Revier's Stuff of Dubious Value

 Some of you might remember that I had started evaluating the magic schools in this game to figure out their strengths and weaknesses. I picked Nature as that was a fairly straightforward school. The rest...aren't quite so clear cut, but they still have themes they try to convey via their design. Anyway, it's now time for.... SORCERY Sorcery loosely represents the forces of wind, water and most importantly, magic itself. Its summons have great control over water, and it manipulates wind to make units fly and even become swift transports themselves, but by far their most impactful spells are magical tricks that undermine the "rules" of battle. As such, Sorcery very much is the realm of trickery...and it kind of has to be, as it has little power backing it up. When they work, they work very well, netting it amazing rewards and letting it crush its foes with ease. But when they don't , it is in deep trouble. Now, it does have some nifty logistical spells too, and th

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 Well, I was wishing for a challenge at the end of last run, so why not take a look at the game's second, and only other attack mage? Meet Leon! Leon is essentially a darkly flavored mage, most of his spells are darkness elemental and he gets instant death and debuff spells. That said, he starts with a few water elemental spells, and those give him a decent alternative element to tap into. Leon starts at level 30, and with level 2 Alchemy. He also has the grace of starting with 500 SP and 350 BP. Now, this isn't as big as it sounds, especially since 120 of the SP has to be spent on Determination, but it's nice to have some flexibility building him up at the start! He also joins at the start of the Hoffman Ruins arc, and is a guest until the dungeon is cleared. This puts him under the same restrictions as Celine - he can't swap any equipment until he joins "for real". No armor, no weapons, no accessories, nothing. Speaking of weapons, Leon uses books as his mur

 UNIVERSE  So, uhh...remember when this was a challenge run? Yeah, I don't! :D Now, granted, they were blocking more of his hits, and granted, they were taking longer to put down. But this was simply not enough to stem the tide of Air Slashes flying in their direction. What they did do was make him burn through more of his Blackberries. This wasn't a problem during fights itself, but did cost him more time summoning birds than I'd have liked. Well, good job being an inconvenience, enemies! The Crimson Devil buffed his damage so much the Ring of Might felt downright redundant! I swapped it for a Sacrificial Doll, as I consider it the strongest defensive accessory in the game. Sure, there are accessories with stronger individual effects, but it's hard to beat resistance to all elements alongside a free revive! Dias was so strong I skimped on stocking up on certain normally essential consumables, like Fruit Syrups and Illusion Dolls. While he was strong enough to fight wit

It was 2018. The market had come a long way since To the Moon, and while Finding Paradise had received enough fan acclaim, it also had its fair share of detractors who were hoping for another "To the Moon like" story. Further, it sold considerably less than its parent, though still enough to keep the company alive. Not that an indie venture as small as Freebird Games needed a lot of money, especially when To the Moon had raked in a fair amount of cash. But there was a bigger problem: where exactly would the franchise go? Both sides of the core theme, the exploration of whether wish fulfillment was a good thing in balance, had already been covered. Without that theme, there wasn't much actual point to writing stories for the memory manipulator, especially since it brought a bunch of unwanted restrictions and weighty baggage with it. Well, the author decided that he would delve into the backstory of one of the doctors. Except he would do it in a roundabout way, partly to ge

It was 2015. A Bird Story had come and gone, leaving little in the way of impact. But that wasn't really that much of a concern: after all, he had been working on the next actual major story, featuring the doctors' next patient. But this was no ordinary case - indeed, in several ways, this would be a truly extraordinary tale. If To the Moon focused on the idea that sometimes wish fulfillment could be a good thing, Finding Paradise instead focused on the other side of the argument, that wish fulfillment was dangerous and had to be done in moderation. This is cleverly illustrated through the patient's central desire, which at first seems too broad and vague. It turns out that all of his pains come from his hankering for more, from him not seeing what he'd already got. In this manner, it's actually very profound, almost like a Buddhist sermon without the preachy, religious bits. Of course, that's not to say it's perfect. A lot of the focus goes towards a relat

It was 2012. To the Moon had become an indie hit, and had built an audience clamoring for more. The author himself was surprised, he had never expected such success from his first "real" work after all. Work had already begun on its next major story, but he wished not to be pigeonholed into a familiar formula. He also felt a fair amount of confidence in himself after getting successful, and began to work on a story personal to him. Fast forward two(more like three!) years, and this story was released. It was nothing like To the Moon - gone were the doctors, the patient, the memory manipulator. Instead, it was a story about a boy and his domesticated wild bird. It was told through a lens of childish imagination and wonder, and could've been a charming if rather predictable tale. Once again though, the author made a few fundamental mistakes that ruined his premise. To begin with, he fails to keep his narrative straight, quickly flicking between fantastical scenes and more m

It was 2011. An unknown indie developer released his first commercial product. It quickly became a Youtube sensation, and spawned a decently sized(for an indie game) loyal audience. Fast forward to 2024, and an unknown player writes his negative review on it. Why? Well, let's look at what it is: a tragic drama revolving around one man's long forgotten promise to his love. By itself, the premise isn't bad, and while I'm not one for romances or relationship dramas, being a decently executed tragic drama would be fine. But that's not all the writer tried. He attempted to elevate the story by making it an examination of wish fulfillment, exploring the idea that perhaps, sometimes make believe was a good thing. Had he succeeded, there could've been a truly great story here. But he didn't. He screwed up the premise in multiple ways. First, he opened with an overtly long focus on the relationship drama, held by the flimsiest of characterization. Johnny and River ar