Weirdlands

Alright, as I finished probably most of the game, and generally enjoyed it. Nice things: - Art, lore and general vibes of the world. It feels a bit too empty sometimes, but it kind of matches the doomed atmosphere. - There are a lot of culture references. - Interesting encounter mechanics: encounters are determined by the type of the soil you're standing on. - Creature taming is reasonably straightforward. There are no limits on the number of "bench warmer" creatures, and there is very limited fusion/breeding: Lesser creatures are unalterable, while greater creatures can be enhanced by directly adding two lesser creatures skills and attributes to theirs. Not so nice things: - Navigating the game world often feels inconvenient and slow. It constantly feels that too few things fit in the camera view, and there is no in-game map to meaningfully track where you have already been, and whether it makes sense to try looking for a new path in some direction. - There is a certain lack of enemy (and generally side activity) diversity, especially by the end of the game. late-game "forest" area seems to only have one kind of enemy, and this same enemy is used in 4 hardest "training grounds" fights with the only difference being that each next fight has one more wave than the last one (up to 5 waves). - Instead of MP management, most non-trivial skills need to be "charged". While nice in theory, on practice it means that you must actively skip a turn to make the skill available. In most cases, it just doesn't pay out and it's better to use the most basic attack or heal option. It might have been better if "trivial" actions still contributed to charging abilities, but maybe on a smaller scale. - Level progression seems kind of broken, as by the end of the game, there is one superboss that you're unlikely to kill without some dedicated grinding or fishing, while all the other fights become basically trivial, including two canonical end-game bosses. - A lot of plot lines seem to cut abruptly. For example, the game starts with two guys asking you to be "their summoner". You'd expect that they'd care about you and your progress along the journey, give you a lot of missions, etc, but essentially the only meaningful task you do for them specifically is unclogging the toilet and finding a crowbar? A lot of other characters seem underutilized, i.e. they seem important as if they might use your help or something, but really they're just there as a decoration. Then, there are characters that tell you to do something specific, but when you do and try to talk to them again, they don't seem to acknowledge it or react to it in any way. - There are some minor bugs e.g. when fishing (imagine catching a "fish", but it doesn't register in the inventory and you only see the "!!!" message) or eavesdropping (you get a "PLACEHOLDER" text if you apply the bug on non-resistance NPC). That being said, the overall experience was very nice for me, just from "how it feels" perspective, as I like games in which there is just some kind of bizarre world and you spend time immersing in it and getting to know it better.

A very fun gem, instead of the usual approach to creature collector games you have a smaller amount of creatures at your command, but you can customise them so heavily that it never feels dull or lacking. It has a very enjoyable story so far, with lots of little secrets and fun puzzles. Highly recommend.

This is a fun little adventure game. It is well written and full of amusing little cultural references and quirky characters. The plot is interesting and well paced, the challenges and quests are just difficult enough to be engaging yet still solvable and satisfying. I am really enjoying it and will definitely keep playing. And there is even a "New Game +" mode for added replayability value.

Great game!

The writing in this game is phenomenal and charming, the world is PACKED with little secrets, and the combat system(s) are fun to get the hang of while rounding up spirits! "Dramatic changes in your second playthrough" really stuck in my head after I saw it, and yeah actually super fun to go through new game + with all the changes! Great game, 100% worth it!!

I simply cannot recommend this game enough. The developer did an absolutely fantastic job for what looks like one of their first games. The story is poignant and fascinating. While some may not enjoy the lack of explicit instructions or hand holding, I found it truly delightful to explore the world. I'll come back to write a longer review later, but this little gem might have become one of my favourite games.

A unique creature collector where there are only so many varieties in the world, so they all serve a very unique purpose and interaction. The story is really cool and you get two stories for the price of one as the NG+ is completely different. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

The thoroughly enjoyable nature of this unassuming little indie puzzle RPG/creature collector pleasantly surprised me! There are secret areas galore for the observant player to pursue, and because there are 0 guides (at the time of writing), finishing both stories is truly satisfying in a way few AAA games can compare. In the first playthrough you're a summoner who forces spirits into conscription, and in the second, a witch who befriends them; both playthroughs are necessary to get the whole story and truly "beat" the game. On my first attempt I initially got stuck and stopped playing, but after returning I discovered you can talk to your spirits and use your adventure book for hints on what needs to be done next. Every puzzle, goal, and secret area is 100% achievable if you explore enough for hidden paths/use the right items/investigate your surroundings, and it isn't very grindy at all. Later enemies also provide so much experipence that maxing out your stats isn't hard at all, especially on New Game+. Highly recommended for puzzle enjoyers and fans of nostalgic pixel RPGs who don't require having their hands held throughout!

日本語でのレビューは1番乗りでしょうか？ もっと日本でも売れてほしいですが、残念ながら英語オンリーです。（翻訳されてほし～～～！！） しかも、かなり文章量が多いので、読みごたえがあるのは素晴らしいのですが、私の英語力と読解力ではあまり全貌を理解できていないかもしれません。（PCOTで機械翻訳も使いながら読みましたがピクセル文字なので相性は良くなかったです…） それでもなお、お勧めしたいと思い、レビューを書くことにしました。 ・クリーチャーコレクターが好き ・ピクセルアートが好き これに当てはまる人は買って損しないと思います。 ◇よかったところ ・ビジュアル！キャラクターたちがとてもかわいい！素晴らしいピクセルアート！ ・ストーリー！前述の通り100%の理解ではないにしろ、とても読み応えのある面白い物語でした。特にスピリッツたちのバックグラウンドや、ニコイチたちの関係性がとても良かった。 特に私はStormsちゃんが好きでした。ハの字眉毛がめっちゃ可愛い…！ ・やりごたえのある謎解き 一番簡単なEasyでやりましたが、ここでこれを使うのか！という、ひらめきが結構必要な気がします。いざとなれば総当たりやパワーでも行けるパターンもありますがｗ対象にアクションしてアイテムを使うの、古き良きファミコンゲームの趣があって良いです。（じゃりン子チエとか） ・リプレイ性 若干ネタバレになりますが、オプションにもある通り、NEWGAME+があります。つまり二周を前提としているということです。私はゲームのループが結構苦手なのですが、今回はバトルシステムが一周目と少し変わっていたので苦痛では無かったです。 ◇もうちょっとなところ ・若干バグがある。だけど、discordで報告したらすぐ対応してくれて、パッチを用意されているとのこと！ （steamのゲームはバグ報告しても無視のとこもあるので、返信頂けるだけでもありがたい） あと、個人的にはStormsちゃんともっとお話出来たら嬉しいです！ｗ ↓ネタバレを含みます [spoiler] ◇やっててつまづいたところ、覚書 ・死ぬとロードするしかないので、こまめセーブがおすすめ ・ジャーナルを見るとタスクがわかります。 ・他の方のレビューにもありますが基本ボスも仲間になります。対象がわからない場合はアルテミス（トイレでゲットした子）を連れて行くとわかりやすいと思います（誰かの使い魔になってる間はゲットできないみたい。1回目で手に入れられなくても再会できるパターンもある。） 相手の機嫌とfolioの種類によってはゲットできないこともあるので確認しましょう。 ・フレイヤに会った後は学校の外に出られるので、バトルダンジョンで勝てなくなったら外に出てみるのもアリ ・folioが足りない時は、図書館のバートに会う手前の部屋のはしごを登るといくつか置いてある場所がある ・HEXUSに入れない時は周辺の人たちに話しかけて、タスクを完了しよう ・Sidがsea urchin レストランに行きたがるけど、どこに行けばいいかわからなくなったら、バーカウンターの扉が開いていることに注目すると進める ・高低差で登れそうなところは手当たり次第に登るといいかも ・隠し通路（裏通路？）の前には◇のマークがあることが多いので、それを探すといいかも ・脱走クローンを倒した後、ボイドキャスターを機械にセットしてから装置の中に入るとボイドキャスターを"装着"できるよ ・ダンジョンの緑のカギはとある飲み物をたくさん飲む人にとある飲み物をあげるとゲットできるかも？[/spoiler] これからのパッチ、 もしあるならアップデートも楽しみな作品です。

Weirdlands is one of those charming indie JRPGs that you can't help but love. The inclusion of monster taming and point and click elements set the game apart from other post-Undertale indie JRPGs. Weirdlands is quirky and clearly influenced by that zeitgeist, but it's also doing its own thing and never feels like something I've seen before. There's also a New Game+ mode that continues the story and changes up gameplay mechanics in a big way, which is very cool. It's not often that I do New Game+, but I had a lot of fun with it here, and it was an integral part of the experience. The art style and character designs are both appealing and unique, while the music creates a particular vibe that strengthens the feeling of the environment. Well, in the sections that have music -- some tracks were not ready for launch. It's not the biggest deal, but the absence was felt in a couple of places. I'm a bit mixed on the gameplay. The balancing was odd, with your main character progressing completely linearly. That is, experience converts into stats directly at the same rate for the entire game. Your monster companions only progress by catching more monsters -- they'll be quite powerful, but you can't grind for levels or anything. It's a strange mix of progression, but it actually felt somehow immersive. The other issue is that most spells just felt undertuned, requiring multiple turns and HP to use. I beat the game mostly just using basic attacks and the main characters healing spell as needed. I would have liked more diversity in the combat, but, it wasn't a huge deal for me. Weirdlands thrived on the vibes and interesting story, so having simple, but unoffensive combat wasn't a huge problem for me. Weirdlands may not be the best fit if you're looking for a mechanically complicated monster collector, but it's absolutely worth a play for being an interesting, charming indie JRPG.