The Elemental Heart

I really, really wanted to try and like this game, but after trying it there's just no way I can recommend it. The game promises a feel of PS1 era games, notably the hidden gems Legend of Dragoon and Legend of Legaia, which were two of my favorite titles on the platform. The game fails to live up to them in every possible regard, right from the very moment the game is loaded in. The very first thing you'll notice is that the interface lacks polish. While the ingame models certainly have PS1-era graphics, it becomes clear that little to no effort was put into polishing the interface. The title screen alone feels less like a videogame menu and more like a Powerpoint presentation screen. And this is before starting a New Game proper. Upon starting a New Game, you're treated to a simplistic opening animation where you're zooming across an undetailed landscape, and a quick rundown is given to you. A picture of one of the plot elements is introduced, once again, like a slide in a Powerpoint presentation. A tutorial screen is shown that infodumps aspects of the gameplay on you (My advice: Do not do this; rather than infodumping the game's mechanics, introduce the mechanics over time as the game progresses and give explanations of them one at a time. You eventually get into a battle, and to start with you only have the Attack, Magic, and Defend commands. The interface is somehow even more simplistic than at the title screen, and has the feel of a cheap flash phone game. The framerate remains terrible, the attacks and spells lack impact, The character designs look interesting, but overall this game is terribly lacking in polish and in substance even from the onset, and is riddled with bugs. I can't even begin to recommend it. I sincerely hope that the creator intends to improve and to make more attempts in the future; the premise is promising but a lot of work needs to be done for the presentation to be interesting and enjoyable.