E.X.P.L.O.R.: A New World - Released

The blobber E.X.P.L.O.R.: A New World has been released last month:

E.X.P.L.O.R.: A New World

Developed as a "Love Letter" to the dungeon crawler RPGs of the 80s and 90s, Beem Media is proud to present E.X.P.L.O.R.(tm): A New World. Featuring classic RPG elements such as exploration, turn-based combat, quests, and narrative, the game is designed to give rise to nostalgic memories. Engineered with a modern feel, much of the tediousness of the games that it takes inspiration from is streamlined so that players can engage in beloved aspects of role-playing such as exploration, strategy, and a sense of wonder.

• Classic dungeon crawler role playing experience.
• Party based exploration and combat.
• Modern 3D engine to create a feeling of really being there.
• Party member can be exchanged at any time to adapt to different play strategies.
• Numerous dungeons to explore, each with a unique feel and increasing challenge.
• Quests such as "Fetch Thing", "Kill Creature", and "Save Population From Extinction"!
• Turn-based combat inspires decisive strategy.
• Variety of weapons, armors, and trinkets keep combat fun and interesting.
• Over 25 different animated monsters to fight, each with unique behaviors.
• Over 30 spells to obliterate enemies with.
• Powerful artifacts and other treasures to find!
• Light-hearted narrative with fun, interesting, and uniquely illustrated NPCs.
• Straightforward Achievements add a sense of progression while delving into the dungeon.

More information.

Thanks for the heads-up on this blobber. Have to say that my first impression is that it's a weird art style!

Yes, the art style was quite off-putting. This kind of game should be right up my Might-and-Magic street, but for now, I'm only putting it on my wishlist to keep an eye on.

Maybe Charles (Swords & Sorcery Underworld) can put the author in touch with the people who revamped the graphics for that game, as Underworld went from being somewhat crude to quite pretty over its iterations.

Originally Posted by Irien
Yes, the art style was quite off-putting. This kind of game should be right up my Might-and-Magic street, but for now, I'm only putting it on my wishlist to keep an eye on.

Maybe Charles (Swords & Sorcery Underworld) can put the author in touch with the people who revamped the graphics for that game, as Underworld went from being somewhat crude to quite pretty over its iterations.

Yes but we also had to harass charles a lot on the codex till he snap and revamped it.
That was for the greater good as S&SU looks very nice now.
At this point i dont think explor will sell more than 10 copies, style is more than off putting its complete garbage. He has to put a lot more effort in the presentation.

From a (positive) review:

It's a labour of love by a single developer and although I didn't encounter any bugs, the best word to describe it is 'simple'. The maps are easy to navigate. There's secret passages but no traps or environment hazards. The combat is all about how much damage you can dish out and heal, no status effects or debuffs to worry about. The loot is straightforward and the character growth is linear with no choices to be made.

For me, easy navigation, no traps/env hazards, loot system are positives. The rest not so much. One other positive is that it's fairly short (around 8 hours) so the simplicity of it becomes less boring (maybe).

There is a minimap but the art style is a little … odd.

Might be worth 8 bucks.

This looks like the type of game I'd really get into, yet the short playtime is offsetting to me. Swords and Sorcery Underworld is a game I really did like, and I doubt this would really compare well to it.

And I thought pixel art could sometimes be irritating… I would way prefer pixel art to cartoons, which is what this art style seems to me. Such a shame, like others on this site, I was excited at the prospect of a new blobber.

I actually think the art is kinda cool. I was one of the 10 people who bought a copy, I guess.