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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

Ephiam
4 post(s)
10/15/2014 02:39 AM
2458 views

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
DeveloperEphiam
EngineRPG Tsukuru 2003
GenreAdventure RPG
Date Added06/30/2012 12:28 AM
Date Updated08/06/2022 12:07 AM
Date Completed01/05/2013
Profile Views299692
Subscribers43
Total Downloads4678

Posts

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Ephiam

8579

04/19/2017 01:17 AM

author=Dyhalto
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?

What I can reveal so far is that it's a sequel to this game and it takes place entirely within the Tower of Venaitura. And of course it will retain the NES style! That's what I'm going to be using this side-series/alternate universe version of Chronicles of Tsufanubra for.

And littlebro, did you try actually installing the game instead of simply extracting the files? Is there even an option available to install it?

Dyhalto

7536

04/19/2017 02:56 AM

Sounds like your next project is going to be a small little guy while you psyche yourself up for the Chronicles of Tsufanubra II masterpiece. Coolness. If you want a hand with anything, sign me up ;o

I'd be interested in unique'ifying battlechars and battle anims, and I'll even edit the BGM wherever possible so it repeats properly, or at least acceptably.

Corfaisus

"It's frustrating because - as much as Corf is otherwise an irredeemable person - his 2k/3 mapping is on point." ~ psy_wombats

7874

04/19/2017 04:32 AM

author=Dyhalto
Coolness. If you want a hand with anything, sign me up ;o

Same here, but especially if it's mapping. I'd love to experiment with the NES style and try and break the mould.

Ephiam

8579

07/02/2017 01:29 AM

Alright, alright... I know I said that my next project would be a continuation of the "Heroes of Tsufana" universe while also incorporating elements of the "Venaitura" series... but I've convinced myself to remake this game utilizing RG Maker VX ACE! Why? Well, mostly to get used to how these newer makers work. That, and I'm itching to CREATE! And after CoT, I want to create something very light on story and heavy in exploration/gameplay.

Sooooo GET EXCITED...! (?)

Dyhalto

7536

07/02/2017 01:33 AM

Awww, this is a great game as it is. You don't need to remake it.

If you just want to play with the new makers, how about giving us Boss Project VI? >=)

Ephiam

8579

07/02/2017 01:38 AM

Well, I've got most of the database done, as well as several major towns and a big chunk of the world map! And I'm having quite a bit of fun, too. Also being thrown into the fray are four additional party members! Woop woop.

Dyhalto

7536

07/02/2017 01:41 AM

Ooh. That'll prompt some major gameplay changes. It is going to be NES style, or will you try updating like DFR was originally intended to be?

Ephiam

8579

07/02/2017 01:44 AM

It's going to be a mixture of the VX Ace RTP and custom scripts. I've got a pretty good feel going so far that I can't quite properly explain, so I hope it's how everything's coming together in a weird way (like DF: Venaitura) and not just the maker's newness.

Ephiam

8579

08/23/2019 01:38 AM

For any of this game's subscribers who may be interested: The main download's been tweaked slightly. The World Map now LOOPS! I know, it's absolutely inconceivable, but I made it work. After all this time. I'm actually in complete awe about how I didn't enable that feature when it was first released.

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