This Way Madness Lies Review (WhyNotZoidberg)
I like most games from Zeboyd, but the lackluster feel I got from Cthulhu saves Christmas is even worse here.
Most characters have super uninteresting abilities that are worthless in most standard combats. Which is the biggest beef I have with the game. The boss fights are OK and some even fun, but the basic combat which is, ofc, the overwhelmingly largest part of the game, is horrifyingly boring and bland with half the characters having 1 or max 2 abilities that actually deal damage and then you have to immediately refresh them because the majority of their abilities is just not doing anything to spend LESS time in combat. Combat feels like a boring chore that drags on and on and really feels more like a distraction from everything else.
The game has literally ONE new mechanic, that being traits, a seperate ability screen which can be used to assign 3 abilities that increase stats and/or improve a characters ability when performing certain tasks (e.g. healing or dealing fire damage, etc.).
All in all, I tried to get into the game twice and couldn't be bothered to play further than just a little bit after the 2nd Boss.
There's quite literally nothing new with everything more lackluster than ever before. Sad to see that after CSH, it's been *really* going downhill. Cthulhu saves Christmas at least had fun interactions and the way you could use the town was special. Here you get a screen to talk to your squad. For what, you may ask? Nothing. Fluff text.
Cthulhu saves the world had more interesting ways to develop your character than this. Uninteresting abilities, redundancy, and new traits just being flat stronger than older ones when it comes to stat boosting, really all add to the feeling that there is neither reward nor reason for not doing the obvious thing with your characters, and for what the game is at it's heart, a turn based combat RPG, it leaves a lot to be desired.
Maybe it gets better later on, but me wasting 3 hours on this is me also not being interested in that possibility anymore. I'd rather replay any other game from Zeboyd. This really feels lackluster to point of heartlessness. Sure, dialogue and sprites look cool, but... how does that make up for a failed core gameplay loop? And oh boy... Maybe it's just not for me, but the audio of the characters is just straight up annoying for me. Sorry. I'd rather have wished for better core mechanics than audio design that makes me wish I could turn it off as an option.