Terrain of Magical Expertise

ALRIGHT, so. finally thought it was time to write a proper review for the tomerpg, and this is coming from a hardcore tome fan YES i actually DONT recommend that you PLAY the game or even buy it. the gameplay on youtube is very much enough, especially if you dont have a controller to use, your fingers can save themselves from the genuine warzone that is playing the tomerpg. this game is very NOT optimized for pc, i dont have a controller so i have to wear a protective glove at all times when playing it. i have gotten burns on my fingers from raw dogging it, i still have yet to complete the game in its entirety (yet to get the TRUE ending) but when i DO get the true ending i am putting it up on youtube because theres no reason you should have to buy this extremely ♥♥♥♥♥♥ game in order to get the true ending, it genuinely baffles me how chris didnt put the true ending in the gameplay playlist HIMSELF for this reason when the game is THIS ASS. as a tome fan who prefers the STORY of the rpg over the webseries, it is just not worth it. i will finish this game and upload the true ending to youtube. and by all means, im masochistic. ---- [b] original review: [/b] [spoiler] its all over the screen [/spoiler]

a amazing game so far can't wait to finish it and i'm rewatching the web series as well while i take brakes

this game is like....enigmatic. to me. do i think it's bad? no! not entirely. it has some major flaws, mainly in the department of balancing issues, but i think the combat system is fun, and the writing stands incredibly strong- i imagine it'd do the same even for someone who WASN'T already deeply attached to these characters. i had already left a review pretty early into my playthrough saying i was having a great time, but pretty soon after i posted this, i was essentially softlocked into a fight that the only way i had a CHANCE of winning was to keep savescumming, grind npc enemies for the pitiful amount of netti they earned you to buy a bunch of healing items, and PRAY that this would be enough to get me by. i ultimately decided that this wasn't really worth it, seeing as how i was pretty early into the game. i restarted on a new file, in the brawler class and with a neutral element for my player character. the second playthrough went by MUCH more smoothly. the aforementioned fight was a breeze with my new stats, and i had actually managed to beat a few more story fights than i had on the previous file! there was one more fight that got as bothersome as the one that ended my first playthrough, and even then after a break and some strategizing, i managed to get that pretty quick. the campaign of champions qualifying events were all fun- save for execk's, as while the battles were easy, i don't think this game's controls are really meant to handle stealth missions. the only other battles it really felt unfair to lose were ones against zetto- which are meant to feel that way. i was fine with it. you really can't beat him at first. but it came to the final event of the campaign of champions. the battle/boss rush and final boss of the game. i wouldn't say all of the battles coming before this were EASY, but i didn't feel cheated when i lost, and i was able to restart from my last save point and pull through. what really got me, though, was the battle against webmaster. his fight is one that is meant to be more challenging than any you've faced before, and it was for me...but not for the reason you'd think. five attempts. none of which i lost by dying. each one fell through because of absolutely gamebreaking bugs. characters would fall under status effects, and when i used items to get rid of them, they'd end up frozen in their affected state forever- this being PARTICULARLY worrisome with the flower status effect, as you can't use items or magic in that state. at one point, a character hit a point that caused recoil against herself, died, and was stuck in the middle of the screen, along with the camera. twice, the battle was forcibly ended by my, AND webmaster's, ability to attack just...vanishing. everything was gone. everyone was stuck in their idles doing nothing for a solid minute. i love this game, and i really love these characters, but i don't think i see myself picking it up again unless it's to start a new game and play up to the webmaster battle. i really, really, really wish i could recommend this game to everyone- tome fans or not, and while i do think the former group would probably still have a fun time with the characters up until the point where the fight became completely unbeatable for me, i don't really think i can recommend this to anyone who isn't already deeply invested in the franchise. i wanted this game to be good. like, so, SO badly i wanted to tout this around and get all my friends into tome through it. i think that may still be possible through playthroughs- but at this point, the game isn't going to be getting any further updates. if not being able to beat the next to final boss is a dealbreaker for you, which i can IMAGINE it is, i'd suggest saving your money. i still had a great experience with it overall AS a tome fan, and the story had me enthralled until the end. i'm actually incredibly sad i probably won't be able to continue further, but it is what it is.

To be perfectly honest, I went in expecting Terrain of Magical Expertise to play like Megaman Battle Network and instead got Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Fortunately, I also really enjoyed the latter, so I felt right at home. The story made me feel like I was part of a quaint indie MMO private server. I would say the thing that this game really shines with is the voice acting, as it was extremely charming and expansive. (Literally half of the games file size is just the sound files of dialogue, as there is a lot which I really appreciated) The art style is unique and is also really well done. It is minimalist enough that it has a timeless quality to it. Overall it was an experience I was happy to have. I originally went in with the mindset of traditional RPGs where grinding is key, but I quickly learned that it was completely unnecessary and it made darting around the map to get to the next story beat much less tedious than I would have expected considering the genre and theme. That said, it is not without its problems. The game still has its quirks, some bugs (both major and minor) and there was one area in particular that I got soft locked a couple times. It definitely leans on a couple of tropes that I am less of a fan of, like the "scripted battle with the antagonist in which the game forces you to lose despite being perfectly capable of beating them", being locked into your skill choice before really getting a feel for what you need or should prioritize, and alluding to game mechanics in the story that you can't actually interact with (breaker beam - I am looking at you). While there are some things I would have liked to see done a bit differently, this game was really quite the gem and I would highly recommend giving it a try if it strikes your fancy.

Battle system's fun. Lots of room to improve on. I like it for the most part, but have a lot of nitpicks. I wish the text scroll would sync with the voice acting. Either it takes too long to catch up, or you skip the scrolling but miss the little portrait animation The battle system's fun, (I grinded for a while even though there's no EXP--) but there has to be a better way to explain the moves, other than a wall of text. A visual of the button inputs would be better. In storytelling there's Show Don't Tell, in video games there's Do Don't Show. This game tells you what to do. Past the tutorial cut-scenes, I do like how customizable the characters' stats are. Being able to use different strategies depending on the badges you equip. Overall I had a good time. Recommended

I'm happy to be a part of this series, (I had characters in the TOME A2Z reruns and bout some plushies, sadly missed this game though.) I hope to see more from Chris in the future.

Dead game. Does not recognize controller, no response from devs since 2021.

I adore this game deeply. While I DO have a long-standing personal connection to the TOME series, I also genuinely believe this game is well worth it. The aspect in which it shines the most are it's story and it's writing. We're given a colorful cast of well-written characters to go on an adventure with, and basically every cut scene made me feel as if I was in the game world with them. This game manages to portray the complexities of online friendships from a variety different angles. In terms of gameplay, I find it very engaging. I'm not normally a fan of anything turn-based outside of Pokemon, but the battle system in this game is super cool. Most attacks have a little quick-time event that CAN be hard to get the hang of at first, but the more you play, the more you'll get the hang of it. The menus and equip screens are a bit awkward with how they control. Mainly, with how precise it is. Along with that, there are several glitches that happen along the way. Most of them are simply graphical glitches, but on occasion it can be a big problem. Mainly with the "flower" status effect causing the battle system to get confused as to who's turn it is. and basically softlocking the game. That minor complaint aside, this game is an absolute joy to experience. It's a shame that it took me so long to actually play it myself, but now that I am, I couldn't be happier. I'm still not finished, but I'm more then halfway through, and I can't wait to see what lies ahead! Battle on!

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i was a fan of the show since before the game was announced, and have been waiting eagerly for it since. but with how hectic life got in the past few years, it completely slipped my mind. until i thought to recommend TOME to my partner, remembered the game and went to check its status, and saw it had been released ages ago! i don't tend to play this style of game, like, ever, as i'm not a fan of turn-based or combat where i have to think much beyond "click button, thing dies", but this game is so much fun i haven't been able to put it down. the mechanics are simple enough to be grasped quickly, but still in-depth enough to keep you engaged and constantly trying new things. the lack of any real leveling system is a major bonus to me, as i absolutely despise grinding. voice acting is top notch, professional while still carrying a sort of anime dub-esque style to it which was part of the show's charm as well. character and level designs are fantastic, story (from what i've seen) is well put-together and easy to invest in, love all of the world-building for the game inside the game and i really love the directions crew took the original cast of characters in, particularly flamey. overall extremely solid game and absolutely worth the money, tons of fun for both TOME veterans and newcomers!