Infinite Mana

alright, i saw a review and someone said 'love letter to ff5' so I picked it up. I know I'm leaving a negative review, but its not that I don't see potential here. This game just doesn't feel finished to me and it feels like perhaps the game devs first or second big project. I'm going to wait for some updates and try again - but for now, negative review. The good: - the music is good, right out of the box - i love ffv and def see the ff influence here - The first 20 minutes has me curious, but there's other things in the way of me feeling like I can enjoy this game right now. So i'll wait. The unfinished: - for one, full screen isn't full. I have a giant black border around the game. It reminds me of the old letter box games on like playstation 1 or whatever. While I know this is a throw back, I want full screen to be full. Having a letter box image in the center of my screen is, idk, it doesn't work for me. - the game works fine with my controller but the game doesn't detect if you're using a controller or not and gives instructions for both wasd and the controller at every turn. Most games these days detect if you use a controller or not and only show you relevant instructions. - the game hitches like crazy. I'm playing on a multi core i7 and a 4070 super. I should literally never, ever, get a hitch from this game, there's nothing going on in it at all - some sprites, some simple textures, no lighting, very few shaders. Comparing it to other 2.5D games out there like octopath traveler 2 or the recent star ocean 2 remake - yea, there's some work that needs to be done here on the game's performance. - in the menu screen you can see all your gear but you actually have to select a menu option to change the gear. you should be able to just move the cursor over the armor slot without having to press a menu button. This is just clunky UI with too many button presses. - the monster AI in the overworld needs work. The way the monsters half follow you just feels kinda weird. - there seems like there should be more character animation than there is. If you look at an ffv sprite sheet, its just a few frames for different expressions and some scripting. There's a little movement in the characters during conversations, but if you compare it even to ffiv it just feels like they didn't take the time to complete this part. Its like a 2.5d game, but the conversations with npcs feels like you're on the NES in ff1 where everyone just kinda stands there and barely does anything expressive. - the environments just feel big and empty. lots of space, not much in ti. - no resolution setting in the display, no vsync, no frame rate cap, no nothing. - need a slider to increase the text size, cause i'm old lol. - sometimes you can press the action button to complete a dialog faster but most of the time the dialog kinda stalls and makes you wait forever for it to display. - I personally would way rather have an ATB battle system than the timed button presses. when i heard this was like ff i was really hoping for an ATB battle system, but instead I got something more akin to mario rpg, but I don't totally understand the indicators or exactly what i'm supposed to do with the timing of the press. - i need to try this with battle animations on fast cause, watching the character slowly leap across the screen is UGH. Go play ff6 and make this battle system as snappy as that. --- this is just my first impression; i only spent about half an hour but i mean i've played about a billion jrpgs. I'd say that I already like this more than most rpg maker titles i've tried. That said, given I paid over 20 bucks for this I was definitely expecting a much more developed game. I'm hoping this review inspires the devs to work towards a V2 that fleshes this game out more. If this game figures out its issues I'd like to give it a solid playthrough. I'll pick it up again after a couple updates and see how things are progressing, but ya, just doesn't feel done to me. Good start though.,,

Early Access Review - will try to update over time as new releases occur. UPDATED: 7/10/23 Chapters Reviewed: 1-3 Story: 10/10 (Previously 10/10) The story continues on pretty strong in chapter 3 with the plot thickening further. While I haven't yet fully explored all the sidequests, the world and story continue to be refreshing and well put together. Some seemingly simple characters also gain some depth in chapter 3, and there's a whole new host of characters with their own unique and enjoyable personalities to meet and learn more about. Game Mechanics: 9/10 (Previously 9/10) The game mechanics feel solid. My one gripe is that combat can feel a little routine once you have a pretty good party combination put together. While enemies do have specific damage types you can target, the best strategy with the current system seems to also discourage trying out multiple guises too frequently once you get a good party composition going. If you find a cool new guise you can add it in relatively easy to your lineup, but it feels like there may be an opportunity for some extra mechanics with guises to encourage leveling up multiple guises per character (perhaps a system to make guise passives work across characters might add some incentive to wanting to level each guise for each party member) While that downside becomes more pronounced in chapter 3 since you'll likely finish leveling up your first guise decisions, it's made up for by the addition of several new and interesting activities - as well as ways in which the game challenges and changes up your expectations. It'd be very spoilery to go into further detail (MAL is great), but I continue to be amazed at how many systems are in this game (and how well they work together) World & Aesthetics: 10/10 (Previously 10/10) Chapter 3 gives you your first glimpse of the whole world map at a teleportation shrine and...wow. I can understand why the outdoor space lags a little bit when it loads now. This game has very ambitious plans for its scope, but it certainly feels achievable with how polished and fleshed out things already are in early access. Interesting sidequests and activities continue to build up in chapter 3 - there's plenty to explore and find in the world beyond the main storyline. Performance / UI: 9/10 (Previously 8/10) The game can chug a little but in some areas, but not terribly. Mostly when loading in initially or when dealing with larger scenes - the world map is the most consistent, but see world above for a fair explanation as to why. The UI got some polish in the last update and feels better, but still likely needs further polish in some places. Much improved, though, from the initial early access release. Overall Review: 9.5/10 (Previously 9/10) This is a very polished early access title and shows a lot of promise. For a single developer, the depth and breadth of content is amazing and the many systems work together well. While the price may seem a little high, based on the full breadth of content presented so far and the world map preview in this chapter - the game is currently quite the bargain for when it may finally hit release. If you think you might want to try it, definitely pick it up earlier rather than later. This game is a gem, and definitely worth the buy.

深淵をのぞく時、深淵もまたこちらをのぞいているのだ あらゆるオブジェクトにインタラクトできる あなたはアイテムを得る あなたはお金を得る あなたは悪名を得る あなたはガードに連行される あなたは街の住民と話す あなたは住民からクエストを得る あなたは住民からアイテムを盗む あなたは住民を襲う この世界はどこかおかしい 「何かが欠けている」 その歪みに触れると世界は壊れた あなたが今日見ている世界は明日もやってくる世界ではないのだ 旅人の行動は世界を変える あなたはモンスターを狩ってもいい ギルドランクが上がるだろう あなたが手に入れた素材は何かをクラフトすることができる あなたは池に魚を見つけるだろう その魚は釣ることができる 昼と夜で世界は姿を変える 明るい時刻から悪事を働かぬことだ ー旅の空よりー

The game is great, but the game is so bug ridden, and unstable as to be unplayable at times. some areas just drop to 5FPS for no apparent reason at all, and the game will randomly just crash for no reason at all, and has no form of autosave feature to compensate. ive lost hours of play from the crashing alone. This would be a hidden gem of a game, but it needs a mountain of work. most of the attack formulas dont actually work correctly, monster hp pools become so bloated mid game that you have to switch random encounters to easy mode just to not spend ten minutes fighting something.

If you're a fan of the exploration-y kinda RPGs that are so frustratingly rare, play Infinite Mana. It's genuinely crazy that this game is as big as it is, it's 100% worth a purchase. Not convinced yet? The dev has a discord and like, actually listens to the community. When you're reading this, they'll have already added a new subclass system people kept asking for. They're that cool!! Give it a go. Demo's good, game's even better.

I wanted to like it, but I can't. The pixel art is OK, but just about everything else is too low-quality to enjoy. When you find yourself getting angry at menus, you know something is wrong.

I wanted to give this a positive review but with some caveats. Overall I think so far from my brief time playing the game it has a lot of potential but it's going to need some significant refinement. I think the game has some really solid writing and plot development. It has the hallmarks of a game with a proper vision: It opens up with a strong hook, builds up the world in a natural manner and properly paces a first time player. The environments are also laid out nicely and while nothing too amazing graphically, makes sense logically and clearly has thought put into it. However, the gameplay suffers quite a bit from two major issues: The menus are generally *very* slow and clunky to navigate and it has a lot of complication but without much depth. Your characters earn GP which can be spent on new skills for Guises (this game's equivalent of jobs/forms/crystals/classes etc) but the actual trees for each guise are fairly uninspiring. There's a bunch of additional mechanics (like character having proficiencies, jobs having unique field skills), an in-battle QTE mechanic (which in turn makes basic skills stronger than skills that spend resources) and more. In a sense, it suffers from an 'everything and the kitchen sink' problem where rather than focusing on a few mechanics and really refining them, there's a bunch of different mechanics in varying degrees of usefulness or interest. I've seen this pop up a lot in various RPGMaker titles I've played and it usually results in the same outcome. I'm hoping that as the game evolves over time it doesn't keep piling on mechanics; as is I feel like it could do with trimming down bits of the gameplay it already has in favor of ensuring the gameplay is snappy. A basic but responsive RPG (such as in LISA, Jimmy, Omori, In Stars and Time) will often do more with less.

The game has potential but as it stands the graphics, gameplay, mechanics and overall polish are rough. I'd recommend it if it was on sale for 5$ but they're asking 30$ for what is essentially a one man RPG maker project. A fancy one man RPG maker project with some good ideas mind you, but definitely not worth the price.

Now, this is a game which is going to take TIME, ok? So knowing that, take the time you need to explore. The monsters will be there. The sidequests and main quests will be there. You can go back to things you missed. You can pet the dog. Cook the food. Craft the things. Feel the half-cozy. This isn't quite a full cozy rpg because of the things going on that imply a bit of dimensional exploration horror, "why is the empire doing that", "I'm pretty sure that's racist", and [spoiler]"what the hey did that guy get chucked down a mountain"[/spoiler]. To say nothing of the actions of your party and main character in particular should you choose to play them that way. Expect that what goes around will come around. The systems will take a bit for you to wrap your head around, and that is also ok. Once a job class (not the word but the one that is coming to mind right now) is earned you have it forever and can develop whenever you want. It took me a long time to learn how to level the skills of the job class, and that's on me. I'd say its easier to develop classes here than it is in Octopath I, as it isn't strictly dependent on character levels per se. It isn't Final Fantasy V's subjob system but it doesn't need to be as there are several nonidentical but overlapping abilities. I am impressed with how the graphics take advantage of the systems switching. Older gamers like myself may recognize those older system styles and how to work within their confines innately. Now it is true that there are some graphical issues at the time of this writing that still need some working out. The dev is doing their best to work on it and several have been fixed or have workarounds already. Final verdict: this is a real gem here, and I've been enjoying my time within this world.

its a great game. If I had to break it down by story, game-play, character cast, theme, and design. I would definitely consider this a masterpiece-in-the-making. However, the area i feel it lacks most is the game-play. While in battle, you're given an assortment of skills to use per class (Some more efficient than others...), and some of the formulas associated with those skills either all have the same power scaling, or are just completely underwhelming. To make an example without any in-game spoilers, a basic formula for a basic attack will be (PWR*2 - END*1) ((this is perfectly fine)). This allows for you to strategically build TP (and/or recover MP) that'll afford you access to "greater damaging skills". Or so you would think... The skill formulas i'd come across, for a multitude of classes were (PWR*3(4) - END*2). The issue posed is going through the tedium of acquiring new classes just for them to be outclassed by or comparable to the starting classes. Another example; a specific starter class has an attack that "hits 3 random enemies" for a cost of 14 MP, whilst also having access to a PASSIVE MP recovery skill...while the other more complex class to acquire, has a skill that does the same thing, EXCEPT it costs 10 MP and 25 TP w/ no passive MP recovery (unless you do another specific thing i will not spoil).... Their formulas are both (PWR*3 - END*2). To continue further, there's another starting class that outmatches all classes simply due to its access to "6" primary skills that have a (INT*4 - WIT*2) formula, has a passive skill that activates 1 chosen skill of the 6 primary skills TWICE when used for whopping cost of 8 MP.... (''-__-) Now I will attest, there are certain skills acquired that have spectacular formulas, and you'll know which ones im referring to because you'll feel like you hit a singular (or group of) monsters like a truck, somewhat. None that i will disclose but, majority of skills held underwhelming formulas that diminished the urge to continue playing. Im simply tired of gaining levels, playing for 30+ hours just to hit monsters within a new area for 300 - 600 DMG (while their HP exceeds 3000+), or being forced to exploit that one overpower class that has the ability to attack twice for the cost of 8 MP. Honestly, this is just my own personal gripe. Once again, I absolutely love every other aspect of this game. I highly recommend anyone interested to give it a try. It is genuinely amazing. I just hope that the future of this game hold some form of skill revamp (rework of formulas and refining skills for each class). To the Devs, thank you for making such a awesome game. Sorry if im criticizing to hard.