Recent reviews by otterpop!

Pseudoregalia is a good game, but there were a lot of frustrating bits that prevent me from calling it great.

Something something, shorter games, worse graphics. There's obviously a lot of love put into the game, and it's an amazing release for a solo developer. The movement abilities open up a lot of options, the music is great, and the world is large and varied. It more than justifies it's price tag, and I'd be more than willing to pay extra if it meant furthering development on the game. I'm not typically a fan of the genre, but I was pleasantly surprised. If you're on the fence, it's worth buying.

What... saddens... me is how close it is to being great. While I'll sound critical with the rest of the review, it's out of love for the game.

My biggest issue is the lack of a map. The description states that the game is "highly replayable with different routes to take", but it feels like the level design that facilitates this also makes the first playthrough a lot worse. Areas will typically branch out quickly and open up 'shortcuts' for backtracking throughout the level. Whether it's the textures or layout, a lot of the rooms would blend together leading to HOURS of backtracking through rooms that got less fun every time I had to traverse them. It was frustrating to know that I needed to go to a specific area with no idea how to reach it. I would not have beaten this game without a walkthrough to find a certain powerup and a major key. The steam community guides contain a few maps that made the experience bearable, and I believe that adding a map would relieve a lot of my frustrations with the game. A small counter that displayed the remaining keys, powerups, outfits in a region or some sort of visual indicator that a room had been 'completed' feel easy enough to implement and would make a huge difference.

Next, the game never felt particularly difficult. My expectations for combat were high when I encountered the first Knight enemy, but none of the enemies I encountered afterwards had quite the same charm. Despite getting quite a few combat powerups, during the final boss I would simply dash towards the boss and spam attack. I would generate enough gauge to fully heal any damage I took in between beatdowns. I wish more of the movement abilities had a purpose in combat, or the level design encouraged more movement or interaction with the environment.

When I did encounter difficulty, it was either due to navigation or the movement. Not once during the game did I want to wall jump off of the ledge I was aiming towards, but Sybil was more than happy to do it 3 times in a row. Some of the fastest movement (slide -> jump) can quickly kill your momentum if you press LT a little too early while you're in the air, causing you to immediately plunge into the ground, and even jump backwards if you've already queued up a jump. I'm willing to admit that these could just be skill issues, but I've seen a few people complain about it.

Finally, the story. I wish there were more interactions with the NPCs, even if they just had different lines of dialogue depending on how many keys you had--this would further increase the replayability and make the world feel even more alive. I wish there was more lore and worldbuilding to go off of than just the ending dialogue (which I accidentally skipped the first time by holding B...)

All that being said, it's a good game, it's worth your time and money, and Sybil is a cutie.

Out of any game I've played, this is the only one that I've completed 100%

It's hard to give away too much without spoiling some parts of the game, but the brilliant storytelling, fun combat mechanics, and unparalleled character development land this as my favorite game of all time.

I implore you to try this game for yourself. I am not a huge fan of JRPGs, but this game stole my heart.