Halloween Bash

Intro

I'll admit describing "Halloween Bash" as a turn-based RPG feels a little inaccurate to me, but I'll get into why I feel that way when I get to the gameplay section of this review. For the curious this project was developed by Racheal and MakioKuta for the All Hallow's Event 2013. An event which tasked players to create a game around the following themes: ghost stories, survival horror, monster attack, Halloween comedy, and nonfiction horror. In the case of "Halloween Bash" it attempts to address the themes of ghost stories and Halloween comedy and covers the later category to varying degrees of success in my opinion. On the other hand, the other theme is definitely covered in more ways than one.

Story
Summary

You play as Bobby, a five year old, that gets killed within the first 30 seconds of starting this game. Apparently Truck-Kun was on the hunt again.



At any rate upon waking up as a ghost on the other side we find ourselves being attacked by a dungeon slime. Thankfully this is when Eduardo, a mage, and Delila, a vampire, step in to save us from a beating. Afterwards we join them in a bid to attend an All Hallow's Eve party. Unfortunately this goes pear-shaped as soon as we arrive and learn that a powerful witch has taken over the manor and plans to use it as her base of operations for her plan to take over the world!

So it's up to us to stop her since Delila's father would be really mad if someone else took over the world from his manor. After all, that's his job and he's been trying to do it since the 1400's. Fortunately or unfortunately his 30 attempts to conquer the world have all ended in failure. I guess he keeps running into Belmonts. And one time his own son got in the way as well. At any rate the real question is can you stop Agatha and her mighty witch's hat? Do you even have the power to get past her various minions in order to even reach her?

Event Themes
Ghost Stories

These theme is addressed in a few ways. For starters were in a land where the ghosts of those that have died in the real world appear. Secondly were playing a game where one of the main character's is a ghost. And finally the ghost character serves as the narrator for this entire adventure. So were literally listening to Bobby narrate how she met her two best friends after she became a ghost.

Halloween Comedy

As for how well this game addresses this theme is debatable in my opinion. Though I suppose it depends on what this theme even means as well. Does it just mean the game should be comedic in it's tone or does it mean you should make fun of certain aspects of the holiday? Oh well, this game does include a lot of jokes from Delila's deadpan delivery in response to certain events, to references to characters from various forms of media, to Bobby responding like a little kid in response to all of the mushy romance and corny love lines we get subjected to. Though how well these jokes work is up to the individual.

Greatest Strength/Weakness

On the plus side the game does manage to be humorous enough to at least be mildly amusing. Though, I suppose part of that is it's always a bit of a fun game to try and figure out the various series that are being referenced in this game. You've got everything from Alvin and the Chipmunks to Disgaea: Hour of Darkness.



On the negative side of the scale the amount of dialogue you have to go through before certain fights really kills the pacing in my opinion. One of the best examples of this is the sheer amount of text you have to get through before the fight with Lascar and his compatriots. And I suppose changing Laharl's name to be one letter off from NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) is meant to be a bit of a subtle joke as well for those that actually bother to read the game's dialogue and not just smash the z key in order to get to the fight as quickly as possible.

Gameplay

"Halloween Bash" is tagged as a RPG and features a pretty basic turn-based combat system. Though, I question if this game qualifies as a RPG since I expect such a game to allow the player to grow stronger through combat, but in this game you don't actually gain experience from fights. Instead you gain training manuals which you can use to unlock the next move in a playable character's moveset. And while some would argue this is a combat award. I'd argue these scrolls are no different from using a power up in an adventure game like "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time". After all, these manuals can be used on any character that can still learn a new move. And your only other way of powering up is by finding stat boosters that are spread throughout the house.

And while I might question if this game has been tagged correctly as far as it's genre goes. The combat itself is rather tight in terms of balance. Though I'm pretty sure there is a preferred order for learning skills in this game since certain moves are more effective against certain units. Sort of like there is probably an ideal route for using the various stat boosters you get. Though it'd probably take a lot more time and effort then I'm willing to put into this game in order to work out the most effective path to take if you want to beat this game as easily as possible.

Though I still have a few complaints about the game. For starters I actually got into a fight where neither me nor the enemy could win and when I tried the F9 key to end the fight it didn't work. Though, I'll admit my keyboard is getting pretty old and beat up. So maybe the F9 key on my keyboard doesn't work anymore, but it might be worth a double check. After all, I had to shut down the entire game and reload from my last save. As for how I got into such a situation. Let's just say the only character I had left was Bobby while the only remaining enemy was an undead that lacked any sort of magical attack or the ability to make Bobby corporeal. And since Bobby's only offensive move in this game is counter which works on doling out damage based on how much damage you receive. I had no way to hurt the enemy and it had no way to hurt me either. So we were basically stuck passing turns back and forth.

While my first issue might just be an issue with a bad key on my keyboard. My second complaint is there's no way in game to check what the various skills do before you learn them and look at their description in battle. And this is annoying since certain moves are more useful due to them either providing buffs or healing support, but unless you've played "Halloween Flop" before your probably not going to know that Bobby's ghost touch is a healing skill.

Graphics

On the graphical side of things the game is entirely custom which is always nice to see. After all, I've seen the RTP for RPG Maker VX Ace dozens of times at this point. And seeing characters from my favorite game of all time in a new art style was interesting, but I think I like the looks of the original's better.

Sound

On the plus side the game doesn't rely on the RTP for the background music. Instead the developers decided to use tracks from various forms of media in order to further enhance the referential nature of most of the jokes in this game. On the plus side it does mean the music here is being used to do more than just be background noise. On the other hand it means I personally can't justify the soundtrack for this game being considered anything beyond above average. After all, the tracks here are just being repurposed and not original pieces.

Conclusion

If you enjoyed "Halloween Flop" and were looking for more action in that universe then this is definitely the game for you. While I wish this game had a lot more Agatha in it since she felt like the star of the last game. This game does serve as a solid prequel for how we got the team we did. And if your looking for some challenging turn-based battles you'll also be satisfied since this game provides some new strategic options involving the power of love as well as improves Bobby's ability to support her teammates while also introducing some new mechanics like the ability to setup counter attacks.