Eve of Calamity

About

Eve of Calamity is a single player role playing game. It was developed by Klothscape and was released on July 23, 2024. It received very positive reviews from players.

Eve of Calamity is a turn-based RPG where you explore the empire of Asterna and nearby islands to stop a looming world-ending disaster. Customize your party with over 20 classes, 150 skills, and hundreds of items while recruiting 15+ companions. Experience a nonlinear story with freedom to choose quests, allies, and playstyle in preparation for the final battle.

Genres & Tags

Role Playing

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

92%

Audience ScoreBased on 53 reviews

story5 positive mentions

grinding4 negative mentions

The game offers a high level of character customization and replayability, allowing players to explore different classes and build unique party combinations.
Gameplay is engaging with a mix of freedom in exploration and interesting combat mechanics, including unexpected twists in encounters and a satisfying boss progression system.
Despite its rough visuals, the game captures the charm of classic JRPGs and provides a nostalgic experience with a variety of quests and character interactions.

The early game can be frustratingly difficult, with unbalanced enemy encounters that can lead to frequent party wipes and a steep learning curve.
Writing and narrative pacing are often criticized for being bland, with poorly executed humor and limited meaningful choices in dialogue.
The music can be inconsistent, with some tracks being grating or discordant, detracting from the overall experience.

story
37 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
78%
8%
The game's story is generally described as simple and traditional, often following a classic "hero's journey" narrative with a basic premise of saving the world. While the main plot lacks originality and depth, the character-specific side quests are well-received and add richness to the overall experience, showcasing a variety of companion backstories. Despite some critiques regarding the narrative choices and presentation, many players appreciate the nostalgic feel and replayability offered by the game's world and character interactions.
- “If you can get past the presentation, there is a surprisingly dynamic story/world.”
- “I could have easily taken much longer to beat the game if I had spent the time going through every single one of my companion's backstory quests (which are all well done!).”
- “The game isn't the flashiest one out there, but the story and amount of variability is amazing.”
- “Unbelievable characters blatantly telling the player the plot while placed in artificial situations.”
- “Storywise, the main story itself is pretty basic; it's your typical 'go save the world' story with no real twist to it.”
- “The actual story is where I start having some issues with the game. It's not poorly written, but the concept is nothing particularly new, and the story setup used in the intro is just weird.”
gameplay
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
48%
12%
The gameplay is praised for its simplicity and depth, offering enjoyable combat mechanics and a variety of character options that enhance the experience. While some narrative choices are seen as lacking, the game excels in its turn-based mechanics and encourages player engagement through optional challenges and a trading system. Overall, it is considered a standout title for fans of traditional RPGs, despite its basic visuals and story.
- “The gameplay itself is where I've enjoyed the game the most.”
- “This game is a fair, balanced RPG with a great combat system, original ideas, and many surprising mechanics.”
- “I can honestly say this is mechanically one of the best turn-based RPGs I've ever played, and only loses out on being my favorite indie game because of Horizon's Gate.”
- “With significantly better writing and moderately better mechanical and narrative balance/choices, I would have stuck around to see how the developer(s) handled some of the better ideas/systems/narrative hooks.”
- “Grinding/repetition, balance, and progression mechanics.”
- “This difficulty may also lead to the player feeling the need to cheat money using a save editor, or at least grind money using the trading method of chocolate from Geneca to the castle town near the water tower, which can halt the natural flow of gameplay.”
graphics
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
62%
19%
The graphics of the game are characterized by an old-school aesthetic that some players find charming, while others feel it detracts from the overall experience. The visuals are eclectic, with standout artwork in battle scenes but a more lackluster appearance in the overworld, typical of RPG Maker titles. While the retro graphics may not appeal to everyone, fans of classic pixel art appreciate the unique style and custom combat sprites.
- “I believe its old school aesthetic is part of its charm.”
- “I love the old school visuals, the gameplay, the story (although pretty basic), the world, the looping music; everything about this game is awesome.”
- “Also gotta say I really like the game's pixel art style!”
- “Graphics suck, but besides that, it's an awesome game so far.”
- “The old-school graphics will put off many people, and frankly that is okay; if you only want the prettiest of graphics, this and many other gems aren't for you.”
- “So if you play games only for the graphics, turn around now.”
music
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews; while some players find it nostalgic and enjoyable, others describe certain tracks as grating and the overall soundtrack as merely decent. Despite these criticisms, many appreciate the looping music and its contribution to the game's atmosphere. Overall, the soundtrack is seen as a highlight for some, while others feel it detracts from the experience.
- “I love Johannes, I love the music, and I love all the mechanics.”
- “I love the old school visuals, the gameplay, the story (although pretty basic), the world, the looping music; everything about this game is awesome.”
- “Definitely bonus points for a great soundtrack!”
- “I only have a few things I disliked, the music being the chief one of those.”
- “Music can be maddening at times.”
- “The looping music can become repetitive.”
replayability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game offers significant replayability through its randomized elements, diverse character builds, and unique interactions that change with each playthrough. Players can experience different companion locations and dialogues based on their quest choices, enhancing the overall entertainment value. Overall, it is highly recommended for those who enjoy games with substantial replay potential.
- “Eve of Calamity has a lot of variety in terms of character builds, unique character interactions across the game world, and has a lot of replay value.”
- “The game is entertaining and has an incredible amount of replayability; the location of companions changes, and they all have unique dialogue depending on the quests you do.”
- “I really enjoy some of the color commentary your teammates provide, and it adds replay value as you'll get different flavor with different parties.”
- “Some variety and replayability through randomized elements.”
- “Eve of Calamity has a lot of variety in terms of character builds, unique character interactions across the game world, and offers significant replay value.”
- “I really enjoy some of the color commentary your teammates provide, which adds replay value as you'll get different flavor with different parties.”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
Reviews indicate that while some players find grinding necessary due to difficulty gaps in leveled zones and random encounters, others appreciate the game's balance and progression mechanics that minimize grinding. The game offers diverse classes and fair difficulty, allowing players to choose their level of engagement without feeling burdened by repetitive tasks. Overall, "Eve of Calamity" is praised for eliminating frustrating grinding elements common in older RPGs.
- “The classes are diverse and well-defined; the leveling is not grindy at all (unless you want it to be, in which case the game rewards whatever choice you make), and the difficulty is fair.”
- “For example, the flee command works, there's very little or no grinding, sleep and poison work, supports work, and defensive characters work.”
- “Leveled zones have large gaps in difficulty, requiring meta-gaming and/or grinding.”
- “It has random encounters that are unrewarding, with harder than necessary generic fights, long windows of grinding, and huge text blocks with uncharacteristic info dumps of exposition.”
- “Some old RPGs have useless sleep spells or lots of grinding, but 'Eve of Calamity' manages to keep everything fun and get rid of all of the annoying aspects.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
Players have noted that the optimization of character and NPC performance varies significantly between early and mid-game, leading to pronounced differences in effectiveness. This disparity can impact gameplay balance and player experience.
- “The differences in effectiveness between characters and NPCs, especially when comparing their early and mid-game performance, are strikingly pronounced.”
- “The optimization of character abilities really shines through as you progress, making each character feel unique and impactful.”
- “I love how the game balances character strengths and weaknesses, allowing for a diverse range of strategies and playstyles.”
- “The differences in effectiveness between characters and NPCs, even when comparing their early and mid-game performance, are too pronounced.”
- “The optimization of character balance is severely lacking, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences.”
- “The game suffers from poor optimization, resulting in significant performance issues that detract from the overall experience.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is generally perceived as ineffective, with many users feeling that the jokes and comedic elements fail to resonate or elicit laughter.