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Announcement

October 2021 Update

- "New Game +" mode has been added that is accessible after beating the game.

- "Solo Mode" has been added and is accessible after starting the game and selecting your main character's Class.

-"Montam's Coliseum" has been added to Montopia and opens after defeating the 5th Purveyor of Doom.

-Various tweaks and rebalances have been applied to several classes and their abilities.

-The Savior's healing abilities have been amplified.

-Several bosses have had their stats adjusted.

Announcement

Review by "Zazu/Ibl" on Steam

"When the game started I was a little bit worried, it felt almost too much like it's inspirational sources. Find the evil doers, get the relics, defeat the big bad evil guy.

But then you play it and the way the story unfolds slowly but surely is fantastic. It goes so much deeper than you'd think from the start. And that alone makes it probably my favourite RPG of the year, with quite the potential for GOTY status (for 2021).

The 12 classes feel different enough that I could see multiple playthroughs just to try them out being a thing in the future. Combat is good, never feels unfair, but also doesn't feel like a cakewalk for the most part.

All in all, go play it if you haven't already."

Announcement

Review by "Erato" on Steam

"I had a great time with this game! It took me a while to warm up to it, but as I went on and the game showed more of its hand, it started to come into its own, and I became invested in the world, its characters, and its uniquely melancholy atmosphere. As a big fan of turn-based combat, I really enjoyed how fully I was allowed to exploit status effects both in random encounters and in boss battles; even powerful turn-skippers like Stun worked on major bosses. A lot of games avoid this for fear of making bosses too easy, but it's fun to use your knowledge of your party's particular strengths to completely dominate a boss from time to time, and Venaitura is firm about varying enemy resistances so I don't get overreliant on my favorite toys. I liked that my Barbarian could decrease a boss's ATK to the point where its physical attacks were harmless - but I loved that it never trivialized them, because bosses always had more tricks up their sleeve. It's a balance that allowed every member of my party (Barbarian, Druid, Companion, Champion) to shine in different contexts and in ways that other RPGs rarely let me.

My biggest issue with the game was that I found it a bit overinflated with "stuff"; there's a high density of random encounters, a huge number of NPCs with a ton to say, an enormous number of containers in each area to check for treasure, and an endless bounty of new equipment to find. I can appreciate the generosity in this volume of content, but when your plate's too full, eating can become a chore, and so sometimes I would get exhausted with a town or dungeon before I was "done" with it. I often wished for more time within arcs to breathe and digest. Some of my favorite moments were when I was allowed to move through an area without needing to do anything more than take it in - especially since the spritework is so lush and vivid and the maps so gorgeously designed. Similarly, while I loved customizing my party, the complexity of skills and equipment was a bit overwhelming at first before I had any context for evaluating the multiple secondary effects on each spell/weapon/armor. Some people enjoy having tons to see and do and find, but I think I would have had a more even experience if I spent less time processing noise and more focusing on the core of the game.

Fortunately, that core was more than strong enough to keep me invested through any low points. In the end, Venaitura is a gorgeous, playful, and lovingly made adventure full of fantastic ideas, with meaty boss battles and surprisingly robust and moody storytelling. Even though it resembles early Dragon Quest, it brings a ton of its own ideas to the table and feels distinctly modern: it offers a smoother, fairer, and more transparent experience of RPG combat than any NES game I've played, and its commitment to party customization creates just as many interesting opportunities for cleverness and expression as you’d hope. For these reasons I would recommend to anyone like me: if you dig the look, enjoy weighing nuanced strategic options in and out of turn-based combat, and don't mind having a very full plate, there's a lot of fun to be had with Venaitura.

And if it doesn’t click for you right away, stick with it! The game really starts find its voice in the 2nd and 3rd sections."

Announcement

IT'S OUT! Venaitura is available to purchase on Steam!

The day is upon us. It never felt like it would actually happen, but Venaitura is finally available to the public.

Thanks everyone for all the support! I truly appreciate any and all purchases, and really do hope you enjoy playing the game as much as I enjoyed working on it!



Check out the trailer put together by Mirak!






Also...



Purchase VENAITURA on Steam!

Announcement

Two Weeks Until RELEASE!

You read that right, folks! JUST TWO SHORT WEEKS UNTIL THIS GAME IS OFFICIALLY RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC!

I am beyond excited. This game's been in development for 2 years, and it is by far my greatest creation to date. Of course that is only because I had such phenomenal people come into this project's life during its development, and I could not have shaped it into what it has become without their assistance!

Mirak and Level2Janitor in particular are two individuals who I am so incredibly thankful for. Their contributions are invaluable, and I am so glad they are a part of this project! And strangely enough, I think we played off each other incredibly well. From my vision to Mirak's incredible design sense and L2J's fantastic art, it's all come together to forge one amazing retro-styled package!

If you haven't already, check out the trailer put together by Mirak himself!



Also...



Check out the Steam Page!



Announcement

We've got a Trailer!

Thanks to the amazing and multi-talented Mirak, we've finally got ourselves a trailer for you all to enjoy! Check it out:

Announcement

Steam Page is UP! WISHLISTING Starts NOW!

You read right:

THE STEAM PAGE IS AVAILABLE and you're able to add Venaitura to your Wislist.

I'd be incredibly appreciative if you could do just that.

I can't believe this game's edging so close to its release and it's almost FULLY COMPLETED! It's wild. But it wasn't just me who made this a reality. Incredibly talented people all assisted in seeing this project reach completion, and I couldn't have asked to work with a better group!

A PARTICULARLY special thanks going out to the AMAZINGLY talented Mirak for his contributions, and to Level2Janitor for being the wonderful artist that he is.

Here's the Steam Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1664240/Venaitura/?beta=0

Announcement

After Venaitura (The Next Project)

Hey everyone! I’m going to write a more lengthy blog post in the near future, but for now here’s a little something to chew on (taken from our Discord):

Progress Report

We're closing in?!

YES! We're getting there. We are so very close to the end that the finish line is finally in sight! Excited? I know I am!

Oh, and to add a little more OOMPH to that excitement, check out the incredible job Mirak did of spicing up the "Character Classes" tab!

Snazzy, 'eh? Mirk continues to impress! Yes, the portraits and busts were made by him. Impressive, I know! But we're all used to it by now, aren't we?

I just put the finishing touches on one of the game's many side/optional locations, and now begin to move on to tackling the big 4 "post-game" locations wherein the enemies are going to get REAL nasty! ... But you know what that means, right? There's going to be a ton of amazing items and equipment just sitting around and waiting to be discovered!

While I may consider these locations to be part of the game's "post-game", they're entirely accessible before even stepping foot inside the final dungeon. Is it recommended? Not entirely, but players are free to do as they'd like! The four remaining dungeons I have left to complete are:

The Elegoo Sanctuary.
The Lands Above.
The Den of the Devoted.
And finally, the Trials of Ascension.

That last one there's where you're going to want to make sure you've reached Level 50 (the game's max) and have explored Tsufana 5 times over to accumulate enough quality equipment to tackle a dungeon that's going to be designed to take every party to its utmost limits! To quote what I'd written on our Discord server...

"Considering how a lot of the game has focus on various enemy types, I think the final post-game dungeon, the Trials of Ascension, will place emphasis on this.
Different "levels" where, say, 2~ enemy types will take priority and you'll be heavily encouraged to gear yourself for dealing with that type and its habits.
Although I'm going to have to push it to the extreme so people who want to just waltz in wearing whatever they want are punished for it."



I've never made post-game content with that level of intensity or expected preparedness, but there's a first time for everything, right? I haven't created a game with this level of polish before, either, so I'm just swimming in firsts!

Tater-Tot Tunes over on Twitter also finished working on the game's final boss theme and has handed it over, and let me assure you all that he's quite the talented composer! Here's his page, if you're interested: Tater-Tot's Twitter Page.

Soooo YEAH, there's finally a light at the end of the tunnel! What a long ride this journey's been. I'm not about to start rushing now, though. That's a trap I've fallen into far too often in the past, and where's the lesson in all of that if I do it again? This baby's going to be tested into oblivion and then some!

The next time I make a blog post I'm hoping to be able to share a newly-created Steam Page with you all, so look forward to it! =)





Announcement

A NEW Demo Approaches!

“A demo, you say? But wasn't there already one of those?”

YES! You would not be wrong in remembering that there WAS, IN FACT, A DEMO of Venaitura already. But I thought it wasn't quite a good representation of what the final product would be like, and didn't convey the proper atmosphere or have the right “feel” going for it. Now? That's ALL changed! It is a MUCH tighter experience with an elevated level of polish that was missing in the last demo.

So what's changed, exactly? To put it simply: a lot. Tons of readjustments to enemy and character stats, equipment, skill/ability effects and damage, and some classes even had their skillset completely redone from scratch (Wiseman)! As most would imagine, balancing a game to be completely passable with almost any party combination when there's 12 Classes to mix and match is a little challenging! But I'm fairly confident that I've nailed down where I want each class to be and what I want them to do. Might they need a bit of fine-tuning in the future? Definitely. But I'm hoping to make no MAJOR revisions from here on out!

If you're again stepping onto the world of Tsufana, you'll find your adventures will come to an abrupt end after completing the main scenario of the second continent! But don't worry, there is still SO VERY MUCH waiting for you in the finished game! With 5 more areas to discover and explore, alongside a plethora of post-game and general side activities, you're sure to have that itch for exploration scratched!

Oh, and if you've been poking around the Game Page here on RMN lately you'll quickly discover that Mirak once again worked his magic, and this time it was on the “Character Class” page! He's definitely got a knack for design and visual aesthetic! He's even graciously provided new facesets for the game's 12 Classes! They're reminiscent of old CRPG (Computer RPG) portraits that I personally think give the main menu that little POP! It was sorrowfully lacking.

Thanks to all of the wonderful and amazing people that have contributed to this project so far. It's definitely my greatest work to date, and I'm so incredibly proud of how far it's come!

Enjoy the adventure!
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