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Cliches with a twist

  • Marrend
  • 02/25/2014 05:22 PM
  • 2238 views
Game Title: Terence's Tribulations
Engine: RPG Maker VX Ace
Status at review: Complete

Background:
And lo, the quest was laid down from on high: Make an hour-long game using RTP-recognizable characters and end-bosses in the space of a fortnight! Many came for the glory of achievements, but only twenty-two were able to heed this holy call of gam mak. This is the tale of one such venture.
Which is a really fancy way of saying that this game was an entry into the RM Venture event. Also, Deckiller obviously requires MOR MARKERSCOR after all the Reviewrim achievements.


Graphics:
I hope you are a fan of RTP. Though, mapping is hands-down beautiful. As for everything else, there isn't much to comment on.


Audio:
Again, I hope you are a fan of the RTP. Though, the choices made were fairly appropriate.


Story:
Terence (VX Ace - Paladin) has been banished from his post, and seeks to regain his lost honor. The king sends Eric (VX Ace - Soldier) as a messenger to tell him that he will forgive Terence his transgressions if he defeats the Demon King (VX Ace - second-to-last enemy entry; last is Evil God).
If part of this sounds familiar, it's because it's the default background information for "Terence". I'm not sure if I should call this lazy (It comes off as generic) or pure genius.


Playing the game:
While I try to be as general as possible, there may still be spoilers in here
Show

What's with Eric pointing out his pendant. Or Natalie's, for that matter?
I have to be missing something with these Naia clones and the reference to Doctor Caz. My guess is that this is some kind of in-joke, but...
I get this sense that the game "tells" us about these relationships these characters are supposed to have rather than "showing" it to us. Time constraints?
I submit that unity's feedback post in respect to this game is, like, ten times more comprehensive about this game than I've done thus far. However, let's touch on the battle system for a moment. First, encounters tend to be on-screen, though they do exist on the overworld map at random. They seem a bit on the rare side on the overworld, but that's probably okay. Anyway, in a similar vein to Final Fantasy - Mystic Quest, the stationary monsters are blocking the player's way forward, or are treasure-guards. Fighting them removes them from the map permanently. You start at level 10, and the experience curve seems a bit on the steep side, so equipment is a slightly larger factor to how a player's power develops. Second, you can see enemy stats and resistances with the Shift button. Darigaaz, how much this helps when deciding you battle plan. Third, Natalie's abilities that use/accumulate Blast Points. I didn't mind this system at all. Charging it up to five isn't what I would suggest, outside of using Grand Fist, if you can manage that in a fight. A two or three BP count is usually fine, but if you want the full five, I think Channel followed by Charge is the best way to go about it. Grand Fist does it in one go, but it costs 100 TP. At any rate, her BP attacks are mostly elemental-based (she gets one physical attack that uses TP), so she gets the most use out of the Shift-sees-attributes functionality until you get Noah. Fourth, man, this could have been it's own bloody section.
Only 9 Not-So-Tiny-Medals!? Oh well. No biggy. Probably.
Funny how both Terence/Noah and Eric/Natalie end up going to the hot springs, both thinking the other two won't be there.



General Observations:
I keep expecting to select the MP-cost skill category before the TP-cost skill category.


Summary:
The game might seem generic, and in some respects it is. However, there is a bit more than meets the eye.


BOTTOM LINE: 3/5


Side note on ratings (since there is/was/will be somewhat of a spate on what rating means what between each user):
1/5 -> Terrible. Forget about hitting an audience. The game is so bug-ridden, or otherwise unplayable, that what entertainment can be found in the game has a hard time coming to the surface.

2/5 -> Bad but playable. I had a poor experience with the game. When played by a player the game actually caters to, it would serve it's purpose.

3/5 -> Average. A solid experience, but snags somewhere along the line cause it to be held back from being "good".

4/5 -> Good. I enjoyed the experience, and have no qualms supporting it if was considered for a featured game (if it wasn't featured already).

5/5 -> Excellent. Among the paragons of gaming experiences, and instant feature material in my humble opinion (if it wasn't featured already).

Posts

Pages: 1
Decky
I'm a dog pirate
19645
02/26/2014 03:09 AM
It's half laziness, half intentional. I was like, "I might as well build their characters around the default descriptions." Haha.

Thanks for the review :)

Spoilers:

The pendants were foreshadowing for what happens in the ending sequences.
There is a 10th medal, but a few of them were hidden.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21806
02/26/2014 12:27 PM
author=Deckiller
It's half laziness, half intentional. I was like, "I might as well build their characters around the default descriptions." Haha.


Huh. I didn't really consider that possibility. Mostly, I was like, "Come on, Deck. You can do better than this."
Little Wing Guy
Tiny Changes
5209
02/26/2014 07:19 PM
I really hate to be "that guy" because anyone who gives a game feedback is awesome in my book, especially since you were not even in the contest. It's a nice thing for you to do.

But I really do feel like you could try a little bit harder on this review. The game is very short I know that, but this review says essentially nothing. Like, literally nothing. This could have been a comment on the game page instead of an official review that people will read. In my opinion this is nice feedback for Deckiller, but not a review of the game.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21806
02/26/2014 07:43 PM
Yeah, I probably could have said at least something about combat. I'll grant you that. I dunno. I might be trying to cram too much stuff together in a feeble attempt to be efficient.

*Edit: Now I have to start wondering if my other RM Venture reviews suffer in a similar way.
Little Wing Guy
Tiny Changes
5209
02/26/2014 08:15 PM
If your reviews are getting accepted, you're doing something right. It looks to me like this review was the bare minimum you could do though. It's up to you really, they're good enough for the site obviously, and if they're good enough for you already, then it's entirely your choice if you want to improve it!

But if you play a game and you want to tell the creator, it doesn't have to be submitted to the site as a review. I just wanted to remind you of that.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21806
02/27/2014 12:19 AM
Review updated with a few thoughts on combat!
Pages: 1