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Oh, How I've Missed These Games!

  • shtrock
  • 05/08/2010 12:01 AM
  • 8381 views
Before I begin, I’ll just say that this is a very stylized game with a specific audience in mind. My rating in no way means it will appeal to everyone, but that it accomplishes what it means to and with very few flaws.


Setting/Plot/Story

This has a very cliché NES/Gameboy story, and progresses quite slowly. If you’re looking for something that is very intricate and has many plot twists along the way, you won’t really find it here. It’s quite obvious that the maker did this on purpose, and so it didn’t bother me at all. However, I was treated to a very unexpected twist at the end of the game. The fact that it is so unexpected makes it that much more effective, and it sets up the sequel very well. I was also able to beat the game with both endings (good hero + bad hero), so there was a bit of extra replay value towards the end of the game as well.


Audio

Amazing! Well worth the extra download size! These songs are essentially NES styled tunes in mp3 format. I actually went into the folder and listened through the whole thing, and when I was finished, I listened through again! It must be some of the most intricate NES music I’ve ever heard! My only complaint would be that the battle music made me a little too finger-tappy, causing me to accidentally give up my turn a few times. I died once because of it, and I was extremely mad!


Graphics

Really not for everyone. In fact, many people may despise this aspect. The whole game is in black and white, and there are no monsters on the screen in battle. I actually loved the stylistic choices used here, if only because it has been so long since I played a classic gameboy game like Final Fantasy Legend II. The battles didn’t bother me either, as most of the time I was too busy learning or thinking about my tactical plans to care that I wasn’t seeing any flashy animations on the screen. I think the author was smart to do the graphics this way, because it tells you right off the bat whether or not this is the type of game that was made for you.


Gameplay

I can’t give enough praise for this! I absolutely love the fact that I could customize my character’s skills and attacks with each level up, and it adds a new dimension to the battles not being able to use standard attacks. The key to what made this work best was the overall balance throughout the game. I spent VERY little time having to grind my way through dungeons, and the pacing seemed perfect to the very end. I felt like I really achieved something when I made it through an area, and exploring Atlantis for the first time was actually really cool. One thing I would suggest is a description of new skills, as I had no idea how awesome “Rush Whirl” was until I had chosen it and used it in battle. This was the only real detractor to the system, but I later found an area where you could buy certain skills you may have passed by.


Replay Value:

There is a lot of replay value for this game, because you can customize your character in a number of ways to make the game as difficult or simple as you wish. There are also many sidequests that you can choose to complete, or to skip them completely. I’m not sure how many there are, as I got frustrating with the poor layout of the walkthrough, but I did manage to get married (which got me some cool armor as a result), and destroyed a crapload of enemy camps on the world map. Also there is an ‘evil’ ending, but it wasn’t much different than the real one. It’s just a huge game in general, and though I tried to complete as much as possible, I’m sure I still missed quite a bit.


Lasting Appeal

This is a fun game for fans of old RPGs. It has its own interesting flavor and many areas to explore. If you don’t like exploring big areas, it won’t be as fun for you as it was for me, but the straight-forward approach to completing the game is always there for you as well. This is not actually a perfect game, but after completing it, I felt that it still managed to deliver the perfect player experience.

I know how many games here get cancelled or put on hold, so my last message is an appeal to the creator: sbester, PLEASE finish the sequel! This has the potential to be a great series!

Posts

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Thanks for the great review! I'm glad you had fun with it, and it sounds like you were pretty thorough in your play through!

I agree with your idea about skill descriptions, and I'm most likely going to be adding them to the level up system for the sequel. Also, I'm sorry about the walkthrough (I assume you used the old, unfinished one?). I finally finished it the other day so it's now available and (hopefully) a lot better.

About the sequel, it WILL get finished, I promise you that. However, it will be quite a different experience, so it will need to be played with an open mind.
Hmmm.. I question the validity of reviewers very recently joining to suddenly throw a 5 star rating out like that.

Just saying.
Corfaisus
"It's frustrating because - as much as Corf is otherwise an irredeemable person - his 2k/3 mapping is on point." ~ psy_wombats
7874
comment=29764
Hmmm.. I question the validity of reviewers very recently joining to suddenly throw a 5 star rating out like that.

Just saying.

Just looking at the score and the join date of this person, I thought that he and Sbester were one-in-the-same. Amerkevicius gave me the same feeling. That, and a realistic score is around 2 star, but these new guys are giving it a 4 1/2 and 5, almost as if sbester was unsatisfied with a very reasonable score considering the game, so he went out of his way to raise it up through these methods (much like Drakyith's Archwizardess charade).
edchuy
You the practice of self-promotion
1624
Well, while what both of you say is not impossible, I would say it's improbable. Why? The first guy also posted a review for Generica, while the other did one for Pokemon Hunter. If the things you are suspecting are true, why would they post a review for other games as well? The only possibility I would see here is to really throw us off track. So basically, I'll take what both of you said as hearsay unless there's more conclusive proof.

If you don't think these scores are representative, then perhaps you both need to come up with your own reviews (one of you has written 0 and another one 1 review so far) to balance it out. There's nothing preventing you guys from giving this game what you think is an "appropriate" score. The validity of any reviewer can easily be questioned at any time by anybody.
Corfaisus
"It's frustrating because - as much as Corf is otherwise an irredeemable person - his 2k/3 mapping is on point." ~ psy_wombats
7874
comment=29773
Well, while what both of you say is not impossible, I would say it's improbable. Why? The first guy also posted a review for Generica, while the other did one for Pokemon Hunter. If the things you are suspecting are true, why would they post a review for other games as well? The only possibility I would see here is to really throw us off track. So basically, I'll take what both of you said as hearsay unless there's more conclusive proof.
How can we obtain proof? Run an IP check? I seriously have my doubt that he would come out and say, "Yes, I've reviewed my own games.", and therefore make himself the laughingstock of the RMN community. And about having other reviews. They are both very short, and ones that could easily be typed up in two minutes. The same reason why you question why they would, is exactly the reason why I feel they are the same. He figures that if we saw them reviewing other games, that it would somehow throw us off and make us believe that they're different.

Also, it's not a matter of balancing it out with our own reviews (who does this, anyway?), more-less a concern over someone kissing their own ass to make their games out to be more than they are, as if we are so simple-minded that a review or score would EVER encourage us to play a game on those grounds alone.
edchuy
You the practice of self-promotion
1624
comment=29776
Also, it's not a matter of balancing it out with our own reviews, more-less a concern over someone kissing their own ass to make their games out to be more than they are, as if we are so simple-minded that a review or score would EVER encourage us to play a game on those grounds alone.


I understand it's a concern. Unfortunately, some potential players are simple-minded enough to let themselves get swayed by the rating (not even reading the actual review) to choose the games they download. We'll see in time (that's another way to find out) whether your suspicions turn out to be true. By the way, I was playing devil's advocate and am hoping it's not true.
You guys must really hate this game to be thinking this way. I get a couple good reviews and suddenly my integrity is brought into question? I never expected this...

I've put up with some crap on here, but this is above and beyond. I don't even know what I can do to prove my innocence in this case. Maybe I should just take my games off here completely, as the haters are onviously much more passionate about this game than the fans. I have some real thinking to do.
edchuy
You the practice of self-promotion
1624
I guess they can't live with the possibility that somebody actually liked your game.
I guess not. So many people have been positive about it on rpg revolution, yet here it seems the game is met with nothing but cynicism. Maybe I should just stick to being a reviewer here and post my games there in the future.
I'm not personally attacking your efforts, I was merely skeptical at the review. If it makes it fair I'm going to write a review which adds a bit more critical insight.
Corfaisus
"It's frustrating because - as much as Corf is otherwise an irredeemable person - his 2k/3 mapping is on point." ~ psy_wombats
7874
comment=29780
You guys must really hate this game to be thinking this way. I get a couple good reviews and suddenly my integrity is brought into question? I never expected this...

I've put up with some crap on here, but this is above and beyond. I don't even know what I can do to prove my innocence in this case. Maybe I should just take my games off here completely, as the haters are obviously much more passionate about this game than the fans. I have some real thinking to do.

We don't hate the game, we just frown down upon occasions where it appears that the creator of a game made multiple accounts to praise their own efforts. Now, Ratty's "Chrono Trigger", on the other hand, is a minefield of unwanted buttsecks. We could be wrong in this, and I honestly hope that we are, but to react like your games will always be met with hostility will only damage yourself emotionally. We are just questioning the integrity of this ordeal since it's not every day that new people appear and do little more than praise a single game before falling off the face of the earth. If at any given time you can provide proof that this isn't all the same person, I will completely dismiss my accusations. Until such proof is provided, I will remain skeptical.

EDIT: I didn't even notice this before, but they both posted these reviews the day after they joined. It would be one thing to be a few days apart, like one posted the day they joined while another posted 3-5 days after they joined, but both on the next day? Perhaps I'm just paranoid and prone to baseless accusations, but that does seem a bit fishy.
:(
It does, and that's why I'm so frustrated by all of this, because I don't know what I can do to prove my innocence here. I have emailed them both, but other than the few emails back and forth from me and amerikevicius on rpg revolution (where he pointed out bugs he encountered while playing), I don't know what else I can do about it. I also emailed WIP thinking maybe he could do something to prove I am not these reviewers (IP check or something? idk).
WIP
I'm not comfortable with any idea that can't be expressed in the form of men's jewelry
11363
Yes, you are throwing out baseless accusations. They are not the same person. This is why we can't have nice things.
Corfaisus
"It's frustrating because - as much as Corf is otherwise an irredeemable person - his 2k/3 mapping is on point." ~ psy_wombats
7874
comment=29875
Yes, you are throwing out baseless accusations. They are not the same person. This is why we can't have nice things.

That's all the proof I need. Carry on.
For the record, I never thought this was a case of deception, I just think 5 stars is way too high :P
I guess I'll play it all the way through, maybe write my own review.
edchuy
You the practice of self-promotion
1624
Yeah, narcodis. I know you were incredulous that somebody could give it this rating. But to each its own, I say. Contrary to what others might believe, the more reviews a game has, the more inclined I am to believe the average RMN rating (not of the individual reviews) shown.
Max McGee
with sorrow down past the fence
9159
I still have some issues with this review. The score does not match the text. The text discusses some not-insignificant problems with the game. The score therefore should NOT be five stars. If you can highlight two or more aspects of a game as being "not for everyone", then what are you doing giving it a five star review? Five star games are, in fact, FOR EVERYONE. Would four stars not have been a more accurate score for a game that the reviewer really liked, but which had some things that would definitely turn others off?
edchuy
You the practice of self-promotion
1624
I agree with you Max, to an extent. I don't think reviewers should be trying to guess how other players will react to certain aspects of the game, but stick with their own appreciation of them. Disregarding those comments, this review points to 4.5 stars, but then again, I am not the reviewer. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!
Wow! I never knew I had an alter ego in the form of Sbester, but hey, I guess I do. I really don't feel the need to justify my existence to a few arrogant gamers, but here goes:

I joined RPG Maker dot Net for the very reason that I could give a review on Sbester's game. I didn't give it 5 stars because there were some design flaws, but yes, I did enjoy his style. Does that make it any better than a game made in XP? Well, that depends on the designer. Just because I love excellent quality doesn't mean I don't find older style classics a marvel. I had fun with the game because it was fun.

I guess in the end, if I don't join the masses in their personal review of this game, I must be an outcast. Or in this case, a clone.

Beyond that, believe whatever you want to believe.

Oh, and since some of you seem mystified by my review of Generica, another great game, you'll really be mind-blown by the fact I also reviewed Bob's Big Adventure on the Revolution. In fact, I've included my input on a number of blogs so far. Whoa, must be a conspiracy! Either that or Sbester has multiple personalities.

Edit: I haven't had much opportunity to play with any of the engines, as I've been more interested in downloading and playing other games. I like to play games a lot more than designing them, and for me RPG Makers are an RPG enthusiast's dream. Eden Legacy was indeed the first one I played on any of the makers, and I was excited to play it long before it was released. Does that make my review biased, as I solely based it on my own personal experience? Perhaps. But I've been registered on Revolution a lot longer than this site, and when I saw that there was not a single review here for this game, I joined and gave it a review. At the time I reviewed it on Revolution, I was only about half way through. I adjusted the review here because I had just completed it prior to the review.
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