Introduction

Frog: An RPG was created by mjshi using RPG Maker 2000 for the Golden Age of Game Mak contest. As such the game is pretty full of common RPG cliches in order to satisfy the rules of the contest.

Story

The story for Frog: An RPG is rather weak in my opinion. The game is largely told in the form of ribbits, spalshes, splishes, splooshes, and bwaks. As such the game lacks any sort of interesting dialogue to draw the attention of the player. While this choice in dialogue is explained at the end of game. It's an explanation that comes a little to late in my opinion. Since by the time the player gets to the end they'll probably be a bit worn down by how many random and touch battles they'll have been involved in.

Gameplay

Frog: An RPG utilizes your standard turn-based combat system, but features two different encounter systems. The primary encounter system is comprised of touch encounters and the player will need to engage in several of those in order to obtain the levels they'll need in order to defeat the final boss. The game also includes random encounters that occur if the player is inside of tall grass which is probably a nod to the Pokemon franchise.

Though to make the game a bit easier it also contains a chest that contains two potions that respawns every time the player leaves the screen and comes back. While this choice was probably made in order to make the game easier it also feels like a nod to games like Final Fantasy 10 where you can get an infinite number of potions early on in the game using a similar trick.

Though, in general the combat is a bit on the boring side in my opinion. None of the early matches feel all that intense and for the most part you can scrape by without the use of skills until the final boss battle. Though, I suppose my opinion might be a bit skewed considering I spent a bunch of time on grinding on my second play through after I found a game ending bug on my first run.

Bugs

While this issue no longer applies to the most recent download of this game. If you decide to download the Golden Age of Game Mak version then you should be aware of the fact that once you enter the fourth screen there is no going back. This is because there is no transfer point from the fourth map back to the third map. An issue which royally screwed me on my first play through since I entered this area while only carrying a few potions.

Graphics

On the plus side the game does feature some custom art work. Though, it is a bit on the low-end side of things. Though, that's probably to be expected considering this game was made over the course of a week.


Look ma! My left pupil is bigger then the one on the right!

On the downside the game is a bit lacking in terms of enemy variety. All things told this game contains four regular enemies which are slimes, bats, skeletons, and will-o-wisps. While, I'm aware that this game is rather short it seems like the game could have benefited from the inclusion of few additional enemies such as ghosts, zombies, and snakes. Heck, the inclusion of snakes would have at least given a purpose behind the inclusion of dispel herbs in the shop.

Conclusion

Frog: An RPG is a rather weak game in my opinion. The combat is boring and the story doesn't get interesting until the final cut scene. While the game does feature some custom art work. That isn't enough to save the game from being a rather below average title in my opinion. There are just much better titles on this site if your looking for a short game to kill time with.