[b]My Playtime:[/b] 14.7h (finished the game, 28/28 secret rooms, 15/16 side quests completed)
[h1]Intro[/h1]
[b]Opaline[/b] is an [i]RPG Maker[/i] game developed by [i][url=https://store.steampowered.com/search/?developer=Warfare%20Studios]Warfare Studios[/url][/i] and published by [i][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/6842143]Aldorlea Games[/url][/i]. It features two main characters with different party members, switching between the two as you progress through the game.
[b]Pros:[/b]
- Secret rooms and side quests give significant reward
- A lot of items hidden beneath objects
- Skill to teleport out of the dungeon
- Touch-based encounters
- 3 difficulties
[b]Cons:[/b]
- No quest tracker
- Overly huge map with copy-and-paste interiors and uninteresting outdoor layout
- It's hard to recover MP, especially in the early game
[b]Specs[/b]
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
[h1]Should you buy this game?[/h1]
[b]Yes.[/b]
[i]If you are craving RPG Maker games, buy this game at a sale. Don't buy this for the story, though.[/i]
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[h1]In-Depth Review[/h1]
[h3]Visuals[/h3]
Despite having developed several games in the past, the mapping quality of this game is disappointing. Towns are way too huge without reason, and a lot of buildings are copied to fill the spaces. The interiors also follow the same suit with a minor change in the furniture, and some interiors don't make sense with their layout - there was even a mayor's house that only has sofas in it. To make it worse, the interiors tend to have narrow paths, and you might have to wait until an NPC gets out of your way before you can exit a building.
Luckily, the dungeon layouts are better. They seem to be made by different persons due to the style difference; one dungeon was very narrow with its 1 tile path, while another has square rooms that are connected by a narrow path. The last dungeon was the killer, though. Its vast size can confuse some people, although you still can make your way through the exit by following the stone tiles. However, exploring the other path is still necessary if you want to find chests and secret rooms. It was very fitting for the last dungeon - although it's something that I like, I don't think I can handle too many of these dungeons.
[h3]Story[/h3]
The story is weak. Characters tend to talk nonsense just for the sake of making a story. Moreover, the story is focused on the main objective, making the characters feel empty and bland. Sure, there were times when the main characters talked to each other, but that only happened once or twice throughout the game. The threat that was supposed to be the main focus of the game also doesn't seem to be highlighted much, especially since you only see the danger at the beginning and the end of the game.
[h3]The Game[/h3]
[b]Gameplay[/b]
[b]Opaline[/b] is a turn-based RPG at its core, focusing on 2 sets of party members with different playstyles. Garrow's party is focused on melee with high damage, while Liza's party is focused on magic with high sustainability. The former might seem to be more overpowered than the latter at first, although it will soon change once you level them up. One of the reasons was caused by the lack of MP regen items - there are only a few party members that can drain MP from the enemy, and the skill can only be obtained after the characters leveled up several times. Items that can halve MP cost also won't be accessible until you are further in the game, giving less advantage to MP-based characters at the start.
The game will switch between both party members throughout the game, usually right after you finish the next dungeon. You might have to revisit the same town twice with different party members, although the dungeons that the party visits are different. However, inventory will be separated until both party members are united near the end of the game, preventing you from moving the best gear to the active party member.
[b]Combat[/b]
The difficulty might be different based on what you chose at the start, but the game won't be a cakewalk on easy. I got wiped out several times whenever I wasn't being careful; I had to change my gears and tactics on some bosses to beat them. Moreover, since you'll eventually have 8 party members, you also can mix and match them based on your playstyle.
[b]Collectibles[/b]
One of the things that I liked about this game is how there are a lot of items hidden beneath the objects. You need to interact with all objects that you can see to find them, and although they tend to be useless, sometimes you also can get good ones, saving your money from buying a certain gear. Secret rooms are also scattered across the area, which aren't hard to spot - you just need to check some objects or walls that seem odd to you. These secret rooms usually give a useful reward, giving an extra incentive to find them all.
[b]Length and Difficulty[/b]
The in-game clock states that I finished the game at 9:25:44, but I had to reload my save several times since I either got wiped out by a boss or had to check whether I missed something. The game has a lot of missables; you can't revisit towns until you unlock the last dungeon, and even that still can't unlock the first town - you won't be able to revisit that at all. This gives you some sort of deadline for side quests, especially since you can only access them in certain towns.
The game offers 3 difficulties. I played the easiest one, and I still got some difficulties in the fights. The game seems to encourage you to use items, and since enemies don't drop a lot of money, you might want to grind a bit to survive the next dungeon in higher difficulties. Despite having a marker of where a boss will be, the game doesn't have a feature to fully heal before the fight.
[b]Issues[/b]
Sometimes, the game won't close with Alt+F4. The return to the main menu button in the options also doesn't seem to work when this happens. The game also has a lot of collision errors; I was able to walk in the sky by walking off from a tile in the mountain area. Lastly, the game doesn't seem to have a quest tracker. It was hard to track the quests that way.
[h1]Conclusion[/h1]
Despite the bland story and lazy mapping, [b]Opaline[/b] was still an okay [i]RPG Maker[/i] game. Its strength lies in the exploration, rewarding you with a lot of items if you manage to find its secrets. The difficulty was also good enough, giving you some room to rethink your strategy without being too boring on easy. If you have played a lot of [i]RPG Maker[/i] games, you should be able to stand the cons while still appreciating its strength. That being said, the quality doesn't seem to be worth it for the full price, so get it when it's on sale.
