Roguemance Reviews

The game is too raw, it does have a cool concept, but it seems so repetitive and made to look like time consuming with a lot, and I mean a lot, of the same enemies to defeat that you get the feeling of boredom pretty quickly

fun game not too difficult only i dont understand why the game continues after u beat it, because as far as i can tell ur character isnt any stronger nor are the enemies so what's the point?

My wife and I played this game for two solid hours when we firewd it up for the first time. It's an absolute blast, and the logic behind the gameplay is really fun to unravel. My wife isn't a gamer, per se, and she was able to pick it up pretty fast, and enjoyed the entire experience.

The combat system is brilliant, and not like anything I've played. It's turned based, and super simple (enemies go through simple, visible, sequences of actions while you choose to order the actions of you and your partner) providing a ton of strategic and tactical depth, still having turns where things happen that surprise me (until I think back on what exactly each character did). The game itself is super short, and not particularly difficult once you have some good skills equipped and know how to use them. Took me about 2-3 hours to fail one run and win on my second. That length was good for me. By the time I got to the end I had decided I liked the powers my primary partner and I had and wasn't going to be changing anything up, so it was a good point to naturally end the game. Art, sound, and theme are all quite cute. Strong recommend if you want to play something with a unique, puzzle-like combat system, with the caveat that it's a fairly short game, and, perhaps, thoroughly explores said combat system in that time, so maybe not so deep after all? ^_^

[b][i]Roguemance[/i] is small-scale rogue-ish game with an interesting combat mechanic.[/b] The whole thing is quite small in scope, and has an appropriate price-point to reflect this. As is suggested, it plays really well in local co-op. It's fun to learn all the nuances of the combat together. The only complaint I have is that I wish the overworld map (ie. all the non-combat parts of the game) were more interesting. It's just super standard. I also found the music to be not a great fit. [b]Pros:[/b] +Charming little game with a fantastic combat mechanic +I wouldn't even consider buying this if you are not going to play with local co-op +Just an overall neat idea [b]Cons:[/b] -The parts in between combat sequences could be fresher/more interesting -Music is technically good, but I'm not sure it's the best fit for this universe [b]Yeah, [i]Roguemance[/i] is certainly worth the low asking price - and you will definitely have at least an evening of fun with a friend.[/b]

The fighting system is original and clever. Having the enemies's and your partners' actions wheels always cycling and not being able to use the same action twice (until you've used all actions in your wheel) forces you to think ahead. The management of abilities, money, health and relationships between fights is a fun challenge, without being overwhelmingly complicated. The game does get repetitive quite fast, so it's really a game to be played in short sessions. Lots of mechanics really foster the feeling of maintaining and being in a relationship. For example, once you have grown close enough to a partner, you can be in-sync with them (having both of your action wheels turn together). Another example is the choices you have to make: there are branching paths, and there are two different actions you can choose to do at the end of fights. Each has their pros and cons, and the player may have their idea of what is the best action to make, but your partner(s) will choose something first. If you decide to go with them, your relationship grows stronger (which has the in-game purpose of eventually making them "level up" and gain more health); if you don't your relationship grows weaker, eventually leading to a break up. To me, such details reinforce the idea of having a relationship that evolves and that you have to take care of. All of this makes Roguemance a game about love without having dialogues or being (too) explicit about it <3

Note: At this time, I've only completed 1 run, with 3 NPCs with me. I loved them all equally, I swear. A great game for a quick fix, Roguemance is easy to pick up and put down, and then pick up again later. The combat is the best part of the game, by far. Most of it plays as a turn-based strategy, with everyone taking their turn simultaneously, but it also has a few moves that play with this in interesting ways, such as an axe throw that moves slowly, so you can take another turn before it lands, possibly avoiding damage entirely. It reminds me a little bit of earthbound in that aspect (where losing health wasn't immediate, but was lost over time), and that, along with other skills that interact with the system differently, makes for much deeper combat than it first appears. On top of that, the exp/money system is cute and plays well into the "dating" aspect and the game's tone. The music is my second favorite part of the game, it's suitably cute and happy and sweet, and maintains the cute/happy aspect during combat, but still sounds like Battle Music lmao I think the one thing that I would have liked was for some randomized personalities for the NPCs (beyond just the randomized appearances). Although I did notice some interesting behavioural things (like one who would ONLY pick mercy, one who was rather 50/50, and one that MOSTLY picked no mercy but sometimes mercy), I would have liked to see more of it, like a few different sets of ways they would say things (instead of all of them using the same lines). This isn't a big flaw to me though so much as a "wow I liked this game now I wish there was more to it" lmao TL;DR take: Simple and cute, enjoyable combat that has some depth without being overly complex, and some neat mechanics.

Believe me...I am sad for giving this a thumbs down. I wanna make it short just like the game, so these are the main points. + it has an absolutely delightful and charming pixel art and music. + The gameplay is very unique and entertaining. - [b]Extremely[/b] easy difficulty curve - The game is actually easier without adding partners to your party because they take up a slot in the battle, can hit you or block hits that is aimed on enemies. - lack of achievements in a roguelike is a really bad thing...this is the main reason I gave this a thumbs down because it lacks achievements, so after exactly 50 minutes I beat the game and had no actual reason to keep it opened. [h1] more details [/h1] How the game works is you get 4 abilities, can use one each turn, their cooldown reset once all 4 are used you can find many partners to join you, though at the start you cannot control them, you need to do actions to make them like you, such as follow the route that they told you to, or spare/kill monsters after battle, when they like you enough you'll become able to link them to you in order to control their actions. After every fight you get to spare/kill enemies, sparing them increases max hp and killing them gives you gold, the only consequences to those is that if the partner tells you to pick one, you should cuz you need them to keep liking you otherwise they'll leave your party. Honestly this game is fun but 50 minutes for $7 is something I cant really support I absolutely loved the gameplay style but got super disappointed when I beat the game so fast and so incredibly easy after the first island part I realized that having partners is a handicap and made them all leave and literally just rushed through the entire game with the jump/laser/vampire/shield combo and did not even came close to dying, even the final boss fight wasnt able to get me down to 80% health SHORTLY PUT This game is fun and charming but too easy and lack of achievement kills my reason to play it after this....add achievements and it will justify the game's price.

[h1]Swipe left on this one [/h1] It sounded cute and different but the gameplay is lackluster. It's a simultaneous turn based strategy game. You choose from a wheel of four abilities ( which can be changed out at shops through a mystery gift in between battles) while your enemies abilities rotate clockwise. YOu can only use each ability once in a cycle. So you have to plan out what abilities to use when based on your enemies cycles, don’t throw a knife at a blocking enemy lest your hurt yourself, or if you use all your abilities except a heel when surrounded by enemies you will heal them. It can make for some interesting exchanges but battles grow stale was you realize you've seen every ability with in the first 5 minutes of the game. Playing co-op seems like a must as otherwise the ai partner also runs on a clockwise schedule like enemies and hurts more than helps. The campaign is just a bout 90 minutes long and it overstays its welcome by about 80 minutes.

[b]What else does a great date have other than destroying our enemies?[/b] Ah dating. Someone can be great at it, horrible at it, not even looking to date, or just become awkward as they try to not to ruin the date. Even if someone is looking to date, they must want someone that can connect to them and treat them great rather than someone that won’t. In a way, dating is a battlefield. And in Roguemance, you literally take your date into a battle. The heart-shaped island dubbed Heartipelago has been split apart by a raging volcano that threatens both parts from never reuniting again. Even more bad news, many monsters have decided to take onto the roads to attack any unlucky souls that wander by them. Luckily, you have stepped up to mend this heart island back together, but you can’t do it by yourself. Just mere recruiting won’t do, you’re on the island of love for god’s sake! Find a partner and have every battle be a date! How do you pick up your partners, you ask? Well, surely not by the road, you go into bars to see who’s available. Entering will reveal several choices, you can only pick up one each bar visit, and will show you what their battle moves are. If you believe you will mesh well with someone, time to ask them to travel with you and off you go! You can have more than one partner, but you do risk them clashing, and soon, leaving if you don’t take their choices into account. Each time you get out of an interaction, you will be able to move on and see how many you need to get to the area’s boss and at least two different paths. It can be a battle, a cat (which will either give you a randomized action as a gift or bring you to an action store based on their color), a health potion, or the bar. To mix it all up, one path may be shrouded in clouds so you won’t know what you will get. If you have a partner with you, they will choose the path they want to go to. If you go on the path they want to, they will gain some heart, and if you don’t they will lose some. If they gain a lot of heart, it will be converted to another health point (same for you as well). If you go into battle, you will be able to choose who you want to have a date with. During battle, no one has their own turn as everyone does their actions at the same time. In addition, you can see everyone’s attacks and you will see which ones will be performed and what will come next. You must take into account what everyone is doing, and will be doing, before you choose. If an enemy is planning to jump up, you can’t exactly throw a dagger. Though, if you plan to jump the turn before and threw the dagger, the enemy will jump right into it. However, once you use an action you won’t be able to use it till all four are used. It gets a little tricky when you have partners in the battle with you. Like the monsters, your partner’s actions will go around on a wheel. The only thing you can control in terms of your partner is which way they face till you get to know them better to connect the action wheels. This is where you really need to pay attention during battle. You can easily hurl an attack to your date, effectively hurting them, and vice versa. Though, you can blow a kiss to heal them, but make sure no enemies will get in the way or they’ll be healed instead. You essentially have to sync up with your partner or face death. As you play more, you learn a lot of tricks and as you play, be able to figure out what each new action that future enemies will have does. Such as, if your partner doesn’t have a smooch action, you can time it to where you smooch when someone shields to bounce it back to you the next turn. After you successfully won a battle, you will come across a screen giving you two options. You can either spare the monsters that was just trying to kill you (mercy), or enact revenge and kill them yourself (no mercy). Each choice has their own pros, choose mercy and it will fill up your heart or choose no mercy and you will gain money. Have a partner with you? Your partner will also choose an option that will increase their heart meter if you agree. Once you beat all the bosses, and the heart is finally together, you get to marry the partner(s) that was with you. You can choose whether or not you want to have a child, in which you will play the child and the enemies will gain one more health point. [h1]Verdict[/h1] Roguemance is interesting in a way that the combat is kind of like a puzzle. Having to pick your current and future actions based on everyone else’s. In addition, your success is tied to how well you sync with your partner. Once you find that one partner, you are basically set. Despite the runs being a little short, Roguemance is quite a charming little game. I would totally recommend this for anyone that wants a simple rogue-like to play, especially when you don't want to play anything else.