Reviews for Relic

[kfunk]

I remember you!!!

I recognized your artwork almost immediately. It is very distinctive....and the fact that you reuse characters didn't hurt either. You were behind Hood (excellent game) and Guild Dungeons (great concept with terrible gameplay - sorry).

You are a very creative individual. Every game that you make is innovative in some way, and I am happy that I can watch you progress as a designer. What I love about your games is 1) great artwork 2) you actually attempt to provide your game with a story and 3) creativity/innovation. You are perfectly willing to ignore game tropes and come up with different spins on classic ideas. Guild Dungeons is a great example - you created a new type of game with three levels 1) City Upgrades 2) Dungeon Crawling 3) Interchangeable Leaders. The problem with Guild Dungeons was its playability - the economy made no sense and you had to click buttons (literally) thousands of times to trade goods. Personally, I think that you should have gametested GD much more than you did, and that you uploaded a buggy unfinished game. Sorry, you probably disagree, I am just giving my honest opinion.

For better or worse, I see all of the same qualities popping up in this game. Your artwork is top notch, and I like your drawing style. I particularly enjoy the fact that you came up with (or reused) several very distinctive characters, and liked the background imagery. You should also be lauded for coming up with several different types of animations/backgrounds/cut screens etc. The story in this game is probably the weakest of the three games, but there is no room for complaint. You actually provided a coherent plot with decent dialogue and there is a minor (but ultimately undeveloped) element of mystery. I know some of the other reviewers knocked you for not including character development, but (while it was simple) I personally enjoyed your story. The little descriptions that you gave every item is a testament to your creativity and the thought that you put into this game. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I think that your willingness to ignore rpg tropes such as inns, buying equipment, resting, and grinding should be applauded not attacked. Yes, the only way to heal is through potions, but I never found that to be an issue. It is not worse...it is different (and in some ways an improvement). Other than that, the rpg is fairly standard, but I did enjoy the beholder scout and did not mind having to search for treasure.

Once again though, playability is your achilles heel. Just as in GD, there are issues with buttons and a lack of hot keys. Thankfully, you at least do not have to click thousands of "plus signs" in this game. Overall, however, this game would be MUCH more fun if the buttons were made more intuitive. The issues are basically a bunch of little things. Having a "back" button in battle for example, having hot keys in battle, having your inventory be visible so that you can be sure that you have not forgotten to equip a piece of armor, etc. The fact that this game is buggy is another continuity with your previous work. I read about all of the issues that you are having (I fortunately did not have to press "Q" and hear the "horrible sound"). I must admit that I inadvertently benefited from freezing the boss, as noted below...made the game MUCH easier. Still, unlike GD this game was actually playable, and I enjoyed myself. Yay!

In sum, you are talented and creative, but in the future you should focus on making your games more playable and less buggy. I suggest intuitive controls that are hard to screw up and have all of the buttons people will want. Gametest your stuff before you submit it and edit whatever you have to edit to make it run smoothly. There is no reason why you can't combine creativity with workability. I am personally looking forward to your next submission.

Very Nice Job

[NamaneKeto]

This RPG is better then games I have actually paid to play.

However like others, I ran into similar problems. I happen to explore and check out everthing, which is how I stumlbed across how to save the game by finding the circle of white runes, standing in the center of it and then saved the game threw the menu. The beginning story was a bit chaotic to me and seemed to cut off as the theives attacked. Perhaps a tutorial spot before the girl leaves the temple would be a good idea. This way some of the basic's are covered. ( Like having to fight a moth or a bug to show you how to do the combat, Basic potion to use potions, skills, etc. )

The main characters have so much work put into them with there animations, slight hand gestures, poses and the moves they do with there attacks that I think the enemy's should also have the same deal going for them too. They just stand there, and kind of pulls away from the overall quality of the game.

For someone who isn't a very good programmer, you did a very good job on this game. The graphic's are great. Still working on defeating the game but after a few hours of playing, I do believe it is time for me to get some sleep. I would have given you a 5/5 if it weren't for the lack of animation for the enemy's. I used google chrome and the game didn't lag at all for me.

[BlackGoatBoy]

really a great game though its pretty simple. there is no bug whatsoever when i play the game. but i suggest you concentrate on continuing The Sagittarian series which is a lot of people like it, because i got a feeling that The Sagittarian series will be more success rather than your Hood series. anyway keep up the good art on your game and the good work of course...

[craziarteest]

Great Game!

The gameplay is pretty intuitive and the characters are well developed. I like that you use the same characters throughout all your games.

You already know about the spell choosing bug, and the freezing one. I'm playing in firefox and had issues.

My only other wish is that when you upgrade stats, you can reset them if you accidentally hit the wrong stat.

Awesome game

[chard1]

Fun game enjoyed the fast game play during combat made it seem like an actual battle instead of taking turns. Some of the problems I saw:
My character frozen 5-6 times. 4 of those times I was in the town not sure if that was the reason for the freezing.
My character would randomly get stuck going in the same direction and it took awhile to get it to reset so I could control her again. (I tried playing with the wasd and arrow keys)
Also in the town where the potion seller is there is a guy that looks like a blacksmith and even says if you need equipment to see him, there is no way to sell/buy anything from him. (not sure if you cant do that or if it was just my game)
Some suggestions:
Have health/stamima recharge via lvl ups or over time. (that proved annoying later in the game)
more missions/background for the characters. example why was Coal so determined to take this mission? And how did the smuggler know him, when the smugglers boss did not.
Add a purpose for the floating eye (forgot what it was) other than holding the light in the cave. maybe make it so it can collect items that you cannot reach or travel back to town to sell/buy items something like that.

All in all I think this is a good game that has the potential to be a great game with a possible series. Keep up the great work.