Thermidor Demo

It’s difficult to think of a theme, a location or a period that hasn’t been tackled in video games, but the number of combinations is endless, so there are many unexplored ideas out there. However, sometimes it’s a bit difficult to refine a new concept, especially when there are not many sources of inspiration for the developers to consult along the way.

Thermidor is an upcoming JRPG that takes place in 18th century Paris and centers on the story of two characters as they are experiencing the rise of the enlightenment age and the fall of an old world through revolution and violence. The game uses some classic JRPG mechanics in terms of combat and story progression, but there’s a lot of strategy involved in the turn-based combat sequences as well.   As mentioned before, the story focuses on two characters, namely Leandre and Armandine. The demo allows you to play with Leandre, a young boy who comes from a family of tavern owners. A couple of soldiers come to investigate Armandine’s disappearance, and they finger Leandre as the culprit for some reason. More is going to be revealed in the full version, but at least the setting is definitely interesting.

The combat is where the true difficulty lies, because you have to move around, use items and special abilities in order to get out alive. Naturally, the battlefield transforms into a grid once combat begins, and your character can only move in fixed increments, much like in a classic TBS. Action points are used to decide how much you can move, attack, or to make use of items.   Lastly, the game looks like a classic JRPG as well, albeit a bit too old-school for this day and age, especially in terms of object quality and level design. This shouldn’t affect the gameplay too much, but it can have a negative impact on the atmosphere as a whole. Thankfully, the music is pretty nice, and so are the many cutscenes that break up the action.

In the end, Thermidor has its fair share of flaws in terms of graphics and mechanics, but it certainly has potential, as well as a challenging combat system. However, the developers need your support to get the project out there, and you can do that by participating in the Kickstarter campaign.