Jaquio: Angel of Death is a mystery, fantasy RPG game made with rm2k/3. One of the first things you will notice while playing this game is how well written the dialogue is, followed by all the custom features. However, the well written dialogue doesn’t include enough of the plot for you to fully understand what the overall story is about in my opinion. You are lead to believe that vesta is in possession of a weapon that needs to be stolen by the lead character, Jaquio. Later you realize that Vesta Inc is doing more than just holding powerful weapons and is the bane of existence to many of the characters in game. We only hear or see one resistance group organized chivalry; who has accepted the tasks of taking vesta down. For rm2k/3, this game is above average, however, there are still many things that need to be worked on to make this game a real classic.

Cast:
I loved this game and the way characters are introduced, to say the least. The hero characters, Jaquio and Jessica, are played well and take on a life of their own as you journey through vesta. I found most interesting the main characters’ own personal struggles with his emotions and his life. The expressed thoughts and emotion of Jaquio is done in a way where you get a deep understanding of where he is coming from. And this makes it so that you cannot help but to identify with him yourself. The only problem is trying to understand where Jaquio fits into the overall main plot, because the storyline is kept a mystery and not much is expressed. All I know is that vesta is bad, and Jaquio is helping to take them down.

The other side cast members such as the vesta soldiers are presented well, and also have a life of their own. They are not just your everyday rpg villainous characters and often times seem less evil as they crack jokes and do other random stuff that deters from the seriousness of the game. It also deters from the fact that you have to kill the vesta soldiers by the hundreds just to clear the vesta scene.

In closing, I want to talk about Jessica who is another hero that joins your party. Her entrance and exit felt rushed, and I would like to see more of her in a future installment. With all the information you get on Jaquio, Jessica almost does not seem like a major character at all.

Humor:
The game has added humor and slapstick runs that come up at random times; this diverts the attention away from the games more serious nature that overtones the story as you progress. This works out well because a good laugh now and again just makes the game more addicting. I won’t give away any specific situations, but if you play the game you will find that some of the scenes are funny and they will put a smile on your face even if you are having a bad day. This is one thing I commend the author for.

Game Play:
A good thing about this game is that all scenes and other aspects of the game change depending upon your actions and decisions. This makes it so that if you play the game repeatedly, you will see and experience different scenes each time. This is one feature that is not common in many rm2k/3 games.

As far as the controls, they are straight forward. You have your standard rm2k/3 controls but there are also custom controls done for various game functions. The mini games are fun, and remind me of Metal Gear (NES) or even Splinter Cell in a 2d old school fashion. Navigation and how to go through these custom systems and mini games are fully explained. Many times, however, the explanations are too long and break the flow of the game or scene that you were on. Expanding on this, some scenes are too wordy and that also breaks the flow of the game.

Another negative (or caution) about the mini game custom system is that if you are not careful going through them the result will be an epic fail and game over. The battle system is no different. The difficulty is not standard, the enemies level with you to keep the game from being too easy and they also have healing abilities and call for help abilities. Many times these abilities make the battles too hard. Nothing is worse than knowing a vesta soldier should die on the next hit and then they heal, which seems to happen often.

This game is top notch when it comes to custom features, but I must say that at times I thought maybe my pc slowed the game down some. I think when playing this game it is best to close all other applications because the custom systems can be slow, and background applications make then slower or buggy.

Chipset/Sprites:
This is my favorite part. The chipsets are clearly customized, as well as the characters. The sprites’ action poises and facial expressions are amazingly done. By looking at the coloring and detail it is clear that the artist knows what he is doing. The artistic style is cohesive and consistent for the most part. There are some scenes that don’t match. The vesta scene and the chivalry scene for example are like night and day in color, style and map makeup. I also think that the vesta scene should be been cut shorter.

The in game menu systems have customized pictures that I have never seen before and it is put together in a way that I have never seen done in other rm2k/3 games. The con I have for this is the pacing. The menu seems to lag, or just be too slow. Everything needs to be faster.

The BP menu is put together nicely, however, some features seem to freeze when I try to customize Jaquio. I’m sure this is a glitch, and hopefully the author will fix soon. Although I could be doing something wrong too.

Me, being a former rm2k/3 user values that the user interface, chipsets and sprites are all well put together.

Sound:
The game uses mp3s, so the music is very nice. The music and sounds match the scenes of the game. It is especially nice how the sounds can change the setting of the game on the parts where Jaquio is having “nightmares” or on other scary parts.

Another thing I liked for music is that many of the songs I had not heard before. It was a relief to not have to hear the same recycled midis/mp3 and sounds that many other rm2k/3 games are composed of.

CONS/Final Thoughts:
I was sad that Jessica was given so little play time. I liked her better than the main character, Jaquio, and hope that she will be reintroduced in an update. Other frustrating parts of the game are some of the battles. Some battles are drawn out too long, especially if the vesta soldier heals or calls for help. I also wish there were more healing options for me, or options to escape from battles I didn’t want to fight. There is an Escape option, but it hardly ever works. The overall story progression is slow, but I can tell I am coming to some sort of turning point. I’m not sure what that conclusion is, which may or may not be a good thing. I do feel that as much hours that I have played in the game, I should know more about the story of vesta inc and chivalry there are plot holes to be filled. Overall, as I stated before, I love this game especially for its custom systems though some are glitch-ed , none the less I would recommend to try more than once due to scenario deviations. Also perhaps some form of in game direction fix for those awkward moments when jaq moonwalks through levels backwards.....