• Add Review
  • Subscribe
  • Nominate
  • Submit Media
  • RSS
"Out of all the fanmade remakes or sequels to the NES game Crystalis out there, this is the only one that's actually happening."

Presentation
Crystalis was one of my first and favorite games on the NES back in the early 1990s. I decided to make it an RpgMaker project, rewriting many parts of the story while preserving the main storyline, dungeons, events and gameplay. So it could be considered as an oldschool game and fan-made remake of the original game.
Please note that this project is a remake, not a copy. It is to the original Crystalis what Oath in Felghana is to Wanderers from Ys: new story, new art style, new gameplay, etc.

Background storyline
1987: Scientists working under the Velyagun Empire accidentally create thermonuclear weapons. The Empire plans to develop and use these weapons to wage war against the great countries of the continent, all fighting for technological superiority.
1997: Tension climaxes between the most powerful countries and over half of the civilized world is ravaged by thermonuclear war thus resulting in the Earth’s axis shift. The surviving groups of soldiers and scientists struggle savagely for domination. Experiments are run by mad scientists on various animals to create armies of mutants. And yet the population tries to rebuild villages and live as best they can.
2007: A young woman, Misae, alchemist Xevu's pupil, manages to create the first weapon that can rival with post-apocalyptic weaponry: an elemental sword that draws on the magical powers of the spirits. Under the guidance of her master, she'll travel to the four corners of the continent to gather the powers of the other spirits and fight the evil Empire.

Gameplay
-Similar to the original game (itself similar to The Legend of Zelda and the Ys series). You move in 4 directions with the arrow keys and use three other keys to attack, charge your sword's power level, cast spells and bring up the subscreen.
-Action RPG gameplay lets you and your opponents attack at close range or at a distance with various spells and magic attacks.
-You can level up, buy and equip armors and accessories, use various items in the subscreen, find key items to reach new areas and find new spells and new swords throughout the game.
-The game relies mostly on the fun of exploiting your swords' power levels' attacks and solving puzzles inside dungeons. Most enemies also have specific elemental weaknesses you can take advantage of.

Latest Blog

Ditching the world map? ...and other ideas.

While I was working on Halloween Wars I thought about several design decisions I took about Crystalis and questioned them. My first intent about this remake was to make it as close to the original as possible despite trying to enhance it gameplay wise.

And so I'm considering to get rid of the world map.
Right now the world map's purpose is to travel between the main areas and to give you a glimpse at unexplored, nearby locations.
The original game instead features large outdoor enemy-filled areas that link the main areas to each other. I'm leaning towards doing that as it would offer more in terms of exploration, puzzles, enemy variety and it could soften the difficulty curve.

I'd also like to remake most dungeons. Most of them are enemy-filled labyrinths and feature only one or two puzzles. The original game did that, but that is something I'd like to change.
I'd like to make the dungeons shorter but have each room be more significant by having one of the following purposes:
1- battle area (enemy filled).
2- gate (meet the requirements to advance further).
3- challenge (a puzzle of some sort or an exploration segment).
4- loot (a treasure chest).
5- boss.
6- save room.
I believe it would be better for every room to have a distinctive feature and be memorable.

I've also been wondering whether I should add new equipment or not. Instead of each piece being a simple upgrade of the last one, I'd rather have more pieces with unique effects that would be more or less effective depending on the situation. Players would toggle armor and accessory more often, just like they do with swords.

Recoding the battle system to clean it up a little would be nice.
I could also add sword combo attacks that have different speeds and ranges.
And allowing the player to turn without taking a step.

What do you guys think about these changes?

Posts

Pages: first prev 123456 last
is this game still being worked on
@aceina: I haven't worked on the game for a while because I've been too busy with various things, but I'm in the process of coding the battle system anew to make it smoother and include new features such as combo strikes and new charged attacks.
I've been wondering the same thing. Its good to hear that its still thriving! Whatever you do, don't give up. I look forward to what's ahead for this project. One thing that everyone should know is you are the only one in the world who can make your game, no one else can make it for you. Just get out there and make it no matter how long it takes.
@XBuster: Thanks for your support :) It's hard to believe that it's been 5 years already since I made the gamepage. Time flies...
By the way, kudos for your continued work on Monster World Legends too!
author=Avee
@XBuster: Thanks for your support :) It's hard to believe that it's been 5 years already since I made the gamepage. Time flies...
By the way, kudos for your continued work on Monster World Legends too!


You are very welcome! Couldn't possibly forget my first tester lol! Thanks bud :) And yes, it really does fly Its been 4 since I created mine. Alot of people keep thinking why thier projects aren't done yet. Personal lives are just more important and often block progress. You just gotta know how to make time(and that is easier said than done).

Anyway, I'll be updating the game more and more as the year progresses. Good luck on your project and I pray everything goes well. About how far would you say you are from completion?
author=XBuster
...About how far would you say you are from completion?


The answer to that question might be disappointing :P

I'm done rewriting all that I wanted to rewrite, including the gameplay elements, story, scenes, locations, etc. Everything. I'm still coding the new gameplay elements (coding the gameplay is the first thing I always do for all projects). Not a lot of the new art needed has been made either. I'd say that the game is still very far from completion.
author=Avee
author=XBuster
...About how far would you say you are from completion?
The answer to that question might be disappointing :P

I'm done rewriting all that I wanted to rewrite, including the game play elements, story, scenes, locations, etc. Everything. I'm still coding the new game play elements (coding the game play is the first thing I always do for all projects). Not a lot of the new art needed has been made either. I'd say that the game is still very far from completion.

No problem:) as developers who don't get paid for what we do, we all know how long it takes to finish our first project because there is so much you want to implement from games you've played before while adding your own touches. Also, it takes a long time depending on which kind of game you are making. In your case; an action rpg in an engine that is difficult to make these kinds of games with. Kudos to you for actucally making it work:)

Its good that you say that you do gameplay first because that is THE most important thing to knock out first. I'll be on the lookout for this one.
Hi there, I found your game here. demo v 0.1 - i think that is great that you are remaking this game. Crystalis has always been my of my childhood favorites (game). Are you still working on this project. I would love to see this game get finished & are hoping/looking forward to demo v0.2 that you had said you were working on. I hope that you find some people that might be able to help assist you with some of the custom graphics that you wish to add. I will see if I am able to send someone your way who might be able to help.
Hi!
The original Crystalis is great and still holds up very well. I hope that more and more players interested in retro games can enjoy it even today.

Most of the art assets for this project are being remade as well as the gameplay, so I'm not looking for help at the moment, but thank you for your concern :)
been a whiel sense i checked on this game how is the progress going
I remember you :)
I'm too busy with art commissions at the moment, working for other projects: You can keep an eye on Hero's Realm: Heroic Edition and Twell: Sword of Light in the meantime. I'll be happy if those games get some more attention too :)
Pages: first prev 123456 last