Completed the game at lvl90 after 143 hours. That is a lot of content for 10 bucks!
This
is a very exploration- and side-quest-heavy turn-based RPG, probably
best comparable with the Exile/Avernum series of Jeff Vogel. If you like
exploring maps, searching for hidden nooks and crannies and revisiting
areas to try out new exploration tools, this should be right up your
alley.
Like Exile, the writing is dripping with incidental hints
about the setting history, the factions and their conflicts within it.
The setting isn't just a cardboard backdrop serving as décor for the
player's adventure - it feels as if the world did already exist before
you've entered it, and like it will continue to exist after you've
completed the main story line.
Every 5 levels new side quests get
unlocked, ranging from fetch quests over boss fights to dungeons. Until
the late game, you will always have multiple quests on the table to
pursue and keep yourself busy.
Level-grinding is fortunately not as
much of an issue as in other RPG Maker titles, thanks to XP rewards for
solving quests, and thanks to the option of buying XP for money after
the early game.
Difficulty is below-average. The combats are
generally not difficult and tend to be very short - 3 rounds or less,
unless the encounter is way above your party level. On the short term,
if you find yourself in an area with encounters more difficult than
expected, you can punch a good 5-10 levels above your own weight class
by spending consumables.
Towards the late game, some of the bosses
are challenging, but can still be defeated in 10 rounds or less if your
party is strong enough and you have the right strategy. Still, this
isn't the game if you expect tactically deep, long battles that require a
lot of retries.
The graphics and sound are serviceable RPG Maker
fare, with a few commissioned custom sprites. (The Barrel Sludge is my
personal favourite.)
The post-apocalyptic wasteland setting after
the bomb is rather refreshing - and here, typical RPG Maker shenanigans
about spelunking in ruins and looting everything that isn't nailed down
make perfect sense!