Age of Myth

I'm playing through every entry in the 50 Days of Representation jam, and leaving my impressions on each. For completed games, I'm writing a review, while for demos, I'm leaving a project page comment. This one is a complete game, so yeah.

I think this review (much like the game itself) should include a content warning, since it mentions many of the things the game's story is about. So, if any of the topics mentioned in the project page make you uncomfortable, I recommend that you do not proceed. I believe the project page neglects to mention that there are certain references to child sexual abuse in the game (nothing explicit, just references) so I thought I should let you know.

Overall thoughts

This game combines a lovely graphical style with a really sobering plot that does not pull any punches. The usage of a fantasy setting to tell a serious story is something I'm seeing quite a bit in this jam, and I'm loving it.

The gameplay is quite fascinating as well, with a few hiccups, but mostly pretty good. There's a lot of variety, and exploration is rewarded every step of the way.

Presentation and story

The graphical style in this game is very charming. From the tilesets, to the character sprites and the faces, everything is pretty good looking. The visual presentation really puts us in that 90's JRPG mood, and that's my little "happy place". The music is pretty good too, interesting and nostalgic.

And the presentation is the only context in which the word "happy place" applies to this game. The story is the most somber and harsh story I've ever witnessed in an RPG Maker game, and I mean that in a good way. It combines a lovely fantasy world with some really heavy topics, like sexual abuse, suicide, class conflict, racism, etc. It's fascinating to see fantasy races (you know, stuff like elves and what have you) blend into a really grim story about real world problems.

The very world the game takes place in is basically a fantasy representation of the harsher parts of the real world. You know, parts of the real world people prefer not to think about? I'm talking shanty houses, prostitution, an extremely clear cut divide between 'haves' and 'have nots', drug usage, rich people being well above the law, all that stuff.

To give you an idea of how the game does not fool around, the story starts with an upperclass child molester being murdered. Serves them right, but it's still a pretty gruesome scene. After that, I immediately knew this game was gonna make me uncomfortable, but in a good way. You play as the very same drow that killed that child molester, and the story develops in rather fascinating ways. I'm not gonna spoil much, but let me just say, it is intense, and quite good.

The main character is a thief, a prostitute, a former assassin, and also a kind, justice-loving, peace-seeking person. There are several instances in the game where you can offer your "negotiable affection" to willing customers. No worries, though, as the sexual acts are only vaguely mentioned, never verbally described nor visually portrayed. It's kind of hilarious to wander around town and discover tons of her old "clients", that added an extra reason to explore, because the dialogs were occasionally really funny.

The main character, Yazrina, has a lovable girlfriend named Tessa, who cares deeply about her. Their love is one of the few glimpses of wholesomeness you will get amidst the sobering realism this game offers in spades. It feels like, in spite of all the horrendous stuff happening all around, Tessa's arms are a safe refuge for our lovable, but mysterious protagonist.

Unfortunately, the plot has its predictable moments, like...


The predictability was not enough to make me stop caring, though, as I loved the characters all the way to the end, and some really interesting things happen in the story that I won't spoil.

All in all, this game has a fascinating story that feels surprisingly realistic in spite of the fantasy setting. Pretty cool stuff. Also pretty disturbing, but never in a tasteless "shock value for the sake of shock value" way.

Gameplay

In spite of the very mature theme, this game is, for the most part, a very traditional RPG. You know the type, potion shops, Inns, turn-based battles, what have you. Things get really interesting when other mechanics come into play, like traps, wall climbing, et cetera. There's decidedly more variety here than in most RPG Maker RPGs I've played, and it's quite a thrill at some points. There's even a lock picking minigame! I don't think I quite understand how it works, but it's decent enough.

The game also takes several cues from tabletop RPGs, like how a dice roll decides whether you're gonna get hurt by a trap, gaining EXP from certain NPC interactions, etc. It's a pretty neat idea to implement systems like these into an RPG Maker game, and they add a cool layer of depth to the whole thing.

There's also a lot of opportunitites to go off the beaten path and explore, which may reward you with tons of treasure and equipment to improve your chances against harder foes, some side quests and story tidbits, or just some funny dialog.

I also like how the game provides you with options on how to do certain things. For instance, there are moments where you can choose to either use the spider climb scroll to bypass obstacles, or you can just go head-on and try to disarm traps.

I gotta say, however, the beginning confused me somewhat. I'm thrown in this city and have free range to explore around, but no indication on what it is that I have to do. Around town, there are several opportunities to break into stores and houses to steal valuables, and since that's the only thing I could do, that's what I eventually elected to do.

When you're breaking into a house or store, you have to rummage through drawers and stands in search of valuables, all while stealthing your way around security guards and stuff. It's mostly really easy, but still pretty fun and thrilling. Still, after robbing pretty much everyone blind, I still couldn't find the bloody point to the whole thing, until I randomly walked into an inconspicuous INN to find out it is Yaz's "brothel," and that's where the story finally started to progress. Seriously, there's a lot of good gameplay here, so it bummed me out that I spent so much of it not knowing where to go.

The game tutorializes certain things in a very "tell, don't show" manner, too. I mean, that's to be expected with the amount of complexity in this game's design, but that can't possibly be the only way, come on. It also annoys me how I have to sit through a veritable wall of text whenever I press 0 to check certain information. Maybe having some kind toggleable HUD instead of that?

Also, some maps are way more labyrinthine than they have to be. I mean, it took me a full five minutes to discover an exit from town that actually worked, for one. The greatest offender of all, though, is the final dungeon. Not only was I hella confused on what I had to do to get there in the first place, it is also overlong and inscrutable, full of samey rooms and corridors that had me going in circles for a long time before I realized where to go.

Overall, though, the gameplay is pretty great. There's a lot of stuff to do, and a lot of stuff to discover. The only things I don't like that much are the walls of text to explain stuff, the fact that the game is a bit on the easy side, and the hellishly confusing maze of a final dungeon.

I also found a bug: the spider climb scroll seems to stop working randomly depending on certain events I trigger. I have no idea what causes it. Sometimes it's when I'm talking to someone, sometimes it's when I try to save the game, but it always seems to happen at random, and the timer doesn't even go away, as if it was showing how much free roaming time we're losing due to the bug.

And just as I was wrapping up the review, I found yet another bug on my second playthrough: I killed the bandits at the bridge, and the game locked up. Yaz just sat there staring at the horizon from the bridge, until I pressed SHIFT, and the game somehow teleported me to a piece of bridge I couldn't move in, so I had to waste a spider climb scroll to get out. Also, isn't the SHIFT function supposed to be available only if you are using a spider climb scroll? Because there are situations where I pressed SHIFT without using one and still got teleported.

Final thoughts

I guess the thing that impresses me the most about this game is that the whole thing only took 50 days to make. I mean, holy crap, there's a lot of content, a good story, and a ton of RPG mechanics to boot.

I think this game is well worthy of a 4.5/5. The main things that held it back are the inscrutable level design in some parts (especially that final dungeon), the walls of text to explain certain things, and the lack of a decent HUD to view information without having to sit through the message that pops up when we press 0. Other than those issues, however, this game is a really great experience. The sobering plot, the interesting RPG mechanics, the little tidbits of secrets and exploration, and the beautiful aesthetic are all very strong points for me, and make this game more than worthy of a strong recommendation to everyone who can handle the rather sensitive elements of the plot.