Developer: Art Interactive
Publisher: Roman Loznevoy
Platform: PC (Steam)
Tested on: PC (Steam)
Femida – Review
Text-Based and Point-and-Click games have existed since the very start of the gaming industry, there’s almost nothing that hasn’t been done in them. Femida tries to differentiate itself from the competition by having the player embody a judge and take part in trials. This is definitely reminiscent of the Ace Attorney series, but coming from a different branch of the law, making it shine by itself even if said comparison can be drawn.
Story
In Femida, the main character is Demian Mardoch, a province judge. He is selected through a lottery to work in the capital for the new Provisional Government, after a revolution overthrew the previous dictatorial regime. This has left the State with a corrupt police force, secret service assassinations and other political turmoil.
Demian also has a personal agenda besides serving the law. Ever since his father disappeared during the March for Peace, he’s been trying to uncover the truth about what happened to him. To do so, he may get the assistance of his cousin Dr. Mila Walder or the detective Christie Conon. This is not a one-or-the-other choice; both can help if you decide so.
The options in dialogues are generally well written and interesting, but a few don’t quite match the tone, such as those to “seduce” the female characters, which are utterly ridiculous to read and seem shoehorned in, even more taking into account Demian is married and has a son.
Some parts of the story seem somewhat rushed, dragging the player from place to place while skipping the intermediate content. A lot of parts are omitted in favor of appearing later on as text in Demian’s journal. This is a letdown, since both the story and length of the game would benefit from a “show, don’t tell” approach.
It should be mentioned that there are several translation errors and bugs that bog down the writing, in some cases making whole dialogues disappear or make no sense when read.
Graphics
The graphics in Femida are impressive, with a very distinct style that completely fits the tone of the game. This style is consistent all over the game, using still images without cutscenes for all of its content.
That said, it is a shame how little variation exists in the game. There is a very limited amount of environments in the game, mostly being limited to the house Demian stays at, the courtroom and his office. These three appear consistently, showing up every day of the story. Other environments, such as the bar or the hospital, appear for a few dialogues, never to be seen again.
Sound
The soundtrack in this game has a really high quality, but limited as well, there is only a pair of different tracks. There are also several SFX, but it’s the same situation as with the soundtrack, they are quite limited, with only a few appearing. The situation for these is even worse, seeing as there are several audio bugs that break them.
Gameplay
Femida being a text-based game means its main focus is not on the gameplay, but rather on the story. This is evident; most of it ends up reduced to choosing options from a dialogue tree. But there is actual gameplay in the form of trial.
These trials are comprised of several stages: First, orders are given to the police to collect information. These orders can be of several types, some even being abusive to the rights of the citizen or going against the State, which entails a fine. Once the orders are in effect and the story has progressed, the day of the actual trial will come by. Depending on what orders were given, there will be several types of evidence available. This evidence, combined with the information obtained through the questions during the trial, will help the player decide whether the accused is guilty or innocent.
The trials themselves have several mechanics. First, there are two scores, Public and Judiciary. These scores mark how much money will be earned once the trial is over and how the result will affect the world. They increase and decrease based on the questions formulated during the trial, with several rules explained during your first trial.
The other mechanics in the trials are the tension bar and the gavel. These are completely related and depending on which questions are asked, the tension of the room will increase. To prevent it from going too far, the gavel must be employed, reducing this bar with each hit. This gavel is also used to start and end the trial.
Lastly, there is a timer during each trial, which lasts for 12 real-time minutes. The trial must be closed before this timer ends, which is a shame, since it prevents the player from being able to read everything unless they are very fast.
Conclusion
Femida is a really good game with an interesting and well-written story, but it’s riddled with bugs and translation errors, which deteriorate the experience by a lot, making some parts of its story get lost in translation, forcing to reload the game, etc.
It is also worth mentioning the length of the game, a single playthrough, reading every single piece of dialogue, lasted 3 hours. This is quite a short length for this type of game, which usually features at least double the length. While this may be better to unlock all the possible endings, it makes the game’s pacing feel somewhat rushed. Overall, even if the general quality is there, Femida has plenty of issues to be solved, which will happen in time, taking into account the involvement of the dev team.
Personal Opinion
“I liked Femida quite a bit, it is fun to play and interesting to read through, but as mentioned several times, there are too many bugs and translation errors. It doesn’t feel like a completed game but rather an Early Access, which is a shame, since the actual content has the quality of a real game. I’ll mention that the dev team seems pretty invested with the community; at least their update history on Steam makes it seem that way. That means these issues will most likely be solved sooner or later, though it would have been better if they weren’t there in the first place.”
Note
“Over the past few days I’ve been talking to the developers about the current state of the game, I can attest they are actively working on it, solving bugs and improving the translation. For example, a pair of bugs involving the sound and the tension system since the first draft of this review was written. None of this will affect the score, it will be what it deserves, but I believe in giving credit when credit is due.”
Femida - Review,
No Comments