EARTHLOCK Reviews
An indie adventure with a lush world, fun characters, and enjoyable battles, Earthlock brings the soul of PS1-era JRPGs to the Switch with excellent results. Inconsistent dialogue and notable load times are among its few missteps, but as a package, it captures the appeal of the epoch wonderfully. If you're looking for a fresh-feeling JRPG that still calls back to the classics, this is a lovely choice.
Fun and interesting, Earthlock offers an intense RPG experience with very classic elements and a good playability, but also a little repetitive.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Earthlock has very fresh and new ideas, but it does not really fit in the classic RPG genre. It is visually attractive, although the game seems a little bit seems to go to waste on multiple occasions.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
An indie RPG that follows all the imaginable clichés from the 90's J-RPG (except random encounters). The result isn't bad, but some areas have plenty of room to improve (characters and plot won't hook you up completely). But, if you love the genre, you will be able to explore its world filled with tasks for 25+ hours (enjoyable in portable mode).
Review in Spanish | Read full review
A loving homage to PS one era JRPGs, but its small innovations are suffocated beneath a dead weight of clichés and conventions that in most cases were better off left to the past.
Cliches are the death of interesting characters and Earthlock is all too willing to draw its own characters’ chalk outlines and willingly lay them down in it.
Earthlock: Festival of Magic is a surprisingly hardcore RPG that belies its child-friendly surface. Teeth-gnashing boss battles can almost always be overcome with careful consideration and patience, and, when you find the solution, you'll wonder why you were even annoyed in the first place. The story is guff with a set of bland characters that do little more than move you from place to place, but you could do worse.
The care and attention to detail by Snowcastle Games shows in Earthlock. It's a lovingly crafted world and one that I can't wait to see from.
The nostalgia is nice, but I'm also reminded of advancements that the genre has made over the past twenty-plus years. With brisker combat and some much-needed voice work, this could be great, but Earthlock is still good as-is for genre fans.
A beautiful game which features a host of challenging boss battles require tactical thinking, useful characters, and a big world to explore, Earthlock delivers a solid experience which scratches the turn-based RPG itch. Its fourteen hours of game play swells thanks to a ton of side quests, hidden bosses, and lots of things to craft and collect, and is a true indie delight for any fan of the genre.
Do you long for oldschool jRPGs? Better look somewhere else, because this mediocore title is not worth your time.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Earthlock is a good game, locked behind a lack of polish
You won't find much in Earthlock that you haven't seen in hundreds of other RPGs, but there is a charm here that you may just want to be a part of.
Earthlock: Festival of Magic is a cute JRPG inspired by a bunch of very old-school mechanics, but that fails in delivering a satisfying experience.
Review in Italian | Read full review
In a world of fast-paced games with extra gimmicks and money-grabbing tactics, Earthlock is a breath of fresh air. I have a lot of respect for what it is: it is a love letter to a genre that shaped me as a gamer. And for that, I am thankful.
Whilst the art style here verges on the cartoonish, the gorgeous sense of colour and texture really brings the world alive
EARTHLOCK: Festival of Magic is a great RPG, and you should try it right now! Its battle system was fun to play (albeit with some battles that were a bit too long for my taste), and the locations were fun to explore. Also, this is the first game of an announced trilogy, which means we should look forward to a sequel soon!
Those looking for a turned-based RPG, inspired by the golden oldies, are advised to look exactly where Earthlock took its inspiration from, as it's not very good at what it does. Some neat ideas have been included, but these can't make amends for a lack of an engaging plot, or fun battles.
Earthlock isn't going to go down as an essential JRPG, especially on the PlayStation 4 where RPGs aren't exactly uncommon, but it will go down as a charming, respectable title that pays tribute to the PSone era of the genre without forgetting to carve an identity of its own.
If there's one word to describe Earthlock, it'd have to be "charming". The characters are likeable, the world is well designed and there are plenty of interesting things to do or discover.