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Review
Resurrection Gate is currently a demo for a larger dark fantasy RPG-like Twine game, in which you play different characters to explore themes of life, death and all that is between. Currently, only Yasha, a shellshocked hussar, and Laurence, a resurrected duke (my fav so far), are available, and only includes the first section of their respective paths.
As expected from this author, the game is highly customised, with distinct interfaces and styling for different sections, portraits of the protagonists and other NPCs in the scenes, as well as soundtracks and SFX to help set the mood. It also includes QOL settings: sound volume, fonts, theme, saves (I’d love a toggle for the animated text, the movement made me a bit nauseous). Similar to more visual novel programs, you can also use the SpaceBar to display the next section of the text (though you will still need your mouse to move to a new passage or click on dialogue/action options).
It took me a while to get into the game itself, as it throws a lot of information at you from the start, while expecting the players at time to already have certain knowledge (it’s a pretty long intro, and you also see this happening further in the demo). I don’t think I managed to immerse myself into the universe until after being introduced to the first protagonist. It quickly gets balanced by the RPG mechanic/choice options, which is very fitting for the this dark-fantasy setting. I think it was also smart to have a Trait-check from the start (making sure that central element is important in the gameplay), where it locks certain options if your level is not high enough. Honestly, it made me intrigued about what is hidden behind those locked choices (especially with the first PC).
It’s very obvious that there was a lot of care put into the demo (which, looking at the devlog, has been years in the making). There are a lot of intriguing elements that make me interested in seeing the final product (especially Laurence’s arc), and it makes me wonder how the game will evolve in subsequent updates. I’m interested in seeing how each character will move forward, as well as seeing how the different paths join (assuming the different PCs will meet at some point).
