Destiny Spire

Destiny Spire is a retro-style role-playing game set on a subcontinent of four kingdoms. You play an adventurer from the town of Rumalea who, after a night of strange dreams, is summoned by the ailing King Rasmus and appointed as his envoy to peace talks in the capital city of Kongkarlsberg. The journey is repeatedly obstructed, and the story involves following clues and looking into the past to work out who is responsible. The developer estimates around 30 hours of gameplay, with an open overworld, towns, castles and more than a dozen dungeons to explore.

Combat uses an active time battle system rather than conventional turns. Every character and enemy has a speed bar, and each side can act as soon as its bar fills. Battles do not pause while you choose an action, so enemies keep attacking while you make decisions. Attacks never miss at random, but they can fail if aimed at an empty target or at an enemy that is mid-attack, while striking an enemy just before it acts results in a critical hit. Each character carries their own items, which cannot be accessed if that character falls in battle and can only be exchanged outside combat. Options include a faster speed bar fill, global battle speed at half or double, and an encounter rate at half or double. Enemies emerge from the ground on the map and can be avoided before they sink back; smaller creatures tend to trigger fights with fewer enemies. Fairies may also appear and grant a random bonus such as an item, gold or an HP or MP restore.

At the start, a series of questions from the king determines your class, and you recruit three more party members. There are eight classes: Ranger, Wizard, Barbarian, Monk, Archer, Mystic, Paladin and Bird Master, each with different strengths in physical and magical attributes. Up to eight characters can be recruited in total, with four in the active party. As characters level up, when they are not learning new skills they can choose one of four randomly offered traits from a class-specific pool. The developer states there are around 90 to 100 traits in total, providing passive perks such as weapon or element bonuses, chances to stun, improved healing and item effects. Controls are remappable for keyboard and controller, and the game features over 200 different enemies.