SAVAGE: The Shard of Gosen
- August 30, 2019
- Planet Tobor
- 2h median play time
Get on Steam"Savage: The Shard of Gosen" is a fantasy-themed, action-packed RPG set in the vibrant world of Planettobor. Players must navigate treacherous landscapes, battle fearsome creatures, and uncover ancient secrets to restore balance to the world. With a blend of real-time combat and strategic decision-making, this game offers a unique and immersive gaming experience.
Reviews
- The pixel art is top-tier and beautifully crafted, showcasing a strong visual style that appeals to fans of retro games.
- The gameplay combines elements of RPG and metroidvania, offering a satisfying mix of combat, exploration, and character progression.
- The developer shows a lot of passion and dedication, with a solid foundation that has the potential to evolve into a fantastic game with further updates.
- The game has been in early access for several years without significant updates, leading many to consider it abandonware.
- Gameplay can feel repetitive and lacks clear guidance on mechanics, which may lead to confusion and frustration for players.
- There are numerous bugs and technical issues that detract from the overall experience, including crashes and progression blockers.
- gameplay15 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 53 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The gameplay is a blend of platformer, RPG, and action elements that keeps players engaged with unique mechanics and strategic depth. While some find it initially overwhelming, the core mechanics are satisfying and rewarding, featuring a variety of upgrades and a rich, detailed environment. Overall, the game offers a nostalgic yet fresh experience with enjoyable controls and immersive visuals.
“The mix of platformer, RPG, and action keeps you engaged; the backgrounds and enemies are pretty unique and not just a sea of reskinned generic entities. Each type has different mechanics, bringing strategy into the mix!”
“It has RPG elements with leveling up your character and equipment, a bit of talking with NPCs, crafting (that I haven't even gotten to yet), a larger overworld, etc. The core mechanics go beyond most of the basic 8 and 16-bit basics, with rolling, dodging, lifting bodies, and so on.”
“Extremely satisfying gameplay, cool upgrades, and great detailed 2D art.”
“Boring gameplay, lost interest in playing it last year.”
“Learning every mechanic seems a bit much during the first intro, but after that you get 'reset' to start growing more slowly from the real beginning and can practice them.”
“Finally, we have the gameplay.”
- music12 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 8 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its quality and ability to enhance the overall atmosphere, with many reviewers noting its fitting and iconic nature. The soundtrack is described as memorable and nostalgic, often evoking feelings reminiscent of the 80s and 90s, while complementing the game's visuals and storytelling effectively. Overall, the music contributes significantly to the game's charm and immersive experience.
“The pixel art is wonderful, amazing soundtrack and great atmosphere.”
“The art is great, the music is incredible, and the gameplay is deceptively cunning.”
“The music is always fitting, never grating, and iconic as all get out.”
“Some songs get stuck in your head.”
“So many great things to this game, animations, art style, music and story are all hitting that nostalgia button for me, and can't get enough of playing it.”
- story8 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The story is engaging and reminiscent of classic narratives, featuring strong visuals, writing, and music that evoke nostalgia. Players appreciate the branching choices that promise significant replayability, although the game is still in early access, with only about 50-60% of the story available and some bugs present. Overall, the storytelling has captivated players, making them eager for the full experience.
“There's a lot to love - the visuals, storytelling and writing, music, and gameplay.”
“The writing and story have me engrossed so far.”
“The story appears to be able to branch in a variety of ways from player choices, which I hope will mean quite a bit of replayability once the main story is completed.”
“From what I've seen so far, the story is similar to something Robert E.”
“The game isn't finished; you can get through about 50%-60% of the story right now and can access about half of the world map.”
“As expected for an early access, there are bugs and the storyline is not completed.”
- graphics5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are highly praised for their fantastic animated pixel art and fitting art direction, which evoke a strong sense of nostalgia. Players appreciate the visuals as a perfect complement to the engaging storytelling and gameplay, enhancing the overall experience.
“So many great things to this game; the animations, art style, music, and story are all hitting that nostalgia button for me, and I can't get enough of playing it.”
“The graphical style is fitting and pleasant to look at, and the setting and dialogue feel like a spot-on homage to Robert E.”
“The art direction is great, featuring fantastic animated pixel graphics.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
The game's stability is criticized for being buggy and incomplete, with no updates in over three years. However, some players express a willingness to overlook these issues, enjoying the gameplay and hoping to contribute to improvements by reporting minor bugs.
“Buggy, incomplete game that hasn't been updated in over 3 years.”
“The game crashes frequently, making it nearly unplayable.”
“I encountered multiple game-breaking bugs that ruined my experience.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised, with users highlighting the impressive music and sound effects that enhance the experience, particularly during rainy moments. Overall, the ambiance contributes significantly to the game's appeal.
“The music is really good, the sound effects are great, and the atmosphere is particularly immersive, especially when it rains.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate a growing concern over monetization practices in the gaming industry, with players expressing frustration over the prevalence of abandonware and microtransactions. Many feel that these practices detract from the overall gaming experience and reflect a troubling trend in game development.
“I cannot condone such abandonware practices; sadly, it's what the gaming industry is moving towards with microtransactions.”
“The monetization strategy feels exploitative, prioritizing profit over player experience.”
“It's frustrating to see a game that could be great overshadowed by aggressive monetization tactics.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 200 % positive mentions
- -400 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players anticipate high replayability due to the branching storylines influenced by their choices, suggesting that completing the main story will encourage multiple playthroughs to explore different outcomes.
“Each playthrough offers new choices and outcomes, making it exciting to explore different paths and experiences.”
“The game encourages multiple runs with its diverse character builds and storylines, ensuring that no two playthroughs feel the same.”
“The story appears to branch in a variety of ways based on player choices, which I hope will lead to significant replayability once the main story is completed.”
“After finishing the game, I found that the lack of meaningful choices made replaying it feel pointless.”
“While the game offers multiple endings, the overall experience feels too similar on subsequent playthroughs to warrant replaying.”
