[h1]TL;DR[/h1]
Episodic adventure game with light RPG elements in an interesting "fantasy meets 1900's industry" setting that dares to touch on touchy subjects; even though the game isn't released completely at the moment (1 episode still has to come out) and still contains quite a few bugs, the passion and enthousiasm of the small development studio behind it causes me to give the game the benefit of the doubt and give it a positive review.
[h1]A bit of history[/h1]
I reviewed the game when only Episodes 1 and 2 were out and didn't recommend it. The devs contacted me, gave me a key for all episodes and invited to re-visit the game. The game has indeed gotten better, but it's not there entirely just yet: had this game had been released as it is now, I would probably have stuck to my negative review. There's three main reasons for this:
[olist]
[*] The game currently contains several bugs that cause you to be unable to finish quests, including bugs in the main quest, so there is a chance that you get stuck completely, unable to progress any further
[*] It lacks the option of multiple save games, so you cannot go back to an earlier point in your playthrough to do actions differently or try out a different dialogue path (this would require you to start a completely new game)
[*] Performance can at times be pretty bad, especially on older PCs, causing extremely long loading times
[/olist]
So why do I recommend the game? Simple: because at its core, there's a good game present, especially considering it's being made by just three people. And this team has shown me that they are working very hard to improve it and hammer out all bugs to eventually deliver a good game. So bear in mind that we're not dealing with a big development studio here, and adjust your expectations accordingly. Having said that, I still advise everyone who reads this to make his/her own decision on whether or not to buy the game, and there's no guarantee that the final product will be completely bug-free and up to everyone's standards. But for now, I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt.
And with that out of the way, let's get the rest of the review going.
[h1]Summary[/h1]
The game's premise is that you play a retired dwarven hero who is pulled from her retirement by the theft of her axe. As she investigates the theft, she returns to the world she once knew, only to find that much has changed. The world has industrialized, goblins and orcs are no longer roving bands of savages but slowly becoming valued members of society, and the world's biggest threats are now social unrest, prejudice, racism, drug use and prohibition. The story is therefore as much about the main character adjusting and coming to terms with a world that has fundamentally changed as it is about getting back your axe and fining out "whodunnit". It's a setting and background that's really unique, and I respect the devs for touching on all the loaded subjects.
Graphics and music are good; it won't blow your mind, but given the price and the small dev team behind the game, they are pretty damn decent and give off a good "roaring 20's" vibe. The isometric view is unusual for adventure games, but only takes a little getting used to, which also goes for the UI. Controlling your character is easy, although the main character moves rather slow (even thought the default setting is set to "Always running"), which makes exploring entire areas a bit tedious.
The game is mostly an adventure game, with some light RPG elements. The adventure part of the game is of the "search for item A, bring it to person B" and "Talk to person X to get him/her to do Y for you" kind. Unlike a lot of adventure games, however, there's no "Combine item X with item Y" or "Try item X on object Y on the screen" puzzles. One thing that sets this game apart from others in the genre, however, is that a lot of the quests in Pendula Swing can be solved in multiple ways instead of "just one right way". This part of the game, while basic, is fine. However, keep in mind that Pendula Swing doesn't support multiple manual savegames. It auto-saves (or when you quit or manually save), so you always continue where you left off earlier. This means that while there's usually more than one way to solve a quest, you can't easily try another approach if you don't like a certain outcome or made a bad dialogue choice. This can become really frustrating, especially with the bugs in the main quest that sometimes prevent all progress, as you'd have to start a completely new playthrough to do things differently, which is not likely to happen once you have progressed beyond Episode 1.
I have my doubts about the light RPG elements (mainly side quests, but also companions and romancing NPCs). Where regular adventure games push you on in a single direction in a linear fashion, Pendula Swing offers many side quests in addition to the main quest. In theory, this sounds fine, but in regular RPG's, there's usually a reward involved for doing side quests (XP, skill points, money, or items). So there's a pretty strong incentive for players to do them. In Pendula Swing, however, there is no level system or ability scores, money exists but isn't really a "thing", so the only thing the player gets out of doing side quests is the addition of more back story and atmosphere to the game and setting. Even though it does this quite well, I'll leave it up to you to decide if that's enough to keep you interested. The same also goes for the companion system and romancing NPCs: they don't fundamentally alter your gameplay experience.
The game is episodic; not everyone will like this, but keep in mind that there's just a small studio behind it, which needs at least some form of income during development, so I understand that they chose this approach. The first episode is free, and each of the additional 6 episodes will cost about $5, for a total of roughly $30. The total gameplay of all episodes will be about 10-15 hours. Given that amount, I will say that the price feels too steep for what the game offers, given that there's little replay value. A price of around $15 for the entire bundle seems more appropriate.
[h1]Pros and cons[/h1]
+ interesting setting, combining fantasy with a world of industrialization
+ interesting story that touches on many "touchy" subjects, such as racism, gender bias, homphobia, and drug abuse
+ good graphics and music, both adding really nicely to the "roaring 20's" atmosphere
+ mildly interesting characters with a lot of of dialogue options
+ a lot of puzzles and quests can be solved in multiple ways
+/- a lot of side quests that don't offer a real reward other than adding flavor to the story and setting, and the unlocking of a Steam achievements
- possibility of getting stuck due to bugs or wrong combinations of actions and dialogue paths
- lacks multiple save games, so trying out different actions or dialogue paths requires a completely new playthrough from the start
- very long loading times on low-end PC's
- rather expensive for what you get in return, with little replay value
[h1]Verdict[/h1]
Pendula Swing feels like an unpolished gem; there's a lot there that I really like: an interesting setting with fitting graphics and music, a quite extraordinary main character, a story that touches on loaded subjects, and multiple ways to solve puzzles and quests. However, price may be an issue, and it currently also runs the risk of being overshadowed by the bugs that are definitely present and can prevent proper playthroughs, potentially causing quite a bit of player frustration due to the lack of a savegame system (so when you're stuck, you're [i]really[/i] stuck). But if the devs are able to keep their development up and running, I trust that they will eventually release an enjoyable game that is all the more impressive if you consider that it's made by just three people. So for now, I'm giving it a thumbs up.
