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[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

If you have the desire/funding to make another game, it'd probably be worthwhile to put it on Steam Early Access for a month or two before launch to give yourself time before the official release to work out some of the bugs.

While I personally chafe at the glut of games in perpetual Early Access on there, using it for a late round of QA for a team like yours with limited resources would seem to be using the service the way it was intended.

Yeah, I'm thinking that if we do another game (current pitch for that is Sky High meets Persona with the CSH engine/battle system and a dash of Milo Murphy's Law for good measure), we'd do a Kickstarter where an early tier ($25?) would be for the beta and the beta would also be available as a general Steam Early Access right after the Kickstarter ended. That way, we'd get lots of extra testing & feedback plus KS backers could get something right after the KS instead of like with the CSH KS where they had to wait a LONG time.

 

[Granjinha]

My review is up too. We don't give scores, but i recommended the game with some complaints about bugs and the lack of reaction from the world to your actions. Still, mostly praises. I really loved the game.

 

[Aeana]

I think the game could benefit greatly from some sound effects out in the world. There's so much that happens on screen with no accompanying sound effects and it just feels weird.

Spoiler

Especially when you beat the mech in the city, and the mech opens up and the dude jumps out with no sounds whatsoever. I felt that was really strange.

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

I think the game could benefit greatly from some sound effects out in the world. There's so much that happens on screen with no accompanying sound effects and it just feels weird.

Spoiler

Especially when you beat the mech in the city, and the mech opens up and the dude jumps out with no sounds whatsoever. I felt that was really strange.

That's a result of how rushed I was in finishing the game in time to not miss our release date. We plan to go back and add a few story sequence sound effects here and there.

I'm also thinking I'm going to change the Talk code so that instead of having to essentially aim at the NPC, it'll just automatically work as long as you're close enough regardless of which direction you're facing. Gotten a lot of complaints about that.

 

[IMACOMPUTA]

How many hours does this game take to beat?

 

[POTUS 2016]

Not the biggest fan of the art style (portraits/cutscenes) but the game itself looks good. I'll grab when LRG drops.

 

[Suburban Thug]

take the

Spoiler

elevator up from the second town on new Rhomu (I forget the name of it... the one where Enzo's party happens) and then proceed to the scimerex village on the map. It should have an "Enter" prompt on the north and south ends of it.

What elevator

 

[Brashnir]

What elevator

Go to the screen West from

Spoiler

Enzo's House

and up.

Spoiler

alternately, you can take the subway to new rhomu and take that elevator, and use the overworld map to run back to the new rhomu elevator and go north from it.... that's what I ended up doing

 

[Suburban Thug]

Go to the screen West from

Spoiler

Enzo's House

and up.

Thank you

 

[Timeaisis]

RE: The Destructoid review.

Kind of a shame people had so many bugs. My experience was nearly flawless.

The only really issues I found with the game for are:
- No status information screen in combat (buffs/debuffs, etc.) makes planning sometimes harder than necessary
- Comparing equipment and shopping is sometimes tedious
- Brisk pacing is great, but it can be too quick sometimes (I don't mind living in a scene occasionally, as a break, even though I know the point is to never waste the player's time)

The last one is more a personal preference, as I really love how fast the pace is, especially compared to other RPGs (I'm looking at you, FFXV). But I'm up for a break sometimes to breathe and get a little more from the characters. Although, I probably appreciate the quick pace more than most.

Other than that, it's near perfect for what it is. Fun, breezy story. Great combat. Fantastic character designs, art design and music. I know there were some complaints about too many characters, and I guess I can see that given the fact that we don't spend a lot of time with each character, but honestly, each character is so unique and interesting I wouldn't want it any different. It'd be a shame to lose late-game characters like Psybe or Orson. The only character I didn't find particularly interesting was Finn, but he made up for it by having the coolest sidequest in the game.

Easy 9/10 game for me, and up there with the best RPGs I've played.

 

[Ixian]

The buff management situation is definitely a bummer, especially when a lot of combat revolves around setting up high damage situations over the course of a few turns.

Other minor things I'd like to see:
- Default to "Continue" rather than "New Game" if any save files are detected.
- Auto-run option pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Siliconera review

Not sure if posted yet. I agree with mostly everything it says. Great game that could benefit from some slower pacing. The entire

Spoiler

betraying the organization you work for

chapter happened way too fast -

Spoiler

I had no time to digest what was happening before we were suddenly fighting our old friends (who we, as the player, had actually just met)

 

[Aeana]

On one hand, I appreciate the pacing. it reminds me of Phantasy Star 2 or 4. On the other, I think there are a couple of missing bits in some story transitions that make it seem a bit too abrupt.

 

[FallenGrace]

Yeah, I'm thinking that if we do another game (current pitch for that is Sky High meets Persona with the CSH engine/battle system and a dash of Milo Murphy's Law for good measure), we'd do a Kickstarter where an early tier ($25?) would be for the beta and the beta would also be available as a general Steam Early Access right after the Kickstarter ended. That way, we'd get lots of extra testing & feedback plus KS backers could get something right after the KS instead of like with the CSH KS where they had to wait a LONG time.

Glad to hear there may be another game from you guys, CSH is a fantastic little title with a couple of rough edges, hoping to finish it off tonight. Will support you guys in another Kickstarter if you go for it without hesitation. Was this at least a good learning experience in dealing with Sony etc? Sounded like a crazy rush towards the end.

Edit: Hope you don't mind me using Lauren as my new avatar XD

 

[Lamptramp]

Hopefully as an indicator that Sony have finally got round to sorting out EU codes, just had mine delivered by email.

Woo!

 

[zakujanai]

EU PSN codes seem to have finally gone out. PSN being PSN though the game didn't automatically download once I redeemed the code, I had to search the store and manually download. Even then it said "cannot download" and I had to hit it again.

Why do Sony hate this game?

 

[Baloonatic]

Looks like EU PSN codes are going out? I just got an email from Humble for mine at least.

I'll do a giveaway for it at some point.

 

[Brandon F]

- No status information screen in combat (buffs/debuffs, etc.) makes planning sometimes harder than necessary

Hate to read this. One of my biggest pet peeves in RPG's. Just never understood why so many games in the genre lack such a simple icon or visual notice for that status spell you cast. Kind of makes the player reconsider using them if even the devs felt it was unnecessary to apply the same level of commitment to their utility as say an attack swing or a fire spell.

 

[Timeaisis]

Hate to read this. One of my biggest pet peeves in RPG's. Just never understood why so many games in the genre lack such a simple icon or visual notice for that status spell you cast. Kind of makes the player reconsider using them if even the devs felt it was unnecessary to apply the same level of commitment to their utility as say an attack swing or a fire spell.

Yeah, but don't let that be the takeaway. It's more minor than it seems since you are constantly buffing/debuffing so you have more of a plan in your head. You hardly ever cast a buff/debuff and forget about it later.

Besides, "active" negative debuffs like vulnerable, poison, rust (which is like a slow for robots), etc. are all displayed above enemies/party members heads. It's only like "damage/armor/next attack/buffs" that aren't displayed. And there are lots of those.

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

There are so many possible buffs that it would be overwhelming to visually display all of them. With that said, maybe I can add a few for some of the more important ones like Save/Quit & Focus.

Oh and I'm about to test Steam achievements.

 

[urfe]

If there's going to be significant updates in the future, I may stop right now (I'm about 7 hours in), spend 6 months on other games, and come back to it then.

I have experienced zero bugs, but I love the game, and would love my first play through to be of the definitive experience.

(I also finally got BotW)

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Oh wow, the police station is

Spoiler

a blatant callback to Resident Evil 2 - took me a while to figure it out. Even the music is almost the same.

Really nice touch.

I'm also guessing

Spoiler

the guy in the swamp you gives you the eyeball is a Fallout reference?

 

[jb1234]

Oh and I'm about to test Steam achievements.

Yay!

 

[Tiu Neo]

Finished it on Heroine, 33 hours, searching everything after every event. About 10 or so of those were with the game on background. Good length, I loved the characters, the humor, the quests. It really felt like an older RPG. The maps are very detailed, lots of hidden secrets, and lots of cut-scenes, I can only imagine how much work was put on it all.

I had a few bugs at the start (the ones I said before the thread), but none after the first few hours. Even the bugs I got, don't really look like things that complicated - I can see how someone would miss those.

If there's one thing in this game that really deserves to be studied, it's the battle system. No MP, and every skill is usable from when you get it until the end of the game. Of course, there are ways of breaking the game, too, but finding those are part of the fun.

The trophies were also very well thought! Not sure if the recruits one is missable, but the two of them that I'm sure are, you can get replaying the first hour of the game. Some of them are from doing main quest things, others are for sub-quests, no grinding necessary.

Oh, yeah! No grinding necessary. You can grind a bit, if you want, but normally it's not necessary, and it becomes ineffective pretty fast. At the end of the game I felt I was a bit over-leveled (thanks to the secret bosses), but even then, some of the final enemies were a good challenge, and I needed more than one try to beat the final boss.

I hope to see more of this universe in the future, but it's understandable if they decide to do something else next. Anyway, if this had been released earlier or maybe a bit later, it would probably get a lot more attention. I hope people start to notice it now, after they are finishing Persona 5.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I loved the references! Lot's of them, like the clear Resident Evil one, the RPG jokes, or that one battle with the lamps lighting up as you walk, like the Magus fight on 600 A.D.

The game felt very inspired by CT, and did it right. I also loved the mission where you get the home base, reminded me a lot of the first Suikoden

 

[Primus]

Steam Achievements just went live for the PC version. They aren't retroactive, so you'll have to start over again to get the ones you missed.

 

[Ixian]

There are so many possible buffs that it would be overwhelming to visually display all of them. With that said, maybe I can add a few for some of the more important ones like Save/Quit & Focus.

Not sure how feasible it'd be to implement, but maybe some kind of timed prompt stating "[x] wears from [y]" rather than trying to display all the buffs visually.

 

[Hispanic! At the Disco]

There are so many possible buffs that it would be overwhelming to visually display all of them. With that said, maybe I can add a few for some of the more important ones like Save/Quit & Focus.

Oh and I'm about to test Steam achievements.

Would it possible to have a toggle or hold button that showed you all of the effects? Or maybe a button that essentially pauses the battle and lets you cycle through characters to view their statuses?

You guys have done and are doing great work! Just entered the water treatment plant and aside from the the lack of SFX and the pacing being a bit too abrupt, its very good and the best indie rpg ive played. Easily 9/10.

 

[daevv]

Just finished the game tonight on PS4 and loved every minute of it. Will be a day 1 backer/supporter for anything Zeboyd Gmaes does in the future. Gonna replay your other games on Steam now. Would love for them to hit PSN someday for some triple purchasing.

"See you next mission"

 

[MasterMenace]

Please come to Switch. I need an RPG to play on it!

 

[kswiston]

Robert, you mention adding in various things to the game (besides bug fixes) as time goes on. Have you two thought about re-launching a director's cut version of the game down the road (say, in the Fall or Winter) to get new eyeballs on the game? I know that a lot of indie devs and small pubs go that direction. I also know that, as long as you are offering it as a free update to previous buyers, most early adopters are happy to get the long term support. It can also give an incentive for a second playthrough.

 

[Timeaisis]

There are so many possible buffs that it would be overwhelming to visually display all of them. With that said, maybe I can add a few for some of the more important ones like Save/Quit & Focus.

Oh and I'm about to test Steam achievements.

Yeah, that's what I figured. You've got a lot of "special case" buffs. Which is super cool for the tactical variety, but thinking about it, would be a bitch to display.

This would be a pretty big update, but a "turn history" page you could bring up with select would be extremely helpful for that.

Anyway, not trying to pile on here. I think the game is awesome, and that was my one mechanical sticking point. The silver lining to that is that you have to be more conscious of what you are doing to remember what you have active, which, is kind of the point of the combat anyway.

Also, gonna echo I'd love this on Switch. I'd double dip for sure.

 

[Kvik]

I finished the game a few minutes ago!

Great game, although I was hoping the final dungeon was extra long. Probably years of playing JRPG has drilled such expectation into me

Battle system keeping things fresh right until the end. Its a shame I can't keep certain character in my party due to the plot (I love her damage over time -- even better than Psybe's song)

Any plans of expansion? extra missions?

 

[slash000]

Heh, the final dungeon is the biggest one by far, but there are a lot fewer battles per map in that dungeon compared to earlier in the game if I recall correctly. I'd have liked to have seen more smaller/easier avoidable battles with moving enemies (in addition to the existing current ones) just for a change of pace for the player and to liven up the dungeon so there's not so much empty space and static enemy placement. Dunno maybe we can get some in or something at some point.

There's going to be a few side missions added back into the game which were temporarily cut due to time. These areas' assets are already complete so it shouldn't take a long time to implement, it's just that bugs and some core features have been the priority.

 

[AgentOtaku]

Prordered/Day-one bought this and am now just finally starting it, sorry... had to finish Horizon first

 

[Famassu]

Started it yesterday, got to the point where I got my first item from the chest. Proceeded to check out said item in the menu. Game crashed when exiting the menu.

I'm gonna wait for a patch or two before I jump into this properly.

 

[Adam Prime]

Started it yesterday, got to the point where I got my first item from the chest. Proceeded to check out said item in the menu. Game crashed when exiting the menu.

I'm gonna wait for a patch or two before I jump into this properly.

Are you on PC? I'm playing this on a somewhere between 5-10 year old Laptop from work (standard issue business DELL) and I've only had one lock up in about 10 hours.

... It's weird how some people have issues and others have little or none.

 

[SiegfriedFM]

It generally worked fine for me, but I had a locking bug where I was using Chahn and suddenly I had 300% style but the cursor was locked on the boss and I could select anything.

Two things I'd like to point out:

Spoiler

In the arcade, Dave talks to himself about one of the pinball type machines. Seems like someone else should have one of the quotes. Also, there's a weapon for Arete in the final dungeon, which seems a bit unnecessary at that point unless there's a side quest I'm missing.

Overall though, a good game with interesting characters and a really cool battle system. I never broke it, but I had a bunch of choices with the characters that ended up being my team:

Spoiler

Alyssa, Psybe, Z'xorv and Chahn

 

[Boss Riovane]

Thus far I'm in absolute love with the game. Just finished

Spoiler

defeating Lita, Skeleton Boss and got Chahn's ultimate weapon.

I love how the side missions are set up. But I have one question.

Spoiler

I'm missing one recruit. Yet I'm on Chapter 11. Do you recruit anyone else in the last 2 chapters?

 

[Rock And Roll]

About 13 hours in and I was assuming near the end of the game so I was going to try to beat it tonight. Had a glitch with Chanh in a battle though that froze my game and was unable to continue. I'll try again tomorrow I suppose.

 

[AgentOtaku]

this... uh... battle-system is something else!

Seriously, it's like.... fucking good! lol

 

[Famassu]

Are you on PC? I'm playing this on a somewhere between 5-10 year old Laptop from work (standard issue business DELL) and I've only had one lock up in about 10 hours.

... It's weird how some people have issues and others have little or none.

PS4.

Europe if that makes any difference.

 

[Brashnir]

It generally worked fine for me, but I had a locking bug where I was using Chahn and suddenly I had 300% style but the cursor was locked on the boss and I could select anything.

things I'd like to point out:

Spoiler

Also, there's a weapon for Arete in the final dungeon, which seems a bit unnecessary at that point unless there's a side quest I'm missing.

Yeah, I also thought this one was really odd. At the time, I naturally assumed

Spoiler

that Arete would re-join the party after the fight against her

 

[The Illiterati]

I started this up tonight and really enjoyed the first few hours. I thought beating Persona 5 would burn me out of RPG's for awhile but this is plenty different enough and way more fast paced. I love the battle system and the background art so far!

 

[Tailzo]

I just read it's out on Vita. Is it correct?

Going to check my Vita when I get home

 

[hongcha]

I just read it's out on Vita. Is it correct?

)

No, but it will be released at some future date.

 

[Rock And Roll]

I ran into the exact same glitch at the same part again. I'll spoiler tag it, it's near what I assume is the end of the game.

Spoiler

On the enemy ship, the second enemy you fight (I believe its called Ancient Spirit), whenever I try to use Chahn's torch ability, the game crashes.

I just stayed away from using that ability when I fought it again, but since it's weak against fire it's a glitch I'm sure someone else might have noticed already. Playing on PS4.

Edit: It seems to be using the purification torch ability in general freezes the game in that dungeon. I used it against some other enemies after fighting the dragon and the game froze again. Not sure why it does this now, another poster mentioned their style was 300% when it froze. I had 300% when it just happened now, but during the other battles iI used it at the start of the fight and it locked up.

 

[slash000]

I just read it's out on Vita. Is it correct?

Going to check my Vita when I get home

Nope we goofed and need to correct this ASAP

 

[kng3025]

Nope we goofed and need to correct this ASAP

Got excited for a second. Any timeframe on when the Vita version will release?

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

I ran into the exact same glitch at the same part again. I'll spoiler tag it, it's near what I assume is the end of the game.

Spoiler

On the enemy ship, the second enemy you fight (I believe its called Ancient Spirit), whenever I try to use Chahn's torch ability, the game crashes.

I just stayed away from using that ability when I fought it again, but since it's weak against fire it's a glitch I'm sure someone else might have noticed already. Playing on PS4.

Edit: It seems to be using the purification torch ability in general freezes the game in that dungeon. I used it against some other enemies after fighting the dragon and the game froze again. Not sure why it does this now, another poster mentioned their style was 300% when it froze. I had 300% when it just happened now, but during the other battles iI used it at the start of the fight and it locked up.

That's fixed on the latest Steam version, but the PS4 versions haven't been updated yet.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

My cat got cancer and I went in search of a better paying job, but now everything's settled down a bit and I will finally get into this. Figures, after such a long time giving you guys a hard time about the release date