Favorite Hero (explain why):
Luby was my favorite. Feel the POWER! I like strong fighters and she was also a nice surprise in the plot of the story. I think the morphing animals/characters like Cocka, Guanidia, and Sarah are fun. Persisting in leveling up or insisting on using a seemingly weak character has a pretty good pay-off in the long run.
Favorite In-Game Moment (explain why):
Probably the final scene. The battle was long (a nice change) and the plot twist unexpected.
Which Mode did you play in?
Normal mode. I may go back and try hard mode. I think I over-leveled for normal mode as most of the fights seemed too easy.
What did you think about the story?
It was sad! Half the heros died. But, overall the plot was good. I'm not usually a person who puts great importance on the story (I read books for stories! I play games for action.
). But, I think a few things could have been explained better. An issue was made of Luby aging so quickly, but then an explanation never appeared. The relationship between Glen and Rayanne didn't really progress, he was just suddenly in love with her at the end. Minor things.What did you think about Glen (the Hero)?
Glen, like Random, was a pretty average character. He wasn't very nice, smart, magical, or strong. Sometimes it's smart to have a character like this (the straight man) as the main character, but it doesn't make for a favorite.
What did you think about Rayanne?
Rayanne was sweet and likable, but didn't pack a powerful punch. She had weaknesses and insecurities, but she seemed to work to overcome them and this made her seem human without seeming like a whiner. It's a shame she died. I wouldn't have minded seeing her (or someone like her) appear in another game.
What did you think about Grom?
Grom was useful, but didn't have much personality. He was fine as a supporting character. I think I generally prefer stronger (more defined) personalities for these abbreviated stories. Unlike in a novel, the characters in these games only get a few lines to explain themselves.
What did you think about Luby?
Luby was my favorite. Feel the POWER! I like strong fighters and she was also a nice surprise in the plot of the story. I think the morphing animals/characters like Cocka, Guanidia, and Sarah are fun and rewarding. Persisting in leveling up or insisting on using a seemingly weak character has a pretty good pay-off in the long run.
What did you think about the music?
Not applicable. I had to turn it off due to lag. I haven't had this problem with any of the other games. I'm not sure what happened with this one.
What did you think about Thanatos and his minions?
The final battle with Thanatos was fun. He had loads of HP and varied attacks. I also wasn't expecting to have to fight with a character down.
The minions were good. They had personalities beyond "thug".
What did you think of the last scene and fight?
The last scene was completely unexpected and sad. I actually thought there would be a bit more game to come, where the rest of the party would need to find a way to free Rayanne after fighting Thanatos.
Overall Comment about the game:
It was a fun game, but it seemed geared toward a slightly younger audience than your other games (which is great -- games for everyone). I liked that there was less 'sex' and more game in this, but I did miss the complexity of having more characters, wittier lines, more spells, and a larger variety of tasks and subquests.
The addition of the special skills and levels was fine, but a little overdone. I would not mind seeing this system appear again in other games, but would like to see it in addition to a large spell list, not instead of.
On an artistic note, I found that the avatars for the characters were a bit too big. It was difficult to see the selection arrows when fighting. I'm not a fan of the purple-green color-scheme. I preferred the one in LF and LP. But, overall the visuals keep getting better.
I was frustrated by the number of crashes in the game (dozens for me). It played ok, with just a few smaller bugs after several updates, but this put me off the game for nearly a year. I, personally, expect less crashes with paid games.
I have mixed feelings about the hidden areas. They were fun to find and made leveling up much less boring for me. And yet, at the same time it was a bit boring in itself and frustrating checking every square. I found that there was at least one room that I couldn't just step on, I actually had to approach it from a certain side to 'activate' it. I think this element would have been better had markers appeared for found rooms/areas--once found they should appear as dots or flags on the map. And, better yet,had there been a subtle hint as to there whereabouts -- perhaps a very slight color gradient or making a square glow when you got close.
I didn't like choosing the weapons as much as I thought I would. I think this was in part because I had to choose them as the characters came. I wasn't able to choose a balanced team without knowing what choices I would have for the others.
This game was somehow madly addicting. I found myself able to play for a couple hours straight without noticing the time. Excellent quality in a game.
This game was much more open-ended than the LF series. I really liked that. I got to wander and explore without much worry as to a single misstep preventing me from ever achieving certain tasks.
Overall a solid game, but with room for improvement. I think this is the most successful merge of your and Amanda's games that I have played. I have to confess that while I loved both Aveyond/Ahriman and Laxius early on, the overlap of your and Amanda's styles has not worked well for me. You both have very good ideas and distinct styles, they just haven't melded well. It's like ice cream and gravy. I would never turn down either, but don't want them both in one dish.
Are you looking forward our next game, and what would you like to see in this game?
Absolutely. I think you are a very good gamemaker, Indie. It just feels like you have so many elements of what makes a great playing experience in each of your games, but for me haven't put it all together in the right combination since LP III. I can hardly wait for when you do.
I like that your games seem to be heavily influenced by MM6 (one of my faves). I also like:
- Games with a number of playable characters to choose from (eight to ten seems right, twenty too many)
- Games that are self-contained. Sequels are fine, but each game within a series should stand-alone.
- Long games (no problem there -- your games are some of the longest out there). I hate when a game is over just as I'm figuring out the system or really getting into gameplay.
- Nearly endless tricks and goodies in obvious and not so obvious places (you always have this).
- Games with humor! I think Asguaard was missing some of the humor your other games had.
- The rush feature from LF or the 'eye of the tiger' from Asguaard. I like the rush feature a little better. Sometimes physical force was entirely the wrong strategy, but I had no control over it with eye of the tiger.
- The ability to save anywhere. I get the challenge of having only save points in certain areas, but found it frustrating when I had to replay large chunks due to game crashes. It was also frustrating when it was time to quit, but had to play for 15 or 20 more minutes longer than I wanted to just to get to a save point.
- I love a world map. It keeps the game open and the relative size in perspective.
- Keep the games open-ended! Linear games are very restrictive.
- A few long dungeons. Not every dungeon needs to be a massive labyrinth, but at least one or two per game is fun.
- A large variety of opponents. Asguaard was pretty good with this.
- I really like the slayer system from LP3. It encouraged using the full compliment of characters.
- A little more foreshadowing and foreshadowing that actually leads somewhere.
....LOVE HOW HUGE THIS GAME IS....BIGGER IS BETTER 
) you reach the end. 
. She went through a lot in the past but all of it helped her in Asguaard to defeat Thanatos. At the end, during the 7th plague, she yelled at Glen to get off her so that he wouldn't have to suffer the same fate as her. Very touching. 
I don't understand why she tried to give Thanatos a chance. Final endgame bosses are always determined to see the destruction of the world. You just can't stop them. 
Wth Indy. Villains are not supposed to be so damn intelligent! They are supposed to believe in only Brute Force!!! 
