WAKE UP! It's time for another review|

Hello players!
DEEP 8 is a game by IndependentArt made with the good old RPG Maker 2003 engine and originally released in 2022. It can be defined as a Sci-Fi party-based rpg with a lot of additions, and a game that I can call it similar is probably Theia the Crimson Eclipse.
So if you liked that one, like me, you will love DEEP 8, anyway let's tell me something more about the game.

DEEP 8 starts with us controlling a green skinned humanoid wearing a dark armor: this creature lands his ship near a village in the forest and assisted by four armored troopers proceeds annihilating every peasant encountered. Their axes and knives are obviously no match for the hi-tech soldiers, and soon the village is destroyed.
We soon learn that this alien race of green skinned evil creatures called Droons, wants to destroy various planets including Lisarya, but luckily a Lisaryan spy sends a message home to warn of the intentions of this race that refused any contact. Emperor Vagnus decides to assign a mission to his two best assistants: Ramirez a Dayigon (sort of human-like race) engineer and Meling, a grim human woman with a huge axe. They do not like each other but will be forced to work together and the first mission will be exploring an abandoned station used by the Droons in the past... and this is just the beginning of an epic story!


This looks like a dumb idea! Rocket/grenade jump works only in videoga... wait! This IS a videogame!

DEEP 8 is a classic rpgmaker game: you explore dungeons (hi-tech dungeons in this case) solving puzzles (that requires fiddling with computers and machines or push crates/bouders around), playing minigames and battling or avoding enemies enemies, while looking for loot and getting ready to face bosses in mandatory battles. Ok, so far, it's pretty classic, anyway there are many additions to this: first there are some parts of the map where you can jump and climb to reach hidden zones for extra loot.

Then there is combat, that's more complex than what will find in classic rpgmaker games: first the characters have different skill trees and you have points to spend there, and there are several kind of skills (different for each character, of course!), from Spells (like for example elemental attacks) to Permabilities (or passive abilities), Furys (sort of limit breaks) and Mods. Mods are modifications of the normal attacks, for example Blockbreaker lets you damage the enemies that usually can block attacks. There are three categories of Mods and you can combine them (for example Blockbreaker-Counterattack-Double Slash) to provoke the effects needed to defeat the opponent, they're like equipments but you can change them during battles.
Oh yes, I forgot the more banal standard attacks! The game uses a sliding bar in wich you have to press at the right time to perform a "Bull's Eye" attack that deals much more damage, the problem is that the faster is the enemies, the faster is the little arrow that moves on the bar!


Uhm I'm pretty sure that this huge head wants to make the planet great again!

Enemies (whose energy bars are also shown) not only will have various strengths and weaknesses, but they can also inflict (and suffer) harmful conditions (such as "block" that reduces the tactical options). I liked how normally when travelling both on the world map and dungeons, enemies appears as blinking dots that pursue the party: when you are pursued the screen has a red light frame and you cannot open the menu to save, but if you lose them you'll be safe. For now!
Avoiding enemies is not too difficult, battles are instead challenging, anyway there is an Easy difficulty mode that reduces enemy speed and damages and increase the experience points rewards. Anyway remember that this is called Easy Mode, not Story Mode, so it requires still some strategy and attention to battles, especially when facing bosses (and superbosses)!

As mentioned before the game also includes some logic puzzles and minigames for various salient moments like battles between robots and against armies of Droons. I'll let you discover these sections by yourself anyway they're a nice addition that makes the gameplay more varied.


Minigame time! Shoot these Droons before it's too late! They cannot pass!

Visually the game is impressive: it uses only custom made assets, portraits with various expressions for the most important characters and well animated battlers, moreover the game includes 3D art and animated cutscenes. Mapping is excellent: kudos for using indicators that shows entrances and exits and including lots of interactions with the surroundings, and I was also impressed by the quantity of details like animals and spaceships flying around, both on the background and on the maps where the real action happens.

Puzzles are good and well structured, the interface is also well done and helpful. What else? Oh the Hud maps, very useful, and the mission log, even more useful! Music is also original and pretty serious and epic, in my opinion it fits the tone of the game even if there is some humor.
Speaking about the story, I found it interesting and the most peculiar aspect is how the party is made of unlikely heroes: Ramirez is a weakling that can't stop looking at attractive women, Meling is a really obnoxious character that doesn't seem to be so invested with the mission and often insults Ramirez, even when she's wrong. Chloe is a far better character, likeable and fun. Sabre is also another interesting characters, I won't mention the other party members not to spoil the game!


Wolrd map? NAH! In this game we've a galaxy to explore with various planets! (we're the purple dot under Bardus Lacuna)

Final Verdict
DEEP 8 is an interesting game, that while not perfect has many interesting moments (including a section where you will be running around with a flamethrower! And battles between robots!) and a suggestive setting with various alien races and environments. In a certain sense this sci-fi setting reminds of Albion, an RPG released in 1996 by BlueByte Software, with the difference that here we'll be travelling between different planets. Combat is quite complex and pretty challenging, but grinding won't help much, a good strategy is surely more useful, but do not forget to look around for supplies and useful additional items. The only real problem I found were some jumps that required an exceptional (for me!) timing, anyway you can always re-try since they do not lead to Game Over, so it's not frustrating. Could have been worse!

In the end I find DEEP 8 to be an excellent product, with just some minor flaws but really engaging and well made.