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The Spirit Engine 2

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Developer: Mark Pay
Publisher: Mark Pay
Genre: RPG > General
Released: Jul 29, 2008
Players: 1

Website

- 2008 Top 10 Games of the Year

- 2008 RPG of the Year

- The Spirit Engine 2 Review

Michael Scarpelli: 9

I have to give The Spirit Engine 2 big points simply because it is breathing life into a tired old genre and doing it in ways that still page homage to the old school. In a world of sweeping 3D, real-time, pseudo-action RPG gaming, The Spirit Engine 2 is a side-scrolling, pixel graphic, content-heavy piece of awesome.

You can form your party of three from nine different characters, the choice of which and interactions between them will greatly change the content that you see as the story unfolds. The story is filled with a rich history and feels like a very alive world (no doubt thanks to the original game).

The combat, also, is a nifty thing. You basically create queued templates of actions for your characters to perform. In combat, you set their action set, set the party�"s order and then set the speed that combat should proceed at, and the rest is automatic. It�"s the kind of thing that might feel distancing, but in practice involves just as much careful action management as any RPG you�"ve played in the past.

There�"s just a lot of "cool" here. But then again, I am a huge geek.

Pany Haritatos: 9

The Spirit Engine 2 does just about everything right. The graphics and animations are marvelous with interesting character designs, NPCs, monsters and backgrounds bringing to life vibrant and compelling scenery and environments. The music and audio are some of the best you'll find in a game anywhere. The different characters you can pick from and their in-depth stories really help create an inviting setting that compels you as you move through the game. This is achieved with some excellent writing. The gameplay, in the form of its pseudo turn-based engine, is fun but it does take some getting used to. The game ramps up the difficulty rather quickly, but luckily you can adjust it mid-game if you're not picking it up as quickly as you should. My only requests for this game would be the ability to save anywhere and a slightly more intuitive combat interface. Otherwise, it is an indie masterpiece.

Coby Utter: 9

Many indie RPGs have crossed my desk; most are forgettable, many simply aren't fun, and none have approached greatness. TSE2 has finally changed that for me. Functionally, TSE2 is a side scrolling RPG where you control a small party of adventurers who unexpectedly cross paths after a sinister cult starts murdering civilians. You can purchase items in shops, converse with each other and various NPCs, and allocate stat points earned in battle. The battles are turn-based, in that each party member has a timer that controls when they will execute the current command in their chain, which you can alter on the fly. There are some interesting mechanics here, including the skill chains, auto-resurrections (for your party AND enemies) and so many stats, weaknesses, and immunities, that it may seem overwhelming at first. After a few battles, however, it should start to click, and strategies begin to form around your party's abilities and the various enemies you face.

Visually, TSE2 has a very cohesive style, despite lo-res graphics and simple animations (which take little away from the overall game.) The soundtrack is phenomenal; the music felt right at every moment, and it really helped to fulfill the total experience. There is a lot of dialogue, but it can be skipped. Although the story isn't the most original, it has plenty of unique, well thought-out plot points, and the world simply made sense. The game does suffer from extreme linearity and an often brutal difficulty, but everything else is so masterfully executed that you should plan on being enthralled for hours.

Russ Carroll: 9

TSE2 is fantastic.

It has beautiful pixel-work that matches a wonderful musical score. As a fan of RPGs who simply doesn't have time to play them anymore, I nevertheless played the game A LOT this month and even as I write this I can't help but think I'd rather be playing the game. The story is immediately as engaging as the graphics are stunning (despite the somewhat unsmooth scrolling that seems to be peculiar to fusion). Though there is probably too much text, I couldn't help but read through it all.

Initially, I also enjoyed the strategy-filled battles that featured a wide variety of abilities that each had its place in battle, but the battles are also where the game gets one negative point from me. Many of them are just WAY TOO long, making the grind feel all the more grind-ish. Thankfully the only 'grind' that occurs are the expected encounters as you travel from one location to another, making it a smaller, but still notable issue in what otherwise is an absolutely perfect game.

By: The Illustrious Panel
Posted: Monday September 22, 2008