon appeared in the next encounter.
Fourth, the shops needed to be more regularly spaced. While I understand the randomness of it adds to the challenge, the fact that two soul shrines or two elixir shops were right next to each other made me a little annoyed.
Overall, I enjoyed it, it's a very smooth game and extremely addicting. But it does have some kinks to be worked out.
3.5/5
Reviews for "Trigger Knight"
The concept of the game is good. At least in my experience, this is the first of its kind. It makes me want to play it over and over again, but I stopped at the 3rd run. I find that the mechanics of the game need heavy adjustment.
The Lifespan system is to me the game's greatest flaw. Money plays the most important factor in this game, and Lifespan is robbing players off their money. Monsters drop very little amount of money, in comparison to the amount that the players need.
And then the curve of Monster's strength against the Heroine's upgrade. Our upgrades seemed so pathetic, the opponents are dishing out more damage than the strongest sword the heroine can have.
The item slot is another big issue for me. There are a total of 3 items that the player can get in the game an Elixir [Fully recovers your HP], Divine Edge [Multiplies your damage by a lot], and Gold Vouchers [The money you receive from the enemy you defeat is X10]. All these are one-time-use.
Elixir is important as what keeps the heroine alive is her Lifespan and HP, either one diminishes, she dies. That's why this item is so important, and it's not cheap!
Divine Edge will save your life against Dragon, seriously that's the only useful function it has, except on rare occasions. From what I can see, this is the only way to kill a dragon. By the way, Dragon appears randomly after the 10th Day. Now you see why this item is important?
Gold Vouchers if you want to succeed in this game, you need this item! As I mentioned before, killing enemies does not give players enough money to maintain themselves, let alone think about upgrading! The heroine is struggling just to not die! With Gold Vouchers, it will give you substantial amount of money to the the very much needed upgrade and keep the heroine alive.
Which of these 3 is the most important? All of them are! They are the key to your life and death, the game however only allows one to be carried at all times. There are way too many scenarios where the heroine would die unjustly.
And for future players to know, your level does not do anything that would help you on your journey. As far as I know, it only increases your score multiplier, I don't feel satisfied having higher scores when my character keeps dying out like that.
3 Stars are given as the concept is very much appealing to me, however the game mechanics need to be fine tuned. The enemies are too overwhelming even for a fully upgraded heroine.
its fun but a little frustrating as far the flow of the game goes. if you could at least carry more than one elixir i think it'd be a bit better.
At first I thought this game was going to be all style and no substance, but I was surprised by the amount of depth I found in it.
At it's heart this is a resource management game. You're basically managing when to buy and when not to buy. The randomization of monsters and stores helps add tension but at times I feel it's a double edged sword.
It's one thing not knowing what you'll face next, it's quite another when the game hardly ever gives you any attack upgrades which forces you to spend all your money on armor and potions to maintain your health. Or maybe the game makes you face a dragon only 2 minutes in, an impossible encounter unless you happen to have the divine edge, or worse it never gives you a soulshrine.
The luck aspect of the game needs to be tightened up a bit, either that or introduce a way for the player to change their situation in the face of bad odds.
P.S: I'm a sucker for cute anime characters.
Trigger Knight, as a game, is fun. The whole concept is interesting, not exactly new, but has enough that it's pretty entertaining. However, there are a number of problems with it, which have been mentioned in other reviews. They are:
Lifespan is the cheapest way to drain your money or kill you that I've come across. Not only does it not make any real sense, but with each Soulshrine use, the cost goes up by 70 gold. That's even more than the armor and weapon growth by day, and it adds up too quickly to cope with unless you plan on using vouchers. The actual tools which you should be focusing on to stay competitive are overshadowed by a silly system whose spacing is too random to be reliable.
Battles are also too luck-based. I've died on more than one occasion by the Lifespan running out because the player and enemy decide to stand around for a good 20 seconds. Maybe the player has a chance to order a dodge or double-attack if they have a good reaction time (signified by red flash on the screen that lasts a second or two)? Also, the dragons literally require a Divine Edge to defeat, or at least high-grade armor and weapons with an Elixir, and start coming far too early to manage without aforementioned "cheap" and random item. Perhaps make a specific day, like the 15th, Dragon/Boss Day so you will know when dragons start appearing, and can prepare accordingly. After said dragons, when we'll probably be in near-death range unless a Divine Edge was used, in which case it shouldn't have an effect, put an elixir shop so we aren't immediately killed by the next enemy.
Certain shops that have obviously been randomized need to have useful spacing. An elixir shop when I already have elixir is a wasted shop, and same for all other items; 2 Soulshrines next to each other is redundant, but lifespan shouldn't be used in the first place; Armor and Weapon shops when I've already fully upgraded are wastes of space, so maybe Weapon shops become other places to use the vouchers or Divine Edge shops, and Armor shops become hospitals where they restore most of your health?
Those are the big complaints. Graphics and audio were pretty good, and the idea was very cool. Just make the game playable as a game, not as a frustration source.