Secret of Stormlot

Hello!
Today I started a new series, a duology called Secrets of Stormlot. Secret of Stormlot or SoS is a RPGmaker2003 fantasy rpg game by soniX, but despite some similiarities, it's not a game with a storyline that seems to be inspired by the Final Fantasy series: these adventures usually are about a party of unlikely heroes travelling all over the world, while here it's more focused on the reign of Stormlot (a probable reference to Camelot) and its problems, since we play as prince Fralon (also later joined by his sister, the princess Sharna), son of king Al-Kazar, and a lot of the game is about him.


There is no doubt that Stormlot hides some kind of secret. And Fralon is apparently involved!

The game, to tell the truth, starts with a prologue about an old famous hero that now lives in a forest, Daryan. He arrives back home and he's attacked by a mysterious figure that takes him by surprise, kills him, and kidnaps his daughter (so goodbye Darya, that we used for just 5 minutes!). Then princess Sharna and Razor, her (unofficial) bodyguard find the body (before being attacked by a tiger!). After this dramatic beginning we instead start the real game as Fralon, the prince that is exploring a cavern looking for a particular gold coin (the first of a series of collectibles that can be found in almost every dungeon), but this is just the first of the missions that our protagonist has to face before meeting really powerful foes that are putting Stormlot in danger (rebels, werewolves and many others menaces).


Well, it's ok Fralon, but it's also important that you remember that, if I'm not wrong, you're also underage!!!

The game plays as a classic rpgmaker game: we've a party, that in the beginning includes only Prince Fralon (but can consist up to four characters, even if you will have more to choose from), that has to explore dungeons with random encounters against monsters, saving at the various blinking spots where it is also possible to use tents to restore the party (luckily safe areas like world map and castle lets you save anytime!).

Many dungeons also end with a bossfight, anyway despite this classic setup, there are also some new and original features, like the minimap (that includes also an indicator of our current position) on the lower left of the screen. While the transparency can be a bit annoying and there is no indication of point of interests, in some cases it was useful to understand where I had to go. In any case read carefully the dialogues, because this is an old style Rm2k3 game so there is no indicator about what you're supposed to do (for example the first time at the castle you've to talk with father, sister and Razor in order to advance the story) or where you're supposed to go, even if some characters may tell you some advice (but for example at first you will have to get accustomed to Stormlot Castle and its various rooms, since a lot of events happen here).


Taking a stroll outside the Castle of Stormlot. You will spend a lot of time here!

Concerning battles there isn't anything really new: side view encounters with custom made battlers and classic Rtp monsters, each character has his or her class that consists in various abilities (Fralon is a swordsman with different blade attacks, princess Sharna is a healer, Belle instead an elemental mage that can shoot fireballs and lightning, and so on) all that require Mp (magic point) to be used (and some, like Sharna, are pretty much useless except for their special skills).

The difficulty of most battles is medium, except when we talk about bosses: some of these can spawn attacks that hit everyone and often kill in a couple of hits, since I was forced to grind in some occasions, and this is also useful to make new characters at least useful (since you will use Fralon most of the time, and some like Sharna won't even have any utility until they get some levels)!. The problem is that the game isn't really generous with the loot, I mean that you can get lots of money, but items (even just healing and Mp potions) and equipments are very expensive, so it's worthwhile checking every crate and barrel, since it's possibile to find hidden loot (and/or some amusing dialogues too).


Battles are classic: level up to learn new powerful attacks and unleash them on the opponent!

Mapping is ok: there is an alternance of some very good maps, mediocre ones and other acceptable ones, the game starts with many Rtp maps, and later you will find also lots of rips, but the important thing is that I do not remember mapping errors or issues, on the contrary every item seems interactable, even if in some cases the descriptions are repetitive. Anyway the minimap with indicator is cool.

This use of different assets and Rtps includes also the facesets and charsets, that are in some cases edited, and while I liked most of these edits there is an evident dissonace of styles: just compare the facesets of Fralon, Belle and Sharna for example, they're really different, even if I appreciate that all have different expressions depending on the dialogues. Others, like Drake, do not even match the charset (hair color aside). Oh and I also did not like the custom main screen displaying Fralon's glum face probably drawn with paint.

Sounds and music are what I expected: there are Rtp sounds and classic music rips from popular games (like "This Machine" from Sonic Heroes, and other themes from the various Final Fantasy and Xenogears) that you may have already heard before, but in most cases they're used well so I did not complain. I also didn't notice too many tipos, so it's an ok game from this point of view!


Who is this guy? An opponent or a friend? An enemy boss or a new party member? Play and see (nice minimap on the right isn't it?)!

Final Verdict
I admit that when I learned I had to play as "Prince Fralon that has to do some missions for his father" my mind immediately wento to "Prince Yune that has to do some missions for his father" in the Lovely Sword trilogy. Anyway no, despite using the same engine, the same side-view combat system with battlers and a similar plot, this is a far more polished, long and serious game. I admit that this is not a perfect game, it has some flaws, many of these typical limitations of the "old style" rm2k3 games, but for this reason I could overlook them and I had fun, investing many hours with it. Story is ok, there are lots of characters, events, friends and enemies. and I can compare this game to old rpgmaker fantasy classics like Three the Hard Way or Legion Saga, since it's not very distant from them (that possess some of the same flaws of this game, and also a similar large cast of playable characters).

So, if you like these old classic adventures I'm sure you will have fun also with Secret of Stormlot. Anyway we'll probably have some more adventures with Secret of Stormlot 2 - Another Side, but this is a tale for another day, of course.