Walk with the Living

Neat concept, with okay gameplay. Though the game is really pushing it with lack of the male character designs. They all look gay, and I mean that literally.

‎

[u][b]Walk with the Living[/b][/u] is a horrendous tactical RPG that is a severely gutted and vastly inferior clone of the 16-bit [i]Fire Emblem[/i] games (henceforth referred to as "FE") which focuses heavily on the character relationships to the detriment of the plot and world-building. Overall, I don't recommend it because it strips the FE formula of many of its key features which results in dull and soulless gameplay, the story is rudimentary and uninspired, the characters lack depth and nuance because they all have the same self-pitying personality which makes the dialogue one-dimensional, and the game very unpolished. Note: this review is current as of the update released on 24 November 2024 which is the latest update. [hr][/hr] [quote][b]S U M M A R Y[/b][/quote] - The gameplay waters down the FE formula by removing battle animations, class promotions, and various mechanics that make the battles more engaging; - The replay value is low since the only unique aspects are the plethora of prosaic branching dialogues and character epilogues; - The graphics are based on the 16-bit FE games but the male illustrations are highly feminized; - The soundtrack is made up of easy-listening acoustic songs which are unsuitable for the battles and there are no sound effects for attacking; - The story focuses far too much on the vapid characters, and their lachrymose plights and artificial relationships, at the cost of the stifling the overarching plot and world-building; and - The controls can only be changed by editing an INI file, the user interface is horrendous, and the game is chock full of bugs. [hr][/hr] [quote][b]A C H I E V E M E N T S[/b][/quote] The game has 28 achievements which require you to complete a minimum of four playthroughs and will take approximately 30 hours if you plan out the epilogues that you intend to go for on each playthrough to reduce the time spent on this arduous task and use placeholder save files to expedite the process. Some achievements might be bugged since their hints imply that they are solo epilogues but I have yet to unlock them despite finishing the game multiple times. That being said, the game is marked as "Profile Features Limited" which means that it will not count towards your "Perfect Games" count and other achievement-related stats until it makes a minimum number of sales or has met other non-revenue criteria thresholds. [hr][/hr] [quote][b]R E V I E W[/b][/quote] [h3]Gameplay[/h3] The gameplay is a stripped down version of FE because it does not have battle animations or class promotions, there is no "Rescue" mechanic, and each character only has three inventory slots despite the game inundating you with a copious amount of passive items that provide stat bonuses or unique battle commands while carried. The game is short, only spanning 9 (optionally 10) battles, but it employs a neat system where characters gain points whenever they level-up which can be spent to raise their stats as you see fit. [h3]Graphics[/h3] The graphics are modeled after the colorful and charming 16-bit FE sprites but the game squanders its full potential because, for whatever reason, the developer chose to omit battle animations which is a huge draw for these games since seeing the classes and weapons in action is fun, immersive, and engaging. Instead, it relies on bland and boring effects on the map sprites which are underwhelming and don't have nearly the same gravitas that battle animations do. Each character has one decent portrait with a single static facial expression but some have been drawn with a hint of modern-day zeitgeist which is incongruous with the setting. Furthermore, all of the male characters are drawn with extremely effeminate features and most of them have the same hipster (or Viking?) haircut. [h3]Sound[/h3] The soundtrack is composed of relaxing acoustic songs that are surprisingly pleasant to listen to but are only played during battles where they do not fit whatsoever. This musical selection would have been fantastic for the post-battle scenes but no music plays instead which is jarring and eerie as you must read the trite dialogue in silence. Additionally, there are no sound effects for the battle effects or the menus which makes the game feel even more devoid and lifeless. [h3]Story[/h3] The story is shallow, contrived, and ill-conceived as it sees the "heroes" of the story battle against two faceless factions who are broadly painted as evil without any nuance. The lack of world-building and contextual scope of the game makes it feel as if the story at large is eschewed to focus on the characters and their relationships, much to its overall detriment, which results in the "heroes" being lazily and ubiquitously painted as good and having the supposed higher moral standard while no real depth is afforded to either side. The characters join the party for flimsy reasons or convenient plot contrivances and their motivations are either extremely cliché or selfish as most are simply out for revenge. Furthermore, none of them care about the glaring fact that they are siding with an undead skeleton in a world where necromancy is considered heresy which is simply bizarre behavior. They also bond overly fast which feels inorganic and unnatural since the story takes place over the span of five days or so. Each character has the same personality traits and qualities of being excessively self-pitying, apologetic, unconfident, over-emotional, vulnerable, and downtrodden to the point where it feels like you are their therapist listening to them trauma dump and this bleeds over into the dialogue where everyone feels exceedingly one-dimensional and indistinguishable from one another because they are all designed and written in an identical manner. Moreover, hints of modern-day western ideological messaging are sprinkled into the game which is wearisome, the most conspicuous of which is one of the first lines of dialogue where a character is corrected for (understandably) assuming a male is a female due his incredibly effeminate look while other examples are slightly more subtle allegories. Meanwhile, no romantic heterosexual relationships are available whatsoever, only platonic ones, which really paints a picture of who this game is intended for. That said, decisions are actually impactful and there is always a trade-off: saving villagers with different characters might yield different rewards while engaging with characters between battles will build up their relationships, change their stats, or grant unique items. [h3]Miscellaneous[/h3] The game uses the awful default [i]RPG Maker[/i] controls (arrow keys to move, ZXC as buttons) but you can change these, as well as other settings, in an INI file; however, this isn't noted anywhere which is irritating and I had to do some digging to find out that I could even do this in the first place. My Xbox One and PS4 controllers also didn't work despite the game listing partial controller support. The user interface is lackluster because you can only save at the beginning of your turn or load a file during a battle, the status effect icons aren't explained, it isn't obvious which items can be stolen, and the extra info menus overlap with the status menus which renders some text unreadable. The game is also riddled with plenty of bugs which range from minor annoyances to actual game-breaking ones that can freeze the game. [h3]Conclusion[/h3] Overall, I don't recommend this game because the gameplay is a bare-bones and monotonous imitation of FE, the story focuses too much on the character relationships which results in the overarching plot and world-building suffering tremendously as a result, and the lack of polish makes it feel incomplete and amateurish. Frankly, this should have been a visual novel because the tactical RPG aspect is a waste of time but, even then, the rest of the game simply isn't good enough to warrant trudging through it even once.