Pumpkins

Introduction

"Pumpkins" is one of the many games I played on October 30th, 2018, as part of my plans to upload a bunch of videos centered around Halloween on the 31st. And seeing as how I was going to be doing a Let's Play of the game at the time. I figured I might as well come back and jot down my thoughts about the game as well. Though, I will admit in advance that this game managed to peeve me of something fierce with the fact that it contains two game breaking bugs in the final area.

Story

You play as a bunch of trick-or-treaters who've been sucked into a world ruled by monsters after being kidnapped by a mummy. As a consequence of being sucked into the monster's world you and your companions are turned into pumpkins and balloons. And, if you ever want to return to normal you'll need to track down that mummy and force him to tell you how to return home. Of course along the way we'll learn a little bit about are playable cast. Though, I wish we learned a little bit more about what made them tick along the way. After all, this game really can't carry itself on its combat.

Gameplay

The game features the standard turn-based combat system found in a lot of other RPG Maker VX Ace games. As such, I don't have a lot to say about it, but the game's balance is heavily tilted in favor of the player. As a result, the game's combat is just boring. After all, it's hard to get tense or excited about engagements when you already know the outcome before the battle begins. And, it's not like I worked my butt off in this game to earn the right to curb stomp my enemies like yesterday's refuse.

Graphics


While the game does make use of a lot of RTP graphics. It also includes some custom work as well. And, it's hard not to like the game's nod towards the Megami Tensei series. Albeit, I've only played two games in that series to completion so far.

Major Bugs

I usually don't count minor bugs against a game too much. Unless of course the game has an absolutely insane number of them. In the case of this game though. It has two game breaking bugs in the final area. On of them will prevent you from advancing and the other will cause the game to lock up and force you to do a hard exit. I suppose, I'll start with the one that prevents you from advancing through the final dungeon first though.



If you leave the Pumpkin Palace after solving the boulder puzzles and return. The boulders will be returned to their original starting positions, but will now be immovable. As such, it's impossible for you to get to the back of the palace in order to face-off against the game's final boss. So, hopefully your running more then one save file. Since, it would really stuck to get stopped right before the end like this.



The other game breaking bug occurs if you come into contact with the force field protecting the mummy before you've answered all of the questions plastered on the wall. If you do try to touch it, you'll be locked into a single spot on the map and forced to close the game.

Conclusion

Normally, I'd probably be nicer to a game like this. After all, it does have some decent characterization going for it. And while the combat is largely boring because of how heavily it's titled in favor of the player. At least the game isn't impossible to beat because the enemies were designed to do damage well beyond the player's ability to deal with. On the other hand, I can't ignore the fact that this game contains not one, but two game breaking bugs in the final area. As such, I'm going to have to penalize this game's score until those bugs are addressed.