Absinthia

The only Joshua Keith RPG that I genuinely didn't enjoy. So many of the bosses and enemies are too overpowered and CONSTANTLY blinding, debuffing, poisoning, etc. your team and the boss fights become an insane juggling of spamming items and praying you can do enough damage to overcome bosses healing abilities and other weird advantages the game seems to give them. There's WAY too much grinding involved and the side quests and even main bosses are often frustratingly hard and not fun at all. The characters are poorly developed stereotypes with LGBT stuff crammed in in the least organic fashion I've ever seen in a videogame, it feels like a really bad fanfiction writer was in charge of writing all these scenarios and relationships, and was more concerned with saying LOOK REPRESENTATION than creating an interesting story or dynamic characters. Everything just falls flat in here and there's not much reason to get attached to the characters, you've seen these characters in other better games hundreds of times. I enjoyed some of the secrets/exploration aspects but the game is too much of a tedious slog and the dialogue and story too plodding predictable and boring to even engage me to f…

This game is off to a great start. I'm playing on hard and it feels pretty fair, nothing to crazy but you have to really pay attention in battle because you can get wiped out pretty quick. MUSIC: 9/10 Very enjoyable, but I felt like some parts of it were too loud Combat: 8/10 Every character has a skill that regenerates MP, in addition to providing other buffs for a few turns. I think this combat system is really fun, and the battles are just the right length. The only concern is that enemies are already applying status affects right at the beginning, and you don't really have any items so it might feel like a kick in the teeth for more casual RPG players. I didn't have any trouble adapting, but it certainly was surprising and kinda annoying to have to deal with it constantly. Other than that, the mechanics are very satisfying. Exploration: 9/10 This is where this game really sold itself. The exploration is very satisfying, with plenty of items to find. It even has secret areas hidden throughout the world. Locations are very detailed, with all sorts of npcs and architecture. My only complaint is that you can only interact with very limited objects; a little more text upon inte…

Absinthia, developed by Joshua Keith in collaboration with Team Bewitched and published by Team Bewitched, is a character-driven indie JRPG that embraces retro inspiration while focusing heavily on emotional storytelling and inclusive representation. Set in the Ambrose Isles, the narrative follows Freya, a disciplined knight, and her apprentice Sera, whose quiet life is shattered by forces that threaten not only their homeland but their personal convictions. What begins as a localized conflict soon expands into a journey marked by betrayal, grief, identity struggles, and the difficult process of growth through hardship. Though modest in scale, the story carries an earnest tone that distinguishes it from many nostalgia-driven RPG projects. Combat in Absinthia adheres to traditional turn-based mechanics while incorporating modern pacing adjustments. Battles are initiated through visible overworld encounters rather than random interruptions, allowing players to engage on their own terms. The regenerating MP system encourages frequent use of abilities instead of conservative resource hoarding, which keeps combat flowing and strategic rather than grind-heavy. Party members can coordina…

I bought it mostly because the artstyle, so Absinthia is quite better than I initially expected. I strongly recommend it to RPGMaker enthusiasts and moderately recommend it to turn-based JRPG fans. Keep in mind that I played on easy difficulty and haven't played other related games. [h2]Story[/h2] I somewhat enjoyed the story. It's less simple than I initially expected, since I didn't see the plot twists coming. But regarding the main casts, I feel there's insufficient build-up or exploration to make me feel invested. I even finished many side quests that contain more story and character interactions. So it's a shame, because I believe it has potential to be an amazing and emotional story. The LGBTQ+ element doesn't feel forced or excessive, but I felt amount of pop/modern culture references is too much, which felt distracting from the main story. [h2]Gameplay[/h2] I feel easy difficulty closer to medium ones, but the turn-based combat is actually fun and balanced. Using strategy feels rewarding, and I almost never spam attack/heal loop or use auto-combat. The enhanced/combined skill system based on character availability (whether in party and not receiving certain debuffs) is d…

Story: Sera is a young woman in a small town, training under a warrior named Freya, along with her friends, as they prepare for an attack led by a woman named Lilith. After holding her off for the moment, our team devise a plan to keep Lilith at bay for good which takes them on a journey across the isle. Honestly don’t have much to say about the plot. It’s plenty simple and kind of low stakes which is unusual for this genre. Thomas and Jake are a delightful gay couple. Lilith works being the emotionally manipulative villain. And the drama with Freya is really good. However, our leading lady, Sera, is completely flat. It feels like they needed a fourth party member and the real leading lady doesn’t fully join til after the second dungeon, and her ex can’t join due to story reasons so we’re stuck with her. I wouldn’t mind her but aside from a generic story beat that happens later, she’s got nothing going on. Near the end of the game, I was hoping she’ll pick up on a detail about why her trainer wanted her to get a plot device which could lead to an interesting conversation and strengthen the relationship between the two but it never comes up. Gameplay: Gameplay is also st…

this is so much improve than knight bewithced (I buy android version) so much content and lore. damn i love this fr also yeah TAX THE RICH! and fck Student Loan