HALIBABICA'S RELEASE SOMETHING! DAY ROUNDUP

Well, RS!D was on the 20th last month, and I figured I’d do things my usual way. Wait a week for the fatal errors/bad downloads/e-drama to end, then round up the games that didn’t get feedback and say my piece. Boy, was I in for a surprise.

When I came back a week later to check things out, only 5 of the 21 releases had anything said about them! It seemed like an awful lot, but I was up to the challenge. I downloaded all the games and started playing. And playing. And playing. I submitted reviews of the games as I went along, but it was a very slow process.

As things progressed and the days rolled by, it became more and more clear that our usual podcast wouldn’t be happening. With brandonabley MIA and nobody else willing to organize it, kentona turned to the only person he could: me.

"You - out of everyone here - have played the most games, and given the most feedback." said he. “Are you interested in writing a forum post selecting 3~5 games and writing a blurb about them?”

I thought about it for a while, and realized it wouldn’t be fair to pick out of the games I’d played, as there were still some releases I hadn’t. Taking this request would mean playing five more games…FIVE MORE…

…I accepted. I downloaded the remaining RS!D games and played every last one of them. And now, we find ourselves here today.

So, I have played ALL of the 21 games released on RS!D, and I’ve listed them here along with a short statement of what they’re about. At the end, I’ve highlighted my top five picks and why I chose them. Now, in alphabetical order…

1873
By ChaosProductions

RM2K3 like never seen before: with a western setting. Take your posse on missions to fight outlaws, bring in bad guys, and collect the prices on their heads. A fast-paced RPG bringing back the good ol’ days of cowboys and indians.

Ascendance
By Rei-

A steampunk RPG that ropes you in with its clever dialogue, brilliant settings, and surprisingly intriguing storyline.

B.L.O.B.
By GameOverGames Productions

A futuristic puzzle game where you use a prototype BLOB launcher to progress through a scientific facility. Using the different kinds of BLOBs in the right places is the key to success…but can you figure it out?

Celestial Descent
By VideoWizard

An archaic RPG from a time before ATB (2002). This game really shows its age, and may give the impression of your first clumsy attempts at game creation.

Dragon Kingdoms: Birth of a Legend
By VideoWizard

A remake of the oldest game in the Dragon Kingdoms series. The upgrade to RMVX has helped things somewhat, but the game still has some issues to address.

Dreamer
By Lennon

A game that…isn’t really a game. This project is far too early in its development to say anything remotely accurate about it. It’s inspired by EarthBound, though!

Follow the Free
By Shenrai

A short RMXP game that involves rescuing prisoners by touching portals on your side of the bars (or luring them into portals on their side). Simple, but clever, and the villain watching you has some interesting things to say.

Frog, the Collector
By Fallen-Griever

Frogger meets Pac-Man! Go back to the arcade days of collecting fruit in improbable situations. Avoid traffic, eat healthy!

Generica
By kentona

And you thought Frogger was retro! Well, actually…it is more retro than this. But, that’s not the point! Generica is as generic an RPG as you could hope for. Choose your heroes, go on your quest, and save the world!

Geondun
By Craze

A ruthless dungeon-crawler. The game offers tons of customization in its hero classes and abilities. Whether all those combinations can make it through the game or not is, well…another thing entirely.

Hero’s Realm
By kentona

A traditional RPG with traditional RPG gameplay and traditional RPG looks. BUT, the game offers a great amount of customization for different play styles, and its unique approach to the chapter-based storytelling puts this a notch above the rest.

Iris of Emillion
By nickad

An atmospheric game released as part of a Halloween contest (I think). Comprised mostly of cut scenes, there isn’t a whole lot to do as far as actually playing it goes. Think of it like an interactive movie.

Jeremiah’s Bedroom
By Viewtiful

Another kinda spooky game that tells a story. Watch as an aging woman comes to terms with the troubles in her life.

Legionwood
By Dark Gaia

An extremely polished RMVX game. It’s about what you’d expect from a typical RPG, but the presentation is simply amazing.

Mystery Man Zero
By Yeaster

A traditional RPG with an un-traditional setting. You play as Zero, a mysterious man with a mysterious past. Fend off demons in a modern-day setting while unraveling the truth about his origins…

The Never Ending Maze of Death
By GameOverGames Productions

Rather self-explanatory. Explore a futuristic maze and get shot to death by robots. Or turrets. Or blown to smithereens. Or fall down a pit. Or, well…you get the idea.

Phylomortis: Quest for the Golden Brassiere
By Craze

A short demo that gives you a glimpse into Craze’s latest ridiculous world. Fight some battles, check out some items. It feels more like a preview than anything else.

Pokemon Hunter 4
By halibabica

A Pokemon game that betrays its title by being nothing like Pokemon at all. Traditional RPG story-telling and battles with tricky puzzles and obstacles sprinkled in. I’m trying not to blow my own horn, here.

Project Blue Sphere 2
By pantsman9

A strange puzzle game that involves moving a blue sphere through a maze to collect smaller rainbow spheres while fighting off deadly red ones.

The Realms Shattered
By Liberty

Another traditional RPG, with everything you’d expect from one. Hard to say where the game truly shines, as a game-breaking error occurs right when things get interesting. Ouch.

Soldier’s Quest
By Antifarea

Yet ANOTHER traditional RPG with everything you’d expect from one. Feels a bit more amateur than some, but isn’t too hard to play. Relax, it’s RPG Maker.

Whew…that’s a lot of games. Now, before I tell you my top picks, I’d like to say GOOD JOB to everybody who bothered to release something on the 20th. Some were better than others, yes, but this is how bad games improve and how good games get even better! Furthermore, these next five games are not necessarily THE BEST out of the ones here, and you’re more than welcome to disagree with me. I’m no authority when it comes to amateur game business, but these are the ones I felt stood out from the rest.



I don’t consider myself, and I use this term loosely, a “graphics whore,” but this game is polished to a shine. From the well-used VX chipsets to the gorgeous title screen to the freakin’ custom font I had to install myself, Legionwood feels and presents itself like a commercial game. There’s a downside to it, though. It has a lot of hand-holding, as it gives you instructions and tutorials on things anyone even remotely familiar with RPG Maker would already know. Also, while it makes things easy for players new to this sort of game, the battles are quite vicious. It’s very easy to get killed, and costs an arm and a leg to bring back whacked heroes. Balance issues aside, though, this game gives off the kind of feeling others can only hope for. It’s lovely…if you can put up with it long enough to appreciate it.



This game looks downright quaint next to others, but it makes up for it in a lot of ways. It’s a first-person shooter, which we don’t see a lot of in these parts, and it’s both fun and challenging to play. Fending off enemies is tricky early on, as ammo is limited and firepower is low. But, finding stronger weapons and ammo stashes makes things easier (if you can get past the things guarding them). Here and there, you hear your maze foreman, Microsoft Sam, taunting you with the impossibility of your task. Although cruel, the game allows you to save anywhere, so it’s not unbeatable…just really, really hard. There are difficulty levels, too (for wieners). Like me.



I think this game is better than people give it credit for. ChaosProductions has found a really interesting balance for a 2K3 game with the speed and deadliness of his gunfights. The western setting pervades the entire game and gives it a unique feeling, and the graphics fit perfectly (both custom and ripped). The missions are fun, but not too easy. Although an early demo, this game shows a lot of promise for future releases.



I was genuinely surprised by this game. Its fourth wall-breaking into could leave you a bit skeptical, but once the actual story gets moving, you get roped in shockingly fast. The map design is brilliant. All the settings look interesting and complete, but never so busy that you can’t figure out what’s what. The game’s story is a bit simple, but draws you in and keeps you interested with a number of different ways to go about things. The demo highlights only parts of the game, so it jumps around a little. How much, I can’t say, as I couldn’t beat the game’s first battle and had no intention of watching that long cutscene before it again. But, in spite of that, this game is definitely worth a look.



And now…the number one game is:



…boy, would that be an abuse of power or what? Kidding! The real number one is…actually, a tie.



It may seem a bit strange highlighting both of these as the number one game, but they’re both made by the same person, and the similarities between the two are uncanny. They both feature highly customizable hero parties (Hero’s Realm moreso than Generica) and the kind of gameplay you’d expect from 2K3 games. But, they’re both so well put together that it doesn’t matter. If you’re a fan of old school RPGs, there’s no reason you wouldn’t love both of these games. Generica is like a dumbed-down version of Hero’s Realm, but stands out in design just as much as its older brother, so to speak. kentona’s too modest about these games. They’re both really great, and I would recommend either of them.



So, that’s it! Release Something! Day VI in a nutshell (a huge nutshell). Feel free to post about what an idiot I am and how badly I misrepresented The Truth and why this game shouldn’t be there and how that’s not what that game was about and daa da daa da daa.