![]() When a character is defeated their figurine simply topples over, revealing an amusingly meta logo on their base that never loses its charm. There are no animations apart from wobbling around when the characters take damage or turning to face things that capture their attention. Your characters and any enemy you meet will be represented by a small, lovingly-crafted figurine. ![]() You'll have to experiment to find out what works for you. Conversely, you can whittle them down with smaller - but more regular - attacks, preventing them from dominating the fight. You can come out guns blazing and beat the enemy to a pulp up front, but if they survive you'll be at their mercy until it's your turn to move again. This is just one Crimson Shroud's many opportunities for advanced strategising. The more you attack the more MP you'll gain, but the less you do during your turn the more quickly you'll get to act again. You can attack, use an item, use a spell, use a skill, or perform some combination of the above. If tapping through dialogue isn't your thing then you may find yourself periodically bored here, but if you're willing to follow along and surrender yourself to the dangerous world that's assembling itself around you, you'll find yourself enamoured by a moody and atmospheric experience like no other in the eShop.Ĭombat is handled by choosing options from a menu. You're in the hands of a Dungeon Master, and you must trust him to weave his tale as you proceed. There's a lot of text in Crimson Shroud, but that's true to its professed table-top origins. The story has enough twists and turns to keep you engaged, and even the narrative sections manage to spice themselves up by offering branching choices and optional flashbacks along the way, as well as the option to revisit past areas in order to reveal new story elements. It's nothing that's liable to get you killed - the turn-based combat prevents speed from being an issue at any point - but it can be frustrating to tap through menus for several minutes without finding what you need.įortunately, that's our only real complaint - other than that, it's an extremely satisfying adventure. On top of that there are plenty of optional things to do along the way - such as "melding" pieces of equipment together to create stronger items, or adding dice to an attack to increase its effectiveness - and they need to be done in a very precise manner, otherwise the game simply won't allow it.īecause of this, there's a steep learning curve with Crimson Shroud. At any point you can return to the first screen of the game to review anything you've learned, and that's extremely helpful because Crimson Shroud is a difficult game to get the hang of.Įverything from combat to inventory management is handled through menus, but there are enough options to navigate through that you're bound to get lost many times as you try to remember where to find the option you're looking for. The adventure begins in media res as your party is attacked upon entering the palace of Rahab and a fourth adventurer - your knowledgeable guide - is slain.Īs you can imagine, Crimson Shroud wastes no time in throwing you into the action, and the first handful of battles serve as effective tutorials. ![]() Along for the ride are Frea, a Qish-descended mage who can serve as your healer, and Lippi, a one-eyed, one-handed archer with an adventurous streak. He serves as the bruiser of the group and is extremely handy with melee weapons. Giauque is a Chaser, a money-driven mercenary that is hired to seek out and retrieve the Crimson Shroud. You control a party of three, though the game frequently refers to Giauque as the main character. It's a lot like playing the game in person, with the obvious exception that successes and failures are calculated more quickly. You'll be rolling dice, manipulating game pieces and even taking your cues from an omnipresent Dungeon Master. And we don't just mean that it takes inspiration from table-top lifts almost the entire experience wholesale. Crimson Shroud is essentially a table-top game brought to life as a digital RPG.
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