izigame.me

First of all this is not a “Diabloid” as someone may think after watching demos. This also can not be called an RPG. The correct definition would be an “isometric action” game.
There is no actual character development. Despite our character gaining experience and level-up, we are unable to influence the way she evolves, such as distributing attributes points, choosing abilities or anything else. All skills are unlocked automatically as the story progresses.
There is almost no inventory: we can not obtain new weapons or armor. The only thing available are rune-stones, which enhance the character in different ways.
We have 2 forms: physical and spiritual. In physical form our character uses melee weapons and skills, in spiritual - rong range magical projectiles. There are also 2 different health pools: physical and spiritual. Enemies differ in the same way by types: some use physical attacks which depletes “physical” health, others - cause spirit damage, which depletes “spiritual” health. When either of the health bars reaches zero - the game is over. The “physical” type enemies are vulnerable for physical attacks and resistant to the spiritual ones and vice versa. Thus in combat we have to evaluate the situation and switch between different forms in order to get victorious.
It may sound to be an interesting mechanics, but, at least for me, it does not actually feel like it. First of all, enemies are simply highlighted according to their alignment: orange - for “physical”, violet - for “spiritual”. Thus you do not need to study foes, searching for the correct tactics. Also this is quite a stupid way to combine melee and ranged combat. You can not deal with “physical” enemies from a distance, and can not quickly slash “spiritual” in melee. It's like we have 2 different combat systems, which we are forced to switch between all the time.
A significant part of the gameplay is puzzle solving. And this is almost the only thing, which feels actually good. Puzzles are well designed and look really fresh. They often require switching between “physical” and “spiritual” forms, creating quite a unique challenge. They are well balanced, requiring deep thinking from you without breaking your head.
Also bosses are quite interesting. They also have 2 health bars, but unlike it is for our character, both of them should be depleted before they die. Bosses are quite different and change their behavior during the battle.
Overall the game feels like “Darksiders: Genesis” but in very basic form, stripped from many features.
Story is disappointing. The heroine - Avril has been chosen by god-like beings to save the dying Earth, and they granted her supernatural powers to do their bidding. I can not say that the story is completely hackneyed, but it is close to it. It has a twist near the end, but that one is quite predictable.
Main character's personality is also quite disappointing. Her planet is almost destroyed, shattered by the earthquakes, her friends and relatives died in the process, the food should be scarce, but she has an attitude like “let's go search for some strange voices underground, it will be fun!”, cracking jokes along the way. There is nothing bad having a cheerful heroine, but it simply does not fit the scenery.
Overall it all feels childish and well…stupid.
The game claims: “your every decision will have consequences” - well, not really... We are not allowed to return to the worlds we visited to see in which way they were affected. There are no actual forks or significant choices. The only notable difference is which exact ghost will haunt us during the spirit trial at the last stage. At the very best the last boss may be different, although I have not checked this (may be it will not). We can choose between “conqueror” and “defender” alignment, which affects which runes we can equip and nothing else.
There are several possible endings, but I feel no desire to uncover them.
Game is quite short. Each planet provides a relatively small gameplay area. There is no significant difference between worlds. The most bright example is the one with the underwater city, where neither our character nor enemies are able to swim. They walk and run around, like there is thin air around them instead of water. You do know the water has higher density than air, don’t you?..
The Graphics are basic, cartoon-styled. It appears like “Torchlight”. It is not highly detailed, but it is well enough for the gameplay.
Animations fit the graphics: not very detailed, but smooth.
The dialogs are made in “visual novel” style almost without any cutscenes.
Camera has only 2 options of view: “far” and “close”. We can not rotate it or choose an exact zoom. Although It is positioned well enough, I can not remember cases when it caused troubles.
Music is unremarkable. Although I can not say it is bad.
Overall it is 5/10.
“Half of the game” is an exact definition for this. In comparison to previews and advertisements, this is a huge disappointment. “On the paper” it appears much better than in reality.
For the small development team, this game may be considered as an achievement, but you can find much more interesting products on the market. It is not worth the money, it is not worth the time.