Paper Sorcerer

First, I'm sad the Linux version isn't on GOG. I had this on Desura. It's a great RPG reminiscent of the old Bard's Tale games. It have a different plot, character types and art style but the interface is comfortably similar with updates needed for modern computers & play styles. The art style works well and plays into the story line too. I suspect it probably made the art easier / cheaper to make, but that's a guess and either way, it works. There are several classes to build your party from. They should be some replay-ability from that. The ending is a little surprising. I would be the prefect setup for a totally different game, but I'm not counting on that. I'm not giving a 5 out of 5 because I'm really picky. There were a few places in the game that had bugs I had to work around. And I guess I want to hold out a 5 for something really remarkable, new or exceptionally captivating when it comes to an RPG. Still if you like the old Bard's Tale style game play, this is a good to play. This is a great Indie title.

Good game. I played a couple of hours each day for about a week. Overall it took me about 19 hours. In my party it was the sorcerer, werewolf, cultist, minotaur. (you can pick your heroes) The fact that I actually sat down and played a game to finish within a week, it's quite rare of me lately. This should tell you something. In many ways it is a linear experience, but I just didn't mind. If nothing, since the whole game takes place "underground" it was logical. I think the best part of the game is how straightforward experience it is. The battles were from hard to easier to hard, very hard, OMG ARE YOU KIDDING ME, hard and the very last hour where it became easy. Overall a fun experience. I highly suggest this game to people who (like me) always found dungeon crawlers interesting, but never managed to complete one, for the high difficulty in puzzles, getting lost all the time, or the "got you!" moments. This is not Skyrim, Albion, Arcanum, Two Worlds, this is an experience where you have to lead your group of 4+1 anti-heroes through a journey of constant fights, to freedom. It's a fun game with a ton of turn based battles and an interesting ending. Satisfying ending. If there was something I didn't like is the GUI which some times didn't feel 100% right. Also the music which cannot be turned down, so I had to mute the game from the Windows Volume Mixer. Lastly there were a few puzzles (ie doors) which cannot be opened, feels like they were broken (script wise). Thankfully none of them affected the experience. Good game.

Not by any means perfect, as it tends to drag a little in the later stages; a little unpolished with the character system - but works well enough for what it is, and is different enough from the standard formula to feel pretty fresh, some secrets here and there, which is cool. Also, superb music that never gets old. One thing that is disappointing is the lack of a Linux version (on GOG). When bought directly from the dev back in the day, you were given access to all versions. I hope to see that fixed some day, but other than that, give it a go some time, don't think you'll be disappointed if you're into the Dungeon Master sort of thing.

I got fooled into buying this game. The visuals (especially the black and white stills) hint at a very interesting RPG. Visually, the game looks like one of those "Choose your own adventure" books and there are plenty of great reviews on GOG. Unfortunately, all that is just the surface - the game itself is pretty bad. The visuals do look nice but they get old and hard on the eyes quickly. They also don't work very well, a lot of detail is hard to see because shading is minimal and some shapes just blend into the background. Damage during fights is impossible to see - the text is red on black and disappears very quickly. Dialogue text and descriptions are written in a strange font - hard to pinpoint why, but I found it tiring to read. (I read a lot otherwise and I don't mind text in games.) Because of the size of the font, only a few lines of text fit in the window so some conversations take a lot of clicking through. The few minutes that I played were nothing but a little exploration of a few rooms (very minimal interaction in each) and a bunch of boring but annoying fights (music, see below). The game feels grindy even after a short while. The menus are annoying - they have a little lag to them that's long enough to be just annoying. It feels like the game is sluggish when it's probably not (?). I'm not sure if there's a story - there's a short intro but I only played for about 10 minutes and then I had to give up. The music is atrociously bad and - as several other reviews pointed out - it's not possible to control audio volume. After a few minutes it just became unbearable - the same single (short) noise loop repeating over and over and over and over again. Why would a medieval RPG have generic techno elevator music is beyond me but that's what you have to listen to. I don't recall other sounds but the music is so loud that I may have missed them. Annoying and not fun are the best words to describe this game.

I have enjoyed Paper Sorcerer because it is simple and does not demand to spend uncountable hours playing. However, it is a really enjoyable game which mixes originality with a vintage flavor. I think this game will satisfy you if you want a game without complex plot nor characters that you could play some minutes per day (in your lunch break, before go to bed, etc.). If you do not mind simple but effective graphics and turn based combat, you would be entertained. On the other hand, the plot is really lineal, maps are very simple and your interaction with other characters is non-exitent. All in all, if you enjoy old rogue game, you will love it. If you prefer other game styles, perhaps you will prefer to play another game with better plot and graphics.