Ceville
- February 26, 2009
- Realmforge Studios
- 3h median play time
Get on Steam"Ceville" is a single-player fantasy arcade game with compelling visuals and humor. Players control the exiled tyrant Ceville, who must save his kingdom from a new evil threatening to destroy it. Despite his cruel past, Ceville is the realm's unlikely hope in this intriguing story filled with twists, turns, and laughs.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Ceville offers a unique and humorous take on the point-and-click adventure genre, with engaging characters and witty dialogue.
- The game features a colorful and cartoony art style, along with decent voice acting that enhances the overall experience.
- Puzzles are generally well-designed and provide a satisfying challenge, with the ability to switch between characters adding depth to the gameplay.
- The game is plagued by numerous technical issues, including frequent crashes, long loading times, and cutscenes that often fail to display properly.
- Some puzzles can be illogical or overly convoluted, leading to frustration and the need for external guides.
- The humor may not resonate with everyone, as it often relies on pop culture references and can feel repetitive or forced.
- humor107 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in "Ceville" is widely praised as one of its strongest aspects, featuring a mix of clever dialogue, quirky characters, and playful jabs at traditional fantasy tropes. Players appreciate the game's cartoonish charm and the comedic interactions between characters like Ceville, Ambrosius, and Lilly, although some note that the humor can be hit-or-miss, with a reliance on in-jokes and pop culture references. Overall, the game offers a lighthearted and entertaining experience, despite some technical issues and occasional repetitive dialogue.
“The humor is one of the game's strongest points and often pokes fun at traditional fantasy tropes.”
“Ceville's interactions with others, such as the pompous paladin Ambrosius and the clever orphan Lilly, are absolutely hilarious.”
“Delightfully demented in its humor.”
- story90 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The story of "Ceville" is a mixed bag, with some players appreciating its humorous and cartoony elements while others find it lacking depth and engagement. While the narrative flips the traditional hero story on its head and features likable characters, many reviewers noted issues with pacing and predictability, leading to a disconnect from the gameplay. Overall, the story is seen as entertaining and whimsical, but it may not resonate with all audiences, particularly those seeking a more serious or immersive experience.
“A fantastic game with an engrossing story and cute humor.”
“The storyline is creative and every bit of it is humorous.”
“The story is so well written and the interactions so entertaining that it doesn’t hugely matter what the issues are.”
“It’s in Ceville’s story that I find myself getting disconnected from the game.”
“While some of its flaws are less flaws and more products of its time, its choices about what story to tell and how to tell it make for an experience that leaves the player struggling to find motivation to slog through.”
“The story isn't that compelling and the writing is only passable.”
- graphics66 mentions
- 48 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are a mixed bag, with many reviewers noting that while the colorful, cartoony style is charming and fits the game's tone, it feels outdated and lacks the polish of modern titles. Some players appreciate the nostalgic aesthetic, while others criticize it for being reminiscent of lower-quality mobile games. Overall, the visuals are deemed decent for their age, but they may detract from immersion and enjoyment for some players.
“✅ Gorgeous looking, cartoony and colorful background graphics and character models.”
“The game, although a little dated by now, still works perfectly with new systems and its cartoony graphics fit the game perfectly.”
“The art style perfectly complements the mood and the game made me really fall in love with the characters.”
“Though this game is nearly a decade and a half old and can’t be too heavily criticized for its graphics, the choices it makes for how to portray its world evoke some of the worst elements of mobile games.”
“Unfortunately, the graphics are very outdated and that doesn't help with the immersion in the story and puzzles.”
“At the time I'm writing this (2019), I realize the graphics may not be up to modern standards 10 years later, but I never liked this style of clunky, cartoonish 3D animation and I know that they could probably have done better in 2009.”
- gameplay30 mentions
- 10 % positive mentions
- 80 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
Ceville's gameplay adheres to traditional point-and-click mechanics, featuring situational puzzles and item interactions, though it lacks the depth of more puzzle-heavy titles in the genre. Players can switch between characters, adding some variety, but the experience is marred by frequent crashes and long loading times. Overall, while the gameplay is decent and reminiscent of classic titles like Grim Fandango and Monkey Island, it doesn't offer anything particularly innovative or groundbreaking.
“While it lacks many of the puzzle elements found in other point and clicks, it still includes the all-important apply-thing-to-other-thing-to-get-third-thing mechanic.”
“Puzzles and gameplay-wise, Ceville is not explicitly puzzle-heavy, but relies instead on situational puzzles and figuring out what item does what.”
“The ability to switch between characters adds another layer to the gameplay.”
“I experienced about 15 crashes in 3 hours of gameplay, which would not even be fine if the loading times were not as obnoxiously long.”
“Not mechanically innovative, the game introduces nothing to add to the genre that hasn’t been done before.”
“Ceville’s gameplay plays like any other 3D point and click – get things, rub them on other things, sometimes sensibly, sometimes 'creatively', talk to characters, unlock locations, rinse and repeat.”
- music16 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 31 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally well-received, with many praising its fitting background scores that enhance the overall experience and evoke nostalgia, particularly for fans of similar titles like Monkey Island. While the soundtrack is varied enough to maintain interest during exploration, some players noted that it can become repetitive if stuck in one location for too long. Overall, the music is described as adequate, appealing, and capable of complementing the game's humor and plot.
“Nice background music perfectly fits the game's style.”
“Great nostalgic ambient music.”
“The music and characters are appealing and varied, and even though you're (mostly) playing as a malevolent king, you will cry not from sadness, but from laughter.”
“Music is overall varied enough to not get boring or irritating while you're traveling through locations, but it might get repetitive if you're stuck in one location for a while.”
“Sound and music felt generic but adequate.”
“+ Sound and music are ok, albeit a bit repetitive after a while.”
- stability16 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with frequent crashes and freezes reported by users, particularly during map transitions in the second chapter. Many players have experienced unresponsive situations that require a system reset, indicating a persistent problem with bugs that detracts from the overall enjoyment. Despite its fun elements, the instability remains a major concern.
“The game crashes and freezes.”
“Multiple freezes that don’t even let your task manager shut it down, won't alt f4, and ultimately force you to reset?”
“This game is a buggy mess with ridiculously shallow humour and downright idiotic puzzles.”
- character development4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is hindered by unpleasant visual elements, such as garish colors and flat character designs, which clash with the intended narrative growth and detract from the overall play experience.
“In so doing, it creates an unpleasant play experience that clashes with the character development the game is trying to present.”
“The colors are garish, and the character designs are flat and doughy.”
- emotional4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of "Ceville" is characterized by its rebellious tone against traditional, wholesome fairy tales, embracing a more edgy and irreverent style that resonates with a teenage gamer audience. Reviewers appreciate this bold approach, acknowledging the developers' creativity and intent.
“In some ways, it feels like Ceville became reactionary against the wholesomeness of Disney-fied fairy tales, choosing instead to rebel against them in a froth of teenage-gamer edginess.”
“A heartfelt salute to the devs with a grin, 👏”
