Topic: Tales of Jayvin

[RetroJay]

Hi, Shadow1000.

Thank you for your very positive comments.
I'm so glad that you are enjoying playing our game and hoping to achieve the ultimate score.
Most of the negative comments, so far, seem to be with the battling side of the game.
Although this is important I feel people might be missing out on the other aspects of the game, such as completing quests, puzzles, etc.
With the exception of two, the quests are more brain than brawn.

As RetroLee commented... There is no right or wrong way to play the game. I would say though...
Leveling up your creature is something you can do throughout the game and is not a requirement at the very beginning.
Explore, talk to the citizens of Naturnum, solve puzzles and read books. These will explain the history of the land.

yours.
Jay and Vincent.

[KyriakosCH]

Nice gfx style! 

[Vincent]

Nice gfx style! 

Thanks KyriakosCH, we appreciate it a lot!

Yours.
Vincent and Jay.

[Mandle]

I left some final thoughts after "finishing" the game.

I will go back at some point and try to complete the quests I still have not yet. One or two I think that I know of.

Like I said, I absolutely LOVE this game and hope my comments don't seem to be negative. They were just things that I personally thought could be tweaked to make a great game even better. And, I suspect, many are things you might hear from other players.

I cannot, however, praise this game enough for how much it pulled me into its world and kept me entranced with the magic of this experience.

It kept me up waaaaaay too late on several nights just striving to complete a quest or get to a new area.

Thanks for the trip into the glorious world you created, guys!

[Vincent]

Hi Mandle, thank you so much for your message.

All your kind words and thoughts have filled joyously my heart. Personally as the other people on the team will agree on me, I feel really much happy to hear you say that you love this game as well as other people who have the same feeling as you. The gratitude of hearing these words are priceless and even hearing you say that it kept you up way too late for several nights. Thank you so much for all your support and for being part of this trip as well as the other people who did the same because it really means everything to us.

[Mandle]

Hi Mandle, thank you so much for your message.

Did you see my feedback message on the previous page?

[Vincent]

Did you see my feedback message on the previous page?

I'm sorry I meant to say your messages. Of course I have read all your feedback carefully and I appreciated them all from the first to the last. Personally some of your thoughts I have not taken negatively, I took them as personal opinions that may can change from one person to another.

[Mandle]

Okay sweet!

[BarbWire]

Hi fellow AGSers
If you are looking for a game that is truly captivating, then Tales of Jayvin is the one for you.
The game provides hours, rather than minutes, of pleasure as you explore the Land of Naturnum.
Completing quests, puzzle solving and battling an array of creatures, is just part of the story.
There are many other treats awaiting the player, but to reveal anymore would spoil the experience.
In fact, there is so much to do, and enjoyment to be had, that you will find it hard to quit play.
Give it a go. You wont be disappointed.

[Shadow1000]

I just finished the game and I want to post while I'm still "in it"

All I can say is WOW. I don't remember the last time I was this thrilled with an AGS release. I LOVE the RPG genre and I can't remember many good ones made using AGS.

I'm going to collate some of the thoughts that have been expressed earlier:

- The strongest reason I love this game is because there is SO MUCH TO DO! I don't want to ruin the discovery for people who haven't played so I won't be specific, but I'll leave it that there is such an incredible range of puzzles and quests with a huge variety. There are mini-games and arcade-style games and you name it. There's something for everyone and it's really not linear and if you don't want to do a quest, that's ok! I actually didn't bother with a few. I'll specify later.
- Needless to say, the attention to detail with the art and animation, effects, music, and all are fabulous.
- The game system was well designed, with the money and food management, sleeping, recharging and so on.

As far as the fighting system, Mandle and I said what there is to say:

Spoiler: ShowHide

The fighting in the cave is perfect. Putting enemies of a set level in a location is the way to go to help pace the game. My beef is mainly with the enemies on the island. The way I was able to beat them was by using my LOWEST character rather than highest!

More specifics about the quests:

I finished the game with 65% complete and 3 outstanding quests:

Spoiler: ShowHide

I did not complete the Jen quest, the horseshoe/Sudoku quest, the farm quest or the game boy quest. With 65% complete, that would only bring me up to 85% which either means that completing the boss battle is 15% or that I'm missing some quests. I cannot do the apple quest and I just don't feel motivated to do the others, which is part of the beauty of this game.

I enjoyed the fact that I did not need a lot of help. I just got two tips from the board:

Spoiler: ShowHide

- I still don't know how the player was supposed to solve the barrels in the cellar puzzle, other than literally mapping out each barrel to see how it moves and then planning a route on paper? That would take dozens of restarts...
- Finding the troll in the cave: that required walking through the cave all over again to find ONE spot. The batteries only really work properly until about 40% and I went through 11 batteries before asking for help. Maybe it would be better if he came to find YOU when you're in a range? Just a thought...

In conclusion, it is clear that a LOT of work went into this game and it will undoubtedly be an AGS masterpiece.

Vincent, Jason, Barbara and Lee (and anyone else involved): please pat yourselves on the back for a huge success.

Anyone reading this review who hasn't played yet: WHAT are you doing?? STOP READING and START PLAYING!!!!

Congratulations to the authors! Looking forward to more games from this talented team

[RetroJay]

Hi, Shadow1000.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a fantastic, in depth review of our game.
Your kind words mean a great deal to the team. Any points you raised, regarding the gaming experience, have been noted.
We agree that there are certain improvements which could be made, but to do this now would involve re-writing 50% of the game.
To tell you the truth I really don't think we have the strength.

Your enthusiasm for "Tales of Jayvin" is much appreciated.
Thank you for playing and enjoying.

From all the team at SPAMFASTIC STUDIOS.

[BarbWire]

I see that there is a new video, for your viewing pleasure, on the download screen.

This showcases the game much better than the first.

However, it still doesn't do the game justice, because you have to play in full screen
mode, to fully appreciate the landscape, of which this video is a small part.

The underwater sequence is lovely but you will not unlock this until you complete
a certain quest.

If you are footsore from walking you can ride a horse, but only if you have earned the
privilege.

Beat the boy on the gamejoy consule and, if you are angling for fun, have a go at the fishing competition.

Enjoyment by the bucketload!!!

[lorenzo]

I wanted to post a comment earlier, but I kept playing and kept finding new things!

So, first of all, this game is fantastic. There's so much content! I've played for around 7-8 hours and I've yet to finish it.

There's so much to do: exploration, puzzles, minigames, fights, and so on. My main criticism is that the game really likes to eat your free time! I usually say: "Let's play for a few minutes" and then, two hours later, I'm still playing...

I had a lot of fun solving puzzles, completing quests and exploring the town. Fighting... not so much, but I was never a fan of that style of combat.

I managed to

Spoiler: ShowHide

beat some of the islands dungeons. I also beat the ogre in the cave near home (I really enjoyed mapping the cave!), but the casino guy proved to be too strong for my character.

Got to agree with most of Mandle's criticism feedback, the game could use some small fixes.
But it's an awesome game, and everyone involved should feel proud of what they've made.
I think people should definitely give it a try! There's a lot to like in it.

[Mandle]

Got to agree with most of Mandle's criticism

I didn't mean it as criticism. More like feedback on points that I thought could improve what is already an incredibly fun game!

[lorenzo]

Let's say comments, or feedback, then. I didn't mean it in a negative way. I thought it was pretty clear, but you never know.
In fact, I've edited the post because your portrait was looking at me in an evil way, and I didn't want to anger it further...

[RetroJay]

Hi, Lorenzo.

Sorry I've been a while answering your post but I have been nursing a swollen painful knee.
I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed playing our game, even if you weren't keen on the battling side of it.
I hope it didn't eat into your free time too much, as you travelled Naturnum solving quests and puzzles.

Thank you for your very kind words and for playing "Tales of Jayvin".

Yours.
Jay.

[lorenzo]

Don't worry Jay! And thank you and the rest of the team for making the game. I had (and I'm still having) a lot of fun with it!

Hope your knee is healing up!

[Vincent]

@BarbWire:
Thanks a lot and I totally agree with you, the video doesn't do the game justice for the reasons you just explained. The author of the video let me know that he is working on a new one and that momentarily the previous video it is no longer aviable on YouTube. Let's hope he will do so as soon as possible.


@lorenzo:
I deeply appreciate your kind words, thank you very much. I'm really pleased to hear that the game eats your free time and that you find it fantastic!
Thanks again for all your feedback and for the recommendation.

Spoiler: ShowHide

You were good at exploring the cave well because it's a difficult part of the game, congratulations. 

@Mandle:
Thanks a lot because you find the game incredibly fun to play and this is meaning a lot to me.

[RetroJay]

Hi, Lorenzo.

I am so happy to hear that you had (and are  still having) a great time playing.

Spoiler: ShowHide

It's great that you enjoyed mapping out the cave system and that you managed to get all the barrels and beat the Troll. Now... Your creature should only need a little more training to be able to beat the guy in the casino. Once he has been dealt with you can just enjoy gambling all your money away or become a billionaire.

Thank you for your very kind words and your concern.
My knee is getting better. It kind of looked like I had four knees on one leg but it is nearly back to normal proportions, now. Only taken about eight weeks... Sheesh!

Yours.
Jay.