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"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

There are a few elements in the NES game's story that remain unclear:

Apparently Mesia is the only one who can "call" the Tower and the hero (Simea) is the only one who can stop it. Emperor Draygon's evil schemes were the cause of the Tower's self-activation and of the two heroes' awakening. The Tower is programmed to eradicate all life on Earth to eliminate the current threat (Draygon) and let civilization rebuild itself from scratch. When Draygon is finally defeated by the hero, all that is left to stop is the Tower's cycle of mass destruction.

It is plausible that Draygon used his mind control abilities to have Mesia call the Tower for him. Another way he could have persuaded her is by controlling/dressing up as his alter ego Azteca (it is unclear whether he is Azteca or he just controls him). But the most interesting theory is that Mesia was actually on Draygon's side all along, at least until she had a change of heart when Draygon was defeated. There are a few sentences in the script that can be interpreted as supporting this theory.


Don't worry too much if you read these spoilers. My rewriting of the story and characters offers new twists and explanations about the whole plot.
Good summary. I forgot about Mesia's role. It's one of those really compelling NES games that leaves things up in the air. It would seem odd that Draygon would want to summon the one thing that could destroy him, unless he planned to control the tower, which is what I always assumed to be the case, even though it was never fully disclosed (not in the NES version anyways).

Perhaps this was the reason for the changes in the GBA version. A shame, really, because if they had kept the feel of the game and didn't change the music so much, and worked more on their expansion of the story, the GBA could have been much better than it was.
Poor writing translation was the bane of comprehensibility in early games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfwqvUPIRkg

author=amerk
Perhaps this was the reason for the changes in the GBA version. A shame, really, because if they had kept the feel of the game and didn't change the music so much, and worked more on their expansion of the story, the GBA could have been much better than it was.


Exactly! The GBC version of the game had some horrible music. I love the NES version because of its originality, soundtrack, and story. But, the other version was not my cup of tea.
author=bulmabriefs144
Poor writing translation was the bane of comprehensibility in early games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfwqvUPIRkg



True, although Crystalis was written better than most of them. It deserved more attention than it got, but as it was released too late in the NES cycle, when people were jumping ship to other consoles, it never received enough attention.
looks interesting. I m gonna try this the next weekend.
Linkis
Don't hate me cause I'm Cute :)
1025
I'm sure you will all get a kick out of my download/abbreviation knowledge :)

eng=engine
fra=I had no idea

until I unzipped, opened and started the game......

What the hell ??? What is that ??? OH, that's french :)

I thought the second download/most recent was an update so did not realize
if was for the french speaking Canadians which is where the sexy girl profile picture comes from but is really a guy game maker :)

oh God, give me strength and a little more smarts :) hahahahahahahaha
Haha sorry about that.
"Eng" does stand for English and "Fra" for Français (French).

I actually don't know who's a french Canadian here. I made the French version because before I settled down on RMN I had joined a French forum (from France) and began working on the game at that time. By the way, the French Rpg Maker community is also huge and full of talented people :)
I cannot, for the life of me, get past the last set of flame pillars in the swamp. No matter how fast I go, the other's either re-light too quickly or the wind thing just flies through without putting the flame out. I know the positioning isn't off because another wind thing will put it right out, so long as the others are lit.

I can tell that other's have gotten past it before from the comments, so I wonder if perhaps something's changed since then?
If memory serves right, the last puzzle in the enemy-filled area can be solved using two Level 2 shots. The timing is tight but that's how I do it.

If you're talking about the third puzzle from the short enemy-free area right before that other room, that one can be solved using a single Level 3 shot. Just find the right spot where to stand, then charge and shoot.

If you need more hints I'll make a video.

EDIT: oh and if the wind shot passes through without scoring a hit, this is due to a bug that might still be present in that version of the game.
It was the third puzzle in the enemy free area. Since the lamps are not in 3 adjacent squares, I did not think the level 3 would take care of them all. I expected it to follow the same target area rules as the other two. It didn't help that using the third from the wrong position curiously blew out one lamp but not the others, despite coming closer to them than the affected one.

But with that hint, I did manage to get past it, so many thanks~

edit: I downloaded the game this morning, if you need the version for the bug. Not sure if you meant that it was an old fixed bug (in which case it's back) or that there's a newer version not yet up for dl.
Yeah I meant that I fixed the bug in the current, unreleased version.
This new version features 3 dungeons and 6 new bosses for now. I'm not sure whether I should release it or not because it's unfinished and I've been working on a new plot and coded new mechanics since then.

Did you beat the Swamp's second boss yet? What did you think of it as a fight?
Boss spoilers
There was a pretty safe area where I could just wait out all of his attacks and then shoot at him when he paused, so it did not feel very threatening. There just wasn't enough danger that I had to relocate much, so I didn't. That said, it would have been a much harder fight if I had actually been trying to move around, probably. Maybe the area it takes place in is too big?


I don't think you need to rush a new release right now. What you have is already a good demonstration, so you're better off nailing some things down like the potential new menu than putting more content out, imo.


At any rate, I put all of my notes and thoughts and such into a full review, though I deleted the part where I gave up on the fire puzzle. I imagine it will show up fairly quickly, but I can PM it to you if you prefer.
Boss spoilers
I know the left or right edges of the bridge can be quite safe most of the time. I'll keep that in mind when I redesign the boss fights and try to keep safe spots to a minimum.


Thanks for your feedback :) An upcoming review would be greatly appreciated! I can wait for it.
Linkis
Don't hate me cause I'm Cute :)
1025
Avee, you're killin' me :(

Please, don't rush and make a bad game.

On the other hand, aside from Legend of Zelda, this was my favorite game and I'm an old gamer, so would like to play this before they throw dirt on me :)

Just curious, do you have any idea when you might be done so I can play from beginning to end? :)
Haha thanks for your support.
I can't promise anything. To be perfectly honest this game could still take a few years to finish, especially if I want to polish it and make it as best I can.
Linkis
Don't hate me cause I'm Cute :)
1025
DAMIT, DAMIT and DAMIT.....that's the second time I downloaded the French version :) hahahahaha on me
I've been waiting for the completion of this game. I finished the original crystalis not too long ago and now I can play this one. I read the review and I'm liking the sounds of this game. Is one review enough or would you like another one when I finish it?

And sorry about not keeping track and posting like I wanted to, but now I'm able to be here a little more often since everything is back on track.
I haven't made a new part of the game available yet, I think you've already played the current version. Thank you for your support :) I'm looking forward to the completion of Fantasia as well.

Feel free to write a review if you want to. I always appreciate the feedback.
One of my favorite NE games, I'll be giving this a dowbload for sure!