Sunday Gold Review (Shah Stag)
Just grinded the hell of out it and I must say there was some great points and some... really sour moments.
I'll add a spoiler section to go into it specifically but firstly props to the art style and details cause no matter where you are in the game it's always apparent along with the lore.
That being said both story wise and gameplay there are some issues between chunky enemies, not properly explained mechanics (I'll get into that in spoilers), and constant story points that just... Have so many loose ends.
First two chapters were great with a good pace, puzzles were good nothing too frustrating, and the story really was setting up to something exciting. My main gripes are with chapter 3 among some story stuff that just really makes me confused why it was set up like that.
To start Frank and Sally I have no issues with character writing wise. Sure some dialogue being reused to examine things makes the trio feel a little generic but my main issue is Gavin.
The video tape showing him going nuts was a great set up that made me think. Was the contact using him as a tool? Is there something more to Gavin? What triggered it besides "the knife"? Instead it's just a limp end of "The voices" and some small snippets from composure events during end turns. Even that topic was brought up decent bit between chapters 1 and 2 but then poof. It was just "the voices" and that was it. Unfortunately the trend of bringing up or setting up really interesting plot points to only just completely drop it.
Other main issue was chapter 3. Between alot of the puzzles being going through the entire mansion to find this one specific clickable all while going through a chance between 1 to (what I got) 4 enemies in a end turn alert. That's when my mood started to sour on this game. Final boss fight happens going great so far then part 2 with Sunday Gold and his master. Probably the most frustrating fight in the game that gives no real ques to what's going on or what you have to do besides the status effect of Sunday Gold being controlled. I went through that fight for 25 minutes and had Sunday gold revive himself about 4-5 times along with Hogan revive himself twice. At that point it was an agonizing slog until I somehow triggered the win condition for the fight.
Lastly the ending just made me feeling really unfulfilled. It was a nice touch seeing Sunday Gold bond to Sally who has a background in taking care of rescue dogs. Ok we find his daughter still alive but is she sentient or just a mindless machine? The only contender was Hogan but he wasn't brought back from the dead. What happened to his wife? In the extra notes both of them were going to be brought back. Did she just burn down in the mansion at the end? What happened to Frank's debt? He didn't get any money just Sunday Gold and the daughter. No real resolution with Ruth either. She was set up to be out for vengeance against the group and at the end she just what? Cusses then drops everything and just lets the group go. I know I keep going on and on about all these small points but it just adds up to a big nothing ending.
I genuinely think a way to solve all this was a simple epilogue chapter celebrating in the bar with the people throughout the game or heck even a cut scene would do the job to show what was the fruits of their journey. Show everyone partying, Frank pays off his debt, King's league is shutdown to finally evidence showing the inhuman process to the public turning them off from the sport, Gavin and his group gets the recognition they deserve, Sally opens a new rescue for now King's league dogs Hogan industries collapses, the news covering the huge scandal that ties into government involvement, and even just a fraction of this would give a satisfying conclusion.
7.5/10
- Great art
- Good dialogue/story with holes in it
- Spongy/slow combat
- Chapter 1/2 a total blast, 3 really kills the momentum
Get the game on sale