Familia

I like the art and atmosphere of the game. Definitely worth a try.

This game is good so far. I am still looking for the flower that the Grandma wants. The battle system is nice. Looking forward to playing it some more.

Familia has great Humor, an intriguing story and a very colorful world. The attention to detail doesn't end with the custom sprites and believable characters.

☀️

I have been really enjoying this game so far. Really liked the sprites, enemies, and the music for this game. I am very excited to see what else is in store.

Familia Review: Disclaimer – Received a free key for Familia Ch1 Overview: Familia is a traditional JRPG-styled game combining a fast-paced battle system and a unique class system to create a moderately complex battle system. Familia is also an episodic game series and is being developed and released in chapters. As such we get interesting hints and taste notes of where the story is going, but the story in Chapter 1 remains linear and is still in the process of introducing the game world to the player. Gameplay (8/10): Through the use of many plugins, the battle systems of Familia have been turned from the traditional turn-based battle system in RPG Maker to something closer to an ATB system while still fundamentally based on a turn-order. This allows battles to progress swiftly and if you know the right weaknesses to exploit, taking out groups of enemies can be quick. Each character class has unique abilities, some of which require resource items to use which prevents them from being spammed and requires more tactical use. There are items and equipment found throughout the game that modify the battle system and allow you to experiment with different combinations of attacks, classes, and tactics to further advantage yourself in battle. Visual Presentation/Art Style (9/10): Familia has an extremely distinctive art style that has only gotten better over time. Sprites have custom animations, enemy battlers do as well. There is a heavy preference for parallax mapping in this game and it shows in great fashion. Pacing (6-8/10): I have a range for my pacing rating because it greatly depends on how much you level grind. In my first playthrough I overleveled my characters to quite a high level about mid-way through the game. As a result, the game because extremely easy and bosses were no tougher than normal enemies for a long portion of the remaining game. If you spend a reasonable amount of time grinding, while you may experience some of the same over-powered issues I did, it shouldn’t be to as extreme of a degree. That said, the pacing up until that point was fairly good with some enemies always around that could threaten me if I made too many mistakes during battle. Story (6/10): For now, my rating is low, not because it is bad but because there was not enough length to chapter 1 for me to get a good handle on where it is going with Chapter 2. While that is a good thing, it is also true that the story feels a bit slow in some aspects and too fast in others. I would have liked more world-building at the front and a quicker entrance into that world-building. Then, later on, I would have liked a bit more insight into what was going on in the larger world that triggered the events that are now unfolding. The story opens up with a tutorial battle and introduction to two main characters. After it, you are given the task of heading back to your house to talk with your Mother. From here you are sent off to grab some flowers by your Mother for your Grandmother and the story picks up after this. It is a somewhat formulaic progression, I kind of wish there was a bit more meat to the beginning of the game, some more world building. That doesn’t really start in full until about 2 to 3 hours in, though you can read some basic lore from books at your house. There are definitely influences from other media within the story and other parts of the game (such as some skill animations). Overall the story is good, but nothing crazy special…. Yet. There is a lot of potential for Chapter 2 here to get up to an 8 or 9 given what I think might happen. Music (8/10): All the music in the game fits the game’s themes, nothing felt out of place. I am not sure how much of it is music from DLC packs vs custom made, but there is very little RTP music being used. Not much more I can say here. Map/Level Design (8/10): Aside from the visual aspect of the maps, level design is pretty good across the board though some of the after-game areas can be a bit hard to navigate. There isn’t really anything negative to talk about here; the maps are well designed. Be sure to interact with everything; there is loot hidden everywhere. Extra Content (8/10): Once you are done with the story for the game, there are a series of quests that will lead you to an area with a dungeon that almost doesn’t end. As you play through it, you can progress into deeper levels, finding rare equipment, items, and fighting tough bosses and allows you to unlock Master classes at level 50. Master classes allow you to spec out your characters how you want to, to create some truly wild builds. Class stats can also be reset. There is also a NG+ mode that modifies bosses to make them harder. All of this keeps you playing the game, which is always a plus. Overall (9/10): While individually the different aspects of Familia do not individually combine to make Familia a 9/10 game, there is a bit of greater than the sum of the parts going on with this game. When everything is put together and you are in a high-octane battle or burning through enemies on a grinding tear, its just a fun game. The story has just enough there to be intriguing without giving too much foresight into the future of the story, and the after-game content presents an opportunity to play around with the classes to see how broken you can make them. Familia gets a 9/10 from me with a note to check out Chapter 2 when it lands.

The dev is very passionate and dedicated to making this game the best it can be, and it only gets better!