Yes, I backed this game on Kickstarter. Yes, I was a playtester and got the game early. And yes, I’ve played for over 114 hours before it even released, but I can assure you that this is an unbiased review.
I’ll try to keep this short [strike]I failed[/strike], as reviews aren’t my specialty. Silver Daze is a turn based JRPG about collecting cards, saving the world, and the challenges of growing up and finding the courage to move forward.
The game’s combat has you fight using cards, of which there are over 280 of. Cards are obtained from defeating enemies, finding them in chests, and buying them. Any character can equip any card, though the card’s EP cost (this game’s MP) will be cut in half if equipped to the character whose color matches the card. Battles, which you’ll do a lot of, involve managing your EP and your Aggro. Every card uses EP, but you have a special attack that restores it, though is most powerful when your EP is at 50%. Aggro is the stat used to determine which character the enemies will attack. Manipulating this allows you to protect a weak character or purposely have a character get hit if they have a strategy that benefits this. I enjoy battling: the variety of cards means there are plenty of options, whether for creating builds or just tweaking what moves are best for the area you’re traveling in; and managing the EP and Aggro gives a fun twist to the usual RPG combat. Another part of battles is that nearly all the enemies have a pattern to what attacks they use and where, so you can learn how they fight to better counter them. There are 7 total playable characters, with only 3 allowed in battle. Each has different stats, equipment, and color, which combined with all the cards means there are plenty of builds and team combinations to try. All of them are usable, but some more than others (poor Liza). Battles are all random encounters in specific tiles, which is my bread-and-butter, so no problem there. There are items to temporarily disable encounters, but you are only allowed a limited amount in your inventory, so be prepared to visit the shop a lot if you plan going through multiple zones quickly (like looking for a certain optional roaming enemy).
The game’s story is a combination coming-of-age tale, teen drama, and a save-the-world adventure. The narrative focused on the difficulties of growing up, with its focal character Pinn despairing over how much his life is going to change upon graduating, only to find himself and his friends in a broken-up world completely frozen in time. Does he indulge in this fantasy land and stay in the past, or break free from paradise to live for the future? The game’s cast in small, some getting more focus than others, though I like all of them. Exander and Griffin work well as mirrors for Pinn, Kani has the opposite issue of wanting to push towards the future at the cost of the past (and her and Pinn’s relationship issues are the main part of the teen drama mentioned earlier), and Geo and Wink are great supporting characters (Wink plushie when, Sawyer?). That leaves Shane, Jeff, and Liza. Shane has some character focus (His fear of losing all his friends once they graduate as he’s the junior in a group of seniors, and Pinn taking their friendship for granted), but there isn’t a pay off for his issues. Jeff and Liza are there and have a few scenes each dedicated to them, but there to a lesser extent than the others. Jeff has it better off than Liza in my opinion, as Jeff’s focal scenes help reinforce narrative themes. Liza’s biggest contribution is blocking a boss’ shot (poor Liza). All that said, I like the game’s story and believe it was told well, and has great moments. It tells its story seriously, but there are humorous moments, so its not all business.
The game’s graphics are GBA-based pixel art. Characters, enemies, backgrounds; All of it is nice to look at and pretty great (through Green Zone is really green). Music is excellent, which is to be expected if you’re familiar with the creator’s previous works. Sawyer and Brian did a great job on the sound track. There are many lofi pieces along with more actiony themes (I’m terrible at describing music, sorry). A third person/group (not sure which) also contributes some vocal themes, which are great as well. Difficulty can be changed at any time from the options menu, accessible both from the title screen and while playing the game. I played on normal difficulty, but with higher enemy levels to make it easier to get better card drops, and found the difficulty fair. Only a few bosses were truly challenging but none of them felt like complete pushovers. The game also has an unlockable randomizer mode, which I played through once. There its most difficult in the beginning when you only have one character for battles, but gets easier the more characters you find (also get the Go Mode card, it’s so cracked in this mode).
Overall, I greatly enjoyed playing the game. The gameplay is fun, the story engaged me, and I listen to the music even when not playing. If you like JRPGs, collecting cards, story-driven games, and lightbulbs wearing hats, I highly recommend getting it (and if you’re unsure, there is a demo you can try out).
