Mayhem Maiden

Greetings and salutations, my lovelies. I've been sitting on this review for a long-arsed time, and I feel it's finally time to dust off my old notes and finally get to it. Even though Mayhem Maiden is only about halfway finished, I'm writing this to tell the creator, Aegix_Drakan, to chin up and finish up making this marvelous project.

I say this because my own game dev experiences haven't been good, and I've been quite discouraged myself. It's not easy to create a good game, mind, but as daunting as the challenge can be, it's well worth the end result. MM is shaping up to be a superstar of RMN projects, and as this review intends to convey, it's well worth the developer's time to complete it, and at least worth a good look in its current state for players. Like the Strandent review during its own beta that I did previously, I'mma do things in the same format as the combat in this game is *also* quite important and deserving of its own section, by chance.

Enough talk! Have at it, Rachel (AKA, myself)!

Story
I love love LOVE how the story is done in this game. It's a simple plot that has enough depth to hold its own, and done in a snappy but conveying fashion that won't bore the player. Also, it's of note that is is one of few games, as of the time of my writing this, to be set in the collaborative RPG Maker project setting called Arum!

As the game's page will tell you, an adventurous young gadgeteer by the name of May is seeking out a seemingly unreachable tower. Aided in her journey by her boyfriend Cyrus -- of whom their relationship goes south before long in the intro sequences -- it's not long before May is bested by fiends from said Fiend's Tower, and she's whisked away to its dungeon.

As it were, even with Cyrus trying to pull together a reluctant rescue mission in the meantime, May's not the only one in peril within the tower. Shara the brawler, Holly the mage, and Karin the paladin are all lovely ladies who would be skilled adventurers themselves. In a daring and clever plan to escape the cells holding them (which the whole scenario also shows off a tutorial battle for each mayhem-maiden's gameplay mechanics), the four team up and try to find their way out. Using a mysterious elevator system that Holly's magic allows her to hijack, they begin to fight their way through the mysterious spire in hopes of seeing the light of day once more.

As mentioned before, the dialogue is handled in a straight-forward fashion, but is also quite fun to read through. Each character clearly has a fleshed-out personality, and hey, there's even NPC hustle-and-bustle in the backdrop of the pre-tower cutscenery! Not only that, but the cutscenes even make use of screen panning when need be, and especially the use of emotion bubbles; clearly, Aegix_Drakan knows their way around VX Ace, and it shows.

Oh, and did I mention the party doesn't always get along? :p

Mechanics
There's a lot of good design choices outside of the in-depth combat system, and they're almost as telling and important as the fight simulations. As such, I'll explain them below.

First off, there's a custom opening credits splash screen of sorts before the title screen is fired up on your first session of the game. When starting a new game, the first thing you're greeted with is a page to explain the controls. This is a boon for any who don't know all the keyboard functions of a RMVXA game, and helps the game feel a lot more "professional", in a sense.

In addition, you actually get to select your difficulty, which can be edited in-game with a particular item if need be. The biggest things I felt good about the difficulty adjustment is whether or not you want to choose between using save points, or being able to save the game anywhere. That said, I don't always feel a difficulty adjustment is necessary, and I went with save points in addition to the second option ("Journey"), the latter which I think is the "normal" mode.

For future playthroughs, there is also the option of being able to skip all cutscenes with the use of a key item in-game. Not only that, but it seems the tutorial battles for each heroine are also optional for future plays.

Even though the game is mostly RTP assets (with the exception of the main characters' sprites and face portraits), they're all used well. The most striking instance of this that I love is that the RTP background music is not only used in fitting ways, but even change the pitch to let such tunes be used in clever fashions.

The Shift key is no longer needed to be held down to run, and is instead used to toggle between moving quickly or at a slower pace. The level select screen looks pretty dynamic, and in-game lore can be found as optional key items.

Due to Karin's patron deity's intervention, there are also Estus-Flask-esque "Angel Flasks", which can be refilled at certain points in-game (which also serve as save points if you're using that setting). Such items restore the party's HP and MP completely, but are finite without refilling them at those special points, and can only be used outside of a fight.

As you can see, the game is amazing already. But that's not all the method to the madness (or, mayhem?)...

The Pros
Not much else that I didn't gush over in the previous segment, but here's s'more bits I found fun.

Each character's skills are strategic, and require some learned skill from gameplay to master. In an endless see of "monkey see button, monkey push button" mechanics in RPGs (even commercial-indie and AAA ones), each skill seems to have its own ups and downs for different situations, sometimes seemingly in the same fight as the battle rages on.

Failure to do so can result in getting roughed up, but I haven't found the battles too harrowing despite this and haven't gotten a Game Over or its equivalent in my play of this beta version yet. Despite this, I can easily see spamming Attack or the wrong moves over and over leading to defeat; this game forces you to THINK, and I adore that sort of skill-intensive, hands-on gameplay.

I also dig how some game mechanics are explained in-world, such as Holly's overload effect from casting too many spells, and what the actual currency is for buying consumables given their vendor. Speaking of items, the girls seem to only have one placeholder weapon and no armor. However, they also have multiple slots for accessory-like goodies... some of which can even teach them new skills, or modify existing ones while the add-on is equipped.

The Combat System
As hinted at before, each of the lady heroes has their own unique skillsets. Sure, you may ask, any good RPG has characters who have unique skills from one another, right? That's not all of it. All four gals feel like entirely different playstyles, almost like an "asymmetrical" tabletop game. Let me explain...

First off is May. She fights with an auto-crossbow, and like Donatello she does machines. Her abilities involve attack-triggered traps, automated turrets and even automated healing devices. The key to playing well with her is to pay attention to the flow of battle, and select the right tool for the specific round. As she's the first character you play as, especially in the pre-tower tutorial fight, it makes sense that May's second-easiest to play with in my book.

Second is Shara. I've got a soft spot for brawlers, monks and other martial artists in games, so I might be biased towards her. Nevertheless, I dig her "combo" system. See, her moves fall into three categories -- punches, kicks, and grabs. Use a punch, that same enemy will take extra damage from the next kick move to hit them. Use a kick, they become vulnerable to a grab. And using a grab, the combo-cycle comes full triangle with a punch weakness. Sometimes, you're faced with choices: target a different foe, exploit the weakness, or use an attack that softened-up baddy isn't weak to?

Third is Holly. She's your typical elemental sorceress, who even has a healing move to help. However, it's not as simple to play her as spamming elemental weaknesses. As I warned prior, Holly can suffer a magical overload when she casts too many spells. In doing so, she'll lose control of her turns and inflict harm to both enemy and ally parties alike until the effect cools off. This gives the player more than MP to worry about, but sometimes the reward of having Holly lose control is worth the risk.

Lastly is Karin, who comes off as the easiest character to play as. She mainly buffs and heals, but her buffs sometimes come to a personal detriment to herself as a trade-off. In a pinch, she can power up and perform so-called "Angel" moves if she has enough TP, though the window for opportunity for using these super-moves closes fast.

All-in-all, mastery of being able to multitask the mayhem-maidens will makes fights easier on resources and speed things along. It's just a matter of figuring them out, though the best way to do so is to just play and learn through experience.

The Cons
For once, there ain't many. There's an error in the text formatting in one of Karin's Angel moves' descriptions, but that's the only flaw I noticed that isn't a personal gripe. Of those points, the "Optimize" function with equipment seems pointless and the sheer number of status updates with fights can be daunting sometimes, but both points are moot if y'ask me.

Overall Thoughts
This game is good. Real good. Really really good. Though I don't feel I should give a score to a beta game or demo, this easily has a solid 5 out of 5 from what I've seen of it. This game is like candy, Aegix. Give us candy.