CrossCode When I clicked this I had thoughts like "Oh boy, here comes YET ANOTHER RETRO-STYLE INDIE-GAME".
Well, after somewhat sketchy intro (typical pseudo-mysterious Japanese girl and her DYING brother that worked ON SOMETHING BIG and then dying in her arms, oh boy we're hitting all the anime-clichés here!) I was ready to brush it off but decided to sit through it. And, well, yeah.
I'll admit, you got me hooked. Sound, music, gameplay mechanics, control, game design, GUI design, color palette, ANIMATION. Yes, you glorious bastards, it's totally superb! Goddammit, you made me wanting to find out what will happen next! I'll have to follow you now, ain't I? Well, one thing for certain, I will buy your game so you've got that part right it seems, huh?
One thing I didn't like as much is your drawing style of in-game portraits - they seem like they aren't sure whether to be anime or something like Flintstones American cartoons, but that's really subjective matter so that didn't influenced the score.
Overall, I'd give it a 4.5 out of 5 because reasons below.
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First of all, I don't even like indie-games anymore because everyone and their dog are jumping on that band-wagon nowadays in hopes of easy profit under current trend. Also, overuse of retro-appeal to the 80-90s kids via 8-16bit graphics is way overdone. (Just for the record, I'm almost 25 y/o, hell, I have a very fond memories of the NES/Sega period) I mean, sure I understand that not everyone can handle something like Cry engine, let alone afford it's usage but still... But on the other hand I do get why indie-devs are using retro-style graphics, it's very easy to mess up 3D and it's way more difficult to make it look and move (good animation is one of the key aspect to the picture, ya know?) GOOD. In that way retro-bit graphic is way more easier and, uhh, a sure-fire way to get initial audience with nostalgic crowd. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I dislike your game because of that or anything or even blame you on attempt to milk on the current trend, I just feel that it could've been an even better experience with more advanced graphics BUT I DO REALIZE that's very expensive and very difficult to do properly and with same level of quality so I guess there's that.
TL;DR
I dislike retro-graphics because I think that they belong to the now gone era.
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Желаю разработчикам успешно завершить игру и что-бы у них всё получилось так как они хотят. :)
Road of the Dead 2