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HALIBABICA'S FULL GAME REVIEW ~ DEAD THREAD
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Dark Gaia
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Dark Gaia
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CloseHmm... Nope, I was unaware of those problems. The main thing I fixed in the latest version was selecting endings. It was actually impossible to obtain good endings earlier. I will patch those things up.
EDIT: Some puzzles were submitted by friends, and since I am bad at math, I cannpt verify that they will be correct.
EDIT: Some puzzles were submitted by friends, and since I am bad at math, I cannpt verify that they will be correct.
post=87338It wasn't just the negative sign that was wrong, it was the value of the number itself. The math problem in question is:
Hali, the game asks you to take the values and add them - raw values are devoid of negative/positive so ignore the negative signs near the end of that equation.
3X + 21 - 5 = 31
2Y + 42 = 18
Common factors of X added together, halved, and added to the value of Y.
3X + 16 = 31
3X = 15
X = 5 (common factors are 1 and 5)
2Y = -24
Y = -12
5 + 1 = 6 (factors of X added together)
6 / 2 = 3 (halved)
-12 + 3 = -9 (added to value of Y)
The answer is -9, but the guide (and answer in game) is 21. The answer's wrong regardless of the negative sign! You have to take the 2 out of the Y equation for the game's answer to be true. Please correct me if I'm wrong, though!
Ariba! Ariba! Andaleeeeeeee! Speedy Gonzales finished this game in half an hour. I was able to get all four endings, and you can definitely expect the review sometime soon. I have one final bug for you, though!
You might want to take a look at the battle mechanics for Shadow Person A (the blue guy). If you focus all your effort on Shadow Person B (the girl?) and kill her before ever attacking A, you can instantly kill A by selecting 'Brace Yourself' when you face him next. Also, at one point I had 18 health and an enemy attack did 17 damage, but I still died anyway. I've heard RMVX has some screwy math issues, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.
Witty Title Involving the Word 'Beyond'
The Beyond is a horror game made in RPG Maker VX. I'd say ‘survival horror,' but there's really not that much ‘surviving' to worry about. The game's mercifully easy, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Let me give you the rundown.
The Graphics:
For the game's maps and setting, the VX RTP is used. The game is set in a mansion, and you'd think that the cheery style of the RTP would detract from the creepiness. Well, I can safely say it doesn't. The dimmed lights and limited perspective given the player create a new atmosphere for the usually bright graphics. The character sets were all custom made for the game (not necessarily by Dark Gaia), and roughly in the style of RMXP. So, yay, no adorable chibi people to ruin the mood...except, they still kind of do. The graphics for the characters and monsters aren't nearly grim enough to scare you. The monsters are not particularly monstrous, as most of them are just normal creatures (like dogs and bats) possessed by evil forces. Even the ones that should've or were meant to be twisted looked relatively normal. The only one that even remotely alarmed me was the teddy bear (pictured above). Its beady little eyes are just…ugh *shivers*. The game could definitely have done with some freakier enemies. The rest of the game's graphics came from a variety of places. How many were ripped or custom made, I can't say. But they blend together quite nicely and the whole game has a good consistent look to it.
The Audio:
The sound and music used come from a bunch of different places. Dark Gaia chose some good horror games to borrow from. The sounds can be found in Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Fatal Frame. The music comes from a bunch of places. You might recognize some Resident Evil tracks, but they don't just come from commercial sources. At least two of them are from Max Magee's Backstage II (taken with permission, I hope!). Anyway, the music works together with the dark setting to make the game feel the way a horror game should: tense. The game keeps the tension running pretty well throughout, although it's a bit broken up by the battle scenes. The song used for battle isn't a bad track, but at times it felt too out of context. The action is slow-paced, but the music isn't, and it could break your suspension of disbelief if you let it. I can't say the sound effects worked as well as the music did. Some were better than others, but RAWR.wav just didn't always cut it. I wouldn't say they were badly chosen, but rather that they lost their impact after a while.
The Story:
The Beyond has a very simple story compared to some of the commercial horror games. It's well-suited for the length of the game, but lacks some of the substance you might have expected. The story itself is explained through the various articles and books you find as you explore the mansion. It's not complicated and it gets the job done, but it's not too exceptional and might leave you wanting something more. The game has virtually no introduction beyond the character select screen (which briefs you with each person's basic motive). The only time the game really employs any exposition is in the very end of it when you find out exactly what's going on, stop it, and view whatever ending you happened upon. The extra endings aren't anything to scream about (lol), but they do give you a better idea of why the characters you're playing as are even in the mansion to begin with. For a short game like this one, the simplistic story is forgivable and doesn't detract from the game much. I was only unhappy that the difference between a good ending and a bad one had more to do with end-game statistics than my actions over the course of the game. What does the number of times I healed myself have to do with the final result?
The Characters:
To be honest, the characters might as well be blank slates. There wasn't much room in the game for a lot of characterization, but it doesn't matter anyway because your choice of character doesn't affect any of their dialogue or actions in the game itself. Everything plays out exactly the same way for both scenarios, with the only difference being whose good/bad ending you receive. Not nearly enough can be told from any of their endings to get a feel for who they are, so they're little better than vessels to carry the game forward. All the other characters are either dead, re-killed by you, or totally unimportant. The characters, and the story itself, are not this game's big selling point. I don't think it had to be this way, though. I would've liked to see the story play out differently for each person, using a different approach depending on who you chose. Perhaps have it be that both of them are exploring the mansion at the same time and use their occasional meet-ups to develop their personalities. This would certainly complicate things, but it would add a new layer to the storyline and give the game more depth, if only artificially.
The Gameplay:
The gameplay in The Beyond is pretty typical of horror games. You spend most of your time exploring the mansion to find widgets, which help you solve puzzles and find more widgets. The game follows the trope of commercial horrors where items or interactive objects are highlighted by a little glowing light. While this certainly helps you locate the things you need much faster, it also totally defeats any sense of search and exploration. Every room you come into needs only to be scanned for these shiny points of interest and left when there are no more of them. There's no benefit in looking at other objects, and that leaves something to be desired. The puzzles in the game are somewhat difficult, although a large number of them are pretty much math problems. The solutions to them are not entirely obvious, even when playing as the character with a knack for puzzle-solving. It's a good thing Dark Gaia included a puzzle walkthrough in the Readme file, because I doubt I'd have gotten through them all without it. That's not because the puzzles are too hard, though. The clues to solving them can be found if you put in enough thought (or passed high school algebra). But the problem here was that one of the puzzles actually has an incorrect answer, and it's one of the math ones, too. Any math adept is going to be hopelessly stuck without the hints in the Readme. It's not that big of a deal since the solution is included there, but it shouldn't need to be for the player to move on. Now, about the game's battles...I'm somewhat torn on this subject. The battle system has strengths for the kind of battle system it is, but it doesn't suit the game very well. It has a big extended acronym name I can't be arsed to remember, but it's essentially an active battle system. When you collide with an enemy (or they with you), you become locked in combat and must decide what to do. Your three options are to attack, defend, or attack harder and deplete your strength stat a little. Whether or not you're facing your opponent affects the damage you do and take. The approach is elegantly simple, and does a lot to relieve the tedium many ABS's suffer from. However, being that this is a horror game, it also detracts from any fear you might have had of your already-unfrightening opposition. You don't have to worry about the monsters ‘getting you' because the only consequence of that is the battle message pops up and you pick ‘Brace Yourself' to minimize the damage taken. Furthermore, all the battles are event based, and there's no chance something will sneak up on you while generally exploring. So, that's the nature of the problem: the system works (and quite well at that!), but it essentially nulls any fears you might've had about monsters catching you off guard. There's a chance they could surprise you when you've used up a lot of your strength, but that's about the only time they ever will.
The Design:
The mapping in The Beyond is a strong point for the game. The mansion feels coherent as one, and none of the rooms are too empty or look boring. There are no graphical errors to be found, although there was one instance where I couldn't walk on a very flat-looking patch of rough grass in the mansion's backyard. It didn't matter anyway, as there weren't any shiny objects to find around it. Exploring the mansion is no trouble at all. The important passages are kept relatively clutter-free, and you can even open up shortcuts as the game moves on. Save rooms are paced well and you're rarely too far from one. The game is well laid-out and designed, but I do have one complaint in regard to breaking down doors. See, the game's strength stat is used for two things: bashing monsters and smashing your way through various stubborn obstacles (such as old doors and jammed drawers). I felt that the need to break down doors to progress was somewhat tacked on and didn't add much to the game. There's no other way to open these doors, so you can't NOT bash them down eventually. And if you've been breaking down a lot of them lately, a short hike to any save room will let you refill your lost strength for free. If you don't have enough strength left for these doors, then the end result is backtracking to the save room anyway. It seems like either way, the player is merely punished for doing what they have to do. If they don't go back to restore themselves, then they'll use up their stock of strength-restoring items and be less prepared to fight off enemies. If there were another way to avoid having to break down doors, such as finding a key for them, then that might be a bit better. Giving the player the option of smashing the door open or seeking an alternate method of opening it would add a little more depth than the current “Brute Force or Bust†situation. One other design issue I feel I should mention is the nature and number of the “BOO!†moments. These are events where something spooky or unexpected happens on-screen to make you jump. There are quite a few of them, and I'll admit they got me the first few times. But there were just a few too many of them, and they eventually started losing their impact. I think they would've maintained it better, though, if they didn't all have one thing in common: the player is forced to stop moving every time something is about to happen. Whenever you're walking along in the mansion and your character stops for seemingly no reason, you can count on something to jump out at you in the next half-second. Because of this, you can steel yourself for anything that's about to happen, and the event fails to deliver as a result. There's an easy way to fix this problem, too. All that needs to be done is not take control away from the player. If they can keep moving around even when something is about to jump out at them, they'll feel the need to react/run/protect themselves more so than if they were simply at the game's mercy.
It might not seem like it from the number of issues I raised here, but I don't think The Beyond is a bad game. It has an effective atmosphere for the genre of game it is. The tension it creates is somewhat undermined by the normality of the monsters and the reassuringly safe battle system, but maintains itself well in-between battles regardless. The story is simple, but suits the game's shortness just fine. All these things considered, I give this game a:
6/10
There, I FINALLY got the review up! It would've been done sooner, but I lost all my inspiration sometime on Thursday night. *slaps self silly* Oh, and I'd change the topic title to reflect this new review IF I COULD!
I've already downloaded Inside, so I'll get cracking on that next. Time to get back in business, here!
The Beyond is a horror game made in RPG Maker VX. I'd say ‘survival horror,' but there's really not that much ‘surviving' to worry about. The game's mercifully easy, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Let me give you the rundown.
The Graphics:
For the game's maps and setting, the VX RTP is used. The game is set in a mansion, and you'd think that the cheery style of the RTP would detract from the creepiness. Well, I can safely say it doesn't. The dimmed lights and limited perspective given the player create a new atmosphere for the usually bright graphics. The character sets were all custom made for the game (not necessarily by Dark Gaia), and roughly in the style of RMXP. So, yay, no adorable chibi people to ruin the mood...except, they still kind of do. The graphics for the characters and monsters aren't nearly grim enough to scare you. The monsters are not particularly monstrous, as most of them are just normal creatures (like dogs and bats) possessed by evil forces. Even the ones that should've or were meant to be twisted looked relatively normal. The only one that even remotely alarmed me was the teddy bear (pictured above). Its beady little eyes are just…ugh *shivers*. The game could definitely have done with some freakier enemies. The rest of the game's graphics came from a variety of places. How many were ripped or custom made, I can't say. But they blend together quite nicely and the whole game has a good consistent look to it.
The Audio:
The sound and music used come from a bunch of different places. Dark Gaia chose some good horror games to borrow from. The sounds can be found in Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Fatal Frame. The music comes from a bunch of places. You might recognize some Resident Evil tracks, but they don't just come from commercial sources. At least two of them are from Max Magee's Backstage II (taken with permission, I hope!). Anyway, the music works together with the dark setting to make the game feel the way a horror game should: tense. The game keeps the tension running pretty well throughout, although it's a bit broken up by the battle scenes. The song used for battle isn't a bad track, but at times it felt too out of context. The action is slow-paced, but the music isn't, and it could break your suspension of disbelief if you let it. I can't say the sound effects worked as well as the music did. Some were better than others, but RAWR.wav just didn't always cut it. I wouldn't say they were badly chosen, but rather that they lost their impact after a while.
The Story:
The Beyond has a very simple story compared to some of the commercial horror games. It's well-suited for the length of the game, but lacks some of the substance you might have expected. The story itself is explained through the various articles and books you find as you explore the mansion. It's not complicated and it gets the job done, but it's not too exceptional and might leave you wanting something more. The game has virtually no introduction beyond the character select screen (which briefs you with each person's basic motive). The only time the game really employs any exposition is in the very end of it when you find out exactly what's going on, stop it, and view whatever ending you happened upon. The extra endings aren't anything to scream about (lol), but they do give you a better idea of why the characters you're playing as are even in the mansion to begin with. For a short game like this one, the simplistic story is forgivable and doesn't detract from the game much. I was only unhappy that the difference between a good ending and a bad one had more to do with end-game statistics than my actions over the course of the game. What does the number of times I healed myself have to do with the final result?
The Characters:
To be honest, the characters might as well be blank slates. There wasn't much room in the game for a lot of characterization, but it doesn't matter anyway because your choice of character doesn't affect any of their dialogue or actions in the game itself. Everything plays out exactly the same way for both scenarios, with the only difference being whose good/bad ending you receive. Not nearly enough can be told from any of their endings to get a feel for who they are, so they're little better than vessels to carry the game forward. All the other characters are either dead, re-killed by you, or totally unimportant. The characters, and the story itself, are not this game's big selling point. I don't think it had to be this way, though. I would've liked to see the story play out differently for each person, using a different approach depending on who you chose. Perhaps have it be that both of them are exploring the mansion at the same time and use their occasional meet-ups to develop their personalities. This would certainly complicate things, but it would add a new layer to the storyline and give the game more depth, if only artificially.
The Gameplay:
The gameplay in The Beyond is pretty typical of horror games. You spend most of your time exploring the mansion to find widgets, which help you solve puzzles and find more widgets. The game follows the trope of commercial horrors where items or interactive objects are highlighted by a little glowing light. While this certainly helps you locate the things you need much faster, it also totally defeats any sense of search and exploration. Every room you come into needs only to be scanned for these shiny points of interest and left when there are no more of them. There's no benefit in looking at other objects, and that leaves something to be desired. The puzzles in the game are somewhat difficult, although a large number of them are pretty much math problems. The solutions to them are not entirely obvious, even when playing as the character with a knack for puzzle-solving. It's a good thing Dark Gaia included a puzzle walkthrough in the Readme file, because I doubt I'd have gotten through them all without it. That's not because the puzzles are too hard, though. The clues to solving them can be found if you put in enough thought (or passed high school algebra). But the problem here was that one of the puzzles actually has an incorrect answer, and it's one of the math ones, too. Any math adept is going to be hopelessly stuck without the hints in the Readme. It's not that big of a deal since the solution is included there, but it shouldn't need to be for the player to move on. Now, about the game's battles...I'm somewhat torn on this subject. The battle system has strengths for the kind of battle system it is, but it doesn't suit the game very well. It has a big extended acronym name I can't be arsed to remember, but it's essentially an active battle system. When you collide with an enemy (or they with you), you become locked in combat and must decide what to do. Your three options are to attack, defend, or attack harder and deplete your strength stat a little. Whether or not you're facing your opponent affects the damage you do and take. The approach is elegantly simple, and does a lot to relieve the tedium many ABS's suffer from. However, being that this is a horror game, it also detracts from any fear you might have had of your already-unfrightening opposition. You don't have to worry about the monsters ‘getting you' because the only consequence of that is the battle message pops up and you pick ‘Brace Yourself' to minimize the damage taken. Furthermore, all the battles are event based, and there's no chance something will sneak up on you while generally exploring. So, that's the nature of the problem: the system works (and quite well at that!), but it essentially nulls any fears you might've had about monsters catching you off guard. There's a chance they could surprise you when you've used up a lot of your strength, but that's about the only time they ever will.
The Design:
The mapping in The Beyond is a strong point for the game. The mansion feels coherent as one, and none of the rooms are too empty or look boring. There are no graphical errors to be found, although there was one instance where I couldn't walk on a very flat-looking patch of rough grass in the mansion's backyard. It didn't matter anyway, as there weren't any shiny objects to find around it. Exploring the mansion is no trouble at all. The important passages are kept relatively clutter-free, and you can even open up shortcuts as the game moves on. Save rooms are paced well and you're rarely too far from one. The game is well laid-out and designed, but I do have one complaint in regard to breaking down doors. See, the game's strength stat is used for two things: bashing monsters and smashing your way through various stubborn obstacles (such as old doors and jammed drawers). I felt that the need to break down doors to progress was somewhat tacked on and didn't add much to the game. There's no other way to open these doors, so you can't NOT bash them down eventually. And if you've been breaking down a lot of them lately, a short hike to any save room will let you refill your lost strength for free. If you don't have enough strength left for these doors, then the end result is backtracking to the save room anyway. It seems like either way, the player is merely punished for doing what they have to do. If they don't go back to restore themselves, then they'll use up their stock of strength-restoring items and be less prepared to fight off enemies. If there were another way to avoid having to break down doors, such as finding a key for them, then that might be a bit better. Giving the player the option of smashing the door open or seeking an alternate method of opening it would add a little more depth than the current “Brute Force or Bust†situation. One other design issue I feel I should mention is the nature and number of the “BOO!†moments. These are events where something spooky or unexpected happens on-screen to make you jump. There are quite a few of them, and I'll admit they got me the first few times. But there were just a few too many of them, and they eventually started losing their impact. I think they would've maintained it better, though, if they didn't all have one thing in common: the player is forced to stop moving every time something is about to happen. Whenever you're walking along in the mansion and your character stops for seemingly no reason, you can count on something to jump out at you in the next half-second. Because of this, you can steel yourself for anything that's about to happen, and the event fails to deliver as a result. There's an easy way to fix this problem, too. All that needs to be done is not take control away from the player. If they can keep moving around even when something is about to jump out at them, they'll feel the need to react/run/protect themselves more so than if they were simply at the game's mercy.
It might not seem like it from the number of issues I raised here, but I don't think The Beyond is a bad game. It has an effective atmosphere for the genre of game it is. The tension it creates is somewhat undermined by the normality of the monsters and the reassuringly safe battle system, but maintains itself well in-between battles regardless. The story is simple, but suits the game's shortness just fine. All these things considered, I give this game a:
6/10
There, I FINALLY got the review up! It would've been done sooner, but I lost all my inspiration sometime on Thursday night. *slaps self silly* Oh, and I'd change the topic title to reflect this new review IF I COULD!
I've already downloaded Inside, so I'll get cracking on that next. Time to get back in business, here!
Yeaster
6164
Hali, when you get to my game, just know that the beginning (the first four or so hours) is ROUGH. And it's old. Really old. But after Serano the game really picks up and, hopefully becomes really enjoyable.
Just wanted to give you a heads up on what to expect. =P
Just wanted to give you a heads up on what to expect. =P
Sure thing! I added the first one to the queue. I also noticed that this thread fell to the second page again...dang, I suck.
I'll try to get my review of INSIDE written and posted tomorrow. I wish I could change the topic title to reflect what's going on in here...
I'll try to get my review of INSIDE written and posted tomorrow. I wish I could change the topic title to reflect what's going on in here...
Come on In!
Inside is a peculiar little game. Although it's made in RPG Maker, the kinds of gameplay it employs can be likened more to those of puzzle or platformer games. I'm not sure what to call it exactly, so let's take a closer look.
The Graphics:
From what I could tell, these were mostly custom with a handful of rips and edits. The game has two settings; one is a research facility, and the other is the virtual reality program being tested there. The VR graphics are almost entirely custom. The style is rather plain and things don't have a lot of detail. They look coherent together, though, so the simplicity isn't too big of a problem. Furthermore, there are only a handful of objects to interact with, most of which are immediately recognizable. The only real problem with the graphics is that the rips used for the facility contrast greatly with those created for the VR. They're much more heavily detailed, and the difference between the two is definitely noticeable. There's a bit of a clash with the character sets as well, again related to the simplicity of the VR compared to the higher detailed sprites.
The Audio:
In spite of its nature as a puzzle-platformer-whatever, most of the game's audio is intended to be ominous and create tension (more akin to a horror game). I have to admit, the atmosphere the game creates works surprisingly well. The visuals aren't going to scare you, but the various background noises and eerie ambience really make things suspenseful. The tracks chosen match the pace of the action and set the mood. It really helps you get into what's going on, and I'd say it's one of the game's strongest points. The sound effects come from RPG Maker's RTP, and they're all just fine for what they're used for.
The Story:
Not an entirely important aspect for this game. It feels more like it was tacked on to explain the situation than to be anything of serious depth. It's not particularly enthralling or remarkable, so the fact it's downplayed isn't really a problem. But a bare-bones story like this doesn't have to be so dull. If the game were longer and the story more fleshed-out, it may not have come off so dismally. It doesn't seem there was much put into it, as there isn't much that comes out of it. At the start, you're even given the option to skip all the cutscenes as you play. The fact the story can be removed from the game at all is a sign of its weakness (although this could also be viewed as a strength for gameplay if it can stand without the narrative).
The Characters:
Like the story, they're not very important. They're pretty much just vessels to move things forward. There are only four or five significant people in the whole game, along with a handful of NPCs. The hero is trapped in the VR alone, so you never get the chance to speak with the rest of the cast yourself. The cutscenes reveal the plot and carry the entirety of the character interaction. The game's too short for any of them to really develop, so they don't stand out from each other much. Their dialogue does nothing to help the problem, which leaves a lot to be desired from the cast.
The Gameplay:
And here we have the puzzle-platformer hybrid business going on. The controls are your standard RM* fare, so you'll be walking in four directions and interacting with objects by pressing Enter or crashing into them. Progressing through each stage of the VR world is as simple as finding the exit. Sometimes a key is needed to open the door, sometimes you need to press a switch to disable a trap, and sometimes you need to evade an enemy for a set period of time before the exit reveals itself. Although the game has monsters, there is no battle system. Combat consists of you running for your life and avoiding foes as best you can until you're allowed to leave. It would've been nice if this were more obvious, because the game makes no indication as to what's really going on. There's no way to defeat the monsters OR trick them into stepping on traps, so oftentimes you may be wondering what it was you did to make them go away and the door open. The answer is: you did nothing, because nothing is required of you. I was disappointed to find this out, because it removes any depth combat might have had.
Anyway, aside from avoiding monsters that can't be killed, you'll be avoiding traps such as spiked balls/floors. These trap objects all move in semi-obvious patterns, so you're merely tasked with finding a way around them that won't get you killed. Monsters are unaffected by traps, so avoiding everything around you can become quite tricky when a lot of different things are involved. Getting through each situation requires some thought (puzzle) and some fast finger work (platformer). Except the monster fights, which are nothing but avoid-damage exercises. Although the gameplay presented works as its intended to, it leaves something to be desired. The variety of the obstacles you encounter isn't very large, and it isn't always clear what exactly is going on (especially with the enemies‘ attacks). The game's short length makes up for this somewhat, but it may also be a result of the lacking variety. A few new elements would increase the puzzle-solving potential; even the current ones aren't totally exhausted.
The Design:
Stage design is critical to the quality of a game like this, and I'd say Relyt has done a good job. The puzzles are set up well, although most of them are not very hard to solve. The various ways you're required to move help break up the action and keep it from becoming monotonous. However, I can't help but feel that this game didn't reach the height it could have. A little more variety in the traps and implementation would've gone a long way to keeping things interesting. The game is short enough that this isn't much of a problem, but there's no reason it couldn't have been longer with more innovation. It has difficulty levels included, but these mostly affect the damage you take from traps/monsters and the availability of healing tiles.
All in all, Inside is a complete game that doesn‘t feel like one. The story is more of an afterthought and combat could stand to be more interesting. The variety of puzzle elements is lacking, and the game needs to be more fleshed out as a whole. This is a tough one for me to rate, but based on what it currently is versus what I think it could have been, I give it a:
5/10
I heard a second one's in the works. Hopefully we'll see more of what I was hoping for there…
--------------------------------------------
All right! I'm averaging one Full Game Review a month!* With Inside out of the way, it looks like I need to hook up with ChaosProductions and find out what this mystery game on my list is supposed to be. I'll try to be more prompt with this one!
Oh, and if the powers that be (WIP) would please change this topic's title to just "Halibabica's Full Game Review" I'd really appreciate it! Or maybe restore the function that lets me change it on a whim?
*Not a statistic I'm proud of!
Inside is a peculiar little game. Although it's made in RPG Maker, the kinds of gameplay it employs can be likened more to those of puzzle or platformer games. I'm not sure what to call it exactly, so let's take a closer look.
The Graphics:
From what I could tell, these were mostly custom with a handful of rips and edits. The game has two settings; one is a research facility, and the other is the virtual reality program being tested there. The VR graphics are almost entirely custom. The style is rather plain and things don't have a lot of detail. They look coherent together, though, so the simplicity isn't too big of a problem. Furthermore, there are only a handful of objects to interact with, most of which are immediately recognizable. The only real problem with the graphics is that the rips used for the facility contrast greatly with those created for the VR. They're much more heavily detailed, and the difference between the two is definitely noticeable. There's a bit of a clash with the character sets as well, again related to the simplicity of the VR compared to the higher detailed sprites.
The Audio:
In spite of its nature as a puzzle-platformer-whatever, most of the game's audio is intended to be ominous and create tension (more akin to a horror game). I have to admit, the atmosphere the game creates works surprisingly well. The visuals aren't going to scare you, but the various background noises and eerie ambience really make things suspenseful. The tracks chosen match the pace of the action and set the mood. It really helps you get into what's going on, and I'd say it's one of the game's strongest points. The sound effects come from RPG Maker's RTP, and they're all just fine for what they're used for.
The Story:
Not an entirely important aspect for this game. It feels more like it was tacked on to explain the situation than to be anything of serious depth. It's not particularly enthralling or remarkable, so the fact it's downplayed isn't really a problem. But a bare-bones story like this doesn't have to be so dull. If the game were longer and the story more fleshed-out, it may not have come off so dismally. It doesn't seem there was much put into it, as there isn't much that comes out of it. At the start, you're even given the option to skip all the cutscenes as you play. The fact the story can be removed from the game at all is a sign of its weakness (although this could also be viewed as a strength for gameplay if it can stand without the narrative).
The Characters:
Like the story, they're not very important. They're pretty much just vessels to move things forward. There are only four or five significant people in the whole game, along with a handful of NPCs. The hero is trapped in the VR alone, so you never get the chance to speak with the rest of the cast yourself. The cutscenes reveal the plot and carry the entirety of the character interaction. The game's too short for any of them to really develop, so they don't stand out from each other much. Their dialogue does nothing to help the problem, which leaves a lot to be desired from the cast.
The Gameplay:
And here we have the puzzle-platformer hybrid business going on. The controls are your standard RM* fare, so you'll be walking in four directions and interacting with objects by pressing Enter or crashing into them. Progressing through each stage of the VR world is as simple as finding the exit. Sometimes a key is needed to open the door, sometimes you need to press a switch to disable a trap, and sometimes you need to evade an enemy for a set period of time before the exit reveals itself. Although the game has monsters, there is no battle system. Combat consists of you running for your life and avoiding foes as best you can until you're allowed to leave. It would've been nice if this were more obvious, because the game makes no indication as to what's really going on. There's no way to defeat the monsters OR trick them into stepping on traps, so oftentimes you may be wondering what it was you did to make them go away and the door open. The answer is: you did nothing, because nothing is required of you. I was disappointed to find this out, because it removes any depth combat might have had.
Anyway, aside from avoiding monsters that can't be killed, you'll be avoiding traps such as spiked balls/floors. These trap objects all move in semi-obvious patterns, so you're merely tasked with finding a way around them that won't get you killed. Monsters are unaffected by traps, so avoiding everything around you can become quite tricky when a lot of different things are involved. Getting through each situation requires some thought (puzzle) and some fast finger work (platformer). Except the monster fights, which are nothing but avoid-damage exercises. Although the gameplay presented works as its intended to, it leaves something to be desired. The variety of the obstacles you encounter isn't very large, and it isn't always clear what exactly is going on (especially with the enemies‘ attacks). The game's short length makes up for this somewhat, but it may also be a result of the lacking variety. A few new elements would increase the puzzle-solving potential; even the current ones aren't totally exhausted.
The Design:
Stage design is critical to the quality of a game like this, and I'd say Relyt has done a good job. The puzzles are set up well, although most of them are not very hard to solve. The various ways you're required to move help break up the action and keep it from becoming monotonous. However, I can't help but feel that this game didn't reach the height it could have. A little more variety in the traps and implementation would've gone a long way to keeping things interesting. The game is short enough that this isn't much of a problem, but there's no reason it couldn't have been longer with more innovation. It has difficulty levels included, but these mostly affect the damage you take from traps/monsters and the availability of healing tiles.
All in all, Inside is a complete game that doesn‘t feel like one. The story is more of an afterthought and combat could stand to be more interesting. The variety of puzzle elements is lacking, and the game needs to be more fleshed out as a whole. This is a tough one for me to rate, but based on what it currently is versus what I think it could have been, I give it a:
5/10
I heard a second one's in the works. Hopefully we'll see more of what I was hoping for there…
--------------------------------------------
All right! I'm averaging one Full Game Review a month!* With Inside out of the way, it looks like I need to hook up with ChaosProductions and find out what this mystery game on my list is supposed to be. I'll try to be more prompt with this one!
Oh, and if the powers that be (WIP) would please change this topic's title to just "Halibabica's Full Game Review" I'd really appreciate it! Or maybe restore the function that lets me change it on a whim?
*Not a statistic I'm proud of!
post=91314
With Inside out of the way, it looks like I need to hook up with ChaosProductions and find out what this mystery game on my list is supposed to be.
It's not much of a mystery anymore. : )
I'm just hours away from an update to the download.
This'll only affect you if you beat the third boss before then, but still.
This'll only affect you if you beat the third boss before then, but still.
Relyt
1242
post=91314
I heard a second one's in the works. Hopefully we'll see more of what I was hoping for there…
Nope. I'm done with my RPGMaking ways. Also, thanks for the review.
post=91430
I'm just hours away from an update to the download.
This'll only affect you if you beat the third boss before then, but still.
Figures! Did you update the download yet? The one that's up there was used about 50 times, so I wasn't sure if it was new.
post=91432
Nope. I'm done with my RPGMaking ways. Also, thanks for the review.
Geez...I hope I didn't have something to do with that.
Relyt
1242
post=91429
Speak No Evil it is, then!
Don't give up during the beginning. The balancing gets easier after a while.
post=92253It does, does it? I'll have to look into that...post=91429Don't give up during the beginning. The balancing gets easier after a while.
Speak No Evil it is, then!
post=92253
Don't give up during the beginning. The balancing gets easier after a while.
This is the Full Game Review, not Fallen-Griever's review thread. I never give up! Even if it means taking entire months to finish one review.
I got the updated version, so I'll start playing it sometime soon.
post=92252
My review is done, I'll post it herewhenif it gets accepted...
Glad to hear it! I was beginning to think you forgot...
I saw on the front page that it was accepted, so I updated the OP with the link to it and whatnot. You can still post it here in the thread if you like!
RPGManiac3030
154
An Epic tale of semi-epic proportions.
My first review!
In the one and a half months I've been working on this game, I'm very impressed what this game has to offer, even if it is short. It is basically about a battle between the dark mages and the paladins, battling for the rhukaat crystals. The main protagonists are Keo and Velmont, both Paladins. Before anyone says anything, yes, I did enjoy this game. Now, let's get down to business:
Story: 6/10
There are 2 sides in a battle, like always: The Black Mages, who seek to use the rhukaat crystals to take control of the world, etc, and the Paladins, who protect the world and the rhukaat, etc. A classic tale between good and evil has been done in most, if not all, RPGS ever created. There is originality, however. Now there are crystals involved!...wait, I've seen that too. So basically, another RPG game. Don't worry, I can't think of any other formula to use in making an RPG besides good vs. evil.
What I did see as a problem, though, was the plot itself. Although this game was very linear, it is not the kind of game someone with a short attention span would play. I was a little lost in a few places, and I couldn't understand a few plot points. Some grammatical errors were found; I don't usually use the term "avalanche" with a desert setting. For the actual story, the paladins, Keo and Velmont, must travel through the world to stop the Dark Mages from collecting all of the rhukaat crystals. A little flat, but not flat enough to turn me off of the game. The side things, such as finding a cat for a little girl, collecting the sheep for a farmer, and saving a small town from a drought, all give a little life to the game, but more should have been added. Another thing, it was a short game, given the amount of time I worked on it...
Gameplay: 6/10
The gameplay is something you would expect from any RPG: Go to a town, do whatever the people want you to do, get the best weapons and armor you can afford, go to the dungeon/tower, defeat the monsters and the boss, claim reward, move on. Usually, though, there's a world map which connects every town and dungeon to each other. Shaboba did not incorporate a world map in the game, which is something I personally didn't take too kindly of. However, Shaboba's instead uses field maps to connect places together, whether a maze-like forest or plain, or crossing a body of water. See below for more detail on these maps. The maps where the players had to cross water were a little too small, making exploration little to none. Oh, and there was one thing that I had a problem with:
YOU CAN'T GO BACK TO PREVIOUS TOWNS!!!!!
I always like going back to the previous town/area to train if the monsters in the next area were too strong for me. The good thing is that this wasn't necessary, which is also bad. The regular monsters in this game were too easy for my party, causing me to easily level up, no grinding needed. The bosses at first were easy, then they became too tough. I happened to beat the last few bosses entirely by luck. I had run out of healing items and thought I was dead, and since I couldn't go back to the previous town...I had to wing it. I managed to beat the game at level 12, making this game a little too short for me. The battle system in the game is basically the same as the default, except you can see your characters on the screen. This makes the monsters look way too huge. It was pretty funny watching my team get attacked by giant flowers, but I was attacked by giant dogs and that wasn't so funny. Going back to previous towns would help with more side-quests and more story. Money in the game was hard to come by, and there was a lot of better equipment I never bought, although it didn't make a difference.
Characters: 6/10
None of the characters were too rememberable, except Velmont's brother and his servant, which I think were very cool. In fact, the characters were so unrememerable that I don't remember their names, and I was stupid enough to not write them down! Besides the main three, Keo, a paladin, Velmont, another paladin, and Lyone, a magic man, everyone else just joins the party temporarily to get what's needed to get done in their little area. Adding a party changing script may have been best to keep all of the characters, since I prefer a wide variety of characters to fight as. What I did like, though, was some of their movesets. Lyone was unstoppable with his shock spell, and Velmont went from very weak to powerful when he learned Light. Keo had heal and raise, which weren't upgraded to stronger forms, unless he learned them at higher levels, which I never made it to. The spells for the the rest of the characters weren't too balanced, and I didn't use half of those spells while playing the game. The very last character to join was very weak, her only good point was burst.
And I don't remember seeing any more paladins except Keo and Velmont...Did they all die?
Mapping/Graphics: 7/10
I completely loved most of the mapping in this game. From the towns, to castles and dungeons, The mazes were thought out very well and the castles have a regal feeling about them. Something I noticed was that while I liked the layout of the regular houses, I was surprised to see the same exact layout in every house. The only things that changed were the tilesets and obviously the people inside them. Speaking of tilesets, I liked whatever tilesets Shaboba used in making this game, although there were some graphical problems. At the outside shops, I was standing on the wooden wall, with part of my head chopped off. The amazing mapping skills make up for this. Another thing I noticed was that all of the characters looked brighter than usual. It gave a very green-like color to this game.
If only these mapping skills were used to make a world map...
Music/sounds: 7/10
The music was another strong point of this game. It was all very fast-paced and lively. The standard battle music was great as well, as was the boss musics. The final boss music, however, didn't really stand out from the rest of the music. I thought I had heard the exact same melody every minute or so. It made me think the track lasted for only half a minute. The sounds are RTP, so just the average sounds.
Overall: 6/10 or 3/5
In general, I enjoyed playing Rhukaat: Broken Chain Plus. It made me think of mapping and concepts for my own RPG game. While this game lacks in story depth and characters who you would remember all the way to the end, it makes up for it with its beautiful presentation. It's hard to have a great story and gameplay with horrible graphics and sound, and it would be even worse to be lacking all of these features at all; this game just about comes in the upper middle in each aspect, and that's what separates this game from those who have recieved a score of 2.5 and below. So basically, this game isn't one of the best I've played, but it is far from the worst. Keep up the good work, Shaboba, if you are making any more games.
What you should consider in making future games:
-Make the game longer!
-Increase the difficulty, but not so much to annoy the player.
-Put some witty quotes and dialog.
-World map?
-Check all of your events and make sure there are no collision problems.
-Either remove your characters from the screen, or make your monster graphics smaller.
-Minigames/sidequests would be nice.
-Don't give up! This game has a lot of potential!
If this game was Shaboba's first RPG game completed, it was good for a first timer!
EDIT: Halibabica, please sign me up for Blessed be the Lady. Since it fits the theme, I'm guessing I'll be done the review in time for a Halloween release.
My first review!
In the one and a half months I've been working on this game, I'm very impressed what this game has to offer, even if it is short. It is basically about a battle between the dark mages and the paladins, battling for the rhukaat crystals. The main protagonists are Keo and Velmont, both Paladins. Before anyone says anything, yes, I did enjoy this game. Now, let's get down to business:
Story: 6/10
There are 2 sides in a battle, like always: The Black Mages, who seek to use the rhukaat crystals to take control of the world, etc, and the Paladins, who protect the world and the rhukaat, etc. A classic tale between good and evil has been done in most, if not all, RPGS ever created. There is originality, however. Now there are crystals involved!...wait, I've seen that too. So basically, another RPG game. Don't worry, I can't think of any other formula to use in making an RPG besides good vs. evil.
What I did see as a problem, though, was the plot itself. Although this game was very linear, it is not the kind of game someone with a short attention span would play. I was a little lost in a few places, and I couldn't understand a few plot points. Some grammatical errors were found; I don't usually use the term "avalanche" with a desert setting. For the actual story, the paladins, Keo and Velmont, must travel through the world to stop the Dark Mages from collecting all of the rhukaat crystals. A little flat, but not flat enough to turn me off of the game. The side things, such as finding a cat for a little girl, collecting the sheep for a farmer, and saving a small town from a drought, all give a little life to the game, but more should have been added. Another thing, it was a short game, given the amount of time I worked on it...
Gameplay: 6/10
The gameplay is something you would expect from any RPG: Go to a town, do whatever the people want you to do, get the best weapons and armor you can afford, go to the dungeon/tower, defeat the monsters and the boss, claim reward, move on. Usually, though, there's a world map which connects every town and dungeon to each other. Shaboba did not incorporate a world map in the game, which is something I personally didn't take too kindly of. However, Shaboba's instead uses field maps to connect places together, whether a maze-like forest or plain, or crossing a body of water. See below for more detail on these maps. The maps where the players had to cross water were a little too small, making exploration little to none. Oh, and there was one thing that I had a problem with:
YOU CAN'T GO BACK TO PREVIOUS TOWNS!!!!!
I always like going back to the previous town/area to train if the monsters in the next area were too strong for me. The good thing is that this wasn't necessary, which is also bad. The regular monsters in this game were too easy for my party, causing me to easily level up, no grinding needed. The bosses at first were easy, then they became too tough. I happened to beat the last few bosses entirely by luck. I had run out of healing items and thought I was dead, and since I couldn't go back to the previous town...I had to wing it. I managed to beat the game at level 12, making this game a little too short for me. The battle system in the game is basically the same as the default, except you can see your characters on the screen. This makes the monsters look way too huge. It was pretty funny watching my team get attacked by giant flowers, but I was attacked by giant dogs and that wasn't so funny. Going back to previous towns would help with more side-quests and more story. Money in the game was hard to come by, and there was a lot of better equipment I never bought, although it didn't make a difference.
Characters: 6/10
None of the characters were too rememberable, except Velmont's brother and his servant, which I think were very cool. In fact, the characters were so unrememerable that I don't remember their names, and I was stupid enough to not write them down! Besides the main three, Keo, a paladin, Velmont, another paladin, and Lyone, a magic man, everyone else just joins the party temporarily to get what's needed to get done in their little area. Adding a party changing script may have been best to keep all of the characters, since I prefer a wide variety of characters to fight as. What I did like, though, was some of their movesets. Lyone was unstoppable with his shock spell, and Velmont went from very weak to powerful when he learned Light. Keo had heal and raise, which weren't upgraded to stronger forms, unless he learned them at higher levels, which I never made it to. The spells for the the rest of the characters weren't too balanced, and I didn't use half of those spells while playing the game. The very last character to join was very weak, her only good point was burst.
And I don't remember seeing any more paladins except Keo and Velmont...Did they all die?
Mapping/Graphics: 7/10
I completely loved most of the mapping in this game. From the towns, to castles and dungeons, The mazes were thought out very well and the castles have a regal feeling about them. Something I noticed was that while I liked the layout of the regular houses, I was surprised to see the same exact layout in every house. The only things that changed were the tilesets and obviously the people inside them. Speaking of tilesets, I liked whatever tilesets Shaboba used in making this game, although there were some graphical problems. At the outside shops, I was standing on the wooden wall, with part of my head chopped off. The amazing mapping skills make up for this. Another thing I noticed was that all of the characters looked brighter than usual. It gave a very green-like color to this game.
If only these mapping skills were used to make a world map...
Music/sounds: 7/10
The music was another strong point of this game. It was all very fast-paced and lively. The standard battle music was great as well, as was the boss musics. The final boss music, however, didn't really stand out from the rest of the music. I thought I had heard the exact same melody every minute or so. It made me think the track lasted for only half a minute. The sounds are RTP, so just the average sounds.
Overall: 6/10 or 3/5
In general, I enjoyed playing Rhukaat: Broken Chain Plus. It made me think of mapping and concepts for my own RPG game. While this game lacks in story depth and characters who you would remember all the way to the end, it makes up for it with its beautiful presentation. It's hard to have a great story and gameplay with horrible graphics and sound, and it would be even worse to be lacking all of these features at all; this game just about comes in the upper middle in each aspect, and that's what separates this game from those who have recieved a score of 2.5 and below. So basically, this game isn't one of the best I've played, but it is far from the worst. Keep up the good work, Shaboba, if you are making any more games.
What you should consider in making future games:
-Make the game longer!
-Increase the difficulty, but not so much to annoy the player.
-Put some witty quotes and dialog.
-World map?
-Check all of your events and make sure there are no collision problems.
-Either remove your characters from the screen, or make your monster graphics smaller.
-Minigames/sidequests would be nice.
-Don't give up! This game has a lot of potential!
If this game was Shaboba's first RPG game completed, it was good for a first timer!
EDIT: Halibabica, please sign me up for Blessed be the Lady. Since it fits the theme, I'm guessing I'll be done the review in time for a Halloween release.
