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Neverspring Chronicles: Phoenix Down
A streetwise thief on the run from his past must become a Paladin to find redemption in a dying world.
:: Neverspring Chronicles :: (Formerly Durance of Magic) v2.0.0
This game was released on Steam Early Access in December 2021 and subsequently taken down for a complete re-development in November of 2022. As of now, April 2023, the re-development is nearing completion. The download link provided is a Demo of this re-development. It includes roughly the first hour of gameplay.
Synopsis
Marrick and Natasha were just kids when a violent coup in the Imperial Senate took their father's life and split them apart. One became a street-wise thief on the run from his past. The other, a prodigy sorceress raised in secret behind monastery walls. But fate will bring them back together when a mysterious relic offers them a clue to their father's murder.
Note From The Developer
This game is my love letter to JRPGs of the 1990's. It has been through a few drafts and iterations but this past year I redeveloped the entire game from the ground up because when I had initially finished the project, my writing and dev skills had evolved so much that I couldn't help but notice every little newbie mistake, every little plothole or piece of bad dialogue and it drove me crazy. I have really put my all into this project and I can finally say, I'm proud to share it with you all.
While this game is heavily influenced by classics like FF4, FF6, and Chrono Trigger, I made it a point to do a lot of research on modern JRPGs. I wanted to stay as true as possible to a SNES-era JRPG but I also wanted to have fun. There were a few things I couldn't decide on so I adopted the philosophy of "when in doubt, make it an option". Players can see this philosophy played out through options like enemy difficulty, random encounters vs map encounters, and two different combat systems (ATB and Standard). That philosophy is woven into the mechanic design as well. Players can build their characters to fight as more classic-style JRPG battlers or they can build their characters to utilize the Attack Chain mechanics for a more active combat experience.
The newest update, v1.2.0, brings a lot of changes. I got some feedback from here that was very insightful and this update is a reflection of that. There's still a lot of work to do, but I think this update begins to address some of the most relevant issues.
There are currently 3 major bugs in this release. I am working on fixing them as soon as possible. In the meantime, they are easily avoided if you know what they are.
As a last minute "just in case" I added in an auto-save feature to help both forgetful savers as well as players that may encounter one of these bugs.
BUG LIST
- Do not try to sell the T.O.S. (MK-I) or the game will crash. For reasons still unknown, that particular Thaumetic item gets duplicated when it is equipped and still shows up in the player's inventory as an Accessory. If it is equipped, nothing happens. If it is sold, the game crashes because it's not really there. Still hunting this one down.
- Dunkargo is incorrigable... The comeback system is great but for reasons still unknown, only Dunkargo has an issue where he just won't stay down. He does eventually stop trying to get up but for now it will range from bothersome to life-saving in how it effects the player. Still working to figure this bug out.
- Auto-Item bug... This one is especially irritating because this was never a problem through 100's of runs until right before Song of Silvermane was done. The accessories, Alchemist Kit and Medical Satchel, grant a reactive auto-item ability. In testing 99.99% of the time everything works fine. If the game crashes in combat and says something like "rule.isApplicable is not a funtion" or mentions "Torigoya_AutoItems.js" then you'll need to pick up from your last save/autosave and unequip the Alchemist's Kit and/or the Medical Satchel to continue playing. This is a brand new bug outta nowhere so still looking into it.
:: STORY SYNOPSIS ::
A disgraced soldier and his magically gifted sister struggle against the shadow of their estranged father to survive in a world where technology feeds on the death of magic.
"Song of Silvermane" is the first game of the Neverspring Chronicles series offered as a demo for the overall project.
:: FEATURES ::
- About 4+ hours of gameplay.
- Designed for SNES-era RPGers with (hopefully) a balanced blend of originality and nostalgia.
- Choices matter, permanent effects, multiple endings.
- Expanded traditional combat
- Utilize Thaumetics and Mods to enhance equipment
- Monsters rarely drop gold, gain wealth through interacting with environment
Roasts
kodesuper 3 years ago
Game Graphics Level DesignWhen I first booted up the game, I thought, "Wow it's quite polished!" so I went an optimistic route. And yes, I do like the cutscenes, but it takes a bit too long because, in a game, players want control as soon as the play it. As I played the game, I found that the story is a bit bland, and needs a hook, just to give players that this game's story is important for them to follow. In other words, you need to be personal with the player. Yes, I do think Marrick's past and loss is quite personal, but it doesn't quite connect with me. For me, its more or less the generic RPG that many devs fall into. The story needs more work, as the combat system. Nobody likes random encounters except you're playing a Pokemon game. The random encounters should be divided into different regions in the game, not 3 encounters at the starting area after the village. The character introductions, however, are quite neat, like the monster hunter elf girl. Besides, that, there are some misplaced character portraits in the dialogue box, and also please be consistent whether you want to utilize the name box or not. This COULD be a good game, but I can't help but put it down after just 10 minutes into the game. I also encountered that I cannot save the game as it always denies. However, besides the issues, the combat animations and graphics are impressive. So, I think, with a better fleshed out story, your game can be better!
DuranceGaming 3 years ago
Thanks for taking the time to write this. It's probably the most helpful feedback I've gotten so far.
Slackey 4 months ago
Tutorial/Learning CurveI don't really play a lot of JRPGs, but I really like the visuals and the user-friendly design for beginners. I also have to really pay attention to the combat timing and the hacking puzzles to get them right. If that was your intention, good job! I want to point out a couple of things though. I found a naming error before encountering the Artificial Evolution boss when Sparks is speaking. The second issue happened when the game crashed during aforementioned boss fight though it could just be my slow computer. (Thankfully, I saved at a pretty good point.) I might consider buying the full game when it releases, and I think it has a lot of potential.
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