The first entry was posted by
Frost from our Discord chat:
https://discord.gg/pSVd3fAxgMYour opinion about Callaghan?As far as protagonists go, Callaghan made for a refreshing change of pace from the typical leads you see in these sorts of RPGs. It's clear he's a man with experience, a possibly violent and troubled past, and all he wants to do now is to settle down with the one he loves and live a life of peace in his older years. Which...unfortunately gets torn away from him, prompting him to lapse back into his old ways. At least--that's how I interpret him!
What follows is an incredibly focused journey with no sidequests or stops along the way, which suited him quite well. Given he only had one thing on his mind, he wasn't going to be stopping to help a cat out of a tree, or go poking around someone's house for bonus loot. No--he's gonna kick down doors where he needs to, and isn't afraid to get his hands dirty as necessary. Which was an interesting aspect of him--as he didn't appear to have any qualms of killing those who may have posed a threat, or were withholding information. And towards the end, in a rage, he really did kill a few people. Which was completely understandable given he thought he'd lost the one thing he cared for in his life and had nothing left to live for at that point.
The fact that he's on the older side made him quite unique, too, as outside of maybe Geralt from The Witcher--which he gave shades of, to a degree, haha--you don't really see main characters pushing that kind of age range and appearance. Of which I felt was quite cool. The scars leave you to wonder just what kind of life he lived before this--and I feel like you could make an entire game of his younger years, haha.
In terms of gameplay, Callaghan was my main source of damage--as I played on nightmare mode where enemies were incredibly tough, and sometimes nothing short of boosted stats and crits would bring them down, of which Callaghan felt most suited for. It was always satisfiying to see a Skullbroke crit and/or possibly activate the instant kill, too. I can't even count how many skulls he busted wide open in my journey!
Your opinion about Rose?A gorgeous bunnygirl with a mysterious past? What's not to love! Beyond the more superficial elements, of course, Rose was quite a fascinating character. Perhaps belying the bunny costume where one might expect her to be something of a ditzy airhead, she's intelligent, resourceful and acts as the Yin to Callaghan's Yang. Given that Callaghan is on a dark, destructive path, I saw Rose as somebody that was trying to steer him away from doing anything he might regret and to keep him far more level-headed than he may have been if he'd journeyed alone. Though, we did get shades of what he might have been like at the heart of Odessa when he went berserk. So without Rose around, I think Callaghan's path there would have been far more violent and death-filled.
What was also interesting is that since Callaghan has his wife already, the relationship Rose developed with him was purely platonic--which again is quite a rarity in RPGs with parties like this, where romances always bloom. It was sweet to see him hug her at that point, where he dropped his brooding and tough act to let in a bit of emotion.
I also enjoyed how Rose went about some of her espionage-esque activities, extracting information from targets in the way a bunnygirl knows best, haha.
In terms of combat, Rose was the most useful character I had--with plenty of options for damage-dealing with her Cross Legs and Death Legs (what a way to go for poor enemies, haha) and ensuring Callaghan was at his most destructive with her cheering. There was also the vital energy move which acted as an aoe healing, which made her ESSENTIAL in late game fights. Her utility was just amazing, and I shudder to imagine how the game would have been without her!
Your opinion about Davy?A humble beggar turned ally! Add to the list of atypical party members joining up in this wild adventure! I don't have as much to say about him--but I enjoyed his company and despite his sketchy background, he turned out to be quite reliable.
Admittedly he wasn't painted in the best light when he broke down under torture and gave Callaghan up--but sometimes bravery can only get you so far before you hit your limit and self-preservation kicks in. So I understand the decision he made, even if it wasn't the best. The ending seems to imply he avoids coming back into contact with Callaghan after that, which I assume stems from his guilt of giving his friend up. Hopefully with enough time he can reconnect though and they can put it all behind them!
While he wasn't the strongest in combat, and I couldn't find too much of a use for his status immunity stuff, his back kick would do a surprising amount of damage in the right circumstances, allowing him to clean up any skulls that Callaghan hadn't already thoroughly crushed, haha. His dust move allowed for some nice utility too when it landed its status afflictions! Not the best party member, but he pulled his weight when necessary! His taunting also helped quite a lot to keep some of the squishier party members during tense moments--and I like to imagine that comes from a chivalrous place.
Your opinion about Oscar?The goodest boy. What more can you say? Next question!
I kid, I kid. But really, now--he was enjoyable as far as animal companions go. Loyal, friendly, and had some funny moments with his interactions. (Barking intensifies) indeed.
In combat, he was a savage force of nature with his various biting moves, and with the right buffs could really pile on the damage when he needed too. If I recall, he was really useful for piercing through some of the more resistant enemies like the hardened shell ones. Sometimes you just need a powerful enough jaw to pierce through!
Your opinion about Rodrigo?The young blood of the group, bringing with him his upbeat and positive attitude--and maybe some misguided hopes at wooing the ladies, haha. I guess he's just at that age, huh? I enjoyed what he contributed to the conversations, even if he didn't necessarily have too much of a role in things and was more just tagging along to help--at least as far as I can recall. Maybe he had ambitions of doing so to truly test his strength and to get stronger--as that seemed to be what motivated him. I'm sure he learned quite a lot from following Callaghan around, too!
In terms of combat, I found myself using his dual slash a lot--especially with the right buffs and items applied to assure he could really pile on the damage. Late game, the damage did seem to trail off as enemies got harder and harder to kill--but early on he's useful enough.
Your opinion about Sienna?Another mysterious woman enters the fray--this time with her own goals in mind, and tagging along as a means to an end. She seems to harbour a grudge against Odessa--perhaps from losing someone to the sacrifices previously? Apologies if I missed the context for it, but that was what I gathered at any rate! Either way, she seems to know quite a lot about Odessa and modern technology and there's a clear history there I'd love to learn more about!
Her appearance is rather striking, too, with the sparkling hair and flashy outfit. She almost has the apperance of being a goddess all on her own, which if you followed that theory could be seen as an actual real goddess seeking to destroy an artificial one!
She was probably the second highest damage dealer I had alongside Callaghan, with her thunder move wiping the floor with a lot of pesky, more resistant enemies. Especially once it was upgraded and began to strike three at a time. And once she learned the move that revived everyone in a group, she also became my second more useful utlity party member. So she was like Callaghan and Rose wrapped into one destructive package! Not bad at all, I'd say. A lot of fun to use and create synergies with other party members!
Your opinion about Jimmy?He joins rather late, so I didn't form as much a connection with him as I did the others--but I can certainly sympathise for his cause, given he was forced into labor that irreparably changed him and left him wanting a better life. I can imagine he saw his chance for this when he saw Callaghan and co. busting through, and realised that there was a way to break out of this cycle after all. Which also gave him the courage to rally all the others into an uprising, and hopefully take over Odessa. Or at least ensure they weren't repressed. Hope all goes well for that little guy!
In terms of combat, he had quite the interesting set of moves! From being able to infect people, to buffing the party considerably--granted the conditions had to be right, which was rare--he turned out to be far more useful than I first imagined, with his claw moves proving invaluable in a lot of situations where Callaghan was indisposed.
Your opinion about Carla?Young, sweet, thrust into a terrifying nightmare of which she probably imagined there was no hope of ever escaping from. She certainly didn't have a good time of things!
Not much is said about Callaghan and Carla's relationship--bar the age difference that some people were iffy on, alongside how they met, but I'd love to know about what their day to day life was like and how things may have been for them. I can only imagine that Carla was like Rose in a way, in how she'd probably be the calm, peaceful counterpart to Callaghan's rage and helped to calm him and get him to settle down to a more relaxed way of living. And it was nice that for the last stretch of the game that they were reunited at long last!
I will say that in combat...she was lucky to survive a battle, haha. Because in nightmare mode one attack is enough to bring her down--but I did like the skills she had. Especially the one where she calls on her hero to deliver an attack (Callaghan) simply titled 'The Best'. I thought that was a sweet way of showing the relationship they had without being too obvious and was a nice way of blending both storytelling and gameplay together!
Your opinion about the leaders on Odessa (Waldrick, Irina etc)?Quite interesting to see as far as 'villains' go. As they're clearly not maniacal tyrants obessed with power and ruling the world--but rather they just seek to bring the world out of a dark age of pollution and coal and seek to improve things with their new methods, which when you look at the big picture, are far cleaner and more efficient, at the cost of a few human lives a day.
Granted, they ARE willingly sacrificing humans, so you can't exactly see them as being misunderstood...but I can imagine at one point they maybe did have a desire to genuninely improve the world, but fell short along the way.
I feel like this adds quite a lot of layers to them and what they're doing--which is nightmarish from the perspective of outsiders coming to save Carla, but for the people living a life of luxury with modern amenities, they probably wouldn't have batted an eye if they found out the truth, and would willingly go along with it still. Which I think is the scariest part and puts into question the value of a human life. What is a few sacrifices if an entire community gets to go about its life comfortably? I think they made it a point of saying that people already on Odessa were never targeted, either, and that the sacrifices always came from the more 'uncivilised' places.
It definitely gave me a lot to think about--and I appreciate how the plot developed and the layers to it!
Who's the prettiest (Rose, Sienna, Carla, Salome) and most handsome (Callaghan, Davy, Rodrigo, Jimmy)?I did like Salome's design a lot from a purely aesthetic look lol
And am a sucker for bunny girls, so Rose comes close too--and then Sienna just has an overall enchanting sort of appearance.
Callaghan for the guys, no question asked lol
But wait--if Oscar counts, then it's definitely no contest
Who is the strongest character, and why? And the weakest?If we're talking physically--that'd go to Callaghan being the strongest, and Carla being the weakest simply due to her lower level and paper thin defenses in harder difficulties. There's just no way around it, haha.
In terms of writing--Callaghan is probably the strongest written one with how his character was, is, and turns into (that smile at the end is heartwarming after so much misery and rage) and the weakest one...hmm...I don't think any one character is particular too 'weak', but I suppose Salome is only introduced right at the end, and feels maybe more there to fill out the party, than have any real stakes in things. So she didn't have as much to contribute to the overall plot. It was a nice touch that if you held onto the claws from ages ago, she could equip them, though--which I appreciated!
Your opinion about the story and dialogues?I've largely talked about smaller elements of the story here and there throughout the post already, but I'll say that I enjoyed how tightly paced it was, and that there was zero downtime. From beginning to end, you really felt like you were with Callaghan on a frantic dash to save his wife before it's too late--even feeling a bit of hopelessness towards the end when you feel you've failed, before hope blossoms once more. There was a clear vision for the story being told here--and I feel like it landed!
The fake-out ending and credits was masterfully executed as well, because technically I could have seen the story ending that way still, but then we had the chilling moments of Davy and co. being snuck upon, before we get one last mad dash through the hospital to victory!
And the dialogue was fast, snappy and to the point as well. No scene felt like it dragged out too long, and there was just the right balance of story and gameplay!
Overall, I think it ended with just enough hope and optimism, but still some uncertainty over some elements that give enough pause to wonder if everything is going to be okay, given some key players are still alive and there's no telling what they might do now that their entire way of life has been threatened.
Your opinion about the atmosphere and cut scenes?From the rain, to the heavy dust, and the crackling electric, I can see a lot of care was taken for every environment to feel as atmospheric and moody as possible as you progress through. All of that effort didn't go unnoticed, and really added to the presentation of it all!
The cutscenes were especially fun to watch, too, with all of the unique little movements with the sprites rather than characters just standing around and talking. I understand it can be a lot of work to do all the smaller parts, but it really does add a lot! I also noticed that the portraits all had their own expressions, too, and even going as far as to show the blood and wounds on Davy, alongside the blood spattered on his torturer. Which was a really small, impressive detail! It added to the cinematic flair of things and made it that much more exciting to watch unfold. Especially when Odessa and its guardians appeared, and how their forms would slowly rise up like the towering behemoths they were.
Your opinion about the music and sounds?Each music track felt appropriate for the situation, and it was an incredibly varied soundtrack at that! I'm really liking this recent trend of each new area having its own battle/boss themes, too. I wouldn't mind seeing more of that down the line. It helps each area feel that much more unique, and gosh that regular battle theme when you're in Odessa and battling suited men and such. I can't get that jam out of my head! The last track against the final boss is also groovin'--as it's chaotic and noisy and super disorientating with the vocals, but somehow fits given you have this strange, electronic thing standing in your way.
Likewise, I have no complaints with the sounds. Everything fit and didn't feel out of place and I see there was careful thought taken with overall soundscapes, to add to the atmosphere alongside the effects.
Your opinion about the gameplay?Overall, Odessa has a very defined and tight gameplay loop with zero fluff or filler, which I think adds to the game's strengths. It's not an epic sprawling quest across the world, it's just one man's desperate journey to save his wife--so naturally things that are common in say, the Laxius games, just wouldn't feel appropriate here like guilds and side quests and such.
This also makes exploring towns a bit more streamlined, too, with doors largely just leading to dialogue or menus rather than being able to go inside and explore--but again, this fits the style of the game. It's more a linear dungeon crawler than anything, but these concessions still give you a safe place to retreat to, restock, and then continue on, which was a good compromise!
Combat is the meat of Odessa, and I think the charge based combat (I think that's what it was called?) fit really well--being able to see the turn order, and how to best strategise. This was especially invaluable in nightmare mode when getting everything executed flawlessly was the difference between winning and losing.
But of course, there's the secret rooms to discover too--and secret animals to find! So it isn't necessarily fully linear, and exploration still gave a lot of essential rewards. I managed to find 6/8 of the secret places, and less animals--but I liked that my curiosity was still rewarded in a lot of instances, even when we're running against the clock, haha.
I will say that the balancing for nightmare did have its ups and downs. Some battles were agonising slogs until my technics reset where I could then do another burst of damage before repeating--but the challenge wasn't impossible, and usually just took some reevaluating until the fight clicked. Which I liked! It never felt completely unfair--except maybe for the final boss...which...admittedly I had to bring up, and have it tweaked ever so slightly, haha. But even then with a strong move that was nerfed, I just barely got through that last fight by the skin of my teeth.
In the future, I would say that having a mode in between normal and nightmare would be appreciated, since that's usually the 'sweet' spot for me--but I guess I get what I sign up for when I choose a mode that says 'nightmare', haha.
The way technics worked by powering up and combining to form new, super technics was also a really fun idea, I think--and led to me discovering some incredible moves. A really rewarding system!
I think that limited amounts of technics before they reset maybe didn't fit the balance of nightmare mode as much--because I ended up spending a lot of time waiting for them to reset before I could resume doing damage, due to some enemies having incredibly resistances to everything else, but again it was probably intended for normal mode more than anything. That also ties into my other small issue, where I felt enemy resistances were a bit TOO plentiful towards the end, to the point where it felt only one thing could hurt them, and that characters beyond Callaghan began to feel a bit too weak. But again, nightmare mode, so hey! I got what I picked, haha.
Also, the way hidden items were handled was quite neat--with the question marks appearing as you got nearer to show things so you weren't aimlessly clicking EVERY barrel you came across. (Though I still did, out of reflex and habit, haha). I could see something like this working in future games, too, but maybe with the addition of a spell or equipment that would reveal things at a larger range or something!
Finally--not necessarily a gameplay thing, but while I'm voicing some things that I maybe wasn't 100% with, I wanted to bring up the maps. Because while the mapping was very beautiful and combined nicely with the atmosphere--I will say that I noticed a reliance of sample maps in places.
Now--I don't think this is a COMPLETELY bad thing, or anything--and I think the adjustments to them, and additions of treasure, secret rooms, etc. worked quite well and fit the game. But it does give that slightly impersonal feeling and I think the game would have benefited from custom made maps to really add to the experience. So in future collaborations, I would say for ID Card's side to be more confident in your mapping skills and don't be afraid to experiment and reference things!
What was your favorite moment and why?One of my favourite moments has to be when Callaghan jumps Waldrick (I think that's his name) in his office, and the way the lights go bright, and the music kicks in with the defense system activating. And how the fight starts with just Callaghan, before Rose jumps in to help. It was a fun blend of story and gameplay, and I really like it when games do that!
Additionally, Callaghan's raging when he thinks his wife is dead and then proceeds to murder the heck out of several people was a sight to see too, and you could really feel the pain in him at that point.
Finally--the way that dread loomed in with Davy and co. at the fake-out end, with the music getting scarier as those figures closed in. Just amazing stuff!
To conclude, I think overall this was a really fun game and played to the strengths of both sides of the collaboration between Indy and ID Card--and outside of the mapping issue, I would be excited to see more collabs down the line if you guys are willing! Keep up the awesome work~
I'm super excited for Laxius Soul too now, and think this game has given me a good idea of the sorts of things I can expect from future projects made in this engine, and just wanted to congratulate you guys again on a job well done!
Sorry this turned into a novel. I guess I promised Indy I'd be thorough, and here we go, haha.
--Frost
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Her skills looked like they'd level up to something awesome 
