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A Philosophic Parody!

Welcome to Castle Nunwi, now try to escape from there!

Ok, this sentence summarize this game, what this doesn't indicate is that this is a game about Philosophy and Philosophers. We start playing with a test that will determine many dialogues and also if we will play as Descartes (that looks like a black haired elf swordsman!) or David Hume (that looks like a white haired king). You will have and easier time using Descartes, yes they are different (and eacha has his ending), and yes, even if the protagonists are philosophers there's combat in this game.

Since I mentioned it, let's speak about combat: it's standard Rmk front view layout with large opponent sprite (bigger charsets, that is), and the fight is in reality a debate, so you can expect that many skills indicate different approaches (like "discuss" or "use your sword"!) but there's no great difference from the usual Rmk combat despite the different terms. You also get some sidekicks, like Achilles (that has some attacks that inflicts different effects) and the Chicken (that is the healer of the team), two characters used in some philosophy examples and will be really useful to the party. There are six characters that can be used, but one is secret and sadly I was not able to unlock him!


I guess it will not end well!

The opposition is varied, expect to fight Buddha, Nietzsche, some students and the character that was not chosen as the protagonist. Combat is generally not too difficult if you know what to do, anyway try to avoid dying because the only shop is near the end and there are no revive items before that part. But you can save anywhere and there are no random encounters, so it's not too bad even if there is no experience or level ups!

But wait, there is more! Besides the fights/debates there are also some quizzes, a puzzle and a quick time event. Nothing too difficult, the puzzle is an invisible dungeon that's only a bit annoying the first time you play, the rest is pretty easy and you are allowed to make some errors.

This is the gameplay, not too complex but hey, it's game of just an hour, so it's sufficiently varied not to be boring!
The soundtrack is pretty good too, most of songs are from Joy Division, ut there are also some songs of Enya, Interpol, Techlectia... they're good in my opinion, but hey it's personal taste, anyway it's surely something original and not the usual music from the notorius Jrpg of the past.


Hah, Socrates, you funny man!

Ok, now the hard part! Unfortunaterly the game has also some baaaad things and one is mapping: ok, there are no errors or bugs, but most maps are large and empty, shallow and barren. The games uses mostly rtp with some edits, and while I find ok the small number of maps and the general structure, I think that the game would benefit a lot with more interactive useless items, more decorative items and/or characters. Clearly this probably would have required more time, this game was made in only one week, but I think it would have improved a lot making this game appear more original and distinct, because this is the case (but unfortunately pics of the various locations don't give it justice).
There are also some minor spelling errors (curiosly often in the names: "Socartes" and "Julain", instead of Socrates and Julian), but nothing much.

Verdict
I admit I expected less by this game after seeing the pics (and learning that it was made in a week), instead I was happily surprised by the humor and varied gameplay. I studied philosophy many years ago so I could probably understand about half of the references, anyway it was a pleasant and entertaining adventure. I'm not sure that everyone can have fun with it, but I cannot deny that it was interesting and well made. Oh and there's also a reference to The Cerebral Symphony, a longer (and better) game made by the same author!
So for me it's a 3.5/5. Pretty nice!

Posts

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Wow!

I never expected in a million years for someone to review this game! As you mention it was made in a week and it is only on here for the people who were in it to download!

Thanks so much, rpgmakeraddict!

I think 3.5 stars is pretty generous to be honest, but I'll take it!

I'm glad you enjoyed at least some of it. Writing is my strong point. And as you identify, mapping is definitely my weak point. I like to think I'm kinda like Lysander86 in that respect ;) (joke, I am nowhere near as good)

Thank you again for this review. I have recently got a new job as a Philosophy and Religion teacher so I might re-make or (much more likely) edit and revise this game as it was originally made for a Philosophy class and I have used it in more classrooms since then. This review will come in super helpful for that.

Cheers!
author=Faenon
Wow!
I never expected in a million years for someone to review this game! As you mention it was made in a week and it is only on here for the people who were in it to download!

Thanks so much, rpgmakeraddict!

I think 3.5 stars is pretty generous to be honest, but I'll take it!

Well I admit I downloaded it AGES ago (and played it), then I played and finished and reviewed The Cerebral Symphony... and then I totally forgot about it! Lol! So I replayed it once again last week and I had fun.

I gave 0,5 points just for originality and all the other little ideas, that's something really uncommon and unexpected. There are no errors, or bugs so at least 2,5 or 3 (for the short time in which was made) is fine, but it also has a pretty varied gameplay (not to mention two selectable protagonists and endings) and that's an unexpected plus for a small game.

author=Faenon
I'm glad you enjoyed at least some of it. Writing is my strong point. And as you identify, mapping is definitely my weak point. I like to think I'm kinda like Lysander86 in that respect ;) (joke, I am nowhere near as good)

It was made in a hurry so it's fine (funny you mentioned Lys, right now I am playing The Book of Three, and I will review it sooner or later), it's like for the games made for contests... sometimes there are mapping errors (like in one of the recent games I reviewed), it's a good thing that maps are ok!

author=Faenon
Thank you again for this review. I have recently got a new job as a Philosophy and Religion teacher so I might re-make or (much more likely) edit and revise this game as it was originally made for a Philosophy class and I have used it in more classrooms since then. This review will come in super helpful for that.

Cheers!

Well I know that this will stay a short game, because there is no sense in making it a big, long adventure, still I'd have liked to see a bit more. Just more dialogues, characters and useless things, I mean just more little details. Why? Because it was fun but short! And I think that making a short game with a balanced difficulty and some extra puzzle/minigames is clearly harder than making pretty maps (hm, I speak for myself, of course! I can draw and map decently, but do not ask me to create engaging combat encounters or puzzles!)

Someday I will review also your other game... ;)
Frogge
I wanna marry ALL the boys!! And Donna is a meanc
18536
Oh man, I had no idea this game existed. Thanks for introducing me to it, I'll try to play it sometime in summer and drop it a review as well.
author=TheRpgmakerAddict
funny you mentioned Lys, right now I am playing The Book of Three, and I will review it sooner or later


Oh, The Book of Three, now THAT is a good rpgmaker2000 game! I love that one! I wrote a review for it once but it got lost with an old laptop. Playing that and watching the Disney film The Black Cauldron as a teenager inspired me to read the books they are based on (The Chronicles of the Prydain by Lloyd Alexander) and they became some of my favourite books ever! Such a good game. I need to replay that some time. The systems are so good--you can really see that Lys was a professional game designer in the making. Looking forward to your review!

author=TheRpgMakerAddict
Someday I will review also your other game... ;)


Please, don't! It's really not very good. I made that one in one week too, this time for a Christian youth group I was in charge of, and again it was just put on here for the people in that group to download. It doesn't need another review!

If I ever release an updated/extended version of TCS you can review that :) But I've given up on game making for the time being because it takes so much time and energy and I don't have that with work and looking after my daughter. So instead I'm concentrating on my writing. To scratch the game making itch, I started writing a massive original epic fantasy story heavily inspired by Final Fantasy IV and VI. Check it out here among other places: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13581482/1/Saga-of-the-Jewels
author=Frogge
Oh man, I had no idea this game existed. Thanks for introducing me to it, I'll try to play it sometime in summer and drop it a review as well.


Thanks, Frogge. No pressure! Like I've said to therpgmakeraddict, it was made for a very specific context in one week. It's full of in-jokes and bad mapping! But if you're interested in Philosophy you might enjoy it a bit I guess... Cheers.
author=Faenon
author=TheRpgmakerAddict
funny you mentioned Lys, right now I am playing The Book of Three, and I will review it sooner or later
Oh, The Book of Three, now THAT is a good rpgmaker2000 game! I love that one! I wrote a review for it once but it got lost with an old laptop. Playing that and watching the Disney film The Black Cauldron as a teenager inspired me to read the books they are based on (The Chronicles of the Prydain by Lloyd Alexander) and they became some of my favourite books ever! Such a good game. I need to replay that some time. The systems are so good--you can really see that Lys was a professional game designer in the making. Looking forward to your review!

Well I am liking it more than A Blurred Line: looks better, even monster sprites are nicer. And many different character and systems, pretty cool!

author=TheRpgMakerAddict
Someday I will review also your other game... ;)

author=Faenon
Please, don't! It's really not very good. I made that one in one week too, this time for a Christian youth group I was in charge of, and again it was just put on here for the people in that group to download. It doesn't need another review!

If I ever release an updated/extended version of TCS you can review that :) But I've given up on game making for the time being because it takes so much time and energy and I don't have that with work and looking after my daughter. So instead I'm concentrating on my writing. To scratch the game making itch, I started writing a massive original epic fantasy story heavily inspired by Final Fantasy IV and VI. Check it out here among other places: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13581482/1/Saga-of-the-Jewels

ooooh why? Come on the comments and review I saw were not bad for a game made in such a short time! AND I've already played some of it :) I'd not be harsh! Characters were so funny and awesome (Mr. Joy!!!), easy gameplay... I guess it was not too bad.
I have played far worse games, trust me! :P
If you want I can wait for an updated/extended version of TCS, but just one year, no more! ^_^'
Well I guess you can review it if you like... Just please remember the context! It's not my best work and I'm not so proud of it as I am with TCS.

Don't wait up for TCS! Like I said, I am done with game making for the time being. It just takes so much time to make stuff, and I'm not as good at motivating myself to put in that time as I am with writing.

My plan is to maybe come back to TCS one day when I'm like 65 years old and retired or something and put in all the things I wanted to put in but never had time to put in...like more plot, sub-plots, expanding the dungeons, a word-of-ruin style final section etc.

In the end with TCS I feel like I made Chapters 1 and 2 how I really wanted them to be, then real life took over (when I got a job!) and I just made the bare bones versions of Chapters 3 to 5 so that I could actually have made a complete game. I'm still proud of it though.

TL,DR: Don't wait for an extended version of TCS, not going to happen for a very long time--if ever!
author=Faenon
Well I guess you can review it if you like... Just please remember the context! It's not my best work and I'm not so proud of it as I am with TCS.

Don't wait up for TCS! Like I said, I am done with game making for the time being. It just takes so much time to make stuff, and I'm not as good at motivating myself to put in that time as I am with writing.

My plan is to maybe come back to TCS one day when I'm like 65 years old and retired or something and put in all the things I wanted to put in but never had time to put in...like more plot, sub-plots, expanding the dungeons, a word-of-ruin style final section etc.

In the end with TCS I feel like I made Chapters 1 and 2 how I really wanted them to be, then real life took over (when I got a job!) and I just made the bare bones versions of Chapters 3 to 5 so that I could actually have made a complete game. I'm still proud of it though.

TL,DR: Don't wait for an extended version of TCS, not going to happen for a very long time--if ever!

Hm from what I have played so far you can expect I will only improve the rating XD
Or if you prefer I can make a N/A rating review (I do that for little joke games)

Ok probably you will think I am too generous, but I played some awful games (I avoided to review) and I am a terrible maker myself (I guess I can map decently but that's all). One of the last I reviewed was also quite bugged but hey, I ALWAYS take in account the context.

Hey but I already reviewed TCS! Was pretty cool and I am waiting to watch the LP! Really!
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