City of the Shroud

I got a good feeling from the very beginning, when as soon as I got into the City and a monster portal opened, a sketchy old man said, "Quick, down this sketchy-looking alley to safety!" I laughed through the whole introduction. The writing is witty without taking itself seriously, and the setting is fresh, as is the combat system. The combo-based system may ultimately prove not as deep as other combat-heavy games, but it's smooth, streamlined, and a blast to use. TBH, I'm mostly playing for the story and writing, with the combat system as a fun bonus.

Honestly, I came for the story story (I’m a fan of Moira Katson’s writing). I’ve avoided online gaming, because I was afraid that it would be addicting… this one definitely is!! I really appreciated the use of storyline to advance learning how to play the game! the witty repartee, and the characters make learning how to play. It’s worked well enough that I can coordinate attacks & defense with 4 characters, so I call it a success!! 5 stars!

Combat seems like it could get interesting, but I'm not interested in the visual novel aspect of the game to continue playing at this time. I may come back to it with a different mindset. As for now, I'll recommend the game. In the midst of the massive indie scene, it's easy for games to be overlooked upon release. Thank you for all of the effort you put into this game and the frequent kickstarter updates.

[h1]City of the Shroud Review By, Z-Nation[/h1] [b]Summary: [/b] City of the Shroud is a Realm Time combat Visual Novel that sets you as a peasant just looking for work but finds himself fighting monsters that come from the other side of the wall. Your job is to teach surrounding humans the Tactical combat to fight off the Dark Monsters together. In this easy combat RPG, you'll find great graphics and amazing surrounding views but will miss the ability of Hearing throughout your journey. [b]Pros: [/b] [list] [*] Graphics for the game are pretty neat and easy to look at. [*] Sound of the game is soothing since its the only thing you're hearing instead of voices. [*] The different types of areas throughout the game & the different characters you'll see and fight definitely bring a bright light to this game to shine off most of the Cons. [/list] [b]Cons: [/b] [list] [*] Having no Voice Acting in the game can make the dialog a bit boring having to read (Some of it) and just click the Continue button over & over again. [*] Has a bit of a Repetitive system with the Combos, It seems like it could get a little more complex later game if you get more moves but, at the end, it's just a little to easy of a Combo move system. [*] Having No camera control is a little weird but not surprising with the type of game it is but, the game sticking to one corner isn't ideal. [/list] [b]Final Words: [/b] At the end, City of the Shroud is a great looking game. I did enjoy it and I do enjoy games like this but, the lack of control and voice system to get yourself more into this "Story Rich" game, its not enough to just have graphics. I hope this review and others alike, can carve the devs a new path to add a few more features, so I just might make my way back to the Shroud to see what is in store. [table] [tr] [th]Review[/th] [th]Score[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]Gameplay[/td] [td]6.3/10[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Sound[/td] [td]6/10[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Graphic[/td] [td]8/10[/td] [/tr] [/table] https://youtu.be/Bpc0B6haSCA

Great Game

If you like a game with intuitive controls and a good story, City of the Shroud is for you. It's a well-conceived, immersive experience - definitely one of the best indie games I've played. It starts with about a one hour pseudo-tutorial to get you familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of all the classes. These are linked with the story to get you hooked and coming back for more. Once you learn the basics, you're set loose on the city. The rest is up to you.

There are many things that make City of the Shroud unlike any game I have played before. The first and most obvious is the combat. When you start off with only one character it seems simple, but when you add in a full party against a full party it gets fast paced and requires a lot of cordination and timing. The power gem system is unique, alowing you to combo abilities and specialize characters that make each classs have many different playstles. My favorite part of the game so far has been the artwork, music, and writing however. The artistic style is gorgeous, with beautifully rendered characters and backdrops. The music is simplistic by catchy and does not make me want to mute it unlike many other background scores. And the writing. The writing. It is charming, funny, and pulls you into the city of Iskendrun. The most compelling part of the game for me, however, is the online Global Faction Balance. Players get to choose one of the 5 factions early in the game, and by playing and supporting their faction it changes who has control of the city. The developers plan on using this balance to influence future chapters of the game based on who is ahead and who is behind. I highly recommend CotS to anyone who loves story-driven rpgs and tactical combat.

I played through chapter one over the course of a couple of days. The game has a fair amount of story in the form of dialog that is sometimes serious and sometimes cheeky, but regardless seems to be based in a well thought out world. The tutorial for the game is built into the first few encounters and this made it easy for me to learn. As the game progressed I was able to customize my party in a number of different ways including composition, stat bonuses, skills, and cosmetics. I didn't spend too long trying to figure out how to min/max my team as I felt that normal mode was fairly easy, especially since you can pause and give commands while in an encounter. I have not tried the online multiplayer but would be interested in doing so if I don't have to unlock gems/skills through story mode first. Overall it was money well spent and I plan to play the second chapter.