First of all, this game has the coolest credit sequence I've ever seen on this site. Don't let the RTP graphics scare you; the guy who made this game knew what he was doing.

Eling: First Dimension is an arcade style puzzle game somewhat akin to The Adventures of Lolo where you must avoid enemies and collect items to reach your goal. You play as a boy named David (whose name you can change) who is implied to be trapped in some sort of dream world, along with an unknown girl. The two must compete against each other in tests of skill and logic to see who is superior. The victor will have a chance to wake up; it is unknown what will happen to the loser.

The game begins with a simple tutorial stage that explains the rules, and then drops you in a sort of hub world which you can explore at your leisure. The story is explained only in occasional vague cutscenes, and the protagonist seems blissfully unaware of the vaguely sinister machinations surrounding the world he finds himself in. From the hub world ,you can access the game's various courses where you'll be challenged to solve a level abiding by certain rules.

Eling is played mostly by walking and jumping, and you'll quickly see that RM2k3's RTP graphics and their unique elevation effects were well-suited to this game's goals. The jumping command is a bit finnicky as you can only jump a very specific distance in whatever direction you're facing, and learning the eccentricities of where and how high you can jump is part of the game's learning curve. It becomes intuitive after a while.

In a general sense, levels consist of two portions; an upper region where the player must hit switches, collect items, and avoid enemies while searching for the entrance to the second area; a puzzle room. The puzzle room is generally dangerous, and touching the volcanic floors will hurt you. You can only make three mistakes in a level before having to start over, so you must be cautious. If you do fail, however, don't despair; you'll merely be prompted to restart the level, and you'll never lose progress, so the game is very fair in that respect.

To win most levels, you must find two power-ups; a Purple Star, which increases your jumping, and a Red Star which renders you immune to the dangers of the volcanic floors. While later levels introduce additional powers, finding these two is the basis for clearing a stage. Winning a stage nets you a crystal; finding enough crystals will open new areas, similar to Mario 64.



Each course has several challenges you can choose from at the beginning to solve, also similar to Mario 64, with minor changes to the world occurring with each one. These challenges may involve solving the course in a specific time limit, solving it using only one type of power-up, or racing the girl to a goal. Each world also contains a boss which must be fought according to rules laid out during the battle. They're generally simple but pretty fun.

In addition to gathering crystals, you can collect coins to trade in at an item shop. you can buy items that unlock new parts of the hub world, or also buy power-ups you carry in an inventory to sue to solve a level if you're stuck, so the game is pretty friendly in that respect. On top of that, each level has certain 'achievements' you can unlock which reward you with new items and other prizes, so there's actually a lot to do in this game.

This game may look deceptively simple but it's actually a fairly sophisticated puzzle game with consistent rules and design. You won't find any huge epic adventure here but if you're looking for a puzzle game you can play for a few minutes at a time to solve a level or unlock a new achievement, or if you're interested in how a platformer in RPG Maker might work, this one is probably worth a look.