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Sparkle, Sparkle

  • Addit
  • 07/12/2015 01:47 PM
  • 3805 views


A Game Made By: Lucy_Fox
Created Using: RPG Maker XP
It's A: PUZZLE ADVENTURE Game
That Roughly Takes Around: 4 - 6 Hours To Complete
And It's A... DEMO VERSION!!!
(As Of July 3rd, 2015)


- Ooooo – an XP game! (I haven’t played or reviewed one of those in a while.)

So Erayu was one of those games that I remember seeing screenshots for when it first came out and I was instantly pretty curious about it. I mean, if you all know me from past experiences, whenever a game page has amazing, high quality looking screenshots or it’s just an idea or a concept that sounds too good to be true on paper, regardless of the engine – then I’m your man. I mean, I know that pretty looking visuals aren’t always going to be a major seller if the rest of the game isn’t up to par, but they definitely do help in attracting such untalented suckers like myself into it. Either way, this game had me sold right out of the gate…and I couldn’t wait to try it out.

…And then some time passed, I got a little sidetracked here or there. and I almost pretty much plum forgot about this game for a while… I mean, yeah, I know that might sound a bit harsh and all saying that, but, hey – sometimes these things just slip through the cracks…

Anyways, I’m glad to see that Lucy_Fox has been making some outstanding progress since then. Not only has she managed to release a demo, but she’s almost around halfway completed the entire game! Sounds like she’s been working rather hard and putting some of us here to shame…like me! (But then again, I’m always slow.)

And since Lucy_Fox has requested, or demanded (I forget) a review from someone, it’s only naturally fitting that I, the great and magnificent Addit, comes to her rescue and reviews her game for her! I mean, we could both seriously use the makerscore.

So are Erayu’s pretty spectacles just a ruse to throw people off from the true horrors that dwell within? Or is that just a mere part of the sugary icing on a very giant, delicious chocolate cake?

Well – let’s dive in and eat that cake!!!

…

(Wha…? You mean there isn’t any cake? Pfft…)

E-Er, I mean – let’s dive in and play the game!

…Yeaaaah!

The Story


Yeah…I got lost here, all right... *rolls eyes*


Erayu’s tale actually revolves around two simultaneous stories going on at once, so if you’re one of those types of people who don’t like one narrative – then you can b*tch and complain about it with the second narrative! (Although I don’t think you’re going to do that with this one.)

Our first story revolves around a young boy named Josh who’s looking for a particular video game (…or one of those rare f**king Amiibos that you can’t find anywhere else here) at a local video store with his friend, Naru. While looking around in the shop for this said game, he can’t seem to find what he’s looking for. However, just as he’s about to give up, a mysterious game disc then lands straight right in front of him on the floor off the shelf with the title of the game reading “Erayu”. Both Josh and Naru have never heard of such a game before, but it definitely has given Josh a sense of curiosity about what it could possibly be. So Josh decides to get the game anyway and decides to give a try on his computer at home and see what all the fuss is about.

And that’s where our second story then soon begins, in the strange, fantasy world of Erayu, where darkness has fallen across the land sweeping countless countries and vast landscapes by storm and covering it in its thick black blanket of nothingness. Soon afterwards, the princess of the land then disappears and the people are left without a hope or a prayer to save their world from such chaos. Then, a young, white haired boy (which you get to name) is awaken by a small fairy girl named Nam who possess magical healing capabilities and manage to restore him to good health. The boy awakens with no real memories or any idea about who or what he really is. All he can remember is that he keeps constantly hearing a faint voice sometimes in his head along with some bury images in particular. (Perhaps these are signs of his lost memories slowly returning?)

The young boy eventually befriends a bunch of travellers and restores one of the many “hearts” that gives light to the region and protects it from the overcoming darkness. After doing so, the travellers decide to take the boy along with him to a place called Silver City where perhaps it could shine some more information about the boy’s past.

But eventually something terrible happens there where everyone and everything is swallowed whole by the darkness including almost the boy himself! But he’s then saved by a mysterious entity that goes by the name of the “Fortune Teller” who manages to warp the boy to safety.

While being heavily engrossed into the game at this point, Josh is starting to enjoy himself rather immensely, but things aren’t slowly adding up with what it seems after a while… Suddenly the game doesn’t seem to work on anyone else’s computer besides him; he’s constantly seeing images of the main character wherever he goes on the street, including some of his dreams; and he can even sometimes communicate with the character in the actual game… What’s the H is going on here? Is he just going crazy from playing too many video games?

Originally when I first started playing this game, I really wasn’t too interested about Josh as a character or as a whole compared to the rest of the world of Erayu. It just seemed like at first that this strange kid playing this game got in the way of the much more serious, and more enjoyable parts of the story. I didn’t really care that much about his problems nor his issues with his family life, as I really wanted to find out more about what was going to happen in the actual game world. But then as things started to slowly unravel itself and Josh became more involved with the dealings of the actual game world, then everything soon fell into place and got me just as much interested in him as well. I knew that maybe both stories would eventually connect in some ways, but I really didn’t expect something like that towards the end of the demo. (Yes, the game leaves itself off on a cliff-hanger. Why, Lucy, why!?)

The story definitely fascinated me and it was one of the main driving forces about this game to see what would happen next. And after finishing the demo and leaving the story off on such a good note like it did, I really can’t wait to find out what happens next!

The Gameplay


…Stupid rocks…


Erayu is kind of a strange breed; it’s one of the only few selective RPG Maker XP games that revolve around a point and click adventure styled format compared to the more traditional, which is something that you don’t often see a lot often around here... Either way, it sounds a bit strange on paper, but the overall experience is definitely on point and very refreshing.

In the game world, you can use your mouse, or the arrow keys, to a certain extent, to walk around an area while clicking the left mouse key, or the space key, to interact with objects, people or certain events on screen. You can then select various commands, like analyzing and using an item from inventory in order to progress further. Sometimes you’ll need to talk to this said individual first or have to acquire or combine several items together before you can manage to go through to the next part. If you get stuck on something (which I admit I did about twice), there’s also a helpful walkthrough guide in the game’s content folder just in case you can’t figure out something, which is handy to have. You can also hold the Shift key down to highlight various things that you can interact on screen just in case you’re having trouble on what you can click on or what not.

The point and click mechanics of the mouse support does work to a certain degree, but I did find that it did take a while to get to use to it, as using the keyboard was still a bit more preferable in a lot of situations, like moving around the map. I found that sometimes that when you clicked on something that the character wouldn’t properly move to his next destination and wander around a bit aimlessly before you had to manually adjust it in place. It doesn’t happen that often, but it’s still a minor hiccup... I also don’t like it how you have to hold the shift key down to activate hints or indications about what you can click on or what not instead of just having this automatically done for me so I don’t have to keep constantly holding down on it.

I mean, you do eventually get used to the mouse after a while, but a part of me still would like it if you could use your keyboard for the whole game as a mandatory option if you wanted to. Either way, the controls do take a while to get used to.

As for the game’s difficulty, I think it’s sort of middle of the road. This game will frustrate you at times in regards to some of the puzzles that you’ll solve or what items that you’ll need to combine with and who you need to speak to. But if you take your time and think things out rather rationally, then you shouldn’t have too many problems with this game. And again, if you’re stuck, then there’s a guide available for you in case that you need any help.

I actually will praise this game for as a point and click adventure game as it’s actually pretty tame compared to some of the other game’s that I’ve seen and played in the genre. Thanks to its limited amount of areas and item usage, this game’s almost perfect for anyone who is willing to get into the point and click adventure genre if this is they’re first time doing so. If Lucy_Fox can just keep the game’s pace up like this, then it should be rather enjoyable experience for all newcomers and veterans alike.

However, if there’s one thing that sort of soured my experience with this game overall has a whole lot to do with a number of game breaking glitches that basically just stops you in your tracks and forces you to restart the entire game from the beginning again. Since this is a demo, this type of stuff is to be sort of expected at times, as that’s what beta-testers are for. And I can understand one or two of these bugs – but I encountered four of them throughout my playthrough, and two of them resulting in me having to start back from square one again! That’s not very welcoming.

Most of these glitches, however, did happen in the earlier stages of the game, as I didn’t encounter any more after I reached the Swamp portion of the game and onwards, so they all occur in the very early stages, so that’s good, at least. But it’s still very frustrating to get game breaking glitches like these where you’re forced to start all over again. Ugh…

The Soundtrack


Calm yourself, Addit!


Erayu may not have a soundtrack that leaves you listening to it on your MP3 player or whatever you use to play your music with, but it definitely has that ambient, environmentalist approach when it comes to its music selection. A lot of these tracks, although not extremely memorable or hum-worthy, do fit the sitting and the type of situation quite well and really adds to the abundant atmosphere of this game’s world. There are even plenty of background sound effects, like from the running water flowing from the streams, from animals chirping, and even the main character stepping on some leaves in a open field that just adds to that personal professional touch. It’s really, really well done and I don’t recognize any of these tracks at all expect for the crystal cave theme that I remember from a game that I reviewed from earlier called Reincarnation that used that song too. Some of my favorite tracks have to be the one that plays in Silver City, the song that plays in the Swamps (since I was stuck there for quite a while), and the main title theme.

The Aesthetics


You little ba*tard.


Graphically speaking – what can I say? This game is virtually stunning. From the incredibly detailed, serene maps and impressive lightning effects to even some of the custom portraits created, this game’s definitely one of the most higher tiers of aesthetic excellence that I’ve reviewed thus far. It’s not entirely perfect, as some of the character portraits, like the woman that you first meet in the bar when you first get to Silver City, don’t quite match the rest of the art style like the rest of the main character portraits have, but I’m assuming that most of these are either just placeholders for now or will be improved or touched upon later on towards the final release. I also thought that the Swamp was a bit difficult to navigate through because the swamp portions on the map didn’t quite look like water at first and I naturally assumed that this was just a darker shade of grass instead.

The End Result


- Son of a bi*ch!!!


I really enjoyed this game despite the number of game breaking glitches and minor control issues that I had while playing it. Erayu is definitely shaping up to be a worthwhile classic that everyone should give it a try once its fully completed. Hell, I’d even recommend that some of you guys should try out the demo right now and see what I’m talking about and experience the type of things that I got to experience. I guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

If Lucy_Fox can just fix up some of these game breaking glitches, look over some of the typos and some of the German text that’s still left in the game from time to time and maybe smooth out some of the controls a little bit more and keep this pace up for the rest of the way through, then I really can’t ask for any more from her to do.

This is a good game that I expect good things from in the future…

…like the Edmonton Oilers! :D





OVERALL GRADE:
4 / 5 - B ~ Pretty Darn Good!!!

Posts

Pages: 1
Lucy_Fox
1872
07/14/2015 01:31 PM
Thank you so much for this very long and detailed review! O:

I had complete keyboard controls once, but with the techniques it was impossible to handle them without very serious bugs, which I wasn't able to fix. :/

For now I fix all the bugs you found. :3
Addit
6394
07/15/2015 08:29 AM
Did you manage to also fix the image problem in the Unknown Forest part that I mentioned from earlier before? If so, I wonder if it had anything to do with the candy, button and feather counters that you collected throughout that was displayed at the bottom of the image possibly being out of sync? Maybe one of the image files for a particular number of candies, buttons and feathers weren't quite all added and one of them was just missing that caused that crash to happen. If so, maybe you could just keep the collectables all to just one thing if all those different items basically just do the same thing entirely.

Either way, it’s good to hear that you managed to fix all those annoying bugs thus far. And you’re welcome about the review! I really enjoyed the game. Hopefully the full version will be released soon so I can find out what happens next. I'm super curious.
Lucy_Fox
1872
07/15/2015 11:28 AM
I couldn't find the problem yet, but don't think the collectables are the cause.
If they where, there would be more crashes like this throughout the game. :/
I also couldn't reproduce this, so it's even harder to find....
Anyway... I think I'll put an autosave in the game. At least untill all of such errors are fixed and untill I find the problems cause :/

Not so soon, I'm sorry. There is too much to do :(
But I hope, I can release the full version still in 2015 :D
(I'm sure I will °^°)
Addit
6394
07/16/2015 07:54 AM
Yeah, I’d tried to go back and replicate the glitch again but now I can’t seem to get it to work anymore. It’s too bad that I didn’t keep the corrupted save file with the text reading what it was all about (although I tried to restore it), but I think from what I remember it had something to do with a temporary image file being corrupted??? I’m not sure if that helps that much, but it’s the best from what I can remember.
Lucy_Fox
1872
07/16/2015 10:35 AM
Thanks for your effort. :3
I looked through the save-scripts now, but couldn't find anything there either.
Seems like it could also be an external error. (False memory or hdd block or anything like that... (*sigh* that's why I hate PCs sometimes xD))
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