The Pale City

if you like what you see in the trailer, or you like rpgmaker games generally, its worth picking up! i like the worldbuilding and art style. definitely get some pathologic vibes. creepy and dark but also silly sometimes, doesn't take itself too seriously. like once after a guy talked about this bizarre magic explanation for a while, the main character was like "that sounds like a load of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥" lol. having just played a game with a strict morality system, its fun in this game to just kill people for being stupid enough to challenge you. my only wish is that there was a resolution mode between full screen (squished on my monitor) or static windowed (text is a bit too small)

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This game speaks to me on some level that I didn't know existed previously. Its dark and unforgiving. Stuff is expensive, money is hard to come by, healing items are a rarity. Encounters are meaningful, not purely flavorful so its easier to get immersed. Hopefully the dev will make similar stuff in the future as I'm hooked even before ending the game.

As it turned out, I do enjoy story driven games, if the story is any good. And this one is. It's so good I was able to stomach the repetitive JRPG combat, which is the single one thing I hate the most in games. Go play it. It's a real treat.

Do not let the bland screenshots fool you, this is one of the more thought provoking and well written games I've had the pleasure of playing recently. The other reviews are 100% correct in their assessment. Even after finishing the game a moment ago, it left me wanting more. What a unique setting. Hey author? Write a book in this setting and I'll buy it.

C'est pas mal.

I absolutely loved it! Awesome writing, music and atmosphere, and it indeed reminded me of Planescape: Torment, and even of The Age of Decadence, which both are big favourites of mine. I was sorry to see on the game's website that the developer doesn't intend to make any more games for the foreseeable future, since he's primarily a novelist.

Великолепная игра в духе Lionheart и Planescape: Torment.

"The Pale City" is a top-down one-character roleplaying adventure with a distinctive combat system and heavy emphasis on lore and narration, set in a unique grimdark world. Being the work of a novelist, you have to rely more on what you read than what you see, because the graphics - while serving their purpose - seem to be asset-based (I suppose?) and they distract more from the atmosphere than adding up to it (in my opinion). That out of the way: The writing and worldbuilding is solid and imaginative (abeit sometimes a little bit cringey, when they tried too hard to be dark and badass), the tone is very dense and somber. I liked that it even has some resource management, because consumables and money are scarce. The whole experience is about 8-10 hours long. It definetly has its rough edges and is as niche as it can get, but it is a unique experience and should get more attention. Recommended for eager fans of the genre that don't mind some letdowns in graphical presentation.

I didn't refund it, so it must be good? Don't remember. But if I didn't like it, I would've refunded it...surely.