Shattered Hourglass
- December 25, 2013
- sawworm Games
- 60h median play time
Get on Steam"Shattered Hourglass" is a story-rich, turn-based JRPG with challenging choices and consequences that shape your journey. With over 40 hours of gameplay, explore 4 different story routes, battle 70 bosses, and unlock 9 Job Classes for your 5-character party. Engage in optional activities, puzzles, and quizzes, and enjoy unique side quests and bounty missions. This game offers a vast and immersive world with over 280 items, 260 armors, and 240 monsters to discover.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game offers a rich and engaging RPG experience with a variety of quests, secrets, and a unique karma system that affects the story and endings.
- Character design and gameplay mechanics are well-developed, allowing for diverse strategies and a high level of customization with multiple jobs and skills.
- The game is filled with content, including challenging dungeons, numerous side activities, and a responsive developer who actively updates the game based on player feedback.
- The dialogue is often poorly written and could benefit from professional editing, which detracts from the overall storytelling experience.
- Some players found the ending to be weak compared to the rest of the game's compelling narrative.
- An in-game journal feature would be helpful for tracking side quests and unresolved tasks, as the current system can be overwhelming.
- story16 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 31 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The game's story is praised for its uniqueness, compelling narrative, and the ability to explore various paths that influence outcomes through karma. Players appreciate the surprises, secret treasures, and time-sensitive quests, which enhance the overall experience, although the dialogue quality is noted as a drawback. The character design, particularly of Juliet, adds to the story's appeal, making it a standout aspect of the game.
“There are many surprises and secret treasures to find (you have to explore everywhere), many quests and some of them are time sensitive and may change the path and the ending via good, neutral, and bad karma.”
“When you think the game is over, it surprises you with additional postgame story and the adventure continues.”
“Being able to choose my own path and handle consequences, both story-wise and mechanically, was a gamechanger for me.”
“Story: unbelievable.”
“There are many surprises and secret treasures to find (you have to explore everywhere), many quests and some of them are time sensitive and may change the path and the ending via good, neutral and bad karma.”
“When you think the game is over it surprises you with additional postgame story and adventure continues.”
- graphics8 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Overall, the graphics are generally well-received, with many users noting that they are impressive for the system, earning ratings around 8/10. While some describe the graphics as merely "okay," the consensus leans towards a positive impression, complementing the enjoyable gameplay and music.
“Graphics: great for the system.”
“I haven't played for real long yet; gameplay seems fun, graphics and music both good.”
“Graphic (8/10).”
- music8 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally well-received, with players noting that it complements the gameplay effectively. Additionally, the inclusion of the artists' names allows players to easily discover the background music creators, enhancing the overall experience.
“The music is nice and fits into the game, and the special thing in this game is the artist's names are included, so I can find the BGM artist.”
“I haven't played for real long yet; gameplay seems fun, graphics and music both good.”
“Music: I like it.”
- gameplay8 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the gameplay engaging and enjoyable, highlighting the fun mechanics, impressive graphics, and music. The ability to choose one's own path and experience meaningful consequences is particularly praised, with some reviewers giving it a perfect score of 10/10. Overall, the gameplay is recommended as a must-play experience.
“Being able to choose my own path and handle consequences, both story-wise and mechanically, was a gamechanger for me.”
“Gameplay: buy this and play it.”
“Gameplay (10/10).”
- character development2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Character development is praised for its strong design and diverse personalities, with well-crafted backstories that enhance the overall narrative. Notably, Juliet stands out as a visually appealing character, adding to the game's charm.
“The character design and story are exceptional, featuring distinct personalities, unique capabilities, and compelling backstories. Most importantly, Juliet is beautifully designed.”
“The character design and story are exceptional, featuring distinct personalities, unique capabilities, and compelling backstories. Most importantly, Juliet is beautifully designed.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players emphasize the importance of understanding each character's classes and skills to minimize grinding time effectively. By strategically learning these elements, players can optimize their gameplay and reduce the repetitive nature of grinding.
“If you don't want to spend so much time on grinding, you should tactically learn all the classes each character can or can't do and which skills to exploit.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Users consistently highlight the humor in the game, particularly praising the funny dialogues that enhance the overall experience.
“And the most important thing is the dialogues are funny!”
