Gjallarhorn

TL;DR: Interesting design, flawed implementation I found the general design of combining features from JRPG and Western RPG interesting. There is good potential. However, at the time of the comment, there are too many bugs, also ui and balance issues. I cannot recommend it to someone who is looking for an annoyance-free experience. In my 18 hours so far, there has been a few crashes. The game freezes with RPG Maker error messages. I had to restart and reload a previous save. For a dozen of times, I encountered quest-related bugs: some scene triggers must be bugged. Some seemingly-important NPC jump out of thin air and starts to talk about things I, as the player, have totally no idea about and left me baffled. That even happened to the main quests a few times. The ui issues I had were mostly about the weapon expertise system. There is no way for me to check which ones I have earned unless I equip a weapon of that class and ask a trainer, which also bugs out sometimes. And there seems to be a limit on the number of weapon skills you can have based on your weapon expertise level (seems to be 1 per 5 level) which were never stated. A minor issue is that the auto-optimization does not handle gems so it is pain to switch to another set of armor when changing classes. Finally, imo, there are serious balance issues. For one dimension, the quest enemies scales according to the main quest progress but is easy for the player to be overleveled or underleveled depends on your play. I tend to cycle between a period of farming and doing a bunch of quests, and I can see the difficulty of enemies in quests raise sharply. For the other dimension, there are 16 classes and different skills for each class thus potential for diverse builds. But they are unbalanced and your flexibility is limited by the slow +1 stat point per level. Personally, I found physical dmg build start off great but fall off later, magic dmg build start off terrible but becomes overpowered later on, support/buff/dot/control builds never worked well for me because they are way too slow for farming efficiency. Btw, don't bother farming in the higher-level regions except for materials. Quickly killing low-level monsters is much more efficient than slowly killing high-level ones for XP and JP. And mining is the most important skill because of gems. High-level gems are op (e.g. a single gem gives +4 AC), and you need a ton of mining to get them.

I want to like this game. It has great bones. But the flesh of those bones is bug ridden and falling off in chunks. I've had three attempts at playing the game, all encountered a different game stopping bug. The final nail in the coffin was when I encountered one without having had saved the game in the last hour. My bad, I suppose, for not religiously saving every 5 minutes. This game really needs an autosave feature until these bugs are squashed.

Good game so far. Bugs: Clock and Log options reset to default after every cut scene and map change. Lock pick does nothing and freezes when Manual is selected. Roll works. Character moves a little too fast even with dash off. Will add more as the game progresses.

This is a very deep but challenging RPG from the makes of The Great Gaias. Here's my edited first impressions on youtube: https://youtu.be/273iBlVZyFc

Edit'' Alright after playing a lot more i came across some mighty bugs that require attention. Also i must warn there might be some spoilers... Sorry but it is necessary. Most important bug #1 - I started from Xellos. I don't know if that is the problem but i am at a point in the game where after defeating the high priest Corvus head to the capital and i need to find Taurg. It leads me to go with Feija to the thief hideout to which in turn leads me back to Haven's arena where he supposedly planted bomb. When i innitiate the event Xain blows a bomb on Freija then i am asked to take side. I tried to side with both the result is the same they go back in the position before the fight and Xain forever tells of the last bomb location but Freija don't talk anymore so he remain stuck there forever and i cannot go further down that road. Most important bug #2 - Being unable to go with Freija. I decided to try and go with Lefa. Which tells me we need to go save Hiro? I don't even know who that is? I thought we had to go inside to save Corvus but fine. I join her and we go in she distract the guards which leads to the warden's keep kitchen. All is fine until you try to leave said kitchen. A guard is in the way if you try to go out and tells you generic dialogue and remain there no matters what happens. Lefa remain in from the of kitchen's door saying she got my back preventing me from exiting and the south exit is blocked by i don't know what... Forcing me to reload to previous save. Minor bug #1 - All the Spellsword Cohorts have no abilities at all. Isurin the Spellsword and Evie the spell sword both got a ton of mana and no abilities. Usually cohorts come with 3 skills? Intended or bug? Either way it's unbalanced. Minor bug #2 - Liqui the sage cohorts work halfway. She has the Quicken spell support ability equiped but can't use it. Weirdly also lack the mana to really be useful even past level 10. Her stats are so poorly distributed that Corona the Acolyte is actually more powerful and useful... Minor bug #3 - The equipment sheet always shows my main character's damage and crit modifier even if i look at another character. All the other info if fine AC, max dex, initiative. Which is not a big problem since you can't equip companion or cohorts but it's still weird when you try to compare stats. Minor bug #4 - Quest journal isn't updating properly. It mixes some of previous quest with present quest preventing me from knowing what i need to do. For example right now my Faction quest is named ''Lady Bavador'' And it ask me to ''Meet corvus at the Wardens keep. Find Corvus at his house in Xellos. Find Corvus in Haven.'' I know he is at the warden's keep because when i entered haven he automatically came talk to me to tell me he was headed there. But i cannot access the keep because of bugs. If i head to his home there is no one there exept a guard and the blood stain of his dad. Minor bug #5 - Deemos is still a reptilian character. I tried to have him being hit by a tree's speel to turn him again but it seems somehow his sprite was swapped. Everytime he appears on screen he his invisible i can only see him talk and to rerecruit him i need find to spot i cannot walk and try to guess where he is... I only succeded in doing that once in the Ruin of Ordos... Minor bug #6 - Altho i finished the main quest in Anubia to spy on the high priest. Lefa remains there forever and can be recruited. I can bring her back to Xellos where she thank me for the help and tell me to go talk to Corvus in his home. Then she goes back to Anubia. Where i can recruit her again and bring her back to Xellos. xD Minor bug #7 - Altho Xanthos is the companion i have with me right now he still appears on map has if he was not with me. If i try to recruit another character He leaves and can't be recruited anymore. Minor bug #8 - Eidma's quest is the most bugged right now. If you try to do the arena quest it mixes with Freija's quest and neighter fight happens. I can even leave the arena by walking through the door which my sprite has it's fighting stance... Minor bug #9 - Zaha the Evocationist Cohorts cannot use conjure it's main damage ability because they cannot chose an element when you try to cast. So the sprite freeze and they lose their turn while nothing happens. Combat chat states they have used conjure but roll no damage. Minor bug #10 - In Xellos There are now 2 brother Mago... One who sits on the throne replacing the high priest saying he will lead his brother and syster until a new high priest is elected. The second standing right next to the same throne. Telling me i look stronger and to go in peace. xD Minor bug #11 - Taurg never showed up in the highland fort. Nor at the beggining of the game when he gave me the pass ''Ward'' to enter the main building nor in the end game when he betrayed us. I actually saw him only once when we broke Freija ou of the Warden's keep. I am forgeting some more bugs there are so many i just past through and ignored. But all the little things add on over the big ones. Now i guess my only option is to restart a new character and try from another starting location? Either way it's a lot more broken and less polished than theGreat Gaia was. :( Old impression ***************The game is fantastic. It has minor bug for example the weird tree monster turned my Deemos into a small reptilian creature and he never turned back into a human. But he recuparated his human skill so i don't complain. That being said. The game is basically D&D mecanic meets final fantasy turn based combat system meets tactical RPG job switch/mastery system and all of it is great and well done. I have a feeling i'm gonna play this one a lot. Do understand ''Specially if you play with core rule'' D&D can be ruthless. This is a D20 system and if you love being a mage you will have a really hard time early on and the good magic class are further down the job tree. Either way i loved The Great Gaia and i love the direction taken with this new entry! Have a good day everyone. ^-^***************

Where to begin. This is a rather weird take on the JRPG genre since it uses what appears to be a D20 style system for various things, on top of character progression that you might find more commonly in things such as D&D and the like. One might think that the two wouldn't mesh well together, but it works surprisingly well, and for the most part is done in a pretty solid manner. The biggest potential issue with the game for some might be bugs. I encountered a few during my playthrough, one of which was game breaking, but one of the developers got back to me on the forums when I posted about it, and had a fix out within a twenty four hour period and I managed to finish the game soon after. Overall, I absolutely loved the game. The narrative might be a little weak here and there, but the world building feels well done, and overall it feels no different than any large scale game with narrative branching on that front. I am already looking forward to another playthrough to see how the story unfolds from a different perspective. There might be a learning curve if you're not familiar with RPG Maker and/or D20 style games, but nothing that I feel would be impossible to get used to if you are willing to put the time into it.

From someone who completed The Great Gaias, I really loved this game. The Game concept is amazing and the devs are quick to react with issues and changes. Definitely I do advise RPG fans to try.

Very cool Dungeons & Dragons-style CRPG, only in pixel form! Really interesting stuff here, Gjallarhorn uses a classic D&D-style ruleset, complete with intricate character creation and long-term development throughout the game. Features a TON of quests, bounties to find, things to do and see and as usual with this dev (The Great Gaias RPG was made by them), an interesting story with a bunch of lore and rewarding exploration. Pretty great game here, looking to delve in much more in the future! Cheers, guys! Thanks for the cool RPG!

Интересный микс JRPG и системы DnD Игра является продолжением The Great Gaias. Однако, предшественник проходить не обязательно, чтобы понять, что происходит тут. Мне игра понравилась, однако, не могу сказать, что это шедевр. Это японская рпг, но с активным использованием всяких особенностей DnD - расчет урона, защиты, атаки, наличие спас-бросков прямиком оттуда. Игра реиграбельна - можно попробовать несколько вариантов сюжета (в начале игры можно выбрать свою фракцию, у каждой, видимо, свой сюжет). Есть система крафта, профессий, собирательства. В отличии от многих 2D RPG Maker'ороподобных игр есть анимированные спрайты не только героев, но и существ. Однако, возможно, из-за этой же причина игра не может похвастаться обширным бестиарием. Итак, теперь более тезисно: + Можно прокачать героя гибко - система классов напоминает игру Final Fantast Tactics со своими профессиями. Большинство игровых классов показались играбельными + Бои менее примитивные, чем обычно для JRPG, когда 99% монстров затыкиваешь боевой магией и обычными атаками, в кои-то веки заклинания контроля востребованы (по пальцам пересчитать игры, где это не так) + Исследовать мир интересно + Мне кажется, если в игре будут появляться новые опции, новый контент, локации - она прям украсится = Система сохранений не удачная - если играть по core rules, как задумано разработчиком, сохраняться можно будет только в городах, а учитывая сложность некоторых боев - это провал. К счастью, можно играть на обычной сложности без этого хардкора = Это вкусовщина, но я хотел бы, чтобы команда игрока была больше - герой, + компаньон, +пет или еще один союзник для меня мало. Однако, 3 героя - вполне обычное явление для многих JRPG, немногие похвастаются 5 героями, чаще - 4. = Крафт есть, как есть и всякие скиллы типа воровство, дипломатия, торговля. Однако, я не заметил большой полезности этих опций: большинство npc не содержат интересного товара на продажу, крафт, обычно, не дает преимуществ по сравнению с магазином, дипломатия оказывает не такое уж большое влияние на игровой процесс = Бои могут показаться сложными, особенно новичкам DnD. Сложность не выглядит честной - большинство оппонентов обладают запредельными характеристиками защиты и спас-бросками - даже если максимально стремиться повысить точность, нужно быть готовым к тому, что большинство заклинаний и атак будут промахиваться или наносить всего 1 ед. урона. Некоторые бои длились по 20-30 минут из-за огромной череды промахов - Мне кажется, есть проблемы в балансе, но это субъективно. Некоторые компаньоны, имхо, значительно полезнее других. Например некий aspirant обладает практически бесконечной маной, огромным уроном и лечением, в то время, как другие являются слабыми бойцами, могущими быть в роли танка или для использования зелий лечения или маны. Или некоторые монстры очевидно сильнее других (например кошки с крыльями - кошмар для мага, да и просто наносят слишком большой урон) - Бестиарий скуден. Да. многие монстры обладают изюменкой, сопротивляемостью к некоторыми видам урона или чем-то еще, но имхо - этого мало. Половина боев с разной фауной этого мира, другая - с гуманоидами. Каких-то боссов типа драконов, демонов, личей, чудовищ и т д - очень мало - Игра сырая, довольно много багов (часть написал на форуме, но их намного больше). Я думаю, разработчики со временем исправят эти моменты - Это не является большим минусом, но мне хотелось бы больше двух игровых рас (только люди и минотавры). В этой же вселенной есть гномы и есть эльфы, это как минимум, не вижу причин не добавить (разве что, вероятно, это большая работа для художника) Таким образом, мне игра понравилась, однако, есть спорные моменты.

Quite a few bugs so far, but a very interesting game. The developer seems to be very responsive and has fixed a few bugs i've mentioned already. I recommend this game only if u look @ it as a early access game with potential bugs.