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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.
  • Completed
  • Ephiam
  • RPG Tsukuru 2003
  • Adventure RPG
  • 06/30/2012 12:28 AM
  • 08/06/2022 12:07 AM
  • 01/05/2013
  • 298465
  • 43
  • 4668

Posts

Ouch, that's a shame then - for you, I mean. It can't be easy creating something for free and then seeing another company making money off something that is essentially the same thing. The iOS/PS3 versions even look remarkably similar. I guess that's the downside to making free games on RPG Maker - there's no real protection for the developer/creator. Nonetheless, I've loved your other games and this one just tickles that delicious NES bone we all have -- thank you! I'll get back to you with thoughts once I've put some time in :)
Actually it doesn't bother me in the least! I do this just to pass the time and as a hobby more than anything. They can go nuts. Besides, if I were to create something more original that I planned on selling for whatever reason, I'd definitely come up with a better name than I have. Hahahaha.

Thanks for the comment, though! Ever get time to give this a go first-or-last?



Aaaaaaaaaaaaand I made a BIG BOO-BOO! When you go to Burg (town in the desert) for the first time you're immediately transported to the un-cursed version of the town that you're only supposed to have access to once you defeat the Dark Priest.

Also another more INTERESTING error on my part is that if you go into Lispen in this version of the game you can fight OMEGA without any extra work on your part. Just enter the town, go to the church, and step into the empty space to the right of the Priest. Voila! Touch-encounter with OMEGA. I had it there for testing purposes and forgot to delete the event.
Why does this have so little downloads? It's easily the best one of the series...
My friend made a good point when I mentioned that exact thing to him a while back (last Month, I think?) He said it was more than likely because it's already part of a huge series, and that more new-comers would probably want to start at the beginning rather than jumping in head-first to the latest addition. That's why DF1 is still gathering a fairly large amount of downloads while the others are SEVERELY lacking in comparison. If I simply had to name it "Heroes of Tsufana," then perhaps it would be slightly more popular than it is now. But oh well! 533 is not really a number to sneeze at in terms of downloads for an RPG Maker game. I just kinda-sorta wish there was a tad more discussion, to be honest!

And while I'm posting this, I'll have to ask all of you to keep an eye out for the "Hard-Type" version of the game that will be released sometime in the future and will include multiple bug-fixes as well as a few nice additions to the game its self!
I was wondering, I am a newcomer and I saw in the description that adventurers mode is being the main download now. I was just wondering that do I need to play the original first, or is the adventurers edition is like an updated version. Please explain because it doesn't say the difference in the description

Anyways here's a sub! I'm also confused why it has only 5 (soon to be 6) downloads? This looks amazing!
EDIT: Soon to be 7, someone else downloaded as well ^_^

The "Adventurer's Edition" is just an updated version of the original game with an increased difficulty rating. To view most of the changes/additions, just take a gander at the blog I posted not too long ago. Thanks for the sub, and I really do hope you enjoy the experience!!!
I played about 15 minutes of the game, I would do a review when I play further, but for now just feedback.

The game is nice. The second I opened and heard that intro I knew this was going to be nostalgic.

And in the first 15 minutes It was. it kicked right in the game, and everything and I'm out adventuring.

GOODS: The music. Like I said before, it was really nostalgic. And when I won my first battle, even more nostalgic.
Graphics: Depends. I personally liked it, I like seeing the 8-bit graphics rather than RpgmakerVxAce's graphics. But however some people will think otherwise. It just depends on the player.
Shops: The prices are GOOD. I fought a few battles and I could instantly afford anything in the first shop in the game. I could already afford anything in the shop. (not the orb though) However I couldn't buy everything in one go so there is where the nice balance is.

BADS: The first thing I did in the game was go to a nearby cave. However there is a bit of grinding right off of the bat of the game to do anything so I was a little disappointed, but there wasn't too much of a grind time. Ephiam really knows how to balance everything!

That's pretty much of what I saw in the first couple of minutes. I'll keep on playing though! I can't wait for more
I'm glad that you enjoyed what little you experienced! And although the Adventurer's Edition DOES have an increased difficulty rating, there still should be no need to heavily grind until you reach the very end of the game and are attempting to tackle the Cave of Trials, which is the ultimate optional dungeon and the hardest challenge this game has to offer. Even THEN it's not necessarily REQUIRED, because you'll end up at Lv.75-80 just getting to the last floor.

The main reason I made this version was to add more of a challenge, as I found the original to be a little too casual for my tastes.

Can't wait to hear more from you in the future!
Ive always been amazed how big the world is. I am glad in the IMAGES section there are a couple of maps but I wish you could click a button and see a built in map.

Nothing to do with you but with me, my antivirus...AVAST....keeps me from playing unless I temporarily disable it. The tech told me afterwards it will recognise the folder and the problem is solved....guess what....NOT! I will have to climb up their drain pipe today and see what the problem is.

I sort of like/hate that you use the same graphics as the original but they can be a pain in the arse. I cant tell where the buggers are much of the time unless I move them.

Great game though...as expected.
Now that this is released I'm going to try creating a No Level version of this game via the editor.
Despite the World Map being so big, the game is still fairly short in comparison to most full-length RPGs floating around. I guess it really depends on how much random exploration and optional content players want to go through! Thankfully with the introduction of the in-game clock, I'll be able to get a clearer look at how long it REALLY takes people to finish the game! If they get back to me, that is.

DON'T FORGET TO COME BACK!

I do hope that your anti-virus decides to smarten up. So far, NO ONE else has come to me with such a problem, and I just think it's your program being contrary. Hahaha.
the up rrows key doesnt work on any of the rpg maker games i can go up this doesnt make sense dont have problms with anythimg else or the up key with anythign else
So you're saying your Up arrow doesn't work with this game, but it does with every other RPG Maker game? If so, that's incredibly strange, and I've NEVER heard of it happening before.
Thank you for having developed this game. I'm normally not into 8-bit style RPGs, but "Dragon Fantasy: Heroes of Tsufana" was surprisingly addictive and fun for me. My pet peeve was that I could have sold the Omega Badge (that summons the ultimate optional boss Omega) and the Smithing Materials (that are needed to buy the best equipment) if I had wanted to, but not my "spare" Odinblades (best weapon for the hero) that I got after hours of grinding in the Cave of Trials. Omega was kind of easy at level 99 with the best equipment, though I wouldn't have survived the first round if my sage healer - who I made addicted to stat-raising items - had been killed. Thanks again, I needed your superb game to make peace with a generation of RPGs I totally missed out on.
Glad to hear that you enjoyed the experience! Always itching to hear new opinions and receive more comments, but they're all just so few and far between.

There were a few things that I (sadly) overlooked in this game, one of the major ones being a lack of the "wrap" effect on the world map. It's a tad too late to go back and make simple adjustments at this point, but I wish I'd found/noticed them back when I first released the game!

I'm surprised someone actually decided to GRIND in this game, let alone get their party to Lv.99 and face OMEGA! Great work, Mr. Euphoniac!
Soooooooo not to needlessly bump this page, or get anybody's hopes up (does that happen for these projects?) but there may be a sequel of sorts in the works.

Can you say "Venaitura II"? ;)
You mean you're going to reopen Dragon Fantasy : Venaitura II, or that you're thinking of a sequel to this one, being Heroes of Venaitura?
And will it be another NES'ish game, or will it go through a pseudo-console evolution?
How do I get your game to open? I have a (legal) copy of 2003, but when I try to run your game I consistently get the message that the RTP is not present or not registered - even though I can see it on my HD.

Thanks.
author=littlebro
How do I get your game to open? I have a (legal) copy of 2003, but when I try to run your game I consistently get the message that the RTP is not present or not registered - even though I can see it on my HD.

Thanks.
you need the run time package.

1)go to this link:
http://www.rpgmakerweb.com/download/additional/run-time-packages

2) Click on rpgmaker 2003

3)Enter your name (can be your alias if you want) & email in the space they provide

4) Click Download Now

5) Wait for the zip to download, then unzip and install.Installation instructions are on the aforementioned webpage.

6) Forgive me for my condescending ELI5 format instructions

woops I suck
@kalledemos
As I said, I already have the RTP installed.

I know that there are games that used patched engines to get functions that didn't exist in the base engine - in such cases I would have to search for an updated patch that complies with the legal version (as I mentioned, I have the legal version). So really, what I was asking was - do I need such a patch to play this game? Because I assume I must need something else if this game is not recognizing my RTP.

EDIT
Alternatively, the game is searching for the rtp in a different folder than the one which it's in by default. This would not be surprising, as the rtp available now is in a sub-folder of one called Kadakowa - which was not around when this game was made, and I simply don't remember where it used to go.