Terra Alia: The Language Discovery RPG

Great idea, super janky execution. I got the game in a Humble Bundle, and while the mini games gamifying language learning are fun and tie in to the main game world and concept well, the larger game is executed poorly. From the movement system and camera being hard (or impossible) to control, to the quests that give almost no hint of what the next objective is, so that I run around aimlessly button-mashing trying to figure out what area I'm even supposed to be in until I give up and Google it, but the community isn't even big enough for Google to have easy-to-find answers. Also the random combat system is obnoxious. I can't stand around to appreciate the scenery or figure out where things are without getting sucked into combat. Even when I try to quickly run through the red circle on my way to something else I get sucked into combat. And the combats don't even despawn once you beat them, so you can get sucked in again. They ought to be reworked to cover way smaller areas, and/or despawn for a good while after being beaten. It's decently fun, and I will probably finish it eventually, though I can only play for a couple hours at a time before I get irritated. It's certainly not worth $20 as is, though. Maybe consider it if it goes on sale under $5. I'm all the more disappointed because I really wanted it to be great. I suppose I probably would have heard of it before if it was.

It was good, and I definitely felt improvement in my chosen language - but definitely too short. I'm the type to take my time with a game and really savor it and even I finished it in like 7.5 hours.

Not a well polished game but effective in learning new vocabs.

Ok, I played this game with "German -> Japanese" first. That was on my Steam-Deck. I already found that the translations of some words were off and the controls are absolutely awful. Then I've wanted to switch to my PC and found out, that the saves are NOT synced... So I restarted the game with "English -> Japanese" in hopes the translation would be more on point. Spoiler, it wasn't! For example "こんにちは" (konnichiwa) only means "hello" NOT "Hello. How are you?" Otherwise it would be "こんにちは。元気ですか" (konnichiwa. genkidesuka). And keisatsu teepi is "police tape" not "tape". To just name a few. Also it's kinda counterproductive that you see the translation when hovering over words while doing a vocab test on the ATM... I don't really need to rembember what's what that way... For the controls, it's just an endless series of mouseclick (or keeping the mouse button pressed down). When walking where I can't because there are walls, I'm often moving somewhere I totally did not want to. And in the desert I've got around some big mountain, and almost did not get back. (Although by returning to the home screen you could always reset your position). Oh and the orientation you're facing is dictated by the position you're standing at, you can just look around. And opening those ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ chests is more of a test of patience than it is for the vocabs, even when you know them all, you're still wasting time, rolling those frickin slots... Why not do a similar system as with the passwords for the computers? That was way better! As for the content, it's a little short, you're rushing from shard to shards (7 in total) for some bossfights and the game is over depending on how fast you are, and how good in the language already (you wont really not to be really good though) it's roughly a playtime between 6 and 10 hours. So overall, I would not recommend this game for learning japanese. I for my part, think I'll just get back to the manga I'm reading specially made for learning japanese.

I really really want to like this game, especially as I'm learning Chinese and I think a gamified approach is a great way to get you engaging with the language a lot. However it has a big flaw with being used as a tool for learning Chinese, in that it doesn't display tone markings, which are incredibly useful for those learning the language, maybe those will come with a future update, and I will be happy to try any future updates they make to this and update this review once again, but as it stands this isn't the most fit for purpose. Also if you could add traditional Chinese characters as an option that would be incredibly helpful too. If they add the tone markings or if someone replies with something that I have missed I would be happy to update this review. Please keep trying, I was happy to pay some money to try this as there is a dearth of high quality language learning games, something that I think is incredibly important in an increasingly globalized world.

7/10 + works just fine on windows 7 - could use a quest item this way pointer

Não consigo recomendar este jogo no estado em que está, tem muitas traduções erradas (CH), bugs constantes, e caminhadas desnecessárias por mapas que não aumentam em nada o vocabulário. Parece que os desenvolvedores apenas lançaram as palavras no Google Tradutor e copiaram de volta no jogo (as vezes até fora de ordem). Durante os desafios de diálogo é possível notar a falta de interesse em checar a tradução correta das palavras, muitas vezes com áudios ou textos errados, fazendo deste jogo mais um maleficio do que beneficio para quem está aprendendo o idioma. O tempo de Gameplay é curtíssimo e não ajuda a aprender nem metade das palavras que estão no jogo, existem diversas mecânicas de RPG mas que não tem tempo para serem devidamente exploradas pois antes mesmo de chegar ao fim de uma arvore de Skills a história já se concluiu. E também, o combate é uma oportunidade perdida pois não se aproveita da temática do jogo para fazer as lutas se integrarem com a língua que está sendo estudada, em maior parte são apenas magias até que eventualmente seja liberado o "modo foco" onde você tem o mínimo de estudo da língua.

Good game and really helpful in expanding your vocabulary with words you're not typically taught when learning a new language. I've only done Korean so far and I've only got just over 2.5 hours recorded and I'd say I've already added about 25-30 new words to my Korean vocabulary. It makes learning fun and that's always a helpful for me to retain the information more effectively :D

I bought this game a while ago and I really enjoyed it. I played the Spanish role first and found it helpful. It is a great alternative to phone apps and much more fun than basic flashcards or Duolingo. Since I'm not a big gamer, I appreciate the game for what it is. Then I tried the Chinese Mandarin role... It was far more difficult. Once I play the Mandarin role again, I can leave an actual critique. I will go back again to play through both languages and maybe others. I would recommend this game to help reinforce words taught/learned in HS and college course or as a fun refresher. I hope the developers have not given up on this game and continue to do updates!!! Many of us want to see a continuation of the story line and have been waiting for the closed off parts of the town to open up. There is sooo much potential for this game and it's far more fun that other language learning games on Steam..... Please update the game for us that really enjoy playing. ENJOY THE GAME FOR WHAT IT IS AND UNDERSTAND IT IS NOT GOING TO BE THE WORLDS BEST FANTASY RPG. Play the game to learn and have fun!

It's a good idea but of course the story and immersion elements are lacking. My real problem is the game is too confusing on where to go and what to do. And I ran into bugs and had to reload constantly.