Ringlorn Saga

I really like this little game. It's a very simple and short game that does not hold your hand or get in your way. I've never played Hydlide myself so the game feels more like the first zelda game to me with how it does not hold your hand and with how the map works. The combat is certainly different from zelda though, instead of swinging a sword around with an attack button you just bump into enemies, but you have to bump into them in the right way and with the right type of damage selected to max your damage. The world map is very small, only 5x5 tiles, but by clever use of the terrain it feels a lot bigger and its easy to get lost. I found that switching between attack and defense felt pretty pointless, I never needed to use the defense option and having the option to switch just made talking to npc's annoying. Why not just have the attack option be the only way your character scales? It still provides enough defense against every enemy, maybe if combat was more varied or difficult a defensive option would matter but this game could have done without it. I do hope the next game will improve on enemy variety as there are mechanically only three enemies in this game, the basic enemy that just wanders around with a weakness to 1 type of damage and the caster enemy who will cast spells if you let them live long enough, and the last kind of enemy which is really just the first kind but they are immortal until you get the right item. I'm hoping for enemies with a ranged attack, or a teleport ability, or a charge movement, or an enemy that can place a barrier tile on the field so you can't cross it to attack, or an enemy that places bombs or damaging tiles on the field. Point is, there are so many options that could make this style of combat better. Still despite how simple the game it its very enjoyable. If you want to experience a game that feels old school then give this game a try. Its short but sweet.

I haven't thought of Hydlide in a VERY long time, but Cory's review is spot on. I found this to be a short, sweet, fun little game. The exploration is very enjoyable and there's a nice sense of progression, especially at first. Lots of little stories sprinkled in, some fun humor. Well worth a few bucks. Oh, and the dev is active in the forums to boot.

This is a pretty great little game that pays tribute to a number of RPG's and action-adventure games from the past. It is a bit short, but it offers a few unique features that make it worth playing. I found the storyline and art style to be very fitting for the game, but I wasn't crazy about the CRT filter the developers used as an overlay. I don't mind CRT filters in general, but I think it could have been a little better. I was also a bit disappointed by the general direction that the player was given. It was sort of similar to the style of Zelda 2 for the NES, where the player is expected to find certain items to move beyond an area. Unfortunately I ended up beating the game by accident (I didn't know it was the last boss) and when I tried to restore my game, it put me back at an old checkpoint. I was hoping to 100% the game and get all of the items (especially the ring), but this mistake made me give up on that idea. That being said, this game is easily worth the price, so I highly recommend picking it up and giving it a shot.

Thank you for the nice hours! It is a nice little game with simple game mechanics (enemies each move in their own beat. You are either 'dancing' through the battlefield or do some timed attacks/runaways.) It is learned quickly and is much shorter than some long old games which I know from the 90s (about 10% - 20% of those long games. They were nice to play, too, but I used to not have them finished, just for a change.) It is not absolutely short either, just fine to have you dive in, but not get bored. After playthrough, I would definetely give the developer another purchase, whenever (if ever)? he releases another game.

This game is a great callback to old action-RPG. Being a fan of bump combat, I was very pleased with this experience.