Allinlia

Allinlia is a traditional RPG made in RMBVX by Yoshio. He told me back in the day that the game was inspired by the mysterious continent of Catan in my own game (Hero's Realm), and, judging by the image of the worldmap for Allinlia, that is no word of a lie. The worldmap is a fine recreation of the same island in Hero's Realm. Sadly, though, I felt duty-bound to tell Yoshio that "Catan" was in fact inspired by the backs of the playing cards in the (wonderful) boardgame Settlers of Catan.

So anyway, back to Allinlia...

Gameplay: 3/5

Standard RPG fare here! Not that that is a bad thing! Actually, it is right up my alley.

Battles, however, are not random. Monsters (appearing as ghostly figures on the map) will engage with you as you draw near. Some are avoidable, but the game tells you right at the start that you should fight every possible battle since the boss is designed as if you have (leveling-up-wise, I assume). The nice side of this is that you feel free to explore the areas without fear of battles. On that note, the battle engine is tweaked using Yanfly's Engine ReDux, which gives RMVX's battle system a much needed nudge into good playability.

Solid but not exceptional gameplay.

Atmosphere: 3/5

While you can definitely tell that this is a VX game (blockiness ahoy!) Yoshio makes great use of the modified chipset. The layout of the maps is solid and well done, with plenty of opportunity to interact with the environment. Shelves can be rummaged through, buckets explored and pots plundered.

The music is great (albeit familiar) and fitting. It conveys the mood well in any given area.

Monster graphics are not RTP, and I don't recognize them, either. Did Yoshio make them himself? Either way, they are quite charming.

The atmosphere in Allinlia will not blow you away, but neither will it turn you off.


Story and Characters: 4.5/5

A real strength in this game. The dialog is amusing (as promised in the gameprofile). The NPCs have charming and unique personalities and it really does feel like I am playing a smart-ass 7-year-old rapscallion in Roxalani. His banter, both with NPCs and with himself as you explore and interact with the environment, is witty, colourful and amusing. This Allinlia demo is worth a playthrough just to see what this brat says next. There were a few noticable typos in the game, but hopefully they will be found and fixed before the full release.

The story in Allinlia begins with a short history lesson - a wizard named XXX and his wife YYY attempt to murder the Emperor in the middle of the night. Priam (Roxalani's father), a the last possible moment, distracts the wizard and runs away, luring the two villains after him. This gives a chance for the Emperor to use a Divine Artifact to seal the wizard away. His wife, overmatched, books it with the sealed wizard. That was 7 years ago.

Now, Priam is a nomad mountain guide for visitors wishing to see the birthplace of Cael Mortal (one of the in-game deities). Today, for the first time ever, he will take his son Roxalani with him. Without giving it away, I can assure you that the plot is engaging and interesting (well, at least for me it was).

Fun Factor: 4/5

This game is a good romp in traditional RPG fashion with great characters, a well-done setting, and a promising plot. I look forward to its completion.

Overall: 3.5/5