What happens when a great team of developers is tasked with releasing a game on a tight deadline? Tears Revolude is a game that, in all senses of JRPG tradition, is fully functional. However, it lacks that extra polish that is needed to stand out in the ocean of RPGs on the market.
Playing Tears Revolude is a journey from start to finish. It feels like a long car trip with loved ones on a cool summer day. The first couple of hours are exciting, with plenty of opportunities for a great experience. A first-person camera at the top right of the screen immediately draws the mind to titles such as Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth. The combat system seems full of promise and ways to customise the characters. Topping it off, the crown jewel of nostalgia for good games, the gem-based point system from older Monster Hunter titles, is present.
However, just like how car trips often lose their lustre after a while, so does Tears Revolude. After the first pit stop or two, the excitement often drops as each person in the car starts to drift off on their own, some might even have fallen asleep already, and sadly, this is the inevitable fate of Tears Revolude. It doesn’t take long for players to realise that the amazing first-person camera is better left off, as it can cause on-screen disorientation. Yes, it’s cute to look at the enemy sprites through it, as if staring into the face of an F.O.E., but the novelty isn’t worth the potential motion sickness.
There is also, sadly, just one point in the entire game where the first-person camera is useful at all. It makes the camera feel like bait for fans of more classic DRPGs, which is a market Tears Revolude is clearly targeting, as the combat truly has that strong flavour of the genre. If looking solely at single screenshots, it would be easy to be fooled into thinking that this is indeed a DRPG.
Tears Revolude lacks the sense of exploration and resistance. The dungeons feel linear and boringly designed. To add to the gameplay issue, the combat is too easy. There are four difficulty levels, and during the review playthrough, it was set to the highest, Chaotic. Even with absolutely zero level grinding, not even post-game superbosses were even remotely challenging. Most even went down before they were allowed to take a single turn. It makes playing feel like driving from one point to the next.
Tears Revolude stands out in how well it drives, though. The systems are phenomenal, and it is clear that the development team is competent. For such a simple game, there are a few knobs to twist and turn to make each character work differently. It is just a shame the game never asks the player to make full use of those systems because of its low difficulty.
Instead, it ends up feeling rushed and half cooked. Nowhere is this clearer than in the story. In the beginning, the story and characters feel strong. It is easy to read who says what, even without looking at the name tag. There are charming parts, such as when the deuteragonist Liara describes food by its shape and colour, as she has never seen or eaten food before. Those character quirks grow farther apart and are eventually replaced by dissing against female characters based on their looks. Obviously, each and every single one of them takes this as the greatest insult imaginable, as if their looks were their most important quality.
It is disappointing. In the first couple of hours, it is easy to fall in love with the characters. Michelle, the flirty femme fatale, is truly enjoyable in the early parts. She has a refreshing and classy way to display and own her sexuality. However, somewhere past the first quarter of the game, it feels like the writers were in a hurry to finish the story. As a result, the characters feel less alive and more like plastic figures than living beings.
To add insult to injury, the facial expressions of some female characters look like those of certain kinds of adult plastic dolls. This is an odd design choice, especially in a game that tackles the topic of artificially created humans with scepticism. It feels less like a choice and more like the first draft of a model was picked for the game to make the deadline. Just like a quick drive-through dinner.
At the core, the issue is a lack of polish. Tears Revolude feels like the work of a team that knows what they are doing, but wasn’t allowed enough time to create a truly outstanding experience. Instead, after the first couple of pit stops, the journey just feels low energy, despite the potential for fun. The systems are no doubt good, and their genre knowledge is evident, but Tears Revolude lacks spirit.
