The lust of adventure is something glorious, filled with those epic enemy battles, fast-paced music and massive towns with that glowing aura of exploration. Such things can be expected in Natura - a fast-paced game, with numerous monsters to slay and places to explore. The game also incorporates many puzzles which can be completed and quests to complete.

Below is a short synopsis which has been provided by J&L Studios:

Quote :

After a seemingly eternal time in an unknown prison, Natura's protagonist is released only to narrowly avoid death at the hands of his twisted captor.

The game was created with the well-known RPG Maker (XP) and has had heaps of code implemented into the game, setting it apart from those other dull games which lack originality which have been created with RPG Maker. I have used RPG Maker myself and I found the program simplistic, easy to use and customization. J&L surely have took the path of customization when making their game and they executed such very nicely. It's great to play a game made with RPG Maker which has been coded by the developers. It shows a great amount of commitment.

Natura goes for about 4-5 hours and is something worth your time for sure. If you end up playing the game, please leave a comment on what you thought of it below.


The Characters

????:
Natura's main character is a nameless young man who doesn't have any recollection of ever being outside the place he is imprisoned in. His naive attitude will change as the story develops.

Dhaser:
His "heroic" intervention when he saves the main character doesn't go unnoticed, but his intentions are as unknown as his past.

Vernok:
A shady figure with a twisted sense of humour who appears to be behind the mysterious complex of cells the main character was in.

Nizav:
Once a prisoner as well, the young Nizav is a gifted warrior with unnatural abilities. He seems to be fighting for a just cause.

Lord Crevre:
One of Vernok's lackeys. His stubbornness and superiority complex make him a difficult foe to deal with, but his skills with swords and magic are beyond questioning.


First Impressions

As mentioned above, seeing the extra code which had been implemented into the game was a good impression I received. Also, the title screen I was greeted with was really nice. I love that fade-in animation, with that animated smoke in the background. The logo looks nice along with the art and the music is really nice.

Also, the animation when changing screens is nice, another thing I like. The controls page is nicely set out. At the very start of the game, I found the dialogue quite nice and the level design was simplistic but good looking. I do like that interface which is on the screen also, it doesn't blare out at me and there isn't too much on the page. I am satisfied so far.

Gameplay

Ah, the gameplay, I have been waiting to get to this part. Firstly, I'd like to quickly run over the storyline - it's great and piqued a lot of interest towards me when I began playing. I didn't exactly feel 'attracted' to the game, however - when playing a game I like to be immersed within it, with Natura I didn't exactly feel that. It may be because of that opening which I was just thrown into, totally unsure of what to do when I was presented with killing a crazy monster. It took me a couple of goes to realize a metal rod had been thrown towards me. That bit kinda lost me.

Other than the above, I found the animations at a good standard and the leveling up system was sweet. Something every RPG maker game should have, is a leveling up system.

Away from the first couple of minutes of the game for now. I found quite a few things I didn't like whilst playing the game which glared out.

• Some of the routes in the levels are difficult to find. It took me a couple of hours to find a route in a forest which was hardly visible due to a clump of trees near the track. That kinda annoyed me.
  
• More save points! This got so annoying, I died frequently and had to restart, moving back to somewhere which was near the beginning of the game. I would suggest implementing a save feature into the game. I am sure it would be deemed useful by many of the Natura fans.
  
• Thrown straight into a boss fight. I understand you're trying to create 'grand' opening, but I don't think being thrown into a boss fight, then trying to be killed by a bulky guard isn't really doing that. I'd suggest doing something more simplistic, such as being chased by guards or a near-execution moment when someone comes to your aid. (? not sure about that last one, it may/may not work)
  
• Everytime I leveled up, I didn't see how much my attack/defense points went up. I would have to manually check by going to the menu and checking there.
  

        -Also, just on a side-note, every time a user levels up, I think it'd be a good idea to give them full health.


Controls

In Natura, there was quite a few controls which had been implemented into the game - maybe too much. There was no tutorial when I first began the game - I reiterate, I was thrown into the game. Let's go through the controls, shall we?



Firstly, I am used to using the WASD pad for gaming and I am sure many others are also. For the switching weapon button, I think that could've been used in the number pad. 1 for your first weapon, 2 for your second, etc. Also, I don't see how the letter A has anything do with opening a menu, I think you should've chose a much more suitable control which users can spot easily on their keyboard and remember. Maybe an M or Esc would have been easier to remember and more suitable. 

The other controls and their placement are quite fine and I have no problem with that. (Also, I can't get the game into full screen, I tried SHIFT + ENTER, but nothing happened. Not a big problem, but I think it is something which should be fixed.


Screenshots


The very first screen you will be introduced with when playing the game. Isn't it beautiful?


This is the start of the game where you end up in a jail, where 'you'll be released.'


As you can see, you can equip different types of armor in the game. I really like the armor which you can see in this screenshot. It'd have to be my favorite.


I must admit, the top of that castle does look a bit strange. xD

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Thanks for reading this short review of Natura. Hopefully the developers can take some of the feedback which was stated here and implement it into the sequel they're making or in the next update for the game.

The ending was great and I am sure the sequel of Natura is going to be awesome. My expectations are high and I will definitely be playing it.

-Anorak

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Screenshots taken by J&L studios.
Logo #1 made by me.
Logo #2 made by J&L studios.

Extra Links

Another review of the game.
Game information page.
Download the game!

The game trailer:

This is a great review and the screen shots really shows off the beauty of the graphics.

Did you check online to see if someone else made a tutorial?

When you say 'tutorial' do you mean review? I am not sure what you're referring to.

I meant instructions on how to play.

I wrote everything on that review and took the screenshot of the controls. Is that what you meant?

Hello, this is Laguna from J&L.

Thanks a ton for your review, Anorak! A user in another forum kindly pointed this post out to me and I was delighted to read it. All the criticism was fair and it's the first review I've read since I released the improved Director's Cut version. Sadly, the trailer you put up belongs to the non-translated, older version and the review is slightly outdated as well, as it was one of the reasons I started to work on the new version.

Here's a couple of screenshots from Natura 2 you might have missed:





I'm working on it alone right now, but I'm still at it. I'll hopefully be able to make a game profile for it soon!

PS: I'll happily help anyone out if you get stuck at some point during the game.

I had no idea that was in development! It looks awesome and the graphics are much more refined, which is awesome to see. Thanks for the information, I would love to endeavor in the review of Natura 2 at some point in the future.

Best of luck with the game development, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Natura.

(Sorry for the extremely late reply, by the way, I have been meaning to make a reply here but I have been forgetting. My apologies.)