[SAB CA]

*Please Note that the updated CSTW, with bonus features such as Cthulhu's Angels, Bromides, and more, is now available on XBLIG, Steam, and Gamersgate! SO YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE ANY MORE! BUY NOW, BUY MULTIPLES, BUY BYE!*

Insane Stats of Interest:

• Developer/Publisher: Zeboyd Games
• Release Date: December 30th, 2010
• Genre: Save-The-World-To-Destroy-It-Playing-Game.
• Price: 240 MSP
• Marketplace Link: Cthulhu on Xbox.com (US)
• GamersGate: Gamersgate purchase page
• Steam: Steam Info Page

Media:

• Music Video Trailer!
• RPGAMER Dev Interviews: (1) (2)
• 22 Track FREE sountrack download!
  

Official Press Release:

Zeboyd Games (Breath of Death VII: The Beginning) is proud to announce the release of their new RPG, Cthulhu Saves the World for the XBox 360 on December 30th, 2010. Cthuhu was all set to plunge the world into insanity and destruction when his powers were sealed by a mysterious sorcerer. The only way for him to break the curse is to become a true hero. Save the world to destroy it! Features: An epic 6-10 hour journey of redemption, romance, and insanity! Classic 16-bit turn-based RPG style combined with the best of modern game design! 720p! Parallax scrolling! Backgrounds! Comic book style cutscenes! A unique insanity system lets you inflict insanity on your opponents for fun and profit! More accessible than ever before! 3 difficulty levels (Easy, Normal, Hard)! Save wherever you like! Collect 1-Ups to retry failed battles! Over 20 awesome songs! 7 playable characters! Over 20 multi-character unite techniques! 3 bonus game modes for increased replay value! All of the great features players know and love from Breath of Death VII: The Beginning have returned – fast-paced gameplay, combo system, random encounter limits, branching LV-Ups, and more! “Our previous RPG, Breath of Death VII: The Beginning, has been very successful with over 40,000 copies sold, a LTD trial to purchase conversion rate of over 66.6%, and high user ratings (4.5/5 stars on the US marketplace),” says Zeboyd Games founder, Robert Boyd. “With big improvements in every area, we expect Cthulhu Saves the World will become an even bigger success.” Cthulhu Saves the World is available now for 240 Microsoft Points ($3 USD) in all countries where XBox Live Indie Games are supported. Cthulhu Saves the World is a proud member of the Indie Games Winter Uprising. For more information, check out the official website at http://www.indiegames-uprising.com/ For press inquiries about Cthulhu Saves the World or Zeboyd Games, contact Robert Boyd at rdespair@gmail.com or visit our website at http://zeboyd.com

Screenshots:






Reviews:

• Joystiq Indie Gems – Cthulhu Saves the World review
  

  It's rare to find a game that is both entertaining and genuinely funny, and so far Cthulhu Saves the World is both.

• GamesRadar Review – 9/10
  

  Honestly? This is too good to be stuck in the 360 indie game store -- It’s for players who love RPGs, players who no longer have time for the genre, or even players who just want a damn funny game. It looks old but it packs more personality than most big budget blockbusters. Cthulhu may not want be a hero, but he’s helping to save a genre.

• Game Informer – 5 Indie Games for the New Year
  

  The Dragon Quest-style battles are fast. The characters are amusing. The gameplay is clever. And the campaign is lenghty; the game takes between 5 and 10 hours to complete, so you’ll definitely get your money’s worth.

• XBLA Fans review
  

  What is well done, however, is that you are not overburdened with battles like in most RPG titles with random battle systems. You can get in a good number of steps before monsters will come knocking at the door.

• Indienerds review
  

  The games reviewed here represent the best you can find on the Xbox Live Indie marketplace and when I tell you that “Cthulhu Saves The World” is one of the finest indie games I ever reviewed, you might want to consider skipping the review and just go ahead and download it.

• DIYGamer review
  

  It’s very fun, and creative? Who else could think this stuff up? And in a world where fun and creativity aren’t appreciated nearly as much as they should, Zeboyd has found a place in my heart. -- The game delivers on every front it intended to and goes above and beyond that in several areas. $3 is nothing for what you get in return

• Armless Octopus Review
  

  It’s absurd, it’s charming, and it’s a heck of a lot of fun. If you grew up playing RPGs, you really owe it to yourself to play Cthulhu Saves the World.

• Eurogamer/EDGE (8/10)

  For 240 MS Points (just a shade over £2.00) it's pricier than most of its Indie peers. But Cthulhu Saves The World also justifies that investment by being more fun than a lot of 1200 Point Arcade games. At this price, you'd be a gibbering madman not to give it a go.

Reiterate!: Free Soundtrack (22 songs!):

• Soundtrack of Pretentious Squid... headed... things.
• Lower Quality Version for Slower Net Connections.

(Updated March 14th: NEW STUFF!

• FREE upate to owners of XBLA version / New Features of PC version:
• Cthulhu Saves the World: Super Hyper Enhanced Championship Edition Alpha Diamond DX Plus Alpha FES HD – Premium Enhanced Game of the Year Collector’s Edition (without Avatars!) official press release. (Thanks HadesGigas!)

Features Include:

Cthulhu’s Angels game mode – Cthulhu is too lazy to save the world so he talks a bunch of beautiful women into saving it for him! Features new dialogue, new playable characters (Molly the Were-Zompire! Elonalina the generic healer! Dark Knight Umi! Low level October!), new music, new abilities, and much, much more! Director’s Commentary mode – Specially marked commentary icons scattered throughout the game tell the inside story on how one of pop culture’s most popular cosmic monstrosities became an RPG hero for great justice! Rebalanced Gameplay – Many abilities and monsters have been rebalanced for even silkier smooth RPG gameplay! Plus a new Insanity difficulty mode and new super-hard bonus dungeon have been added to challenge even the best players ability to grind out higher LVs (because they’re really not as skilled as they like to brag)! Unlockable Character Bromides – Due to the frothing demand for sexy Cthulhu art! More jokes – F’tghan! An obscure hint to our next game – Hey, why aren’t we working on that now instead? More options – Toggle the running button, then untoggle it! Endless fun! Great value – All previously released paid DLC bundled for free (note, previously released paid DLC does not exist) Longer credits – To thank all the froody guys and gals at Kickstarter who helped make this project a reality! Celebrity cameos – Cthulhu, the dog of e from Xbox Live! Robert Khoo of Penny Arcade (the benefits of being a fundraising benefactor)! Plus all of the great features already included in the original version of Cthulhu Saves the World!

[Nekobo]

Looks awesome :lol

Downloading the demo now.

[Nekobo]

Aw hell, after seeing the trailer I went and bought the damn thing :lol

[An-Det]

The trailer even used the Hey There Cthulhu song. I'm definitely intrigued, will download the demo when I get home

[GhaleonEB]

Images in the OP aren't showing up for me for some reason. I think ya forgot the |OT| in the title as well. :p

(Edit: banner's there now, awesome. :lol )

I really enjoyed Breath of Death VII, it was a charming, fun RPG. This is an insta-buy for me in a few minutes here.

[slasher_thrasher21]

This looks too cool. Will bite!

[SAB CA]

Images in the OP aren't showing up for me for some reason. I think ya forgot the |OT| in the title as well. :p I really enjoyed Breath of Death VII, it was a charming, fun RPG. This is an insta-buy for me in a few minutes here.

Yup, I rehosted the main pic now, looking for alternatives for the rest... and yup, forgot the |OT|!

If only his own site had some screens up :lol

[Ricker]

How can you resist a Parallax Enhanced 2010 Turbo Edition ;) bought,as soon as I finish Aphelion II.

[Jtyettis]

Trailer is made of awesome and win. Will give this a shot.

[LiK]

"Unofficial AWESOME Symbol of Approval"

[Parham]

The game looks nice. I'll buy it right now.

[GhaleonEB]

I saw from his website that Breath of Death VII: The Beginning cleared 40,000 in sales, which is pretty impressive for an XBLIG. He needs the game to do well in December, and he can move on to game development full time. Though I think the delays (it was supposed to hit the first week - he was one of the two guys behind the Winter Uprising) might cost him a lot in sales.

[toythatkills]

How can you resist a Parallax Enhanced 2010 Turbo Edition ;) bought,as soon as I finish Aphelion II.

Buy sooner rather than later! If he sells a game in December, he'll get paid for it in February. If he sells a game on January 1st onwards, he'll get paid in May. If he sells enough copies in the next couple of days he'll be able to afford to go full time game development which can only be good for us! ("He" being "they.")

I'm buying, I can't even play until the end of next month :lol

(nice OP, too!)

[Neuromancer]

:lol Will buy, you have my money good sir.

[Ricker]

Buy sooner rather than later! If he sells a game in December, he'll get paid for it in February. If he sells a game on January 1st onwards, he'll get paid in May. If he sells enough copies in the next couple of days he'll be able to afford to go full time game development which can only be good for us! ("He" being "they.") I'm buying, I can't even play until the end of next month :lol (nice OP, too!)

Oh,didn`t know that,I`ll grab it today then. :)

[toythatkills]

Oh,didn`t know that,I`ll grab it today then. :)

I mean, everyone's gonna buy it anyway. Heh :)

[MightyHedgehog]

Just played the intro area up to getting to Miskatonia. Much more fun and engaging than BoDVIII, so far. Writing is lean and just humorous enough to direct the game. Simple basic battle design but I love the early showing of the player combo count/enemy strength increase for each turn taken and the integration of the techniques and spells that use that value. Definitely ratchets up the danger every turn while ensuring dynamic feeling battles that actually require some risk-taking and thinking to close the battle before the enemies become too powerful to withstand another hit from while still rewarding you with using a super-powered spell or special attack based on the accrued combo count. First boss seems like a good look at where the big battles are going, with regard to the planning for each turn. Really good stuff.

[diztrukted]

this game is getting so much hype....lol

[Neuromancer]

Just played the intro area up to getting to Miskatonia. Much more fun and engaging than BoDVIII, so far. Writing is lean and just humorous enough to direct the game. Simple basic battle design but I love the early showing of the player combo count/enemy strength increase for each turn taken and the integration of the techniques and spells that use that value. Definitely ratchets up the danger every turn while ensuring dynamic feeling battles that actually require some risk-taking and thinking to close the battle before the enemies become too powerful to withstand another hit from while still rewarding you with using a super-powered spell or special attack based on the accrued combo count. First boss seems like a good look at where the big battles are going, with regard to the planning for each turn. Really good stuff.

Hope its not too hard.

[jergrah]

Great trailer!! Just queued up the demo and will most likely purchase after giving it a shot.

[toythatkills]

Hope its not too hard.

Difficulty levels mean it's not

[Painraze]

man this looks awesome. i love XBLIG :D :D

[Neuromancer]

Difficulty levels mean it's not

Good point, nice.

[Rikyfree]

Praise Cthulu of R'lyeh! All hail the dark lord Cthulu, long may he reign.

[djtiesto]

Bought this game about an hour ago, without even downloading the demo, and just made it to the Starfish boss. Tried once, died, and then came on to post my own OT about the game. Honestly... this game is FANTASTIC so far.

The game has a great sense of humor, it pokes fun at itself and other videogame traditions, I was LOL a few times over what I've played. The graphics have a very consistent and attractive look to them, somewhere between 8 and 16 bit (think, an early Turbo Duo RPG), and it has some popup manga still cutscenes reminiscent of Phantasy Star 4. Even the music sounds very good (a tad reminiscent of the Lufia games) and wouldn't be out of place in a more "professional" game.

Actual gameplay is extremely fast, but has a few nice characteristics with it. There are random encounters, but after a certain amount on a board, they will stop. You get to select your upgrades after every level, and the upgrades make you think a bit as to which one you really want (do I go for 20% Agility upgrade, or 20% MP upgrade? Do I go for the attack that hits every enemy 50% of the time, or 1 enemy 90% of the time?). Only thing I don't like is that, in its speed, the spell effects just whizz past you and you barely get to see them (so far).

Then, as soon as I was thinking to myself just how awesome this game was... I got to fight a Dolphin!!!

Honestly, so far, this is probably the best $3 I ever spent on XBL. If you like DQ style battles and have a bit of a sense of humor, you MUST buy this.

[MightyHedgehog]

Yeah, I do really like the choice in upgrade paths that facilitate differing battle styles/role specialization, too. Presentation-wise, it's like a Genny or TG-16 style of early late 80s/early 90s console RPG with sound that came from a SNES or off of CD PCM. Really good stuff.

[GhaleonEB]

Bought and played a little bit. The same style of writing as Breath of Death, tongue planted firmly in cheek, and it's quite amusing. I loved it when Cthulhu overheard the narrator.

The combat system seems to be a close iteration of the one in Breath of Death, which I thought was quite good. The dynamic of gradually increasing enemy strength working against your steadily building combo meter was interesting to work with in that game. And I like his branching level up bonuses - I tend to go with passive abilities whenever I have the option to.

Only played for 10 minutes or so, but it looks like it will be at least as good as Breath of Death, but with a more detailed visuals. Which works for me. :D

[Sill4]

Why is he so small?

[Neuromancer]

Why is he so small?

I'm sure the in-game fiction justifies everything and makes it canon.

[GhaleonEB]

Why is he so small?

He was huge initially, then had that spell cast on him. Now he's player-sized. Very convenient!

He was in the pool!

:lol

[FromTheFuture]

Why is he so small?

He was in the pool!

[smokeymicpot]

Playing the demo. The writing is pretty funny.

[Zerokku]

Picked it up, will download this evening. Loved BoDVII and everyone is saying this one is even better. Can't wait to play it.

Edit: That Music video is one of the best things I have ever seen :lol :lol

[HadesGigas]

Bought it, won't have time to play it until late tonight though...

[FateBreaker]

The music where you first get to the play and move around is excellent.

[Spyn Doctor]

Buy sooner rather than later! If he sells a game in December, he'll get paid for it in February. If he sells a game on January 1st onwards, he'll get paid in May. If he sells enough copies in the next couple of days he'll be able to afford to go full time game development which can only be good for us! ("He" being "they.") I'm buying, I can't even play until the end of next month :lol (nice OP, too!)

Also remember that with XBLIGs, the cutoff time is measured in GMT, if I'm not mistaken. Which makes the time window even shorter. Seen from the US, that means that any sales after 6pm east-coast and 3pm west-coast on the 31st won't be paid out until second quarter 2011.

Hope its not too hard.

I can attest that it is not. I am far from being an expert in this kind of games, but so far, I've been able to cope nicely on medium level...

Doc

[Parallax Scroll]

This is solid. Better than Breath of Death IMO.

[An-Det]

Finally tried out the demo, that was great. The humor was wonderful, is it similar in the guy's previous game?

Definitely buying this. Cthulhu fhtagn!

[Parallax Scroll]

The humor was wonderful, is it similar in the guy's previous game?

Yep!

[Gen X]

I just bought this so the creator gets some money now rather than in 4 months time. I don't even play rpg's. :lol

[Stage On]

I've been waiting for this. I bought it right away even thought I won't be able to touch it for awhile :)

Can't wait to actually try it. I'm sure it'll be great since breath of death rocked

[Darkmakaimura]

Poor Lovecraft Mythos is subject to parody nowadays (looking at you too, South Park!)

I have about 270 or some points to spare. May buy this!

Edit: Bought.

[VoteForPedro]

Any chance of this being released on PC/PS3?

[IoCaster]

The trailer sold me the game. Bought.

[Chauncy Talon]

FUCK. I only have 200 points. Sometimes I hate the point system, but it help me out in the long run. I will pick this up in the future.

[SAB CA]

Any chance of this being released on PC/PS3?

From the Devs own twitter, regarding PS3:

Werezompire: I like the PSN as a gamer, but short of Sony driving a truck full of money to my door, CSTW on the PSN is unlikely.

Dunno about a PC release... Did he mention something about wanting to get on Steam in one of the RPGamer interviews, or am I thinking about someone else? -don't remember-

Anywho, finally got to playing the game myself... I love all the added attention to detail compared to BoD. It really helps raise the quality of the game from "Awesome game by a small Dev" to just flat out "Awesome Game!"

I still have BoD to beat too... :lol But purchased this anywho. Will beat Breath first before diving into this.

I really like watching Indies start off NES style, and then raise themselves to SNES or TG16 Standards. It's like getting to live the 8 to 16 bit graphic evolution all over again!

[xbhaskarx]

Any chance of this being released on PC/PS3?

I see port begging has now extended from XBLA to XBLIG....

[Beezy]

I need to get this and Breath of Death.

[GhaleonEB]

1st half day of sales data for Cthulhu Saves the World

Cthulhu Saves the World – Day 1

240 MS points
897 sales
1927 trials
Conversion Rate of 46.55%.

From what I’ve heard, Microsoft starts and ends days at 3:00 pm Pacific time which means that this data only covers about 9 hours.

It’s a far cry from my initial 10,000 sales goal, but that goal was made with the belief that Cthulhu Saves the World would come out with several weeks to spare, not 2 days before the end of the year. By all accounts, it’s a very strong start – that’s more copies sold in 9 hours than we have sold on any 1 day for Breath of Death VII! Plus Cthulhu Saves the World is $3 while BoDVII is only $1 so the revenue is over 3 times as much. In any case, it ought to be enough to get us the #1 top download spot when the dashboard updates.

Unless sales for the 31st are crazy, we’ll be sticking with part time development a bit longer, but if Cthulhu Saves the World sells consistently over a long period of time like Breath of Death VII did, then turning Zeboyd Games into a full time development studio in a few months is a strong possibility.

Thank you everyone for your support in buying our games and spreading the word! We couldn’t do it without you!

http://zeboyd.com/2010/12/31/1st-hal...ves-the-world/

Seems like a good start. Hopefully it keeps going.

[Darkmakaimura]

Finished it! Took me about 4 hours although I didn't really explore after getting Ember, the flying dragon so I'm wondering if I missed anything cool. Overall, a great game and I would recommend it to old school JRPG fans and those who love the Cthulhu mythos in general. Lots of cool H.P. Lovecraft references.

Edit: I'll have to get Breath of Death after this.