Legends Untamed: Reborn

by WyldFire Games (@WyldFireGames)

Hey there Kendal (WyldFire Games), thanks for submitting a project to the 2022 IGMC. I'm Drifty and I was asked to judge your game in round one of the IGMC 2022 game jam. Here's some feedback about your project.

This looks familiar, It looks a lot like the game you had us play a few months back.

I love the names you decided to pick for your Pokem, erm I mean partners. Grillizard is great.

The maps looks good, but there are a few small collision issues, for example you can walk on the walls via the shelves.

Same for the tables, but this is less of a nitpick, because you can also walk on your tables in real life, if that's what you wanted to do. :)

Thank you for letting me save almost everywhere.

The battle backgrounds look amazing!

Providing a difficulty scale setting is a great idea.

Thanks for providing a good number of consumables right from the beginning. That will surely improve a new player's first impressions.

The level of polish on all of the assets is fantastic. 

Good luck with your entries and thanks for participating in the IGMC 2022.

-Drifty

So one thing I immediately notice is that pokemon was a clear inspiration. I think this works well with the custom art and music. Overall I think when making a game so similar to another, there's going to be more criticism/comparison as a result.

pros:

-Darn it I can only imagine how you did this in rpg maker, I loved it.

-The art and music, definitely. I recognized what was from a pack, but the mon art and attack animations were genuinely wonderful (if the attacks are a pack please let me know)

-I liked that you showed their weakness, but for awhile I actually thought it was the mon's TYPE. Which was confusing.

-WALK SOUND EFFECTS??? YES

-I like that I didn't have to go to every temple, I felt it might go over the hour and was pleasantly surprised.

-I do like that abilities are tied to SP, and SP is only gained via heal or item. 

-I felt the boss battles were difficult and I liked that.

cons/nitpicks:

-small tile passability issues with the bookcase/table/bookcase in the first room. 

-I think it would have been nice to be able to pick the berries from any of the 3 impassible tiles, but this is a SUPER nitpick

-unsure if it's possible, but there's a stark lack of movement in the initial town, even just having the sprites sort of march in place would be nice.

-I got a gameover pretty fast vs a sworgy xD But it was still super fun so not so much a nitpick but something to note.

-I think the ember clash animation could be reversed? Unsure

-I think money could be a bit more balanced, considering the inn is free. I know it's inspired by pokemon, and that's a point I also feel is against that franchise as well. 

So one thing I immediately notice is that pokemon was a clear inspiration. I think this works well with the custom art and music. Overall I think when making a game so similar to another, there's going to be more criticism/comparison as a result.

pros:

-Darn it I can only imagine how you did this in rpg maker, I loved it.

-The art and music, definitely. I recognized what was from a pack, but the mon art and attack animations were genuinely wonderful (if the attacks are a pack please let me know)

-I liked that you showed their weakness, but for awhile I actually thought it was the mon's TYPE. Which was confusing.

-WALK SOUND EFFECTS??? YES

-I like that I didn't have to go to every temple, I felt it might go over the hour and was pleasantly surprised.

-I do like that abilities are tied to SP, and SP is only gained via heal or item. 

-I felt the boss battles were difficult and I liked that.

cons/nitpicks:

-small tile passability issues with the bookcase/table/bookcase in the first room. 

-I think it would have been nice to be able to pick the berries from any of the 3 impassible tiles, but this is a SUPER nitpick

-unsure if it's possible, but there's a stark lack of movement in the initial town, even just having the sprites sort of march in place would be nice.

-I got a gameover pretty fast vs a sworgy xD But it was still super fun so not so much a nitpick but something to note.

-I think the ember clash animation could be reversed? Unsure

-I think money could be a bit more balanced, considering the inn is free. I know it's inspired by pokemon, and that's a point I also feel is against that franchise as well. 

I've always been a big fan of pokemon games so I was curious to see what you did with this project. I admit I was sorry not to see an opening cutscene. I know it wants to be a quote but creating a "catching monsters" game doesn't mean making everything identical to Pokemon. For instance the choosing between three starters, and that the elements are fire / water / grass.. in my opinion it lacks a bit of originality. On the other hand I appreciated the change in the battle system of having the whole party to fight (ok that's the basic RPG Maker one, but if we compare it to a pokemon game that is always 1vs1 it's a nice twist).

Overall I enjoyed this game, I also really like the design of the Gaiamons, I just think it has to find its own identity to be able to stand out a little more. 

Very pokemon like, simplistic in nature. The story isn't complex enough for me to engage in a lot but it is effective and serviceable. The battles are the highlight with the monsters being captured and you have to do a lot of quests here and there. It does get a bit draggy and slow for my liking but that's just me. The grinding for me is a bit of a chore. Overall, its not a bad entry. I enjoyed it enough. But I wouldn't say I love it either.