Which RPG maker do you use? This is good ! professional work !
Reviews for "Ouroboros"
SierraLee responds:
This is MV, the newest one. Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!
Far better than you'd ever expect.
While I hardly have a large collection of reviews to go off of, all things considered, I think it's still worth merit in mentioning that, after my transition into proper reviews, I rarely EVER give a perfect score to anything. I can name the amount of 5s I've given on one hand; usually for technical mastery, other times for effective writing, and usually when the product is so fun, it outshines its flaws.
Ouroboros, conveniently, hits all that criteria.
The funny thing is, though, you wouldn't quite notice it at first. There are a lot of finer details that play along in the background, things you won't see initially. For spoiler reasons, I won't go into it just yet. I will, of course, but my non-spoiler review is as follows:
Ouroboros is an RPG game that provides a lot of content in as small a package as it is. It serves as a competent RPG and a clever subversion. It both embraces and bucks traditions, along with some saucier content for those who would want to seek that. It's worth a try for anyone remotely interested.
Abandon all hope, ye who pass here, because the real review starts now, and it's time for some motherfucking spoilers!
First off, there's the plot. There was no way for me to talk about it without mentioning a LOT of story-related spoilers, so seriously, don't fucking ruin it for yourself, play it and find out. Seriously. Seriously, go do that. Have you gone and done it? I'll know if you fucking haven't, I CAN READ YOUR THOUGHTS. I can't, really. Fine, here you go.
Anyway, the plot starts off thick with a scene of crisis, one you'll have no context to for at least a while. After that, you wake up nearby, within a forest. You take control of Atreyan, an immortal cardboard stamp of an adventurer that's so goddamn heroic, the hot air he gusts out his mouth is holy. You're greeted by a hand-holding motherfucker of a slime, named Slimey (Hey, let's name that lamppost Lampy,) who informs you that an evil vizier has taken hold of the castle and its princess! Thus begins a box-standard adventure, with a cast of characters ranging from hating you for no reason, to practically useless, and a climax that is guaranteed to..unimpress.
Of course, that's the sad reality of it: the adventure plot, when followed regularly, isn't engaging. It's soul-sucking, tedious, and filled with petty distractions that wear down your patience as a player. If that were all there was, then it would be doomed to a 1, out of comical lack of self-awareness, and cast off to clutter the spam filter in Newgrounds' portal.
Oh, but you know there's way more to this than that, don't you? It's seen early on as you go: unsettling imagery that breaks the scene, and begins to instill small flickers of doubt and questions within Atreyan and the player. Questions and attention to details, dashed away by his gelatinous companion, as well as those around him. Something's up, but Atreyan and, in extension, the player are never given the opportunity to figure these things out. No matter what avenue that's approached, the main quest always comes back to the forefront. The question is: why?
Well, like a salted pretzel knot, there's one hell of a twist to this tale!
It turns out, through the machinations of the vizier and his allies, Atreyan and his companions have been stuck within an unending magical cycle, forced into repeating the same events an immeasurable thousands upon millions of times in an effort to break the protagonist's will to live. And what's more terrifying: it's working. The whole time, they've fooled Atreyan into believing he's achieved his role as a hero, then merely resetting the cycle to distract him once more. The villains have essentially already won. Worst yet, Atreyan starts the adventure again with barely a fleck of memory to be seen of the matter.
It's then that you, as a player, are prompted to 'break the pattern' somehow. It's not quite that easy, as the game, even Atreyan, is determined to keep you railroaded, but not everything is as airtight as it may seem. Small cracks in the design, pathways unaccounted for; straying from the beaten path leads to an interesting oversight. And once the pattern's finally broken, and Atreyan's memories return to him...O' YE GREAT AND MIGHTY CATHARSIS, do things start to fucking unravel!
The gameplay starts off as incredibly straight-forward in the first cycle: your typical RPG mechanics, you'll be fighting or evading mobs of enemies, planning in advance to tackle dungeons with the right equipment. Each dungeon has some kind of tedious task tied to them, and the first time around, you're basically forced to put up with it. But after the first finale, and you finally 'break the pattern,' it's from here that the game begins to open up to you, starting to become almost a sort of puzzle game in its own right: through cunning manipulations, what were once distractions become trivialities to a clever player, either bypassed completely or broken in hilarious ways. Like a reverse Groundhog Day, things only become even more ridiculous the more ways that you learn to outsmart the cycle, to the point you'll be sequence-breaking the FUCK out of dungeons and locations in order to come one step closer to reaching the truth. All the while, the game takes great pride in lampooning itself in the process, making fun of the convoluted mechanics that bogged you down the first time around, alongside gleefully subverting them!
And speaking of lampooning, the characters are an absolute fucking delight! Once he regains his memories, Atreyan turns from blindly-heroic wonderbread to a blunt, even cold intellectual who's lived millions of former lives; who has no qualms in taking the piss out of everything and everyone around him, while still maintaining a stoic and mature nature. His immortality becomes somewhat of a focal point to the plot, seen as a sort of curse that he takes full advantage of regardless. The same goes for the supporting cast as well! Through exploring, the player gains the ability to 'awaken' Atreyan's friends, and with that, their true personalities. Throughout your game-breaking journey, you'll come to know Teira's wistful optimism, Emantha's insight that helps bounce off Atreyan's, and Amiel's--HOLY FUCKING HAMHOG, we've got a live one here! They're each a breath of fresh air to have around, and even have their own gameplay benefits outside of helping with combat! As well as helping unlock new areas, they each have with them the ability to help you completely bypass dungeons entirely, ranging from beneficial skills, to alternative resources, to BRAZEN fucking hedonism!
Speaking of, this leads me nicely into what I'm sure a few of you came here for: yes, there are 6 text-only scenes in this version where you get to boink the lady (or ladies) of your choice. Initially, I never would've realized they were there, if not for the disclaimer upfront. But through playing the game, you'll likely end up seeing 3 of them during natural gameplay without having to outright seek them; consider that both a warning to some, and a relief to others. You know which one you are. That being said, the scenes are impressively well-written; no detail is spared, leading to some quite...descriptive moments playing out. As a writer myself in my spare time, I find it to be very substantial, even if it's not my cup of earl-grey.
With all that discussed, a final shoutout has to go to the relationship system, A.K.A The game wasting your fucking time!
The way it works is that each girl has an 'Affection' that supposedly increases and decreases based on your actions. Of course, it's easily seen after the first cycle that the relationship mechanic is yet another red herring set in place to distract away from the player's efforts. To those who ignore it, it's hardly a problem! But to the curious or desperate, it's a devious ploy to cause the player to waste resources in the hopes 'something good' happens. It's all for naught, though. Hell, there's even an amazing little exchange that takes place if you take all 3 girls over to the literal clown that sells you gifts. No, relationships with the characters work by, who could've guessed...talking to them! Finding certain things around the world, taking them to specific places, they trigger special conversations with your companions that allow you to learn more about the supporting cast and their personalities. Aside from possibly unlocking the 3 other smexual scenes of the aforementioned 6, it also provides some gameplay benefits around end-game.
So to summarize my ranting, I have to really give it to the developer on this one. This is, all-around, a solid experience that throws you for a loop in quite a lot of ways! Under the surface of a vapid RPG plot comes one of the most well-thought-out, masterfully-constructed pieces of storytelling wrapped inside a cathartic romp I haven't seen since a particular game that I dare not invoke the name of, lest the legions of the internet descend upon me. And trust me, if that happens, no one's gonna be having a good time.
Job. Well. Fucking done, my friend! You earned this one! Same to you, random internet viewer, if you read all of my psychotic ravings!
SierraLee responds:
Wow, I've gotten less thorough reviews from actual review sites - thanks for all your thoughts! The experience you described was definitely what I was going for in designing this one. Obviously something based around a plot twist like this doesn't work for everyone, but I'm always happy when it does. ^-^
Really enjoyed everything about the game, especially the twist!
If I had to describe that game with 2 words, it would be Plot Twist, I really like the story of that game, and it was a nice introduction to Sierra Lee's games
Well that's dull and predictaaaawhaaat?! Neat.