French indie developer Aldorlea Games have put out their latest release, The Tale of a Common Man, a top-down 2D RPG that follows the journey of one man on a path of vengeance.
The premise of the game is dreadfully simple and familiar to anyone. You are Jerrat, a rather simple-headed farmer who spends most of his days enjoying life with his wife and child, while constantly proclaiming to himself how much he loves his wife, his life, his cow, his farm, and so on. As you can expect, this all changes when both his wife and child are slaughtered by a gang of villains, and Jerrat thus embarks on a quest to avenge their deaths.
Common Man’s gameplay is in keeping with Aldorlea Games’ other titles, which feature simple but vibrant 2D anime-style graphics playing out with dungeon crawler-styled combat. Players can have up to five party members in their entourage, allowing for a degree of strategic depth during combat. The game also boasts 17 side quests, and over 30 hours of gameplay. A 106-page strategy guide is also available.
A demo is also available for download from the official site, where you can also purchase both the game and guide for $19.99 and $6.99, respectively. The demo depicts the beginning of the game, giving a sampling of what Common Man offers down the road, although my experience with it lasted all of fifteen minutes before it decided to commit suicide and crash. Still, in between smacking deranged mice with my shovel, I was charmed by Common Man‘s enthusiastic dialogue and accessible storytelling.
If you enjoy Aldorlea’s brand of RPG, their site contains a number of other similarly designed titles, many of which are adorned with scantily clad women.