Carpe Diem: Episode One

This is a review of the first demo, which covers the first four chapters. It took me approximately 3 hours to complete.

In my review for Hero's Realm, I mentioned that most RPGs strive to excel in three major categories: story, presentation, and gameplay. Excelling at two out of three is usually a good thing, unless the gameplay is the major fault. Sadly, this is the problem with Carpe Diem -- the characters and presentation are above average, but the gameplay needs work.




In Carpe Diem, players assume the role of several young adults as they become entangled in world affairs. The main protagonist, Skylar, is a run-of-the-mill swordsman hero, except he does not really show any obsession with "saving the world". As a matter of fact, he gets in trouble with some of the more noble factions at several points in the demo. His childhood friend, Haru, is much more cliche. Haru boasts double swords and seems to act like a typical arrogant hero, putting him at odds with his buddy at several points. The game switches to other characters at several points, including the "very" mysterious Trance and a weak little boy named Ledron.

The characters are all decent and well written (aside from the occasional grammatical error or bland line of dialogue), but none of them are particularly memorable. This is probably because the story has yet to truly take off. However, Linkforce has offered detailed and thoughtful descriptions of the characters and their part in the mythos of the world, which is a good sign for the future.

The story itself takes place in a world full of detail and lore, but it has yet to suck me in. Most of chapter one deals with Skylar's attempts to interact with the above-ground world, as he is from a subterannean civilization. There are several chapters of political intrigue, as well as lengthy cutscenes involving mysterious councils and scientists.

On the whole, everything has yet to come together enough for me to summarize the story adequately. The dialogue is slow scrolling -- an annoying trait that bogs down the entire pace. Additionally, the frequency of trivial cutscenes and the attention to slow-moving detail, especially in Chapter 2, makes the game a chore to play at times. Linkforce can remedy this by speeding up the pace of his cutscenes and showing only what we need to see. Nevertheless, I see enough potential to award this category a 3 out of 5; this score will probably increase in future chapters.




This category is the strength of Carpe Diem. The mapping is average to above average; most interiors are tightly mapped, and exteriors have enough detail and nonlinearity to make them interesting. There are some overly large and blocky maps, but this is a problem easily fixed. The Chapter 2 castle in particular is well done.

The music selection is one of the best I've seen in a long time. Each track matches its respective scene and helps augment the dialogue and actions, making even the slower-paced scenes a bit more tolerable. Some of the music is overly deriviative; for instance, Linkforce opted to use Xenosaga intro music in his introduction, which, not surprisingly, borrows heavily from that series. No major issues here.

The sprites and animations are all top-notch, even those in the battles. As a matter of fact, battle backdrops
consist of area screenshots -- a nice touch. I was especially impressed by the smoke and fire animations, especially in the first town. The facesets and sprites are taken from the same source as War of Two Worlds, though Linkforce says this was merely a coincidence.

Overall, the presentation nets a 4 out of 5. With slight improvements to mapping, this number can increase in future chapters.




Sadly, the most important category is Carpe Diem's weakness. Battles are bland and repetivite; each character features two skills, at most, and these skills are almost completely worthless. Most battles consist of trading physical attacks with opponents, and healing when necessary. This bland pattern even seemed to be timed by Linkforce, as you need practically every potion in the inventory when facing certain bosses and story battles. If players forgot to purchase extra potions beforehand, he or she will have to re-watch the lengthy cutscenes leading up to the story battle -- always annoying, even if the story and presentation are solid. There is practically no strategy to be had in any battle.

Linkforce does include a couple of special features, such as Ledron's "Zeal" command, which grants him indefinite Regen. Nevertheless, there are not enough skills and weaknesses to exploit. To top it off, battles are fairly slow and difficult, especially in the last chapter. I dislike bosses that can be beaten only by being at X level; why can't I use a compelling strategy instead? If Linkforce is willing, I can give him a list of ideas to improve the battles based on the lore of the world he has created.

Most of the dungeons are solid, especially the first cave. Linkforce was generally sensible about his inclusion of traps, but I would like to see a few more puzzles in the later chapters of the demo. The illusion forest is also a little annoying, and more hints should be included. There are also too many touch encounters scattered across the dungeons; generally speaking, a smaller number of challenging and strategic battles is my preference.

The walking speed is extremely slow, but Linkforce has included a sprint button. Unfortunately, this is completely pointless -- nobody is going to want to walk everywhere, so everyone is going to be holding down a redundant button. A walk button would be a good idea, especially if a section of gameplay calls for it. Maybe players must walk on cracked floors to avoid falling into lava. Linkforce should turn this system upside down and exploit the walk speed while making the run speed default.

Because of these shortcomings, I have to give the gameplay a 1.5 out of 5. There is plenty of room for improvement. I hope Linkforce takes this as inspiration to improve his gameplay; I can guarantee he will attract and keep more players if he does so.




On the whole, Carpe Diem is a decent demo that is plagued with subpar gameplay. If Linkforce can speed up some of his cutscenes, find a way to suck the players in, and overhaul the battle system, he will most likely be able to create a top-tier RPG Maker selection. I wish him luck as he continues working on this project. Final verdict: 2.5 out of 5.