There is one peculiarity I found as I played. There are 3 different status ailments you can inflict on foes which are all essentially the same thing. They’re all forms of poisoning your foe. Those status ailments are called Bleed, Degen and, obviously, Poison. I’m all for watching my foe slowly take extra damage every turn. What I’m less fond of is understanding how, if at all, those status ailments differed. In fact, that brings me to another issue I have with Rise of the Third Power – it’s hard to get a clear understanding of status during battle. You can expand the window to see more details, but you can’t get much clarity. The best example for this awkward design is how the game never explained how the Exhaustion / Injury system worked, other than needing to rest or use an item to diminish how exhausted your team is.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

One area that Rise of the Third Power overshadows Ara Fell is overall length. Whereas I wandered a bunch in Ara Fell and still managed to beat it in about 20 hours, it took me around 30 to roll credits here. I appreciate the added length, though I wonder if it came at the expense of increased linearity. I don’t mind a game being linear, necessarily. But after how open ended Ara Fell was, which I enjoyed immensely, I was a bit disappointed not to find more of the same here. I wanted an excuse to wander. And though there’s several side quests you can take on, it’s equally hard to find the thread to follow for many of them as it was in Ara Fell. Which just meant that once I did finally get a ship to sail the seas on, I nevertheless felt I only had one path to take it on. The path that lead the story further.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Whereas the last game had plenty of well thought out puzzles and traps, they’re pretty streamlined here. Pretty much every dungeon requires you to find several keys to open locked doors, and avoid fireball traps. There’s red and blue varieties. Red damage you, while blue are actually more annoying, and teleport you to the beginning of the room if you touch them. As for the puzzles, generally finding and pulling levers will get you going. I miss some of the more convoluted puzzles from the last game, even if a few did hurt my brain.

Rise of the Third Power | Gender

There’s one topic that Rise of the Third Power tackles that Ara Fell didn’t. It touches on gender diversity, and it does so in pretty subtle ways. As an example, one character is essentially bisexual. In the past, he was in a romantic relationship with a woman, but in present days is married to a man, and they have children together. Another example is Aden, a demented and hilarious sorcerer that joins your group. He’s only interested in killing his sister, and generally could care less about anything else. Having said that, he refers to himself as a “genderless lich spawn”, perhaps implying he’s asexual. Regardless, I thought it novel this topic was broached at all in the game, albeit in a pretty quiet manner.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Visually, I generally enjoyed Rise of the Third Power. I love pixel art, and there’s a good showing in the foes you’ll face. My only issue with the design is that I felt many of the enemy designs lacked a unique profile. By that I mean that most are humanoid, stand upright and have two arms and legs. It’s pretty rare to see hulking foes or any that take up the whole screen. Also, I wasn’t a huge fan of the character portraits in this game. The previous game stuck to old school portraits, while Rise of the Third Power used more web comic inspired ones. Which isn’t to say they’re horrible, but I felt they were ill equipped to showcase the gravity of the story. As for the music, it’s probably a bit better than the last game, and includes more diverse soundtracks. Overall, the design elements of the game do a good job of appealing to retro RPG fans.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Now I have to touch on poor design elements of the game that didn’t meet my expectations. One weird element of the game is there’s always a brief pause after Aden’s attack animations. Not so for any other character, mind you. It just lingers unnecessarily with him, so much so I thought the game was freezing. Another Aden oddity is his skill, Dark Pact. It’s supposed to only work once he kills a foe, then allowing him to summon a demon. But repeatedly it was live at the beginning of combat, or after another teammate killed a monster. Which truly perplexed me. Maybe it’s a grammatical error, but that lack of clarity needs fixing ASAP.

Earlier, I talked about the Talent Points. I really wish this game allowed branching paths and choices for the Talent tree. It would have given the game even more longevity, and inspired additional playthroughs. And as I said earlier, the plot isn’t bad here, but it never expanded or evolved like in Ara Fell. Hell, there’s only one big surprise in the game, the true identity of a certain character. Other than that, the plot pretty much follows a predictable course the entire time. I kept hoping there was going to be more story after ascending Peren Desh, but the game just decides to end after a series of climactic battles.

Rise of the Third Power | Keep Fighting

I really wish I could rave about Rise of the Third Power. I’m a fan of the developer, and I enjoy retro-styled games. Nevertheless, I don’t feel this one lived up to my hype, nor that it reached the same heights as Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition. That said, if you enjoy the genre and are looking for a game to get lost in for a few hours, it’s hard to say no for the low price point of $19.99. Ultimately, I’d say this one is worth a shot, but that you should most definitely play Ara Fell as well.

Review Score
Overallwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.comwww.dyerware.com

Review Copy Provided by Publisher

Josh Speer
Josh is a passionate gamer, finding time to clock in around 30-40 hours of gaming a week. He discovered Operation Rainfall while avidly following the localization of the Big 3 Wii RPGs. He enjoys SHMUPS, Platformers, RPGs, Roguelikes and the occasional Fighter. He’s also an unashamedly giant Mega Man fan, having played the series since he was eight. As Head Editor and Review Manager, he spends far too much time editing reviews and random articles. In his limited spare time he devours indies whole and anticipates the release of quirky, unpredictable and innovative games.