Azarine Heart

Alright. I think it's time to offer some Early Access impressions for [i]Azarine Heart[/i] in its current state. [b]I did receive this license via our IndieGems Curator program[/b] and will update this periodically, and especially once it sees its full release. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3187097348 My overall impressions are very positive. This is very much an Elder Scrolls game if the Elder Scrolls games were made using RPGMaker and was isometric. This is really cool in my opinion. The game is real time with opening the menu effectively functioning as a pause button, which will be familiar to Elder Scrolls fans. I've been playing on my Steam Deck, and this is probably where your experience may vary. The game has a lot of control prompts, which is better suited to k/m, but with some control mapping, this can be playable with a gamepad/Deck. It does however require some work on the player's part. If you check the game's forum, you'll see this was a concern of the developer's, that it might be difficult to properly adapt the controls to a controller, and I'd say it's 50/50. The developer offered a control layout he thought might work, and I've been playing around with control mapping as well. It's not quite there yet, but the basics of gameplay via a controller have been sorted out. I'm happy to share what I've got mapped out that I think works so far. [b]Consider this a work in progress if you intend to play with a gamepad. If you're using k/m, you're definitely good to go as is.[/b] I will also note that I haven't really played around with mapping spells or special abilities yet. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3187098045 The gameplay itself is pretty addictive. Combat can be very unforgiving, but it can also be incredibly easy. Why? Because you can definitely be under or over leveled for certain areas, and enemies have stamina meters just like the player does so far as I can tell. Meaning stun locking is a thing in this game. Ultimately, combat is all about assessing your abilities relative to an enemy's, and deciding if it's better to fight or flee. Related to this, you can manually save anytime anywhere so far as I've seen. You know the drill. Save often. There is a companion system and you can have multiple companions at a time depending on circumstances. I haven't really dialed in the controls for this on gamepad, but the system itself is really cool. With both your character and companions, progression is handled via leveling up, raising abilities, and of course upgrading gear. And gear does factor in heavily. There is a lot of loot in Azarine Heart, and managing both what you have equipped and your general encumbrance is important. You do slow down a lot when over encumbered. I do think some tweaks to the encumbrance system can be made. Especially as it pertains to crafting materials. They take up too much space as it currently is set up. Speaking of which, there is of course foraging and crafting in this game, from potions to weapons and armor. I've been making use of the potion crafting a lot so far. The graphics are cool. If you've seen an RPGMaker game, this won't hold any surprises for you. It is very much that. The sounds of the game are similarly familiar. There are of course bugs that pop up from time to time. The developer is incredibly responsive and very quick to address these, so you really just need to be willing to report them. There are also definite pathing issues where enemies get stuck on walls or can't figure out how to get around obstacles. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3187097459 Right now, the game is in a very playable state and is a lot of fun. The developer is attentive and responsive. The premise of the game is really cool. The non sale price is incredibly competitive at $3.99. There is a ton of content here for a real bargain price. And I note that it's only $1.99 during this current Spring Sale on Steam. I'd like to see more people playing this, personally. Give it a look. [code]If you found this review helpful and would be interested in supporting my Curator group, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32549618/]Robilar's Reviews[/url], it would be appreciated. Cheers.[/code] [code]Also follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]IndieGems[/url] for more reviews like this one.[/code]

Azarine Heart is a very ambitious game that takes after western RPGs such as Morrowind and is as vast as you would expect, given it's inspiration. There are a cavalcade of races, classes and sub-classes, each with unique skills and benefits, and each level-up grants points that can be plugged into your stats such as increased HP, physical strength, magic, etc, and unlike most games, you can refund these points and disperse them into entirely different stats. Encounters are not done in the traditional RPG Maker turn-based system, but rather are done on the map, with hotkey's that can be set for whatever skill you desire. You are able to guard, swing a weapon, cast spells and there's even a backdash to avoid enemy attacks, which also can be abused for quick map movement without relying on the sprint button if you're in the speedrunning mood. There are random encounters on the overworld map, but you can easily escape from them by walking to the edge of the map. If you are into expansive fantasy worlds with tons to explore, Azarine Heart is definitely right up your alley. There's an almost overwhelming amount of things to do in this game. I played for almost two hours and I didn't even scratch the main story in the slightest and was just distracted by checking out the world. It seems like every NPC has some sort of secret or quest for you to complete and I would wager that if 10 people played this game for an hour, they would all have wildly different experiences due to how wide open the game is. As of this writing, there are a few glitches to be ironed out, such as rooms that cannot be exited (which ended my run since I saved within the room, oops!), but the developer is very responsive and that particular bug has been patched. As another reviewer mentioned, the game resolution is quite small, which makes certain numbers and text unreadable, and the game in fullscreen lagged a bit, though it ran buttery smooth in it's native resolution. If you choose an unga bunga class like I did, your only way to heal will be to run back to a town with an inn, hope an enemy dropped a potion or pray to a deity of choice that you have enough materials to make a potion, because you ain't learning any healing spells anytime soon. There are also certain features from the Elder Scroll series like encumberment from carrying too many items, preventing sprinting, and an agility bar that limits how long you can sprint for that I personally wasn't a fan of, but these are the only mars in a game that I had quite a blast exploring.

This game offers loads of game play and a unique story. Most people see an RPG Maker game and chose not to play it; acting like its the end of the world or something. Though there are certain games that stand out. This game had time and love put into the creation of it and it resulted in an entertaining game with an equally as entertaining story. I would recommend if you like role playing games that center around a story, you give this one a try. The main story focuses around the main character - you! - trying to find your sister, who has been kidnapped. You get to chose your character's race, gender, and class. The game features an active battle system, with a wide range of enemies and encounters. And, of course, along the way of saving your sister, you can join factions, gain new followers, complete quests for money, and buy a house if you wanted! Anyway, I enjoyed the game and I suggest you give it a shot too!

It's a good Rpg maker game and an okay game overall. The map is really big and the art is decent. The tiles are nice to look at, better than the generic ones. I think the combat was kinda clunky but it wasn't bad. Its not the turn based combat that most Rpg maker games have. There's a lot to do, and lots of people to talk to. Some of the quests need to be more clear in the journal and the notebook isn't updating and that's kinda annoying. I'll probably keep playing, I haven't touched the main story yet.

Very fun! I enjoyed the spells and the story. I LOVED that the roads were safe and could be traveled on without random encounters. I'm excited to play more and see where the story goes.

Not personally a fan, as I don't like Skyrim, but if you did, this would really scratch that itch. Well thought out and obviously has a lot of time put into it. Only complaint would be the size of everything. I use VX Ace, so I'm familiar with the graphical limitations, but some of the text was borderline unreadable.

While not having too much playtime (I played earlier versions before the Steam version) I can already say this game is brillant. As an RPG Maker developer myself Im able to tell how much effort, time and pure dedication have gone into this game. You can explore a vast open world, put together your own playing style by race and class and encounter a ton of different NPCs, many of them with their own stories and subquests. A must have for fans of classic DnD like fantasy. When it comes to gameplay Azarine Heart is even more impressive. It features a Legend of Zelda a Link to the Past like combat system in real time with options to hot key your actions. This is not a regular RPG Maker game!

The Dev is always working on this game. I work with him personally and i can tell you....he wont stop talking about this game haha. Its a great game altogether. He came up with the lore himself and wanted to bring a game that had depth, story and purpose over a lot of today's' modern run of the mill. There's hidden humor and every day life meanings in the play through that are meant to make you think while you're immersed in your role. Its worth the play and with his future updates he has planned there will be a lot of improvements coming. He's put a lot of time into trying to bring back the reason we all fell in love with video games as kids because in today's world of cha-ching, you dont find much wholesome value.

This game has a lot of potential. The solo dev who is crafting this game has been putting a lot of work into it. The atmosphere of the world is excellent and I have really enjoyed the lore entries I have read so far and what NPCs have shared. There's much to explore any many individuals to meet. I romanced a character. Became chief of a village. And recruited a few companions. There's no handholding for the main quest, side quests, or acquiring companions(i.e. markers on the map or exclamation points over NPC heads). The realtime combat system for this game is also quite good. Though I feel there is room for more balancing. Particularly when it comes to blocking which feels a little overpowered. I think a block meter would be a great way to prevent spamming of the block action. The physical skill resource meter could potentially also be used to throttle blocking. There have also been bugs. However the developer is quick to fix game breaking bugs when you post about them in the Discord. He has done so 2-3 times for me so far. And he improved the smoothness of the magic targeting system which was initially a little laggy. I also really appreciated the storage system that he put into the game at the request of myself and a few others. Overall I am very happy with my purchase and would recommend this to anyone who likes playing indie isometric ARPGs like Secrets of Grindea, Arcane Vale, Hunt The Night, Indemon Tales, Rum & Gun, etc...

Questo gioco mi è stato regalato dallo sviluppatore (che ringrazio ancora oggi) purtroppo però non l'ho potuto giocare come avrei voluto per via della difficoltà che ho avuto a seguire un gioco completamente in inglese (avrei dovuto arrivarci da sola che conoscendo questa lingua in maniera molto scolastica, avrei avuto questo problema, ma sono stupida) sicuramente ha un forte potenziale e sono curiosa di vederlo uscire nella sua forma definitiva (se poi in futuro verrà presa in considerazione l'idea di aggiungere altre lingue, tra cui l'italiano, sarei felice di riprovarlo) Forse l'unica cosa che non mi ha fatto impazzire, è stata la modalità di combattimento adesso non so se per via della mia incapacità (molto probabile) ma sembrava che i nemici con due colpi mi uccidessero invece io dovevo tipo tirarne 5-6 per farli fuori (però non so se è un problema di sbilanciamento del gioco... se il personaggio non aveva i requisiti per affrontare quella zona perché ancora troppo debole ecc.) E' un gioco comunque da tenere d'occhio.