EARTHLOCK Reviews
It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but seeing the art style and testing Earhlock’s Talent system or its farming feature is still worth a try, especially if all you need for week’s getaway is a simple game and visually stunning graphics.
It's narrative, presentation and soundtrack make this title worthwhile
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
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.
This homage to the seminal days of RPGs is quite successful at what it set out to do. The strong points include character advancement, the village, and enemy variety, while I was let down by a slow plot and inconvenient save system. The Xbox One isn't exactly a haven for this genre, but in nostalgia value alone it's a welcome treat.
Earthlock is a beautiful and exciting RPG, being one of the best this decade. It combines aspects that make a game great, like a very well-written story, a beautifully composed soundtrack, and characters that stand out. However, the gameplay is sort of lacking, with most of it being battles. The game also loses its lustre fairly quickly after starting, as nothing really interesting happens until later.
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.
Earthlock: Festival of Magic is a solid attempt at making retro RPGs fun again.
Storytelling and character development aren’t Earthlock’s strongest points, but it has some interesting twists on classic JRPG gameplay. If you miss those classic games, Earthlock: Festival of Magic is worth a look—just don’t expect anything earthshaking.
All in all Earthlock is a solid JRPG experience that should be quite welcome on the platform since it is currently a bit lacking in the genre. While it’s hardly revolutionary it does a fairly good job of delivering on what’s most important in terms of combat mechanics and fun. While it may be priced a bit high for an indie title for the most part it’s a reasonably-good investment.
It’s a good game and I did enjoy playing it but there isn’t as much depth as I would like in the story. It sounded promising and has a fairly interesting backstory but with ok dialogue and simple storyline, it didn’t blow me away. The gameplay itself was everything I wanted of the game though quite repetitive and simple but with unique features that were exciting to play around with. As a big fan of JRPG’s I am impressed with Snowcastle Games and looking forward to the next chapter in the story.
All in all, I’m glad I finally got the opportunity to take this game off my wishlist. I did enjoy my time with EARTHLOCK, and felt I got a really solid little RPG for $29.90. Though there are some quirks that prevented this from a perfect score, there’s a lot more to enjoy, from the crafting to the combat to the characters. While I do wish the plot was a bit more elegantly crafted, since it mostly felt like a haphazard rollercoaster ride, what’s here is a worthy effort. If you are nostalgic for the RPGs of yore and want to play one on the go, you need to pick up EARTHLOCK on your Switch.
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
Earthlock is a good game, locked behind a lack of polish
Earthlock: Festival of Magic shows that the JRPGs aren’t games of a bygone era. It’s got it’s issues, but it’s still a fun game if you’re a fan of the genre. Hopefully, the developers will have the funds and resources in the future to deliver a more fleshed out experience, but for now, this game is just fine.
For most gamers, they should simply avoid playing this and instead play other, better games. For those willing to stick it out through the game's flaws, they'll find something to enjoy.
Earthlock: Festival of Magic was an enthralling concept that failed to materialize into one of the better roleplaying games this generation. The potential was certainly there, but the lack of an interesting story, characters that do not feel memorable, and strange difficulty spikes that require a lot of grinding hold the game back to a certain degree. The combat and battle system offers a lot of enjoyment though, and is where the game really shines. Still, even with the complaints, fans of the genre are going to find something to love in Earthlock.
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.
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