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Ulstern’s Alchemy Guild has received a secret tip on the whereabouts of Tarneus’ tomb, rumoured to hold the Elixir of Immortality.
However, Tarneus disappeared before anyone could see if this was true, and the place has remained a mystery until now.
The party will travel to the tomb, hidden deep underground, and discover the results of Tarneus' research.



Alma is a Magic Engineer and Isaac’s wife. Isaac is an alchemist, sent by the guild to explore the tomb. He asks his nephew Ellis, a young Illusionist studying at Vlad’s Magical Academy, to come along to disable the spell sealing the tomb’s entrance. Ezekiel is the priest who offered the guild the information, and is their guide to the tomb.


-Made in two weeks (two very stressful weeks x.x) for the Release Something Weekend.
-Conditional Turn Battle System (CTB)
-Four totally different character classes.
-Both humorous and serious storyline (some dark themes).
-Complete game takes around two-three hours to complete (your mileage may vary.)
-The game is part of the Arum universe. (See if you can spot all the cameos in the credits!)


May I say again this game was made in two weeks? Actually more like three days, since most of the combat, systems, eventing and writing (and hah, testing) were done in that time.
To reach the deadline we had to skip many things. Fancy effects, custom icons and character graphics (except combat sprites and title: Eagles and Scinaya did us some badass materials there!).
We will undoubtedly find minor (and hopefully not major) bugs here and there post-release. We will probably release a patch to that soon, so be gentle: that was three extremely stressful days towards the end XD
(Also I feel I must say that this entire torture was just because Fomar wanted the Full Game achievement >C)

And please, PLEASE! For the love of all that’s holy and sacred to you, give us your feedback!
This was a lot of work and it really makes us feel like it paid off when we hear your opinions on the game, and keeps us motivated to make more games.
So tell us who your favourite character was, if you liked the plot, did you defeat the secret boss…anything! We love hearing from you guys.

Latest Blog

Re-release ready!

We (finally!) got the re-release ready! In short, it includes a bunch of fixes on bugs, balancing and smoothness and adds the online achievements, but here you have the changelog anyway:

Character Changes
Alma
+Removed the Kit swapping mechanic, Alma can use any skill now without needing to swap kits.
+Added a new mod that adds DEF Down to enemies when analysing.
Isaac
+Added a new personal mod that gives Isaac a 50% chance to create a duplicate item for the party to use when Mixing in battle.
Ellis
+Added a new battle mechanic, Delayed, Ellis's skills that affect the flow of battles have been made stronger but each battler can only be negatively effected once between each of their turns.
+Ellis now learns his skill in a set order at set intervals.
+Added a new mod that lets Ellis get the first turn.
Ezekiel
+First Strike has been weakened.
+Added a new mod that gives the party 10% HP regen (at least until they die).

The new mods are created by crafting using items you find in the field.

Battle Changes
+Added difficulty option
+Previous difficulty now the Normal Mode difficulty
+Hard mode has been added.
++Most enemies have been made stronger
+Charged Terrors' Thunder Clap now hits 3 times instead of 6.
+Superboss is now immune to Ice and Thunder.
+All damage has been increased by 60%.
+Animation speed for actors has been increased.
+Max Agility is now 200.

Added online achievements
+If you've played any other game with the same script then your account will automatically be found.
  • Completed
  • Indra
    Fomar0153
  • Scinaya (Assistant Extraordinaire)
    EvilEagles (Action sprite genius)
  • RPG Maker VX Ace
  • RPG
  • 05/05/2013 01:53 PM
  • 04/10/2021 11:55 AM
  • 05/05/2013
  • 176681
  • 67
  • 2314

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Posts

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marimo
Nessiah's Seme-kun
2805
* q * I'll be keeping an eye on thisss
Indra and Scin are ~50% through the final test run, won't be long now!
Isrieri
"My father told me this would happen."
6155
Isaac's got my eyes. "They're genetic, dammit! I've had plenty of sleep!"
Indra
YOU ARE BEING TOO AGGRO
11514
It's done ;A; After three days of utter insanity, it's OVER....!
This game is pretty awesome! Especially given the time constraints. Besides a few minor quirks, the battle system is really polished and thought out. The story, particularly the characters and dialogue, is also very enjoyable.
I really love the unique classes each character has and how each character can fit any whatever role is necessary. I love the way the characters interact with each and the relationships they have. They only minor issue I have is with a couple of spelling mistakes.
author=bulmabriefs144
Cool, it has CTB.

It's my favourite kind of combat system at the moment.

author=Zeuzio
This game is pretty awesome! Especially given the time constraints. Besides a few minor quirks, the battle system is really polished and thought out. The story, particularly the characters and dialogue, is also very enjoyable.

Aww thanks, in terms of the battle system the only thing I wish I had more time to implement would have been difficulty settings.

author=PsychoticCreeper
I really love the unique classes each character has and how each character can fit any whatever role is necessary. I love the way the characters interact with each and the relationships they have. They only minor issue I have is with a couple of spelling mistakes.

Thanks, given the time frame I'm really happy with how the four turned out. Isaac and Alma were the easiest for me, Ezekiel was probably the I struggled most with as it was only on the last day or two when I finally decided how I wanted him to function in battles.

Anyway glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the feedback.
edchuy
You the practice of self-promotion
1624
I just managed to beat the game. Expect a review soon!
author=edchuy
I just managed to beat the game. Expect a review soon!

I look forward to it, I hope you enjoyed it!
Indra
YOU ARE BEING TOO AGGRO
11514
author=edchuy
I just managed to beat the game. Expect a review soon!

Want ;A;
nhubi
Liberté, égalité, fraternité
11099
Ok well, that was Brilliant!

Just played straight through, think it took me about 2.5 hours but I didn't notice the time passing. I have to say first, I adore Pudding! (ok yes the dessert, but in this case the demon). I wanted to take him (her? it? homo-erotic banter aside, not sure about demon genders) home so it could be snide and sarcastic at me. I haven't giggled that much in a game in a long time. I know it had to be a short game due the the constraints you were working under but I would happily tag along with this bunch of quite frankly scary-ass heroes again in a heartbeat.

Alma was to die for, the whole 'don't worry about removing his manly bits, dear, I'll just fry all his nerves' was priceless. You nailed that dynamic, and Ezekiel whilst a little odder than odd-ball made sense once you clicked as to his history, pleased to say I got it well before Ellis...and speaking of Ellis, even his character worked for me, normally 'just out of magic academy' types are usually either whiny little brats or over-confident morons that get others killed. Ellis was realistic (well as realistic as you get in a RPG).

Anyway I'm not going to go on about the battle-system (innovative, but intuitive), the music (evocative and pertinent) or the maps (seamlessly beautiful). Just say I really really enjoyed this and I'm looking forward to the next thing you produce.

Thank you for a fun couple of hours.

Indra
YOU ARE BEING TOO AGGRO
11514
I....*sheds a tear* I am always so happy when people like characters, they are my passion ;M;
Thanks a ton for the feedback, and I'm elated you enjoyed the game!

As a shameless plug, we've made a couple games of similar lenght in the past that you may enjoy (heck, there are even cameos from them in the credits, since they all take place in the same county :D)
Dead Moon Night
The Grumpy Knight

And slightly unrelated but you could still enjoy it:
In Search of Clues

Or...well, just check the game list in either Fomar or mine's profiles. If you liked the characters here, there's a good changce you'll like these too XD

Shameless plug done, I will happily fly away into the horizon. Honesly, thanks a lot for the feedback, it makes us so happy it's not even normal XD


nhubi
Liberté, égalité, fraternité
11099
Thanks for the shameless plug, I'll go check them out (In search of clues is the prequel to ISoD isn't it? I've already played that, short but good). Yes I've seen mention of the collaborative world project going on with some of the designers here, I think it's a great idea. I've played in this universe before which may be why it felt 'comfortable' which has to be said is an amazing achievement - to have disparate games still have that collective feel is a feat.

Sorry I didn't put this in a review, but honestly I've never done one, not sure how to do one, and I've seen some of the spouting vitriol directed at people who don't fit the model that some people have and I honestly don't need the grief. Suffice to say I'd give it a 4. Though that doesn't help you in the ratings here, and I would've liked to have been able to do that.

I'm glad you are happy, but don't fly too far away, you have to be around to do the next game, unless you've got a laptop on cloud 9 :)
Indra
YOU ARE BEING TOO AGGRO
11514
Yeah, Clues is a prequel, and the first game Fomar and me did together (it was the one that started all this game completion madnessssss!).

Also glad you like the collaborative world! Not many people ever comment on it, I'm happy someone seems to like it :D

As for the review...well, I can't say I wouldnt be happy to have one, but it can't be helped if you don't feel up to it (If we could force people to write reviews we would do it, believe me, but our hypnosis research has gone nowhere ;-;)

Also I don't have a laptop, so I'm staying at desk level...and working. With some luck we'll be posting news soon(ish), but at the moment we're going back to completing In Search of Dragons, and Fomar is (dun dun dunnn) revamping combat system to a CTB like in Immortality.

To clarify, all the points where Dragons may have come short are because I am horrible at gameplay and I had to force a friend to help me. Now that I have a slav- I mean, my dearest partner Fomar going at it, the game has no option but to get better XD
This is one of the rare rpgmaker games where I truly feel like the characters are unique AND fun! They are so different and likeable in their own way. I especially loved the banter between them and the *love story* at the end (hehe...)

I also enjoyed the gameplay a lot, although I feel like the cap for agility seems to be a bit too high. I pushed Isaac's agility over 230 and it's a little insane how many turns he got, I actually had to tone it down, if I ever wanted to get a turn on my other chars (I don't think I even got to learn more than 2 new attacks on Pudding)

Great game, if a little on the short side, but for the amount of time you spent speeding through it? You have my utmost respect.
author=SummonOfYuna
This is one of the rare rpgmaker games where I truly feel like the characters are unique AND fun! They are so different and likeable in their own way. I especially loved the banter between them and the *love story* at the end (hehe...)

I also enjoyed the gameplay a lot, although I feel like the cap for agility seems to be a bit too high. I pushed Isaac's agility over 230 and it's a little insane how many turns he got, I actually had to tone it down, if I ever wanted to get a turn on my other chars (I don't think I even got to learn more than 2 new attacks on Pudding)

Great game, if a little on the short side, but for the amount of time you spent speeding through it? You have my utmost respect.


Pudding only gets 2 more attacks, so you got the lot. I think next time I'll lower the Agi cap as I know exactly what you mean with his agility.

Anyway really glad you enjoyed the game and thanks for the feedback.
Just finished. That was adorable, funny, well-written, and generally a fun experience; the only character I didn't adore was Isaac, and he had his moments. Ezekiel in particular was fantastic. I have some gripes about the gameplay, but as far as story and characterization, A+. Review incoming.
I've been playing this in short bursts. I have to say that I love the characters and their interactions so far. They all just mix together and become such an entertaining group to watch. I just beat the first boss and passed into the caves. ...After which I proceeded to get murdered by some bats.

If there's anything I don't like about the game, it'd have to be the battle system. I like the ideas behind it and I've been making do, but the overall execution is shaky. Mostly on part of monsters. On that note I have a few observations I'll just list in bullet form.

- Why can't Isaac actually use the item command? It's a waste to have to remember combinations and then remake items in the heat of battle when there's already items made. But I do like the stash command. Better than having to remember over and over.

- Enemies with multi-hit AoE spells were particularly annoying. That was what killed me with the bats in the cave. That lightning spell is pure murder. I would have cooled it on the amount of those that existed. Or lowered the amount of hits. Multiple hits were just annoying since damage popups were rather cumbersome.

- I notice that Ellis' decoy only nulls one hit, which means he'll still get wiped out by a multi-hit spell unless you stack up decoys.

- I liked that HP was fully recovered after battle. Makes it easier to just go all out with commands and options rather than fight a war of attrition. Nice choice there.

- There's a huge disparity in damage done to enemies at some points. Some enemies only take 1-50 damage, while others take 200-500 damage, yet both will go down at roughly the same time. It's kind of misleading I think.

- I didn't have any problems with Alma and Ezekiel's mechanics, nice ideas there.

- Some of the equipment obtained seems a little suicidal to bother using. What were your design thoughts there? I'm curious.

Other than that, nothing else really stood out to me to bother mentioning. I'll keep playing because the characters just amuse me so much. I hope they show up in another Arum universe game sometime!

author=Skie Fortress
- Why can't Isaac actually use the item command? It's a waste to have to remember combinations and then remake items in the heat of battle when there's already items made. But I do like the stash command. Better than having to remember over and over.

Because originally every character was going to have their own item command. But only Isaac's made it into the final game which was because it doubled up as his skillset.

author=Skie Fortress
- Enemies with multi-hit AoE spells were particularly annoying. That was what killed me with the bats in the cave. That lightning spell is pure murder. I would have cooled it on the amount of those that existed. Or lowered the amount of hits. Multiple hits were just annoying since damage popups were rather cumbersome.
- I notice that Ellis' decoy only nulls one hit, which means he'll still get wiped out by a multi-hit spell unless you stack up decoys.

Multi-hitting was my way of clearing Ellis's decoys. But given the universal panning of the bats, I will tone them down for the next release.

author=Skie Fortress
- I liked that HP was fully recovered after battle. Makes it easier to just go all out with commands and options rather than fight a war of attrition. Nice choice there.

I've really gone off battles of attrition. When I first played a game with this feature I thought I would hate it but I loved it.

author=Skie Fortress
- There's a huge disparity in damage done to enemies at some points. Some enemies only take 1-50 damage, while others take 200-500 damage, yet both will go down at roughly the same time. It's kind of misleading I think.

It's just high def enemies, they die really quick if you debuff them. It was my way of trying to allow all the characters to have a use in battles. Isaac was my main debuffer.

author=Skie Fortress
- I didn't have any problems with Alma and Ezekiel's mechanics, nice ideas there.

Thank you, though I think next time Alma will focus more on constructions and less on kits.

author=Skie Fortress
- Some of the equipment obtained seems a little suicidal to bother using. What were your design thoughts there? I'm curious.

I'll go through the thoughts behind the personal mods where this might be the case.

Isaac
Wildling - Isaac can reach silly speeds with this mod, more than enough to scrounge two or three times and mix.

Ellis
Wraith - Combined with his decoys this does allow for a lot of damage mitigation.
Light Armour & Heavy Armour
Ellis starts with 40 Def so assuming an enemy has 20 attack he will take 60 damage or 15% of his MHP.
With Light Armour he'll have 20 DEF so assuming an enemy has 20 attack he will take 80 damage or 10% of his MHP.
With Heavy Armour he'll have 80 DEF (cap) so assuming an enemy has 20 attack he will take 20 damage or 20% of his MHP. However you'll be able to equip 4 Def- mods without lowering his DEF which might make up for the HP loss, depends on your playstyle.
With both armours he'll have 80 DEF so assuming an enemy has 20 attack he will take 20 damage or 10% of his MHP.

Ezekiel
Toy Hammer - combine with def- mods without having to worry so much about Ezekiel.
Giant Hammer - combine with Def+ or HP+ to make Ezekiel the tank.
Cursed Hammer - combine with Def- to make Ezekiel pure raw damage dealer.
Normally he'll have 60 DEF so assuming an enemy has 20 attack he will take 40 damage or ~6% of his MHP.
Beserker - he'll have 30 DEF so assuming an enemy has 20 attack he will take 70 damage or 5% of his MHP.
Juggernaut - for making Ezekiel a tank.


author=Skie Fortress
Other than that, nothing else really stood out to me to bother mentioning. I'll keep playing because the characters just amuse me so much. I hope they show up in another Arum universe game sometime!

In the current plan, all of the Immortals characters will be playable again but we're talking a few months until we even start that game.
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