tERRORbane review: A stumbling modern dilettante with oodles of nostalgia

tERRORbane is a comedic adventure indie game with a unique approach and a love letter to the games from the 8 and 16-bit eras. At first, you might get deceived by the general portrayal of the game as a JRPG. However, that is not the case with the game.

The only companion in the game is the bug, which needs to be found to proceed with the progression. Players get to explore an outlandish world filled with unique and eccentric characters.

Out of the many unique points in the game, direct interaction with the developer caught my attention. Although it doesn't happen in real-time, the simulation is well made.

---

tERRORbane: A casual and sarcastic homage to old-age JRPG

Story

The developer of the game is a character within the story. His character has become a warrior, and every outcome revolves around his actions taken and the areas he explores. The game's main objective is to find bugs and outplay the evil forces in the meantime.

A screen where the developer is directly interacting with the player (Image via WhisperGames)

Throughout the playthrough, you will be constantly bothered and guided by a force within, i.e., the developer himself. During the early phase of the game, he acts more like a strict teacher and will question your every choice of action.

The game starts with a long scrolling text with a brief insight into the story. A piece of music resembles some games from the 8 and 16-bit eras.

Upon trying to skip the intro, the pseudo-developer forced me to appreciate his efforts and watch the same from the start. However, as the game progressed, he realized that my different approach would help him make a complete product before launch.

Tribute to Super Mario Bros. (Image via tERRORbane)

The concept of the game is unique. At first, the game will make you feel like you are playing a JRPG from the old console era, but that is a red herring. It gives homage to some old-age games that people from the late 1900s were brought up with, like Super Mario Bros., and often winks at some new era games.

---

Gameplay

tERRORbane has a mix and match of multiple playstyles but portrays gameplay similar to old-age JRPGs. The mechanics are turn-based and only involve the use of the keyboard. Along with the mechanics mentioned above, it also features dungeon-crawling similar to old-school role-playing games and elements from card games.

A node to the genre of card games (Image via WhisperGames)

It should be worth mentioning that despite the presence of the aforementioned elements, the experience provided is just surface-level and not in-depth. The appropriate phase for tERRORbane would be “Jack of all trades and master of none”. While it is understandable from the developer’s point of view that this was not the intention, many players may remain disappointed.

The game has the potential to unlock multiple endings, and that is only possible on the decisions made during the entire playthrough. However, you can change your decision by retrying the areas visited, as the time needed to finish tERRORbane is relatively low.

The game's developers want you to experience every aspect of the game on a trial and error basis.

---

Music and environment

The game's music and environment have an old-school JRPG flavor, seasoned with modern technology. All the soundtracks that are presented suit well with the unique characters portrayed, and variations are well-maintained in different situations.

Later in the game, there will be options to apply filters and other sound options as the bugs are reported and fixed. Since tERRORbane has a different approach, it often ends up being a puzzle game with the visuals and elements of a role-playing game.

---

Performance

The tERRORbane press copy provided by WhisperGames was played on the system with the following configuration:

Specification:

• CPU: Ryzen 5 3600
• GPU: GTX 1060 6GB
• RAM: 16 GB
• Resolution: 1920 x 1080
• Preset: Not available
• Framerates: constant 60 fps

The game's performance was stable throughout and did not crash. The system requirements mentioned on Steam are very basic. Since the graphics are not so demanding, an NVIDIA or ATI Radeon graphic card with 4GB RAM and Intel Core i5 with 2.0+ GHz will do just fine.

---

In Conclusion

tERRORbane presents a good mixture of comic relief, sarcasm, puzzle-solving, and RPG elements. However, none of the features go in-depth, and a surface-level experience is provided to the players. There were moments in the game when the developer suddenly interrupted with his bizarre comments that sometimes felt irritating.

It also does manage to pay homage to old-age games in modern times and hits the nostalgia of most middle-aged gamers. However, the game's overall approach may not appeal to a lot of players. They should only get their hands on the game if bug-finding and casual exploration interest them the most.

I was also a bit disappointed that the RPG elements were just for show, and it did not expand further. While it is understandable from the type of game, it could still have been more engaging.

---

tERRORbane

tERRORbane's rating by Sportskeeda (Image via Sportskeeda)

Review Cody Provided By: WhisperGames

Reviewed On: PC

Platforms: Windows PC (Steam) and Nintendo Switch

Developer: BitNine Studio

Publisher: WhisperGames

Release: April 1, 2022