Aldroy - Chapter 1

[h1]Overview[/h1] [b]Aldroy - Chapter 1[/b] is a turn-based RPG set in a fantasy world. The Aldroy, a species with great innate talent for harnessing magic, have always used this ability to explore the world and cast powerful spells. Eventually, a proper academy forming up mages was instituted. You will impersonate one of these very candidates, sent by your teachers to a long and difficult quest acting as entrance exam for the prestigious school of magic, across various worlds full of dangers. 🟩 [b]Pros[/b] [list] [*]The visuals / art style are simple but suit well a fantasy setting, and are overall pleasant. [*]Spell crafting mechanic is interesting to use. [*]Decent soundtrack. [/list] 🟥 [b]Cons[/b] [list] [*]Extremely limited gameplay loop with minimal variety of activities. [*]Combat is boring, unrewarding, with fights playing out too similarly every time. [*]Major game design flaws cripple the experience even further. [*]Terrible optimization, using a staggering amount of resources for the graphics provided. [*]Uninteresting, anonymous story with a generic setting and mediocre writing. [/list] [h3]Rating: Terrible[/h3] [url=https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1989090445]Click here for the complete Rating Chart[/url] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2113312928 Let's start from the few positive things about Aldroy. First of all the visual aspect and art direction of this title are not bad: even if simple by today's standards they manage to create an environment, characters, creatures that suit well a fantasy setting. Also the soundtracks are decent enough for an indie game and result pleasant. The spell crafting mechanic that allows you to combine diverse spells to have new effects, elements or just stronger versions is quite nice and interesting to use. Now onto the much greater bad sides of the game. The main problem with this title is one: boredom. Aldroy was very possibly the most boring game i have played in 20 years of gaming, i am not joking here. The cause of this is found in how limited the gameplay loop is and the combination of this factor with major game design oversights. It all boils down to a repetitive grind where you'll find yourself traversing the same areas each time, fight the low variety enemies for miserable rewards, with a level-up system that doesn't feel rewarding in the least, while pathetically tries (and fails) to mimic Dark Souls' XP system. The combat uses a system similar to Final Fantasy's ATB gauge, which translates into a bit more dynamic turn system compared to classical. This however doesn't make it any more exciting, since every fight is a copy, of a copy of a copy, with enemies varying in shape or attacks but playing out in the exact same way: a trade of blows without any tactics to it where who has the highest DPS and/or resistance wins. The fact enemies have unlimited mana opposed to your very limited one is a design train wreck. The fact fast travel is one-way and you need to backtrack each time all the way to a location is an unexplained, disastrous choice as well, adding even more to the repetition and tedium. [b]Overall Aldroy is honestly an alienating, devastatingly boring experience that has one of the most unrewarding, boring gameplay loops i have ever seen to date. The various design problems and lack of variety form a "perfect storm" this game cannot escape from. Priced at 6,59€, I have not finished this game to preserve my mental sanity so i can't tell you how long it is, what I CAN tell you is to avoid it like the plague.[/b] [quote]Liked this review, and want to see more of the same quality? Check out [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/39323490]Tamaster's Review Archive[/url] to see all my Reviews in a single, convenient location.[/quote] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2113312861 [h1]In-Depth Breakdown[/h1] 🎮 [b]Gameplay Analysis[/b] The gameplay is divided into Exploration, Character Management, Combat and Quests. [b]Exploration[/b] Is performed always on foot. The map is divided into tiles, each with a fixed camera angle. You can move your character at constant speed through each, while being on the lookout for the sporadic hidden chest containing a few consumables each time. Each zone is very static and other than these few chests does not have anything else interesting, save for the rare spell altars only found in dungeons. Dungeons have shortcuts you can activate once reaching a certain point, so next time you'll have less ground to cover. Fast travel is possible but only one-way through a Red crystal, and not the other way around, which is a disastrous choice adding a huge amount of backtracking. [b]Character Management[/b] Can be done at Crystals, acting as checkpoints, workbenches and healing posts all-in-one. In various menu panels you'll be able to manage your spell roster and also combine up to two spells together to create a different one. Spells are found in dungeons or rewarded by quests, and generally you will find new ones rarely. Having to continue with the same one or two spells for many hours adds more to the tedium. Other panels at a crystal allow you to assign consumables to slots. The level-up screen allows you to assign stats to various attributes, whose effects are not explained anywhere so it's a guessing game, for a cost in "Souls" (XP). Talismans, used to replenish health and mana while traveling, can also be upgraded in capacity and potency if you have the correct crystal fragments to do so, also found in dungeons usually or from bosses. [b]Combat[/b] Plays out in a turn-based fashion, with a gauge at the bottom of the screen indicating how long remains until the next spell cast for you or the enemy. There is no movement, just spell casting with a 100% hit chance every time, and in some cases inflicting status effects at random. Each spell will cost you Mana to cast, which can only be regained at crystals or by using your talismans, which have very limited charges. There are balance issues such as enemies having unlimited mana therefore being allowed to spam healing spells without restrictions. If you run out of mana you need to go back to a Crystal to recharge, using the Teleport function in battle at any time to save yourself. Rewards from combat are miserable as there are no equipment types or weapons, while spells are never given out by enemies - it's a huge grind to even make one level, with enemies of several levels below you still being a threat in terms of mana consumption - as zero mana means death or backtracking. Combat is a really bland and dull affair that gets turn-based battles and player rewards completely wrong, annihilating any enjoyment or sense of accomplishment under a mountain of repetition. [b]Quests[/b] Are very basic assignments that mostly consist in killing a number of specified enemies. They are all given at the quest board at any outpost and awarded immediately upon completion. Some quests have a different topic, such as one involving a magic duel tournament, but it all boils down to the same thing really, defeating X enemies of this or that type. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2113312971 [b]Technical[/b] [u]PC Specs: RTX2080Ti, Ryzen 3900X, 32GB RAM DDR4[/u] [b]Critical Problems:[/b] None. [b]Optimization:[/b] Bad. 70%+ GPU usage in 1440p 60FPS, totally unjustified given the simple graphics. [b]Performance:[/b] Runs without issues in 1440p, 85hz. [b]Bugs:[/b] Elevators can get your character stuck in the ground forever while going up. [b]Other issues:[/b] None. [h1]Final Thoughts[/h1] Aldroy is a very flawed RPG without a clear identity that tries to mix up many gameplay concepts from other games but fails spectacularly, boiling down to an atrociously boring train wreck. [i]This game was reviewed using a free key[/i]