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Serpent in the Staglands (New pixel art RPG)
Topic Started: May 28 2015, 02:25 PM (400 Views)
90sgamer92
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I mentioned this game briefly in my Computer RPG guide and it just got released so I thought I'd give yall a heads up. I can't really say how good this game is yet, I've only played the demo for 25 minutes, but it atleast has some gorgeous pixel art. Seriously, no other indie game comes even close to the pixel art in this game. It's no Metal Slug, but this is the first time in 10 years like I feel that a game actually pushed the envelope when it comes to pixel art graphics.
It's 16 euros on GOG (DRM free purchase), so I recommend giving it a try if it sounds good to you.
http://www.gog.com/game/serpent_in_the_staglands

The game was developed by just 2 people so it's really impressive for an indie game. It's inspired by two classic CRPGs, Darklands and Baldur's Gate. It's isometric and you control a party. Sadly the combat isn't turn based but rather real time with pause, but the combat system seems pretty good from what I've seen. You can map out your own keybinds for each character.
Mechanically it's a true old school RPG: from what I can tell, there's no quest journal. If some one tells you to go in some place and meet some person, you have to write down a note for yourself (you can make those in your journal). The combat mechanics are based on die rolls as well (1d4 etc). So it's quite hardcore! The setting is also worth mentioning, it's set in the bronze age. I doubt it's historically as accurate as Darklands, but it seems like the game is aiming for a more realistic wibe, I think I've read there's weapon degradation and stuff like that.

So anyways, I'm off to play the game. Just wanted to give you guys a heads up of this game, it's my fourth most anticipated game of 2015 after Torment: Tides of Numenera, Bloodborne and Persona 5 so I have quite high hopes for this thing. It's too early to say whether it's going to be equal or even surpass earlier crow funded CRPGs like Divinity: Original Sin, Pillars of Eternity and Shadowrun Returns, but we'll see. I'll probably make a review of it if I end up putting a lot of time into it.

PS: I'm not getting paid to advertise this game, I just want to give a good indie game a shout out. :P
Check out my youtube channel for retro game reviews
Systems: Odyssey 2, Atari 2600+7800, Intellivision, Colecovision, NES, SMS, Dendy (Famiclone), PC Engine+CD, Turbografx, PC Engine Duo R, SNES (EU+USA), Mega Drive (EU+JP), Genesis, Sega CD, 32X, Jaguar+CD, Amiga CD32, 3DO, CDi, Neo Geo AES, Neo Geo CD, Neo Geo CMVS, Saturn, N64, PS1, PSOne (USA), Dreamcast, PS2 Slim, PS2 (JP), GC, Xbox, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, PS4, Commodore 64, Amiga 500+, Atari 520 STfm, PSP, PS Vita, 3DS(XL), GBA, GBC, Virtual Boy, Game Gear, Game.com, Atari Lynx, Wonderswan Color, Neo Geo Pocket Color, N Gage QD
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KingJames88
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Ds Games!

I would like to see a game like this come to the 3ds as a physical release. That would make me happy.
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>>My DS Collection Here<< 194 games and counting!
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90sgamer92
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I've pitched the idea of printing physical copies by using indie box or some similar service on their forum. They did physical maps and manuals (if I recall) as kickstarter backer rewards but couldn't probably afford to make boxed copies with their budget.

I don't know if 3DS could handle this kind of game though. The screen is too small (you're controlling 5 different characters, each has over 30 spells to use as well as items they can use in combat. Add 4-7 enemies on top of that and it's a clusterfuck on a handheld screen) and there's a lot of RTS style micromanagement and pausing in the combat, you do have a stylus on 3DS but it still might be overwhelming as you have 10 hotkeys for each character and a few other quick commands on the PC version to make things faster.


Some impressions so far:
Visuals are great. I've had few cool moments when I had to think outside the box, like an area with a locked gate had small crevices but my characters were too big to pass them so I morphed them into cats. One of my melee characters hasnt got any spells so she had to wait outside while rest of my characters sneaked in as cats, killed the guards inside and opened the front gate.
Combat is VERY hard. I can't count the times when I died in an instant. You have to be very careful and pause the game a lot in combat. So far I've had to pick my fights, lure in enemies one by one and had to run away from many tougher encounters.
Its very nonlinear and there's no handholding what so ever, this is a game that respects the players intelligence and expects them to pay attention. I've traveled from town to town, picking hints and writing them in my journal. The main quest line seemingly just stopped as soon as I talked to the brother of an important character, so I don't know what my "goal" is. It's more like Ultima than Darklands: very noninear rather than being a full out sandbox where the content is procedurally generated.
The writing is quite good given that they dont have any dedicated writers. All items have detailed inscriptions like in the Souls games, while dialogue is more pragmatic (some funny lines here and there, and some interesting lore). I've seen some typos.

The negatives: bugs. It's a huge game made by 2 people that to my knowledge didnt have any kind of open beta, so that's to be expected. The combat AI could also use fixing, and the casting system is kind of meh. I think you get proper offensive spells later on, but so far I mostly can heal, debuff and buff (and transmorph), so a lot of channeled spells.
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I haven't tried making potions or elixirs, but apparently you can make those and use them in combat like in Darklands.
There's also way too much loading (every time you switch from one zone to another, load a game or die in combat). It's Bloodborne all over again for me.
Edited by 90sgamer92, May 30 2015, 05:02 AM.
Check out my youtube channel for retro game reviews
Systems: Odyssey 2, Atari 2600+7800, Intellivision, Colecovision, NES, SMS, Dendy (Famiclone), PC Engine+CD, Turbografx, PC Engine Duo R, SNES (EU+USA), Mega Drive (EU+JP), Genesis, Sega CD, 32X, Jaguar+CD, Amiga CD32, 3DO, CDi, Neo Geo AES, Neo Geo CD, Neo Geo CMVS, Saturn, N64, PS1, PSOne (USA), Dreamcast, PS2 Slim, PS2 (JP), GC, Xbox, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, PS4, Commodore 64, Amiga 500+, Atari 520 STfm, PSP, PS Vita, 3DS(XL), GBA, GBC, Virtual Boy, Game Gear, Game.com, Atari Lynx, Wonderswan Color, Neo Geo Pocket Color, N Gage QD
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90sgamer92
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfnXhT5L0vs
The review I mentioned earlier. Not a perfect game by any means, but when you take in consideration that it was made by just two people, it's absolutely amazing. Still, if you're not hardcore into RPGs, might be better to wait a while before getting it so that some of the bugs get patched.
Check out my youtube channel for retro game reviews
Systems: Odyssey 2, Atari 2600+7800, Intellivision, Colecovision, NES, SMS, Dendy (Famiclone), PC Engine+CD, Turbografx, PC Engine Duo R, SNES (EU+USA), Mega Drive (EU+JP), Genesis, Sega CD, 32X, Jaguar+CD, Amiga CD32, 3DO, CDi, Neo Geo AES, Neo Geo CD, Neo Geo CMVS, Saturn, N64, PS1, PSOne (USA), Dreamcast, PS2 Slim, PS2 (JP), GC, Xbox, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, PS4, Commodore 64, Amiga 500+, Atari 520 STfm, PSP, PS Vita, 3DS(XL), GBA, GBC, Virtual Boy, Game Gear, Game.com, Atari Lynx, Wonderswan Color, Neo Geo Pocket Color, N Gage QD
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