Everlasting Song is the most professional looking game I've seen at SFGHQ. (in-depth overview inside)

[Rael0505]

So, I'm basically just going to be typing this post while I play. Blue Frenzy showed me a sneak peak of some screens just before SAGE, and I've been pretty stoked since then. I played it for a few minutes and was immensely impressed, although I didn't get a chance to really give it a good playthrough until right now. I know that this game is very different compared to most of what SAGE has this year, and it may really put people off as they don't know what to expect. Because of that, this game is bound to get less attention than other games. I want to give people an idea of what the game is like, so I'm going to be posting screens of the game while I play it to give people an idea of what this game has to offer. Hopefully people will like what they see and give the game a try!

The story goes like this: Frenzy, our protagonist, needs to rescue his sister Ayala from the evil clown Balloo. The controls are simple. Arrow keys move, Button 1 (Z) jumps, button 2 (X) attacks, button 3 © uses magic spells, and button 4 (Enter) brings up the menu screen/pauses the game. Also, pressing A or S will change what magic spell you have equipped quickly, so you don't have to navigate through the menu screen to change it. This is a Clickteam product, so all of the controls are customizable if you press control+Y.

I want to start off by saying I was a little put off at first, because for some reason, the short intro level lags like all hell on my machine. But as soon as I reached the first boss, it ran smooth as silk, so keep playing. The intro level is only a minute long anyway - don't let it ruin your enthusiasm!

These graphics are amazing. The level art is so vivid and vibrant, and the music is tranquil and enjoyable. This game really has a nice other-worldly ambiance that really draws me in. I feel like I'm taken to the world Frenzy lives in.

These little guys in the intro level give you basic instructions on how to play. This one instructs you to kill the enemy in front of you - after a few quick hits, it disappears, and you get coins as a reward. Yay!

This guy gives you magic, which you need to use to break the barrier on the ledge above. You fire the magic with C and jump across, and find another couple norglets (I named them, isn't that cute?) who are generous enough to give you some money to help you on your quest. Currency is used to buy new weapons, armour, and the like at shops (shown below).

By the way, Gamerdude and I both got stuck at the part where you needed to use magic. If you accidentally wasted the magic, talk to the little guy again, and he'll give you a new one. Also, make sure you have the fire spell equipped. If you don't, you'll have to press enter and navigate to the magic section to equip it (alternatively, press A or S to change it quickly).

Now we're taking a look at the start menu. The first screen shows an overview of my character's status, including health, currency, items/gear equipped, stats... I don't understand everything yet because I'm still really early on, but it's obvious that there is a lot to customize. Very impressive.

In the second screen, you're able to change which magic spell you have equipped. I was given three "healing auras" that give one heart. While the fire spell shoots out a fire ball, the healing aura recovers health. I was expecting all of them to be attack-based, but it appears that the magic spells are very diverse in this game.

THIS IS WHERE THE LAGGING STOPS

That's right - for some reason, that little intro level lags terribly. The intro level is really a piece of cake, so don't be put off by it at all. From this point on, the game runs just fine, and you'll be able to appreciate how incredible it is without being frustrated by how slow it's moving. Just stomach it up until here!

This is the first "boss." It's like the globos we encountered in the tutorial level, but unlike those, this guy is tough. You attack him with your sword the same way you attack the little guys, although it can be difficult to do so without being hurt in the process. The screenshot on the right above shows how the boss will eventually fly up high and shoot down little waves of energy which you must try to avoid. You have to wait till he comes within jumping/striking range to hit him. He's not particularly difficult, but if you find your health is running low, use some of the healing magic you received just before the battle. When you defeat him, you get a crap-load of coins as well as some spells.

After defeating the giant globo, you're transported to this forest/village area. The hut on the left is the inn, where you can heal/save your game, and both of those cost money, so be careful! The hut on the right (shown in the second screenshot) is the shop. I'm purchasing the sword and the leather armour.

Make sure you equip items that you buy using the start menu.

You can see the difference in the sword and armour here. The new sword is longer (and I assume stronger), and the armour looks different. Hell, there's even a deeper sounding "whoosh" noise with this new sword. That's what I call detail!

I took leave of the peaceful forest village heading West, and then encountered what appears to be yet another giant globo. This one is more difficult than the last, even with my upgraded weaponry and armour. His attacks are simple - he extends his long arms in your direction. His movements are predictable, but can be difficult to avoid. I used the last of my healing magic and managed to defeat him, and besides getting a lot of money, I found this:

What does it do exactly? I'm not sure. But looking in my inventory, I appear to have one out of ten. Maybe it's like a heart piece kind of thing like from Zelda, or maybe it's something entirely different.

If you die (like I just did), you have the choice to exit the game or continue. If you continue, you come back with one heart, and start at the inn. If you exit, you lose all of the saved data since your last save point.

Now I'm heading East of the forest village area. I encounter a new kind of insect enemy which defecates fire at me. It's not difficult, although it has a little more health than the globos. I'm continuing East to Leaf Mountain Field.

You navigate the area using springs to reach new heights. You'll find new bouncy pogo enemies, which are a little harder to defeat because they move around a lot. Keep an eye out for the angel shown in the third screenshot, it restores health.

There's a lot more exploration in this place than we have seen up until now. This whole area is very complex, there are several parts where paths branch off. If you follow the left sign here, apparently we'll reach a dungeon. The other one reads "back to the village" by the way.

This game is absolutely incredible. The graphics are beautiful (and I know much of it is custom), the gameplay is unique but isn't too unfamiliar, the music is very moody and adds to the overall theme of the game... the presentation is truly amazing. The menu screen alone is impressive - there's so much shit you can customize for your character, so many different weapons, armour, rings... You could theoretically play this game a dozen times and have a dozen different experiences with each. Hell, you can even change the background color of the menu screens. Did anyone notice how it changed from lavender to blue in my screens?

This is the best game I have ever seen at SFGHQ. I don't think I can ever forgive Blue Frenzy for not hyping this game up - it's probably the reason why it hasn't received very much attention yet. I'm kind of disappointed that I'm not going over more of the game right now, so I leave it up to you to find out what's in store in the supposed "dungeon" on your own. It's 6:30 AM, and I've been kept up with this game for hours.

I give this game an 11/10. This is the only game I have ever played at SFGHQ that I would actually pay money for. I'm blown away knowing that this is a one-man deal. Everyone download this. Right now. And don't forget to thumb-up the booth.

edit: I also want to say that I was NOT asked to make this thread. I am NOT affiliated with this game in any way. I didn't even know anything about this game other than a few screenshots Blue Frenzy showed me right before SAGE. He doesn't even know I'm making it right now. I played about ten minutes of this game before having to close it to do something important, and when I got the chance to play it again, I wanted to make a thread about it. I realized that it wasn't receiving the attention it greatly deserved. This almost makes me want to give up Sonic fangaming and create something original myself...

edit 2: a quick link to the booth:

http://fanmade.emulationzone.org/tewkewl/BFS/eversong.html

[LarkSS]

I still remember on aim when Blue Frenzy was telling me about how he was having a glitch with mmf. When he sent me a build to help I didn't expect it to be this. When I fixed the problem ( mostly ), he let me beta test the game out.

I got to say that it really is an amazing game. The amount of effort put into it is evident when you play it, and you always find extra things to it as you play such as recieving extra rewards for killing enemies in certain ways and little secrets you accidentally stumble into. The game even has plenty of challenge awaiting for you in the cave ( it was very intense for me; still have yet to beat it ).

If you like rpgs/appreciate originality, then give this game a try. ( and a nice long try like raels did; nice review rael <3 )

[Cyber Rat]

Wow, a freakin' detailed review. But, yeah, the game is great. I actually played through the whole Wonder Boy series two months ago and I can say with certainty that this game has the whole 'WB' feel to it.

[VectorSatyr]

I played the game, and it is pretty cool. My experience with it wasn't as nice as I would like though: I keep getting hurt whenever I finish off a globo; I wasn't informed you could switch magic with A/S; I don't like having to pay coins to save my game (it makes combat mandatory, and not encouraged); the second boss kicked my ass, then when I saw I would lose half my coins if I continued, I just quit. (see previous sentence)

It's a great game, though, and I'm just nitpicking.

[ssbfalcon]

I wonder if reviewing a game like this in a cblog at Destructoid will make someone notice SAGE more...

Your review makes me want to play this game even more... I wish I played it yesterday before the interview and shows started...

[Blue Frenzy]

Thanks rael, you were about making me cry T_T.

ssbfalcon, don't hype yourself so much xD I think Rael is exagerating a bit, and i don't want you have a deception because you expected much more.

[Rael0505]

Aero, I can agree with you somewhat. I think that when you die, you should start back at the inn with full health, and that saving should cost significantly less money. But even though this game is definitely challenging, it's completely worth playing through just for the sheer quality and attention to detail which is taken to a whole new level with this game.

I'm not exaggerating anything. I wouldn't have made this thread if I didn't think this game were everything I said it is.

edit: I just edited the post. For some reason I forgot to post the screenshot with the angel statue last night.

[ssbfalcon]

Thanks rael, you were about making me cry T_T.

ssbfalcon, don't hype yourself so much xD I think Rael is exagerating a bit, and i don't want you have a deception because you expected much more.

Don't worry, The game isn't done yet is it? Even if it doesn't, there's always a chance that it can eventually...

Besides, I like your work, your art has always impressed me. And I'll play it even just for the art...

[Serephim]

i played a little bit of it.

I was half blown away and half kind of "mehhhh..".

The graphics, menus and everything were amazing, but i actually felt it being a bit lacking when it came to actually making the combat fun. Its combat (for me) felt just a bit too fangamish when the game itself just feels and LOOKS like it shouldnt have been that way.

It kind of felt like i was playing Maplestory without the Massive Multiplayer part. The bosses (although quite awesome from a technical sense) just felt too drawn out to be fun. In fact it was the first boss that actually killed the pickup speed of the game after it took me 5 miniutes to defeat him dodging the same pattern 20 times. I quit after the boss with the arms. (I hate drawn-out simplistic bosses. Bosses that take long to defeat are overrated and should be taken in very very small doses. They only make the fight less awesome when the fight is just easy.)

Bottom line, the detail and visual aspect of the game was breathtaking, but the game itself just made me angry. I wouldn't say the "GAMEPLAY" needs work, since its a pretty awesome concept. But the two boss fights i had to endure kind of killed it for me. Also, throwing the player in the middle of a town full of shops with no direction also annoys me too.

But overall, i think it is DEFINITELY one of the more impressive games of SAGE. I wouldnt venture to say its one of the most professional though. (Fated Hour takes that topping for me.)

My biggest advice for the future of this game, Blue Frenzy, is that DIFFICULTY SHOULD NEVER EQUATE TO ANNOYANCE. Making a boss with tons of health in hopes that you'll screw up enough times to get killed is never a good gameplay choice. And even when an enemy is super hard, Huge health and Huge Power should only be saved for endgame bosses or sidequest bosses ment specifically for the hardcore gamers.

Just my 2 cents, because it was indeed the boss fights that actually made me not progress the entire demo.

[Blue Frenzy]

Thanks sereph for the comments. Im adjusting difficulty in the game, I think i did it too hard. I tested it so many times that it became easy to me XD.

Im taking note of the comments. Yes,the boss battles are simplistic. Specially the punching globo one, since i just wanted a "protection" for what it's hidden behind. And that is everything i was able to came with.

The problem with the first boss is that i wanted the battle to be large, but not difficult at all. I has been thinking into changing those bosses, but time didn't allow me to.

I'd like you to play something more, i think, personally that you are in the worst part of the game, the simpliest one, although next part is not easy either. I want to make that "combat" gameplay more enjoyable, since with the simplistic weapons you have at the beggining, you have not many chances of doing things.

And about the no directions at all, the game is about explore the worldmap, on every direction, you are just limited by the different obstacles, that needs to be passed by finding new habilities or items in the different dungeons of the game. This way, you will open new areas, dungeons and else. That's the reason there is no direction at all. Well, actually there is, because every other path is closed, but on those you will find secrets or hints to know what you need to go over there.

[ssbfalcon]

Rael didn't exaggerate at all. It felt so well put together... I... Felt something there...

I was playing this with a friend last night and we played for hours. It was hard at times, but greatly entertaining... The whole saving costs money thing while it may seem frustrating at first, we kinda liked it...

Bosses weren't bad at all. That dungeon boss made me WTF a few times before we used the ice...

And there felt like there was a bit of IWTBTG in there... Only slightly, but well enough to make us laugh...

You have something special here. This game really touched me... in a way or a place that makes me feel comfortable...

[Blue Frenzy]

=o thank you so much for your comments. But still needs improvement. I am working already on the attacking system, and since i am going to make some changes, i will try to add newer things to improve gameplay. Maybe I should make a system for using 2 magics instead every one when bar is filled, or maybe more items to use, like a teleport thing that let's you return town, more potions or more useful collectables that makes killing enemies with the special attacks something mre valuable than it is.

Do you know that those orange sniper globo drops with 30% of chance a mythril ring? This ring makes you to attack faster, very useful with the axe or the spikeball.

There is a point in the level where you have ice and thunder magics. If you have the spikeball or manage to don't close the doors with the switch, you will be able to recover your magics.

For doing special attacks you have to do this:

Freeze an enemy and then hit it with thunder

Burn an enemy and then hit it with ice.

You will need to equip dagger or sword if you don't want to kill the sniper globos with one magic hit.

Special attacks does triple damage and the elemental resistance is nullfied. Also, makes the enemy to drop more coins (bats can drop 150 coins) and special objects. Some regular enemies drops the same magic as with a regular attack, but the chances of it to appear are 100%. Some others like the sniper globo, drops unique objects, like rings, elemental armors or weapons, parts of heart for increase your health, rainbow pearls required for the extra missions and else.