Heroines of Might and Magic. Review

The Russian gaming industry does not often offer story-oriented games, preferring to focus on the mobile or online market. At the same time, indie developers prefer simple roguelikes or try to immerse the player in the abyss of melancholy and darkness of visual novels (which is already enough). And then in my feed, mentions of a JRPG style game made by one person about the adventure of loser heroines begin to appear. Initially, the game didn’t interest me much. Just not my genre. But the more I learned, the more I wanted to buy it. That’s what I did and didn’t regret it at all.

Taste by weight

The first thing that may put you off is that the game is made on RPG-Maker. This is an editor that allows you to make games in the style of classic JRPGs without programming knowledge. The Internet is full of crafts that are not of the highest quality, or even outright slag. Fortunately, there are also interesting projects. And “Heroines of Might and Magic” is one of these. Despite the fact that the game mainly uses assets from the editor, it is made in good quality. Pixels are diluted, hand-drawn illustrations are made in excellent quality.

The second thing that can be off-putting is that in the game most of the information is presented (oh my God) through text. And the game really has a lot of it. Which, firstly, will not be a problem for fans of such games, and secondly, the text itself is well written.

Visual novel

The story is one of the game’s strongest points. It begins, however, like a joke. A warrior, a thief, a priest and a magician enter a tavern. Only our heroes, or rather heroines, have no time for laughter. Each of them lost support and was left alone in this world. The thief Diana, because of her idealism, refused to steal from the poor and was thrown out of the thieves guild. Priestess Svetlana, thanks to her obnoxious character, lost her rank and the favor of the gods. Warrior and descendant of heroes Anastasia is a coward because of which she quarreled with her brother. The mentor of the sorceress Felicia died without having time to teach a single spell. To solve their problems, the heroines decide to unite and create a group. They even had a goal – to defeat the leader of the local goblin robbers. It’s true that you shouldn’t go on a hike without preparation. Bringing such a specific group into order will take the entire passage of the act.

I love well-written, complex fantasy universes. And in this regard, the Heroines did not disappoint me. The game world is thought out on several levels. Dive into the world order and how the magic system works. The level below is the history of states and local politics. Even lower are the stories of the residents of Strizhinsk and its environs. In this regard, the heroines are best written. They are not just in a vacuum, they have family acquaintances and a past. Between the heroines there are dialogues concerning both themselves and the events in which they participate. It is believed that in the near future they will become a well-coordinated group of Prilyuchenians

Humor and references make up a significant part of the passage. The game is made by geeks and for geeks. Here we went through genre cliches and fantasy conventions, as well as memes related to games.

Walking the road of adventure

Movement occurs in the usual way for a JRPG. Locations are connected via a region map. Some can be traveled to immediately, while others open as you progress through the story. Of course there are monsters. Their type is immediately visible, so you can choose tactics before the battle. But you shouldn’t get into a fight right away. Mobs do not recover after victory, which will make it easier to pass through locations, but most of the enemies (with the exception of bandits and bosses) do not bring income other than experience. But it can bring expenses. In the game you need to carefully use the available resources. Potions and scrolls in battle. Between battles it is better to use food, and ideally go to the tavern or use the free bed. Money, unlike many games, is valuable and should be spent sparingly.

But it’s worth exploring pokerstars-casino.uk locations, since the main income at first will be the banal collection of loot. Diana has the ability thief’s vision, which highlights loot. The higher it is, the more spots are visible. You can develop it with special artifacts. This ability is also responsible for detecting traps. Many things are behind closed doors so Diana’s other skills of picking locks and master keys are needed. It is pumped up by use and also works to disarm traps.

Exploration and conversations with other characters are useful because throughout the game there are various secrets that allow you to strengthen your team. There’s loot, teachers and even hidden quests.

The second important way is to complete quests, both main and additional. Most of it is linear, but the plot is connected with the main quest or reveals the history and lore of the local world. Some tasks have variability. My favorite quests from the Warriors Guild line. Not only one of the most variable, but there is also the opportunity to significantly increase the reward if you are not stupid.

The combat is also quite classic for a JRPG. Heroines on the right, opponents on the left, turn order depending on the character’s speed. Heroines can attack with weapons and cast spells. There are abilities that cost energy points. It accumulates from simple attacks or taking damage, and can be replenished with potions or special spells. But here too there is a connection with history. Initially, Svetlana and Felicia do not have useful magic and rely only on physical damage (however, they can be taught a couple of combat skills), and Anastasia, having received a little damage or having met some monsters (for example, rats), falls into horror and refuses to fight. Only a potion of courage (which is expensive) or alcohol can bring the warrior out of this state, but it makes Anastasia go wild and is out of control.

You can strengthen your party not only by leveling up and searching for skills, but also with weapons and equipment. It is important to select equipment so that there is synergy. Some abilities only work with certain equipment. Most equipment enhances stats, but there are some items that grant new abilities. Additionally, you can get temporary buffs through consumables, visiting sanctuaries and going to the bathhouses.

Opponents are varied and each type needs its own approach. Knowledge about weaknesses and strengths can be obtained not only from practice, but also by reading certain in-game reference books. This applies to bosses to a large extent. Such strong opponents should be prepared by throwing debuffs and buffs on the heroines themselves, otherwise the weapon will only scratch. All of the above form a simple but not uninteresting combat system.

Personal wishes

The game is definitely not perfect. There’s always room for improvement. You can add a lot to the game. Something to combat resource constraints. Regular opportunities to obtain money or consumables. For example, arena battles or crafting. I wanted to have ways to quickly move through confusing locations: shortcuts or secret passages, allowing you to save the way back through the dungeons. I wish the characters in battle were as detailed as the monsters. It would be nice to increase the number of illustrations. Well, of course I really want to see a continuation. The story in the game has a logical conclusion, but hints are constantly given that not everything is so simple, important events are coming.

Why did I call this item personal wishes?? All of the above sounds quite reasonable and will benefit the game. But to complete them you will have to not only introduce new mechanics, but also play with balance, check that the gameplay does not contradict the plot. In general, these are the twenty percent of work that take up eighty percent of the time. Why do you need not only very specific skills (but you can’t do without them), but above all a team of developers, money and time.

Let’s support the Green Party

There is an addition to the game dedicated to another group of Prilyuchen girls and telling a relatively short story. The action will take place in the vicinity and inside the caves of the Four Peaks, where the goblins are located. Actually, we will play for goblins, or rather goblin girls. This will not only expand the lore, but will also allow you to look at the plot of the act from a different perspective.

The premise is simple: dissatisfied with their status (as well as the amount of goodies and sparkles), four goblins created their own gang “Green Furies” in order to rob vile people. And for robbery you need more impressive weapons. Good news, such weapons exist. Bad, it’s in a cave where a creepy monster lives. Finding ways to kill the monster or at least temporarily neutralize it will be the main task of anti-heroines.

The campaign turned out to be interesting. If the Heroines of the main game were a parody of the heroic classes, then the anti-heroines were parody embodiments of the deadly sins. We have the glutton warrior Grunya, the greedy thief Gvasha, the lustful archer Glyusha and the embodiment of pride the priestess Ghysha. A noticeable difference is that if the heroines of the main scenario tried not to cross a certain line (mainly thanks to Diana), then our anti-heroines are not shy about their means. Threats, deception and violence are a common tool in quests. Humor has not gone away, although it has become somewhat monotonous, mainly relating to Internet culture and memes.

The combat has changed little. Unlike the heroines of the main scenario, anti-gyroines are more skilled in combat and immediately have a set of useful skills. At the same time, they are more limited in equipment and consumables. The weapons and armor in the store are trash, but you can quickly get acceptable equipment as trophies. But potions and scrolls are a real luxury, which should only be used in battles against the final bosses.

Collected consumables, mana mushrooms and monster meat, can replenish lost mana and health. Now hunting mobs makes sense. Crafting has appeared in the game. Meat can be cooked to remove negative effects. It will also be needed for the plot. Added a few nice little things like a free bed and shortcuts in dungeons. You can simplify the battle with the mini boss using traps.

In these less than happy days, when the media and gaming industry is full of gray-brown morality, and plot and lore are replaced by representation, a low-tension adventure with charming characters, a written plot, and humor is perceived as a breath of fresh air. I was quite pleased with the game and am looking forward to the continuation