Welcome to the Finder’s Archive and a review is what we have in store for you this week. 😊
We take products and review them, intending to give the reader the best chance of evaluating whether this particular release is for them.
There is, of course, a scoring system, similar to that used elsewhere, in a 5-star rating, which we have determined as follows:
1 * – Bad
2 * – Mediocre
3 * – Decent
4 * – Good
5 * – Excellent
The following review is an OPINION piece and only reflects the opinion and tastes (because ultimately, all reviews will be based in personal taste) of the reviewer. Please note that we were given a free copy for this review, but we will base the review on the actual price.
That disclaimer out of the way, let’s get on with the show!
Welcome to XII: Inner Demons.
Publisher: Witch & Craft Games
Author: Xoxo Sanchez
Art & Direction: Amelia Piras (I’m assuming that Amelia was the one who created the art, as it is not credited separately elsewhere)
System: Unique System
Page count: 163 in total (including covers, credits, etc.)
My first thought when I read this was, “I need to take my contact lenses out and use my glass.” I did, but it made no difference. The choice of font used for headers is a bad one. It is incredibly difficult to read, and it forms a lot of the book. I hope that it’ll be changed in future versions, at least on PDF.
I’ve got a confession to make here, and it regards the name. I’m not sure why the name of the game includes “XII” unless it is a reference to the d12 that is used here. Or rather, that was my thought at the beginning, since it didn’t immediately click. But once I started, it made sense almost immediately. XII is a reference to the 12 days that you have to conquer your Inner Demons: your fears, traumas, and the other ideas that haunt you, as they take physical shape in the “otherworld,” a hidden realm behind reality.
There are two types of characters in the game: Humans and Lesser Demons (and one of the people in your group MUST be the Human Target (a special human that the BBEG, an Archdemon, has taken an interest in)) – which means that this is not a game for a long-running campaign. “Why?” I heard you ask? Every player wants to be the center of attention at some point, and the inclusion of the Target means that a campaign must center on that person. For a short-term campaign though, it certainly keeps the pressure on.
The GM has options of their own to put against the party: Demons, ArchDemons, Manipulated humans, Possessed humans, and the Saboteurs (humans that willingly work with the archdemons). While they’re interesting and well described, I feel as if the GM section lacks HOW you use them against a party. And this is something I honestly noticed throughout the book: It makes a lot of assumptions about what you as a player and GM know already, both about playing and about the world.
The art is divisive. I’m not normally a fan of this kind of art, but I really like it here. Somehow it fits a disturbing “other reality” that hides behind our own. One where our faults and weaknesses are easily seen. One where we are our worst enemy for not being able to let go. It is perhaps a bit telling that I would have liked more of it, even though it’s not normally to my liking. 🙂
The physical book meanwhile is in great quality – those who’ve ordered print-on-demand books from DriveThruRPG will know what they’re getting. It’s 10.5 x 7.5 inches, which is a tad bit smaller than most gamebooks, making it stand out on a bookshelf. Paper quality is good as well, and there’s really nothing to complain about. The font is even slightly more readable (though not enough so, in my opinion) when compared to the PDF.
In the end, the game leaves me frustrated. There is clearly an interesting and good game here, but there are a lot of unpolished edges. It just feels… I don’t know how to put it, to be honest, but in some ways, it feels a bit unprofessional, especially on the editing. Not that the editing of the grammar and so on is bad (in fact it seems pretty spot-on), but the content is oddly unfocused, like the Trauma section. The editor in me was going “Why is this not in alphabetical order to make it easier to find?” and I couldn’t find a good reason for that. I think it could have done with an editor on it (There wasn’t one listed, so I’m assuming someone pulled double duty, but it could have done with a direct editor on it).
At the end of the day, I’m left with a hard choice for rating this game. It’s not a 5-star, I don’t think. But it’s not a bad game, just a hard one to get into. My initial inclination was to give it 3 stars, but I decided that wasn’t fair either when I sat down to think about it. This game tackles something brave, and it’s one of the few that does so head-on, and I think that deserves praise. It tackles mental issues in a way that makes it relatable to gamers, and I KNOW this will cause some people to go “Oh, but you shouldn’t gamify mental health.” I disagree with that statement. I think you should make it accessible and understandable to as many people as you can: If that requires a shadow-world filled with demons to be created, for people to understand the struggle that some go through? Then I think it is exactly how it should be done.
So my final verdict comes in at 4 stars for the PDF, as it is reasonably priced at 15$
However, I am going to reduce this to 3 stars for the physical book. There is nothing wrong with the quality of it at all, it is the usual great quality of the print on demand books from DrivethrRPG, but hoo boy is there a problem. And it’s a simple one: The Standard Color book costs 45$, which is only 5$ less than a Player’s Handbook (and that’s not even on offer), and the Premium Color book is 65$, which is 5$ more than the 600+ page Pathfinder 2nd Edition Core Rulebook (which is also bigger by an inch on either side). I cannot, for the life of me, see how that price can be justified for this book. I once saw this referred to as the “Indie Dev Price Problem” on Steam, where new smaller teams delivered an unknown experience but charged higher rates than could be justified. And I think this is fitting here. It’s going to scare off players who might otherwise have checked out your book.
Kim Frandsen
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