Saw a friend stream the demo a while back, and, having grown up with the Gold Box games, as well as being into dragons and loving skeletons, I was hooked. The demo alone was good, if fairly tricky. But the full version? Chock-full of charm and love! Great visuals, awesome music (that changes the further you get in an area!), and a refreshingly neutral protagonist who's neither a goody-two-shoes nor a complete jerk. The story was simple, though has a possible surprise or two depending on what you expect. And the humor was SUPERB the whole way through. [spoiler]Only real complaint outside of gameplay, aside from the minor spelling/grammar errors, is the dudebro dialogue in the Working it Out ending feels...off, and I was confused about if it was a joke when The Hero and Gorlak both talked to each other so casually with "bro" every other sentence. I would write it to be a little less candid; everyone really does seem too familiar. (Plus, I would've loved to have seen Necromancer's reaction to all of it XD)[/spoiler] I hope to see more of this wacky world in the future!
I've never played a raising sim, but the gameplay was fun...for the most part. The difference between Normal and Easy is (at least if you focused on physical stats like I did for Easy) crystal-clear, perhaps a little too much at times. I was often taking single-/double-digit damage numbers on Easy where I'd be taking triple-digits. Normal mode had me reload many, many times because of how easily you can get your tail whupped, even when you've got the best equipment you can find and high stats. One last serious complaint I have about the gameplay is that the requirements for getting the "golden [spoiler](Working It Out)[/spoiler] ending" are VERY strict, and made me have to reload many times, even forcing me to reload until I got a low encounter day. [spoiler]I would personally raise the Study stat limit to 15ish.[/spoiler] I'm also not very sure escapes are very intuitive; I was able to run before multiple fights on one run, but ended up with 0 escapes?
The good parts about the gameplay, however, are pretty good. Multiple battle stats are raised for each normal stat, and it even tells you which are affected if you check the library. It's fairly easy to savescum to get training results you like, but overall, it doesn't feel like a complete cheese...especially if you try doing nothing but training each day. Do that for surprising and hilarious results! But what I really love is the action economy in battle. Most RPGs with single character parties have you only able to do one thing each turn. But with Slights and Taunts, you are able to do up to THREE things per turn...so long as you have enough MP/items. With how difficult gold is to earn in this game, items are also very important, and each shop trip makes you think. Finally, it's really fun doing the random D&D-style DC rolls; you can get the thrill of mini-gambles and enjoy the results either way! (Eeeexcept when you make the roll...only for the game to say you didn't.)
Definitely give this game a look! It's fairly short, and even gives you the ability to buy hints for other endings each run. I'm stopping before I go for the bad ending because I'm a wuss (and it's a lotta work), but I'm sure it's as wonderful as the others.
[spoiler]Also, bonus points for managing to depict a buff skeleton without resorting to ectoplasm.[/spoiler]
