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Last updated: July 12, 2015
NOTE: This is Version 2.8. This is THE last one, I swear this time! I just figured if I was adding the ability to toggle sprint, I might as well make a few last tweaks!
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The first main game in the "Shackles of Varn" universe.

Illusions of Loyalty is a short RPG game with a dark story about loyalty and the risks of blind trust, combined with a challenging battle system.

General information:
Illusions of loyalty is about 3-6 hours long to play through, depending on the difficulty level you choose and how much trouble the bosses give you. While the difficulty of the game leans on the "hard" side of the spectrum, there are easier difficulty settings for those who are less hardcore.

Story:
War rages on between the Kingdom of Styx and the Gaius Republic. Worse still, Styx is on the brink of civil war due to the actions of a growing rebel movement. When a particularly violent attack implicates the brother of Captain Julius Logan, his loyalties are called into question.

To prove his dedication to Queen and Country, Logan will have to do the impossible. Take three fellow soldiers into the neutral Eutorian Empire, assassinate their Queen, and pin the blame on Gaius in hopes of swaying the neutral Empire into joining their desperate war.

Taking his kingdom's fate in his hands, Logan sets out with his three comrades, unaware of just how dire his situation is about to become...

Gameplay:
The combat in Illusions of loyalty is based around managing Aggression. Do you spend your Aggression on a powerful attack now, or do you hold back in case the boss might prepare to launch a devastating attack next turn?

Do you go full offense and risk being punished severely, or do you put up your defenses and risk missing a window of opportunity? These are the decisions you will be faced with regularly, especially in the boss fights. And yet, for every impossible situation, there is a solution.

Boss fights are designed around identifying the boss's specific patterns and weaknesses, and then using your skills intelligently to turn the tide of battle in your favor. These bosses will test your skills, patience and drive at every turn. Master your skills, and you may just stand a chance.



Features:

No random encounters!
- All normal battles are on-field sprites that can be avoided if you want!

Quick to pick up, deeper than you think!
- Each character has 6 unique skills, each one with their own uses and advantages. What might seem like dead weight at first glance might prove to be a saving grace in the right situation!

Six challenging boss battles!
- Three story bosses, 3 optional, all incredibly devious. Conquer them!

Play smart, grind less!
- Intelligent use of your skills, and proper understanding of the bosses can allow you to beat them at surprising levels. My personal record is finishing the game at level 7 on |Legend|. Can you beat that?
(Note: The current record is held by NeverSilent who beat the game at levels 4-4-5-4, and who skipped all the normal combat encounters. I'm still in shock)


Save as you please!
- Do you want to save at will? You can do that. Would you rather go retro and be at the mercy of Save Points? You can do that too! You decide!

Accessorize!
- Enemies will sometimes drop accessories that let you tweak your characters. From first-turn advantages to regenerating HP over time, there's many to choose from!

3 difficulty modes
|Legend| - AKA, the hardcore mode
- No mercy. Adapt on the fly, or die trying!

|Knight| - AKA, the Standard mode
- Disables or weakens the 3 most "unfair" boss moves.
- Allows the purchase of level-up manuals from shops.
- Hints for dealing with bosses can be found by speaking with the townsfolk or other events.

|Soldier| - AKA, the easy mode
- Not hardcore? No problem! All the benefits from |Knight| mode apply, plus more!
- Start with four headgears that double EXP rate, gold drop rate, item drop rate, and boost attack and defense by an additional 50%.

--
Version 2.8 - Updated December 12, 2015

Hopefully the final one ever.

- At last! Sprint is now on a toggle! You only need to hit the shift key once and you're running! If you need precision, then just tap it and it's off! No more finger cramps! Huzzah!

- slightly improved telegraphing of Boss #2's attacks, so now you know more which is doing what! Was going to give all enemies a "casting" animation in line with Heresies of Discord, but that would make knowing what enemies to silence a little too easy.

- Enemy Regular attacks now have an animation! No more awkward "pittypat *DAMAGE*" thing! More clarity! And it looks cooler!

- True Ending made a bit more clear/explicit via a few extra animations, and something integrated into the gameplay. I think that latter bit is done quite clever, actually!

- A few loot drop values changed, and a few of the more "meh" accessories were made a tiny bit more effective.

--
Version 2.7 - updated July 12, 2015

This is probably going to be the last one. Unless I become completely insane and want to remove the last few traces of the tricks I had to use to make it work all the way back in the Lite Version. >_>

- Cleaned up a few last bugs.
- Added in a few minor lines of text here and there (mostly relating to Magic), to make it feel a bit more in line with Heresies of Discord.
- Will-O-Wisps now look 10% cooler, with the same sprite they had in Heresies of Discord. :D
- The Luck stat no longer affects status effects, meaning your 100% chance status effect skills (like Silencer) will no longer randomly not happen 0.001% of the time.
- Tweaked the Third Optional Boss to be a bit more fair. You now get more fair warning when he's warming up his gimmick, and you get one more free turn to wail on him.
- A lot of people sent me messages asking me how some things in the True Ending were even possible. Hopefully the implication is a bit more clear now.

--
Version 2.6 - updated March 12, 2014
- Since I made a few minor tweaks for the Steam workshop version, I figured I might as well just port that version over to RMN.net. Because why the heck not?
- Most of the music has been replaced with stuff that's not copyrighted. Yay for royalty free music!
- One last typo (that only showed up on Soldier mode) fixed.
- One boss move's description altered because it made you think you could Silence it, when you couldn't.
- Ambush Orders Accessory made more useful.
--
Version 2.5 - updated March 9, 2014
- Improved combat UI that looks a lot nicer
- Enemies now sometimes drop accessories that can be used to tweak your characters
- Dialogue cleaned up and improved, and a few more NPCs added
- World map music replaced with something much more fitting.
- some skills tweaked and re-labelled. (Baroque's Counter skill is a bit less broken now)
------
Version 2.0:
- No more random encounters. All encounters are on-map sprites that can be avoided.
- 3 more optional bosses, for a total of 6 bosses.
- Wilder's skills rebalanced to be harder to use, but more powerful when used well.
- Expanded towns, and many many more events. Be sure to check out everything! :)
- Difficulty modes expanded on and rebalanced. Boss hints can now be found in the world on everything but the hardest mode.
- New story scenes, improved dialogue, and clarified battle mechanics.

Latest Blog

New game in this setting!

I probably should have posted this weeks ago, but hey.

If you subscribed to this game, you may enjoy the next game in this setting, Glories of the hunt!

It uses the same Aggression Combat System, now with ATB (turn gauges) and a "Party-wide limit break system" called Glory.

If you enjoyed Illusions of Loyalty for the complex combat and bosses, you'll have a great time. :)
  • Completed
  • Aegix_Drakan
  • RPG Maker VX Ace
  • RPG
  • 02/15/2013 03:09 AM
  • 02/28/2023 11:44 PM
  • 06/26/2013
  • 111654
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An indirect sequel is currently in the works, although it'll be a long while before I'm anywhere near done. I might also go back and re-tune one or two little flaws in this game at some point as well. Just a heads up.
Version 2.6 - updated March 12, 2014
- Since I made a few minor tweaks for the Steam workshop version, I figured I might as well just port that version over to RMN.net. Because why the heck not?
- Most of the music has been replaced with stuff that's not copyrighted. Yay for royalty free music!
- One last typo (that only showed up on Soldier mode) fixed.
- One boss move's description altered because it made you think you could Silence it, when you couldn't.
- Ambush Orders Accessory made more useful.
--
Version 2.5 - updated March 9, 2014
- Improved combat UI that looks a lot nicer
- Enemies now sometimes drop accessories that can be used to tweak your characters
- Dialogue cleaned up and improved, and a few more NPCs added
- World map music replaced with something much more fitting.
- some skills tweaked and re-labelled. (Baroque's Counter skill is a bit less broken now)
Cool news! You seem to be making lots of updates lately. Are you planning to do more? I mean, should I wait, or is this a good time to give this game another go? ...Also, would you be interested in some custom artsies? Look at you, you don't even have a logo. =P
author=alterego
Cool news! You seem to be making lots of updates lately. Are you planning to do more? I mean, should I wait, or is this a good time to give this game another go? ...Also, would you be interested in some custom artsies? Look at you, you don't even have a logo. =P


I think this is as good as this game is gonna get. XD I can't think of anything else to improve on or refine. Go for it!

Also, you do custom artsies? :o

I might want to ask you about editing a faceset for the next game, then. XD
I'm interested in doing a voiceless walkthrough of your game in the near future. Do I have your permission?
Sure, just make sure to put a link to the game in your walkthrough. :P
And thank you very much for asking first. That's very polite of you. :)
looks like you put a ton of effort into this, I will definitely try it out when I get the chance.
author=Aegix_Drakan
And thank you very much for asking first. That's very polite of you. :)


Thanks for the permission :). That's the right thing to do, in my opinion. Not every developer wants content of his game to be shown on youtube.
author=Aegix_Drakan
I might want to ask you about editing a faceset for the next game, then. XD

Oh, hey! Sorry for the late reply, I have been kind of absent lately-- But yeah, totally. If you have anything in mind just PM me the pertinent information and I'll send you back some sketches as soon as I'm able. Slowly but surely, I can pull some semi-decent art. xD ...Check the face-sets of this project :Link: if you want to have an idea of my 'abilities' xP
author=alterego
author=Aegix_Drakan
I might want to ask you about editing a faceset for the next game, then. XD
Oh, hey! Sorry for the late reply, I have been kind of absent lately-- But yeah, totally. If you have anything in mind just PM me the pertinent information and I'll send you back some sketches as soon as I'm able. Slowly but surely, I can pull some semi-decent art. xD ...Check the face-sets of this project :Link: if you want to have an idea of my 'abilities' xP


Alterego, do you create spriteart too?
Well, I could... But I find pixel-art to be way too tedious to try to make anything as complicated as portrait art. (Never again!) xP
author=alterego
author=Aegix_Drakan
I might want to ask you about editing a faceset for the next game, then. XD
Oh, hey! Sorry for the late reply, I have been kind of absent lately-- But yeah, totally. If you have anything in mind just PM me the pertinent information and I'll send you back some sketches as soon as I'm able. Slowly but surely, I can pull some semi-decent art. xD ...Check the face-sets of this project :Link: if you want to have an idea of my 'abilities' xP


I might have to get back to you on that way later. I've put that game on hold. I have another smaller project I'm working on, and a potential other small project that I really wanna do before going back to my large-scale indirect sequel. :P

But thank you for replying. :)
NeverSilent
Got any Dexreth amulets?
6299
Play smart, grind less!
- Intelligent use of your skills, and proper understanding of the bosses can allow you to beat them at surprising levels. My personal record is finishing the game at level 7 on |Legend|. Can you beat that?


Challenge accepted! I'm currently playing this game at Legend difficulty, but with an additional twist: I will not fight a single regular encounter (unless impossible to evade). This also means I'm not collecting any treasure that's guarded by regular monsters. So far, I'm more or less holding my own.
The game so far is great, especially the uncomfortable perspective, i.e. playing as the potentially "evil side". Maybe I'll write a review for it once I've finished the game.
author=NeverSilent
I will not fight a single regular encounter (unless impossible to evade). This also means I'm not collecting any treasure that's guarded by regular monsters. So far, I'm more or less holding my own.


Yeah, I REALLY doubt you're beating the last boss like that. :P If you do, I will name you grand champion of the universe. XD

The game so far is great, especially the uncomfortable perspective, i.e. playing as the potentially "evil side". Maybe I'll write a review for it once I've finished the game.


I'm glad you're liking that. :P It was a lot of fun to write
NeverSilent
Got any Dexreth amulets?
6299
Did it! I won the game at level 4 (level 5 after beating the final boss) and without fighting one single encounter, only the bosses and secret bosses. Though Erik was one level higher because of an item found in the Castle, and I didn't defeat the secret boss in the castle.

In case you want proof:


Great work with those endings, by the way. I don't entirely agree with the message of the true ending, but all three of them were memorable, to say the least.
Keep making good games like these, please. Oh, wait, you already are.
author=NeverSilent
Did it!
In case you want proof:



YOU CRAZY MOTHER TRUCKER. :o I am impressed. I am MASSIVELY impressed.

Congratulations, you are now the champion of the universe. I don't even think my challenge loving friend pulled that off (he skipped a lot of the encounters, but not all of them)

Keep making good games like these, please. Oh, wait, you already are.


:D Self esteem +25.

I do intend to keep making good games like this. It's what I love doing.
shayoko
We do not condone harassing other members by PM.
515
random thoughts

i swear every culture that believes morals or personality runs in the blood should disappear...i fucking hate this crap

sprite and avatar matching is HORRIBLE like i the inn of the town after you leave the palace a red haired boy is
at a table and his avatar is a black haired girl!?

a captain starting off at lvl 1!? this is a outrage!

love the optional bosses which offer sexy gear!

what!? its ending now!? but theres so much more!

hmm this was a hit and miss title for me. in terms of challenge this game can be quite hard
and the story doesn't get really good until it ends :(
at that point you WANT to play more!
guh! that aside the endings (theres 3ish/alterations)

do i recommend this? hmm yeah its a ok-good experience
downside is the open ending which leaves you wanting more.
expect potential disappointment in that regard
author=shayoko
in the inn of the town after you leave the palace a red haired boy isat a table and his avatar is a black haired girl!?


Wait, that face is a GIRL'S face? Huh?!

*goes back to look at it* It...doesn't look like a girl's face...

*checks the corresponding sprite for that face*

...WAITWHAT?! It...IS a woman's face?! ...Uhhh...Wow. I...Thought it was a young guy's face... XD
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