Shadows & Lies Memories

[Indinera]

This is the place to post your feedback about Shadows & Lies. You can download the game here:
http://www.aldorlea.org/shadowsandlies.php

If you've got 5 mins, please fill this funny questionnaire!

Just copy/paste the questions and answer below them!
Since the questionary is big, to avoid any stupid loss due to internet connections stopping (I've been there lol), maybe copy it in a word document and save it before sending - just a recommendation.

Your opinion about Eldan?
Your opinion about Dathan?
Your opinion about Eva?
Your opinion about Kris?
Your opinion about the story and dialogs?
Your opinion about the battles?
Your opinion about the game's title screen and music?
What was your favorite moment and why?
How did you like the ending? Any twist you particularly enjoyed?
What's the game's best/strongest sides?
Have you played other Aldorlea "collaboration" games (Sylia, Opaline, Undefeated, The Tale of a Common Man, The King's Heroes) and if so, how does this one compare?

[littlebro]

Your opinion about Eldan?
I loved the way he dealt with the other characters, slightly sarcastic but never cruel. His skills were very helpful, especially the ‘all-enemy’ ones, and I liked the way they varied depending on the type of terrain. I’m going to be very careful about spoilers here, so I will just say that I was taken by surprise by him, but it all fitted him and the other character, so was completely coherent.
Your opinion about Dathan?
I thought he was so believable, in his attitudes, assumptions and development. The comments on the mirrors were so funny! I played him as Bard and his healing and buffing skills were excellent. I particularly liked the fact that some of the more common skills (healing & curing) were combined into one, but only used the MP for curing if it was needed. That saved a turn in battle for other things. And his autoheal for the whole party was awesome. Combining his DEF buffs with Eva’s ‘Deadly Defense’ produced some amazing results! Is that skill of hers just a tad OP?
Your opinion about Eva?
I played her as Warrior. Nice to have a female badass fighter with a lot of power. A bit po-faced at first – I thought Granny’s description of her as “bearing a sword and a stern face” summed it up well. But she lightened up a lot. It was good, imo, that she stayed true to her village and their needs, as well as her development so that she wasn’t dependent on other peoples’ respect any more. Loved her skills, and I allocated her Points to include a fair bit of AGI so that she got her damage in quickly.
Your opinion about Kris?
So believable and funny. I took him out of the party when the last character joined, and his remarks about not being in the party any more were priceless. Good attention to detail there. With the skills that he was able to learn from enemies as well as his own, a great asset in a variety of battles. I can see how being skinny and not having a body strong enough to hold a deep magical charge went together. So again skills and character went together well.
Your opinion about the story and dialogs?
Excellent, simply that. Well written, each character having their own distinct personality, with developments that were believable. The range of relationships between the party made for a lot of depth. The twists and turns of the story were often surprising (again I’m being very careful about spoilers) but the foreshadowing of events through the main dialogue and the ‘Elsewhere’ scenes meant that none of the twists seemed out of place.
Your opinion about the battles?
Great. Very nice graphics for the enemies, with lots of interesting animations and poses. Great variations in the skills of both the party and the enemies. Ran smoothly and with plenty of opportunities for strategic play which could turn the battle.
Your opinion about the game's title screen and music?
I thought that the title screen went well with the theme of the story. I’ve seen particles used before, but having them as skulls and daggers made all the difference. Nice that the character art was added as the people joined the party, the same as The Tale of a Common Man. Like most players, I suspect, I normally only hear the first part of the title music because I move on to loading the game quite quickly, so using it for the trailer meant that I heard all of it, which made me appreciate it more in-game. Very well written, imo.
What was your favorite moment and why?
To be honest, it’s difficult to single out one moment as my favourite, there are so many to choose from. The cutscenes were very well done; lots of emotional moments, funny moments, visually stunning moments, exciting battles, etc. I can’t choose between so many contenders.
How did you like the ending? Any twist you particularly enjoyed?
I thought the ending was brilliant. The final twist was particularly good and brought so many of the threads together. I’m not saying any more of the details because I’d like people to come to it unaware of what’s going to happen. And the final moment after the final battle and before the ‘wrap-up’ scenes with the 2 characters walking off together was very touching.
What's the game's best/strongest sides?
How to choose when there are, imo, no weak sides? Mapping, music, battles, story, lighting effects, all so good. Great, too, to have Points to allocate so that I could get my own build of the characters, and having some choice about classes and upgrades meant that I could tailor all this to suit my own playing style. If I’m only allowed one, then I suppose I would have to say the story/characters.
Have you played other Aldorlea "collaboration" games (Sylia, Opaline, Undefeated, The Tale of a Common Man, The King's Heroes) and if so, how does this one compare?
Best of the lot. No more to say.

Well done, a truly excellent game.

[Indinera]

Entry sent by e-mail by Pixieme:

Your opinion about Eldan?
I like the character. He's strong without being domineering. He's a firm and supportive parent figure and has a sense of humor.

Your opinion about Dathan?
I like that he grows and matures during the course of the game. He starts off a jetrk and ends up someone I could like.

Your opinion about Eva?
Like Dathan, she grows during the game, becoming more self confidant and easier with her companions. She's improved by the end, but is still a little insipid for a powerful fighter.

Your opinion about Kris?
Kris cracks me up.

Your opinion about the story and dialogs?
Loved the story and the dialog was just right. Some games, the dialog can get a little excessive without advancing the story.

Your opinion about the battles?
I don't play RPGs for the fighting. I play for the characters, the plot, the quests and the exploring. The battles in this game were just right; enough to level up the characters without becoming tedious.

Your opinion about the game's title screen and music?
The title screen artwork is nice and I like the glowing skulls. I mute the music because I find it distracting, so I don't have an opinion.

What was your favorite moment and why?
I'll have to play the game several times before I can answer this.

How did you like the ending? Any twist you particularly enjoyed?
The ending came too soon, but was satisfactory. I like that Kris humbled himself long enough to ask Hygrod to teach him something.

What's the game's best/strongest sides?
Good plot; well developed characters that grew and changed over the course of the game (yes, even Kris); satisfactory quests.

Have you played other Aldorlea "collaboration" games (Sylia, Opaline, Undefeated, The Tale of a Common Man, The King's Heroes) and if so, how does this one compare?
I've played all of those listed. I haven't finished Sylia or The King's Heroes, but I have played the others several times. My all time favorite is A Timely Intervention. I find that games grow on me as I play them over and again. I expect to replay this one a number of times.

[MerryX]

I just wanted to let you know how much I liked Shadows and Lies and enjoyed playing it. While I have played your RPGs for a number of years, I am a bit of a wimp and tend to play in Easy mode – which means I can manage the fights without getting killed off too often. Hate that! Mind you, I then don’t get the challenge or the thrill of achievement…

In Shadows and Lies I really enjoyed the characters and the story line. It seemed to me the characters were more “real” and well-rounded in a way I haven’t really seen in many other games. And they really did develop and grow over time.

Spoiler: show

(I’d actually left Kris out of the team in favour of Hygrod but he “whined” so much about it, I caved and put him back in – and I wasn’t sorry as he held his own…and eventually stopped whining!)

I also liked being able to choose designations

Spoiler: show

(I chose Acrobat for Dathan – due to FOMO on out-of-reach chests, and Guard which felt right for Eva)

Being able to choose how to “weight” my characters as well with allocating points was fun and helped me feel involved in the experience.

I can’t comment on the music I’m afraid as I always play games on very low volume. Sorry about that as I know it’s something you put some thought and effort into. I’ll try to do better …it’s just because I usually take a long time with games, and the music starts to become repetitive to me.

My favourite moment – I don’t know if I can answer that easily. Is it the thrill of stumbling across a secret room? (I found 26/27 – missed #18 ) Or...

Spoiler: show

Was it suddenly ending up in jail and having to sneak around town due to morally bankrupting youth - sounds somewhat dodgy, doesn't it, and I'd imagine a bit of a shock for Eldan to find himself in that position of corrupting young people?

Or how we met new characters joining the group?

The ending was good and satisfying – in some ways bitter sweet which is a change from “happily ever after”. It makes it more real. I think this – the three-dimensional characters and the developing storyline were this game’s strongest and best facets among many.

I’ve played all the other games except The King’s Heroes. Guess what I’m going to be doing now…

MerryX

[Tomas]

Your opinion about Eldan?
Strong and brave character. He's not keen on helping the king, but he understands it's neccessary - and willing to take a risk.
He's also very powerful spellcaster, especially with mana replenishing items and buffed fire spell.

Your opinion about Dathan?
A bit selfish and childish in the beginning. But he matures quickly. I liked his character development probably the most.
I choose the "Bard" for him, and his healing and support spells proved to be very useful - both the healing and "confusing" ones.

Your opinion about Eva?
A bit too cautious sometimes, quite a contrary to her brother.
As a warrior she was very powerful.

Your opinion about Kris?
Young and reckless. But I absolutely loved his recklesness and desire for becoming famous.
Useful in Battles (especially the dodge boosting spell), but he kinda lacked an ability to deal big damage. Also a bit "squishy".

Your opinion about the story and dialogs?
Awesome! The story and character development is very strong, emotional and believable.
With all these dialogues and characters'"inner thoughts", it's easy to understand them and their motivations.

Your opinion about the battles?
Very smooth and enjoyable, a great variety of spells and "tools" to handle the battles.
However, I played on Legendary and the game seemed a little bit too easy. I almost never died, maybe something like five times in the whole game.
Maybe this was because of my selection of the invisible enemies - my party had quite high levels due to this. But still - The Tale of a Common Man was tuned better, I believe.

Your opinion about the game's title screen and music?
I liked it.

What was your favorite moment and why?
Killing Dathan's mother. Well, not actually the favourite moment. But definitively the strongest. Very sad.

How did you like the ending? Any twist you particularly enjoyed?
Very emotional. I did not expect the "I am you father" part.

What's the game's best/strongest sides?
Very smooth gameply, sense of exploration, awesome story and dialogues. A strong "Laxius" spirit.

Have you played other Aldorlea "collaboration" games (Sylia, Opaline, Undefeated, The Tale of a Common Man, The King's Heroes) and if so, how does this one compare?
When compared to the previous collaborations with Kes (TTCM, ...), it has similar strengths - dialogues, smooth gameplay etc. But this time it is taken to yet another level. Plus, it feels more adventurous and epic.
To me the best collaboration with Kes so far. It really reminded me my initial times with Laxius Power.

[feyone2]

Your opinion about Eldan?
Good dependable character with compassion and common sense. Extremely useful skills too.

Your opinion about Dathan?
Typical teenage boy, egocentric and image obsessed but definitely matures as he goes along. I played him as Acrobat for leaping ability.

Your opinion about Eva?
Good skills - played her as guardian and she was good for keeping everyone healthy. A bit of a formal sort of person.

Your opinion about Kris?
Though he was great fun, a bit naive but eager to have a go.

Your opinion about the story and dialogs?
I liked the story and thought the dialogs were most appropriate for it.

Your opinion about the battles?
Easy enough that I didn't get frustrated with any of them. I like to play a game through without dying endlessly! I played Normal mood.

Your opinion about the game's title screen and music?
Sorry, I don't play with sound as I don't wish to annoy other people around me.

What was your favorite moment and why?
When Dathan finds out the truth as it gave a believable twist to the story.

How did you like the ending? Any twist you particularly enjoyed?
Liked it. The one mentioned above.

What's the game's best/strongest sides?
Characters and artwork.

Have you played other Aldorlea "collaboration" games (Sylia, Opaline, Undefeated, The Tale of a Common Man, The King's Heroes) and if so, how does this one compare?
Yes, all of them. It's equal to and a bit different than Undefeated and The Tale of a Common Man. Enjoyed it!

[darkange]

Your opinion about Eldan?
Like the description says : a man of many contradictions ... I didn't like the fact that he is the type of guy who can keep secrets his entire life until everything blows apart and he has no other choice but to be honest .... but I liked the fact that he acted as a leader and took control. I want people to be honest all the time - hate secrets/hate lies.
in battle he was great overall especially with spells against all enemies and when you upgrade his fire spells.

Your opinion about Dathan?
His habit of stopping and watching himself in every mirror was great ... indeed he had great development as a character.
As an acrobat he did pretty decent dmg especially after you get his spell that hits 4 times or you equip him with second byte and you can hit one enemy 4 times. There weren't that many chests that he could jump and get overall in the entire game .

Your opinion about Eva?
Like I said before - despite her not having much self confidence she was the best fighter and damage dealer in my team - I chose her as warrior and her dmg is amazing.
About her personality - pretty boring overall but decent.

Your opinion about Kris?
One of the best personalities in the game for me - enjoyed his comments very much - doesn't matter if a person is wrong in pursuing something - at least he knew exactly what he wanted and he didn't just stopped focusing on loot just because Eva complained about his obsession with it - in my opinion it is healthy to have an obsession in life.
That way makes it way less likely to just give up ... if you don't have passions/hobbies/obsessions - you are just boring and give up too easily guaranteed.

The other 2 characters were great too ... I like the big guy that he was one of the rare exceptions were you can be big/smart and wise at the same time - big brains big muscles lol. The "angel of death" is extremely powerful in battle but I hated her guts because she lied. I hope there aren't anymore characters that I missed or something.

Your opinion about the story and dialogs?
I saw a new thing in this game - characters reacting according to how you change the story - people having different dialogs depending on what you do - example when you got back in town with the stinky plant - almost all of them commented on your smell - too funny and makes the story more immersive - something I have seen in great rpgs so it is a good step forward. Rpgs need a lot of this things - NPCs are more believable when they react to your main characters according to what you do and change their dialogs.

Your opinion about the battles?
Classic battles - I saw a new element that was interesting - bosses when they get to low hp start talking and attack before their turn with surprise attacks - I loved that and on legendary mode it can take you by surprise and kill one of your characters when you don't see it coming.
The game is definetly doable in legendary mode with no healers in your party at all - plenty of potions around.

Your opinion about the game's title screen and music?
I like when title screen shows you the other characters as soon as you find them - the music is cool as always - I always play the games with music on - I like to associate the soundtrack with the experience - creates wonderful memories.

What was your favorite moment and why?
Like Tomas mentioned before - the moment when you interact with Dathan's mother. Very emotional and strong - unexpected

How did you like the ending? Any twist you particularly enjoyed?
The ending was satisfying - you only had to look at Alexina's face from the beginning to realize she has an evil face - Devina has that sweet innocent face. In this case their characters were indeed written on their faces.
All the emotional moments were great - including Eldan's big secret and Dathan's reaction.


What's the game's best/strongest sides?
Immersiveness into the story/atmosphere ... soundtracks ... exploration

Have you played other Aldorlea "collaboration" games (Sylia, Opaline, Undefeated, The Tale of a Common Man, The King's Heroes) and if so, how does this one compare?
Yes - played them all except Sylia . A timely intervention still remains my favourite and I think it is better in soundtrack and story compared to Shadows&Lies . The ending of ATI and the music in the last area is so emotional for me .

[Boxter]

I just finished this fourth game from Gemelle games and Aldorlea.

Kes, I'm a bit speechless here. You manage to beat "A timely intervention" in term of quality.

This time, Shadows and lies has way more of a emotional impact and clearly plays on subvertion.

It was particularly incredible that you manage to interconnect like that all the sidequest. Truly, you really had a plan in mind when you planned this game.

Great job to the music maker too here, well done indeed.

And again, great choice of title, more so the lie aspect that was everywhere in this game.
One last bit, Dathan is an incredible character, he makes so much sense.

I'm awaiting your next game then,

Take care.

(Indinera, great collab as always.)