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Review RPG Codex Review: Paper Sorcerer

Delterius

Arcane
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
15,956
Location
Entre a serra e o mar.
Humble Bundle offers this game for pay-what-you-want. 21 hours left.

Legend of Grimrock and Desktop Dungeons are there too, if you pay more than certain amounts.
This poor ass here thanks you.

Here's a Metacritic review for your raging needs

This game tries to be a mix of some different games. The combination of strategy and RPG is ok, but this game lacks in so many things that it makes no fun, sorry! I am an old fan of RPGs, strategy games and adventures.

Pro:
-Low price
-many different monsters, items and heroes to summon

Contra:
-poor level design
-poor handling
-poor sound
-you can't see the items
-you can't see the equipment on your heroes
-no journal
-no named save games
-no maps
-no quest log
-no colors
-no fun
What's 'poor handling'?
 
Last edited:

Doctor Sbaitso

SO, TELL ME ABOUT YOUR PROBLEMS.
Patron
Joined
Oct 22, 2013
Messages
3,351
Codex 2013 Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Grab the Codex by the pussy Serpent in the Staglands
Humble Bundle offers this game for pay-what-you-want. 21 hours left.

Legend of Grimrock and Desktop Dungeons are there too, if you pay more than certain amounts.
This poor ass here thanks you.

Here's a Metacritic review for your raging needs

This game tries to be a mix of some different games. The combination of strategy and RPG is ok, but this game lacks in so many things that it makes no fun, sorry! I am an old fan of RPGs, strategy games and adventures.

Pro:
-Low price
-many different monsters, items and heroes to summon

Contra:
-poor level design
-poor handling
-poor sound
-you can't see the items
-you can't see the equipment on your heroes
-no journal
-no named save games
-no maps
-no quest log
-no colors
-no fun
What's 'poor handling'?

It didn't hold his hand enough.
 

Broseph

Dangerous JB
Patron
Joined
Nov 24, 2012
Messages
4,449
Location
Globohomo Gayplex
I actually didn't like Paper Sorcerer either. From what I played, level design was extremely basic, combat wasn't a whole lot more exciting than your standard RPG Maker feel. The only thing I really liked were the aesthetics which were very nice.
 

Jasede

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jan 4, 2005
Messages
24,793
Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
Not warming up to this. The writing is riddled with mistakes, the combat is awkward, the music is annoying. There is some fun to be had though. This is a case of wasted potential. If it had better, uh, programming in general - smoother combat, a better UI, a speed setting for battles, less bugs, a proofreader - then it could have been great, even rivalled Dark Spire. But in the end it's kind of a disappointment.

And no, a low price doesn't excuse it. It doesn't matter if a game costs a million or nothing, it has no impact on its quality.

Jasede verdict: potential, poor execution
 

jdinatale

Cipher
Joined
Sep 28, 2013
Messages
422
Humble Bundle offers this game for pay-what-you-want. 21 hours left.

Legend of Grimrock and Desktop Dungeons are there too, if you pay more than certain amounts.
This poor ass here thanks you.

Here's a Metacritic review for your raging needs

This game tries to be a mix of some different games. The combination of strategy and RPG is ok, but this game lacks in so many things that it makes no fun, sorry! I am an old fan of RPGs, strategy games and adventures.

Pro:
-Low price
-many different monsters, items and heroes to summon

Contra:
-poor level design
-poor handling
-poor sound
-you can't see the items
-you can't see the equipment on your heroes
-no journal
-no named save games
-no maps
-no quest log
-no colors
-no fun
What's 'poor handling'?

It didn't hold his hand enough.

I spit out my milk onto my computer monitor in the library after reading this. Not only did people glare at me, but I got kicked out of the library. Thanks fucker.
 

SuicideBunny

(ノ ゜Д゜)ノ ︵ ┻━┻
Joined
May 1, 2007
Messages
8,943
Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Torment: Tides of Numenera
I spit out my milk onto my computer monitor in the library after reading this. Not only did people glare at me, but I got kicked out of the library. Thanks fucker.
kwan universities allow food inside libraries? philistines.
 

TigerKnee

Arcane
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
1,920
Somewhat spoilery question
Is there any place where the Goblin can succeed at lockpicking at all? I'm wondering if this feature is just a big joke played on me because he's constantly failing
 

Reapa

Doom Preacher
Joined
Jul 10, 2009
Messages
2,340
Location
Germany
The game is flawed as fuck! And also too slow. Turn based does not mean it has to be slow!
 

V_K

Arcane
Joined
Nov 3, 2013
Messages
7,714
Location
at a Nowhere near you
Somewhat spoilery question
Is there any place where the Goblin can succeed at lockpicking at all? I'm wondering if this feature is just a big joke played on me because he's constantly failing
On a certain block there's a level with more (optional) doors than there are keys to them, that's where goblin comes in handy. It's still chance-based though.
There may be some other doors too - it's impossible to tell when goblin fails if the lock was unpickable or he just got unlucky.
 

Jasede

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jan 4, 2005
Messages
24,793
Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
Despite my negative post here I kept playing and beat the game.
On 1980's difficulty on my first time through. The Final Boss took me 4 rounds. My team was bad. Like really bad. (Werewolf, Troll, Cultist)

What can I say? I'm a certified bona fide CRPG genius. Fuck, I rule so much. When it comes to playing RPGs, anyway.


Comments:

The game is as badly made as I made it out to be. However, there's still that... well, nostalgic charm. I get why you guys are so positive about it even when it has glaring flaws: we don't see anything like this. It's natural to thus be a little more kind to it. I get that but it shouldn't make you overlook the glaring issues: the slow combat speed, the massive amount of glitches, etc, etc.

But I shouldn't be such a dick. I did, despite my harsh attitude, like it enough to finish it, grudgingly. I liked that there were so many abilities. I do feel like my party was terrible but I still made it through the hardest difficulty so either I am amazing or I accidentally the best party. I find that hard to believe though. For instance, the werewolf is ostensibly a melee/buff class. Only I never used any buffs as they didn't feel good enough. Nobody in my party had any status effects so most of the time I was facing Running Slashes to the face that would annihilate lesser men. But God of CRPG gameplay as I am I cunningly max'd out DEF and HP so that I could at least get a Nil Vortex off, or an Overdrive, or usually, all of them, and Heart of Fury on top because apparently this game's approach to a high difficulty is to give everything 10000000 HP.

Now, most of the battles were pretty bad and it's a little sad how the only viable strategy (at least in my difficulty was) to "stall + DOTs". This never changed, except in a few rare multi-minion fights where one had to balance AOE's with DOTs. Not that they did much in this difficulty. Even my hilariously buffed Werewolf with his 9 ranks of Advanced Offense still did 0 damage against most things on the first few hits. And if the battle went on long enough for you to deplete their armor it was either an easy battle anyway or you were dead or about to die. However, I want to positively note the very last battle for it's surprisingly nice music - which reminded me positively of Secret of Mana 2 - and, particularly, the battle just before that.

Now THAT was a battle. I had to try it at least 10 or 11 times before I could come up with a strategy and kill order that would allow me to finally beat the game. That was a good fight and the game should have had more encounters like that. Frustrating, yet fun.

My game clock at the end was 15:00. Yes, I'm amazing. Praise me.


Overall, despite my initial misgivings, it's well-worth playing for an older school RPG fan and I will give it... mmm, 5/10. It can't get more, it's just too badly made: bugs, typos, writing issues everywhere. But despite all that I think most people here will get some (or a lot) of fun out of it.
 
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TigerKnee

Arcane
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
1,920
Huh, I'm just on Hard and my playtime is already 21 hours and I'm STILL only halfway through the game if the number of blocks I heard are correct.

Put me down for "this game really isn't cracked up to what I've heard", someone compared it to RPGMaker games, but all things considered at least RPGMaker games are free (compared to $1 but still) and a bunch of them have better interfaces than this game (like you know, being able to see what buffs and debuffs are currently on the enemy) and better "feedback" like say, DOTs actually triggering at the correct time.
 

Jasede

Arcane
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Joined
Jan 4, 2005
Messages
24,793
Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
I gotta question what you've been doing all those 21 hours, mate!
(The game has a bit of a speed bump- once you're past block 3 or 4, you can basically race to block 10, at least on 1980's - at that point you've narrowed down what to do and can just avoid combat, if you please. The only reason to dilly dally would be to scum chests in the Catacombs - which I didn't.

However, 1980's might make it easier to hit the level cap, therefore reducing the need for random encounters further- I read you get more XP in that mode. I hit the max level before block 10.)
 

TigerKnee

Arcane
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
1,920
Well, my in-game time right now is actually 9 hours, but Steam tells me that I spent 22 hours.

I suspect it's because I spent a lot of time reloading when someone in my party dies, which happened quite a lot before I got a Skeleton. I don't quite understand why bed rest don't heal dead people (other than "realism"), because it's just an annoying moneysink if I win a battle with dead people and then I think to myself whether I have to replay a 15 minutes battle or waste money in the long run.

Yeah, I'm noticing the game getting a lot faster now. Christ, I hate it that most of the early game was like trench warfare every battle but now it goes by at a pace that's more acceptable.

One thing about buffs is that it seems to be percentage based, which means that they aren't worth using if you're weak but at this point, I poured a lot of money into my minotaur and he deals some lulzy damage (which is part of what makes battle faster).

I don't know whether I'm talking out of my ass here but magic damage that aren't DOTs seems to suck. The only ones I use are those with secondary utility, like the Sorceror's Scorch burns and also reduces Agi for some reason despite not being stated in the description (bug?). Magic damage just seems inferior to melee and since Magic doesn't burn through armor, you're better off concentrating a team on physical damage dealing rather than nuking through magic. No point in trying to "balance" your physical and magical prowess, game doesn't really reward that.

Also the elements system... it's pretty pointless, isn't it? How do you even tell what most monsters in the game are weak to? The only thing I ever figured out was that maybe I shouldn't use Ice spells on the Ice Hounds.

I'm REALLY doubting that this game has as much replay value as reviewers are making out to be if the battle mechanics are as screwed up as I think it is.
 

Deuce Traveler

2012 Newfag
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Joined
May 11, 2012
Messages
2,920
Location
Stuttgart, Germany
Grab the Codex by the pussy Divinity: Original Sin Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture
I wouldn't say the game has a lot of replay value past trying out party different configurations. I'm a sucker for a game that gives me a ton of options when it comes to developing my character or party in an RPG, so the opportunities this game gave me had me constantly restarting in order to try out other monster types and party combinations. I do think that monsters that Jasede used are pretty good. Some others, such as the goblin, were on the other hand a bit weak in my estimation, but I never built up that monster's assassination skills far enough to really make a reasoned analysis. I also wouldn't put this game in a top 10 list of CRPGs, but I do still think it was a very bright spot for 2013.

I really enjoyed this game and found it charming. I especially think it is worth a try considering its low cost ($5 or $1 in a bundle). The freeware game called Heroine's Quest also came close to giving me the same enjoyment (the last stage of HQ I found frustrating). I still have to play Expeditions: Conquistador and perhaps Aarklash, but even if I like those two games better than Paper Sorcerer will still be the third best CRPG of 2013, better than Sword of the Stars: The Pit, Penny Arcade Ep 4, Shadowrun Returns, etc etc etc. Even if I played this game in the golden decade of the 90s I think I would have still found it fun.
 

Jasede

Arcane
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Jan 4, 2005
Messages
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Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
It's true that in the end my party turned out to be pretty good. It had the fatal flaw of having no disabling Status effects at all but it made up for it by heavy single target and AOE damage and a ridiculously tanky healer, which is a lot better on 1980 than a strong, but squishy healer. The Werewolf has a powerful AOE and a DOT, the Troll has 2 DOTs and a powerful single target attack, the Sorcerer has 3 different DOTs and a strong AOE and the Cultist, fortunately, also has a DOT. Also, despite the Werewolf's mediocre to okay damage and utility, he was extremely tanky, much tankier than my Abomination or Skeleton. Many battles were won with him the last person alive, chucking Firebombs or Acid.

So while it was a reload-heavy party due to no status effects, it kinda crushed if it didn't get decimated in the first turn. Probably not the best strategy, but it worked for me.


Also, here's a fun exploit if you don't feel like fighting: if you open a door the instant after you get in a fight, but before the fight loads, you will often bug out and fall through an imaginary ceiling. Once that happens you can keep walking on the map, without having to fight that fight. This only works if there are doors nearby.

Positive and very important side effect: if you get into a fight after this, the fight will happen at 3 times the speed, which is incredibly pleasant.
 
Self-Ejected

an Administrator

Self-Ejected
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Nov 17, 2015
Messages
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Where expecting basics is considered perfectionism
Now, most of the battles were pretty bad and it's a little sad how the only viable strategy (at least in my difficulty was) to "stall + DOTs".

This.
And this game also lacks even the basic positioning strategy that were implanted in Wizardry series, no back row and front row, your casters are always vulnerable to melee attacks!
 

felipepepe

Codex's Heretic
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Joined
Feb 2, 2007
Messages
17,310
Location
Terra da Garoa
Still like the game, but my biggest complaint is the random loot. Not only it's TOO RANDOM, like it can go from a amazing weapon to the worst armor in the game, but you can save-scumm to get better stuff - and, honestly, it's impossible to win "1980's mode" unless you do so.
 

Jasede

Arcane
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Messages
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Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
I cruised through that shit with a trash party, git gud. :smug:
 

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