Loren - Amazon Princess RPG

spelk · May 06, 2012, 01:25:43 PM

Now then, before you all shudder and start to worry about my defection to the world of anime dating sims, you should really take a look into Loren RPG.

http://www.winterwolves.com/lorenamazonprincess.htm

It's got some nice anime/traditional western comic artwork, it's got a fairly decent story with interesting characters in a party centered turn based fantasy RPG. Loot and skill trees and a sort of Final Fantasy style combat mechanic.

I saw the demo pop up, and grabbed it - and was pleasantly surprised by the amount of tactical depth to the game's combat system and co-operative skill trees. It's all wrapped around a tale of personalities and a world where Amazonian women, elves, cheeky dwarves and men have culture clashes and romantic crushes. Sort of a more light hearted Dragon Age. :)

WinterWolves have a bunch of games that are dating sims, or flower shop games, but this time they've gone for the "proper" RPG - if a little light on the gritty realism.

Definitely worth a look, if you like RPG's with a bit of story. Especially one that branches in several places and follows slightly different tracks. The amount of personalities (race/classes) is satisfying enough as they assemble throughout your journey and you have a party of six to tailor on your way. Loot is suitably epic, with named items showing up, and the skill trees allow for a couple of different specialisations per character class.

Loren, the main character in the storyline, is your master, and she's a blademaiden Amazon Princess. The option for saucy outfits is there, to turn on or off to your desires.

http://youtu.be/qHrw65HRU_M

son_of_montfort · May 06, 2012, 01:44:08 PM

To quote the show Archer: "You're just going to softball that in for us?" ;)

Too easy. So I'll be nice. And I'll download the demo. You had me at "RPG," "Tactics," and "Amazon."

Tpek · May 06, 2012, 01:49:50 PM

I've already finished it yesterday :D
Currently waiting for the expansion.

It's not exactly a hard game (especially if you play on the Easy difficulty level), and it's mostly semi-linear. But still fun nonetheless.

spelk · May 09, 2012, 02:37:23 AM

The expansion to Loren has been announced.

The Castle of N'mar.

Quote
The Castle Of N'mar is the name of the expansion, which we'll start working on probably this weekend (as I said I want to take things a bit more easier from now on). I don't know yet WHEN will be out, since have also a few more backgrounds to be drawn for the new zones, but should be really out this summer. Once there's all the content I plan to do a beta-testing stage like I did with the main game.
It will add Sauzer the Unarmed Warrior specialist(no romance), Mesphit the Demon (GxB and BxB) and Chambara the Dark Witch (BxG and GxG). You can recruit them anytime starting from chapter2 of the main game, and each one requires you to do a quest to recruit.
We'll also add some more background story and quests for each of the other characters. Similarly to what happens in Planet Stronghold, doing a quest will reward you with a unique item for each character (well, apart Loren since she has already the Ember/Hawke sword).
There will be several new zones with new quests and new monsters to fight. The Castle of N'mar of course, catacombs, dwarf mines and so on. Overall I think will be well worth the cheap $9.99 price

http://www.winterwolves.net/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=2442&sid=ca32d30bbf1bc759a3d83ca195e29966

LongBlade · May 09, 2012, 09:53:05 AM

I don't know why, but I have a knee-jerk reaction against Anime. I see it and think, "No!"

Barthheart · May 09, 2012, 10:03:55 AM

Quote from: LongBlade on May 09, 2012, 09:53:05 AM
I don't know why, but I have a knee-jerk reaction against Anime. I see it and think, "No!"

Ditto!

spelk · May 09, 2012, 12:12:56 PM

I always put my fascination with anime down to my comic book roots as a kid. Stylised heroes being my "thing" so to speak. I was fascinated by the different style adopted, and then I dipped into the Japanese culture at one point. Their whole way of life being very visually orientated. The artist on this game seems to tap into the stuff I like. I'm not overly keen on the kawaii/cute stuff usually, especially super deformed, but this artwork wouldn't seem amiss in Guild Wars for instance. And I liked the art in that too.

A lot of the turn based tactical JRPG's have this sort of stuff, stills popping over dialogue, before you're dropped into super deformed pixel characters on grid based battlefields. Final Fantasy Tactics, Vandal Hearts, Fire Emblem, Disgaea etc..

I guess it's just a taste thing. The combat engine is pretty good for an indie title.

JasonPratt · May 09, 2012, 12:19:52 PM

I wonder if they're planning a port to PSP or PS3...? Seems like a good console candidate.

spelk · May 09, 2012, 01:31:44 PM

Quote from: JasonPratt on May 09, 2012, 12:19:52 PM
I wonder if they're planning a port to PSP or PS3...? Seems like a good console candidate.

It's made with something called the Ren'py engine.
http://www.renpy.org/

Dunno if that is portable or not, from the web site it seems to support Android as another platform.

spelk · January 16, 2014, 03:12:23 AM

A bit of a necropost here, apologies...

But Loren has just arrived on Steam!! Although with stiff competition from The Banner Saga it has to be said. They're similar games in as much as they're all about character exploration/interaction and tactical combat. The Banner Saga has sky-high production values. Loren is a bit more light hearted also.

If you bought the game from Winter Wolves, I believe you can get a Steam key for free by going here:
http://nettle.winterwolves.net/

or emailing info@winterwolves.com

tgb · January 16, 2014, 05:01:53 AM

Spelk, you owe me a set of eardrums. That link you posted to the theme song should be nuked from orbit, just to be sure. Aside from my aversion to all things anime, why would I play a game with a theme song sung by an out of tune 15 year old?

Pfui.

Jarhead0331 · January 16, 2014, 06:11:22 AM

Quote from: tgb on January 16, 2014, 05:01:53 AM
Spelk, you owe me a set of eardrums. That link you posted to the theme song should be nuked from orbit, just to be sure. Aside from my aversion to all things anime, why would I play a game with a theme song sung by an out of tune 15 year old?

Pfui.

Yeah. Embarrassing. It's like the 90210 of fantasy RPGs.

BanzaiCat · January 16, 2014, 07:11:15 AM

What, no tentacles?!?

Rayfer · January 16, 2014, 08:42:09 AM

Quote from: Barthheart on May 09, 2012, 10:03:55 AM
Quote from: LongBlade on May 09, 2012, 09:53:05 AM
I don't know why, but I have a knee-jerk reaction against Anime. I see it and think, "No!"

Ditto!

And another ditto!

spelk · January 16, 2014, 09:04:04 AM

Quote from: tgb on January 16, 2014, 05:01:53 AM
Spelk, you owe me a set of eardrums. That link you posted to the theme song should be nuked from orbit, just to be sure. Aside from my aversion to all things anime, why would I play a game with a theme song sung by an out of tune 15 year old?

Pfui.

Yeah I agree, and at the time, I even told the developer about it and how it would put RPG players off. Obviously anime dating sim furries would love it.

However (and this in no way makes up for the initial link I posted in 2012) is the new trailer for said game with a much more western fantasy soundtrack to it.

Please all accept my apologies - but I did enjoy the game immensley, and I'm a bit of a sucker for the anime artstyle when its done on a western-ised fantasy setting (see Record of Lodoss War, Beserk etc).