There are a lot of negative aspects to the recent crowd-funding explosion that the gaming industry has seen. We’ve seen developers who completed a Kickstarter only to vanish and never be seen again, games that failed to live up to expectations upon completion, and much more. But in spite of all the ways a Kickstarter can go wrong the funding method definitely provides some upsides. One of the biggest gifts crowd funding has given gamers is a resurgence of game types that AAA companies and big studios would normally be afraid to tackle because they might seem (and very likely could be) unprofitable for them. Adventure games are seeing a resurgence, as are isometric 2D WRPG’s. One of the projects funded by this is Lords of Xulima, by Spanish developer Numantian Games.
Lords of Xulima takes place 800 million years in the past, and has you assume the role of Gaulen, an explorer that was told in his sleep by the Gods that he must mount an expedition to their lost continent of Xulima, where no mortal has ever tread… allegedly. Gaulen assembles a party, charters a ship, and departs towards the lost continent, and so the game begins when you land on Xulima’s shores. Upon arrival you will wander a short time before finding a town in this mystical abandoned continent.
Look at that grin. The bliss of T-Rex Riding.
The game will ask you if you want to start with a default team, or create your own team. For my first try, I chose to begin with the default team. As I began my adventure, the first thing that struck me was the slow movement speed of the main character across the map. Even when I locked in the run command, it seemed like it took forever to get the characters to cover even small distances. To make matters worse, the game requires you to continually indicate where you want your character to move by holding the mouse button in front of where you want them to go, rather than clicking on a point on the map (at least one that has been explored) and having your character go there. The movement is closer in nature to Diablo than something like Baldur’s Gate or Icewind Dale. This sounds like a nit-pick, but the game does make you walk everywhere and it gets annoying very quickly. Pacing is further disrupted by a loading screen before and after every fight.
Lords of Xulima gives the appearance of being open world but it isn’t really. Everything that is plot related, at least initially, is locked. Enemies are visible on the map, except in certain high risk areas where they can ambush you. This is used as a way to provide an illusion of freedom while herding the player along a set path. The combat system is turn based and deep, and while it will allow you to kill enemies that are stronger than you (if you know how to use the system and play smart) average players will find it difficult to fight back when the enemy is meant for parties more than a few levels past their current stats. The combat is one of the best things about the game. It is turn based, but it rewards understanding the system, using the character’s abilities, and taking advantage of the formations. You can have players protect each other, change places during a battle, and even “support” each other which grants bonuses and removes some status ailments. To stop you from abusing the mechanic of sleeping and resting after every fight, the game keeps track of your food. If you rest too often you risk running out of food, which encourages you to take more risks.
The Dream Team eats cave eggs!
The depth present in the combat drove me to decide to start the game again, this time with my own party. The custom party allowed me to choose a system that better suited my play style (i.e. a team that didn’t have a bard). I chose to replace the solider with a barbarian, and the bard with the intriguing arcane warrior. I also made my rouge a ranged character, instead of having her get beat up in the front row. Despite the fact that the party members don’t have a personality, and don’t really say anything, my experience immediately improved with the custom party. An interesting note is that Gaulen remains regardless of whether you chose to make your own party or not. It is a bit of an inversion on the usual method of having a custom main character and established party members. Instead, having a fixed main character and customized party members gives you the flexibility to create your own party, while also allowing you to have a narrative driven experience.
There is depth to the game
The narrative and world building of the game is something of a mixed bag. There has been a lot of thought and depth added to the story, but the game throws a lot at you at the opening minutes without giving you a chance to absorb it organically. You may find yourself “tuning out” on the story thanks to the landslide of information. At one point the game gave me a lore check in which I had to type the answer to a question. It is an interesting idea, but since the game had metered out its lore so poorly, I had no idea what they were talking about, and resorted to looking it up on the developer’s page. Still, I think its an interesting mechanic that can be effectively used if the storytelling and pacing is improved.
The graphics are interesting. The main in game graphics look good. Numatian games really takes advantage of the primary advantage of the isometric style to create interesting environments and populate them with menacing towers, epic statues, and foreboding dungeons. Even more impressive are the design of the monsters during combat. They look really good, and are well animated. Strangely enough, the portraits of the characters do not look up to par with the rest of the presentation of the rest of the game.
Quality recruits…
Lords of Xulima is a game with a lot of depth built into it, and it is still in early access. As of time of this writing the game is far from completed. There are areas that are not available and even a bonus class from the Kickstarter that is not included yet. At this juncture the game shows promise, though it does have some flaws. Players looking for a challenging old schools style isometric WRPG would do well to look into Lords of Xulima, but they must be ready to understand it does have some flaws. At Enemy Slime it is our policy not to review games that are in Early Access, and indeed, Lords of Xulima makes a good case for this policy. A lot of the issues this game has could be gone by the time it is released, and it has definitely grabbed my attention enough that I will keep playing it and provide a proper review once the final version is out.
