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This entry within the Dragon Fantasy series takes us into the magical world of Tsufana--a place where wizards and dragons reign supreme. These lands, however, face a grave crisis: Vlad, a famed Wizard hailing from the prosperous lands of Lispen, has defected, and now wields his magics with a dark purpose. In his quest for an unfathomable dark power, he has cursed the world and its inhabitants, transforming them into monsters and various other forms of demonic entities.

You take control of two siblings from the town of Ziazu. Mysteriously surviving their hometown's collapse under Vlad's curse, they set out with help from a brave knight and a well-renowned sage to end the evil wizard's vile curse and restore peace to the land.









Latest Blog

Another's Thoughts

A little while back a member of the community, Unity, played Heroes of Tsufana upon request, and here's what s/he had to say:



"Dragon Fantasy: Heroes of Tsufana by Ephiam is an old-school type RPG. My first RPG was Dragon Quest 1 (or Dragon Warrior 1 as it was called on the NES over here at the time), where grinding, finding treasure, and exploration based on hints you got from NPCs were core gameplay mechanics. Heroes of Tsufana brings back the feelings of those days and those early RPGs, and does it well.

An upfront warning: if you're used to more modern RPGs, be warned that you're going to have to grind for EXP and money, and that rather than having a clear next step in your quest, you're going to have to explore and pay close attention to hints given by NPCs about where to go next. Some may find these to be detriments, but they were a part of the experience in early RPGs.

I found the game a lot of fun to play, and I liked the callbacks to old Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy games. While you start off with just two characters, you get your full party of four pretty early on, as well as a ship so you can explore the world.

Opening up most of the world so early can be a risky move, and some may be turned off by the slew of places that are now open to you, but I found it interesting. It brings me back to old games where if the monsters in an area are outright destroying you, you're probably not supposed to be in that area yet.

The heroes each have a nice variety of abilities fitting their classes, and the game makes exploration feel very rewarding. I've really enjoyed the experience, and will most likely be continuing it after I've finished playing the rest of the game.

I didn't find a lot wrong with the game, but I will point out a few things:

-First, there's no wrap-effect on the world map, so you can literally sail to a corner of the world and the game will stop you there (See my screenshot here). I'm not sure why the wrap option wasn't chosen, which would fit the emulation of the early NES games.

-Second, some towns lack space for you to travel to a single line of tiles. If NPCs are in that line, you have to painstakingly wait for them to move (see my screenshot here, where, if I want to go west, both pathways are blocked by NPCs). This was indeed a feature of old NES RPGs, but not a welcome one, and providing bigger areas to walk would make navigating through certain towns a lot easier.

-Third, the graphics used in dungeons were repetitive. The ones I encountered came in two flavors: caves that always look like this, or interior dungeons that always look like this. Even Final Fantasy 1 went to lengths to make varied locations, using different tiles to make dungeons look somewhat distinct. A little more variety would certainly be welcome.

All in all, these are ultimately small complaints in what's a great retro-style game. Well done! I've liked this one."



Also, as an added bonus to the content of this blog and a little something for you to look forward to in the future: Heroes of Tsufana will (eventually) be remade using VX ACE. When? After I've completed Dragon Fantasy REMADE. I've already laid the groundwork for when I do get to it, but that day is at least a year down the road.
The epic clash between our Heroes and the Lispen Goddess: Emazeldyne! Credit goes to Arcan for the wonderful sprite.
World Map (Complete)
Against ENUO, the end boss of the "Cave of Trials," the MAIN optional dungeon.
  • Completed
  • Ephiam
  • RPG Tsukuru 2003
  • Adventure RPG
  • 06/30/2012 12:28 AM
  • 08/06/2022 12:07 AM
  • 01/05/2013
  • 288653
  • 42
  • 4623

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Posts

Pages: first 1234 next last
McBick
1339
06/30/2012 04:03 AM
Hmm... The plot is similar to my game and the main villain's name is the same as mine. And what happened to DF: Origins?
amerk
2539
06/30/2012 04:07 AM
Yippee! More DF games. It takes us back to what Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest once were.
Ephiam
8579
06/30/2012 09:11 AM
I thought you were joking until I went and checked for myself, McBick. That's awesome. Lol. I just needed a reason for monsters and why we were on this journey, so that's what came out. Also, Vlad is the villain's name 'cause he was the first villain of the original DF, and this has a lot of references to the first two games.

And this IS DF:Origins, just mixed with what I had of DF: Venaitura II. The world map and the plot are the same as origins', but everything else was lifted from DF:V2.

I wasn't fond of the graphics that I'd made for DF:O. I LIKED them (kinda-sorta), but I only really used them to be different. I'd much rather use the DW 1-4 style. It's so fun to use, and it makes this enjoyable to work on.

AND THERE IS NEVER ENOUGH DRAGON FANTASY!!! Hahaha. I work on this and write the story+make the events of DFR while Corfaisus makes the maps.
Mudkips4life
0
07/12/2012 04:53 AM
I liked the game, it took me back........... It makes me want to go dig out my final fantasy cartridge and play, only if i still had dragon quest ;(
Ephiam
8579
07/12/2012 08:10 AM
Awesome! I think this is the fastest one of my game submissions has ever been accepted. Hahahahaha. I actually didn't think it'd be this fast.

Thanks for giving it a try! Glad to know you liked it.
Sock
0
07/15/2012 01:21 AM
Everything seems well put together. I assume the demo pretty much ends when you get the boat? If not, then some more direction on what to do wouldn't be out of place. Balance seems good, though I wouldn't mind if the treasure drops were a little more common, since most of the early ones don't sell for much.
Arandomgamemaker
1629
07/15/2012 02:44 AM
Gah! How did I miss this?!
Ephiam
8579
07/15/2012 11:52 AM
The demo ends (technically) once you finish Kafei's Keep and obtain the Soul Stone. Though I DO agree with it needing more direction. I maaaaaay (perhaps) have forgotten to add some useful hints. Hahaha.
Ephiam
8579
09/08/2012 05:33 PM
So I HAD put this game on hold while working on Dragon Fantasy REMADE, but since I've lost my mapper and my motivation (for now) has been momentarily shot with that project, I've hopped right back on to this one. In comparison to DFR, this is MUCH easier to make progress on, and hopefully I'll finish it come December sometime. There's a possibility that it might even be done before that. Maybe. Not making any promises, though. =P
Arandomgamemaker
1629
12/29/2012 10:54 PM
I'm guessing this game is almost done?
Ephiam
8579
12/30/2012 12:25 AM
Pretty much! Just gotta add the finishing touches and complete the MAIN optional dungeon (which I'm almost done working on), and then it's all set to be released! Can't wait! Though I'm not letting that anxiousness rush me too much. =P

I also have to add in the OMEGA battle afterwards, as well as one FINAL additional battle. Sooo... wewt!
Arandomgamemaker
1629
12/30/2012 12:28 AM
Awesome! Can't wait to play it.
Ephiam
8579
12/30/2012 12:44 AM
And I can't wait to release it! Then I can actually PLAY a few games instead of constantly wanting to work on this! Hahahha. =P
Tau
RMN sex symbol
3278
01/06/2013 05:58 AM
I still don't know how you complete so many of these game at such quality so fast. You must have a lot of free time on your hand Ephiam haha.

Anyway, I've always been a fan of your stuff so I'll give this one a shot. Still waiting on that remake to be done though, that was looking really good!
Roy
265
01/07/2013 01:21 PM
Enjoying the game. Once you get the ship, the world is almost intimidating in its size and although I enjoy exploring, I keep getting lost. Is it possible to provide even a basic map to be able to orient where you are? Thanks!
Ephiam
8579
01/07/2013 01:46 PM
Glad you're enjoying it!
Just uploaded a map. Check out the "Images" tab. =)
Dennis
0
01/10/2013 11:20 PM
Could you give an order in which to visit places - as there are very few clues. I have the black pearl a forum hut key (don't know what it's for) lispen flag - same as key. Been all over the map and at level 15 still having hard time in some battles. Thanks for any info ! Like the game so far - just not sure what to do next !
Ephiam
8579
01/11/2013 12:28 AM
After you get the Black Pearl from the Dark Priest, head to Nafesta (a town in the mountains South of Burray that is only accessable via ship) and get the GOLEM'S EYE. Using that you can obtain the ROSETTA STONE that is located on one of the smaller islands North of Burg (between two stone blocks). With the Stone in your possession you can understand the people of Lispen, so go there next.

Let's see if you can figure it out after that, 'cause there SHOULD be enough info available. ;P If not just come back and I'll be glad to help!

Also check out the map in the Images section of the gamepage if you need additional help.
Corfaisus
"It's frustrating because - as much as Corf is otherwise an irredeemable person - his 2k/3 mapping is on point." ~ psy_wombats
7767
01/11/2013 01:09 AM
I'm not sure if I managed to screw something up, but is it possible to trigger the switch that says I've collected all of the key items needed to access the tower (while also being unable to do so) before returning to Borez and speaking to the elder to get the Beads of Passing (iirc).
Ephiam
8579
01/11/2013 01:20 AM
So does an NPC mention this, or is it some auto-message? 'Cause I'm fairly sure there was no sudden message for that accomplishment. Lol. =S

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