Name: Rain of Reflections
Developer: Lionbite Games
Publisher: Lionbite Games
Platforms: PC
Reviewed on: PC
Demo Released: 26.08.2019
Initial Release Date: 20.09.2019
Acquired: A copy of this game was provided from a publisher for review purpose
Around two weeks ago, I got a rather ordinary mail from one of our PR contacts. Did we want to get a copy of an indie game called Rain of Reflections? Well, I hadn’t heard about it at all but it looked interesting enough. Although the game itself doesn’t launch for another three weeks we did get a demo version to try out – time to find out if this gave me the urge for more Rain of Reflections.
“Rain of Reflections is an atmospheric, dystopian adventure game. Its turn-based strategic confrontations are uniquely centered around a motivation mechanic. Every move and choice made by the player is permanent and will have consequences on the world and its characters.
The introductory chapter – “Set Free” – centers around Wilona, a scientist working towards a solution to our future world’s sudden infertility. As she starts doubting the morality of the experiments, she decides to free the live subject – the lastborn child – from captivity. This will prove difficult, as powerful forces try to stop her.” – Steam; about the game
The Good
First of all I want to talk a bit about the gameplay as a mix of a point-and-click, a “choose your own answers” and a turn-based tactical game. It does sound weird, at least that’s what I thought when I read it, but it really works. A mechanic I really like is the fact that your choices when it comes to talking with NPC’s can come back once you’re in a “confrontation”, aka the turn-based tactical part of the game. The game accomplishes this by allowing Wilona (and Luca) to refer to what has happened earlier when trying to talk each other up or the opposition down. Very cool indeed.
Another thing although I haven’t technically been able to try it myself, I liked was the fact you can leave teammates (in lack of a better word) behind on the battlefield, if you choose so. For example, that can mean that Luca is no longer with us in the story and is no longer a usable companion. How this affects the game further I am unsure of but it seems like a very cool mechanic so far.
The Bad
Now I have to play the devil’s advocate for a short moment, because not everything in Rain of Reflections is pitch perfect. First of all, and the main issue I encountered during the hour (ish) the demo lasted, was the amount of lag and frame rate issues. Misunderstand me correctly, it’s far from unplayable but suddenly getting a frame rate drop, down to maybe 5 frames per second for a couple of seconds at a time when you’re playing is distracting.
In addition, the game feels quite unfinished. There are several animations that are far from smooth, for example when turning around when walking and when you sneak around during confrontations. Furthermore, the facial animations are far from perfect with the lips being out of sync and the heads not really fitting the bodies on which they are attached.
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Demo Score 7
7/10
Verdict
I’ll start out by answering my own questions from the start; yes I do want to play more to find out about what happens next with Wilona. The gameplay is really good, and the hour certainly flew by faster than I could think. In addition, the story (the little there was in the demo) seems interesting so far, and I definitely want to see how things escalate. Yeah, there are some issues with the frame rate drops and some weird animations, but it’s not game breaking. It is a bit annoying though. All in all, I did like the short demo, and I will definitely play the game once it releases.
Overall
7/10
User Review
( vote)Pros
- Really good gameplay
- Permadeath
- Consequential choices
Cons
- Lots of lag
- Weird faces (especially Luca)
