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Paper Sorcerer | STEAM | Aesthetically Pleasing Dungeon Crawling

T

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
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| Info Box |
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Price: $4,99
Platforms: PC (Mac + Linux if you buy from the dev website)
Steam Link: http://store.steampowered.com/app/263560
Main Website (You can also buy it from here, giving the devs a bigger cut, yet still getting a steam key down the road): http://ultrarunaway.itch.io/paper-sorcerer-demo

FREE DEMO: http://ultrarunaway.itch.io/paper-sorcerer-demo

Watch the trailer (seriously, watch it): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRfJjYpRcVE

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| What is this? |
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Developer description:
Paper Sorcerer is a stylish single player turn based RPG focused on strategy, party-building, and environmental puzzles. Fight with the skills and spells you've learned in a battle system that emphasizes strategy over grinding. Assemble a party of monsters and dark creatures to fight alongside you. Explore and solve environmental puzzles to unlock secret paths and find extra loot! A double-sided adventure, an RPG with adventure game elements.
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Note: The game can be VERY hard (check the difficulty level "80's" if you monsters to wipe the dungeon floors with you), but I feel the description is not completely on spot. It is true that the game rewards good tactics, which basically lets you progress faster, but the game definitely offers the possibility to grind through difficult levels by having random encounters and a plethora of skill upgrades via level up. So this game should should appeal to both, the grinder and the tactician.

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| Media |
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This game is so goddamn pretty and is currently the source for my most recent wallpapers:
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| Impressions |
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Toma said:
The game is a dungeon crawler in which you travel in a party of four and beat several dungeon levels, which get incrementally bigger and more perilous. Since its very similar to traditional dungeon crawlers (with the exception of having a tradition jrpg turn based combat system), I'll just get right down to the specifics.

The good:

- The art style looks amazing, and is actually one of the main reasons I am playing this game for since I want to see what other levels might look like.
- Varied classes to pick from which play fundamentally different and allow for lots of strategy and depth in the combat situations
- 4 difficulty levels for a lot of replayability
- puzzles in the dungeons
- hidden areas, items, bonus/challenge dungeons
- seems to have quite a bit of content, I assume one playthrough would take around 15 hours
- lots of loot
- Easily worth the $5 asking price

The bad:

- so far, the puzzles are ridiculously easy as they mostly require you to look for very easy to spot buttons on the wall. This might change later and is not too bothersome for the begginning, but this could hold down the overall potential of the game
- Although I got used to it by now, the combat UI is notably clunky and combat in general feel rather slow.
- No "back" option if you already entered the order of char a and are currently at char b's orders.
- No mapping function seems a bit jarring

Conclusion:
I really like it. It oozes with charme, it has plenty of content in the campaign, especially considering the difficulty levels and it seems to be an overall very competent dungeon crawler with some deductions for the puzzles, but overall its a joy to play even it probably wont kick Legend of Grimrock from its recent & pretty Dungeon crawler throne. Still, Paper Sorcerer is a bit easier to play and easier accessible and I will definitely go back to explore some more. Definitely recommended.
Click to expand...

RPS said:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/11/26/impressions-paper-sorcerer/

I’m not far enough in to make accurate calls as to the balancing. At this point, I’m impressed with it. Things lean toward difficult, to that point where I’m wondering if I might start over with a better understanding of how to spend my gems and where to focus my talents. But not in that, “Dammit, I have to start over,” way at all. It’s in that, “Ooh, I could try this again, do better,” way – I think players of classic RPGs will understand the difference there. Or I won’t and I’ll carry on, tweaking and fixing and seeing if I can get this mysterious puppet character I’ve now added to my team to be anything useful. I’m getting a lot better at having the enemy attention focused on my Skellington, and keeping the Witch safe to heal the others, while my Werewolf delivers some mighty blows.

Best of all, this entire game is only $5. If you’re not sure, it’s an entrance fee that accommodates that. And there’s lots going on here for something so cheap, while still being a very stripped back RPG for modern standards. The concept is novel, the approach is intriguing, and the challenge enough to keep things interesting. I’d say this is well worth a poke.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Quick FAQ |
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Will I get a Steam Key?
No matter where you buy/bought it, you should receive a Steam key eventually and the devs are looking into how to get people their steam keys asap.

Its a dungeon crawler, what is the combat system?
Random enemy fights with certain story fights placed throughout the dungeon.

Those graphics are just 2D backdrops, right?
Nope, 3D game that has a sometimes jaw dropping play with blank space/shadows.

How much content?
Plenty. Its good and cheap, grab it.

Does the content of the demo carry over to the full game?
Yep, remember to save before jumping into a big, black hole though. <- Word of warning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monthly Indie thread with more awesome games that no one has heard of:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=744703
 
I have only barely gotten to play Legend of Grimrock. I've played about 45 minutes of it. I really enjoyed it and I plan on beating it in the coming months. Should I stick to that for now or should I pick this up?
 
Game is a ton of fun, at least give the demo a shot! If you like old school, turn-based combat, class-based parties and dungeon crawlers then this should be right up your alley. My biggest complaint is the UI clunkiness but the dev has said he is working on improving the UI.

KodeAndGame said:
I have only barely gotten to play Legend of Grimrock. I've played about 45 minutes of it. I really enjoyed it and I plan on beating it in the coming months. Should I stick to that for now or should I pick this up?
Click to expand...
The games are fundamentally different. Grimrock is real-time combat (with a whole lot of strafing) with limited classes while Paper Sorcerer is turn-based combat with a ton of classes and less emphasis on puzzles. They are both great games so you can't go wrong either way but for $5 it is worth supporting the dev of an interesting game.
 
rybrad said:
Game is a ton of fun, at least give the demo a shot! If you like old school, turn-based combat, class-based parties and dungeon crawlers then this should be right up your alley. My biggest complaint is the UI clunkiness but the dev has said he is working on improving the UI.
Click to expand...

Ah, thanks you reminded me of the demo. Good thing to put in the OP.
 
I think this is the first time I've ever seen a game clearly inspired by Wizardry IV. I'm definitely interested since Wiz 4 is one of the best and most unique RPGs out there.
 
KodeAndGame said:
I have only barely gotten to play Legend of Grimrock. I've played about 45 minutes of it. I really enjoyed it and I plan on beating it in the coming months. Should I stick to that for now or should I pick this up?
Click to expand...

They kinda serve different purposes, but overall Grimrock is definitely the better game for me.However, I do consider both worth owning because they have a massively different focus with the combat and puzzles. Paper Sorcerer is more of a traditional RPG with tons of different skill combinations and tactical decisions especially for (tough) combat situations (as in: Do I stun/drain SP/freeze/poison/boost members/hard attack/restore/support to make sure he doesnt kick my arse), whereas Grimrock focusses more on (hard) environmental puzzles (as in: Holy shit, why do I have keys for locks I cant find and locks to which I cant find the keys?? And why the fuck is there a pressure plate hier with nothing aroun....aaaaaaaah).
 
Did they fix controller support?

I bought this a few months ago, and there was actually really great controller support, except there was no way to open a door using it.

Also, is there a way to redeem a Steam key if you bought it from the developer?
 
Mario said:
Looks interesting. Will check it out.

That trailer music is a huge disconnect though...
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...yeah, I ended up watching that trailer muted, but oh well. Cant be everything perfect.
 
It certainly looks nice in stills, but there is quite a jarring disconnect between moving through the 3D environments very smoothly, the character sprites having almost no animation, and various color particle effects thrown on top with no relation to the paper/ink style of the rest of the graphics.
 
This is hitting Steam!? I bought this on Indie Game Stand (wonderful site) and have been loving it ever since. I just adore all of these indie RPGs I keep running into. It's so interesting seeing a small team of people tackle this giant adventures.
 
Karkador said:
It certainly looks nice in stills, but there is quite a jarring disconnect between moving through the 3D environments very smoothly, the character sprites having almost no animation, and various color particle effects thrown on top with no relation to the paper/ink style of the rest of the graphics.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the combat animations are a bit of a weak spot, but a large part of the motivation for me was seeing the environments.

jackal27 said:
This is hitting Steam!? I bought this on Indie Game Stand (wonderful site) and have been loving it ever since. I just all of these indie RPGs I keep running into. It's so interesting seeing a small team of people tackle this giant adventures.
Click to expand...

Released today.
 
Toma said:
They kinda serve different purposes, but overall Grimrock is definitely the better game for me.However, I do consider both worth owning because they have a massively different focus with the combat and puzzles. Paper Sorcerer is more of a traditional RPG with tons of different skill combinations and tactical decisions especially for (tough) combat situations (as in: Do I stun/drain SP/freeze/poison/boost members/hard attack/restore/support to make sure he doesnt kick my arse), whereas Grimrock focusses more on (hard) environmental puzzles (as in: Holy shit, why do I have keys for locks I cant find and locks to which I cant find the keys?? And why the fuck is there a pressure plate hier with nothing aroun....aaaaaaaah).
Click to expand...

See this makes me really interested in Paper Sorcerer. I'm a big fan of combat optimization (especially with an expansive skillset) and when I played Grimrock I totally hated the puzzles, found the combat really repetitive, and ditched it a few hours in. I liked the basics of Grimrock though, so I can rather see enjoying this game.
 
rybrad said:
Game is a ton of fun, at least give the demo a shot! If you like old school, turn-based combat, class-based parties and dungeon crawlers then this should be right up your alley. My biggest complaint is the UI clunkiness but the dev has said he is working on improving the UI.


The games are fundamentally different. Grimrock is real-time combat (with a whole lot of strafing) with limited classes while Paper Sorcerer is turn-based combat with a ton of classes and less emphasis on puzzles. They are both great games so you can't go wrong either way but for $5 it is worth supporting the dev of an interesting game.
Click to expand...

Toma said:
They kinda serve different purposes, but overall Grimrock is definitely the better game for me.However, I do consider both worth owning because they have a massively different focus with the combat and puzzles. Paper Sorcerer is more of a traditional RPG with tons of different skill combinations and tactical decisions especially for (tough) combat situations (as in: Do I stun/drain SP/freeze/poison/boost members/hard attack/restore/support to make sure he doesnt kick my arse), whereas Grimrock focusses more on (hard) environmental puzzles (as in: Holy shit, why do I have keys for locks I cant find and locks to which I cant find the keys?? And why the fuck is there a pressure plate hier with nothing aroun....aaaaaaaah).
Click to expand...

Good advice guys. Thanks!
 
TheFightingFish said:
See this makes me really interested in Paper Sorcerer. I'm a big fan of combat optimization (especially with an expansive skillset) and when I played Grimrock I totally hated the puzzles, found the combat really repetitive, and ditched it a few hours in. I liked the basics of Grimrock though, so I can rather see enjoying this game.
Click to expand...

Yup, Paper Sorcerer might be more to your liking then, but you should test around with the difficulty options. I started on the second lowest one, and while it does have some hard situations, I am usually fine. I suggest trying the second highest difficulty at least if you want to be challenged in using every skill/item the game has to offer.

Let us know how it works out for you :)
 
Already played and beat the game. It took me around 12 hours since I explored the optional crypt area. Its worth 5 dollars. The puzzles in this game a fairly simple and have some humor towards them. Infact this game has a bit of humor throughout.
 
Deadbeat said:
Already played and beat the game. It took me around 12 hours since I explored the optional crypt area. Its worth 5 dollars. The puzzles in this game a fairly simple and have some humor towards them. Infact this game has a bit of humor throughout.
Click to expand...

Which difficulty did you play on? How was the difficulty curve throughout?
 
Toma said:
Which difficulty did you play on? How was the difficulty curve throughout?
Click to expand...
I played on normal. I found the last third of the game to ramp up in difficulty and I was banking on my Minotaur and Skeleton to stun and kill people (and they pulled through). I kept my druid to heal everyone. I used the basic magic attack and the end game wasnt so hard because of that.

I took the warrior path for my mage. That was a huge mistake I feel. When you reach a certain level you will get asked if you want to be a warrior/knight mage or a sorcerer mage or something and I took the warrior and it was a complete bust to me. A huge waste. Go all out with magic.

Theres certain context sensitive parts of the game that are dependent on your party. This happened with the Minotaur. Its more for humor than anything but I liked it. The ending is also based on your party as well. Kind of like Fallout.
 
Deadbeat said:
I played on normal. I found the last third of the game to ramp up in difficulty and I was banking on my Minotaur and Skeleton to stun and kill people (and they pulled through). I kept my druid to heal everyone. I used the basic magic attack and the end game wasnt so hard because of that.

I took the warrior path for my mage. That was a huge mistake I feel. When you reach a certain level you will get asked if you want to be a warrior/knight mage or a sorcerer mage or something and I took the warrior and it was a complete bust to me. A huge waste. Go all out with magic.

Theres certain context sensitive parts of the game that are dependent on your party. This happened with the Minotaur. Its more for humor than anything but I liked it. The ending is also based on your party as well. Kind of like Fallout.
Click to expand...

Oh that sounds cool, I am currently on the 4th set of levels I think, and I already like the humor, so I am curious what else they came up with :)
 
This looks like my kind of game. Bought.

It's a shame the Humble widget doesn't give Steam keys just yet though. Good to know they are on the way.
 
Looks great (watch the trailer!) and the price is right. Will check it out when I get home. Thanks for the OT!
 
Played the demo, liked it, bought it.

For 5 bucks it really is a no brainer. Might & Magic can wait until I get impressions for the Mac version and maybe a sale.
 
Xater said:
Played the demo, liked it, bought it.

For 5 bucks it really is a no brainer. Might & Magic can wait until I get impressions for the Mac version and maybe a sale.
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Yep, thats how I see it as well.
 
This was one of the few games I supported on Kickstarter, the art style was truly unique and you could really tell it was a pet project for the guy. It was nice to see it come to completion and now see some Steam and NeoGaf exposure. I really should get around to playing it.
 
I'm intrigued with this. Looks like Dark Spire, which I still need to play at some point.

I'll probably have to get this at some point.
 
I'm a huge fan of the art style and the music, it is just too bad I could never get into this kind of old school gameplay. I've tried since the NES days.
 
KillerIsJed said:
I'm a huge fan of the art style and the music, it is just too bad I could never get into this kind of old school gameplay. I've tried since the NES days.
Click to expand...

What kinda of "old school" gameplay? The only thing you need to like for this game is the rather vast JRPG style combat system, but the resnt isnt all that complex. Not to mention that the lower difficulty levels help a lot to alleviate the difficulty.
 
Kinda reminds me of The Dark Spire. I'm a bit bothered by all the grammatical errors I saw in that trailer, though. Probably a pass from me.
 
From my first impressions in the RPG thread

So Paper Sorcerer.

The Premise
A first person party based 'blobber' very much in the vein of Wizardry. Specifically Wizardry 4 in that you play the villain in this game, awoken from being banished and trying to escape your prison.

Gameplay
Pretty standard Wizardry like gameplay (specifically wiz 1-7), you wander around the dungeon (free roam, not grid based) and get into battles with enemies on the map that are represented by black clouds of smoke.

Combat is entirely a turned based affair. You choose the actions for all 4 of your party members at once, then the round plays out with characters doing actions in what I'm assuming is based off of an initiative roll. It has it's own unique little mechanic though, at least it'd be unique if Banner Saga hadn't beaten it to it by a week. Every character has a defense value in addition to their HP which is determined by equipped armor. Defense goes down when you take damage, and the more defense you have the more it'll soak up. It gets refilled automatically each battle and there are spells and abilities that can refill it as well. Unlike banner saga you don't get to target one or the other though, you eat through the armor first, then dig into the HP. Some attacks (namely spells) seem to ignore armor entirely.

As for your party, you start the game as the titular Sorcerer. Despite your character title, you seem to be a sort of jack of all trades character, you can dish decent melee damage, have some magic and a reasonable amount of HP. For the rest of the party you recruit premade characters, 1 at a time through the first 4 floors of the game (basically the tutorial). There are about 20 to choose from and while they adhere to typical fantasy RPG stereotypes in terms of abilities, they fit the villain theme by being all monsters. My part consists of my sorcerer, a Minotaur beserker, a goblin rogue and a witch.

One aspect of the game that might turn folks off is the lack of an automap. This is even more problematic since the game isn't grid basd, so doing an accurate map on your own is tricky. So far I've cleared 7 floors and they've all been pretty small and easy to navigate so a map hasn't been necessary, but assuming it gets more complicated this could be annoying.

Graphics
The game uses a very unique graphical style that makes everything look like it's made out of paper. This is due to plot reasons in that your character is imprisoned in a magical tome. It looks pretty nice albeit very basic. In combat the enemies are 2d drawings with limited animations, and when your characters attack you'll see some basic animations as well. Spell particle effects are functional if unimpressive.

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Audio
Nothing overly special here, functional sound effects for the various hits and spells you cast, no voice acting to speak of. Unfortunately I find the music to be pretty wretched. It's obviously subjective, but their choice of strange electro chiptuney type stuff really feels out of place with the rest of the game. There are currently no audio options either so you have to either mute the game entirely through windows or suffer through it.

Overall
I'm a couple of hours in and so far it's quite good. I'm a big wizardry fan so this is scratching that itch quite nicely. I'll keep you folks apprised as to how the map issue turns out, it'll really depend on the map design. From what I've read online from the kickstarter backers who played the early versions the game is a good 20 hours long, so for $5 you can't really go wrong.
 
Toma said:
What kinda of "old school" gameplay? The only thing you need to like for this game is the rather vast JRPG style combat system, but the resnt isnt all that complex. Not to mention that the lower difficulty levels help a lot to alleviate the difficulty.
Click to expand...

Reminds me a lot of Shadowgate, I think was the title.
 
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