Notoris: The Goblin War

[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/38888018-United-Critics/] Please follow [b]United Critics[/b] for quality reviews[/url] [h2]Notoris: The Goblin War Review[/h2] When this game was put up for review, I was quite intrigued by it. The main reason is that I never played a game that falls under this genre. I always wanted to give this genre a shot but ended up procrastinating. Although it seems pretty interesting, it also looks like it’s a bit complicated. The genre I am referring to is Strategy + Turn-based combat. So, this basically means this is the first game I played in that genre. The first impression is supposed to be the best impression. Let’s see if this game managed to impress me and maybe help me gain an interest in this genre. Oh, and this game was apparently made by a group of students. Would be cool to support passionate start-ups! (Totally not saying this since I am also about to become a dev myself 0.0) [h1]About This Game [/h1] [h2]Storyline [/h2] If I am right, the game doesn’t possess a narrative aspect as far as I know. You can play as three different characters namely Havie, Colmac, and Mika. I played as Mika! Each character has their own set of 5 battles that possess their own mini-plots. I am pretty sure these battles have no relation with any of the IRL wars or something. I mean, duh, the game has elves and goblins. [h2]Gameplay Mechanics [/h2] As I mentioned in the introduction, this is the first time I played a game that falls under the “Turn-based combat” Genre. This means that I need someone to literally spoon-feed me at least the basic how-to-play info. I was very disappointed when I found out that this game literally throws you into a battle with no tutorial of any sort. I had no clue what to do and was just randomly clicking stuff trying to figure out what my next move should be. I would’ve appreciated it if they at least added a textual tutorial or something basic. It’s not fun playing a game that is hard to figure out. I mean, if their target audience are those players who have prior experience in playing such games, then I see no problem. But a game should be friendly to players of all kinds, which this game lacks. I hope they implement a tutorial after seeing this! ^^ This automatically makes me the wrong person to play and review this game. Well, there’s no turning back now. Here’s everything I learned about the game: [list] [*] FIRSTLY, I wanted to get this out of the way. Basically, in the settings, you can change the game’s volume level, yeah? I basically muted the Master Volume since I play music on Spotify while playing games. The issue here is that when I re-launched the game, it wasn’t muted. After going to the settings, the game automatically muted itself. Look into this bug! [*] The core gameplay revolves around what I assume to be the basic turn-based combat gameplay. You make your move, end your turn, then your allies make their moves and then the enemies make their moves. Sounds pretty simple yeah? But I still had a hard time figuring out how the game actually worked. 😅 [*] Basically, when it’s your turn, you can choose from a total of four possible actions: Move, default attack, skills, or ending your turn. Each action (Except ending your turn) uses up a portion of your energy. If I am right, a character becomes useless once you use up all of their energy. [*] Each character is unique since they possess different skill sets, strengths, and weaknesses. Melee characters obviously have a much lesser attack range when compared to ranged allies. Considering all the factors above, it’s pretty evident that a lot of planning is required before you make your move. [/list] [h2]Visuals & Audio[/h2] The game’s UI design is pretty basic. It’s not very polished and looks a bit low quality. Some text elements on the screen stand out and look awkward. The assets used are somewhat low-poly. This basically means that the game shouldn’t be heavy. But for some reason, I get a lot of FPS drops. The problem continued even after reducing the graphics to medium. They need to optimize the game so the players get a smoother gameplay experience. The Aural aspect of the game is pretty decent. The only issue is the settings problem I mentioned in the gameplay segment. [h1]Pros[/h1] [list] [*] Simple eye-pleasing visuals. [*] A total of 3 characters to play as. [*] Each character has 5 battles that vary in difficulty and troops. [*] You can choose different approaches whenever you play a level. This adds a lot to the game’s replayability. [/list] [h1]Cons[/h1] [list] [*] The game isn’t well optimized. [*] UI can be made better. [*] You might encounter bugs and glitches here and there. [*] The game lacks a tutorial of any kind. There are no tips or hints either! [/list] [h1]Conclusion[/h1] The game lacks polishing. I am sure the developers could improve it with a bit of tweaking. It is playable in its current state. But yeah, steer clear from this game if you’re new to this genre since it doesn’t help you at all during your gameplay. Is it worth its base price? I guess so since the game isn’t that expensive. It’s nice to support passionate student developers! Rating: 6/10

[h2]Notoris: The Goblin War[/h2] [h1]Goblins….[/h1] When this game was put up for review, I was quite intrigued by it. The main reason is that I never played a game that falls under this genre. I always wanted to give this genre a shot but ended up procrastinating. Although it seems pretty interesting, it also looks like it’s a bit complicated. The genre I am referring to is Strategy + Turn-based combat. So, this basically means this is the first game I played in that genre. The first impression is supposed to be the best impression. Let’s see if this game managed to impress me and maybe help me gain an interest in this genre. Oh, and this game was apparently made by a group of students. Would be cool to support passionate start-ups! (Totally not saying this since I am also about to become a dev myself 0.0) [h1]About This Game [/h1] [h2]Storyline [/h2] If I am right, the game doesn’t possess a narrative aspect as far as I know. You can play as three different characters namely Havie, Colmac, and Mika. I played as Mika! Each character has their own set of 5 battles that possess their own mini-plots. I am pretty sure these battles have no relation with any of the IRL wars or something. I mean, duh, the game has elves and goblins. [h2]Gameplay Mechanics [/h2] As I mentioned in the introduction, this is the first time I played a game that falls under the “Turn-based combat” Genre. This means that I need someone to literally spoon-feed me at least the basic how-to-play info. I was very disappointed when I found out that this game literally throws you into a battle with no tutorial of any sort. I had no clue what to do and was just randomly clicking stuff trying to figure out what my next move should be. I would’ve appreciated it if they at least added a textual tutorial or something basic. It’s not fun playing a game that is hard to figure out. I mean, if their target audience are those players who have prior experience in playing such games, then I see no problem. But a game should be friendly to players of all kinds, which this game lacks. I hope they implement a tutorial after seeing this! ^^ This automatically makes me the wrong person to play and review this game. Well, there’s no turning back now. Here’s everything I learned about the game: [list] [*] FIRSTLY, I wanted to get this out of the way. Basically, in the settings, you can change the game’s volume level, yeah? I basically muted the Master Volume since I play music on Spotify while playing games. The issue here is that when I re-launched the game, it wasn’t muted. After going to the settings, the game automatically muted itself. Look into this bug! [*] The core gameplay revolves around what I assume to be the basic turn-based combat gameplay. You make your move, end your turn, then your allies make their moves and then the enemies make their moves. Sounds pretty simple yeah? But I still had a hard time figuring out how the game actually worked. 😅 [*] Basically, when it’s your turn, you can choose from a total of four possible actions: Move, default attack, skills, or ending your turn. Each action (Except ending your turn) uses up a portion of your energy. If I am right, a character becomes useless once you use up all of their energy. [*] Each character is unique since they possess different skill sets, strengths, and weaknesses. Melee characters obviously have a much lesser attack range when compared to ranged allies. Considering all the factors above, it’s pretty evident that a lot of planning is required before you make your move. [/list] [h2]Visuals & Audio[/h2] The game’s UI design is pretty basic. It’s not very polished and looks a bit low quality. Some text elements on the screen stand out and look awkward. The assets used are somewhat low-poly. This basically means that the game shouldn’t be heavy. But for some reason, I get a lot of FPS drops. The problem continued even after reducing the graphics to medium. They need to optimize the game so the players get a smoother gameplay experience. The Aural aspect of the game is pretty decent. The only issue is the settings problem I mentioned in the gameplay segment. [h1]Pros[/h1] [list] [*] Simple eye-pleasing visuals. [*] A total of 3 characters to play as. [*] Each character has 5 battles that vary in difficulty and troops. [*] You can choose different approaches whenever you play a level. This adds a lot to the game’s replayability. [/list] [h1]Cons[/h1] [list] [*] The game isn’t well optimized. [*] UI can be made better. [*] You might encounter bugs and glitches here and there. [*] The game lacks a tutorial of any kind. There are no tips or hints either! [/list] [h1]Conclusion[/h1] The game lacks polishing. I am sure the developers could improve it with a bit of tweaking. It is playable in its current state. But yeah, steer clear from this game if you’re new to this genre since it doesn’t help you at all during your gameplay. Is it worth its base price? I guess so since the game isn’t that expensive. It’s nice to support passionate student developers! [b]Reviewer:[/b] Midplayz Clash of Clans? [b]Rating:[/b] 6/10 [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/38888018-United-Critics/] Please follow [b]United Critics[/b] for more quality reviews.[/url]

Some dope animations and game play, camera movement was a bit obnoxious after a while though but I had fun battling. Great Game!