Fated Haven: Chapter One is the first of a trilogy written by a new independent developer, Fated Productions. As I've recently been playing the Aveyond series and Eridani's games, I thought I would give it a shot to see how it measured up. I've got to say my first thought, as my younger brothers would say, was "Meh." I know, weird word but it conveys a lot when you think about it…or in big people words, ambivalent or underwhelmed. RPG games in their own right are rather old school if you ask me, but for me there is an appeal to them that is rather unexplainable to me. I know my little brothers think it's kind of funny that I've gotten into the genre being significantly older than them. In any case, I'm going to leave this game well inside its genre and review it from there.
I only played the hour demo and wished I could have played more. I guess this is a good sign. I know it's weird to say it this way, but I think I liked it and I will definitely go back to play it when I run out of things to do. It won't be at the top of my list but it is definitely on it! Now, if you are a huge fan of this type of game and you've finished the Aveyond series and Eridani's games, you will definitely want to give this game a go.
So, what didn't I like about that game? Mostly it was the graphics. They seemed even more basic than other games of the RPG genre. I found it a bit boring to be in a forest with rows and columns of the same tree. I'm currently playing another RPG (writing a walkthrough for you guys!) and comparing the two together graphically really does show up this game as being much weaker in that regard.
BUT…once I got past that, I really did get into the game. The beginning kills off two important people to the main character, Leif (a guy for once!). Six months later, Leif and his cohorts are now ready to fight back the evil Thonado group who has taken over their community and soon the world. I can't pinpoint exactly why but I found the storyline compelling, maybe because it's a guy who is heartbroken?!
Some interesting twists to gameplay in Fated Haven are that you can control how you assign power levels, health points, and health points when you level up and you are able to see how strong your opponents are when you battle them. In addition, while I didn't get that far, the game appears to have more puzzles than most RPGs according to screenshots I have seen. Also, the bad guys don't seem to pursue you so unless they are blocking your way, you can avoid them. Finally, small thing…but you can run in this game!
I took a quick perusal of user reviews of this game and overall people have really liked it. I think the deciding factor will be…do you like RPGs? Then you will need to at least demo the game.
