Hello, players! Kanalmanac is a game by ivynivek, an original RPG Maker VX Ace game released this year and made in three months, then fine-tuned in about a week.
But, as usual, let's start from the story:

Alma Kindchild is a gangster in Neon city... until he's betrayed by his three former allies under the orders of the Boss, and left alone and unarmed in the sewers. But this is just the beginning of a tale of revenge: the game has a first introductive/prologue level that will teach the basics of the game, and after the first boss battles lets Alma return to Neon City, the main hub where it's possible to look for allies and equipment, before heading out to teach a lesson to the four offenders (but the Boss zone may only be entered after defeating the three gangsters in their respective lairs). This story reminds to me of "To Crime Nirvana" by scitydreamer, since it was about a similar plot and wacky mafia setting, but consisted in boss fights only.


You can face the betrayers in any order, but Luke is the weakest, so it's probably the first one you will beat!

Now, the gameplay: the game is a classic dungeon delving adventure divided in various dungeons of different difficulty linked to the city, that is the main (safe) base for Alma (and allies) where he can buy items, rest and save. The game uses random encounters from most battles, but there are some bosses that are obligatory and others that are optional. So far, nothing new.

The interesting part is that the game starts with an intro in which we select on of three tarots, that will be the three starting classes available for Alma. Later some boss battles will let our gangster collect other tarot cards/classes, called Arcana, from the end level bosses, and these, once equipped, will determine the stats, skills, immunities, weaknesses and resistances: for example the Priestess is a healer/buffer, The Magician is a specialist in elemental attacks, the Strength is all about heavy attacks and damage and so on (the companions have their limited selection of Arcana).

Anyway there are also different items like weapons and gear that can provide some useful bonuses, for example the smoking jacket makes the wearer immune to the Blind status... and this is VERY useful against some opponents that can use some special skills. Finally there is the Overdrive, that's a sort of equivalent of the good old Limit Break, and each character has his/her own, for example Alma has Blitzkrieg, that grants four extra actions to the party in that round. Oh yes, this is because the game does not use the usual RPG Maker VX Ace ATB system, but a more tactical turn-based system with a series of actions performed before the opposition does the same.


There are normale enemies fought in random encounters and some bosses that may or may not be obligatory (but there is a reward for the optional ones!)

Combat is surely challenging in this game (however you can choose one of the three difficulty levels in the beginning, and I chose BONGO, that's the standard/medium difficulty!), but do not underestimate the rest of the tasks and challenges: the game includs in fact many puzzles, traps (red tiles are damaging, green ones are poisonous, the yellow ones have an arrow that sends the characters in a particular direction) but also some healing spots (blue tiles) and a lot of loot if you take your time to explore the various corners of the different levels.

Speaking about levels, the game uses save points, indicated by purple doors that lead to a church (present also in Neon City) while the green doors lead to a healing area. These accesses are present not only in the city and on the various parts of the dungeons, but also in some "safe zones" that are usually placed in the middle of a dungeons, with the difference that they do not include wandering enemies. Anyway there are some useful items available that let you warp to the beginning of the dungeon or even save anywhere, and these are probably even more useful than the consumables that provide permanent upgrades.

Visually the game is pretty interesting: it uses a minimal part of RTPs (like the chests of different colors and type and some doors and tiles), some edits and lots of custom assets that give life to a surreal and psychedelic modern setting. Alma will visit many different locations, from a bunker to a military base, for example, but all these places and its inhabitants look peculiar and original. The music it's realy pretty good (even if I did not like a lot that in some cases the volume seems to change during battles), but the real best are the sound effects that are wild and even include some voiceovers for the most salient parts. Cool!


SURPRISE! The game includes some puzzles too! And... crap! I forgot to count the jet planes!!!

Final Verdict
Kanalmanac is a wild, fun adventure with lots of challenging battle and some puzzles, and while the story isn't probably the most important aspect (seems like a mix between Persona and Jojo, considered the presence of strange monsters and the mafia wiseguy with magical powers!), the setting is bizarre and cool (even the main menu screen is so stylish, just try the game and see!). The system is both simple to grasp and complicated, because is includes a lot of features (such as a bestiary called Kinodex) and customization.
Overall if you like simple dungeon delving adventures with lots of combat, customization, unlockables AND New Game+ features, this is a really good game!