Iffermoon

By: Derek Yu

On: July 7th, 2008

Iffermoon is the latest RPG from Scott Cawthon, also known as Scott Games. If you’ve played The Desolate Room and Legacy of Flan 4: Flan Rising, then you should rightly expect another very unique experience from Scott. Iffermoon is definitely very different from your average fantasy RPG.

It’s also by far Scott’s most ambitious project. Dinost is an extremely detailed world, both in conceptualization and realization. Moving around the gorgeous environments and interacting with its unusual denizens, I felt like I was someplace rich in history… and the large backdrops that extend far into the distance give the impression that the world is physically vast. I also really dig Scott’s 3d pre-rendered graphics, which remind me a bit of Hiroshi Yoshii.

Unlike the other games, which were viewed from a top-down perspective, Iffermoon is 2d side-scrolling. You can enter new areas either by walking off either the left or right side of the screen, or by taking some sort of transportation (hot air balloons, pipes, elevators, etc.). Battles, which are by and large are voluntary, happen in real-time, with party members moving and attacking automatically. You can, however, direct the battle by setting combat stances and using special moves that have various effects. Combining these moves is essential to winning in battle.

Unfortunately, Iffermoon suffers from fairly prodigious loading times during transitions between areas, menus, and battles (at least, on my rig). This is probably fallout from the enormous, high-resolution sprites on every level. There is also some tedium involved in gaining the necessary amount of “favor” with someone to enable them to join your party. These quests generally involve walking to some location, collecting X number of items, or killing X number of monsters.

But in my opinion, it’s a small price to pay to experience one of the few RPG worlds that feels genuinely unique from head to toe. And the relative open-endedness of the journey is quite refreshing, also.

TIGdb: Entry for Iffermoon

(Source: Michael Silbey)

Legacy of Flan 4: Flan Rising

By: Derek Yu

On: February 1st, 2008

Apparently 3 Flan games came out without my even knowing… ah well. The fourth installment of this series, by the developer of The Desolate Room, is one heck of a strange RPG. The star here is the unique leveling system, which lets you upgrade your party of four flans by collecting random drops during the battle. How often the drops appear and how good they are is determined entirely by your party’s “Loot Drop” stat, which is higher when you fight more difficult monsters (especially Boss Monsters), but can also be raised manually during battle by certain Flans. Each type of Flan has its strengths and weaknesses, of course, and finding the right combination is crucial.

The biggest problem with the game is that it can get repetitive pretty quickly. Traveling in the overworld is mostly uninteresting, and completing the various quests involves traveling back and forth and getting lost. The story is also mostly non-sequitur, and fairly “fluffy” compared to The Desolate Room. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, since I appreciate the humor, but it’s not quite enough to compel me just yet.

Granted, I’m currently trapped in “Dead Flan’s Pit,” so perhaps it gets more exciting further on out. Anyone want to help me out? I’ve started a page on IndieFAQs for it, already. Get me out of here!

The Desolate Room

By: Derek Yu

On: August 24th, 2007

To say that The Desolate Room is not your typical RPG would be an understatement. I’m actually having trouble deciding what I should say in this post, because I don’t want to spoil the experience for you.

I’ll say this much: the game “happens” in three different places. The first is an island, where a lonely, egg-obsessed coffee machine robot resides. The second place is a virtual world. The third is the past… in the memories of other, long-dead robots. The way the coffee robot, the long-dead robots, and the three places connect to each other is a great bit of storytelling. It’s not complex or anything… just thoughtful and well-done.

The game begins on the island, and you play as the coffee robot. PLEASE don’t let the rather mundane fetch quests in the first part of the game (or the overall clunkiness of its presentation) deter you from continuing! It picks up quite quickly from then on and I promise that (some of) you will really dig the battle/experience system, which is evenly-paced and quite satisfying (and a little overwhelming at first).

If you are at all interested in RPG’s or unique, emotional narratives, this game is worth a look for you. It’s sad and strange and not a little bit scary. When you realize what the title of the game means, it’s a genuinely chilling moment. I’ll be thinking about this game for a while.

Click here (The Daily Click) for a more thorough explanation of the story and about how the game mechanics work.