In my 22 years I've played quite a number of RPG Maker games,especially RPG Maker 2000 ones.Yet,only a few games managed to get me fully immersed in their story.Chronicles of Tsufanubra is one of these games.

From the beginning,all the way to the end,you'll follow Celes' story (and her party's!),as she is given a difficult task:become the Savior of her people.To do that,she'll need to collect various relics around the world of Tsufanubra,which is of decent size. In the process she'll make friends who'll rush to her aid-some even having a small story of their own,a major plus!-and enemies which you'll have to defeat with a combination of strategy and force.The characters all have their own personality and often make hilarious remarks during cutscenes.

What makes this story amazing is the way events are told and unfolded.Many cutscenes had me sitting completely still in my chair,reading line after line of dialogue,wondering what will happen next.The dialogues are so full of lush descriptions,you'll barely feel like you missed something in the story.Needless to say,the plot has many twists that'll keep you on the edge of your seat to the very end.

Graphics wise,the game does a very good job with the maps.I often felt like I myself was exploring the game in first person!The Abandoned Mine(my favourite type of dungeon)really made you feel like you were exploring an abandoned mine.Where they could be found,the background images were astonishing as well.I think the game utilizes a mix of RTP and non RTP graphics,and succeeds in depicting the world fittingly.The battle animations were stunning,especially the stronger spells.

The battle system uses the default first person turn based system which also happens to be my favorite because it simply works well.A nice feature is that you can use many different kinds of equipment for your party,so that it suits your playing style.While the game starts off pretty easy,midway through it gets pretty hard unless you kill every monster you can find in set encounters.Which you should do,because you'll be rewarded for that with a chest containing unique supplies or gear.Personally I find this system much better than the random encounter engine engine,since it prevents endless grinding. The bosses were quite balanced,save for a few with nasty spells which you'll probably find out how to counter after a couple of Game Over screens.

The game has a big variety of different tunes,and they do their job well.I'm not sure if they're rips,but I really liked them.The boss tunes were especially nice,and were long enough to avoid being too repetitive.

All in all,I really enjoyed the game save for a few minor issues.It would definitely have been nice to be able to interact with the various objects,maybe with some funny comments from the characters.I also thought the game could be longer,but that's probably just me since I have a preference for huge games.The length should suit the majority of players.Well,I can always hope for a sequel!