Fable 最近的评测

tldr; This game is very much worthwhile, though some things have changed.

At Length:
Let's talk about what has changed from a mainline title.

Item level on ingredients outside of cooking is no longer a thing, so the arcane crafting system is not a thing in this. No copying boss techniques with that.
However, you can still tame boss monsters, so it barely matters. What it gets replaced with are relics that serve as a multi-tool between swapping magic, farming tool functions, etc on the fly.

Farming is easier in this game than it ever has been, you can enter a top down grid and water crops, or just assign villagers to handle all farming related tasks for you (They'll handle it about as well as monsters do in previous titles, though they also harvest and store stuff for you and plant at random based on your own inventory)
Again, sacred relics are sort of a hybrid as well of farming tools and magic wrapped in one.

Here's a big one. Rune Points. Rune Points are no longer the blood, sweat and tears stamina that goes down when you do literally anything (Chop wood, swing a sword, craft something, etc).
Instead, it's basically just MP and only MP, being consumed only when you use a sacred relic's magic.

To compensate for this, crafting is instead barred by money. You need to use a blacksmith's shop to forge and you need to pay your blacksmith in both materials and gold. No more slaving away in your overtuned nuclear science lab drinking 25 grape liquors and forging a waterpot that can kill god.

Last change off the top of my head: Recipe Bread. Not a thing anymore.
Instead, you search for altars and frog statues and pay your respects. There is no limit per day, rather the recipes themselves are tied to exploration and finding things in the world. Which, with the ability to jump and a lot more freedom of movement given right out of the gate, is a lot easier than you might think.
Frogs and shrines will also be marked on your minimap with which ones you haven't found yet, so the game helps you more than it hinders you in this regard. You may need to solve puzzles to find stuff though.


Closing thoughts:
I'm impressed. Rune Factory 5 pigeonholed itself into living in 4's shadow and being ultimately a pale reflection. Satisfying with its QoL but tragically burdened by a very empty and flat overworld and some clunky writing delivery and presentation. (In spite of these things, it was still alright! Feel free to read my review on that if you're doubting me.)
Instead, with Guardians of Azuma they decided to experiment and go outside the box again. Sort of the way they would with Tides of Destiny (Air Fishing...?) or Frontier (I miss my mail delivery NPC....)
As a non-numbered title, these particular spin-offs exist as an experiment. Kinda like Pokémon Legends Arceus vs... all the recycled titles....
I'm relieved they chose this path rather than "playing it safe" with every title going forward. Things have changed and though I miss my atomic watering can... Rune Factory 4 and 5 still exist and were the only games that had that to begin with. Moreover... I can still *play* those games.
By stabilizing gear progression and instead giving you invincible bullet time dodges, being able aim your bow on the fly and other crazy nonsense, the game does a really good job of handling 3D action combat and involves less fumbling around your backpack.

All in all, this game is very good! Go play it, talk about what you liked and talk about what you'd want going forward. (For me, I still want Hell Mode. Hard Mode is surprisingly balanced, but I want to suffer since Rune Points can't kill me anymore.)

Extras:
Villagers. The Villagers have their own unique kits again and it makes me so happy. They don't have an LB like they did in 5, they don't transform or anything crazy like they did in 3, but much like 4, they have very cool attack patterns that fit in with what you see in their story and aren't just "Broadsword user 7". This makes me happy.

One thing is certain, this weirdly dubious title with a fun gate-defence and well-written story deserves more attention than it currently has.

Also...
If I had a nickel for every time an indie dev made a game about war in a dictator's regime with the tale of soldiers who suffered in it, mechs, "girls" in the title, defending a gate as a core point. I'd have two nickels, and that's excluding the prequel to this. (Cavalry Girls is another dev entirely and somehow the two are oddly similar... to a fault.)

If Cavalry girls was the top down mecha-customization game, this would be your 2D towerdefense where you manage income and durability instead.
Music slaps, game is short but sweet.
This very much reminds me of old flash games or that Stick Figure Castle defender game from who knows how long ago. At least gameplay wise.
Story wise? Strap in, they had a writer and a localizer that knew how to make a story. Which wasn't what I expected going in. It's grim and bittersweet, but also charming. Each of the characters grows on you.

More of a wish than an expectation, but the steam workshop (Be it a boss/level maker. added weapons, custom characters, etc) would put this game in my own hall of fame.

This seems like a game that is both easily missed and misunderstood, so I'll try to leave this here to give it more attention.

This game is surprisingly a fun mecha towerdefense disguised as a waifu game, when really... you play AS the main pilot (Mary) and are recruiting other pilots who you can increase affinity with via giving them random goodies between ops.

Mech customisation is there, nothing crazy aesthetically like Armored Core or mech building games, the customisation instead focuses on the... well, the mechanical gimmicks of a given mech, with just about 101 ways to build them.

In the name of replayability, the game comes out of the tin with:
- a story mode with illustrated panel cutscenes
- a roguelike mode
- a stealth mode and a free DLC campaign

The voice acting is fine, nothing too memorable but also not bad especially when you consider that this is an indie game that I wasn't expecting voice acting to be in in the first place. So it's neat and entirely optional!

Oh, did I mention this game costs less than a sandwich at your local fastfood joint?
Your call, personally this is another W for the indie scene.

If this game were simply a port, I'd have probably give it something middling to a thumbsdown. With Denuvo it had a kind of mixed first impression.

However, this is *not* simply a port. It's a game inspired and based on the game by Tri-Ace and built in a whole new Octopath shaped engine by Gemdrops studio.

The mechanics you would've enjoyed are still there. The story is only expanded, not changed. More voice acting, more quality of life and all in all a game that blends nostalgia of old JRPGs with the fluid combat of modern JRPGs.

Assuming you know nothing about this game, it's got two playthroughs worth of content, so you'll have plenty on your plate for gameplay. However, with the quality of life grinding isn't nearly as bad as it could be.

After having played the original very recently, this game measures up and then some.
Too pricy? Wait for a sale. Just know that this game is worth your time.

Say whatever you like about 1.0
The initial release was about as appealing as Final Fantasy XIV before A Realm Reborn onwards.
However...
They delivered what is *now* a really solid and fun game that already had a really good story and now also a DLC that is more than worth it.
It's still a bit buggy. But now in a fun way. Many things I used to complain about have now been remedied.

My childhood returns.
Out of the gate I'll say this game holds up well but is smaller than Rune Factory 4:
Pros:
- Fun story
- Lovable cast of characters.

Notable things:
- You cannot tame boss monsters.
- You can only have one party member and if that party member is a villager they will leave when you take a request.
- The Crafting system is simplified. Additionally, you cannot craft multiple items at the same time.
- All of the English VAs have changed. Not good or bad, just different. Definite whiplash for old players though.

In spite of the old bits, it looks gorgeous and I adore getting to see my old beloved cast once more. Full glad am I to have this game on PC.

However... maaaybe wait for a sale? Depends. RF3 technically has about as much playtime as your average triple-A JRPG, but is definitely smaller than both 4 and 5 but... costs more... I guess? Idk.

This game is a weird one. So what this game loop is sort of reminiscent of is if you had a bit more dungeon focus and magic focus than Stardew, but not quite the pet system or crafting system from Rune Factory.
Instead this game is about skills, repetition and routine. Being bad at things until you eventually grind your way out to where things accelerate. The grind... admittedly? Not the most fun.
A lot of spells that would make things go by quickly are unlocked around skill level 30 which takes a good while.
Once the game gets the ball rolling though and when you cross the hurdle? It's a lot of fun and has a lot going for it.
I like the customisation and lack of fixation on gender (at least for the protag, you're just [name]. Idk, you figure it out.)
Also so far as making the grind for stats much less painful.

The multiplayer is this games saving grace, easily.
With 1 to 4 players, people can grow in different areas, help each other along and proceed their own storylines (which are instanced! (for the most part), so you don't have to worry about quests and other things getting pushed ahead without knowing why)

All in all, in my wait for Rune Factory 3 Special, this game has successfully kept me entertained. It definitely needs tender loving care and some polish, but it has the spirit and it has potential.
I'd happily throw CDN$ 30 to support a game that still is rolling ahead and by no means has abandoned their project. Wouldn't you?

Stardew Factory XIV: A Farm Reborn

This game is a game that has the potential to be so mean even my friends felt angry watching me die in it.
Kohaku is made of safety glass: If she so much as touches anything including just walking into an enemy or landing on one, she dies.
Frustrating at times? Absolutely, no questions asked.
Yet the gameplay is surprisingly responsive, the DLC gives you people who are pretty much better than normal Kohaku in every way and also their own campaigns.
While as a game this one caused me no end of grief, it's a solid piece, decent soundtrack, not the worst story I've ever read.

Just be prepared to die 100+ times if you play it. Good luck!

They actually did it. A port that runs above 10 frames per second.
Now I'm sure you're hearing a lot of this in reviews.
Some context:
Rune Factory 4 came out 12 years ago, shortly thereafter the company behind it, Neverland went bankrupt.
As such, Marvelous adopted them after running previous collaborations and they had to build this game... from scratch.

All in all, it's a miracle it plays anything at all like 4 while retaining everything else. Especially on a 3D plane. It tells a story about the length of Rune Factory 3 or arc 1-2 of Rune Factory 4. Yes, it *is* shorter in length than 4. But that's partially just because 4 is kind of a colossus in the series.

If you have been fed the silver spoon of Rune Factory 4, this game will feel different, it will feel slower in some ways, bigger and emptier in others. Going through empty fields rather than small maps.

If this is your first Rune Factory game, it's honestly not a bad place to start. The quality of life such as pointing out event flags, giving you gimmicks in the form of the SEED badge system and other quirks do make the game a bit nifty, if nothing else. Plus the farming in this game is really pleasant.

Also semi-hidden bit: Yes, this does still work like the console version, if you own Rune Factory 4, you get the outfits from 4. Not ALL of them, the DLC sure is still DLC, but you get the main outfits of the cast. Dolce, Doug, etc...

Also probably the best part of this game that I am hopeful remains a trend going forward. GAY MARRIAGE~

Do I recommend this game? Yes. Do I recommend it over Rune Factory 4? ...Nope. 4 is still the magnum opus of the series, even with its flaws. But I do think this game is the start of something beautiful and I am happy to not only see the series return but to also see a port that actually functions as a game rather than a slideshow disguised as one.

Edit: After clearing the main scenario a second time after doing the same with the switch port, I stand by what I said. This game also definitely has the quirk where the non-marriage canditates often end up being more engaging/attractive than half the wedding cast. (Hello Simone, Darroch, Terry... ILLUMINATA.)
My gripes aside, this game should occupy you for a decent span. A definite grab for a sale, or a purchase now simply to show Marvelous that this game must live on.