Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Jun 29, 2019

  There's no doubt that the market for RPGMaker games on Steam is saturated, so when looking at any given game from it, one has to ask the question, 'why should I play this game?'. Why play Cope Island: Adrift over any other of the RPGMaker games out there? Well. Cope Island is a little different from your usual RPGMaker game. There's no huge, epic story spanning dozens of hour here, no large continents to explore, and you're not a boy on a destiny to save the world from a terrifying demon emperor. Instead, Cope Island is a personal journey. You arrive on the shore of a small island as a nameless protagonist, get into a fight, and then open your first chest. And therein lies part of the appeal of Cope Island. On every given run, you'll get a completely random weapon. Said weapon will have two skills assigned to it. Each weapon has it's own distinct use, with some being more support based, while others are all-out offensive, and some lie more in the middle. In Cope Island, you won't be leveling up, or acquiring new skills besides your weapon based ones, so it's up to you to adapt to what you're given, and experiment with your loadout on any given run. That's not to say you won't be doing any growth during your journey. After set points, you'll definitely grow stronger, but so will your enemies, so the game always keeps you on your toes, with enemies always being a fair match for your current level of power. The island itself is rather small, and yet, as you play the game you'll find out that there's a lot more to it than it appears at first sight. Uncovering the mystery of what exactly the island is, is what the main appeal of the game is. All in all, the game is relatively short-ish for a RPGMaker game, and your playthrough should clock in anywhere from 5 to 8 hours depending on how much you go in depth. The graphics themselves are beautifully pixelated, and give the game a gloomy, sometimes oppressive atmosphere, adding to the feeling permeating the island. This is helped by the wonderful soundtrack, which has many well composed tunes. I particularly liked some of the boss themes myself. The story is the one area that's difficult to talk about. Not because it's bad, but because playing the game, you'll get the feeling that it truly meant something to the developer. You're going on a deeply personal journey, and it might, or might not be your own journey too. But playing it, you can truly feel that the developer was pouring heart and soul into the game, and the story and dialogue properly reflect that. Cope Island is a 'deep' game, but it never gets preachy, 'holier than thou' or acts obnoxious about it. You're along for the ride, and you decide how much it truly means to you, and what you'll take away from the experience. And in the end, Cope Island is just that, an experience. A fun little romp through an island of mysteries, using what little is given to you to try and uncover it. Do I recommend it? Yes, but I'd say that at 10 bucks the game is a bit steep-ish, so it's more of a 'grab it on sale' for me. At 50% off during the Steam sale, I feel like I got plenty of enjoyment for my money, and I was definitely happy with my purchase.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 30, 2019

  It doesn't take very long to finish this game, but that's also what makes it fun. It may seem like a simple short game with a distinctive mood (music and visuals complement each other well) but you'll keep discovering layers and layers that will make you want to go back and look for secrets. You get different weapons and skills during each playthrough, which adds a lot to the replay value. Certain key items remain in your inventory forever after you get them once, so going through a few times in a row is actually the key to getting more secrets. Of course, none of this would be worth it if the game itself weren't enjoyable to play. The combat starts like a basic RPG but as you progress you'll gain the ability to attack two and even three times in a row. This allows for very strategic thinking as you can heal yourself and use multiple skills in one turn. The endgame enemies are challenging and will force you to give careful thought to each turn. All in all, it's very immersive and fun, well worth playing.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 30, 2019

  This might be a little game at first sight but it offers great "replayability," which is a crucial part of the design. It's an RPG Maker game but far from your standard fare and in my opinion a better piece than To The Moon. The story is an abstract fantasy, which is trying to touch important philosophical and ethical questions. Whether it succeeds or not is questionable as is the nature of such topics. It certainly cares them well and while the themes might feel little forced sometimes, it's never without a taste. Besides that I would recommend the game for swift gameplay centered around weapons and skills tied to them. This makes each playthrough different. Graphics are really nice and some of my favourite pixel art i have seen this year. Especially the colours are very well selected. And man, I love the soundtrack. It's where the game really shines. Somewhere among classic rock, Carpenter's synths and 16-bit fantasy games, it hits the sweet spot and just rocks.
• gamedeal user

  Mar 30, 2021

  This game is a masterclass of mood, non-linear gameplay and storytelling. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. This game has a lot of post-game content available too. I have been aware of zDS's work for a long time, and their games, while they not seem super flashy on the surface, they exhibit a level of depth underneath that is very engaging. I highly recommend this game A+++