Torr is a lesson in naming. Part of the appeal of a name is in its syllables. It should have rhythm. Zelda. Two syllables, good rhythm. “Have you played Zelda?” It’s an uncommon word, but easy to say. It rolls off the tongue. Even the whole title—The Legend of Zelda—sounds like an epic, but has a fun exchange of a single syllable word into a two syllable word. Torr doesn't cut it.
Torr is the name of the pair of plateau’s the game is set in. It’s fine in the same way Greece isn't exactly a beautiful name, either. But naming a game with a word that sounds like the past-tense of ripping something isn't appealing to the ear. “Have you played Torr?” Sounds terrible. Even The Land of Torr would remove some of the aggression from the short T sound.
A musician is making this game. It's obvious once you hear the delightful beeps and boops that have the same limitations of the Game Boy Color. It's authentic. I didn't catch if it maintained sounds dropping out to allow for other sound effects to come through, but that would only make it more amazing if the developer stuck that closely to authenticity.
But the writing is put together by someone who's better with musical notes than prose. The main character is confused by the way people talk as if he from some distant land from another dimension. He’s quite unlikeable. Why he’s allowed to speak is beyond me. Our hero comes off more like a jaded mercenary than anyone who wants to help people. It makes me wonder if Link is secretly a jerk, which is why he is silent.
I mention Link and Zelda, but Torr is a turn-based RPG, inspired by the turn-based RPG’s of the 80s. It’s interesting how video games look at the past to create their work in the present. You’d never see a silent film, and music will only go so far before hitting the age of the Jitterbug. But Torr works in the demo. Rock, paper, scissors is still a universal game around the world that’s centuries old. The basic idea of traveling in a world, fighting enemies, solving puzzles, and taking turns in combat seems to be an evergreen concept. That’s all these games are, and Torr is standing up well.
It’s hard to say what this story is telling so far, but it seems to be one that fits within the confines of this classic RPG structure. I don’t need to see the details of the character models, or extravagant 3D models to feel the atmosphere of the world. Torr’s use of color and space work to pique my curiosity as I explore the map and discover new areas, and the enemy sprites are detailed enough to make out their menacing poses.
One could argue that classic turn-based battles are hardly sophisticated, and I would agree with that. Torr does nothing to make battles more interesting than thinking about if a move is the most effective to use or not, and perhaps that is an area where old RPG’s don’t hold up, but perhaps the number of enemies and choosing between magic and physical moves might provide enough thought during combat to make it feel like chess rather than button mashing.