Story of Integra

This is a game that made me come back to RPG Maker XP after many years,and it was an enjoyable ride.So how does it fare?

Story: 4.5/5

You are Integra,a Sevallon Elven Archer that after lots of training wishes to explore the world.Naturally,evil lurks around every corner and Integra will embark on a long journey to combat it.Luckily,she'll make many friends (and enemies..)that will aid her.You'll come across many evil beings(Zombies,Vampires,Demons..even gods(!)).You will even discover the many smaller stories of your party members,and I really liked some of them,at times wishing they could go deeper.The dialogues are well made,and I strongly advice you to play the game with the bard character in your party at all times.Many popular culture references and hilarious dialogue awaits you..Overall,a good story.

Gameplay: 4/5

You have the default RPG Maker XP front view turn based battle system which I have come to really like over the years for its simplicity(I admit I hate real time battles...).The game has TONS of sidequests with many describing the stories of your party members,and some can get quite long.I won't get in too much detail over these because of possible spoilers but here are some other fun things you can do in the game:
-Own your own inn!Although admittedly it could earn you more money than it did..
-Get your own ship with crew members and explore crazy places.
-Play a deadly chess game,which in my case resulted in many GAME OVER screens because of missteps but nevertheless was fun.

So why 4/5 you may ask?Well,the game is pretty hard.I really don't have a problem with hard games,but I definitely don't like lengthy random encounters.In this game,you REALLY need to be on your toes and constantly swapping gear and party members if you want to avoid game overs.Quite often I found myself being one-hit KOed with a boss spell that I had no idea of its element so I didn't know how to equip myself properly.Many bosses use very annoying status effects inducers as well,further increasing the difficulty.This would all be fine if there was some sort of in-game hints or tips about your party and equipment,unless you want to see the guide (which I used for many skulled side-quests).While there are save points in obvious places before bosses,they don't restore you and it'd really be helpful to give you a one time full recovery after you've wasted all your SP fighting pretty hard random encounters(I swear some monsters had more hp than some bosses..),which I refused to escape from (I blame my OCD :P )

Graphics & Mapping: 5/5

I really liked the character sprites and the in-game cutscenes. They were all nicely drawn.The spell animations were lovely as well.
While the maps aren't that big or complex,they have nice details in them and personally I'm a huge fan of exploring.So let me tell you this:the game REALLY rewards you if you explore thoroughly.I returned to towns I had already visited,only to discover new quests that awaited me,different dialogue from mere NPCs(incredibly nice touch because it gives the game an "alive" feeling)and even new quest rewards that I had completely forgotten about!I checked every single pot/bookcase/barrel and was plenty rewarded for my time.I'd recommend you take the time to fully explore the maps and trust me,you won't regret it.While you are at it,you might even swap your party members for new and you'll often get character-specific interactions at some maps.They never got boring!My only small complaints are that some maps could be a big bigger and possibly have books that tell you more about the world you are in,and dungeons could benefit from puzzles and traps.

Music: 4/5

The accompanying music is suitable for most of the in-game situations you will be in,but the game could definitely use more custom made tracks.The RTP ones just don't cut it sometimes.

Some small thoughts:

-The story does get a bit slow or boring sometimes,because the maps that accompany the main storyline aren't anything spectacular.
-The world map is easily traversable on foot in max 5 minutes.It could definitely be bigger.
-Due to the amount of characters,no friendships(bar a couple cases) or team integrity really develops.
+The weapon and armor names were very nice.
+Lyrion is an incredibly cool and humorous character that I really wish returns in the sequel!
+The main character has a well developed personality and you get to see her maturing over the course of the game.
+The ending.Others may not like it ,but cliffhangers are always a plus for me because they mean a sequel is on its way!

Verdict

The game was enjoyable and fun.I hope that it is the start of a big series because there's a lot of questions unanswered and so much to discover!