Crystals Again

Introduction

Crystals again was created using RPG Maker XP for RPGMaker.net's fourth birthday contest which means this game was designed in less then four hours. As such this game does contain a few elements of bad design that I'll get around to discussing in a bit, but it shouldn't be counted against this game too much. But first I'd like to take a look at the narrative.

Story

The story of Crystals Again is rather simplistic. You play as a party of adventures who are on a quest to collect four elemental stones in order to present them to the princess for her birthday.

And while the setup is simple, the reason behind this choice was to make a joke about old school games like Final Fantasy One. Sadly, this game doesn't strike me as particularly funny considering I've seen games built around a princess putting on furs and strapping a blade to her back in order to impress a boy into becoming her boyfriend. Because of this, I can't find any real amusement in changing a world saving plot to something as mundane as collecting objects for the sake of a birthday present.

Gamepaly

On the gameplay front you have your standard turn-based RPG with random encounters. As such this game isn't anything particularly special, but for a turn-based fan boy this game works well enough. And while the early battles are relatively challenging, the game quickly shifts gears into being too easy once you've managed to scrap enough money together for some quality equipment.

And one of my minor beefs with this game is that the shop prices are rather insane. All of the best pieces of equipment in this game feels horribly overpriced in the face of the second best weapons and armors. The second best equipment is all only slightly weaker then the best in terms of stat points, but can readily save you anywhere from 40 to 100 gold coins. This issue also plagues the item shop as well with the healing potions being extremely cheap while the antidotes will cost you an arm and a leg.

And continuing on the line of minor issues the overworld map is extremely lacking in terms of boundary lines. While it was nice that the game does provide the player with mages to warp the player from the main island to the various dungeons. This process isn't that much of a time saver considering you can simply walk across the ocean.

Graphics & Sound

On the visual side of things the game does alright for itself. The maps never feel needlessly crowded nor do they feel plain and devoid of life. About the only noticeable hiccup in terms of layout is that the entry point for the beach isn't visually obvious, but it's not impossible to find if you have a little patience.

In terms of sound effects and background music the game was just there. I know that it existed, but I'd be hard pressed to recall any of it from memory.

Conclusion

Crystals Again isn't a bad game in my opinion, but it isn't anything particularly special either even in the face of the short time limit it was made. On the comedic side of things the game feels like a waste in my opinion. The concept of adventures setting forth to find objects usually used to save the world in order to present them to a princess for something as mundane as a birthday present could have been a rather fun if not meaningless romp to dust off ones blades and polish their staff, but in the end the game doesn't really seem to have anything else going for it to get a laugh out of the player. This is a game that really could have benefited from some banter between the playable characters like in Quest for the Ultimate Cake or from some of the mind numbing insanity of Lovely Sword. With that being said the game is rather short and may make for a decent time killer if your looking for a game to pass the time by with.