The Book of Shadows

[bgillisp]

Thanks for the feedback littlebro! Glad you liked it!

Edit: New build sent to Indy. This one fixes it so that you can buy Icicle Flowers in Emberfield again, and changes the description of mixed potions to be more helpful. Some skill descriptions were also redone as well.

[Lady JJ]

I've been away on vacation with limited internet and no computer, so I apologize for not posting my promised review. I wish I had done this sooner, as Littlebro's review is much more eloquent than mine could ever be. I agree with just about everything Littlebro said. Some of my strategies were the same, some were different. If I were to give a one sentence review, it would be - This game was just so much fun to play!

I really liked the option of swapping party members. This game forced me to become a better strategist during battle, especially during boss battles where elements play a major role. The elements were definitely polarized: fire vs water, air vs earth, mind vs energy, life vs dark. I liked how you could bring in fire and water characters to protect against fire then blast with water, and then later, swap and make similar actions with air and earth. Unlike Littlebro, I did play Jarvis quite a bit. Like Littlebro, I never once battled with Renee, but did use her healing in between battles.

It was a lot of information to absorb early in the game, especially the cast of who's who. Truthfully, I think I'm going to replay the first few chapters just to better understand the relationships between the characters. You almost needed a program to keep up with the cast. For example, I totally misjudged Savina. But the dialogues throughout the game (and some of those dialogues were laugh out loud hilarious) helped to reinforce my knowledge of those relationships.

You really had to love the characters. There is of course the hero, a human who finds himself fighting a force he doesn't even believe in (magic). And then there is his unlikely band of heroes: a thief who'd rather nap, a cheerleader who fights with pom-poms, a reporter who blasts with megaphones, an archer who protects that reporter (though I kind of thought Kira could protect Padrin a whole lot better than he could protect her), a merchant who fights with gold, a protector who'd rather be feasting, a gladiator who wants to punch everything in sight, a scientist who also excels in death magic, a chemist who also excels in life magic, and an elementalist who is sort of a jack-of-all trades and not a bad healer.

There was nothing terribly innovative about the plot: a once fairly decent guy becomes obsessed with power and turns into a not so decent fellow after all. However, the way the story was laid out as the chapters progressed was really quite engaging.

Oh, and did I already say this - This game was just so much fun to play! The battles were well-balanced. I never felt like I was in over my head when engaging in main quest battles. As I said earlier, I was forced to develop some strategies, hack'n'slash alone isn't going to get you through this game, but the strategies were strongly element-based and intuitive. I liked that all quests could be returned to, at least up until Chapter 7, and the player is given ample warning that progressing further will cause any unfinished quest to be failed.

You never feel the need to 'level up' by replaying areas. There is just so much to do and so many monsters to face. I loved the variety of the monsters. Just exploring new areas as they become available is more than enough to advance your characters. And all characters get experience, not just the ones in the active party, so you can swap party members all you like and focus on your favorite composition without feeling you're neglecting a party member who is going to be important later.

I thought the gold acquisition was fairly balanced as well. There was always enough, maybe not too much but certainly enough, gold to buy healing items. Later on, there's ample gold to buy elite equipment, but most of the elite equipment can be found as skeletal finds or battle booty.

There's a gaming area where you can earn game points to buy quest items and elite equipment. Unlike some games, where you are forced to outrun a rock that's chasing you and programmed to be just slightly faster than you, or other challenges requiring reflexes and eye-hand coordination that I didn't possess at 16, never mind at my current age, this gaming area lets you choose what kind of games to play, or not. I found that the battle arena was where I could successfully earn gp and I avoided the arcade games and the advanced level minotaur maze.

If you do feel you need a place to 'level up' later in the game, you can always visit the training caves. Again, you don't have to, but it's there if you like the challenge.

I cannot imagine finishing this game in 40 hours. I truly believe this game was well worth the money, and did I say - It was such a fun game to play!

[bgillisp]

Thank you for that review LadyJJ! Glad you enjoyed it! Did you find all the ways you can get GP at the Crossroads without playing a game? There's four ways you can do that:

Spoiler: show

-Beta Test Impossible Mode for the Crossroads.
-Complete the Scavenger Hunt Quest
-Talk to the Dwarf who wants to sell his points, and agree to buy them.
-Inspect the Claw Machine in the arcade (Chapter 9 only).

[dgford]

Really enjoying this game so far! I've noticed that I've been able to buy knuckles for a while, but I don't have anyone that can equip them. Am I missing someone? I just got Savina in the party, and I have a total of 8. Thanks!

[littlebro]

Really enjoying this game so far! I've noticed that I've been able to buy knuckles for a while, but I don't have anyone that can equip them. Am I missing someone? I just got Savina in the party, and I have a total of 8. Thanks!

Yes, someone will be joining you who can use knuckles, but don't bother buying any in anticipation of that, as they come in with them anyway.

[darkange]

https://ibb.co/WgG38CK

https://ibb.co/LhCrt5g

I put 2 links with 2 images - one is with the fake pit - you can walk all over it - get into a new region and people don't interact with you like I said ... the other one is one of those things where it says it will open in 1341 - it's similar with that bear - it's one of the bears that a skeleton loved and said they used to have them all the time when he was alive - I don't remember the town where I found it first - I think it's Aurora ...

By the way I found some a secret room now that was very well hidden ... cough SR #25 cough .... found it by accident ... still found them all so far - I am curious if I reach 50 out of 50

PS : I hope I get access to a better boat or something cause the one I got now couldn't take me any new places at all - water too deep or something like that - according to Alex .

Big question : do dwarves really love cheese that much ?

[littlebro]

PS : I hope I get access to a better boat or something cause the one I got now couldn't take me any new places at all - water too deep or something like that - according to Alex .

Big question : do dwarves really love cheese that much ?

You do get a proper boat later on which takes you everywhere.

It's true, they really do love their cheese that much. Just think of their cholesterol levels! Maybe that's why you don't see any old dwarves anywhere. They haven't discovered statins yet.

[poshpaws]

I also wanted to say how much I love the game. It's immense and must have taken ages to put together. I am on 70 hours playing time and I haven't even finished yet. Like Lady JJ says I don't like the manual dexterity puzzles but I don't mind havig to do a bit of thinking. A world map would be useful as it can sometimes be difficult to remember exactly where I am in such a large game. Currently I'm just sailing around in the big boat. Dare I ask when the follow up game is scheduled for?

[darkange]

PS : I hope I get access to a better boat or something cause the one I got now couldn't take me any new places at all - water too deep or something like that - according to Alex .

Big question : do dwarves really love cheese that much ?

You do get a proper boat later on which takes you everywhere.

It's true, they really do love their cheese that much. Just think of their cholesterol levels! Maybe that's why you don't see any old dwarves anywhere. They haven't discovered statins yet.

It's debatable how much cheese raises cholesterol level - I am a nutritionist entusiast and I the studies contradict themselves - the same with eggs - some people eat multiple eggs per day and they don't have high cholesterol and other people who don't eat eggs or cheese have high cholesterol already ...

On another note : what secret rooms you didn't find littlebro ... so I can check if I find them until the end of the game. So far I have 29 out of 50 - no secret room missing

[bgillisp]

Really enjoying this game so far! I've noticed that I've been able to buy knuckles for a while, but I don't have anyone that can equip them. Am I missing someone? I just got Savina in the party, and I have a total of 8. Thanks!

Glad you are liking it so far! As for the knuckles, you'll gain someone who can use them in Chapter 5.

https://ibb.co/WgG38CK

https://ibb.co/LhCrt5g

I put 2 links with 2 images - one is with the fake pit - you can walk all over it - get into a new region and people don't interact with you like I said ... the other one is one of those things where it says it will open in 1341 - it's similar with that bear - it's one of the bears that a skeleton loved and said they used to have them all the time when he was alive - I don't remember the town where I found it first - I think it's Aurora ...

By the way I found some a secret room now that was very well hidden ... cough SR #25 cough .... found it by accident ... still found them all so far - I am curious if I reach 50 out of 50

PS : I hope I get access to a better boat or something cause the one I got now couldn't take me any new places at all - water too deep or something like that - according to Alex .

Big question : do dwarves really love cheese that much ?

Thanks for that. The fake pit was fixed in today's update. I'll change the 1341 references to 441 in next week's update.

As for the boat, you'll get a sailboat in late Chapter 9.

And yes, they do love their cheese. You try to take it away, you will learn how fast a Dwarf can be!

PS : I hope I get access to a better boat or something cause the one I got now couldn't take me any new places at all - water too deep or something like that - according to Alex .

Big question : do dwarves really love cheese that much ?

You do get a proper boat later on which takes you everywhere.

It's true, they really do love their cheese that much. Just think of their cholesterol levels! Maybe that's why you don't see any old dwarves anywhere. They haven't discovered statins yet.

They can probably trade for it though via the portal .

I also wanted to say how much I love the game. It's immense and must have taken ages to put together. I am on 70 hours playing time and I haven't even finished yet. Like Lady JJ says I don't like the manual dexterity puzzles but I don't mind havig to do a bit of thinking. A world map would be useful as it can sometimes be difficult to remember exactly where I am in such a large game. Currently I'm just sailing around in the big boat. Dare I ask when the follow up game is scheduled for?

Thanks! It took me 5 years to make in the end, I started in 2014 though it was possible to beat the game by August 2016, but some Chapters were not developed properly at that point, and most side dungeons didn't exist. As for a follow up game, I hope to have a short game ready for release sometime next year, as for a long game I need to still hammer out the story first so...2022 hopefully? I'm hoping I can do it in much less time this time now that I know how to use the engine, as one of those 5 years for this game was me starting over and over and over as I figured out the engine.

Though it all depends on work too.

[darkange]

@bgillisp you are one of those guys who work hard and don't give up - and proof that even one person can make a great game - there are some examples similar to yours - one of them is the game called Dust : an elysian tale - a metroidvania game - easy to find on steam - it was only one guy who made the entire game from graphics to story and gameplay etc - he said in an interview that it took him 5 years because he was working alone and he kept learning new things and starting over but he managed to do it - that game has overwhelming positive reviews - better reviews than big companies that invest a lot of money into games and they still make shitty products .

Spoiler: show

Oh man ... why you put Jilnoa fight after she gets shadow power to end no matter what after 3 - 4 turns ? I was ready to kick her but when I found out the fight ends anyway even if my members are still alive

[littlebro]

On another note : what secret rooms you didn't find littlebro ... so I can check if I find them until the end of the game. So far I have 29 out of 50 - no secret room missing

I'm not sure about the first one. I only noticed that when I saved after finding SR 30 that it said I had found 29.
The 2 I know I missed are 34 and 43.

[bgillisp]

@bgillisp you are one of those guys who work hard and don't give up - and proof that even one person can make a great game - there are some examples similar to yours - one of them is the game called Dust : an elysian tale - a metroidvania game - easy to find on steam - it was only one guy who made the entire game from graphics to story and gameplay etc - he said in an interview that it took him 5 years because he was working alone and he kept learning new things and starting over but he managed to do it - that game has overwhelming positive reviews - better reviews than big companies that invest a lot of money into games and they still make shitty products .

Spoiler: show

Oh man ... why you put Jilnoa fight after she gets shadow power to end no matter what after 3 - 4 turns ? I was ready to kick her but when I found out the fight ends anyway even if my members are still alive

Thanks! That sounds about normal for long games from what I've heard. And it is tough, thankfully I get summers off or mostly off so that is when most game work occurs. I imagine if I had worked on this full time it might have been doable in 1 - 1.5 years instead.

Spoiler: show

That's because you can only do 1 HP damage to her due to that power, and she has over 44K HP. I didn't think even if someone could survive the beating from all 4 of them they'd want to do that long of a battle since you have no way to dispel it...yet.

I'm not sure about the first one. I only noticed that when I saved after finding SR 30 that it said I had found 29.
The 2 I know I missed are 34 and 43.

You might have missed the one on Thundermeadow Beach, that one is a little hard to find. As for where 34 and 43 are:

Spoiler: show

34 is in Raindew
43 is in Icetop Fortress in a part of it you can only go to in Chapter 9.

[jwayjim]

Could someone please help me. I have downloaded the demo 17 times. It only gets to the extract part and then nothing. I have been playing these games for over 10 years and this is the first time this has happened. I am at a loss as what to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[sjr223]

Hi..
I still cannot see "icicle flowers" in Embefield potions shop? I downloaded what was at the site.
the game.exe file says modified 6/12/2014. size 137KB Am I not getting the right file? The older one has the same date?
Thank you for any help.