Also, text stands out well when using the 3D slider, but looks good either way. Backgrounds also looked good and the 3D was used to good effect. The character design choice was interesting – making everyone a game piece on a board. You also roll dice (different from the augmentation dice) in order to activate debuffs on enemies. Moves in battle can be augmented with rolling dice that you collect from magic combos. That number can be effected by certain debuffs or impairments, such as fright (causing a character to not use skills for a certain amount of time) and turning into stone. Once you get past the first chapter, the game will start to flow better… well, until a certain room in the second chapter, but I’ll get to that later.īattle is turn-based, with each character given up to two potential moves each turn: an attack/magic spell and a skill.
Gameplay can feel a bit clunky at first but I would blame that more on the tutorials that happen early on rather than the game design itself.
It does feel like it ended rather abruptly but still urges you to try to tie everything together and figure the story out yourself. Matsuno’s team certainly spared nothing on making this adventure seem grander than the 10 hour game time would indicate. The story was incredibly well written and one of the game’s strongest points. Well, that’s definitely enough backstory. Through the story, you’ll also learn of two other groups battling over the gifts: the Conclave – a religious group that sees the gifts as being heaven sent – and the Gatherers – who work toward recovering all gifts so that they can keep an eye on them. This gets them into trouble with the Senate (which, ironically, the Duke is a part of) and finds Frea caught by Sir Flint Ronsenbach, one of the Knights of the Peace working for the Senate (this is not a spoiler, the story is actually told through Frea to Flint). Giauque’s group was approached by a Duke to find out what happened to a friend of his when he went looking for an important document that pertains to the original magical gift, the Crimson Shroud – a document that you’ll learn about much later in the game. They work various jobs, some of which are rather illegal – including this job. Now the Chasers are kind of like mercenaries, being paid to find things that are lost. Frea is a descendant of the Qish tribe, a group of magic users. Lippi is a one-eyed bowman who uses a “gift” that replaced his missing eye to detect traps around the group. Giauque is the leader, wielding melee combat weapons and making decisions (well, you make the decisions) for the group. You play as the trio of Chasers named Giauque, Lippi, and Frea. And the story is very wordy and told in novel form rather than through dialog scenes. You roll dice to determine different effects in the game. This is a game where the characters are all game pieces in a 3D world that acts as our board. However, unlike Liberation Maiden – a shooter with anime-style design and cutscenes – and Aero Porter – a puzzle game that simulates baggage sorting at an airport – Crimson Shroud is a turn-based RPG with heavy story elements and influence from table-top games like Dungeons & Dragons.Īnd I’m not talking about being influenced like all RPGs are influenced. And just like the other games, it has a high level of quality to it. I could also add that I shouldn’t get too hyped up for something based on previous games but I already learned that this past summer with Renegade Kid and Planet Crashers.Ĭrimson Shroud, the last of the three localized Guild01 games from Level-5, was developed in-house by famed game designer Yasumi Matsuno. It doesn’t always have to be MIDI, chip-tunes, and 16-bits. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from playing the Guild01 games it’s this: It is possible to create high quality for small priced games.
“He who receives a gift sells his liberty.” Release Date: December 13th, 2012 (PAL, NA) By Jeff Neuenschwander / January 10th, 2013
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