Drifting Lands

I will edit my review later, but I just think that this game, while flawed in unfortunate ways, and stubbornly irritating at times, is overall a bit underrated, especially at the current price.

Terribly boring. Nothing to do with any Diablo mechanics, just regular softcore "bullet hell" horizontal 2D shooter. But the worst part is missions like "drop items somewhere", it just stupid on so many levels!

When it first came out, the game didn't click with me. Now I can't get enough. The game really comes into its own when you start slotting in unique items. Their skill boosts/modifiers will introduce entire new play styles. Sometimes I am playing it like a traditional shmup, then my brain gets the Diablo loot drop buzz with the skill rotation as well. It pumps a lot of dopamine.

EDIT** I decided to change my review to recommend begrudgingly. All of my criticisms still stand regarding first impressions, but in light of the very low price and the replayability, if you like powercreep games with lots of upgrades and equipment options, with a rarety tier system, then you can't go wrong with this game, once you figure out the UI.... The following is my orginal review. I really want to recommend this game as much as I want to love it. But I don't. Too many glaring flaws that make you wonder what the devs were thinking. No button prompts anywhere. So you have to guess what your buttons do, in game and in the menus. Then you have to remember... You want to look at that item you picked up? Pressed x? Woops out the air lock... Want to pause the game? Hit select? Woops, retreat from level and no way to cancel.... just odd. Horrible decisions. I like grindy power creep games. I know what they are, and I know what the gimmick is and I am ok with it till I get bored. But this game seems like it is trying to annoy you with its obtuse mechanics and controls. Not to mention the level map system. I am not stupid person. I get confused sometimes because I expect things to be intuitive. But Why am I playing the beginner level over and over with no advancement? it says there are three, I thought I played all three beginner levels, but now 2 and 3 are locked again and I can only play 1....what is this? There are other things on the map but I dont know what they are, side missions or main progress? Can't tell. Since there is no explanation of what I am supposed to do. Its just half assed all over the place and the devs have obviously abandoned this game... Try it on a deep discount maybe.

Nel 2016 provai il demo di Drifting Lands, shoot’em up di stampo francese che si presentava stiloso grazie ad una grafica comic/minimalista e no, a parte per l’arte grafica non ne rimasi particolarmente entusiasta, complice anche il fatto che il suddetto demo ci vedeva destreggiare nelle prime fasi di gioco, ovvero quando la navetta ancora era così debole (è presente un’interessante fase di customizzazione) da poter difficilmente abbattere una qualsiasi di quelle nemiche. Luglio 2020, lo ritrovo a 3,99, un prezzo che inequivocabilmente dichiara sconfitta sul progetto che Alkemi si era messa in testa ai tempi del lancio, così in uno slancio di pietà lo accorpo all’acquisto di Sol Divide (classicone della Psikyo recentemente riapprodato su Steam) e mi prometto di rifare un tentativo.[b] Scrivo questa review a 21 ore di gioco con due certezze in testa riguardo questo titolo: 1) non merita di essere lasciato nel dimenticatoio (almeno da parte dei fanatici degli shoot’em up) 2) è comprensibile perché non abbia avuto il successo sperato: [/b] i primi passi, soprattutto quelli che riguardano la fase customizzazione e scelta missioni, sono un po’ troppo legnosi e si sposano inizialmente male con un genere che dovrebbe darci una certa fluidità di gioco, in più le armi a disposizione e i nostri nemici non è che “colpiscano” più di tanto ad una prima occhiata. Ma andiamo punto per punto. La navetta ha a disposizione varie skill (attive e passive) da impostare a scelta nell’hangar, luogo nel quale scaricherete i vari carichi/loot, che riporterete via via da ogni missione (ripetibili e sbloccabili via dialogo o semplicemente concludendole), e che potrete montare sulla vostra navetta (anch’essa rivendibile se si volesse optare per un mezzo con prestazioni diverse) o rivendere al mercato per crediti, utili a pompare le vostre stat primarie (Structure per la barra dell’energia, Navigation per la forza delle vostre armi, Power per l’efficacia delle varie skill). Le armi a disposizione (almeno in queste mie prime 20 ore) non brillano sicuramente per impatto visivo e ciò che lascia l’amaro in bocca è il fatto che, spesso e volentieri, le meno appariscenti sono le più efficaci, quindi se volete farvi un giro nei cieli con un classico spread gun (sparo triplo) o con un tipo di arma veloce/centrale preparatevi a lasciarvi sfuggire qualcuno o a prendervi un po’ più di tempo per concludere qualche livello. I nemici sono spesso stormi di navicelle robot in stile Darius (franchise storico della Taito che torna alla mente in qualche sfumatura nascosta qua e là), anche qui non il massimo dell’originalità e della varietà, ma nei primi quattro livelli di difficoltà delle missioni qualche accenno di cambiamento negli stormi nemici si è intravisto e ci sono state anche alcune boss fight abbastanza sane, quindi fino al decimo livello magari ci sono speranze. E poi c’è proprio questo, il fatto che, come ho da poco detto, ci siano ben 10 livelli di difficoltà per le missioni, fondamentali per concludere la campagna e, azzarderei a dire, forse un po’ troppi per mantenere viva la nostra attenzione fino a quel punto. Ultima nota, buona, per la colonna sonora, variegata dall’elettronica al rock e di perfetto accompagnamento durante i nostri voli. Quindi concludendo, consiglio Drifting Lands (a questo prezzo poi…), ma vi metto in guardia da un bilanciamento delle meccaniche di gioco non del tutto perfezionato (soprattutto nelle prime fasi) e da qualche scelta stilistica non del tutto digeribile se si è mono giapponesi nella concezione dello shoot’em up.

เคยเล่นเกมนี้เมื่อนานมาแล้ว ตั้งแต่สมัยตัวเกมยังพึ่งเริ่มพัฒนาแรกๆที่ยังไม่เข้าสตรีม (โหลดโจนสลัด) แล้วตั้งใจว่าถ้าเกมนี้เข้ามาขายในสตรีมก็จะอุดหนุนแน่นอน... แต่เวลาก็ผ่านไปนานจนลืม แล้วอยู่มาวันหนึ่งก็เจอเกมนี้เข้าโดยบังเอิญ เลยกดซื้อทันทีแบบไม่ต้องคิด... เป็นเรื่องน่าเสียดายที่เกมนี้ทำยอดขายได้ไม่ดีจน Dev. ตัดสินใจไม่พัฒนาต่อ. (แต่เกมก็เสร็จสมบูรณ์แล้วละนะ) Drifting Lands เป็นลูกผสมของ เกมยิงมุมมองด้านข้างแบบคลาสสิก กับ Action-RPG ที่ลงตัว. หากคุณต้องการเกมแนว Shoot'em'up ที่มีกลิ้นอายของ diablo ละก็ เราขอแนะนำเกมนี้เลย... (ซื้อเถอะ)

A very nice Shoot 'Em Up with Rogue & RPG mecanics ... & fcuikng good musics !

Je cherche encore où se trouve le coté shoot them up, il semblait pourtant bien mais là ça [strike]blast[/strike] tirouille mou c'est soporifique. Du coup désolé pour les développeurs mais je ne recommande pas ce jeu pour les amateurs de shmup. Sans aller dans le Danmaku, plus de blast, plus de burst, plus de woaw, plus d'épique lui ferait le plus grand bien à ce jeu

Pretty interesting twist of the shmup genre, with skills and itemisation inspired by Diablo. Sadly, the skills are very limited, both because only six can be active at a time (of which two must be passives) and because no two skills from the same tree can be equipped, so e.g. no "explosives" or "mines" builds. In total there are about 100 stages of increasing difficulty split across 10 "grades". The campaign lasts until grade 4, and the rest of the stages count as "post-game" to farm credits/items and hunt unique ship parts. The demo covers the first grade (i.e. until stage 10) and gives a good first look of the first enemy faction, while the full game offers two more. Overall, for 5 bucks, this game is a steal and should be checked out by anyone who wants an ARPG with a twist.

The concept is good, but need a lot more support. the lack of weapon preview in the hanger is a serious flaw. the ost is pretty good. game is somewhat repetitive, after you get a preferred setup you rarely need to change anymore, just get a bigger number. also the suicide attack of the enemy concept is in direct conflict with the principle of the game that want to you to get close and reap the reward.