Hello!
The RpgmakerAddict is here, back to review the old cool memorable games of the past. And this time the game is... Oathguard!
Oathguard is a 2011 game by Mellytan made with rpgmaker 2003, and the strange thing is that I found absolutely no videos on youtube or other playthroughs of this game, except for a 10 minutes video that you can see on the page here. BUT that was the old 2011 version, the last was made in 2012 shows various differences, for example Gela Yala's faceset is custom made, in the old version is just a FFTactics edit.

But now, who is this Gela Yama? Well she is the protagonist of this prologue and not of the whole game, but since of this game only the prologue exist (the file is in fact called Oathgard Part 1)... well she's the protagonist! Yes, sadly this game while listed as complete it's just a fraction of a whole story, not unlike other classics I played, like A Blurred Line, Raciela or Story of Innocence (all reviewed before, check them, they were all good!).


SURPRISE! I just caught this patrol off guard! Combat will be a bit easier this time.

Anyway back to the story: Ordinator Gela Yala is married to Ordinator Bocheul Yala and they have a daughter, anyway a year later the Fortnight War begins and Bocheul seems to be working with the enemy, so Gela is sent to capture him.
After a brief cutscene we start controlling our lone heroine as she explore the wilderness to capture Bocheul, but enemy soldiers, generals and cultist will try to stop her.

Ok, so far it's all interesting, but nothing seems extremely new, anyway as we start we can notice several original aspects: even if the game keeps the usual rpgmaker2003 menu screen, this is added to an arrow-selection menu that lets us use other additional menus or items that are unlocked in the course of the prologue: a save option (usable anytime), a screen used to level up characters (spending points to improve the various stats as we prefer), a jewel that indicates the level of danger and basically warns us if we have to save before proceeding.

Enemies are always visible, sometimes they are avoidable and other times they are not (like the enemy bosses, of course!), the important thing is that in this game we can run but this makes noise. If Gela is able to reach the enemies (represented by a single soldier) unnoticed she can strike all of them once before combat start. If she faces them it's normal combat, if they attack her from behind (maybe because she ran away after being noticed) they will have a free attack instead!


Different spells do different damage depending on the enemy, here the war "dogs" seems more resistant!

Combat is apparently classic, Gela has various weapons to equip (starts with two different swords and a pistol) that have different stats and powers, firearms seems weaker but they do not reduce the LPs like the melee weapons do. These LPs are points used to unleash some abilities like the very important regeneration skill to recover hitpoints, and they are earned using magic. Gela doesn't need mana to cast spell, just to have one of the three emblem equipped, and each emblem cast a different spell, but she also possess a spell that lets her learn (like a scan skill) the weaknesses of the opponents, because each one of them is weak to the effect of a particular spell and stronger or immune to others. In one round you may also switch from an emblem to another, and you can also do it freely outside of combat (and also change the weapon you are using). If things go bad she can also rely on the classic healing items, and luckily the enemy soldiers need them too, so expect to find some loot (not just consumables but also some accessories, armors and weapons).

Visually the game is extremely well done and pleasant: the ambient sounds are evocative, mapping is good since while linear, the wilderness sometimes present different paths and hidden zones, the sprites are taken from various sources (like the enemy battlers from Bahamut Lagoon) and sometimes edited, but all is harmonious and made with attentions to the details. There is no dissonance of style, no errors or bugs I remember, colors are nicely chosen, all fits and has a certain style that makes this game look interesting and appealing, music is also very good.


Yes, go away, I've finished my review and I need to write the...

Final Verdict
Oathguard is a very short but very good experience: visually it's very good, look at Gela's faceset of those mountains she has to traverse, and the nice custom made interface and menus, anyway also combat in this game is engaging and does not consist in just "use the strongest power, chug an MP potion, use the strongest power, etc...", not at all! On the contrary spells make you earn points, but sometimes they are useless, and enemies can also cause debilitating effects to our protagonist.

I just found one weird bug in my playthrough: the first time I met the second boss I died, I decided to reload but... then he totally ignored me, and let Gela leave without calling his minions. So I simply skipped this battle. Uhm ok!

Aside for this issue, no problems, this is an old-style rpgmaker2003 game with some very unique features and ideas, and it's a pity it was not completed, but it goes in my collection of inspiring demos and "unrefined gems" exactly like Story of Innocence, that was released during the same year! Visually is good, gameplay is enjoyable and story is interesting, in two words: quality and style!