Ringlorn Saga

While I dig the graphics, BGM, and SFX, the commitment to old school was a little too much for me when it came to the gameplay. I appreciate some of the modern tweaks to make the game feel respectful of your time compared to similar titles from the past. Still a little too grindy to be worth it for me, personally. Pros: - Simple with some challenge - Can save anywhere Cons: - As your level increases, so will the monsters increase in health, challenge, and number spawned per map. This makes map traversal more tedious the more you level up - Lots of backtracking - Takes a long time to get anywhere Some things to note: - No map, so either make one, find one online, or memorize everything - Limited BGM can be repetitive

Doesn't even have a map. Not that I'm asking for one of those marker laden monstrosities. I mean there are other 5 by 5 games out there and they have maps. The combat modes seem a bit fancier than I recall stuff of that time period having. Not that it makes things all that complicated. I'm referring to the 3 kinds of attack not the other part which is kind of like what Hydlide had. Only one world but it makes up for it by not having the dungeons Tetris blocked together so they have room to be grand. Also, there's more than one boss.

Very old school game on a budget without much thrown in in terms of modern amenabilities (maybe the combat system is a little more modern and the ability to save and leave anywhere). The story is extremely straightforward. There are a few npcs to interact with, a few secrets to dig around, bit more than a handful of dungeons and some bosses. The music is somewhat catchy. The combat mechanics are somewhat intriguing, but still very basic. Most of the game is a breeze except maybe the last boss who might make you sweat a little (still defeated him on the first attempt, but it was a close call). And if you die, the game is very forgiving about it (you'll lose a bit of xp, that's it). You can save and leave the game anytime which is kind of nice (couple of games I played lately were not as respectful of people's time). The game could have used a minimap (both for the world and dungeons) for orientation (there is none in this game and my orientation skills suck), but all maps in this game (including the world map) are small enough that you won't circle too much (mostly a mild annoyance, but not too bad). I won't say that this is a mind blowing game, but if at a particular point you happen to have a lot of demands on your time and energy, were around during the NES years and appreciate that vibe, and really just need a simple relaxing rpg that you won't have to invest a lot of time and energy into, this game will scratch that itch. The current asking price does feel a little high to me for what the game is, but if what I said above describes you and the game is on special, it is well worth considering.

When playing an RPG and NPCs get in your way, do you wish you could just kill them? Well, then this is the game for you! The game consists of wandering around an extremely small world map and maneuvering around monsters to stab them in the back. The only difference between monsters is their HP, their damage, and the sort of damage they're most vulnerable to (which can be changed with the press of a button). It's not challenging at all, and the only thing stopping you from bypassing every area is whether or not you want XP. Because of the total lack of variety, it gets very tedious at spots, and dying to the end boss is especially tiresome, as you must travel across the entire world, go through a long dungeon, and then another long and confusing dungeon, and do the fight all over again. Its only 5 hours long, but I was quite ready to be done with it by the end. It's not a bad game. It's cute. It's got a neat concept. It feels more like a prototype than a finished game, and kids might like it better than adults, given its simplicity. It's competent, and never crashed and it was interesting enough that I actually finished it. But you're not missing out on much if you don't play it.