Might and Magic TsuK - Gates to Other Worlds

Introduction

"Might and Magic TsuK - Gates to Other Worlds" was developed by Marrend for the Golden Age of Game Mak. An event held back in July of 2015 in order to celebrate the official English release of RPG Maker 2000 on Steam. Of course this being an event game meant that Marrend was bound to uphold a few rules such as the game being made entirely out of RTP as well as being a cliche nightmare or a fun subversion of all of the usual cliches.

Story


While the game starts out with you standing before the king in order to receive your epic quest. It quickly diverges into a subversion of this trope by having Alex interrupt the king and tell him to cut to the chase. After all, he's a busy man with a million side quests stretched out before him and even more baddies to slay.

On one hand the game's continued efforts to subvert the usual sea of cliches you'd expect in a game like this becomes pretty predictable. On the other hand, if you've played as many RPGs as I have over the years it's nice to see a game break away from the usual sea of cliches in any way. So much so that playing a game like this is almost cathartic.

Gameplay

"Might and Magic TsuK - Gates to Other Worlds" is a game almost entirely devoid of challenge, but I think this works to the game's advantage. After all, this is meant to be a fun little romp that breaks away from the usual cliches by subverting them. And how else could you expect to subvert a player's expectations of balanced combat then by either breaking them in favor of the player or in favor of the AI, but giving the AI the advantage would take away from the fun nature of the piece. Which means the only path open to Marrend was to make the game easy.



About the only downside I can throw at this game is just how tedious it is to collect gold and recovery items from the infinitely respawning chests in this game. After all, the only opponent's that put up anything resembling a fight are the bosses. Though the choice in bosses is definitely a subversion as well. After all, your not spending your time fighting tentacled horrors from beyond space and time, but cute little girls with pigtails.


Graphics & Sound

I really don't have much to say about this aspect of the game. After all, as I already mentioned in the intro to this review. All of the graphical and musical assets are from the RTP. As such there really isn't anything new or original that I could say about them.

Conclusion

"Might and Magic TsuK - Gates to Other Worlds" is a short game with a clear goal in mind. As such, I can't help but recommend it if you need a bit of a break from the usual cliches, but if your looking for a game that will test your skills or allow you to gain gaming glory. Then I'd suggest you give this game a pass.