FOUNTAINS Review (Steam)

by Jim Smale · December 20, 2024

FOUNTAINS Review, The Fountain of Youth was hidden away. Nonetheless, it is fated that a Usurper will slay the Ageless and unearth it once more. FOUNTAINS is an action-RPG about fighting your way through a maze-like interconnected world. You’ll take the role of a hooded stranger, recently imprisoned by a tyrannical regime. Will you escape and uncover the mysteries of this war-torn empire?

FOUNTAINS Review Pros:

Beautiful pixel art graphics.
262.61MB Download size.
Full controller support is recommended.
Graphics settings – fullscreen, performance mode (fancy/fast), fps limit, brightness, contrast, screen shake intensity slider, low energy vignette, CRT filter, and disable HUD.
Game settings – vibration, player messages, roll direction, speed run timer, and disable tutorials.
Secret code entry menu.
Four save slots.
3D game world with a side-on-character view.
Souls like adventure RPG gameplay.
Tutorial pop-ups as you play.
Fast loading times.
The same level of beauty for in-game cutscenes and interactions.
Player signs populate your world and you you have a vote for good or bad options on them. (voting and the signs appearing are optional)
Save and quit option.
Hack and slash combat with an emphasis on learning enemy patterns.
Rolling can dodge attacks and makes you able to roll through obstacles like fire and spikes etc.
You can drop signs anywhere and straight from the off with no need to unlock them.
Fountains act as a save and respawn point. You can buy water from here with your coins.
Coins drop from chests, are found in the world, and can drop from enemies.
Interactive elements will sparkle.
You can see the enemy life bars.
The movement and animations remind me of Hyper Light Drifter.
You can attack the npcs of the world.
Water is used to heal yourself, enemies can drop water along with buying it at fountains.
Secret areas and shortcuts to find.
Excellent music.
Many Breakable objects around the game world.
Button prompts show when needed.
Very atmospheric.
Sign writing is a case of using the templates to create one.
Stamina system in play for rolling, running, and fighting.
Coin purses have X amount of coins in them and you get those coins when you use the purse.
Load out is for – sword, head, body, legs, and two tool slots.
The map uncovers as you explore, you can select markers and place your own.
Anything you place on your head is shown in the game on your character.
The world feels a lot like a social game, a lot of signs and a sense of collaboration is everywhere.
Find life fragments to fill the bar and get a bigger health bar.
Dungeons are self-contained and spread out everywhere.
You feel like there is a lot to explore and you are never on a set path.
Puzzle elements throughout.
Satisfying combat as it’s not easy or straightforward.
Smoke charms can be found and consumed to clear one smoke wall or door in the world.
Items of clothing and weapons can and will affect your stats.
Find optional side quests for Rewards.
You can assign healing items to a quick select menu.
Signs will show a plus or minus number to denote if it’s good or bad.
Big boss encounters.

FOUNTAINS Review Cons:

No Steam achievements.
You cannot pause the game.
No way to remap or tweak the controls.
The tutorial pop-ups are huge and take up a lot of space.
Signs can be hard to see as they blend in with the world.
No Colourblind mode.
The sign text stays on screen too long and due to its size it’s less than ideal.
It’s possible to aggro innocent creatures but difficult to stop it, problem is more they attack you even when you are in a conversation.
The Story is slow at unfolding.
You don’t get told a lot early doors and will find yourself just wandering around.
No penalty for dying.
It’s not long until you realise that you are always looking for one particular item in order to progress.
Using water to heal is a slow animation.
It’s a bit annoying that only items and weapons change your stats and there is no levelling up mechanic.
There is a lot of backtracking.

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