where to begin.

i started this game earlier this week, after coming home from a weekend at my grandma's. i saw the trailer on said weekend and promptly fixated on it, to the point where i stimmed at the mere thought of it despite the only footage i had seen being from the trailer. it was well worth the wait, to say the least.

this game is everything i wanted and more. characters you root for, fun dynamics, a historical setting, fantastical elements, etc... but, those were my expectations, and it exceeded them - i was expecting a funny game, but in the end, i got a tragedy about a man who loved a woman who did not love him far too much.

this is the first game ive played in a long, long time that didn't cause me to have a meltdown or have to quit to prevent a meltdown, which is a bonus in my book. the combat is an integral part of the game, but 1. it is not the primary focus of the game and 2. it's very, very forgiving. you have plenty of supplies you can get over the course of the game that allow you to have an easier time going through the motions of combat - alpa, for example, is an easily accessible liquid that can raise deceased party members in battle.

the art is gorgeous, the 3d models are so cool looking, and the music is awesome. you can appreciate them separately from the game, even, but all of them come together to give Felvidek it's own unique identity, especially amongst other RPGmaker games. i loved just looking at the sprites for a while, looking at every detail. also, the battle theme gets you so pumped it's unreal.

ive already mentioned the characters being easy to root for, but my god i just loved each and every single one of them. their designs are so lovingly crafted and you can just garner their personality from looking at them alone (Ida specifically comes to mind). the way each of them talk is wholly unique to their own character. their dynamics with eachother are so fun - but, especially the main characters, Matej and Pavol, who'd never admit it, but they care for each other so, so much. even outside of that, they are so fun to watch. their exchange after Matej gets kidnapped is so funny.

MAJOR SPOILERS:and when felvidek starts getting serious, it's jarring, and you know something's wrong. the way pavol finally loses his shit eating grin when a newly fatherless girl tells him about how the hussites killed her father is jarring. it's sad. and it just gets worse from there, more horrifying, more unsettling. i think the endgame will stick in my mind forever.

just, god, i love this game. i loved playing it. i had a blast. please play it. it's short (about 2-3 hours long) (also i just take a long time to play games), it's funny, and it's so, so charming. and if you rate it lower than 5 stars you don't have taste. i'm going to think about this game for a very, very long time, i think.