Flowstone Saga Reviews

[i]Will It Steam Deck? Yes![/i] [i]Flowstone Saga[/i] is a unique mashup of ideas: Storytelling, relationship building, and character progression (levels, skills, equipment, classes (kind of)) of traditional RPGs, Tetris-inspired battles with some interesting nuance, puzzle solving that can be thought provoking but also never requires a huge commitment, and even some limited town building / decorating are all present here. It’s an ambitious mix that largely succeeds, though some elements stumble due to design choices and technical issues. [h3]What I Liked[/h3] [b]Concept: [/b] This particular concoction of features isn’t something you see everyday, and it’s certainly not something I ever thought I would really care for. But I am glad it is a thing even if it can sometimes feel like it’s not fully realized. There are many small but impactful additions to the traditional Tetris formula that make battles both engaging but also occasionally frustrating (more on that later). The option to flip from active to turn-based battles is also welcome, though the latter makes everything significantly easier. This, along with multiple difficulty settings, does however make [i]Flowstone Saga[/i] more approachable. [b]Familiar Faces: [/b] As a huge fan of Impact’s previous work, Tangledeep, it’s nice to see Mirai and company make a return. I’m not entirely certain whether [i]Flowstone Saga[/i] is a direct sequel or a spinoff, but it feels kind of in between somewhere. Either way, you absolutely don’t have to play Tangledeep to enjoy this game, though some references will fly over your head. But seriously…go play Tangledeep, too. [b]Presentation: [/b] Hearkening back to “good ‘ole times” with its SNES-era inspiration, [i]Flowstone Saga[/i] is both a visual and tonal delight. While I don’t find it as appealing as the studio’s previous work, it’s nonetheless solid across the board. [b]Fishing: [/b] Any time a fishing mini-game is designed to not be brain-dead simple, you have both my heart and wallet. Timing and random button sequences have to be executed to ultimately snag a fish, but the rewards can be well worth it on top of just being a nice change of pace from the core gameplay. [h3]What I Disliked[/h3] [b]Fit and Finish: [/b] Despite its strengths, [i]Flowstone Saga[/i] feels like it needed one last round of polish before release. Issues vary in severity, and fortunately most are but minor annoyances. There are a few spelling/grammatical mistakes through the script, fishing can occasionally have visual bugs, the main menu can become obscured by an overlay which requires a reboot to restore, and bluetooth audio seems to mess up when you try to connect after the game has been in suspension. More concerning are the hardlocks, of which happened several times and interestingly have always been during boss fights. Auto-saves and the ability to save anywhere help remedy this, but it’s nonetheless a bandaid to the actual problem. To be fair, these all were experienced on Steam Deck and may not apply to other platforms, but it’s still worth mentioning. [b]Pacing and Balance: [/b] Storytelling comes in bursts, with long stretches of little plot development followed by dense info dumps. The ending also feels abrupt, making the overall pacing uneven.The story and characters have their moments, but it’s not an overly compelling tale and the odd pacing just doesn’t really do it any favors. It ultimately leaves you wishing that it was more spread out, or some bits even cut altogether…which isn’t ideal for a story-driven experience. Similarly, there are pacing issues to combat, with some normal encounters feeling like endurance tests while boss fights can be surprisingly easy and short. This inconsistency in challenge and pacing may stem from how certain enemy mechanics are designed rather than player skill, such as the damage reduction ability that certain enemies have which requires additional setup (thus time) to properly counter.. As a result, there’s never a consistent “happy medium” feeling between challenge and the length of encounters. [b]NPCs: [/b] While the core visuals are solid, NPCs mainly remain static, which makes towns feel lifeless. Most have really nice idle animations but that’s unfortunately about it - there’s really no pathing or movement by most NPCs, and that would have added much-needed vibrancy to the experience. [h3]Consider Buying This If…[/h3] You’re looking for a genuine spin on the typical retro-inspired RPG formula, want to ease yourself into the RPG fray through genre-unique concepts, or you just like Tetris/Match-3/block-breaking games. If you enjoy RPGs with unique mechanics and don’t mind some rough edges - on Steam Deck anyway - [i]Flowstone Saga[/i] is certainly worth a look. [h3]Overall Opinion: GOOD[/h3] [i]Based on a BAD, OK, GOOD, GREAT rating scale.[/i] [i]Played entirely on Steam Deck[/i] [i]If you love RPGs and like what you see from me here, consider following my [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45112017-The-RPG-Peddler/]Curator Page[/url] for more![/i]