That Role Playing

(NOTE: I was given a key in exchange for an honest review) That Role Playing (TRP), strangely, has very little roleplaying. It is actually a tactical puzzle game where you need to explore the levels, stock up on health, confront the monsters, solve a few puzzles, and get all the crystals. However, the game mechanics are unexplained and often frustrating, and the puzzles are... problematic. While the 2D look is very retro, the game is so retro it does not even have a menu or a button to quit the game. I personally don't have problem with retro-graphics or gameplay if it is done well. But this game, being unexplained, feels very deceptive. You press the arrow key to move in the four directions. So you feel this is turn-based game, but it is actually real-time, as the enemies move with or without your input. However, since your visibility is 1 square you often won't see the enemy coming, unless you manage to find a flag, which makes about radius 5 (or was it 8?) squares around the flag visible. You also have to explore every corner of the map, and you soon figure out that trees are impassable barriers, while grass can be "flattened" by your attack for temporary passage. And as a …

This game is great for its nuances. You can bump into trees to ocasionally find extra health, overeat and stuff hero's face with apples to hear him belch, take a really funny bath in water, try to get outta of world borders and find mysterious artefact which them gives you... such vision... oh, you should see it for yourself! And those bare feet stomping sounds behind the walls... Riddle doors are not so hard to solve, partially because the game gives you hints. And then you meet those creepy spiders with sticky cobwebs arounds, yuck!, and also trolls, and an NPC that will tell you what to do next. Also it has very atmospheric music, especially in spiders wood area and at lake shore. And then finally when you get that last crystal you get another game twist!

Great game allowed me to remember very good moments. It seems easy but it actually very tricky. And I learned a new word. I recommend everyone to try it!

While I do like a good throwback dungeon crawler, this game misses the mark on several levels. 1. There is no character progression, no equipment upgrades, etc. All you get is health and shields (which in the end are essentially the same thing) 2. The game starts out difficult, but should progress from easy (to get you used to the developers style) and get harder. 3. The integration of reverse polish notation math questions in order to progress in the game is downright whack. What I did like were the sound effects, some made me laugh. The general concept is good but needs to fix/add what I posted above. You can leave the graphics as is, I like the 1980's Ultima-ish style. I can't complain about the price, and won't be seeking a refund. Honestly I know how hard it is to develop a game and hope that they come out with a revision and I'll try it again.

fun but I'm too dumb to solve the first puzzle (I should have wrote down the clues) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNpvU7w25lU