The Revenant Prince developed and published by the Indonesian studio Nomina Games takes cues from the classic 8 and 16 bit JRPGs like Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger. It is an action-adventure RPG that emphasizes exploration and interaction. So, how does this 90’s JRPG formula stack up in modern times? Well, let’s find out.
Story & Narrative
The game puts you in the shoes of Troy, a Lumerian Soldier who gains time-bending powers after a near-death experience. His uncanny adventure of saving the world is guided by a disembodied voice. You can listen to the voice or forge your own path. You can execute or spare your enemies resulting in branching storylines. The choices that you make have irreversible consequences. So each playthrough can result in a unique narrative. Delving any further into the plot would be a disservice to the game itself. Rest assured, you’re definitely in for a surprise.
Despite its unique approach to the narrative, the game suffers from padding issues. This is mainly caused by its directionless navigation and seemingly forced exploration. This makes its campaign quite a bit tedious and frustrating at times. It also suffers from pacing issues during its opening hours. Thus it took me several hours to get a knack of its narrative. There is also a lot of reading involved. So if you have a bad habit of skipping dialogues, you may not have a single clue about your upcoming objective.
Gameplay and Mechanics
The greatest strength of The Revenant Prince lies in its unique battle system. It looks like turn-based but takes place in real-time, a combination rarely seen in JRPGs. Troy carries three weapons – a melee weapon, a ranged weapon, and his trusty shield. There’s an in-battle menu that allows you to choose your attacks, defense, spare, or flee from your enemy. All the weapons can be bought or upgraded as well, provided you have the necessary items. Upgrading can be a hassle at times due to the scarcity of these materials – finding them requires a hefty amount of grinding. I guess you can’t define RPGs without the term grinding.
Another major strength of the game is its Sphere Grid and fast-travel system. By using SPF points that you gain in battles can boost Troy’s character stats. It is simple and easy to use in comparison to large and complex Skills trees that RPGs usually are guilty of. The fast travel system is quite simplistic as well, you can warp from different regions across the map – allowing for a seamless traversal. However, directionless navigation and the absence of objective markers do not help when you are trying to reach Point A from Point B.
Besides traversal, frequent or random enemy encounters can be bothersome in JRPGs. Even the classic Final Fantasy VII suffers from this issue. This game allows you to minimize or turn off these encounters – making the experience more enjoyable.
When it comes to world-exploration and interacting with NPCs, things go downhill. Not gonna lie, it feels forced and involuntary – adding to a lot of frustrating and tedious moments I had with the game. The game does not tell or show you what you’re supposed to do next. Going everywhere and speaking with every NPC is not how a good RPG should work. A sense of the task at hand would have saved me a couple of hours in the game.
Visuals, Performance, and Sound
The Revenant Prince‘s pixel art is beautiful, with sharply contrasting colors and the sprites look precise. Everything seems flattened in this world with a few subtle details like footprints and interactable vegetation. You can even talk to the adorable tree bushes if you like. I guess I have no complaints in the visuals department, it is by far the most impressive aspect of the game.
The Revenant Prince is well-optimized and runs pretty smooth – maintaining 60 fps at all times. However, the lack of any overlay support (Steam, Geforce, and Fraps) was a bit bothersome as I had use print-screen to capture screenshots. I guess it is maybe because the entire library of the game is bundled into a single .exe file- pretty ancient by 2020 standards.
Sound effects in the game are pretty subtle – ranging from the sounds of gusty winds to hail storms, it adds a sense of immersion. The background score is decent, nothing too catchy or bleak. For me, background scores can range from Celeste to nothing and I’m not quite sure where to pin this that scale.
Verdict
The Revenant Prince‘s unique narrative and strikingly astounding visuals aren’t enough to carry the entire game. A large chunk of its goodness is buried underneath hours of involuntary exploration and interactions. A presence of tasks at hand and visual aids for world navigation can save hours of the playthrough and greatly improve the experience at hand.