With its hand-drawn visuals, strategic battle system, and a unique storyline, VED certainly stands out from the crowd. But is it worth your time? Let me break it down for you.
I recently played the demo for VED during Steam’s Next Fest, and while the demo left some details unexplained, I did some digging to piece it all together. VED is a 2D, story-driven, turn-based RPG where your choices shape the events and outcomes, leading to multiple endings. The game’s distinctive hand-drawn art style immediately sets it apart, and the non-linear storytelling promises a lot of replayability.
A Tale of Two Worlds
In VED, you step into the shoes of Cyrus, a young man arriving in the city of Micropolis for a fresh start. But soon, things take a strange turn when Cyrus discovers he has the ability to teleport between two worlds—the “normal” human realm and a magical, mysterious world. These two realities are somehow intertwined, and your actions in one affect the other.
In the human world, you’ll be interacting with various characters and uncovering the deeper story behind your origins and powers. However, the real action happens in the magical world, where you’ll face off against strange and hostile creatures in turn-based combat. Both worlds are full of secrets to uncover, but the magical realm is where the battle for survival takes place.
A mysterious being also resides in your head, taking the form of an artifact in the human world but transforming into a living sword in the magical one. Did I mention the magical world is made up of floating islands? Yep, you’ll be hopping from island to island, defeating monsters and gathering energy to upgrade a floating village. This village unlocks new skills and powers, essential for tackling the game’s tougher challenges.
Combat: Strategic and Rewarding
The turn-based combat in VED takes place on a grid of four tiles. Each fight requires careful positioning, as red danger zones show where enemies will strike. The key to survival is staying out of those zones while dealing damage. If you’re caught in a marked zone, you’re guaranteed to take heavy hits, so dodging becomes crucial.
As you unlock new skills through upgrading your village, you’ll gain more movement and defensive abilities to avoid those devastating full-field attacks from bosses. A unique element is the skills bar, which is tied to each of the four tiles. For example, if you’re standing on the far-left tile, you can’t use a skill that would push you further to the left. This forces you to think strategically about where to move and which skills to use.
If you lose a battle, you don’t lose everything. The energy you’ve gathered can still be spent in the village to improve your abilities, allowing you to retry the fight with a better strategy and more power at your disposal.
A Visual Feast
The hand-drawn art in VED is truly stunning. Every scene pops with vibrant colors and detailed design. It’s clear the developers poured years into perfecting the game’s look—it took them 12 years to develop this title! However, the game’s animations are computer-generated, which gives it a bit of a mobile-game vibe. The contrast between the beautiful hand-drawn environments and the less polished animations can be a little jarring at times, but it doesn’t take away from the overall visual experience.
Audio: Almost Perfect
The music in VED is another strong point, adding to the atmosphere of both worlds. However, a few tracks are a little too loud, and I’d recommend lowering the volume by a couple of decibels. The battle music is solid, but after a few encounters, it can start to feel repetitive. Hopefully, the developers will add more variety to the soundtrack in the final version.
Quirks and Details
Interestingly, VED started out as a metroidvania-style platformer before evolving into a turn-based RPG. You can see elements of that evolution in the game’s structure, and it works surprisingly well. There are a few quirks, though, that stand out. For example, in some cutscenes, Cyrus’s eyes are closed, which had me wondering if he was supposed to be blind. There’s nothing in the story to suggest that, so it left me a little confused.
The developers also used lip-sync technology for the characters’ dialogue. While it’s not perfect, it’s a nice touch that makes the cutscenes feel more alive. Sometimes, though, it feels like the characters’ mouths are moving just for the sake of it, but this small detail doesn’t detract much from the experience.
Final Thoughts
Despite a few minor issues, I’m really enjoying VED so far. The story is engaging, the turn-based combat is challenging without being overwhelming, and the hand-drawn art is a feast for the eyes. If you’re a fan of narrative-driven games with unique mechanics, I’d recommend giving VED a shot, especially if you enjoy turn-based RPGs. There’s a demo available now, so you can try it out before the full release.
I’m excited to see where the story goes, and VED definitely has the potential to become a big name in the RPG world.
If you’re intrigued, check out the link to the game HERE.
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