I flip-flopped for a while on whether or not to recommend this game. It's a solid game, if you're a fan of dungeon crawling RPG's in the vein of Class of Heroes, Etrian Odyssey, Wizardry, or the old Might and Magic games, This game definately scratches that itch.

The short version: This game would have no trouble earning a recommendation if it weren't so damn expensive. Buy it at 50% off or don't buy it at all. $40 or $30 is overpaying.

The premise is ok: You were on a flight that got sucked through a dimentional portal to an alternate world, where you are known as a "Stranger". The lower gravity makes you much stronger than normal (though why you might suddenly be able to do magic is completely ignored. Suffice to day, strangers are just better). Turns out you're also a "Chosen One", capable of destroying "Lineage Monsters", stronger than average monsters that normally revive after being killed. So, you, along with other Strangers (your own customizable party and it's many alternates) are charged with running around killing Lineage monsters.

It's a dungeon crawler! That's really all there is to say about it. Fight Monsters, gain levels, get loot!

The things that set it apart are the Ambush system, which sounds like it was supposed to be a way to get rarer items, but in the end, it's the only way to get equipment from enemies. On the plus side you are guarenteed to gain equipment from these encounters, and its not like the fighting is boring (unless maybe you've been at it for a long time).

There's also the Life Point system. Every time a character is KO'd in battle, they lose a life point. If a character reaches 0 life points (Or maybe dies with 0 life points? The game isn't clear) they're dead for good and can't be revived. To counter this, giving characters additional rest and recovery time lets them recover Life Points. The problem is this takes an extremely long time, like, I half expected a mobile game pop-up to ask me if I wanted to spend money to have the people in question instantly recover.

The game could be great, but the things that are supposed to set it apart hold it back as much as they make the experience more unique. In the end Stranger of Sword City is still solid, and it's worth owning, but it's by no means worth more than $25 at the absolute most.

I flip-flopped for a while on whether or not to recommend this game. It's a solid game, if you're a fan of dungeon crawling RPG's in the vein of Class of Heroes, Etrian Odyssey, Wizardry, or the old Might and Magic games, This game definately scratches that itch. The short version: This game would have no trouble earning a recommendation if it [u]weren't so damn expensive[/u]. Buy it at 50% off or don't buy it at all. $40 or $30 is overpaying. The premise is ok: You were on a flight that got sucked through a dimentional portal to an alternate world, where you are known as a "Stranger". The lower gravity makes you much stronger than normal (though why you might suddenly be able to do magic is completely ignored. Suffice to day, strangers are just better). Turns out you're also a "Chosen One", capable of destroying "Lineage Monsters", stronger than average monsters that normally revive after being killed. So, you, along with other Strangers (your own customizable party and it's many alternates) are charged with running around killing Lineage monsters. It's a dungeon crawler! That's really all there is to say about it. Fight Monsters, gain levels, get loot! The things that set it apart are the Ambush system, which sounds like it was supposed to be a way to get rarer items, but in the end, it's the only way to get equipment from enemies. On the plus side you are guarenteed to gain equipment from these encounters, and its not like the fighting is boring (unless maybe you've been at it for a long time). There's also the Life Point system. Every time a character is KO'd in battle, they lose a life point. If a character reaches 0 life points (Or maybe dies with 0 life points? The game isn't clear) they're dead for good and can't be revived. To counter this, giving characters additional rest and recovery time lets them recover Life Points. The problem is this takes an extremely long time, like, I half expected a mobile game pop-up to ask me if I wanted to spend money to have the people in question instantly recover. The game could be great, but the things that are supposed to set it apart hold it back as much as they make the experience more unique. In the end [i]Stranger of Sword City[/i] is still solid, and it's worth owning, but it's by no means worth more than $25 at the absolute most.