Maze of Heroes

Introduction

"Maze of Heroes" is a dungeon crawler created by WerePanda83 using RPG Maker VX and was meant to be the first entry in a three part series. As it stands the other two parts are in development. Though considering this game was original released several years ago when the developer went by a different handle, I'm not really expecting the other parts to ever be released.

Story

You play as a group of adventures who've managed to reach the game's final boss only to be dropped within the confines of his dungeon that spans several worlds. In order to reach the final boss again you'll need to clear this various worlds in order to grow in both power and knowledge in how to defeat the final boss. Sadly, this journey will reveal the need for one of your party members to make the ultimate sacrifice.

As a result, the ending feels a bit bitter in my opinion. Though, I suppose I'm a sucker for happy endings. On the plus side the game does hint at the other members agreeing with my assessment and wanting to bring their fallen comrade back. And, I'm guessing this does happen in one of the planned sequels even if the game itself is stuck in development hell as they put it.

Gameplay

On the combat side of things "Maze of Heroes" is your standard turn-based RPG for the most part. And while I have strong love for games like this. Even I'm forced to admit that the combat in this game is dreadfully dull. This is because you'll approach 80 to 90 percent of the encounters in this game the same way. In fact, the only enemies that really throw you a minor curve ball is the bosses which require you to have your healer spam her best group heal every turn instead of guarding and some red skeletons which require you to go all out in order to defeat them. This is because the red skeletons have the ability to readily wipe your entire party with powerful magic in a single turn. In fact, your ability to survive against this skeletons relies far more on the gods and goddesses of RNG to be smiling on you than actual skill.

Graphics & Music

As far as I can tell the game's graphical and musical assets came from the RTP for RPG Maker VX. As such, there really isn't that much to say about the game here. After all, the maps and whatnot are decent enough. About the only real gripe I can offer is I wish the backgrounds during battle were geared more towards the theme of the level rather than the same background with various color tints applied to it.

Conclusion

"Maze of Heroes" is ultimately mixed bag in my opinion. On one hand the game has some interesting characters going for it. On the other hand, the game's combat is extremely repetitive. As a result, were left with a game that's engaging to play during cut scenes but is full of long stretches of boring combat. A game of such short highs and long lows can only be average in my opinion. If the developer manages to tighten up the combat and make it more interesting I may come back and change my opinion on this game, but as it stands I'd suggest approaching this one at your own peril.