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This Way Madness Lies - Review

by Hiddenx, 2022-11-06 17:39:02

The Escapist checked out the upcoming RPG This Way Madness Lies:

This Way Madness Lies Review: A Sailor Moon-Like RPG with Deep Combat

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if an RPG combined Sailor Moon magical girls with the collective works of William Shakespeare? Of course not, but indie developer Zeboyd Games fortunately did, and so we have This Way Madness Lies for review on PC. It takes a fun but bizarre premise, sprinkles on most of the gameplay mechanics from prior game Cosmic Star Heroine, and results in a pretty solid appetizer RPG to supplement your other gaming.

A Series of Stuff That Happens

This Way Madness Lies doesn’t so much have a story as it does a series of linear, disconnected events that justify getting into lots of fights. Six (eventually seven) Shakespeare-loving girls compose the Stratford-Upon-Avon High Drama Society at their school, where they put on different plays across the course of the school year. But at the same time, gateways starts opening to alternate realities that take place in the actual worlds of Shakespeare plays — and those realities are full of monsters for some reason. The girls use magical powers they’ve obtained to extinguish the monsters, solve problems for characters in these alternate realities, and shut the gateways between worlds.

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The Review Verdict on This Way Madness Lies

This Way Madness Lies is the quirky, messy, quality RPG that could only be born in the indie scene. It doesn’t all fit together perfectly, and the story is simultaneously imaginative but also frivolous and insubstantial. However, the combat is excellent and demanding, and the pixel art does a lot of cool and impressive things (including full magical girl transformation cinematics). Overall, it’s no masterpiece, but the game succeeds at being what it wants to be — a bite-sized RPG that you can play and enjoy in small doses. You don’t have to be a Sailor Moon or Shakespeare lover to enjoy it, but it will certainly help if you are at least one of the two.

Score: 7.5/10

Information about

This Way Madness Lies

SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: J-RPG
Platform: PC
Release: Released


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