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Game Review

Started by Friar Poppy, December 19, 2017, 05:04:28 PM

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Friar Poppy

An Epic Tale of Redwall: The Scout

Game Review



Redwall has a very special place in my heart. I grew up with it, was molded by, and even influenced by the characters within. The sense of morality, both good and evil, that reside within the book series resonates with me, even to this day. A mighty adventure in the palm of your hand!

There is nothing quite like Redwall.

When I heard a game was being made years and years ago, I was ecstatic. I waited. I waited. And I waited some more. Finally, in 2017 they started "Working" on the game. I'm happy it happened at all.To be honest, I was almost convinced it would never happen.

Redwall is massive, immersive, and full of emotion. Indie developers such as somagames would and/or will have a real tough time bringing out the best of the universe.They definitely have their hands full. I do not expect them to fully realize the potential for a Redwall game, nor will they be able to capture the true feeling of redwall.

This is an Early Access Game.

A major red flag right away, and as I played the first few seconds of gameplay, it became quite apparent that it was a big work in progress.

The gameplay itself seems to be stiff at the moment, but that can be improved upon with time.

Animated actions such as, jumping, walking, and sprinting, need improvement. Badly. They should be made more fluid as the game is worked on into the future. Interestingly enough, they added a "developers playground" as a playable level. This held the in game name "Movement Lab". The movement in this lab was still as bad as it was in the main story. The animations are too fast, unrefined. Trying to move in this sandbox was a chore.

The graphics could be better, but aren't terrible. The character designs make them look more like plastic figurines, instead of furry creatures. They have no fur texture, and that really bothers me. These creatures should be fluffy, and life like. Not rubbery looking and fake. Hopefully this is changed in later builds.

Going through the Graphics Quality options doesn't seem to change the character textures much at all. Starting on Fastest, the game does run seemingly the "Fastest". The textures are still rubbery.

Going to "Fantastic" slows the game down dramatically, all while keeping the same quality of game textures. (My computer isn't the best, but I ran both Fastest and Fantastic). The fur quality on the characters is the same. Clothing is the same. The character models still look as if they were molded from clay.

The Story.

Who is writing this? It looks hastily scribbled down by someone that doesn't know how to write, and doesn't know/hasn't read a single Redwall Book. Which is terrible. Old man Jacques is rolling in his grave. I can not stress this enough. The entire story lacks the "Redwall" atmosphere. You can't just make anthro mice do dumb puzzles and slap the name Redwall on it. It doesn't work like that.

The game starts you off in a comic page cutscene.

The story follows a mated mouse couple (I think?? I am so confused), from the now pillaged village of Lillygrove. They have abandoned their village rushing into the woodlands, holding onto each other tightly. The treeline behind them had towering flames lick over the canopy, illuminating the night.

The male, Liam, was badly wounded by the leader of the invading sea rats. The leader is a wearet that goes by the name Scumsnout. (Which is a terrible name.) From what I have read, Scumsnout had bitten Liam somewhere on the shoulder perhaps, as the unfinished comic page has a red blotch on his left shoulder blade. It also said he was poisoned by Scumsnout. I have no idea if the weret has a poisonous bite, or if he got poisoned in some other way. The game has failed to go into any depth on it.

A creature by the name of Robin, had given them instructions to head to Redwall abbey to ask for aid. Not that it would matter, the village is probably super far away from the Redstone building, and if these Sea Rats were competent in anyway, they would be done with the village in no time at all. Seriously, if you had a vicious gang of bloodthirsty, grog drinking, face stabbing, swashbuckling pirates pillaging your village. You would not be able to just run to Redwall hoping for beasts that occupy the red sandstone building to jump to your aid and rush to save your village. The village will be cinder and ash by the time they even come close to the walls of the abbey. Pillaging isn't a slow thing, especially with a big crew of unwashed heathens.

But, they push onwards into Mossflower woods nonetheless. Hoping to save their doomed village. Liam is "Sorely" wounded as the game would put it, having taken the bite and poisoning earlier on. He is shown struggling to continue, almost having to be carried by his mate, Sofia.

Through the dense woodland, Sofia helped the Wounded mouse, pulling him up and over logs, and through tight shrubs. The poison seemingly wearing him out as he suggests that he might be slowing the two down. Sofia obviously doesn't like that, spurring him onward. Before long they found themselves at the Old River Moss. Liam, probably jokingly, says "Can you swim for me too?" cutting the comic off, and beginning the adventure.

Starting the game for the very first time was heartbreaking, as multiple text prompts immediately assaulted me with slanderous heresy.

They expected us to play with patience, and to explore the area in safety. With utter disregard to the atmosphere of their own game and not to mention Redwall as whole.

Ridiculous.

The text box specifically says "You and Liam" making me believe that I'll be controlling sofia, the female. As I would assume Liam to be a more masculine name.

Closing the text prompts had me take control of "Liam" the mouse who not five minutes ago, viciously fought a larger creature, got himself bitten and poisoned, limped slowly through the woods, and thought he couldn't make it.

Odd.

The other mouse doesn't do anything as of now, and doesn't seem to be Liam. The mouse is very feminine, dressed in a long smock with a flour apron on. There is no way that's Liam.

Well, as far as I know, I'm controlling a almost dead mouse, that was having trouble moving just moments ago. I can now make him jump, climb, and get stuck on bushes. Consistency error I hope, and not a mistake by the creators themselves thinking they could get away with something like this.

The many bushes that dominated the play area seemed to be a soft level border. Moving through the spaces between them was easy enough, though the bushes themselves liked to stop you from moving entirely. I do not like this. If they wanted the game to focus on exploration, they should have put more effort into the illusion of an open world. 

As I explored more of the bank side, I came across two chests. Now, I find this really odd since I'm an avid lover of the series in general. Finding random chests in the middle of Mossflower Wood is not something you should expect while wandering through the untamed woodlands.

As this is a video game, I'm going to let it slide. But, perhaps in the future, they should have them in more tolerable spots. I know I would not have minded a chest on the dock. That would have been acceptable, as I would have thought I was just stealing from some old bank vole. With the inclusion of the first barrel found along the bank side.

It would have been neat to have messed with a bank voles stuff, especially since they can be extraordinarily rude. Kicking that barrel over, stealing from the chest, and being too nosey could have alerted the Vole. That would have been an interesting game mechanic, and it would have given the game more of a "Redwall" feel.

After jumping from rock to rock, crossing the Old River Moss, and finding the second chest. I came to a flat wall like surface. This was used to climb to the next area. I enjoy that they took the time to put claw marks into the rocky surface. This was a nice addition.

Some more aimless exploring in what is supposed to be winter, I came across massive hoards of fireflies. Fireflies hibernate during the winter. I am honestly confused on whether the game is set in Winter or not. The ground is seemingly covered in snow, a barrel that is stuck halfway into the ground has a nice layer of puffy white snow, and it is even snowing out!

Normally all this snow wouldn't be a problem, but everywhere you look there's something green. Ferns are still alive and covered in snow, some of the trees have no leaves. In the distance some of the trees still have green leaves. The trees that have no leaves are the white birch littered about.

The ambience is all wrong too, having the odd cricket call out into the night. There is no indication that this could just be an early snowfall in late Autumn. Fixing these errors would do the game wonders.

I finally came to the first real bridge in the game, and as luck would have it, it had a deep layer of snow on it. All the signs point to winter, but the game doesn't like that.

It was nice to see a couple more barrels near the riverside. I promptly kicked them into the water, and to my surprise, the water actually carried them down stream! I am impressed that the water does more than just send you back to your last checkpoint if you fall into it.

I already found a bug at this point, exploring anywhere near the top of the waterfall will send you back to your last checkpoint. I tried it several times. I am verifying this as a bug. No water was touched, only the right bank before you cross the bridge. The water might actually just be invisible here, but it should still be looked into.

Messing around with my controls before passing the bridge, I found myself in the in game menu.

Pressing the "M" key brought me to an actually well drawn map, showcasing the play area. The map shows how linear the game actually is, but that's okay. A linear game isn't always bad, and I'm willing to see where this takes me.

With all these interesting locations spurred me on to continue my playthrough. As I eventually found myself at one of the first destinations that went by the name "Eagle's Snag" I tried to looking up, but was unable to go far. I couldn't explore the top of the tree. Which saddens me. The controls and camera range are quite limiting. Even as I wanted to get a birds eye view of the pawprint mechanic, I couldn't actually do it. The camera would not allow it. The spyglass is an improvement but not by much.

Next was the inventory. Going into it left me slightly disappointed, as the items I had collected earlier were actually just broken down into components somehow.

The "Objective" option was pretty straightforward, perhaps giving more detail would be better for future builds of the game.

The "Journal" option was more or less the same as Oblivion's (Elder Scrolls 4). Giving details on your actions. The font is readable, I suppose, but might be difficult for others. There isn't an option to change it, sadly.

And by this point, after reading all the information that had been given to me. I had come to the conclusion that I should be playing as sofia, but that makes no sense. As I said before, it makes me believe I'm playing as Liam. The unplayable mouse character that you start the game beside, is dressed in a flour apron and long smock. Is this really how're they're representing a male mouse?

With all that aside, I finally accepted the fact that I was playing as Sofia. I am more than okay having Sofia look badass, but I'm not okay with "Liam" a male mouse dressed in a flour apron and smock.

Moving on, I found myself using the sprint function. This is the most ridiculous thing yet. You are moving a Million Miles Per Second. If you turn sharply, you slide along the ground. You are essentially drifting your mouse, and for a brief second I thought I was in Tokyo Drift. The sprint needs to be waaaay slower, and the animation needs to be refined.

Coming up to the next climbing wall after the first bridge, I found out that if I press space on the rock beside the claw scratched surface I would then climb into the rock texture, and pop up on top. Allowing for me to walk onto a bush. Probably a bug.

At this point of the game I have found a couple lit lanterns, so this being a random area of Mossflower seems to be wrong. I am now starting to believe this is still part of the village, or part of another village up the stream, but the map didn't reveal any such secrets. If this was anywhere near Lillygrove, the sea rats wouldn't be too far behind and the burning village should be seen against the dark winter sky. Looking back towards the beginning of the game does reveal what could be the blazing village far off into the distance. It might be the sunrise or set, but if not, it's a really good addition.

This brings up the topic of the music. It is too lax for the situation. There should be urgency, excitement in the tune, something that makes you feel like the worst thing that could ever happen just happened. Instead we get a relaxing tune.

I'm disappointed.

And back into the main plot.

There must be a creature or creatures that care for this area of Mossflower. How strange. With more exploring I came upon a bridge, blocked by a really small plank of wood. Okay? I'll just climb it like any normal person would. Oh look, I can't. Come on. This is insulting. Any good Redwaller wouldn't be hindered by such an obstacle! 

I ignored it, and continued to explore the surrounding area. Sprinting at speeds no mouse has ever travelled before, I quickly found a nice dirt path that split into two. Which turned out to just be a circle, why they did this, I do not know. It led to a random rope ladder that I kicked down, allowing for Liam to climb up. Staying consistent, they actually had him painfully ascend.

I was then greeted by another unfinished comic page. It was terribly written, just like the last one. The art was decent, but it desperately needs professional writer. The entire comic page was a mess, I can't be bothered with it.

I moved on once more, this time accompanied by a new companion by the name of Albert. Also a terrible name for a Redwall creature, it might work for an Abbey Beast. "Brother Albert" wouldn't be so bad, but whatever. He is a Tailor, which means he isn't the beast responsible for the lighting of the many lanterns scattered around the map. Though, he is carrying a lantern. It is attached to a long stick by a chain. It looked small in the comic page, but once I got back into the game it got bigger.

When I commenced with the game play, Albert had the lantern that was once in his paw now wedge deep into his back. This moment gave me the realization that all the other NPC's have a half assed character texture/skin. Their movements are the same, their clothing are the same, and the game creators were lazy enough to just shove that lantern into the character texture and leave it be saying "Eh, that's good enough". This entire time I thought they just mixed up the character textures, now I just know that they only put any effort into Sofia.

Sofia's clothing does look okay at this point. Her tail, and the other tails in the game could use some remodeling

I made my way back to the blocked off bridge, looking about for a way around it. I tried going into the water. I could actually run across the river and onto the opposite bank before being teleported back to my last checkpoint. I find this very limiting, I understand that they want me to find someone to lift that plank off the bridge, but did they really have to make the river shallow enough to be waded across easily? I put one toe into the water and get teleported back a second or two later, seriously.  Why? Ugh, whatever. I'll play by their rules.

I made a sharp right at the bridge, heading to what I believed was the way to go. I came across another climbing wall, but I decided to explore around it. Oh look, I can just walk around, having the option to completely ignore it. That's cool, I guess I'll just keep going.

I found two more climbing walls along the path. After climbing up, I found a new game mechanic. Slowly walking over logs minigame. It is incredible slow for something I could have just jumped over. At the end of two log walks, I found another random chest. Yay? Behind it was a hill going back down to the first climbing wall. I found out I could have just scaled that hill to the chest without having to painfully walk over logs. And so I did just that, I climbed back up to the now looted chest. I could have avoided those pointless log walks.

After some more aimless exploring and more unwanted invisible walls. I decided to check out the controls, finding something quite interesting in the process. I could apparently control the two NPC's Albert, and Liam. Fantastic, now I can get rid of that plank. I rushed back over to the bridge, pressing 1 to place a waypoint for the NPC's.

It was as if I dropped a flare or smoke grenade on the ground, not really Redwall-ish I would say. Should be replaced with something else in the future.

Pressing 2 doesn't seem to actually work. It is supposed to stop the NPC's while they are heading to your waypoint, and if pressed again it should make them continue. This doesn't work.

Pressing 3 is fantastic. You are supposed to "Whistle" but it just looks like a wave to me. It is super adorable. I like this. She is probably whistling too, I just can't see it as of yet.

Pressing 4 is ungodly. It is by far the worst thing they did in this game. It is supposed to be a "Distraction" but all the game does is manifest a random ass snowball, and then it tosses it in the direction your camera is looking. Your character does nothing. There is no animation, and it doesn't matter what your character is doing. You can spam 4 and toss a bunch of snowballs, even if your mouse is sprinting on all fours. Seriously, you're just a snowball tank at this point. A german Maus... If you have the camera look at your character and press 4, you can actually hit yourself and it even moves you! After shooting several hundred snowballs, the game decided it didn't like that. They were promptly despawned. I'm glad they included the feature to stop snowball rampancy.

Pressing 5 doesn't seem to do anything. It says Scent Marking. Now that's just suggestive.

Now came the time to actually remove the plank. It started to glow once I had the other two characters there. It bothers me that this game is sooo unfinished, that while on the way to the bridge, Liam ran exactly the same way and speed as Albert. Liam is supposed to be severely wounded, on the brink of collapse even. I doubt he's well enough to move with such ease.

Actual textures for Liam and Albert are a must. Later builds of the game should make it so Liam actually slows down and holds onto his wound. Maybe have Albert help him along the path as well.

When I went to remove the plank, I expected another comic page or animation. I was disappointed again as it just broke into a few pieces.

Moving away from the bridge and back onto it where the plank had been before, the same text prompt appeared on the screen saying I'll need help removing the object. They haven't bothered to remove these prompts after they've been completed.

Crossing the bridge was uneventful. Two jumps were required to get over 4 gaps in the bridge. My first thought was how Liam was going to get over this. Pressing 1, I waited. They made it over the bridge, both of them jumping exactly the same, as if one wasn't injured and the other was a young mouse again (Albert seems like an older mouse to me as he was depicted with glasses and it said if they left him he would have surely died).

The first and third gap required no jump from either me or the other two NPC's. Though, I did find out it was easy to get suck in the third gap as I couldn't jump over it or out of it. Probably just a bug. I did eventually get out, so not game breaking.

Close to the bridge was a Beehive, that's right, you didn't read that wrong. In the dead of winter a beehive loomed on a low hanging branch. The hive was alive with an obnoxiously loud buzz. Winter Bees I suppose. They sound awfully active for something that makes honey to survive winter, they wouldn't be buzzing about on a cold night. That hive is ridiculous too, looks more like a hornet hive. That's being picky, I know, but I like realism. Is it really too much to ask?

Taking off down the path, leaving Liam and Albert to fend for themselves, I came across a supposedly abandoned "Shrew" mill. The steps had been destroyed, and the water wheel hadn't been used in many seasons. The door was decorated in festively for the winter season, despite the obvious wear and tear on the mill and its surroundings. They make you believe this area is abandoned, unkempt. Everything points to the opposite! The game needs to be one or the other. A recurring theme in this game. They want it to be summer and winter all at the same time, and the surrounding buildings want to be in use but abandoned at the same time. Be one or the other!

There's a sewer opening beside the water wheel, allowing for the water to be redirected somewhere. That thing is pretty deep into that hill, perhaps a team of moles dug it? No one will ever know.

There isn't much around here, other than a chest behind the mill with a letter in it, and a few climbing obstacles scattered about. I can not find the letter. I would have liked to read it.

As the bridge was destroyed, I had to find a new way past this area. There is a conveniently placed lever beside the water wheel. Which activates it.

Which opens another comic page.  After some more terrible writing, the cut scene ends, placing you and your two charges on the cliff above. Of course the injured Liam had no problems riding the water wheel up to the cliff top. I've come to expect such things from this game.

A couple more waterfalls come into view here, they have some good sounds to them, but their textures could be improved.

Some more walking had me come across a hollow log bridge. Hey, that's pretty cool. Through the tight hole, and onto the other side!

More barrels! I like these barrels, you can kick em and they will roll! This time you can even send them over the waterfall! That's the most enjoyment I've gotten out of this game so far.

Some more exploring had me fall in some water and get reverted back to a checkpoint. This one was odd, since it had Albert spawn way down on the side of the cliff. Thankfully this wasn't game breaking and he could climb back up.

They finally got over the natural bridge, allowing for me to continue. I searched around the broken bridge first. My first crash happened around here. I have no idea why it happened, but it did. (It was probably because this game isn't even a game yet, but whatever.)

Loading back in I found myself back at the beginning of the game. There doesn't seem to be a save function yet. I'm willing to play through again to get this review done, but I will not be playing again till this is an actual game!

Making my way back to the watermill was easy enough, about 5 mins of just running and waiting for the NPC's to crawl to you. I didn't bother with collecting the chest items as they probably have no function as of now. I did go back to see if I could read that letter to Volicity. I couldn't. I also found out that you don't actually need to bring the NPC's with you to be able to active the water wheel.


The bridge with the few gaps in it was harder this time around, jumping the middle gap actually had me hit an invisible barrier. Game please. Let me play you. On that note, If you press jump/interact button (The Spacebar) multiple times against any of the invisible barriers, you might find yourself in quite the pickle. For about 10 seconds your character will no longer respond to your controls. 


I was now back to the watermill area, looking for a way across the frigid waters. Noting that on the side that flows down towards the log bridge, the water seems to flow upwards, but that could be a texture error. Lots of those it seems.

Finally, I tried a sprinting jump over the nearby broken bridge and it worked. Perhaps add in some tips in the controls?

So now you head out alone, up another climbing wall, and this time it is massive. I take back what I said about how the claw marks were a good addition to the texture for the climbing wall. They were so lazy that they had the claw marks extend further out than what is actually necessary.

Anyways, further down the path, you actual walk under a log this time. Neat. But, then you find yourself at the river.. Again... Great.

More bugs! This time I'm in a rock! :D Thankfully I could just walk right out of it.



There is a steep rock face that you get to walk around, with a waterfall in the middle of it. These guys like their waterfalls. Jumping that gap was pretty buggy, but I got over it. Which led me to another "slowly walk over a log onto the other side mini game!!" Yay. On the other side of the river finally, making my way back to collect Liam and Albert. Along the way I stumbled upon a clearing with a chest nearby. This game likes to copy The Legend of Zelda. Jumping from rock to rock, opening chests, falling to our deaths. That's always fun. My first jump for this chest had me falling through the water textures and splattering against the ground below. The water has betrayed me. Probably should put a checkpoint closer to this area as I now have to do the log walk again. Sigh.

Walking back to the waterfall jump, I had a terrible time getting over it. I must have been super lucky last time. There is a little rock you have to stand on to make the jump, it took a few tries but I Finally made it. Probably should fix the jumping in this game. You can also do a sprint jump here.

I don't think I'm jumping for that chest again. Need a checkpoint first.

Down past the murder chest, lies the opposite bank from the log bridge. Liam and Albert are patiently waiting. Excellent. More barrels too! These things are great fun.

Oh wow! Barrels that actually do something! Kicking them into the water this time actually makes a bridge! I am impressed. Like really impressed that the devs would go this far! Keep it up.

After kicking in three barrels, a comic page appears. Still not very good, but I guess it gets the point across. Well, the mice across anyways. The bridge that you make can not actually be crossed by your character. Shame.

Another sneaky chest hidden near a willow, and with the thought of the murder chest still looming in my mind. I aimed for the murder chest, hoping to reveal its contents!

The sprint jump that has to be taken to reach this chest is tedious and almost uncontrollable. The sprinting needs to be fixed. The jump gave me a sack of potatoes. Not worth it.

Onwards down the path I headed. And headed I did.


Another puzzle lay before me, oh what a puzzle this was. Why is this even here? I get that they wanted to make this a puzzle game, but really?? Why would this teeter totter be in the middle of the woods? I get that it could have been destroyed like that, but it's a stretch for sure.

Getting onto the wood platform after having the two other mice counter your weight was easy enough, and the walk to the first gap was fine. I dared not sprint, falling off would just be a bother.

Later on my way back from a crashed game, I found out you can just sprint up the teeter totter and jump onto the wood platform without your mouse companions!

At the first gap, I took a sprinting jump, thinking I didn't make it, but my character actually grabbed onto the planks, and pulled herself up! Fantastic! I'm impressed they even made that animation at all.

Over the gap and through the woods to the other side we go! Pulling the other two by a conveniently placed ferry, I was greeted by another comic page. This time it told of the history of River Moss. This was actually unexpected and a nice addition. Adding some history to the area was great, I loved it. Thank you for adding it. After that nice treat, I began my journey deeper into the game, coming across the next puzzle sooner than I thought.

There's a mushroom fairy circle here, that was pretty boss. I don't remember there being radioactive mushrooms in Mossflower woods, but they are a nice addition to the undergrowth. I wouldn't get rid of them.

There's a log tunnel that you have to team push. Which leads us to the next area. Ignoring the puzzle to the chest, that probably contained something I couldn't use as of yet, I traveled down the path with my two companions.

So far so good, no more crashes, no more problems. I'm having a little bit of fun I suppose.

And I spoke too soon! I came to a bridge with gaps in it. Real original. I had to jump them to get across, and on the third jump my Sofia got stuck in the falling animation and then the game crashed. Fantastic! Now I have to restart! :D Amazing!!!

And the journey continues! What will my fate be on the way back I wonder?? 15 awful minutes later, I found myself back at the jumpy jump bridge.

No crashes this time, and I successfully made it to the other side.

Another barrel and a rope ladder! Accompanied by a puzzle no doubt.

A TEETER TOTTER PUZZLE. Ah yes, the game has run out of ideas already. Giving me the same few puzzles in a row. This one was slightly different as you had to push a giant boulder down a hill toppling some support beams, but that wasn't much of an improvement as the boulder glitched out several times. It would glow then it wouldn't move then it would stop glowing and I had to move my characters around for a least 5 minutes before it actually worked. This is almost game breaking.

The end of the puzzle has you activating yet another rope ladder. Creativity needs to happen or I'm going to get bored of this game far before it even becomes a full title.

Another long and pointless path around a larger body of water, to yet ANOTHER waterfall. That's okay I guess. They did mention that an earthquake or something ravaged the area redirecting the river. Probably pushed the land up a tad, making all these small falls.

The path leads to a campsite that was conveniently set up and ready for use, and was far enough away from the burning village and the slaughtering of their people to actually sit down and relax for the night. Beside a roaring fire, eating stew, and actually going to sleep.

What even is this story! Come on! This is so bad! They're sitting down, eating, and even sharing a song in the middle of what could only be a vermin infestation! Liam was bleeding, not too heavily, but was still bleeding. Make him a damn bandage! You have clothing! You have stuff picked from those random chests scattered throughout the land. There is no reason for Liam to still be bleeding. Who the heck is writing this!? With miles to go yet, they're going to ignore the far off sounds of slaughter, and fail to bandage an open wound that needs attention. Not to mention that Liam was poisoned during the fight with Scumsnout. What happened to the urgency to get to Redwall? Why isn't there urgency at all? Even the music reflects that.

And as soon as I left the Comic page, the game ended there. That's it. We get thrusted into a badly written story, one way to go, and puzzles that repeated themselves.

This needs work. Lots and lots of work.

I would suggest working on the story more. Getting someone that actually knows Redwall would be a good start! The art is good, even though it isn't finished. Whoever is writing the story as of now should not be writing it.

I am really disappointed. I never had my hopes up in the first place, but I was expecting it to be worse than this. I was also expecting it to be slightly better too.

There is room for development, I am glad there is someone out there trying to make a Redwall game. I am willing to give Soma and whoever the chance to make this right. You have people like me to help along the way. Take things into consideration, especially when it comes from avid Redwallers.

I do recommend buying this game if you really really love Redwall. This would support the evolution and hopefully the betterment of the title.





I'm a troll apparently. I'm glad someone told me!

Cornflower MM

Okay this is the best game review ever. I love your sense of humour.

Thank you so much for writing this and taking seven (14?) hours to play the buggy game and write the review! :)

Friar Poppy

#2
Quote from: Cornflower MM on December 20, 2017, 02:27:14 AM
Okay this is the best game review ever. I love your sense of humour.

Thank you so much for writing this and taking seven (14?) hours to play the buggy game and write the review! :)


It was just 7 hours. I played the game and wrote the review at the same time. Everything I wrote was real time experiences.

I would say it took about 5ish hours in total, since I took random youtube breaks and stuff, so not too bad.

Thanks for liking it. This is my first game review too. I'm glad smashing my keyboard angrily for 7 hours actually worked.
I'm a troll apparently. I'm glad someone told me!

Ashleg

I enjoyed reading this! I think I'm gonna wait for the bugs to be patched before getting this (unless there are pros to buying it earlier? I dunno.)

Friar Poppy

Quote from: Ashleg on December 21, 2017, 12:07:30 AM
I enjoyed reading this! I think I'm gonna wait for the bugs to be patched before getting this (unless there are pros to buying it earlier? I dunno.)

It's on sale right now. 40% off. Who knows when that could happen again. That is one of the only two good things that can come of you buying it now.

The other being that it could help develop the game more.
I'm a troll apparently. I'm glad someone told me!


Ashleg

Quote from: Friar Poppy on December 21, 2017, 12:21:37 AM
Quote from: Ashleg on December 21, 2017, 12:07:30 AM
I enjoyed reading this! I think I'm gonna wait for the bugs to be patched before getting this (unless there are pros to buying it earlier? I dunno.)

It's on sale right now. 40% off. Who knows when that could happen again. That is one of the only two good things that can come of you buying it now.

The other being that it could help develop the game more.

Mm, well--that's a point.

Friar Poppy

#7
Quote from: LordTBT on December 21, 2017, 03:26:38 AM
Our review (with pictures) here:
http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:LordTBT/News:First_Look:_An_Epic_Tale_of_Redwall:_The_Scout


Need help? A very basic walkthrough of Old Moss Creek. Feel free to make it better!
http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/The_Scout_Walkthrough

This paragraph from your review is odd.

"I'm going to expand a bit on mine here. The names of two locations on the map: "Fairy Ring" and "Globetrotter's Gate" seem a bit out of place - Redwall doesn't have fairies, and the word "globe" is suggestive that the characters are on a planet of some sort."

Fairy rings have little to do with actual fairies. We have fairy rings in real life. Mushroom spores will sometimes grow in small circles, such as the one you saw in game. People back in the day called these fungus circles "Fairy Rings" because it was as if a bunch of little fairies made chairs out of them for a tea party or something. The game devs are not actually referring to real fairies.

Globetrotter: A person who travels widely.

Now, if you want to bring this up scientifically, saying "How could redwallers even know the planet is a sphere/globe?" I would tell you that this wouldn't be all that bad or wrong. The ancient Greeks theorized that the earth was round sometime in the 6th century BC. Using the world Globetrotter is perfectly fine I would say. Hell, you can tell that the horizon actually curves if you're high enough, but I digress.

I would place Redwall in the "Age of Sail" more or less.
I'm a troll apparently. I'm glad someone told me!

Ashleg

Agreed--except about the Fairy thing, for how would they think that it looked like a bunch of fairies in a circle if fairies did not exist?

Friar Poppy

Quote from: Ashleg on December 21, 2017, 03:58:34 AM
Agreed--except about the Fairy thing, for how would they think that it looked like a bunch of fairies in a circle if fairies did not exist?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_ring
I'm a troll apparently. I'm glad someone told me!

LordTBT

Quote from: Friar Poppy on December 21, 2017, 03:56:12 AM
Quote from: LordTBT on December 21, 2017, 03:26:38 AM
Our review (with pictures) here:
http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:LordTBT/News:First_Look:_An_Epic_Tale_of_Redwall:_The_Scout


Need help? A very basic walkthrough of Old Moss Creek. Feel free to make it better!
http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/The_Scout_Walkthrough

This paragraph from your review is odd.

"I'm going to expand a bit on mine here. The names of two locations on the map: "Fairy Ring" and "Globetrotter's Gate" seem a bit out of place - Redwall doesn't have fairies, and the word "globe" is suggestive that the characters are on a planet of some sort."

Fairy rings have little to do with actual fairies. We have fairy rings in real life. Mushroom spores will sometimes grow in small circles, such as the one you saw in game. People back in the day called these fungus circles "Fairy Rings" because it was as if a bunch of little fairies made chairs out of them for a tea party or something. The game devs are not actually referring to real fairies.

Globetrotter: A person who travels widely.

Now, if you want to bring this up scientifically, saying "How could redwallers even know the planet is a sphere/globe?" I would tell you that this wouldn't be all that bad or wrong. The ancient Greeks theorized that the earth was round sometime in the 6th century BC. Using the world Globetrotter is perfectly fine I would say. Hell, you can tell that the horizon actually curves if you're high enough, but I digress.

I would place Redwall in the "Age of Sail" more or less.


I can honestly say I learned something new, because I was unaware of this "fairy ring" terminology. And I'm sure I'm not the only person who was confused.

Yes, a globetrotter is a person who travels widely, ergo, someone who journeys all across the globe. Putting Redwall in the context of a "globe" or "planet" gets a bit far for me.

This isn't an entire universe of planets of animals.

Friar Poppy

Quote from: LordTBT on December 21, 2017, 04:49:01 AM
Quote from: Friar Poppy on December 21, 2017, 03:56:12 AM
Quote from: LordTBT on December 21, 2017, 03:26:38 AM
Our review (with pictures) here:
http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:LordTBT/News:First_Look:_An_Epic_Tale_of_Redwall:_The_Scout


Need help? A very basic walkthrough of Old Moss Creek. Feel free to make it better!
http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/The_Scout_Walkthrough

This paragraph from your review is odd.

"I'm going to expand a bit on mine here. The names of two locations on the map: "Fairy Ring" and "Globetrotter's Gate" seem a bit out of place - Redwall doesn't have fairies, and the word "globe" is suggestive that the characters are on a planet of some sort."

Fairy rings have little to do with actual fairies. We have fairy rings in real life. Mushroom spores will sometimes grow in small circles, such as the one you saw in game. People back in the day called these fungus circles "Fairy Rings" because it was as if a bunch of little fairies made chairs out of them for a tea party or something. The game devs are not actually referring to real fairies.

Globetrotter: A person who travels widely.

Now, if you want to bring this up scientifically, saying "How could redwallers even know the planet is a sphere/globe?" I would tell you that this wouldn't be all that bad or wrong. The ancient Greeks theorized that the earth was round sometime in the 6th century BC. Using the world Globetrotter is perfectly fine I would say. Hell, you can tell that the horizon actually curves if you're high enough, but I digress.

I would place Redwall in the "Age of Sail" more or less.


I can honestly say I learned something new, because I was unaware of this "fairy ring" terminology. And I'm sure I'm not the only person who was confused.

Yes, a globetrotter is a person who travels widely, ergo, someone who journeys all across the globe. Putting Redwall in the context of a "globe" or "planet" gets a bit far for me.

This isn't an entire universe of planets of animals.

How is that too far for you?

They're on a planet. No doubt about it. The Redwall Universe seems to use the same physics as our universe does.

There are many in book details that would support that the "Redwall" world is actually a whole world!

They have sailing ships. Vermin have sailing ships. IN one of the books there was mention of a crew of creatures that journeyed far across the great oceans. They find new lands, and most notable, new foods. As I remember in one book a couple of characters found a dead vermin dude with a bowl of hot peppers. If my memory servers me correctly, there was also dialogue musing on how the various vermin crews that wandered the seas would have stumbled upon new lands.

Also that the books involve far away lands such as the tropical isle of Sampetra, which was said to be far across the western sea.

There is more to the world than meets the eye. Trust me.
I'm a troll apparently. I'm glad someone told me!

LordTBT

Quote from: Friar Poppy on December 21, 2017, 05:02:58 AM
Quote from: LordTBT on December 21, 2017, 04:49:01 AM
Quote from: Friar Poppy on December 21, 2017, 03:56:12 AM
Quote from: LordTBT on December 21, 2017, 03:26:38 AM
Our review (with pictures) here:
http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:LordTBT/News:First_Look:_An_Epic_Tale_of_Redwall:_The_Scout


Need help? A very basic walkthrough of Old Moss Creek. Feel free to make it better!
http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/The_Scout_Walkthrough

This paragraph from your review is odd.

"I'm going to expand a bit on mine here. The names of two locations on the map: "Fairy Ring" and "Globetrotter's Gate" seem a bit out of place - Redwall doesn't have fairies, and the word "globe" is suggestive that the characters are on a planet of some sort."

Fairy rings have little to do with actual fairies. We have fairy rings in real life. Mushroom spores will sometimes grow in small circles, such as the one you saw in game. People back in the day called these fungus circles "Fairy Rings" because it was as if a bunch of little fairies made chairs out of them for a tea party or something. The game devs are not actually referring to real fairies.

Globetrotter: A person who travels widely.

Now, if you want to bring this up scientifically, saying "How could redwallers even know the planet is a sphere/globe?" I would tell you that this wouldn't be all that bad or wrong. The ancient Greeks theorized that the earth was round sometime in the 6th century BC. Using the world Globetrotter is perfectly fine I would say. Hell, you can tell that the horizon actually curves if you're high enough, but I digress.

I would place Redwall in the "Age of Sail" more or less.


I can honestly say I learned something new, because I was unaware of this "fairy ring" terminology. And I'm sure I'm not the only person who was confused.

Yes, a globetrotter is a person who travels widely, ergo, someone who journeys all across the globe. Putting Redwall in the context of a "globe" or "planet" gets a bit far for me.

This isn't an entire universe of planets of animals.

How is that too far for you?

They're on a planet. No doubt about it. The Redwall Universe seems to use the same physics as our universe does.

There are many in book details that would support that the "Redwall" world is actually a whole world!

They have sailing ships. Vermin have sailing ships. IN one of the books there was mention of a crew of creatures that journeyed far across the great oceans. They find new lands, and most notable, new foods. As I remember in one book a couple of characters found a dead vermin dude with a bowl of hot peppers. If my memory servers me correctly, there was also dialogue musing on how the various vermin crews that wandered the seas would have stumbled upon new lands.

Also that the books involve far away lands such as the tropical isle of Sampetra, which was said to be far across the western sea.

There is more to the world than meets the eye. Trust me.

Nope, there's not.

Sailing on ships has nothing to do with whether or not it's a planet. It's simply the world of Redwall.

Much like Game of Thrones is simply Westeros and Essos.

They are lands of fantasy.  That's it. You start getting into fanfiction territory once you expand much further.

Friar Poppy

Quote from: LordTBT on December 21, 2017, 05:24:45 AM
Quote from: Friar Poppy on December 21, 2017, 05:02:58 AM
Quote from: LordTBT on December 21, 2017, 04:49:01 AM
Quote from: Friar Poppy on December 21, 2017, 03:56:12 AM
Quote from: LordTBT on December 21, 2017, 03:26:38 AM
Our review (with pictures) here:
http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:LordTBT/News:First_Look:_An_Epic_Tale_of_Redwall:_The_Scout


Need help? A very basic walkthrough of Old Moss Creek. Feel free to make it better!
http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/The_Scout_Walkthrough

This paragraph from your review is odd.

"I'm going to expand a bit on mine here. The names of two locations on the map: "Fairy Ring" and "Globetrotter's Gate" seem a bit out of place - Redwall doesn't have fairies, and the word "globe" is suggestive that the characters are on a planet of some sort."

Fairy rings have little to do with actual fairies. We have fairy rings in real life. Mushroom spores will sometimes grow in small circles, such as the one you saw in game. People back in the day called these fungus circles "Fairy Rings" because it was as if a bunch of little fairies made chairs out of them for a tea party or something. The game devs are not actually referring to real fairies.

Globetrotter: A person who travels widely.

Now, if you want to bring this up scientifically, saying "How could redwallers even know the planet is a sphere/globe?" I would tell you that this wouldn't be all that bad or wrong. The ancient Greeks theorized that the earth was round sometime in the 6th century BC. Using the world Globetrotter is perfectly fine I would say. Hell, you can tell that the horizon actually curves if you're high enough, but I digress.

I would place Redwall in the "Age of Sail" more or less.


I can honestly say I learned something new, because I was unaware of this "fairy ring" terminology. And I'm sure I'm not the only person who was confused.

Yes, a globetrotter is a person who travels widely, ergo, someone who journeys all across the globe. Putting Redwall in the context of a "globe" or "planet" gets a bit far for me.

This isn't an entire universe of planets of animals.

How is that too far for you?

They're on a planet. No doubt about it. The Redwall Universe seems to use the same physics as our universe does.

There are many in book details that would support that the "Redwall" world is actually a whole world!

They have sailing ships. Vermin have sailing ships. IN one of the books there was mention of a crew of creatures that journeyed far across the great oceans. They find new lands, and most notable, new foods. As I remember in one book a couple of characters found a dead vermin dude with a bowl of hot peppers. If my memory servers me correctly, there was also dialogue musing on how the various vermin crews that wandered the seas would have stumbled upon new lands.

Also that the books involve far away lands such as the tropical isle of Sampetra, which was said to be far across the western sea.

There is more to the world than meets the eye. Trust me.

Nope, there's not.

Sailing on ships has nothing to do with whether or not it's a planet. It's simply the world of Redwall.

Much like Game of Thrones is simply Westeros and Essos.

They are lands of fantasy.  That's it. You start getting into fanfiction territory once you expand much further.

Interesting.
I'm a troll apparently. I'm glad someone told me!

Ashleg

I assumed they existed on their fictional version of Earth, which would indeed be a planet...