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Sacred Reviews: Acarian Legend (Demo v2)
thesacredlobo- 09/30/2023 04:07 AM
- 70 views
Intro
"Acarian Legend" is a turn-based RPG that was being developed by BlazeDraco whose game engine of choice back in 2015 was RPG Maker VX Ace. Unfortunately this project never got past the early demo stage with the final demo containing somewhere between 20 to 25 minutes worth of content roughly. As for why this project failed. While I don't have any quotes from the developer to use as an explanation directly. I think this bit on the game summary makes the cause pretty obvious.
The fact this project was intended to have at least eight party members suggests this was meant to be an epic RPG that would take in excess of 20 hours to complete. Sadly it's all too common for people to bite off way more than they can handle with their first project. And this experience appears to have been enough to make the developer give up on making games entirely. At least it appears that way since this developer hasn't posted anything new here since March of 2015. Though, I suppose I should focus less on speculating on why this game died. And instead direct my efforts to talking about what was made and is available to the public.
Story
Summary
You and ragtag group of misfits are about to embark on an epic quest involving spirit stones that allow the user to transform like the Sailor Senshi from "Sailor Moon". Though considering the transformations grant the characters armor in this game it's probably better to compare their transformations to those that Hikaru, Fuu, and Umi do in "Magic Knights Reyearth".
Though before we can venture as a party we begin this tale by following the adventures of Draco and his friend Selene after their village is obliterated by forces under the command of Queen Vion. Though why she fears the heroes is never really explained. Though considering she's the type to murder her knights for failure. I guess her reasoning could be as simple as I'm the big villain in this story. At any rate the story stops shortly after a few random and touch encounters that are loaded with tutorials as well as an absolute joke of a boss fight where Draco overcomes his anger issues by beating the shit out of his dark side while screaming that he's the one that makes the decisions around here. And if the summary feels a bit disjointed it's because the story itself isn't presented that well.
Greatest Strength and Weakness
On the plus side this game appears to be setting up to stick to the usual RPG clichés about magic rocks. A strength that could easily become a weakness if the story isn't told particularly well. Unfortunately the story bits that are accessible in the demo are delivered with all of the grace of a dead cat. As a result it's really hard to get invested in Draco or Selene as characters. It also doesn't help that the game handles Draco overcoming his flaws with about as much care as I show the ants that get crushed under my shoes when I take Maggie or Rose for a walk.
Gameplay
On the gameplay front the game largely uses the default combat system that comes RPG Maker VX Ace. The only notable differences is that near the end of the demo you gain access to transformation skills that act as a double edged sword since it makes you even weaker to your counter element while also boosting your main offensive stat. On the plus side this does mean the game could feature some interesting counter play around when you should transform and who you'll want in your party for any given boss battle. Unfortunately these aspects of the system really aren't on display in the demo. The only other notable difference is that guarding in this game regenerates part of your maximum HP. So it's possible to use guarding to increase your HP while also building up your TP gauge in order to use your best moves.
Another weird aspect of the combat system is that it contains a demo about using your basic attack command while transformed. This is odd since it comes after you've already been involved in multiple battles and therefore have already used your basic attack on enemies before. And there is little difference between doing this in your normal state versus your transformed state beyond those caused by the changes made to your physical attack stat.
The game also contains several fights that feel entirely pointless like when Draco meets Nyu in the destroyed village. And this fight feels utterly pointless since Nyu regains 9,999 HP every turn while Draco is incapable of inflicting any damage on said character.
Another oddity in this game is that Nyu temporarily joins your party at level 60 which turns the fights against the hornets and spiders infesting the forest into an absolute joke. While this might make sense if Nyu were to serve as an older mentor character that dies early on like Obi-wan Kenobi in episode four of Star Wars. In the demo her apparent role in the overall story is rather ambiguous so her helping the player early on only serves to make the early fights extremely boring. Though even after she leaves you can easily win fights against the toxic flowers and other enemies by spamming magic spells at them.
Graphics
The game relies almost entirely on the RTP for RPG Maker VX Ace for it's graphical assets. And the few assets that don't come from the RTP vary wildly in terms of both quality and stand out like a sore thumb.
Though even if we ignore the questionable quality of some of the original assets. The mapping in this game is a bit iffy as well. Though it is better than some other first time projects that I've experienced over the years, but it does contain maps that are both harder to navigate then they should be because the exit point to the next map isn't obvious to having way to many copies of the same tile on a single screen.
Audio
As far as I remember the game relies entirely on the RTP for this aspect. So I really don't have that much to say about it. After all, the RTP tracks are solid.
Conclusion
"Acarian Legend" is an abandoned project that really isn't worth playing in my opinion. After all the demo neither offers fun combat nor narrative satisfaction for what is there. In fact, the only reason I could offer for experiencing this project is if your looking for something to review that will take longer to write a review for than it will take to play.
"Acarian Legend" is a turn-based RPG that was being developed by BlazeDraco whose game engine of choice back in 2015 was RPG Maker VX Ace. Unfortunately this project never got past the early demo stage with the final demo containing somewhere between 20 to 25 minutes worth of content roughly. As for why this project failed. While I don't have any quotes from the developer to use as an explanation directly. I think this bit on the game summary makes the cause pretty obvious.
BlazeDraco
A group 8 misfits try to find the reason behind the Queen's madness.
The fact this project was intended to have at least eight party members suggests this was meant to be an epic RPG that would take in excess of 20 hours to complete. Sadly it's all too common for people to bite off way more than they can handle with their first project. And this experience appears to have been enough to make the developer give up on making games entirely. At least it appears that way since this developer hasn't posted anything new here since March of 2015. Though, I suppose I should focus less on speculating on why this game died. And instead direct my efforts to talking about what was made and is available to the public.
Story
Summary
You and ragtag group of misfits are about to embark on an epic quest involving spirit stones that allow the user to transform like the Sailor Senshi from "Sailor Moon". Though considering the transformations grant the characters armor in this game it's probably better to compare their transformations to those that Hikaru, Fuu, and Umi do in "Magic Knights Reyearth".
Though before we can venture as a party we begin this tale by following the adventures of Draco and his friend Selene after their village is obliterated by forces under the command of Queen Vion. Though why she fears the heroes is never really explained. Though considering she's the type to murder her knights for failure. I guess her reasoning could be as simple as I'm the big villain in this story. At any rate the story stops shortly after a few random and touch encounters that are loaded with tutorials as well as an absolute joke of a boss fight where Draco overcomes his anger issues by beating the shit out of his dark side while screaming that he's the one that makes the decisions around here. And if the summary feels a bit disjointed it's because the story itself isn't presented that well.
Greatest Strength and Weakness
On the plus side this game appears to be setting up to stick to the usual RPG clichés about magic rocks. A strength that could easily become a weakness if the story isn't told particularly well. Unfortunately the story bits that are accessible in the demo are delivered with all of the grace of a dead cat. As a result it's really hard to get invested in Draco or Selene as characters. It also doesn't help that the game handles Draco overcoming his flaws with about as much care as I show the ants that get crushed under my shoes when I take Maggie or Rose for a walk.
Gameplay
On the gameplay front the game largely uses the default combat system that comes RPG Maker VX Ace. The only notable differences is that near the end of the demo you gain access to transformation skills that act as a double edged sword since it makes you even weaker to your counter element while also boosting your main offensive stat. On the plus side this does mean the game could feature some interesting counter play around when you should transform and who you'll want in your party for any given boss battle. Unfortunately these aspects of the system really aren't on display in the demo. The only other notable difference is that guarding in this game regenerates part of your maximum HP. So it's possible to use guarding to increase your HP while also building up your TP gauge in order to use your best moves.
Another weird aspect of the combat system is that it contains a demo about using your basic attack command while transformed. This is odd since it comes after you've already been involved in multiple battles and therefore have already used your basic attack on enemies before. And there is little difference between doing this in your normal state versus your transformed state beyond those caused by the changes made to your physical attack stat.
The game also contains several fights that feel entirely pointless like when Draco meets Nyu in the destroyed village. And this fight feels utterly pointless since Nyu regains 9,999 HP every turn while Draco is incapable of inflicting any damage on said character.
Another oddity in this game is that Nyu temporarily joins your party at level 60 which turns the fights against the hornets and spiders infesting the forest into an absolute joke. While this might make sense if Nyu were to serve as an older mentor character that dies early on like Obi-wan Kenobi in episode four of Star Wars. In the demo her apparent role in the overall story is rather ambiguous so her helping the player early on only serves to make the early fights extremely boring. Though even after she leaves you can easily win fights against the toxic flowers and other enemies by spamming magic spells at them.
Graphics
The game relies almost entirely on the RTP for RPG Maker VX Ace for it's graphical assets. And the few assets that don't come from the RTP vary wildly in terms of both quality and stand out like a sore thumb.
Though even if we ignore the questionable quality of some of the original assets. The mapping in this game is a bit iffy as well. Though it is better than some other first time projects that I've experienced over the years, but it does contain maps that are both harder to navigate then they should be because the exit point to the next map isn't obvious to having way to many copies of the same tile on a single screen.
Audio
As far as I remember the game relies entirely on the RTP for this aspect. So I really don't have that much to say about it. After all, the RTP tracks are solid.
Conclusion
"Acarian Legend" is an abandoned project that really isn't worth playing in my opinion. After all the demo neither offers fun combat nor narrative satisfaction for what is there. In fact, the only reason I could offer for experiencing this project is if your looking for something to review that will take longer to write a review for than it will take to play.
