Four Sided Triangle

Hello!
Ok, I admit that originally I was going to review "A Krampus Christmas (Game Chill 2013)" by Sam because it's the right period of the year for that kind of christmas-themed-game, BUT I realized the download links are outdated and the game is not available aymore! Anyway I was suddenly attracted by this Four Sided Triangle from the same author.
Well, I know that it's cancelled, but the screens and plot were interesting, PLUS there is still some time before playing some Christmas game, so we can spend some time playing this RPG Maker 2003 classic adventure/rpg released in 2008. As a demo, of course, but demos can be interesting and fun to play too!


Sorry? WTF, Hennu, you're supposed to be the hero of this game!

Ok, now what's the plot of Four Sided Triangle? T̶h̶e̶ ̶D̶e̶m̶o̶n̶ ̶K̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶h̶a̶s̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶q̶u̶e̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶.̶.̶.̶
Wait, no it's not this one! Ok, our protagonist is Hennu Katsuya that recently moved with his mother to the town of Onanne. Being a classic teenager he has to go to school but something happens on the way, and for some totally random and weird circumstances he starts to help Jonouchi, one of his schoolmates that apparently is a sort of secret-soldier/agent that works with the town guards (why they would trust the newcomer, a total stranger that did not prove his skills and loyalty so much to give him a sword and an armor is astonishing but... uhm ok!).

So our Hennu, that looks like Edward from Fullmetal Alchemist (And EVEN a schoolmate will state this as soon as he sees him! And another will also bully him just because he has a similar ponytail!) will start a new life of adventure, and he will even learn Alchemy (appropriate, since he is a Edward Elric lookalike!).


The first boss! Do not be like Hennu, do not underestimate this big guy!

Ok, ok now the gameplay: I mentioned Alchemy, because it's an important part of the game: during combat against various enemies (that can be always be avoided, except in the case of bosses, and that respawn if we exit and re-enter a map) characters may use special attacks or Alchemy powers that are normally elemental powers often learned (they commonly start with a favorite element, electricity for Hennu and fire for his friend Jonouchi, but there are more) through the use of items found exploring the dungeons. Both special moves and Alchemy skills cost MP (magic pointa) that have to be reintegrated using consumables. Classic!
I probably do not need to say that enemies may be resistant or weak to a particular element, but I've just said that, in any case wandering enemies are quite weak, while bosses... well they're tough starting from the golem you will meet at the end of the first real dungeon.

But the game is not only abount dungeons and battles! There are some diversions like puzzles (that for example unlock passages to other areas), foot races, and so on, ok it's a demo so it's not complete but at least it present different activities.


In this part we play as Jonouchi, since Hennu has been taken prisoner! Hennu, another studend of Jonouchi's master, met before, came along.

Graphically the game is charming and well done since it recalls the old rpg games I played, the use of REFmap assets reminds some old cool and classics like Villnoire (the two protagonists, Hennu and Lukas are also identical), also because they're used very well!
Ok, due to the incomplete status of the game there are some imperfections (like birds standing still in the air and some passability issues) and lack of interactions with both people and items (90% of the time, save exceptions, you can only speak with characters directly involved in the quests, others will stand still with no interaction possible, same for the items, only the useful ones will provide a reactions) but visually is all good. Enemies also match their charsets, and I believe that the game includes also some custom made sprites, like for example the golem I mentioned earlier (not a surprise, "A Krampus Christmas" mentioned earlier includes many custom made sprites done but the same developer).
Music is ok, I mean there are various themes like rips from Act Raiser and Fullmetal Alchemist (again, this is not a surprise!) and due to the humorous parts of this game it includes also some unexpected songs like for example "Oops!…I Did It Again" by Britney Spears. I'm not joking!


Hey Brock, are you by any chance related to the Brock guy from Pokémon? Or did your parents love it so much they gave you his name?

Final Verdict
Four Sided Triangle is a pretty good demo, pity for the imprecisions and mapping issues especially in the later parts, but I can say it's an enjoyable experience if you want to try an old school rpgmaker jrpg that is not too serious. Despite the lack of polish you can still have some fun with this little unfinished game thanks to the variety of tasks, the humor, and fun classic party-based jrpg gameplay, if you can tolerate the silly parts and quite random events, but better if you can enjoy them!
Overall not bad at all!