Battle for Esturia - Old-School CRPG

[nlfortier]

https://esturiagames.wordpress.com




https://esturiagames.itch.io/battle-for-esturia

Spoiler

For the past two years I've been developing an old-school open world tactical RPG. I've been a long time lurker on rpg-codex and I thought some of you might be interested. The game has simple tile-based graphics reminiscent of the 1980s, as I am a programmer by trade, not an artist. The game takes its inspiration from classic CRPGs like Ultima and Baldurs Gate, but features an engaging battle system inspired by the likes of Fire Emblem and the Banner Saga. Below is a screenshot of the game in action:

If you want to know more you can check out my blog at http://esturiagames.wordpress.com/2020/04/28/main-quest-complete/
I've just finished the main quest and am currently adding side-quests to the game, so feel free to share what you love and hate about side-quests in other games.

 

[AdolfSatan]

For an example on side-quests done right give PtD one or two playthroughs.
And give us some nice encounters like KotC.

I totally dig the combo of old skool looks with modern ui, nicec job.

 

[CryptRat]

Nice.

 

[nlfortier]

For an example on side-quests done right give PtD one or two playthroughs.
And give us some nice encounters like KotC.

I totally dig the combo of old skool looks with modern ui, nicec job.

Thanks! I haven't had a chance to try KotC yet, but I really should. I grew up playing D&D 3.5 and my system in this RPG is definitely influenced by the d20 tabletop RPGs I've played.

 

[nlfortier]

I've been working on this game in my spare time for a several years now and it's finally ready for an early access release. It's an open world CRPG with old-school graphics and tactical turn-based combat. The graphics are inspired by classic 8 bit RPGs from the 80s, but the game play is influenced by old-school open world RPGs like Baldur's Gate. You build your party of adventurers by exploring the world and recruiting the NPCs you meet along the way. The combat is reminiscent of 2D tactical RPGs like The Banner Saga, Tactics Ogre, and Fire Emblem. The simplistic graphics may not be for everyone, but the game play is fun and engaging. If you would like to try it out, you can download it for free on itch.io: https://esturiagames.itch.io/battle-for-esturia.

 

[Tyranicon]

The simplistic graphics may not be for everyone

I think you'll fit in just fine.

 

[luj1]

Loving the radial menu bro

 

[samuraigaiden]

Looks neat.

 

[Abu Antar]

The combat is reminiscent of 2D tactical RPGs like The Banner Saga, Tactics Ogre, and Fire Emblem.

Which is it? While they are turn-based, they play very differently.

Sounds good on paper, hope it delivers.

 

[Dorateen]

Is there an option for the player to create their own party?

 

[V_K]

I'm actually kinda digging the art style. Is it mostly combat-focused or are there any non-combat gameplay elements? Like puzzles, stealth or survival?

 

[luj1]

if you could import 2D art such as portraits that'd be awesome

 

[nlfortier]

The combat is reminiscent of 2D tactical RPGs like The Banner Saga, Tactics Ogre, and Fire Emblem.

Which is it? While they are turn-based, they play very differently.

Sounds good on paper, hope it delivers.

Many of the abilities were inspired by The Banner Saga, but the turns work like Fire Emblem, with a player phase followed by an enemy phase.

 

[nlfortier]

I'm actually kinda digging the art style. Is it mostly combat-focused or are there any non-combat gameplay elements? Like puzzles, stealth or survival?

There are some minor puzzles, but the primary focus of the game is combat and exploration.

 

[AdolfSatan]

Took this baby for a ride, my first impressions:

GOOD
Super neat oldskool grafix
Dungeon synth hell yeah
Game rewards exploration. By heading everywhere but the direction I was told to I managed to assemble a full party (necromancer included!) and get myself a nice armor
Skills are very interesting
Party banter is actually interesting to read
Doesn't take itself too seriously without going into Larian levels of quirky retardation

BAD
Dungeon design. So far every single one has consisted in heading for one side to get a key, then back to the other to unlock the door and reach boss
QoL missing. If enemies won't respawn then give me fast travel Vogel-style in the world map, nobody likes backtracking. Also, will this have controller support? It'd fit like a glove
No keyboard

UNSURE
Seems like there's a bit of C&C but I can't be sure if it's merely cosmetical or not as I've only done one run
Itemization might be poor
So far combat's been rather easy and not very tactical at all, but it might be because it's still low-level

You got my attention, will play some more and eagerly await for a full release.

Is there an option for the player to create their own party?

No, you pick a pre-baked starting class, and then you assign stats and skills as you wish when you level up. Party is comprised of guys you find along the way (the whom you can also level up as you please), though some will refuse to work with others.

 

[Narushima]

I've been working on this game

Pics or GTFO.

 

[Kalarion]

I've gotten to Kalasara and I generally agree with AdolfSatan . Some additional thoughts:

- there's a minor typo in the quest completion dialogue for the Blacksmith's hammer. "Of" is spelled "fo". Only one I've found so far, well done.
- overworld exploration is fun. Dungeon exploration doesn't really exist. There are secret doors however, with really good rewards. I liked that a lot.
- writing is comfy. I like the idea of simple, concise text that tries to convey a little nuance to the world. Very readable. Sometimes my character's response options are a little trite however.
- no LoS and no friendly fire is going to be a killer if you don't add it in. Fights become a lot less exciting when I know my snipper can shoot through walls, and my wizards can blast half the room with a fireball with no worries they'll fry their own party :D. It also makes all those lovely dungeon room fights (with their twisty hallways and chokepoints) much less tense.
- I like the sense of equipment progression; almost all my upgrades have come from extensive exploration, and some of my chars have only gotten 1 upgrade, period, so far. Nice.
- some of the skills seem lackluster, in particular for the Hoplite and Barbarian. I only care about Shield Bash for the Hoplite and Charge/Whirlwind for the Barbarian. Maybe I'm missing out.

It's enough fun that I'm definitely going to finish the game.

 

[nlfortier]

Thanks Kalarion and AdolfSatan for the detailed feedback! I will consider adding friendly fire, at least for the hard mode difficulty. As for the back tracking, maybe I should add an item or ability to take you back to the dungeon entrance.

 

[Tigranes]

This is great. Artstyle is perfectly fine. Just looking at the gif posted above is crying out for keyboard bindings. Only a few of us try demos/EA extensively but I suspect a few Codexers will pick this up on release for sure.

 

[Kalarion]

OK, I finished. More thoughts:

Good Stuff:
- overworld exploration was pretty satisfying. I'm a big fan of the lawnmower approach to maps, this game is perfect for that :D.
- combat was good overall. It could use some tweaks, see below.
- different classes feel different. The two closest are obviously Hoplite and Barbarian, but especially late game they play very different.
- I missed some stuff! At least two weapons. The one in the Isle of Dread crypt I'm pretty sure I missed because I used my keys in the wrong order (I wasn't expecting that), and the sword across the lava in the Feleesi volcano city (no idea how to get this one, I suspect it's something to do with the lava). One class too, I never got the necromancer. I didn't even know he existed until I read posts here, nice!
- character progression worked well. One stat, one skill, done. Stats and skills could use some love, see below again.
- equipment progression stayed strong through the whole game.
- descriptive text when you find something in a dungeon etc was a great touch. It was short and evocative. I really dug it.
- quests were simple but a good chunk of them had branching options. Accompanying dialogue was pretty good too. I particularly enjoyed slaying the commie chick, even if it meant leaving Zarnoth to a fat retard who was driving it into the ground :D.

Improvements:
- this game really really really needs keybindings. Preferably customizable of course, but even hard coded bindings for the most common actions (something like (A)ttack, arrow keys for direction and walking, (M)ap, (S)kill/spell etc) would be a huge improvement. Having to click 3-5 times for every action in combat (or double that, if you make a mistake) is hell on my carpal tunnel, and it's just plain annoying.
- stats don't seem to have a lot of oomph. The only really noticeable ones were Mind and Vitality, since you could instantly see your max HP and mana go up. I'm sure there was some effect because characters' damage and such kept going up steadily. Eventually Branton was almost unhittable in melee for example. But it was difficult to tell the difference from one level to the next.
- combat at the beginning took a middling amount of time and was mildly deadly. Combat at the end was more deadly (though still not very threatening) and took about 3x longer per fight. It was a slogfest. I'd suggest making combat near the end much deadlier and shorter; give monsters something like 1/2-2/3 of current hp, but up their damage and make status effects and spells nastier. Do the same for PCs... slightly less hp overall but everything hits harder.
- a lot of the skills were dead weight. Examples: I only took Clay Golem near the end because I'd already gotten everything I wanted. Same with Stone Skin, and I never found it useful because my Elementalists were always better used for Cone or Lightning. Each class has the same issue: one or two skills you really want and the rest you just get out of curiosity. I could probably make a whole 'nother post about this honestly. The single exception was cleric. I used (and wanted) all of Lucian's skills, even Restoration to an extent.

I had great fun with the game, enough that I'm going to drop money on it retroactively. I probably won't play it again but it doesn't strike me as trying for huge replayability. Thanks for making this nlfortier !

 

[AdolfSatan]

Some more thoughts. I've been playing for a while longer, so this time the critique will be harsher. Take of with that suits you best:

AI really needs an improvement. Why does an enemy wizard waste his turns spawning golems that I'll wipe with a fireball when he could be using AoE? Why don't enemy archers focus on my glass cannons and healers?
I was hoping that the spear would let me attack two tiles away and through my teammates (and that the enemy would profit from it as well, ofc), the range: 2 is a bit misleading, though I get where you're coming from with it allowing diagonal attack.
I'll echo Kalarion 's feelings regards friendly fire, Hoplite and Barbarian skills.
For a game that will focus in combat, I feel like there's some standard stuff missing like better and wider use of status effects, terrain affecting shit (spider webs being sticky, marshland reducing movement, etc), and overall some more variation in combat (attacks of opportunity, flanking, and overwatch for starters).
Diversity in enemy resistances is another point I found lacking. There were a couple like salamander being immune to fire, but others that'd seem obvious like spiders immune to venom and weak to fire, and so on were missing.
A lot of the encounters feel like they could be random, there's never any kind of surprise like waves, ambushes and the like. Tbh I haven't found any particular fight memorable so far.
Why am I kicked back to the menu after each time I use an item or spell? Same when I buy or sell, that's quite annoying.
Dungeon design, really. There's that tower that consists in going two floors up, pulling a lever, then going back down to the basement to pass through the now-opened passage with nothing going on in-between. Why?

Might sound like I'm complaining about everything, but with all of that I've still gotten to the ancient feleesi city. I am really liking the game, I just feel like there are some ways in which it could be improved.

 

[nlfortier]

Some more thoughts. I've been playing for a while longer, so this time the critique will be harsher. Take of with that suits you best:

AI really needs an improvement. Why does an enemy wizard waste his turns spawning golems that I'll wipe with a fireball when he could be using AoE? Why don't enemy archers focus on my glass cannons and healers?
I was hoping that the spear would let me attack two tiles away and through my teammates (and that the enemy would profit from it as well, ofc), the range: 2 is a bit misleading, though I get where you're coming from with it allowing diagonal attack.
I'll echo Kalarion 's feelings regards friendly fire, Hoplite and Barbarian skills.
For a game that will focus in combat, I feel like there's some standard stuff missing like better and wider use of status effects, terrain affecting shit (spider webs being sticky, marshland reducing movement, etc), and overall some more variation in combat (attacks of opportunity, flanking, and overwatch for starters).
Diversity in enemy resistances is another point I found lacking. There were a couple like salamander being immune to fire, but others that'd seem obvious like spiders immune to venom and weak to fire, and so on were missing.
A lot of the encounters feel like they could be random, there's never any kind of surprise like waves, ambushes and the like. Tbh I haven't found any particular fight memorable so far.
Why am I kicked back to the menu after each time I use an item or spell? Same when I buy or sell, that's quite annoying.
Dungeon design, really. There's that tower that consists in going two floors up, pulling a lever, then going back down to the basement to pass through the now-opened passage with nothing going on in-between. Why?

Might sound like I'm complaining about everything, but with all of that I've still gotten to the ancient feleesi city. I am really liking the game, I just feel like there are some ways in which it could be improved.

I can't thank you and Kalarion enough for the fantastic feedback! You have both pointed out some great places for potential improvement:

• The AI is definitely something I intend to improve for the final release. Especially spellcaster AI.
• I intend to add friendly fire as well, at least for the hard mode difficulty.
• Diversity in enemy resistances is lacking and will be improved in the final release. Aside from the spider poison resistance, were there any other obvious resistances that you felt were missing?
• I will definitely add keybindings to the game. That seems to be a common request.
• I'll also see if I can improve some of the less popular skills to make them more appealing.
• Fast travel is another common request that I intend to add to the final release.

Thank you both so much for the detailed critique! It is invaluable.

 

[AdolfSatan]

Diversity in enemy resistances is lacking and will be improved in the final release. Aside from the spider poison resistance, were there any other obvious resistances that you felt were missing?

Same for scorpions, as well as dmg reduction against fire perhaps? Or resistance to sharp weapons but weakness to blunt? Dunno if you plan to add altered stats like confusion and the like, but I guess zombies and that should be immune to those (as well as poison probably). Someone should have res against cold and lightning for ballinse reasons but I can't recall any enemy that'd be fitting.

I dropped the game after reaching the island because I don't wanna burn myself out, though I suppose I must have been close to finishing it. Gonna wait for full release to buy and play again later on. Keep on keepin on!

PS: Is the sword on the lava level reachable? I didn't find any way either.

 

[CryptRat]

I completed the game too, it's fun, I recommend it.

Only a few of us try demos/EA extensively but I suspect a few Codexers will pick this up on release for sure.

Note that the game is in very good shape, it totally feels like a finished product so a fortiori more than many games labelled as release, if you feel like playing it you should not refrain due to the Early access label here.

 

[nlfortier]

I've been making improvements to the game based on the feedback I've received. I've made some significant improvements to the AI, added a fast travel feature, added optional friendly fire, and added more diversity in enemy resistances. I still need to do more testing before adding all of this to the release build, but I think these changes will really improve the game. I'm also in the process of revamping some of the skills. I've improved the Clay Golem skill and replaced Stone Skin with a Shocking Touch skill that electrocutes anyone who engages the mage in melee combat. I know AdolfSatan and Kalarion both mentioned that many of the Hoplite and Barbarian skills were lackluster. Which skills you would say are the worst or most in need of replacement/improvement?