The Spirit Engine 2

5 Good stuff!
The Spirit Engine 2 is in my opinion one of the best indie RPGs. If not the best one. It’s charming, pretty and well written.

The basic gameplay mechanics are very simple. You pick your party, explore the world in a sideways platformer-like perspective, engage in real time battles, level-up skills and read plenty of witty dialogue. The combat mechanics can be little confusing at first, but overall it’s a streamlined, fun and polished experience. With special nods towards Mark’s colorful and charming art.

The greatest value lays in the story and how characters interact with each other. You can create your party out of 9 possible character combinations and each one will result in different conversations and story bits along the way. Of course, the characters are grouped by similar personalities, but it’s still damn impressive.

You can get a romance plot or religious dispiutes between three priests, depending on who you chose. Each time the game seems like if it was tailored for the party setup you are playing at the moment. It adds a huge incentive to replay the game just to see how different characters will react to each other.

Another great thing is the impressive and lengthy soundtrack by Josh Whelchel. Really sweet stuff for anybody that still feels nostalgia for the awesome classic game soundtracks in the style of Final Fantasy VI.

The only real complain I could have is that, compared to the original TSE, the story takes a bit too long to pick up and seems cliched at first. It gets much better later on, so it’s nothing big.

If you like RPGs with great production values and interesting characters, don’t hesitate to try this one. It’s awesome!