Every week or so there’s a random, low-level, controversy on social media about video games. I’m not referring to genuine issues that are all to frequent in the industry. I’m talking about someone shooting at fruit stands or saying a game has “PS2 Graphics”. None of the games feature ever have PS2 era graphics, but more importantly – what is actually wrong with with them anyway? Clearly a lot of gamers have a lot of nostalgia for the chunky polygonal models of the early 2000’s, I’d consider myself one of them, and evidently so would the developers over at Lovely Hellplace as their title Entropy is bursting with retro charm.
The Show Must Go On
Entropy is a party based, turn based RPG set in a dark fantasy, post-apocalyptic world. You are a troubador, fighting for your life against a rollicking hangover when a demonic horde attacks the town of Draenog. Somehow surviving the initial onslaught, you’ll need to grab a weapon, recruit some allies and try to make it to home of your troupe to warn them about the abominations now sacking the countryside. It might sound like the start of chosen one narrative, but if you’re looking for a power fantasy, you’re probably looking in the wrong place.
I did only play Act 1 of the game, but Entropy’s aesthetics aren’t the only old school thing here, this is a difficult game. Enemies hit hard, resources are limited and if one of your party members goes down in combat they aren’t walking it off when it’s over. If they even get up at all. Better not get too attached to your band of misfits because many of them are going to die, for good. If they do manage to get back up they’ll be injured, which requires medical attention, and the doctors round here don’t have any of that fancy liquid that let’s Ethan Winters reattach his arms. You’ll need to adapt to any physical or mental scarring your party might face, giving party and stat management an extra strategic layer as you struggle through this harsh land.
En-Garde!
I’m not going to lie and say I wasn’t slightly peeved when my only spellcaster was one shot with a crit by a bandit about 50 minutes into the game. It removed an important piece of my win conditions for combat, but what else could I do but try and scroung together enough gold to try and hire a replacement from the mercenary board and carry on. Having to rejig specialities of team members when hardship hit, or rejig their positions in combat to better defeat (or defend from) my foes was incredibly satisfying once I came to terms with the harshness of the adventure on offer. You can avoid combat, as all enemies are visible in the over world, but they might have precious gold you need to pay your mercenaries, or items that will give you an edge in the next encounter. It’s a very well implemented risk-reward system that seems super punishing, but is really the game asking you to pay attention and engage with the systems it has to offer.
And there’s certainly plenty of systems to dive into. As mentioned previously, there’s positioning in combat. On the back row, team mates are protected from melee attacks, but also can’t use them – so hide your crossbowmen and mages here! You can stun, poison, terrify and apply a whole host of other status to your enemies (which of course they can also do back), and you can buff your teammates to make them more effective. The team have said that they were inspired by classic JRPGS, and it definitely shows. One of my favourite strategies was to have a character with a spear use their weapon skill to disrupt front line melee attackers. Disruption moves people to adjacent tiles, so is great for forcing a hard hitting enemy to the back, where their sword becomes useless. There’s also a limb targeting system, so it’s not just your team that might lose and arm. Target a Demon Lungs bronchi and they’ll be unable to cast spells making them much less threatening, or cleave off a Soul Warrior’s sword arm to make them a sitting duck. This system relies on the accuracy of your attacks – more so than the normal accuracy system – but I’m very excited to see how far you can go with it as the game progresses.
Retro Style
I spoke at the start about the chunky graphics, and they are a delight. The over world of the Gloaming Isles has a bit of Morrowind about it, with towering mushrooms sprouting out of the ground and strange fellows to meet at the side of the road. Cnothag’s Forest is full of huge snails, that you’ll need to fight to scrape Soul Moss from their shells so you can actually hit the skeletal Soul Warriors lurking in it’s gloamy depths. The soundtrack has plenty of retro flair too, with exaggerates guitar riffs backed up by crashing symbols in your frantic escape from Dresnog, giving way to calmer but much more sinister strings in the overworld.
The menus look like they’ve just jumped out of a Dungeon Master’s notebook, with stylised character portraits for each of your party members and tabs for everything you’ll need to know on your adventure. Each person you meet also has their own model and artwork, with one of the highlights being some of the Choose Your Own Adventure scenarios you’ll encounter on your way to Cuvas. One had me helping out a strange man with an echidna issue and I’ll tell you right now, I’m almost certain that my actions are going to come back and bite me in the ass later in the game.
Final Thoughts
Act One of Entropy sets its stall out immediately as something a bit different than the places it takes its inspiration from. Its beautiful but brutal world holds an exciting but brutal game, where every mistake can lead to absolute ruin and your choices could (I hope) have long lasting consequences to you, your party and everyone in the Gloaming Isles. I cannot wait to play more, even if that means potentially bringing about the end of the world through my own terrible decisions.
