From Impact Gameworks who made the excellent Tangledeep, their next game Flowstone Saga is officially out now with Linux support. Note: my key was provided by NOVY UNLIMITED PR.
Given how much I enjoyed Tangledeep, I was keen to see what Impact Gameworks had up their sleeve next. It started off life as Puzzle Explorers: A Tangledeep Story which had a failed crowdfunding campaign, then it came back just shy of a year later renamed to Flowstone Saga and it was a success this time around. Nice to see that when you have a good idea, sometimes you just need a little more time to get everything right.
Fusing together the basic idea of Tetris and a JRPG-styled adventure, with an intriguing story and some nice pixel art Flowstone Saga really hits a lot of the right notes. It pulls you in right from the start, even the first 5 minutes has you battling away as it teaches you the basics of the falling-blocks battle system and you just want more.
Pictured - Flowstone Saga, click images to enlarge.
The battle system basics are: drop the blocks to get a full horizontal line, which then gets destroyed and you'll attack the enemy. You start off with basic shapes, with more types of shapes to unlock as you go. It throws in lots extras as well with different types of special blocks you can line up and destroy for more damage, that make it feel just that bit more frantic.
Like a true classic RPG, you can fight multiple people in one battle, and switch targets any time while dropping blocks. You will need to do this at times too, as enemies can charge up special attacks, so this again adds to the additional heart-pounding moments when you really need those damn blocks to line up nicely. On top of that, enemies can throw stuff onto the board you need to clear, as they have harmful effects and become a nuisance. The design of it is mechanically just great. I'm not even particularly a Tetris fan at all, but here it fits in so perfectly that it's just plain fun.
Check out the launch trailer:
Direct Link
There's even more to it, since it's an RPG, you have a level system. Here, you can earn special perks which can directly affect the block-dropping board. You could select to have some blocks pre-filled for example, with more filled at higher levels or put your unlocks into power perks when you hit enemies harder. There's multiple ways to play.
As you explore there's various places that need re-building, and here you do little puzzles instead of battles with the falling blocks. They're optional, but a nice way to help towards upgrades and just a fun little break from the rest of the game. Just a nice little extra added in for explorers and completionists.
Pictured - Flowstone Saga, click images to enlarge.
When it comes to the story, it's thoroughly intriguing too and will keep you guessing for a while. You do learn early on how you do the block-dropping, and where the power specifically for you comes from but it's still quite mysterious on where it originallyy came from to keep you wanting to progress further and explore more of the carefully designed world. Nice bit of town-building outside all the battling too, giving you more of a sense of purpose. And, in true retro-RPG fashion, you can run into everyone's house and open their chest for some extras - has no one ever heard of a lock?
Features:
- Gorgeous pixel art with painstakingly handcrafted areas sprawling across multiple biomes.
- An epic story grand in scope, but with plenty of heart and charm.
- Designed with accessibility in mind – including multiple difficulty options and a turn-based “Hold” mode.
- Improve, expand, and decorate the hub town of New Riverstone – helping its citizens and making it your own.
- Mini-games with unique and quirky ways to play … and profit!
- In co-op assist mode, join the fight with a friend in battle.
- Lots of ways to create unique battle strategies and express yourself: equipment customization, perk trees, job system, and more!
One nice touch is that before you even get to the main menu, you're given screen display settings so you can get it how you want it first. More games should do that.
There were a few issues with it at release across Linux / Steam Deck, but the developer has solved them before publishing this so you're good to go with the Native Linux version. Works really nicely.
If you long for the days of sweet-looking 16-bit styled JRPGs, you're in for a bit of a treat on this one. Everything from the art style, to the design of the music and sound effects really reminded me of the golden age of such games years ago. The battle mechanic really adds to the experience too. Absolutely worth grabbing without a second thought needed. Flowstone Saga made me, surprisingly, finally truly appreciate dropping-blocks.
Available to buy on Steam. And at some point on GOG too.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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