Review Sergeant_Arcade 4/5 · Mar 22, 2018
An original story with a unique spin on turn based combat
Helen's Mysterious Castle follows the trek of a young girl trapped on a floating island, longing to see the outside world. For a game that seems to be made in RPGMaker (or one of those other, similar tools), it looks and sounds gorgeous, calling to mind the 16-bit role playing games of the SNES era.
The combat is one of …
Helen's Mysterious Castle follows the trek of a young girl trapped on a floating island, longing to see the outside world. For a game that seems to be made in RPGMaker (or one of those other, similar tools), it looks and sounds gorgeous, calling to mind the 16-bit role playing games of the SNES era.
The combat is one of the highlights, as it uses a unique timer based system. Every weapon or spell takes time, and so do your opponent's moves. If, for example, a slime takes 10 counters to attack, you could use a sword that takes 6 counters and then switch to a shield, thus damaging the slime and blocking its attack. It's an interesting take that I wish was implemented in more games.
The premise and the deep story (won't spoil it here) I found refreshing, and as you go deeper into the island, you learn more about the world Helen lives in and why she's trapped here.
The sense of direction could be a bit better. If I hadn't spent three hours trying to find the last section of the game, I wouldn't have had to go online for answers. And I know this is a short game, but I grew real sick of backtracking back and forth through the castle when I didn't know where to go next.
Overall, it's an engaging little RPG that I would definitely recommend.