I'm normally loathe to play in the sandbox, too much sand in unspeakable places... but this has been an enjoyable experience. I tried this a couple of years back when the developer was in the midst of working on Book 2, but I put it down for a while. When i came back, much had been changed or updated, and the game was finished. I was drawn to it again because I had seen the developer's latest work starring at least Emily's model here on site. I haven't played it yet, so no idea if she shares the name, but I will find out soon. Before taking that on, I decided to finish what I had started.
The characters are delightful, each with their own charm. Some of them speak a proper English, some with a brogue, some as though they were brought from farthest reaches of American civilization. All of them are unique in their own ways, both visually and thematically. They all have fantastic stories to tell, interwoven with the tale of our Winter King.
As for the central story itself, our MC is an interesting character to follow: A careful practice in building a Gary Stu instead of simply presenting him as thus from the preface. I can appreciate that in the beginning, we only see hints of a future to come; the hellhounds speaking prophecy was a particularly nice touch. My only issue with this MC is he looks a little goofy, especially when compared to his absentee father.
The graphics, overall, are good for the time of production; this review comes years after the story was initiated, and the graphical elements of many newer games pale in comparison. The animations are a little different, but that has more to do with the fact that they are full motion videos and not mere graphics. Character movements in some of the animations are a little janky at times, particularly the MC when running: his movement reminds me more of a werewolf than a human running across the field. Between the MC running palms out (forward and down) rather than palms facing each other and an abnormal arm articulation, the MC looks more like a rabid two-legged animal running than a human. Each forward motion looks like he's pawing forward.
Music is exceptional, each theme well-suited either as a character's leitmotif or as a backing track for a particular location. No SFX, but that's almost a bonus... too frequently do games of the genre turn the volume up on those effects.
Despite this game being a sandbox--dragged across three books, no less--I give this five stars. It's well deserved, it's managed to keep my attention for a couple of weeks now.
Also, I really enjoy seeing Molly. I'm pretty sure it's because of her deep resemblance to Jannice. Look at either her face in the text box or her body from a profile view and tell me I'm wrong). Obviously they aren't the same character, but I don't think that design decision was a coincidence.
The characters are delightful, each with their own charm. Some of them speak a proper English, some with a brogue, some as though they were brought from farthest reaches of American civilization. All of them are unique in their own ways, both visually and thematically. They all have fantastic stories to tell, interwoven with the tale of our Winter King.
As for the central story itself, our MC is an interesting character to follow: A careful practice in building a Gary Stu instead of simply presenting him as thus from the preface. I can appreciate that in the beginning, we only see hints of a future to come; the hellhounds speaking prophecy was a particularly nice touch. My only issue with this MC is he looks a little goofy, especially when compared to his absentee father.
The graphics, overall, are good for the time of production; this review comes years after the story was initiated, and the graphical elements of many newer games pale in comparison. The animations are a little different, but that has more to do with the fact that they are full motion videos and not mere graphics. Character movements in some of the animations are a little janky at times, particularly the MC when running: his movement reminds me more of a werewolf than a human running across the field. Between the MC running palms out (forward and down) rather than palms facing each other and an abnormal arm articulation, the MC looks more like a rabid two-legged animal running than a human. Each forward motion looks like he's pawing forward.
Music is exceptional, each theme well-suited either as a character's leitmotif or as a backing track for a particular location. No SFX, but that's almost a bonus... too frequently do games of the genre turn the volume up on those effects.
Despite this game being a sandbox--dragged across three books, no less--I give this five stars. It's well deserved, it's managed to keep my attention for a couple of weeks now.
Also, I really enjoy seeing Molly. I'm pretty sure it's because of her deep resemblance to Jannice. Look at either her face in the text box or her body from a profile view and tell me I'm wrong). Obviously they aren't the same character, but I don't think that design decision was a coincidence.