Rune Teller
- February 9, 2023
- CODELIFE Studio
- 12h median play time
"Rune Teller" is a narrative-driven, choice-based visual novel set in a mystical world of runes and magic. As the rune teller, you will make decisions that influence your relationships and fate, uncovering secrets and navigating moral dilemmas in a beautifully illustrated and immersive environment. With multiple endings, each playthrough offers a unique experience in this tale of destiny, manipulation, and sacrifice.
Reviews
- The game is enjoyable, especially when played with friends, providing a fun co-op experience.
- It has a charming art style, lovely music, and a cozy atmosphere that makes exploration enjoyable.
- The developers are responsive and actively working on updates, showing potential for improvement and growth.
- The game feels unfinished and janky, with many players reporting issues like poor optimization, bad translations, and clunky controls.
- Combat can be frustrating due to a lack of fluidity, with many players experiencing delays and being stun-locked by enemies.
- The world feels empty and lacks direction, making it easy to get lost and leading to a tedious gameplay experience.
- gameplay37 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 73 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The gameplay is a mixed bag, featuring cozy elements alongside challenging combat reminiscent of Souls-like games, but suffers from a lack of depth and variety in mechanics, quests, and enemy encounters. While some players enjoy the cooperative experience and find the combat satisfying, others criticize the simplistic mechanics, absence of RPG elements, and frustrating design choices that detract from the overall experience. Overall, the game shows potential but requires significant improvements to stand out in the crowded fantasy RPG genre.
“It's a cozy game, with increasingly difficult combat (a la Souls) and survival mechanics that keep the game exciting and create appropriate tension.”
“Quests are fun and interactive, with a wide range of unique spells and mechanics, and a very good combat system.”
“Gameplay and fighting methods are so fresh that it makes you remember how it feels to get into a game like this and just love all the new things you encounter.”
“Because of the stagger mechanic, you can easily get stun-locked to death, and every encounter is usually a 3v1 situation.”
“There's very little variety both in terms of enemies and gameplay.”
“This game does not have a lot of depth in its mechanics.”
- story34 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 71 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The game's story is enriched by numerous side quests and a larger narrative that unfolds through exploration, though players often feel lost due to a lack of clear guidance and quest markers. While the storyline has potential and is engaging, many quests suffer from uninspired writing and unclear objectives, leading to frustration. Overall, the game offers a decent narrative experience within a vast open world, but improvements in quest clarity and structure are needed to enhance player engagement.
“Great combat, good storyline, insane potential.”
“The story is roughly 25 hours of playtime, and even in early access has a completed ending.”
“Each map consists of several quests, which link to a larger story.”
“The game doesn't really tell us where to go, which has caused us to skip a chunk of the story before we actually knew where we were supposed to go.”
“Quests were uninspired, had poor writing/translation, and even had their objectives update mid-quest or make you do the same thing again.”
“My main critiques of the game are the quest system that does not state all quest objectives when receiving a quest.”
- graphics14 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 36 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are characterized by a charming art style that evokes nostalgia, particularly reminiscent of PS1 textures, which some players appreciate while others find it lacking in depth. While the visuals may not be graphically impressive, they are described as pleasing and smooth, contributing positively to the overall experience despite some criticisms regarding their simplicity and potential to detract from gameplay. Overall, the graphics elicit mixed feelings, with a notable appreciation for the unique style and effects.
“Very sweet game with lovely music and pleasing visuals.”
“The art style is awesome.”
“I played a few games with this art style and this one feels the smoothest so far to be honest.”
“Ps1 style textures and art style hit the nostalgic note and do not overstay their welcome, but I can see them being a full detractor from the game.”
“If you want Dark Souls with bad graphics, boring fighting, plain worlds, and lots of dumb dialogue that you must hold down the space bar to read.”
“There is no art style either.”
- optimization5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- -20 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received negative feedback, particularly for a low poly title, with users noting poor performance and a subpar UI/menu experience. While gameplay and combat mechanics are easy to learn, the overall optimization leaves much to be desired.
“The game runs smoothly, and the style of gameplay and battle is easy to get used to and learn.”
“Combat takes a bit to get used to, as the UI/menuing isn't the most optimized experience, but you adapt over time.”
“The performance is quite good overall.”
“Terrible optimization for a low poly game.”
“Combat takes a bit to get used to as the UI/menuing isn't the most optimized experience.”
“As you can guess, I do not think highly of the performance of this game.”
- music4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its sweetness and beauty, complementing the pleasing visuals and enhancing the overall experience. It features a unique integration of life sounds from the city, adding depth to the soundtrack. Overall, the music is considered a strong point, contributing positively to the open-world co-op RPG atmosphere.
“Very sweet game with lovely music and pleasing visuals.”
“Great open world co-op RPG with a beautiful soundtrack.”
“They put people's life sound into the music of one city... it means what it means.”
“Music is decent too.”
- grinding4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a balanced mix of fun and effort, particularly noting that while it can be tedious at times—especially with inventory management and weapon swapping—the initial grind is manageable and contributes positively to the overall experience.
“Inventory management and weapon swapping is tedious.”
“Grindy in the beginning.”
“Farming is not exhaustive too.”
- atmosphere3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is generally described as nice and chilling, contributing positively to the cooperative experience. However, some players find the visuals inconsistent and the sound design unpleasant, which detracts from the overall immersion. Additionally, the questing elements are criticized, suggesting that improvements could further enhance the atmosphere.
“The game has a nice and chilling atmosphere.”
“Would greatly enhance the atmosphere.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highly praised, with players finding the bosses particularly entertaining and laugh-inducing. The funny graphics and overall style contribute to a lighthearted and enjoyable experience.
“Bosses are super fun; the first one had us laughing our butts off.”
“Funny graphics and style.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game's monetization approach is positively noted for avoiding the typical cash grab tactics seen in many early access titles, as it emphasizes genuine engagement with the fan base and regular updates.
“This game feels like a cash grab, with little regard for player feedback or meaningful updates.”
“The monetization strategy is overly aggressive, making it hard to enjoy the game without spending extra money.”
“It seems like the developers prioritize profits over player experience, which is disappointing.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players express a strong emotional connection to the game, particularly highlighting the impact of the rainbow horse, which inspires feelings of love and affection for the overall experience.
“The rainbow horse made me feel compelled to express my love for this game.”