[b]My Playtime:[/b] 2.3h (100% achievement, finished the game)
[b]Grindy Achievement(s):[/b] No.
[b]Optional Achievement(s):[/b] No.
[b]Difficult Achievement(s):[/b] No.
[h1]Intro[/h1]
[b]Pixel Boy: The Legend of Tain[/b] is a short turn-based RPG that is focused on exploration. Despite its short length, it has a lot of areas that you can explore, with enemies that don't respawn to prevent the unnecessary grind.
[b]Pros:[/b]
- Grinding is eliminated with the non-respawning enemies
- Thorough explorations are rewarded with permanent stat boosts
[b]Cons:[/b]
- Enemies have difficulty spike as you progress the game
- It's hard to see which options are highlighted in the game
- Some fights can take too long to finish because of enemies' bulky HP
[b]Specs[/b]
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
[h1]Should you buy this game?[/h1]
[b]No.[/b]
[i]The game's short playtime and enemies' bulky HP doesn't make the game to be as interesting as I thought, especially considering its high price tag.[/i]
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[h1]In-Depth Review[/h1]
[h3]Visuals[/h3]
Despite having a lot of areas to traverse, most areas in [b]Pixel Boy: The Legend of Tain[/b] look different from each other. Each main area might reuse the same tileset, but expect to see a different one once you move to other places. However, the jump between each area might look off since there is no transition between them - a wood house with asphalt appears after you exit the muddy flower fields, a fantasy land shows up after you exit a cave - the change feels too drastic to me.
[h3]Story[/h3]
There is hardly any story in the game. The only dialogue that is related to the story only exists at the beginning and the end with less than 10 dialogues. Moreover, there doesn't seem to be any conclusion for the premise that was given at the beginning - the game will just throw you to the main screen after you beat the final boss.
[h3]The Game[/h3]
[b]Gameplay[/b]
As I said before, [b]Pixel Boy: The Legend of Tain[/b] is focused on exploration. It doesn't take long to gain control of your character right away, and the game makes it easy to figure out what you are supposed to do. Most areas look simple, although some items can be hard to see since it blends well with the area.
However, some areas might have too much or too less collision in them. It can be hard to know where the next screen is, forcing you to walk through all of the screen edges, and the areas with too much collision can be harder to traverse since there are hardly any spaces for you to walk.
It can take a while to get used to the controls, though. Unlike other [i]RPG Maker[/i] games, you don't have that default menu screen. Pressing the X button will bring up an inventory screen, where you can review the items that you can use in battle. There is no save button in the menu nor any indication of saving areas in the early game. I thought that I had to beat the game in one sitting until I realized that the game does an auto-save when you move screens. It's a convenient feature, but I wish it was explained better.
[b]Combat[/b]
Combat in [b]Pixel Boy: The Legend of Tain[/b] feels like other [i]RPG Maker[/i] games. It uses a turn-based system with you having to use skills or attack normally. However, enemies are deadly in the early game - you might have to use potions to survive if you are unlucky. Some enemies in the early game also can poison you, and there is no way to recover from that unless you know what you are doing. The game only gives you a few HP and MP potions at the beginning and you can't get more until you proceed further in the game.
There is also a difficulty spike whenever you move between areas. Enemies will suddenly hurt a lot until you manage to level up by beating some of them. Picking up some permanent stat increase items that are scattered in the area and using them in battle might help a bit with survivability, but you still need to return to the healing point from time to time whenever this happens. I had to recover my HP after every battle near the end because one enemy can reduce my HP to less than half with just a single skill. Strangely, the final boss feels weaker compared to this enemy.
The final boss fight ended up dragging out because of its bulky HP. Some normal enemies also have bulky HP, but the boss takes the cake. It doesn't hit hard and you just need to keep on reusing the same command to beat it - it was a boring fight.
On the good side, I like how enemies don't respawn. The game is very short and you need to explore some areas several times, so there is no need to grind more levels than necessary. The no respawn helps to maintain the right level before you beat the final boss, although I wish there is a way to refight a certain monster. Since you can only use permanent stat increase items in battle, there might be a possibility that people didn't use all of their items before the final boss fight because they have killed all of the available enemies in the game, wasting their turns to use those items in the final fight instead.
[b]Length and Difficulty[/b]
I finished the game in 2.3h, and that already includes the time when I wrote some information for [url=https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2902836506]a guide[/url] and revisited the whole map two more times because I couldn't find some key items that are needed to progress. The game requires you to revisit every place after you reach the final area to collect key items for the final boss fight. I found this to be unnecessary, especially since some items are can be hidden beneath the HP and gold displays and easy to miss.
The game can be hard at the beginning, especially if you don't use items since you need to rely on RNG to survive. The game becomes easier after that - enemies will be tougher at some points, but it's nothing that you can't handle if you have managed to get past the first few areas.
[b]Issues[/b]
Some areas, especially the last one (Starland), have a lot of collision errors. It's also hard to play the game with the keyboard or gamepad since your selection won't be highlighted in any menu.
[h1]Conclusion[/h1]
Despite the good-looking mapping, [b]Pixel Boy: The Legend of Tain[/b] ended up being not fun because of its gameplay. The combat was too repetitive with some bulky enemies and the difficulty spike just adds more time for the backtracking. I liked the exploration aspect of the game, but I didn't like the pixel hunting for the key items at the end - it feels like a cheap way to increase my playtime. Moreover, its short playtime makes the game's steep price to be too expensive, making me unable to recommend it.
[quote]This game was reviewed with a key provided by the developer for free through Curator Connect.[/quote]
[quote]Follow our curator page: [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]IndieGems[/url] if you like and want to see more reviews like this one.[/quote]
