Fabrication

[b]My playtime:[/b] 10:31:54 (based on in-game clock, 100% achievement) [b]Grindy Achievement(s):[/b] No. [b]Optional Achievement(s):[/b] Yes (~34 achievements). [b]Difficult Achievement(s):[/b] No. [h1]Intro[/h1] [b]Fabrication[/b] is a prequel to [b][url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/761280/]White Pearl[/url][/b], an RPG Maker game made by [b]Harry Gill[/b]. I haven't got the chance to play [b]White Pearl[/b] yet, although I have been meaning to for a long time. Luckily, the store page mentioned that I didn't have to play [b]White Pearl[/b] before starting this game, so I decided to try the game out of curiosity. [b]Pros:[/b] - A lot of side quests to complete, trackable with quest tracker - Basic combo system to give more action in combat [b]Cons:[/b] - Confusing story - A lot of bugs, one being a major, game-breaking bug [h1]Should you buy this game?[/h1] [b]Yes.[/b] [i]If you like to play an ordinary RPG Maker game that offers no challenge, buy it whenever it's extremely discounted.[/i] [hr][/hr] [h1]In-Depth Review[/h1] [h1]Graphics[/h1] Default RPG Maker assets are heavily used in this game, mixing assets from both the newer engine and the engine in which the game was made. Some portraits look different from each other because of this, especially since the newer engine's portraits are sharper than the old ones. Despite the game introducing 3 districts in the game, all districts are very small and empty. There are only 1 or 2 other areas besides the city in each district, giving an impression that you live in a small world. The indoors is also lazily done with a huge space with nothing in it. Moreover, one of the maps looks similar to another RPG Maker game that I have played, although I'm not sure whether it's because both developers were using the same mapping tutorial or not. [h1]Story[/h1] "Confusing" is what I would use to describe the story. The game tends to reveal a random fact out of nowhere or concluded something that doesn't make sense based on the given facts. It might be because of the poor wording, especially if you consider some sentences that need to be proofread for their grammar and typo, but I didn't expect that a game at this price has worse quality than most cheaper RPG Maker games that I have played. Offering a summary after completing the first few chapters might sound like a good idea, but it also means that the game isn't doing a good job of explaining the story. Moreover, the summary gives more information than what was happening, giving an impression that the developer was missing some details and couldn't convey his thoughts through the cutscenes properly. This heavily affects the last 2 chapters which don't have summaries in them. Everything becomes more confusing as the game reveals new facts out of nowhere - I had to convince myself to understand the story to keep going. [h1]The Game[/h1] [b]Features[/b] Despite having many features, most features that were introduced are very shallow or not heavily used. Take the crafting system for example. I never touched it until the very end of the game to craft my ultimate weapons and armors, and despite the game allowing me to craft other gear types, most of them don't give a significant stat boost either. Meanwhile, other features such as relationship level and fishing are only used at a certain point of the game, making them feel useless. [b]Quests[/b] Side quests are abundant throughout the game. Most of them are time-limited, meaning that you have to finish them before activating a certain main quest. It was fun doing them, because not only do they give an excuse to explore unexplored areas, but they also give decent rewards, with some of them being the ultimate weapons. All side quests are trackable through the menu, although it was hard to navigate due to its slow cursor speed. [b]Combat[/b] Some additional mechanics make the combat different from other RPG Maker games. [i]Team Attacks[/i] is a unique skill that requires a certain party member in the party. Combo system is also available on some skills where you need to press a certain button when the skill is triggered to chain more attack to the skill, sometimes leading you to deal an attack finisher. Although it works better to make the combat more alive, it still feels stiff, especially considering that you just need to press all buttons that you need right away. The game has a high encounter rate, although luckily, there aren't many places where you have to fight enemies. There were only 2-3 areas that are infested with monsters and you don't have to worry about leveling up since the game caps your level in each chapter. However, normal enemies can also kill your party members in one turn without you doing anything, forcing you to save often. Bosses, on the other hand, are very easy to beat. The bosses that I had a problem with were those that were on the first few chapters of the game, where I was lacking healing skills. Most bosses have the same mechanics where you have to figure out their elemental weaknesses and defend whenever needed. Every fight is boring and repetitive although it won't be a problem if you like to play games like this. [b]Length and Difficulty[/b] I finished the game in ~10h based on the in-game clock. My playtime on Steam was way more than this since there was a time when I tried to redo the game from a certain chapter since I thought I missed something. Some idle time was also registered when the game didn't allow for me to save in the first dungeon and I was forced to leave the game running due to other important business. The game isn't difficult at all apart from some occasions where I had to reset the game due to bad RNG. Strangely, F12, the button that is used to reset RPG Maker games, is buggy in this game, forcing me to reset the game manually. [b]Problems[/b] The game has a major bug where the game will freeze if you finish the battle with [i]Team Attacks[/i], discouraging its use. The bug has been acknowledged by the developer months ago although the developer claimed that it won't be fixed due to their lack of knowledge of fixing it. A lot of [url=https://steamcommunity.com/app/916210/discussions/1/2995417914179797052/#c4939856028572474972]minor bugs[/url] are also available in the game, adding more annoyances. Lastly, the game offers save points that can heal your party members although you can save anywhere, rendering them to be useless. [h1]Specs[/h1] Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 [h1]Conclusion[/h1] It was hard to recommend this game. It has a lot of bugs and I was frustrated in my first few hours since I had to get used to the game to avoid the bugs from being triggered. There is also an occasion where I was confused about where to go, although there might be another occasion where people might get stuck. To tell you the truth, there isn't anything special about this game, but since the game is still decent if you crave RPG Maker games, I decided to recommend it. Make sure to buy it whenever it's heavily discounted though - the current price is way too expensive for a game of this quality. [quote]This game was reviewed with a key provided by the developer for free through [url=https://discord.gg/xc22zZP]Reviewers' Paradise[/url], a group that connects both developers and reviewers in one place[/quote] [quote]Visit SaveOrQuit.com for detailed game reviews, posted daily![/quote]