Earthlock: Festival of Magic
Overview -
'Earthlock: Festival of Magic' was developed by Norwegian studio Snowcastle Games and has been in development since at least 2011. Its first Kickstarter in 2013 was snowed in by the new console releases, but a second one in 2014 passed its $150,000 goal. It is available now for Xbox One (and soon, the PC,) and at a later date for PS4 and Wii U.
Video Review
'Earthlock' completes its reminiscing with a very PS2 feel, but with the more modern capacity of the Unity engine. There are lots of bright colors, little magical effects, whimsical combat animations, 3D character models that still have a kind of polgyon aura, and everything else you'd expect from a JRPG inspiration. Environmental art is pretty, particularly the overworld maps. As mentioned I did have a couple of crashes, but otherwise the game can manage its framerate well.
Audio Review
The airy fantasy soundtrack by longtime Snowcastle collaborator Eiko Ishiwata is decent, but in games like this it's common for the party to stay on one map for a long time, so the audio tracks soon become white noise. The sound effects are well done and also highly repetitive by nature. There is no voice acting.
Final Thoughts
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.