Review: Flowstone Saga is a quirky JRPG with puzzle gameplay

Sometimes, explaining the appeal of a game can take a lot of effort. You can talk about how the game systems work together or how the setting and plot or specific mechanics develop after spending time with them. Then you have games that make it easy like Flowstone Saga. It’s a JRPG where battles take place Tetrisspeak clearly. There’s a lot more to say, but I doubt many games will be sold with just that basic description. Luckily, Flowstone Saga does a good job of conveying its interesting ideas.

The main character of the story is Mirai, a new young woman living in the town of New Riverstone. The town is part of Ocean’s End, a remote place with not many people coming and going. One day, Mirai and her pet Sprig were going on an adventure when they came across a buried ruin. Looking to defend herself against a pursuing monster, Mirai accidentally obtains the Flowstone. A mysterious source of energy contained within grants her a number of powers, not the least of which is the ability to fight. This discovery naturally sets off a series of events that not only shake the world but also reveal secrets about Mirai itself.

Flowstone Saga Make a great first impression. Its visuals are beautiful, reminiscent of some of the better 16-bit games in the genre. Its soundtrack is energetic and catchy. You don’t have to wait long before entering your first battle, as the story picks up in the middle of the action before cutting back. There is a brisk pace right from the start. The initial set-up of the story is certainly intriguing, and the dialogue in these opening scenes reads well. Definitely a solid start. For the most part, it keeps things going throughout the adventure, which takes about ten hours to complete.

Before covering many other aspects of the game, I want to learn about the combat system. After all, it’s the eye-catching element. Although the shapes are not identical to those of Tetris, anyone who has played that game will get the basic gist of what to do without needing to be told. You must create lines to attack your enemies. The urge to make big plays can be strong, but don’t play around for too long. The enemy will launch attacks on their own and they will not wait. Of course, those attacks do damage, but they will also often cause chaos on the playing field. That clutter has different effects, and none of them are good for you.

So far, so good. However, there is more to it than that. The pieces will also carry Link Crystals, and if you place the blocks in such a way that three blocks touch each other, you will receive Heat. That makes your attacks more powerful, so you’ll want to line up those Link Crystals as often as possible. When making matches, you will fill a gauge that allows you to use one of the selected powers. When you start, you’ll only have one, but as you play, you’ll have access to more. These can do things like give you a line or throw pieces onto the field that, when matched, will hit your enemy with an elemental attack. There’s also Flask, which again throws pieces onto the field to create different effects when matched.

Basically, there’s quite a bit more going on here than a simple path-clearing game. It can be a bit overwhelming until you get the hang of things, but unless you’re going for the hardest of the three selectable difficulty levels from the start, you should sort it out before things get confusing. . Just keep matching those lines and you’ll be fine. Once you reach the point of failure, you can start using other systems. If you play on the recommended difficulty, that point may never come. Most players with some experience with both sides of the mix here will probably want to play on the second difficulty level at a minimum to keep things interesting. However, you can change at any time, so feel free to study.

Flowstone Saga much bigger than its combat system. That is even true for Tetris-style part of the game, also used to collect resources and complete the shape building puzzles you will find scattered there. Mirai’s homeworld of New Riverstone plays an important role in the game. It’s where she takes on new quests, mingle with townspeople, buy new equipment, or relax in a house she decorated herself. As you play the game and complete the requirements, the town will grow and gain new facilities, thereby unlocking more game features.

Completing those requests often depends on gathering the necessary resources or items requested by the townspeople. Resources can be found around, but you can always collect more by playing a timed mini-game. Special items act as incentives to take you to many other locations in Ocean’s End, as most of them are in the possession of a boss monster waiting at the end. Some requests are more direct, taking you somewhere to advance the plot. You’ll travel to these locations via a map that lists each location as it opens.

The dungeon designs are solid enough, with some little secrets to find that will give you treasure or stat boosts. Enemies are clearly visible on the map, so you can try to avoid encounters if you want. You’ll also be able to see the boss, and their size usually makes it clear that they’re not a normal encounter. As you progress through, you’ll be given oddly niche puzzles to solve, often involving switches, plus the aforementioned shape-building mini-games. In it, you will have an outline shape and some selected parts. You will have to figure out how to place them to form the shape. You can also try as many times as you like, making these more of a way to spice things up during a dungeon run than anything else. These puzzles also indirectly represent one of the game’s many accessibility features.

If you want, you can play the game in turn-based mode where pieces are not dropped during battle. Instead, you can take your time placing each piece and the enemy will only attack after a certain number of pieces have been placed. It’s a nice feature for people who might not be so good at it Tetrisa quality that can put you at a serious disadvantage in Flowstone Saga. Combined with the different difficulty options, you have a lot of discretion as to how challenging or relaxing you want the overall experience to be.

One of the coolest things about Flowstone Saga feeling so refreshing. Running time is short so you avoid staying too long. It constantly introduces new systems or capabilities, keeping things lively. While you may not need to interact with most of them to finish the game, they are still welcome all the same. There’s a real risk here that the line-clearing combat system might have gotten too repetitive over time, but it never got much of a chance to do so thanks to all of this. As soon as the dust settles from the start, you’ll unlock the job system. Then you unlock additional elements. A few moments later, you’ll have unlocked combat helpers. It kept adding new twists to the adventure for quite some time.

While Flowstone Saga mechanically rich, perhaps even to the point of overkill, its story left me wanting more. The dialogue is competently written and the overall plot is engaging if somewhat predictable, but the characters and their interactions often come off a bit contrived and banal. It’s not too bad, but the result is that it’s difficult to invest in many of the conversations between the characters. The initial excitement and mystery did not yield as good results as I expected. In the end, I played more to enjoy the gameplay than to see where the story would go.

Flowstone Saga is a captivating combination of RPG and puzzle game with a fast pace and plenty of mechanics to engage with. The presentation is great, with detailed, colorful visuals and a strong soundtrack. The story doesn’t hit the same high notes as the rest of the game, but it works well enough to keep you engaged throughout this relatively short but enjoyable journey. In some ways, it feels like the game could have been longer and explored some of its mechanics more thoroughly, but I give it credit for ending before it gets repetitive. If you’re looking for a more light-hearted game among all the huge RPGs being released today, this game will suit your needs well.

Flowstone Saga To be available for PC.

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