[b][quote]Warning: Broken Game![/quote][/b]This game has design/implementation defects that will render this unplayable for many gamers. The game fails to launch and while the "developer" provided a workaround (instead of fixing the problem!), the workaround doesn't work. The developer is aware of this and chooses not to remediate the problem. If you decide to buy this game anyway, be aware it may not work.
Renegade Grounds: Episode 1 is one of hundreds of low effort retro-pixel RPG Maker asset/construction kit flips spamming the Steam catalog, made with the RPG Maker video game construction kit... in their own words, "Our easy to use tools are simple enough for a child." Like all RPG Maker "games", this is essentially a bunch of low quality/canned assets from RPG Maker coupled with a cringeworthy high school anime club fan fiction.
If the game did work, you would find that, as with all RPG Maker games, the poor quality engine displays badly in fullscreen and doesn't have full HD support or any graphics tweaking options, making this unacceptable for any dedicated modern PC gamer. The point can be made that the intention of RPG Maker is to make demos and small games to pass around friends, and shouldn't be used for "professional" game development.
Like most RPG Maker shovelware and asset flips, the game features extremely low quality copy + pasted 2D retro pixel art, looks awful, and has even worse gameplay. RPG Maker is an absolutely terrible construction kit, and never results in games of any reasonable quality or value to gamers.
Renegade Grounds: Episode 1 didn't appeal much to the people who own a copy of the game, either. It has achievements, and they show us a very clear picture that the game didn't really capture any interest from gamers. All achievements have been attained at 25% rate, which implies the players who did play the game finished it, but given the very low peak player counts, *most* gamers didn't bother playing it and just uninstalled the game. Hardly a success story, gamers just weren't all that interested in the game, although part of this could be explained by the game being fundamentally broken.
Astronomic Games/New Reality Games/Mihai Morosanu have a known history of trying to scam people into paying them money for someone else's work, through this account or through closely linked/alt accounts. An example of Astronomic Games/New Reality Games/Mihai Morosanu doing this is [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/875550]Vogue, The Explorer[/url], which is really "[url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/tutorials/3d-game-kit-115747]3D Game Kit[/url]", written by the actual developers, Unity Technologies. Also, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/679740]Totally Mayhem[/url], which is really "[url=https://forum.unity.com/threads/released-full-game-kit-hammer-2.353481/]Full Game Kit - Hammer 2[/url]", developed by XForm Games.
It's also important to note the "developer" here has connections to a number of shady Russian asset flippers and review manipulators who show an organised pattern to scam and defraud gamers with fake reviews and asset flipping the work of others for profit. While reviews are about the games, gamers should be informed when developers act unethically. Whether these connections are the same developer using multiple accounts, or just working closely with other unethical developers, gamers should be warned about the harm to gamers by this developer and their associates. Buying games from unethical developers puts your money at risk.
Unethically, the developers have left this on the Steam store in an unplayable and broken state. This is harmful to Steam and to gamers, because it takes a share of the marketing space and visibility away from other games. It's polluting Steam and making it harder for gamers to find genuine games and for genuine indie developers who put months or years into making proper games find an audience.
The developer is deliberately and unethically trying to scam gamers into paying them the gamer gouging price of $5 USD for a game they know is broken. Don't give it to them.
[quote][url=https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/reviews]Developer Response![/url][/quote]The developer has weighed in to inform everyone they didn't read the [url=https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/reviews]Developer Usage Rules[/url] for Steam "partners", or they deliberately ignored the part where Valve says:
[quote]Though it may be tempting, not every review needs to be responded to. A developer response will frequently draw more attention than the original statement, potentially turning a small issue into a much larger community discussion. It's also not a good idea to use this feature to refute customer opinions. Your direct attention can be seen as validation or a defensive attempt to silence your customers.[/quote]
The developer complains that it's unfair for me to point out that they are scamming gamers [i]while they continue to unethically attempt to mislead gamers into paying for broken products[/i]. Unfortunately for the developer, the facts speak louder than their trite denials. The best thing about facts is they're true no matter how developers whine about them.
Let's break it down.
[list]
[*]The game doesn't work.
[*]The developer knows.
[*]The developer hasn't fixed it.
[*]The developer hasn't removed the broken game from Steam.
[*]The developer is still trying to get paid for faulty goods.
[*]The developer furthered this unethical behaviour by placing the broken game into Groupees Build-A-Bundle #65 and Bunch Keys Bundle #31
[/list]
None of that is "accidental" from the "developer", "New Reality Games". And as always with my reviews I look into these people, and when you turn over rocks, you find worms. In fact, "New Reality Games", the people behind this scam (yes, charging money for broken goods willingly for profit at the expense of gamers is unethical and can be classified as a scam) worked closely with Mihai Morosanu/or use that account as a shell account. They are known asset flippers and have previously taken other developers work and put it on Steam in an attempt to scam gamers and get paid for someone else's effort. The evidence, clear as day, is linked above, and the developer is completely unable to refute it (or they would have instead of just whining about it being unfair when people point out what they are doing when they know they are doing something wrong).
Now it could be that the "developer" here is just a close associate of these Russian asset flippers... or just another shell account for the same Russian guy. Who knows, it's up to gamers to be the judge. I can't confirm or deny it, just trace the connections through support email addresses and other metadata linking the Steam shell accounts used by Russian asset flippers. Same guy, or just someone who decided to go into profit sharing business arrangements with Russian asset flip scammers? That shady business choice alone would be enough. Gamers should be informed when developers behave unethically, as the developer is proven to be doing here (supported by the evidence I've supplied).
While game reviews are about the games (and this one is wholly defective), gamers should be informed because when you buy a game from an unethical developer, you put your money at risk. Be safe out there, and don't judge shady developers by what they say, but [b]what they have done[/b].
Given my review got locked for a while, it also seems the developer made an unethical attempt to silence the truth and get my review banned simply because I shed light on their unethical behaviour. Didn't work, the truth prevails.
