Shards of Azuria

Wouldn't recommend it at the moment. Although I like the idea and hope the developer will pull through and finish the game, at its current state it's just a pain to play. Isommetric view mixed with a character that moves way to fast and enemies/objects you have to stand right infront of to hit/activate makes it just extremely annoying. Just walking through a door or hacking down a tree is a chore. I won't refund the game and really hope for the best, so that this game may shine at some point in the future. However, I wouldn't buy it at the moment and wait till a full release is out or at least a lot of updates have been made.

First off, I'm not sure why a few people seem to have struggled with the controls - personally I found it very straight forward and there are a few options to tweak it to how you like, if you look for them. In terms of the game itself, I'm a few hours in and I've found it really enjoyable - there are lots of things to keep you engaged, whether it's the story, crafting or simply grinding through levels, but all offer that sense of simple satisfaction you want from an RPG. Don't get me wrong, this isn't Skyrim or The Witcher, but then I don't think it's trying to be - for me its charm lies in its simplicity, but with the right amount of intricacies to make it engaging, and at times a satisfying challenge. If you're looking for something new to keep you busy for either a few hours or even a few weeks, then I'd certianly recommend this game. I for one look forward to playing the finished article when it's ready.

Let's just get to it, shall we? Pros: - Nice retro presentation - Dynamic lighting - Enjoyable crafting system - Enjoyable building system - Appealing for most age groups Cons: - Dynamic lighting - Controls - HUD could use work At this point, my two biggest complaints are against the controls and lighting. In most instances, cranking up the brightness/gamma settings in a game can get you around dark areas - but not in Shards of Azuria. As for the controls, combat tends to be frustrating with both mouse and keyboard. Though not as frustrating, this also goes into simply trying to open a door. I have just started out, but I am already dreading encountering tougher enemies. However... the cons are not enough for me to not enjoy the game. I am looking forward to building my house with the very user-friendly building system and seeing how strong my character can become with the things I can craft, as well as looking forward to how this game will improve on its way to a full release.

[b] TL;DR [/b] Shards of Azuria is a charming game with quirky characters and hours and hours of content. The controls are a little hard to get used to at first but at its price point, this game is a steal! [b] Performance [/b] Being a 2D game, the hardware capabilities of your PC aren't going to be pushed to the limit no matter what graphics card you have. Intel Integrated HD graphics should be more than enough to play this game. I personally haven't encountered any performance issues caused by any bugs. This game seems very well polished compared to a lot on the Early Access marketplace. [b] Graphics [/b] This game isn't going to blow you away graphically. However, for people who are fans of pixel art, I wholeheartedly recommend this game. The enemies come in a different variety of horrible beasts that leave me curious to find more of them just to see what they look like. Back in the town, there is still some pixel wonders to behold such as the Shard itself. [b] Gameplay [/b] Un...

Good start to a potentially good game. I'm giving this game a Thumbs Up because of its potential and because it's still in Early Access. However, if the Developers don't read Thumbs Up reviews, then I will change it to thumbs down in hopes that they will address some issues noted below. ISSUES 1. The Object Interaction Range needs to be Increased (20-35% ?) You must be standing VERY close to objects to interact with them. It would be helpful if the Interaction Range was increased and the ability to interact with objects wasn't so 'picky'. 2. Inventory Tips Blocked by Mini-Map The pop-up tip for Crafting help is centered on the screen. Nice. But almost half of the pop-up tip for the Inventory appears behind the mini-map. Not nice. It would be better if all pop-up tips were centered on the screen. Also, it might be helpful if there was a toggle to hide the Mini-map. Additionally, I'm not able to Close the Inventory pop-up because the upper right corner with the red clo...

I really like the premise of this game. I like how it looks and I liked everything I saw in the trailer and on the store page. However, the isometric view makes this game almost impossible to play. It's extremely tedious to do something as simple as walk through a door or chop down a tree. Killing enemies is annoyingly difficult as well since you have to perfectly line up with the same row they're in or you won't hit them. I tried for a few hours to dig and mine and craft and kill enemies and none of it was fun for me because it was just so tedious to do everything. I also didn't like that everything is so dark. The torches you can craft and place don't provide enough light to be of any real use and as soon as you're a few blocks deep into a hillside, you're lost in utter darkness. That's not to say I hate the game. I want to like it-the idea and trailer looked so good, but actually playing it is too annoying and difficult, that I can't bring myself to recommend it. It IS in early acc...

There is a shortage of isometric craft / build / rpgs. This title has huge potential and is definitely worth the asking price.

Why's it so hard to hit stuff? I'm standing right in front of a tree trying to break it down, just not connecting right. Trying to hit enemies, not connecting right. I wish i could walk through the tall grass around the town or flowers instead of getting blocked by it. The game looks interesting to me cuz im a sucker for pixels but it still needs some polishing up on. For now im saving this game for later and will update my review eventually.

A real gem in the rough, it just needs some polishing. The simple fact is that all the aspects of the game such as building, crafting, questing and exploration are already fleshed out, at the price it's a no-brainer. Recommended!! 8.5/10

I don't know what the negative reviews are about, but when this went on sale I had to give it a shot. It's not perfect, I have no idea if it's abandoned, but it's totally playable. It's reminiscent of Don't Starve, except you don't die a bunch and there's a village to help you out and sell you stuff. It's not as hard, in my opinion, because someone actually tells you how to do stuff in tutorial quests. That never happens in most of these. So, it's a more casual Don't Starve with RPG elements and all the crafting you crave.