Revenge of the Fallen

Revenge of the Fallen (nothing to do with Bayformers, or the Mega Man fangame that got extremely popular on here) is an action stealth game that was created by a team of Ratty524 and Gredge109 for a two-week Swap in the Middle With You contest. Now, stealth sequences can be encountered in rmk games quite often, but it’s relatively rare for its entire mechanic to be built around it. Of course, one reason is that stealth fundamentally places more demands on the intelligence of the opposition, and provides greater freedom for the player. For a two-week game, Revenge of the Fallen does a decent job of managing these aspects, though I ultimately wasn’t particularly moved by the result.

Aesthetics (art, design and sound)



All XP RTP, apparently, which is why the game weighs 1.2mb. I suppose it speaks to the relative unpopularity of that engine that I managed to make it through 70 reviews on here without ever encountering a game that actually used all of it. And I have to say, it might just be that relative rarity, but I rather appreciate its look, it being much closer to the “Western” RPG style then either the preceding 2k/2k3 or the following VX/VX Ace. The music is also fine, much like the other RTPs. The combat sounds, however, undo a lot of the atmosphere, and are probably the least impressive I’ve encountered so far, sounding more like Twitter notifications then blows of bladed weapons. As for the mapping, it’s entirely competent and functional, though it only impresses in the last few maps, when the game leaves its grey stone confines and briefly moves into the sunlit outdoors.

Gameplay



The main problem here is that Revenge of the Fallen can be rather inconsistent about its own rules. While it presents itself as a stealth game, you get no opportunity for stealth at first, and so the first two kills are through regular turn-based combat, which is also a pure spacebarmash, as the blissfully virgin Tech menu above so clearly shows. Thus, I’ve assumed that the skills will not appear from the game, and the game did not rush to correct me on this, as there’s no “Skill X learned!” message appearing when levelling up. I’ve thus made it till the first (and basically only) boss battle about halfway through without finding out of their existence, and it wasn’t until I restarted the game after running out of potions and being left with 5HP right before the final boss (although I could’ve won that regardless; see Storyline) that I learned the SP used for the skills regenerates fully before every fight. As such, I’ve more-or-less completed the game twice, in the intended and no-so-intended way, and the combat feels quite weird now. Essentially, the game’s system is such that if you ambush an unalerted enemy, then you won’t insta-kill, as might be expected, but you will get a free hit at the start, and there’ll be a one-on-one battle, whereas getting spotted and touched on-map results in a battle with everyone in the room. I’ve followed this mechanic diligently both times, with the only difference being in the skill use. If you play properly, and use skills as intended, then the game becomes very easy combat-wise, as ambushed enemies can be stunned by using a level 2 skill on the first turn, and killed with a regular attack on the next, preventing you from taking any damage.

There’s some challenge is in the mandatory group battles (though using whole-group damage/blind Flash Bomb on your first turn typically takes care of about 80% of your problems) and the sole true boss fight (similarly dependent on the Flash Bomb; your biggest problem is if he resists it), but figuring out how to ambush properly is the main element now, which I suppose makes it closer to a true stealth. On the other hand, playing like I did at first was obviously harder, and also put the lie to the gamepage’s claim “Enemies won’t hesitate to end you”. After all, it turned out that the spear-wielding “Lesser Guards”, briefly encountered at first, are actually more of a danger then shield-bearing “Greater Guards” who make up the majority of your enemies, simply because they can do nothing but attack, and so they won’t waste their first (and basically only) turn in battle on useless defending. The other enemies are similarly fragile, but possess their own quirks that make fights more interesting: be it the Crossbowmen (fragile, attack only, but will always act before you do), group-heal only Priestesses, Summoners creating a random female Elemental spirit, or the strongest melee fighters in the last stages.



Meanwhile, the actual stealth has a nice idea near the end, with noisy tiles that’ll instantly alert the guards, and there are also often alcoves present in the maps to let you avoid the guards’ gaze. In other ways, however, it’s same as most other rmk stealth sections, with the same guards who’ll simply run around like headless chickens should you leave their sight/the room if alerted, and obviously not alert anyone else, etc. It’s something I expected, so while the guy above being totally unable to get out of the cell he was guarding through the door he himself opened to chase after me was funny, it didn’t really affect my score. Unlike, say, the inconsistent sightlines here:



They see you through a stone wall here...



But do not react at all in the next room



This guy is actually a summoner, who does nothing but spin on the spot. There's no real reason for him to do so instead of just staring forwards, but you need to get past him to his buddies somehow. Once you do, he won't become alerted on his own, or do anything else.

Storyline



Well, the game is about revenge; if you have ignored the title, there’s also the protagonist naming herself Vendetta. It initially begins with a few lines like the one above, which are both clearly dramatic and vague enough to contribute to the mystery. The equipment description further reinforces that, as Sarau is “The blade to cleanse the world of your foes.”, Silver Gown is “Light in weight, light in restraint” and Locket is “The only way to hold on to your memories.” The writing might be overdoing it a little when a Potion “Mends your wounds, but not your pain”, while a Key “Opens all locked gates, except the one to your heart”, but it’s at least entertaining that way. The problem, though, is that it never really gets past the generalities like this. Sure, at first, we know that she served at that fort too for a while; then we learn that she’s avenging her lover; then, that he was no better than everyone else serving there. However, it’s hard to care because we don’t know what he was actually executed for. Moreover, what we do learn about the fort is self-contradictory: apparently it plunders the people around them, like the other forts, yet they still have plenty of priestesses around (whose existence, along with the Summoners, is never addressed in the narrative), and everyone in it is fiercely loyal to their leader instead of abandoning him to escape and save themselves, which is what one would expect from what is supposedly presented as equivalent to bandits.

The one story development the game tried going for is to have Vendetta evolve more and more towards a villain protagonist: however, I already have a dim view of pretty much every “action stealth” protagonist, and so it was hardly a surprise to see it unfold, even when taken as far the (SPOILERS until conclusion) the last “boss battle” where your mark, the fort’s commander, never actually attacks you and instead you simply get messages about him lowering his weapon, reminding of your former friendship, etc., all in vain. At first I defended for something like 10-15 turns straight, in case this would be recognized and trigger an alternate ending. I’ve seen something similar happen in Sore Losers (where it was actually obligatory and I hated it, ironically), but here, where it might well have fit, there was no such luck. (It would’ve also been nice if something similar could’ve been done for the lone priestesses/summoners in the screenshots above, ones who’ll trigger the alarm but can’t do anything on their own once you’ve killed the other guards.) And once you do get the revenge bit done, the inconclusive ending either shows a fitting end for our character or is a cliffhanger for a potential continuation: I’m not really sure which.

Conclusion

Revenge of the Fallen has a few interesting ideas in it, and is entirely fine to play through once you understand how it works. To me, at least, it currently feels more like a stepping stone on the road to some future rmk game where its approach to stealth and combat would be refined, as well as embedded in a properly defined world where it could truly blossom.