Technomage: Return of Eternity

So, who has heard of Technomage? Admitedly, the very fact that you are reading this heavily suggests that you do, but you have to admit, this was a very quietly released game, made by the German company Sunflower. Again, not heard of them? It's ok, neither had I, making this an all but unheard of game, made by an all but unheard of company. Monsterssed has taught me to fear these, but Technomage manages to surprise.

In the world of Gothos, there live two types of people; the Dreamers, who are well versed in the ways of magic and the Steamers, who relay on machinery. You are the forbidden combination of the two, which, obvioulsy, gives you the ability to wield weapons and use magic. And your name is Melvin.

You live with your mother in Dreamertown, where everyone is just a little suspicious of you, but your travels will take you all over Gothos discovering your role in life as a Steamer-Dreamer; AKA a Technomage.

The game is set into two separate parts; tasks and dungeons. In the former, you must complete set tasks or chores to advance the story. You can bring up a sub-menu which list all the tasks, which get checked off as you go along. These tasks can be anything from 'meet so-and-so' to 'save world'. They start off easy and get harder to figure out as you go along. The good thing about this, is that you gain exp. points from completing said missions, which gives you more incentive to finish the ones that aren't vital to progression. It can be annoying whilst trying to figure out some of the trickier ones, but is overall an enjoyable inclusion.

The dungeons system is set in real time, as in, you slash at the enemy instead of a more tradition RPG-like turn based. You start of with basic weaponry before moving up to spells and better armaments. The dungeons can be rotated with the L2 and R2 buttons which is invaluable, as with a fixed camera angle, this would be impossible.

There are also puzzles to be solved in dungeons, many of which qualify as tasks that pop up on your task menu, giving you more handy exp. points. You also make use of you jumping abilities to hop from platform to platform. [Why do dungeons almost always have a strange moving platform in them anyway? You would have thought if someone could make a ton of stone levitate in mid air, moving back and forth over a bottomless void, they could keep unwanted visitors out with something like a magical 5-lever deadlock, wouldn't you?] Falling off the jumping sections is not quite as painful as it could be, as re-spawn points are littered everywhere you could plummet to you doom -- a good touch that stops unnecessary frustration. Along your travels you can buy or find the obligatory potions which restore your health and/or mana. They come in small and large sizes to suit any situation.