評論

• gamedeal user

  Oct 19, 2021

  I love the game's premise, but it is almost a thumbs down due to the length of a play through right now, which equates to a couple of hours at the moment. I am not sure if this is the same length as the demo, but it FEELs like a demo more than anything at the moment. Just be ware, a buy now is mostly a gesture to the developer to help them financially to finish the game (I guess that defines early access), just don't expect a lot of 'game' at the moment. As for the game itself, its very enjoyable. I wish the characters had animations to them, but it is what it is. The decisions you make seem to have weight to them and there are tense moments with the dice rolls that had me on the edge of my seat. I found myself deciding what my character would do based on role play elements, vs, min/maxing, which is awesome. There is a bit of reading in this game mostly in unspoken dialogue, which is fine. Where there is voice acting, it is really good (English). The music fits the scenes well, with intense movie trailer music for battles, etc. I am leaving this review as a thumbs up for now since the experience was good, I just think some may be disappointed at the length currently.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 19, 2021

  I really wanted to like this. It's been gathering dust on my wishlist since I first read about it in a - surprisingly useful - Steam suggestion of "what I might also like", which usually try to sell me random titles I either never heard about or would prefer not to. But to make this useful for others: THE PROS: - fairly smooth and slick presentation - a seemingly flexible underlying system - interesting setting and backstory THE CONS: - rudimentary (not minimalistic, this would have been fine) sound score - reusing of models - the actual gameplay, unfortunately Harsh, I know. But bear with me (growl, rawr, har har). The thing is that even with prior experience of dice or percentage dependent, CYOA style titles, I still hate when games do not adhere to their own rules. I can deal with the fact my starting chances for success will be low, and my character will fail often, goes with the RPG genre - the abbreviation may as well stand for Randomly Punishing Greenhorns, I'm fine with this. But not when the game tells me "you can improve your chances by spending (insert whatever magic points the given game has) on rolls", which I then up to 80%-90% and still consistently fail. Because the game needs me to fail it, so that the story can progress. This is called Hostile Railroading, and I have no need of it. Either be as interactive and flexible as you promise, or don't promise and be a book with interactive elements from time to time. Another reviewer has already pointed this out - when the checkpoints are so far between and there is a concealed code to roll *just* above the ability % (literally, I've noted them, and had six consecutive fails with the chance boosted to 85-90% and the rolls coming in at 87-93%), this becomes an excercise in frustration. All the best to the dev, may the final product still be successfull, as I really appreciate what you're trying to do. But for the time being I'm refunding this.
• gamedeal user

  Jul 10, 2022

  I'm a bit surpized that this game isn't labeled as visual novel in the store, since it's basically what the game is. You read few lines of text, then you make a choice, then you read few more lines of text. There are a lot of RPG elemets, but they are mostly unbalanced and underdeveloped. But the visual novel itself is good. Really good. I mostly hate those, but this particular has a few unique tricks that make a very, very good storytelling and allow you to bond with characters very closely. Lookin forward to the end release. Hopefully RPG elements by that time will get a major overhaul and start to really matter.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 19, 2021

  It is pretty frustrating that, due to no failure of your own but bad rolls, you can ruin an entire scene and have to start over - not from a simple 'last save' but from the start of the chapter - thus replaying the same content over and over and over again. I get that they wanted to prevent you from save-scumming every check but when a scene can have 20 skill checks, most of them with a 50% or less chance of success (even after you spend your MP on them), you're going to fail almost half of them and sometimes that means the result will be so bad you have to restart or lose any fun you are having. Despite making all the 'proper' choices and using my MP, I had to run a couple of the scenes 5 times to get a good ending because of bad rolls. Don't even attempt a roll if you have under 70% chance of success. Also, the game has a tendency to make you think a roll is going to be important, so you spend MP on it, then it turns out to be filler and the actually important roll is two checks later. Mind you, if you fail enough of those 'filler' checks, you'll fail anyway - so you can't ignore them, either. Also, some of the scenes just go on and on and on forever. There were a couple where the filler content gets so deep that you stop even caring about the conversation because it's just going to lead to ten meaningless checks - only damning you to fail on the important check at the end and having to start all over. Let us save more often and make the decision of whether or not to save-scum for ourselves. Besides that, the game has a lot of potential and I will be interested to see the final product. I wish there were a 'neutral' option on the rating - as the game has a ton of potential - but right now I don't recommend the experience.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 2, 2022

  Personally, I haven't played a game like this before. With my limited gaming experience, I'd say it feels like a cross between a visual novel and D&D; dice rolls are constantly happening with every move and choice and interaction, and the scenes change to match the text at the top of the screen as the story progresses with each page. Sacred Fire begins with the option to choose your settings, I chose to play on the standard difficulty with no perks such as weighted dice or extra points. I read through the tips which were plentiful but still wasn't super clear on how things worked. I don't fault the game for that; I understood more as I began to play and managed to get one of two apparent "good endings" for the first act. Character creation is fine, nothing too detailed as far as physical features go. Seems like you can choose between man or woman, light or dark skin, and then decide between a range of faces and two hair types. Given the visual novel style of the game, it makes sense that character creation would be a bit limited. I chose to play as a woman so I didn't explore the male options. There is the option to play as a standard build (warrior, elder, etc) as well as the ability to customize your own build. I went with a standard build, archer, I believe. Throughout the game there is some light voice acting, but the played character is not voiced, which is my preference. Every single action that your character takes, every thought they have or move they plan is weighted against fears and traumas and addictions of the character, some known, others unknown but able to be discovered. As your character gains experience, makes decisions, and shapes their person, they are able to unlock hidden insights that then may be braced against or else leaned into. Your choices and even your failed attempts to make choices all shape who you are; how others see you, whether you are respected, feared, inspiring, cowardly, etc. I was a bit bummed that after completing the first act that I was given rewards via points to distribute but then was unable to actually see how they would change things since the game goes back to the main menu immediately afterwards. The story was interesting and the characters that I could successfully get to know a bit felt like they were well developed. It felt like a small victory every time the dice were kind to me, which wasn't too often, though I only had to restart one encounter that was fatal for my character the first time over. I'm recommending this because I do think that it will be an excellent game and is incredibly promising so far, despite only having a third or so of the potential content available at this point. I was actively engaged from beginning to (early access) end, so no complaints here!
• gamedeal user

  Mar 29, 2023

  Just when i began to forget what a true RPG is, i suddenly find this game. It gives a completely unique view on interactions between characters, because the main feature of the game is that among your usual "strength" or "intellect" points, they have their own feelings, ambitions, emotional traumas and grudges towards each other, represented via personal attributes. Your every interaction throughout the game is based on your past decisions and attitude towards every character you've ever met. But the most exciting is to see how you also shape the other characters in a various ways by giving them different answers, and how it can lead to the different outcomes in the future. The game allows you to play a lot of roles depending on your initial stats and the lines you choose, and unlike your usual RPGs, choices really matter. My only complain on this part is that although the game has A LOT of replayability, i still wish it was a bit longer. Although there are only few tracks in the game, the music is beautiful and engaging. The visuals are very fine and atmospheric. Overall, i highly recommend this game to any person who likes RPG. I'm eager to see the final release and wish that more games like this are made in the future.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 19, 2021

  TL;DR - Clunky UI and Easily manipulated dialog/combat check system. Too many statistics that have no discernible impact on game-play. Good story telling and choices actually matter. So far I've played this game a bit, I've gotten through the content for the first act relatively quickly. Take your time with the choices you make and think carefully about them as they WILL affect the rest of your play-through. Some choices completely change what story elements you see and will entirely remove various story branches. You character does not have plot armor, you can and will die if you make stupid choices. Your physical attributes matter a lot more it seems than the rest of the attributes. You can just increase your motivation points by taking hits to your various blocks (Character Flaws) and get more motivation points to pass whatever check you need to. Using Motivation Points to increase your combat skills is not as useful, so increase your combat related stats to maximum (I have found a good balance to be with 7 points in all 4). Then raise all your stats to at least 6 aside from intellect, leave that at the bare minimum, then use the rest to lower any character flaw that increases your fear/anger as those are the two that affect dialog the most. When you're "Leveling Up" various secondary stats (Mindset, Ideals, etc) the explanations are very convoluted and difficult to understand their purpose and impact. Not only that but there is very little impact that the various stats other than combat related stats actually have that I can tell. I have done 4 play-throughs to the "Good End" and have found that through manipulating the MP recovery system I can just infinitely generate MP and never have to worry about failing a check that I want to pass. The main character being the only one without a voice is also disappointing, I'd rather hear the voice of my character speaking, and having internal monologue than just silence. The text being at the top of the screen is also a bit of a pain, as well as the way to move through a scene. The little double down arrow at the bottom has led to more than one accidental clicking of a choice I didn't even see and with the lack of being able to go back and fix choices or choose differently it was impossible to fix and I had to start over that play-through. Pros: Very easy to understand game-play. Good Tutorial Good story telling with choices that actually matter Cons: Character creation could use some polish and more options for appearance. Dialog success rates are too easy to manipulate in-situ, which makes it too easy to manipulate situations with no discernible consequence. No character animation or facial expression changes, most mood and expressions are done through text only. Difficult to understand Mindset, Outfit, Other Secondary effects. Clunky and Oddly formatted UI
• gamedeal user

  Oct 22, 2021

  This is a frustrating thing for me to write, there is such a good foundation for this to be a great game, it needs so much more though. I will keep this short to the good and bad I ran into and I will say again the game isn't horrible but in it's current state and price it wasn't worth it to me. The Good *Atmosphere is gorgeous and always feels present in whatever scene you are in. The art is extremely tasteful and fitting, the voices if you can overlook geographical location issue, the voices aren't even bad. This set up of art and music is something I would adore in more games. *The stat system in the create a character mode is unique, the stats seemed relatively well explained, and once you get started you can kind of see how they mesh with the dice system after about half an hour. So it's fun to mess around with. The Bad * The create a character mode is extremely limited to a few heads, it does offer both genders and a some skin tones, a very basic in the box creator, but looks like it could have more added in the future, but as it is right now its not a good thing. * The actual game length, this here is what hurt me the most, once I sat and played through it felt like there was barely anything there. I think I got through the story in under an hour and a half. I know my playtime says longer but I spent most my time testing the stat system on the first chapter over and over again to see if anything changed. If I had known the game was so short I would have stopped before reaching the 2 hour mark. There are suppose to be two more parts, but the price of this game is way way to high for the amount I got. I don't care about all the creativeness and writing involved, the price is too much. I am aware you can do multiple play through and tweak some outcomes, but the choices while there are several. It feels like only a few really matter and the rest either slow down your trudge to the short ending or slight stalling to the ending, This game did itself no favors releasing with just this little to offer, I would have been happier if they had released all of it at once at a 25.00 or so price tag and it would have felt complete at least. I don't mind short, but it was not only short, but very unsatisfying and left me not even wanting to entertain the other two.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 4, 2021

  As someone that loves Psychology, Character Creation, RPGs and Visual Novels, i was amazed when i read this game's description. Less amazed when i read the negative reviews however, which initially held me back from buying it. Still, in time, i decided to not listen and gave this game a try. And i'm so glad i did. Sacred Fire is truly a masterpiece of its genre. A gripe i have with most RPGs it's how you're basically forced to like certain characters, and you can't go out of your way to not. That issue does not exist with this game. You're free. Completely free. You're free to be a genuinely good guy, and you're free to not be. You're free to dislike whomever you'd like, and you're free not to. The game has an amazing renown system where you must compete with other "lead" characters from the tribe for, basically, renown (duh). Everything your character eventually thinks about said lead characters is stored and you're the one to decide if you take these thoughts in a negative way or not. Heck, you can dislike your suppotive brother and make rumours against him. Why would you do that? To not live in his shadow, perhaps? I don't know, but i sure do love Wid and i didn't. But that's the thing: You're free to if you want. Every bad event will take its toll on your character. And every good event will have positive emotional outcomes. Psychology is a major factor in this game and it's done phenomenally. Never before i played a game that took this aspect so serious and with so much care and respect; it truly amazed me. I feel like Sacred Fire set the bar pretty high for the RPG/VN genre and i fear i will feel less impressed when playing other games. Knowing that this was made by a developer who's very active and personally around helping anyone that needs help amazes me even further. Bra-vo. Solid 9.5/10 for me. Some very annoying bugs held it back from a 10, but i encourage anyone to seek help in the steam forums if need be!
• gamedeal user

  Oct 21, 2021

  A very compelling narrative game. Each chapter of [i]Sacred Fire[/i] is a relatively short event (like gathering your forces before a retreat or a long conversation with your brother). The cool thing is, within that event, [i]every line is a choice[/i]. Or a stat check. Or a trait reveal. In other words, the game has almost zero fluff — all of its text is converted into gameplay. Not all of that gameplay is good. In Early Access, it's unclear what the traits are for, and it's counter-intuitive that being reflective and evaluating your feelings leads to debuffing ideas that you'll later have to block out. The story itself is nice, but nothing special. The visuals are very pretty, but very few. But the pacing and gameplay/narrative relations are spot on, and that alone makes the game worth your time. It genuinely feels like a step forward — a narrative game that is not a digital CYOA book or a point and click, but rather a constant flow of small decisions and system-based events that tell the story. Well worth it.