Girlfriend Rescue
- July 10, 2015
- Aldorlea Games
- 10h median play time
Get on SteamIn "Girlfriend Rescue," you play as a desperate boyfriend on a mission to rescue your girlfriend who has been kidnapped by the evil Dark Lord. Battle through various enemies in turn-based combat, collect items and level up your character to become strong enough to defeat the Dark Lord and rescue your girlfriend. With humor and parody, this game offers a lighthearted take on the classic RPG genre.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Interesting concept of replaying on harder difficulties with characters gained in easier difficulties, providing a well-balanced experience that requires efficient use of items and tactics.
- Great variety of characters with different abilities, enhancing replay value and allowing for diverse gameplay strategies.
- Enjoyable music and art style that adds to the overall charm of the game, making it a fun experience for fans of retro RPGs.
- The story and dialogue are poorly written and lack depth, making it hard to connect with the characters or feel invested in the plot.
- Gameplay can become repetitive and tedious, especially with the lack of side quests and the linear progression through levels.
- Control issues and a lack of customization options hinder the overall experience, making it frustrating for players.
- story74 mentions
- 16 % positive mentions
- 80 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The game's story revolves around a simple premise of rescuing a kidnapped girlfriend, drawing comparisons to classic adventure narratives. While some players appreciate the nostalgic feel and the modern urban setting, many criticize the plot for being rudimentary, nonsensical, and lacking depth, with poorly written dialogue that detracts from the overall experience. Despite its shortcomings, the story manages to resonate with some players on a personal level, though it often feels repetitive and fails to maintain engagement throughout.
“The story itself takes place in a modern, urban setting which is a breath of fresh air (ironically) as opposed to your typical medieval fantasies.”
“Girlfriend Rescue is an RPG that takes an interesting cast of characters and puts them in a decent story.”
“The story has some suspense, like why was she kidnapped?”
“At times the story will throw a curve ball into the plot that does not really make sense to the story or even truly explains its purpose.”
“The story and dialogue is completely rudimentary.”
“If you are looking for a 20+ hour game with a storyline that makes any sort of sense, look elsewhere.”
- gameplay28 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 75 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized as a mix of traditional RPG Maker mechanics with a focus on tactical challenges rather than a strong narrative. While some players find the combat and mechanics engaging and deep, others criticize it for being repetitive and lacking in story. The game offers fun achievements and a decent amount of replay value, but the sparse save stations can make for a frustrating experience.
“I have followed and enjoyed Aldorlea/Indinera Falls games since the original Laxius Power days, so I'm a tad biased, but I believe this to be a masterpiece of gameplay and mechanics.”
“If you are looking for a 20+ hour game with a storyline that makes any sort of sense, look elsewhere, but if you are looking for a great challenge with a wide variety of tactical options, rock solid gameplay, and a high replay value, then this is the game for you.”
“Very mechanically deep, probably more so than any other RPG Maker title.”
“The gameplay and combat of the game are that of an RPG Maker game, featuring 2D graphics with visual novel conversations.”
“To keep it simple, the gameplay is very stock RPG Maker fare both in and out of combat.”
“I could put up with the boring stock RPG Maker fighting gameplay, but without an interesting plot or at least good dialogue, there's just no reason to play.”
- graphics22 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the colorful visuals and excellent cutscene quality, while others criticize the low-resolution character and environment designs, describing them as uninspired and cheap-looking. Although the artwork is noted as good, the overall execution, particularly in combat and level design, detracts from the visual experience.
“The artwork is great!”
“[*] Excellent graphics quality in cutscenes.”
“+ Colorful visuals.”
“But the graphics are just bad even for an RPG Maker game.”
“The combat itself quickly becomes a chore and most of the levels are particularly uninspired and repetitive (especially areas 4 & 5), with lame graphics and no different things to do other than fight.”
“While the graphics are entirely custom, the characters and environments are pretty terrible and low res in general, which makes the game feel even further cheapened.”
- replayability18 mentions
- 56 % positive mentions
- 28 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The game offers high replayability due to its short playtime of around five hours and the diverse range of characters, each with unique attributes that influence gameplay strategies. Players must select their party members at the start, which encourages multiple playthroughs to explore different combinations and unlock achievements. Overall, it is well-suited for those seeking a challenging experience with varied tactical options.
“Great replay value for sure since it's not very long, but there are a lot of characters and they all play very differently - and you pick them right from the start.”
“A major part of the game is the creation of your party from the available characters since each character has different attributes which will change the way you approach the game. This gives the game replayability, which is important especially if you want to unlock all the achievements.”
“Single playthrough is very short (around 5 hours), but the game is geared towards replayability.”
“This makes the replay value go up a bit since you can only play as four characters (Dan is always in the party, so you pick 3 other team members) and they must be chosen right at the beginning of the game. Once chosen, you cannot change them unless you start a new game.”
“Single playthrough is very short (about 5 hours), but the game is geared towards replayability.”
“A major part of the game is the creation of your party from the available characters, as each character has different attributes that will change the way you approach the game. This adds to the replayability, which is important, especially if you want to unlock all the achievements.”
- humor14 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game features a fun, tongue-in-cheek humor that cleverly plays with tired tropes, complemented by one-dimensional yet amusing supporting characters. While the main character lacks personality, the quirky traits of the party members—such as their obsession with working out, cosplay, and informants—add comedic value. Overall, the humor, along with pop culture references, makes it a recommended choice for players who appreciate a lighthearted narrative.
“Fun concept, and a little tongue-in-cheek humor for a tired trope.”
“The world design and battle systems are classic and interesting, and the story and dialogue made me laugh.”
“In the party from my playthrough, I had a guy who kept talking about working out, a girl who kept talking about cosplay, and a different guy who only ever talked about his 'informants.' There is something kind of funny about these characters, since none of them are actually crucial to the plot; they can say whatever the writers wanted them to, and it shows.”
- music12 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally described as enjoyable and relaxing, with some standout moments, particularly during fight scenes. However, many reviewers find the soundtrack to be mostly inoffensive and forgettable, with certain tracks becoming annoying quickly. Overall, while the music contributes positively to the experience, it is not considered a defining feature of the game.
“First of all: the music and OST are really enjoyable to listen to!”
“The music is really very nice.”
“Without a manual it's not a perfect 10, but it's so close otherwise; from great music to great replay value, it's a fun RPG to kill time with and change things up from the usual.”
“Decent for a single play-through, with okay music, and some pleasing fight scenes, but utterly forgettable soon after.”
“The soundtrack is nothing special either, most of the time it's inoffensive (although the soundtrack in the first level got on my nerves really fast) so I wouldn't recommend it on that criteria.”
“I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
- grinding12 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed experience. While most achievements are enjoyable and not overly grindy, some require significant effort, especially for those seeking to extend gameplay beyond 10 hours through New Game+. The absence of random encounters makes leveling up challenging, as players must restart stages to respawn enemies, which can lead to a tedious grinding process.
“Fun achievements, most of which are not too grindy. However, grindy ones are offered here if you want more than about 10 hours of gameplay (New Game+ required to get them all).”
“Fun achievements, most of which are not too grindy. However, grindy ones are offered here if you want more than about 10 hours of gameplay (New Game+ required to get them all).”
“Fun achievements, most of which are not too grindy. However, grindy ones are offered here if you want more than about 10 hours of gameplay (New Game+ required to get them all).”
“There are no random encounters in this game as the enemies are displayed on the map and each area has a certain amount of enemies to fight (25-30 enemies) so grinding to level up your characters was a bit tough. The only way to grind was to get defeated in battle, which would have you restart the stage over and all the enemies would respawn.”
“Picking your team is tedious and confusing unless you look up a walkthrough to figure out who to pick.”
“The battling in this game can get tedious, and the writing isn't particularly good, but those problems aren't so problematic that they ruin the experience.”
