Cybil
Defeat the evil sorceress, save your sister, collect stupid amounts of unnecessary stuff.
Sort of an RPG, but without level ups. Instead, there's a huge focus on using items and managing risk. Explore a large world with loads of puzzles, secrets and monsters to fight!
NOTE: The music for the game had to be split into two archives. You need both for the music to work. Just unzip both archives and dump all OGG files in the main game folder.
Sort of an RPG, but without level ups. Instead, there's a huge focus on using items and managing risk. Explore a large world with loads of puzzles, secrets and monsters to fight!
NOTE: The music for the game had to be split into two archives. You need both for the music to work. Just unzip both archives and dump all OGG files in the main game folder.
Link
Last modified 2024-11-13 09:44:29
A very interesting game that has throwbacks to older styles of MZX but with a more modern take. The design and look of the interface was engaging and seamless when battles were instigated. Whilst fairly simple the world map graphics are quite beautiful with each area having unique and visually interesting sections. There is plenty to explore and many dungeons to delve in to, each with their own focus.
The gameplay itself with combat being turn based and with single enemies seems a little repetitive at first, but there is enough variety of weapons and skills along with different enemy types to keep it interesting and engaging, throwing weapons I found particularly fun! The world exploration is nicely done with a good balance of risk vs reward in trying to avoid enemies and solve the puzzles. There are interesting riddles and character interactions throughout to keep exploration engaging. It's also quite open for a MZX game which I certainly enjoy but with some areas that only unlock when you progress.
Overall an excellent game which has plenty of replay ability that I look forward to exploring more.
The gameplay itself with combat being turn based and with single enemies seems a little repetitive at first, but there is enough variety of weapons and skills along with different enemy types to keep it interesting and engaging, throwing weapons I found particularly fun! The world exploration is nicely done with a good balance of risk vs reward in trying to avoid enemies and solve the puzzles. There are interesting riddles and character interactions throughout to keep exploration engaging. It's also quite open for a MZX game which I certainly enjoy but with some areas that only unlock when you progress.
Overall an excellent game which has plenty of replay ability that I look forward to exploring more.
Link
Last modified 2024-11-16 00:32:04
Cybil is an incredibly special and unique game - it looks very simple at first, with a combat system that consists of attacking and dodging, and no levelling system. What hides beneath the surface is a very lengthy and involving game with deceptively intricate gameplay systems that mesh together exceedingly well, in an extremely balanced fashion, with remarkably few exploits and in a way that, while quite difficult, never crosses the line.
The environment consists of a large overworld and a considerable number of dungeons, and your gameplay loop will largely be based around finding the next dungeon you feel you can tackle next, saving, then going for it. Dungeons are locations that you visit and cannot exit until you have gotten to the end, and they consist of enemies, puzzles, locked doors, items and chests to loot. Dungeons contain the blue crystals which are needed to complete the game, although there are many more dungeons than are necessary for this.
The battle system is highly RNG-dependent. Percentage dice are thrown to determine whether your weapon hits, whether your weapon breaks and whether the enemy will attack you this turn. There are very few hidden variables in this game - for the most part, everything is shown to you and you can make a rational judgement on how to go about handling a particular encounter. Until you adapt to this, combat in Cybil can feel frustrating. Once you understand the rules, however, you soon realise that the main thing holding you back in Cybil is you. Out of the thousands of times I died in Cybil, the game never once felt unbalanced or unfair. Instead, every death felt like my fault - I was always too greedy, too careless or too unprepared.
Despite the apparently simple gameplay systems, there are many, many ways to go about handling a particular encounter, depending on what resources you want to conserve by the end of it. Because everything is known up front (at least, once you've seen a particular enemy before, because their stats are always the same) just from looking at the screen you're on, you can make a plan of attack. The only use of player dexterity in this game is in navigating around enemies, which is often quite difficult to do, but doing so will allow you to conserve your resources which can be vital. There are usually plenty of enemies that cannot be avoided, however.
By necessity, through playing this game you get very good at risk evaluation - it reminds me of the original XCOM games a lot just for that reason. If you grow attached to a particular weapon, that's fine, but you'll have to pay for it (in the form of reloading whenever it breaks, or trying to conserve your limited stash of jinx amulets) - on the other hand, there are also risks involved in using substandard weaponry against enemies. There isn't one correct way to play this game - there are many viable ways, and a lot of the choice comes down to your tolerance for risk and how much you like to hoard resources. As an example, I made very little use of skills in the game - but some of them are quite potent and can get you out of tricky situations. There are also some unique pieces of equipment that can be played around, like the different types of shoes you can equip, which enable different strategies.
Saving in the game is limited - you need to find save disks throughout the world and use them at save stations, which will enable saving while you are on that screen. This means you are limited in how much you can cheese saving/reloading in the game - there's no going out to fight a single enemy, then saving once you beat it, and moving onto the next enemy - which is probably a good thing as it would turn the game into a slog. That being said, there are a lot of save disks throughout the game and they can also be bought for money (not that you should need to do this) - I finished the game with a ton left. There's more than enough to save between every dungeon you explore.
Another interesting component this game has are the riddles. They guard resources - usually outfit tokens, which are for the most part totally optional, and purple crystals, which are quite valuable. None are required in order to proceed, and they vary greatly in terms of their difficulty, esotiricism and abstractness. Some are just pattern recognition exercises and simple algebra exercises, some require additional information found elsewhere in the game, and some are riddle-of-the-Sphinx style puzzles, a few of which are quite obscure indeed. The game can be completed without solving any of them, however.
The outfit system is an interesting component - you can find outfit tokens, most of which are locked behind the aforementioned riddle doors, and use them to buy outfits and cosmetics which you can use to play dress-up with Cybil. With one exception these are purely aesthetic, but it's great to see the range of different outfits MicMotorHead was able to draw in this game without ever going past a single charset and palette. It's a really nice touch and I definitely appreciate it, in addition to giving another thing for completionists to fill out.
I love the storytelling in Cybil - while it's not narratively complex, the writing is excellent, and it hints at a much larger universe beyond what you get to see in this game.
All in all, this is an outstanding game, and completing it felt incredibly satisfying - it was a tough journey, but I persevered. I would probably recommend waiting for the update patch - there are some issues with the current released version, one of which currently prevents completing the game without resorting to the editor - but when it does come out I highly recommend that you give this a try. Just be prepared to reload a lot.
The environment consists of a large overworld and a considerable number of dungeons, and your gameplay loop will largely be based around finding the next dungeon you feel you can tackle next, saving, then going for it. Dungeons are locations that you visit and cannot exit until you have gotten to the end, and they consist of enemies, puzzles, locked doors, items and chests to loot. Dungeons contain the blue crystals which are needed to complete the game, although there are many more dungeons than are necessary for this.
The battle system is highly RNG-dependent. Percentage dice are thrown to determine whether your weapon hits, whether your weapon breaks and whether the enemy will attack you this turn. There are very few hidden variables in this game - for the most part, everything is shown to you and you can make a rational judgement on how to go about handling a particular encounter. Until you adapt to this, combat in Cybil can feel frustrating. Once you understand the rules, however, you soon realise that the main thing holding you back in Cybil is you. Out of the thousands of times I died in Cybil, the game never once felt unbalanced or unfair. Instead, every death felt like my fault - I was always too greedy, too careless or too unprepared.
Despite the apparently simple gameplay systems, there are many, many ways to go about handling a particular encounter, depending on what resources you want to conserve by the end of it. Because everything is known up front (at least, once you've seen a particular enemy before, because their stats are always the same) just from looking at the screen you're on, you can make a plan of attack. The only use of player dexterity in this game is in navigating around enemies, which is often quite difficult to do, but doing so will allow you to conserve your resources which can be vital. There are usually plenty of enemies that cannot be avoided, however.
By necessity, through playing this game you get very good at risk evaluation - it reminds me of the original XCOM games a lot just for that reason. If you grow attached to a particular weapon, that's fine, but you'll have to pay for it (in the form of reloading whenever it breaks, or trying to conserve your limited stash of jinx amulets) - on the other hand, there are also risks involved in using substandard weaponry against enemies. There isn't one correct way to play this game - there are many viable ways, and a lot of the choice comes down to your tolerance for risk and how much you like to hoard resources. As an example, I made very little use of skills in the game - but some of them are quite potent and can get you out of tricky situations. There are also some unique pieces of equipment that can be played around, like the different types of shoes you can equip, which enable different strategies.
Saving in the game is limited - you need to find save disks throughout the world and use them at save stations, which will enable saving while you are on that screen. This means you are limited in how much you can cheese saving/reloading in the game - there's no going out to fight a single enemy, then saving once you beat it, and moving onto the next enemy - which is probably a good thing as it would turn the game into a slog. That being said, there are a lot of save disks throughout the game and they can also be bought for money (not that you should need to do this) - I finished the game with a ton left. There's more than enough to save between every dungeon you explore.
Another interesting component this game has are the riddles. They guard resources - usually outfit tokens, which are for the most part totally optional, and purple crystals, which are quite valuable. None are required in order to proceed, and they vary greatly in terms of their difficulty, esotiricism and abstractness. Some are just pattern recognition exercises and simple algebra exercises, some require additional information found elsewhere in the game, and some are riddle-of-the-Sphinx style puzzles, a few of which are quite obscure indeed. The game can be completed without solving any of them, however.
The outfit system is an interesting component - you can find outfit tokens, most of which are locked behind the aforementioned riddle doors, and use them to buy outfits and cosmetics which you can use to play dress-up with Cybil. With one exception these are purely aesthetic, but it's great to see the range of different outfits MicMotorHead was able to draw in this game without ever going past a single charset and palette. It's a really nice touch and I definitely appreciate it, in addition to giving another thing for completionists to fill out.
I love the storytelling in Cybil - while it's not narratively complex, the writing is excellent, and it hints at a much larger universe beyond what you get to see in this game.
All in all, this is an outstanding game, and completing it felt incredibly satisfying - it was a tough journey, but I persevered. I would probably recommend waiting for the update patch - there are some issues with the current released version, one of which currently prevents completing the game without resorting to the editor - but when it does come out I highly recommend that you give this a try. Just be prepared to reload a lot.