RŌA

[i]Edit 6/21/2018: Sometimes when I write a review, the developer contacts me to request I play a bit more. Perhaps I missed something. I always try to honor this request because I certainly don't want to write ignorant reviews (note that this does not include when more content is added during EA campaigns).[/i] --- The developer of [i]ROA[/i] asked me to give it another shot. So I did. It only made my blood boil because while I found a few little things I hadn't before - it was just more of the same. You guys know I'm a huge advocate for the whole Itch.io scene and experimental games. This title is fine in that regard, but I just don't think it's worth three bucks. What else do you want me to say? The developer said to me, and I quote: [i]"You've forgotten us by now, haven't you? We thought you might want to edit your review of our experimental play. The current one does not go far enough. RŌA has a goal, even several, but the main goal is inaccessible to many, because it is an...

This is NOT a "game", let's make that clear right now. There is nothing to kill, no objective, and no points to score or Steam global high score list for ROA here. This is more of an "experience simulator" where you get to sort of move around and focus your eyes on images that only your imagination can explain to your eyes. Take a quick look at my "First Play on Launch Day" video HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM1dlxS90qs I recommend this one, especially if you aren't expecting Call fo Duty or even a pong game. It is what it says it is, and nothing more. Comparison Versus AENTITY (by the same developer here on Steam).. I honestly like AENTITY a lot more than this one, even with it's $12 USD price tag compared to the budget $3 price tag on this one. AENTITY just seems to be a lot more visually impressive and offer a lot of detail than this one does. Both RoA and AENTITY are very similar however, AENTITY is just a much better product in my eyes.

ROA is a proto-program. It feels to me to be a proof-of-concept which is done much better in AENTITY. I don't dislike ROA, but if you are wanting to purchase AENTITY, you will currently receive ROA for free. I purchased it first with the intent to then try AENTITY only to realize that it was unnecessary, so I got a refund for ROA. This is the main reason why I am not recommending purchasing ROA separately. Another issue is that ROA does not look good at 2160p. The motion blur over-pixelates and when this happens on white colours, it produces painfully distorted visuals on a large screen. AENTITY solves this with an "Easy" graphics setting which is far more detailed than what ROA can do. ROA also feels less exploratory than AENTITY. That said, what's impressive about ROA and the publisher, ARQUOIA, is that they were able to take this proof-of-concept and make AENTITY. I would love to see this concept taken even further, because I believe that the blur/delay/time effects truly have so...

TL;DR If you see it as a art piece, and that's what you're looking for, the price is fair. If you're looking for a game with an explicit goal and would feel cheated by a lack of content, it's not for you. You should know before buying this that it isn't really a game. This is a 3D art piece. It has one room in it, and if you just kind of hang out and appreciate the scenery, you can create some really interesting screen shots. I have some difficulty justifying its price though, and I suspect that's why it comes free with AENTITY; There's not really much to it. On the other hand, there's a certain amount of entitlement that comes with any art piece, to claim that your art is worth something. When you think about the actual experience that you get from a book vs a painting, the book seems like a much better use of your money. But we buy art anyways, despite the price. If you can find a reason for that, then maybe you'll have a reason to buy this game. Honestly, I think steam wasn't th...

I'm a huge fan of Aentity but so far I havn't found the drive to "zen me" in RŌA. I think it's my personal taste when it comes to the fact that this feels more "pixely" combined with the colour choises here wich just makes me feel ill. However it's still a low price game so the "risk" is worth it to see wether you like it more then I do. I still see the beauty behind this so it's hard to put the dislike-stamp on i. Maybe this was better off added to Aentity then a seperate buy (even with the option to recieve it for free in the bundle). I will push myself a little bit more to see if it opens up to me

Pretty seeing Rays

it's kinda like roblox

You can walk around a Windows Media Player visualization where there are models of a bunch of humanoids and one very large humanoid. You can 'blink' and 'stare' to reset visual effects and increase the amplitude of a colour separation smearing effect respectively. Kinda neat, but if you're even mildly interested in this you'll be wanting to buy AENTITY to receive RŌA for free instead of purchasing it separately. This is a tech demo for AENTITY.

For 3€ this is way overpriced, but I got it in sale and although I didn't "get" the game, nor any achievements or understanding of where an ending should be or what kind of interaction my clicks actually do have on the world, I still could kinda enjoy it for the brilliant "Beksinski in Glitch hell"-aesthetics and the general sense of outerspacy, mysterious dread I got from it alone. Too cryptic for my taste, not quite a game, but it does belong in a museum and may be worth checking out.

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