Revenant Saga (PC) Review

By Gabriel Jones 29.03.2017

Review for Revenant Saga on PC

In a world of fantasy and adventure, the tenets of peace, justice, and love are being threatened by revenants. These immortal monsters resemble humans, but have long since cast off the shackles of mortality. Their sole purpose is to kill everyone. If that wasn't enough, a plague is sweeping through numerous towns and villages, causing untold levels of suffering. Albert's only wish is to stop the plague, so he places his trust in the hands of Dr. Moreau. That…probably wasn't the brightest idea. Due to a botched experiment, Albert has now become a half-revenant. Harbouring the heart of a demon, he sets off on a quest of vengeance.

Revenant Saga is an RPG steeped in tradition. The main character is an idealistic youth who eventually partners up with three others, and they all have their own reasons for wanting to save the world. Inevitably, these heroes will cross paths with villains - such as the aforementioned Dr. Moreau - and deal with numerous hardships. Progression is handled in a fairly strict manner. The party enters a town, they're told to go to the nearest dungeon, which they then explore. After slaying the boss, the party makes their way to the next town, and the cycle continues. It's a process that fans of the genre are perhaps too familiar with.

The heroes destined to save the land are a collection of quirks. Being a half-revenant sounds horrifying, but for Albert, it mostly means having a massive appetite. Esther is a Valkyrie in training. What she lacks in social skills, she more than makes up for in revenant-slaying. When he's not arguing with everyone else, Bruno treads a thin line between inspiring and obnoxious. Then there's the mysterious girl Julia, who communicates mostly by nodding or shaking her head. What could be the formula for a throwaway cast actually comes off as rather endearing. Everyone has a purpose, and sufficient time is spent getting to know what drives them. Despite the high body count, the story is light-hearted, and the characters spend most of the adventure cracking jokes and being goofy.

Screenshot for Revenant Saga on PC

Everything in this game is designed to serve a purpose, and not much else. Towns are very standard in terms of architecture, so expect the usual amenities like shops and inns. The townspeople don't have much to talk about aside from all of the terrible things that keep happening to them. If they aren't complaining about the revenants, then it's the plague, or… Well, that's the gist of it. It's still worth taking the time to meet and greet, because some citizens offer quests to undertake. The tasks are easy and the rewards are worthwhile, so it never hurts to take slight detours.

Naturally, the dungeons are formulaic, but they get the job done. They contain all of the necessary elements such as twisting passages, traps, and treasure chests filled with goodies. In lieu of an auto-map, pressing a button causes the screen to zoom out, giving a better view of the immediate surroundings. This is more a courtesy than anything, since the probability of getting lost is very low.

Screenshot for Revenant Saga on PC

Battles are handled in a manner similar to classic titles such as Grandia. Both the heroes and the monsters share the same timeline, and take turns depending on their speed stat. Each character has their own set of skills, all of which serve basic tasks such as hurting, healing, or buffing. It's important to note that it takes longer to recover after performing these special abilities, so sometimes it's better to go with regular attacks or item usage to achieve similar results. It's also possible to transform, which greatly expands each hero's skillset, but renders them incapable of healing. Furthermore, if they lose all of their hit points while transformed, they can't be revived for the rest of the fight.

One of the interesting aspects of the game is the weapon system. The strength of a sword, knife, chakram, or scythe is determined by not just their base stats, but also by how what ores they're customised with. There are numerous types of ores. Some exist solely to make the weapon more powerful, others bestow specific abilities, such as a chance to cause poison upon hit. The prevalence of ores makes it easy to create some pretty devastating weapons, especially when paired with the right equipment.

Screenshot for Revenant Saga on PC

The difficulty of this game trends towards the very low end. If the player doesn't run from any battle, they're liable to effortlessly handle any boss, at least on the normal difficulty setting. If they take the time to do some grinding, then the only challenge comes from remaining awake long enough to continue pressing the "confirm" button. There's a special shop that offers many unique items, such as experience-boosting equipment. Also, there's an option to skip random encounters with weak enemies. The party still gets the experience points, but is spared the nuisance of battle. Needless to say, it's not hard at all to be over-levelled for every encounter.

The aesthetics are definitely an improvement over Tears Revolude. The battle graphics resemble a first generation Dreamcast game, which is oddly charming. Otherwise one can expect to see towns and dungeons that wouldn't look out of place on the Super Nintendo, just at a much higher resolution. The frame rate is still a bit lousy, but overall the visuals are okay. Also unlike Kemco's previous title, there aren't any issues with sound quality. While there could have been more songs, the music is serviceable.

Screenshot for Revenant Saga on PC

Cubed3 Rating

5/10
Rated 5 out of 10

Average

Overall, Revenant Saga is decent for what it is: a low budget RPG to help pass the time. It's not wholly unremarkable, thanks to its charming cast and solid battle system. The storyline also has a couple of interesting moments. Is that worth the ten or so hours it takes to see the main quest to its conclusion? That depends on if the player has the patience for dealing with stress free and mundane trips through towns and dungeons. All in all, this game is inoffensive, but not terribly compelling.

Developer

Exe-Create

Publisher

Kemco

Genre

Turn Based RPG

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  5/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now   

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