The Secret of Varonis

[b]Full Disclosure[/b]: I am already a SaGa addict and full adherent to the Kawazuismo game design ideology. This game is great and a terrific SaGa-like that folks like me will really enjoy. That said, do beware that a lot of the in-game stuff hews [b]uncomfortably close[/b] to its source material, to the point of literally copy/pasting item/class/skill names from the original SaGa 1+2 (AKA Final Fantasy Legend 1+2). Now, those items/classes/skills work differently than the OG, but noting here anyway. It emulates those original games incredibly well, for better and worse! I already love SaGa, but my normal disclaimer here for those that have not been initiated into SaGa applies! Varonis is reasonably accessible, even explaining the damage calculations of each weapon and how stats play into skill use. Success requires you to think deliberately about your builds and how they work together across your party - this kind of gameplay isn't for everyone, but for a game this cheap, it's still worth recommending if you're interested! That said, I would recommend Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven as a more accessible entry point into SaGa. But Secret of Varonis does a lot to demystify the game systems and also help new players. Regardless, hard recommend to anyone into retro RPGs or someone seeking a new RPG experience!

awesome

A shameless (good) Final Fantasy Legend knockoff and I'm here for it.

Super good jrpg. Sometimes, it turns out all you need to make a great game is to just eat another game's homework (in this case, Final Fantasy Legend), throw in a healthy dash of QoL, minor refinements to the mechanics of that game, and there you go. Really enjoyed having a unique set of requirements for "leveling up" each character class, the Gameboy aesthetic and soundtrack, the atypical setting and characters, and a difficulty curve that never felt worse than "moderately challenging".

This is FFL1+2 / SaGa 1+2 with QoL. Must play for any SaGa fan.

The developers nailed the GB aesthetic with the graphics and sound. They were able to portray a variety of worlds using limited colors and chiptunes. They even added the Game Boy Color touch of changing the palette during the startup screen. Game-wise, I think the difficulty is just right. Combat flowed well and there are a variety of options for different skill levels. Most monsters felt fair and the bosses had identifiable patterns; nothing too cheap or unfun here. Between talking to townsfolk and the hint system, I was able to figure out where to go without much trouble. My only complaint is that some of the maps felt too huge. I spent a lot of time wandering around figuring out where to go, so an automap option may help. There's also a certain dungeon where the menuing felt repetitive and the backtracking was painful. At that point the game made me less curious about the next adventure and felt more frustrating. There's also a few bugs, but the creators are active on Discord to rectify them. From what I can tell this is the developer Wombat Logic's first serious release. It is an impressive one. I look forward to what this group will create next!

enjoyable, must play if you enjoy old school sega/gameboy dq monsters type games

Enjoyed the game.