Roughly a year ago,
Meatballsub hosted
the first annual 8-bit contest, and Fenrir decided to use his
"Cloud-like" hero as this game's center of attention. For those that
have never played the canceled (hopefully just put on hiatus) game,
Timestream Saga : Second Edition, Kyle is the main character. He's sort
of a space solider who wields a massive sword called a Defender.
TSSE was the game that Fenrir did all of his infinite upgrades to before Vikings of Midgard, if anyone remembers that far back.
Anyways, on to this review. Fenrir made the 8-bit version in 2008, as stated earlier. It was a totally different game in terms of gameplay. It was set up with the OHR's default battle engine. There was nothing wrong with it, but it had done before in the majority of OHR games. So Fenrir took it upon himself to "pretty" his game. He added all the colors of the palettes, even customized it, and then built a new game engine for it. Personally, the nostalgia of the 8-bit game was what made it great to me. This game isn't too bad, but it's biggest flaw is that it grows very tedious.
The first act consists of Kyle navigating the desert hacking up terrorists. Your attacks are pretty simple. Z is for sword, and X is for flash bomb, which is a nice touch since it hits all enemies. You can even quick use a Medikit in battle, a feature I enjoyed a lot, and we also see in James Paiges' Crypt of Baconthulu. I hope more people try and use this sort of thing in future games. There is voice acting, but not to the extent you're thinking. I'm assuming all of the voice acting for Kyle was ripped from Megaman X Command Mission. It works and adds a new flavor to the game. Enemies and attacking also trigger sound effects. Battles actually used to be MUCH MUCH worse than you might complain they are today. Before, it was hard to tell what you were hitting, and enemies were way too overpowered. Through playtesting, myself and others suggested that Fenrir changed these things, and now I am pleased to say that it is significantly better. Kyle animates when he thrusts his sword and gets hit. Bad guys aren't broken. This is me being picky, but since Fenrir has kind of set a bar for himself, I'd like to see Kyle's appearance change based on his equipment. When he equips a different sword, it shouldn't look like the Defender. It's just a suggestion for the cosmetics of the game to really push through and shine.
One thing I'd like to touch base on in this game is that the stats actually do something in this game. It's not like Zelda, where you simply run around and hit, and the only stat changes you get are more lives. In Arcadia, your stats change how often you're hit, how much damage you do, and how often your hits connect with the enemy. A nice touch to mix into the gameplay.
Bosses are by far the most disappointing thing about this game. They are, essentially, regular enemies with more health. I understand that time was an issue for this game, but I hope that Fenrir goes back and refines this element in the game particularly. It's largely disappointing that this big boss that's hyped up throughout an entire level dies with no problem. In fact, you will likely die in the field more than you will in a boss battle. There are two boss battles that are above the norm though. There is a shadow boss, who blends into the background, and that's an awesome fight. Then you have a boss battle with the Dr.Weird character, forget his real name, but throughout that battle he yells several different quotes from the character in Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Sadly, these gimmicks are the most exciting part of the bosses.
While Kyle is the story's hero, it's only natural that a familiar TSSE villain is the leading terror in Arcadia. Kezef, who commands these dark and mysterious creatures known as kothyl is trying to take over the world. So throughout your missions you try and find Kezef to put a stop to him. Very typical story, bad guy wants to conquer the world, now you stop him or else all is over. It's been done to death.
The demo ends with the player searching for a long lost weapon to combat against Kezef. All in all, Timestream Saga: Arcadia Incident Report is a solid game. It's tedious, and only limited by it's designer's limitations with plotscripting. But if you look at the game as a whole, from one person doing everything, it's impressive for a months time. There's practically four whole dungeons. Music choices are good. Graphics are some of Fenrir's finest. Do I recommend you to play this game? Well... Honestly, if Fenrir buffs up the game, then yes. Hold out until the final version if you want, or spend a good hour or so and play this game. But keep in mind it is incredibly tedious.
TSSE was the game that Fenrir did all of his infinite upgrades to before Vikings of Midgard, if anyone remembers that far back.
Anyways, on to this review. Fenrir made the 8-bit version in 2008, as stated earlier. It was a totally different game in terms of gameplay. It was set up with the OHR's default battle engine. There was nothing wrong with it, but it had done before in the majority of OHR games. So Fenrir took it upon himself to "pretty" his game. He added all the colors of the palettes, even customized it, and then built a new game engine for it. Personally, the nostalgia of the 8-bit game was what made it great to me. This game isn't too bad, but it's biggest flaw is that it grows very tedious.
The first act consists of Kyle navigating the desert hacking up terrorists. Your attacks are pretty simple. Z is for sword, and X is for flash bomb, which is a nice touch since it hits all enemies. You can even quick use a Medikit in battle, a feature I enjoyed a lot, and we also see in James Paiges' Crypt of Baconthulu. I hope more people try and use this sort of thing in future games. There is voice acting, but not to the extent you're thinking. I'm assuming all of the voice acting for Kyle was ripped from Megaman X Command Mission. It works and adds a new flavor to the game. Enemies and attacking also trigger sound effects. Battles actually used to be MUCH MUCH worse than you might complain they are today. Before, it was hard to tell what you were hitting, and enemies were way too overpowered. Through playtesting, myself and others suggested that Fenrir changed these things, and now I am pleased to say that it is significantly better. Kyle animates when he thrusts his sword and gets hit. Bad guys aren't broken. This is me being picky, but since Fenrir has kind of set a bar for himself, I'd like to see Kyle's appearance change based on his equipment. When he equips a different sword, it shouldn't look like the Defender. It's just a suggestion for the cosmetics of the game to really push through and shine.
One thing I'd like to touch base on in this game is that the stats actually do something in this game. It's not like Zelda, where you simply run around and hit, and the only stat changes you get are more lives. In Arcadia, your stats change how often you're hit, how much damage you do, and how often your hits connect with the enemy. A nice touch to mix into the gameplay.
Bosses are by far the most disappointing thing about this game. They are, essentially, regular enemies with more health. I understand that time was an issue for this game, but I hope that Fenrir goes back and refines this element in the game particularly. It's largely disappointing that this big boss that's hyped up throughout an entire level dies with no problem. In fact, you will likely die in the field more than you will in a boss battle. There are two boss battles that are above the norm though. There is a shadow boss, who blends into the background, and that's an awesome fight. Then you have a boss battle with the Dr.Weird character, forget his real name, but throughout that battle he yells several different quotes from the character in Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Sadly, these gimmicks are the most exciting part of the bosses.
While Kyle is the story's hero, it's only natural that a familiar TSSE villain is the leading terror in Arcadia. Kezef, who commands these dark and mysterious creatures known as kothyl is trying to take over the world. So throughout your missions you try and find Kezef to put a stop to him. Very typical story, bad guy wants to conquer the world, now you stop him or else all is over. It's been done to death.
The demo ends with the player searching for a long lost weapon to combat against Kezef. All in all, Timestream Saga: Arcadia Incident Report is a solid game. It's tedious, and only limited by it's designer's limitations with plotscripting. But if you look at the game as a whole, from one person doing everything, it's impressive for a months time. There's practically four whole dungeons. Music choices are good. Graphics are some of Fenrir's finest. Do I recommend you to play this game? Well... Honestly, if Fenrir buffs up the game, then yes. Hold out until the final version if you want, or spend a good hour or so and play this game. But keep in mind it is incredibly tedious.