I prefer to play classic old-school JRPGs with lots of battles and cliché save the world plot, but once in a while I need something different. Of all the different JRPGs I've played, this game is definitely among the best.
The game's absolute highlight is without a doubt the captivating writing. Of course, the characters originate from certain archtypes, yet they are believable, likable and simply well written, while also perfectly harmonizing with each other. This is especially true for protagonist Kalymn and Quinta, two mavericks who slowly learn to depend on others and especially on each other. These characters are perfectly capable of transporting the game's more serious and emotional moments (when stories about war, prejudice, racism or abusive parents are told), but they're an even more perfect fit for the many superb jokes the game has to offer. I can say with certainty that this game is the funniest one I've played in a long while. Even the few fourth-wall-breaking and meta ones (which can be disabled at the beginning) are always fitting. But make no mistake: This is no joke game that desperately throws punchlines at you. The humor is based on and created by the story and characters - if you ask me, it's the best kind of humor when witty characters are confronted with the absurdity of their (fantasy) lives.
It's a good thing that the writing stands out, because there's a lot to read (if you want). If you love what I call "to collect dialogue", which means checking NPCs for new dialogue, then this is the game for you. There are three segments in the game during which Kalymn and Co. suffer from a certain situation or need to search for a specific person, and in every one of them almost every NPC in the entire game offers new/unique dialogue. This level of detail and commitment is simply astonishing. Some scenes are slightly different dependent on who's in the active party, but it's always clear who should be in the party at any given moment to get the most out of the scenes.
The huge amount of dialogue also means there's lots of exploration incentives. Nearly every item in the game can be interacted with, most of them even feature different reactions based on who the game deems party leader at that moment. While this amount of (potential) interaction might seem overwhelming, most objects and interactions come in categories and with identical results, meaning: If you've examined, for example, one barrel, you'll get the same reaction when examining any other barrel (and sadly, there aren't any items hidden in them). There are a few exceptions, though, and of course they're tied to the oh so elusive achievements.
If you want to earn all achievements, you're in for a ride. Apart from needing two playthroughs to get all achievements (due to two of them being related to different difficulty settings), many achievements can only be accomplished during certain (small) time frames, which means they're permanently missable. You need to approach this game with the mindset of trying anything and everything. If the game tells you not to do something, do it. If you're confronted with different dialogue choices, save and reload and try them all out. You will still miss a few achievements, and it will broaden your horizon as a gamer.
One aspect I've mixed feelings about is the party management. There are 6 playable permanent party members in total, but only 4 can be in the party - and I mean party, not only the active party. That means if you want to swap party members, you need to dismiss one party member first, then you must go to the location of the desired party member to add him/her to your party. At least each of them can be found in the two big cities (which can be connected with teleportation crystals by completing a certain side quest), and there's even a good reason why this system is kind of necessary (because of the cold war between humans and drows - dark elves -, Smith and Prisilla generally can't be taken into human territory). I still would have preferred a different approach, but at least the game motivates you to develop all of your party members.
Battles are fairly standard, which means I've seen better and worse, but they're enjoyable enough. A lot of the fighting revolves around status conditions and (de)buffs. I've only played through the game on the hardest difficulty setting so far, and some of the fights can take a turn for the worse very fast if you've bad luck. A reliable strategy I "discovered" (it's kind of obvious) is to equip Kalymn, Quinta and/or Fargo with accessories that enable them to cause status conditions, then let them use their Cleave skill that hits all enemies, and finally concentrate fire on any enemy that somehow evaded all status conditions. Some specific encounters can be a walk in the park by spamming skills of the enemies' weak elements. Grinding is not required, but it's possible and can make the player quickly overpowered, though certain enemies are always a threat if not taken down fast enough. By the way, the battle system is turn-based, but I guess you wouldn't read this review if you didn't know that already.
As I said before, this isn't a game about saving the world, it's more about protecting the lives the party members want to live. Although you could say the game offers an array of side quests as the main quest, sometimes the stakes are surprisingly high (yes, you will slay monsters and prevent slaughter). Nonetheless, the world is relatively small. Apart from the two big cities (and one small town), there are only two larger "outside dungeon areas" - Monster-infested Woods and Frostcap Mountains (summit) - among several smaller ones, and only one main storyline dungeon (Wolf's Den). Dungeon crawling is something you definitely shouldn't except from this game (which is why the game can probably be completed in less than 10 hours). It's a shame that the five mini bonus dungeons (part of a side quest) must each be completed in five minutes, since they're well designed and should have been part of the main quest (in my opinion). Another timed segment awaits the player towards the end of the main story, and while I don't like timed segments, the time limits are fair. Puzzles are absent for the most part, but the Wolf's Den offers a bit of boulder-pushing and passcode-solving. Quests are of varied nature (including matchmaking) and even involve a murder investigation, which should serve as a highlight for anyone who enjoyed, for example, the Ace Attorney games.
Treasure chests' placement and their contents, though, are a bit of a disappointment. If you always upgrade your equipment at shops as soon as possible, you rarely find anything useful (unless the treasure chest is guarded by a dragon - such a treasure chest must and does contain something very good). Especially aggravating is the situation in the aforementioned bonus dungeons. They are littered with treasure chests that contain junk items, but you must open them to find at least one key item (or you can't engage the boss), and since they disappear upon being opened, it's a good idea to open some of them simply to have more room to outmaneuvre the surprisingly sturdy (time-consuming) enemies, all while having the timer count down. Unfortunately, the game doesn't tell you that each bonus dungeon contains a character-specific accessory, which is permanently missable. The most viable strategy is to make test runs and open all treasure chests in order to determine where the special items are located. Speaking of items, I rarely used the common ones apart from some Health or Mana Potions. While the game provides you with items that prolong (de)buffs, I never found any use for them.
Verdict: It's a great game for what it sets out to be, dialogue-heavy, often times funny, with many things to discover (and miss). The developer is very nice and helpful, and I'm still pondering if I should propose to her Kalymn-style (he proposes to every woman). :D
