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Over two hundred years ago, the five heroes defeated the god of darkness; Ragnarok, in a climactic struggle for the fate of the world. Banished back to the realm of darkness known as the Abyss, the threat of the evil god had finally been put to rest once and for all...or so they thought.
Umbral Soul follows the story of Ragnarok’s loyal servant, Pandora, who joins her master in a quest to conquer the world and reclaim his lost power. In order to shroud the world in eternal darkness, they will have to find and recruit new allies, build an army of powerful monsters, and raise a force strong enough to crush anyone who dares to oppose them. Heroes, generals and rival overlords all stand against them. Do you have the power to make the world yours?
Pandora
A powerful dark sorceress with the ability to call forth monsters from the Abyss and enslave them to her will. Her burning hatred for the world and its people leads her to follow Ragnarok with unwavering loyalty.
Ragnarok
The god of darkness, who seeks dominion over the human realm. Once an extremely powerful being in the form of a monstrous demon, he has now been reduced to a mere soul. He wishes to plunge the entirety of the human realm into darkness, in part out of spite for his counterpart; the goddess of light, Lumielle.
Lanith
Beautiful, deadly, and self absorbed to a tee, Lanith is a succubus with a never ending hunger for the lifeforce of men. Having served under Pandora since she was only a child, she has a knack for getting under her skin, and does so whenever the opportunity arises.
Damien
A deeply twisted and sadistic young man, Damien loves nothing more than manipulating others and watching them squirm. While he has kept his true nature a secret, Ragnarok’s uprising marks the perfect opportunity for him to cut loose and have some fun...by killing as many enemies as possible.
Azrielle
The lord of all demons, who is fiercely loyal to Ragnarok and possesses an extreme, seething hatred for humanity. After failing to aid his master in conquering the world the first time, he has no intention of repeating the same mistakes again.
•A character driven storyline filled with unlockable side-stories
•Moving battle backgrounds for more organic battles
•Over 100 custom attack animations
•Custom sound effects
•More than 10 recruitable monsters and demons
•Engaging, story-driven sidequests
•Enhance your monsters with Darkness Points, evolving them into new and terrible forms
•Teleport to and from your lair at will
•Cutscenes and character interactions change depending on who is in your party
Celianna
Moghunter
Yanfly
Kagome-kagome
Katakura Hibiki Dark Hero Character Pack
Katakura Hibiki Fantasy Hero Character Pack
Katakura Hibiki Lords of Darkness Pack
Pandamaru
Mack
Chirno-chan
Mazeran
Gyrowolf
Closet
Division Heaven
And many more! Full credits list will be included in the game upon completion.
A big shout out to all the resource creators both free and paid out there. Your hard work inspires us all to get out there and create something special!
The time is now. Forget about saving the world, reach out and conquer it.
Latest Blog
I'm back, baby!
WheelmanZero
13 post(s) 
- 04/05/2023 01:23 AM
- 2350 views
- Completed
- WheelmanZero
RPG Maker VX Ace- Adventure RPG
- 05/14/2016 11:47 PM
- 03/04/2024 02:11 AM
- 02/16/2017
- 1150086
- 232
- 17499
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Well, I've been playing the game after seeing a bunch of 5-star reviews and wondering if it's as good as people are saying.
It's okay. It's got a lot of problems, but they're not big problems so they don't really bother me too much. There's at least one spelling mistake I found, and there's a fair amount of mapping issues, which should be worked on (you have an issue with cliffs, I've found - a bit of a weak point for you. Keep in mind that if they have the same height for the 'roof' they should always have the same wall height all the way around. I've noticed more than a few times you've had 2 tile high walls next to 4 tile high walls, but they have the same 'height' since they're sharing the same cliff top. Just looks pretty bad.). The story is nice enough - nothing groundbreaking but well-presented and easy to follow. I'll admit I teared up here and there, but then I cry easily so... XD
So far I'm enjoying it. I've just teleported to the magic school. I dunno, I don't really like most of the characters that much? It's weird - I do get their feelings and I understand why they've become the way they are, but I'm not a fan of them. I do hope that the sequel does do the redemption thing because I feel like they need that. Or, more like, I want them to be given a hand and come to the understanding that no everyone is a piece of shit and hating on dark mages, that there are people out there who will understand them and love them despite what they are and what they've done, who will give them the chance and support to change (if that's what they want to do) and don't care what the rest of the world thinks.
Then again, I'm a sucker for bad guys turning good (or at least, sort-of good).
Overall, it's a decent enough game. I'll probably write a review when I finish it or get to a point that I feel it's 'enough'.
It's okay. It's got a lot of problems, but they're not big problems so they don't really bother me too much. There's at least one spelling mistake I found, and there's a fair amount of mapping issues, which should be worked on (you have an issue with cliffs, I've found - a bit of a weak point for you. Keep in mind that if they have the same height for the 'roof' they should always have the same wall height all the way around. I've noticed more than a few times you've had 2 tile high walls next to 4 tile high walls, but they have the same 'height' since they're sharing the same cliff top. Just looks pretty bad.). The story is nice enough - nothing groundbreaking but well-presented and easy to follow. I'll admit I teared up here and there, but then I cry easily so... XD
So far I'm enjoying it. I've just teleported to the magic school. I dunno, I don't really like most of the characters that much? It's weird - I do get their feelings and I understand why they've become the way they are, but I'm not a fan of them. I do hope that the sequel does do the redemption thing because I feel like they need that. Or, more like, I want them to be given a hand and come to the understanding that no everyone is a piece of shit and hating on dark mages, that there are people out there who will understand them and love them despite what they are and what they've done, who will give them the chance and support to change (if that's what they want to do) and don't care what the rest of the world thinks.
Then again, I'm a sucker for bad guys turning good (or at least, sort-of good).
Overall, it's a decent enough game. I'll probably write a review when I finish it or get to a point that I feel it's 'enough'.
WheelmanZero
947
Holy mother of molly, you're here too Liberty?! I'm being overwhelmed by an odd mixture of happiness and nervousness. Ok...calm down, just calm down. It's all good Wheelman.
*ahem* Thanks for the tip about the maps. Mapping isn't a particular strong suit of mine, but I'm learning as I go, so any tidbits of knowledge that come my way are appreciated.
I'm glad that I was able to convey why the evil jerks that compose the main cast are who they are. Being villains, they do some pretty despicable/stupid things,so I can see why you might not be too fond of them. But hey, that means you'll be able to enjoy opposing them in the next game, heh heh. I would suggest playing further into the story and watching the scenarios, as there are certain aspects of the villains' personalities that are explored other than their dark sides, albeit lightly. Who knows, they might just grow on you.
I never imagined this game would get so much attention or so many reviews, much less so many positive ones. It's a little frightening actually as it sets the expectation bar higher. But if there's anything I've learned from the good folks here at rmn it's to have more confidence in my abilities and improve them any way I can. Alright, that's enough rambling from me. Thanks for chiming in Liberty, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your crusade through the dark side.
*ahem* Thanks for the tip about the maps. Mapping isn't a particular strong suit of mine, but I'm learning as I go, so any tidbits of knowledge that come my way are appreciated.
I'm glad that I was able to convey why the evil jerks that compose the main cast are who they are. Being villains, they do some pretty despicable/stupid things,so I can see why you might not be too fond of them. But hey, that means you'll be able to enjoy opposing them in the next game, heh heh. I would suggest playing further into the story and watching the scenarios, as there are certain aspects of the villains' personalities that are explored other than their dark sides, albeit lightly. Who knows, they might just grow on you.
I never imagined this game would get so much attention or so many reviews, much less so many positive ones. It's a little frightening actually as it sets the expectation bar higher. But if there's anything I've learned from the good folks here at rmn it's to have more confidence in my abilities and improve them any way I can. Alright, that's enough rambling from me. Thanks for chiming in Liberty, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your crusade through the dark side.
One thing I can say for certain is that your gameplay balancing is really well done so far (for where I am atm). That's something that's hard to get down pat, but you're doing well thus far in that aspect.
And yeah, I'll be checking out the backstory stuff. I'm big on getting everything I can find out of a game, so no worries there.
And yeah, I'll be checking out the backstory stuff. I'm big on getting everything I can find out of a game, so no worries there.
littlebro
100
Hi, first off, I want to say how much I'm enjoying this. But just now, I'm stuck.
I'm at Rallen's Tower. I have got up to the level where there are the wind funnels, and I am trying to get the key. In making the paths in the left hand room, I can never get one to connect with the lower crystal, and I assume I have to interact with both crystals to lower the spikes. Leaving the room (indeed, leaving the whole Tower) doesn't reset the paths, so I'm left with one path going to the top crystal, and one going to the steps in front of the spikes.
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks.
I'm at Rallen's Tower. I have got up to the level where there are the wind funnels, and I am trying to get the key. In making the paths in the left hand room, I can never get one to connect with the lower crystal, and I assume I have to interact with both crystals to lower the spikes. Leaving the room (indeed, leaving the whole Tower) doesn't reset the paths, so I'm left with one path going to the top crystal, and one going to the steps in front of the spikes.
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks.
Great game! I enjoyed it and it took me one and a half day to complete it :D But i wished there would be the choice to raise an army and conquer the world, maybe get income from the conquered villages/castles etc. and develop them. Maybe in your next work??? ;)
WheelmanZero
947
Glad you enjoyed it bud! The whole raising an army thing was referring more to recruiting summons and various underlings as you go along, though the evil soldiers don't actually do anything in terms of gameplay.
Those are some interesting suggestions you've got there, but managing conquered provinces would turn this into a different type of game. It would be like evil simtown. While I would pay good money to play evil simtown, it's not really the type of game I was aiming to make. (Sidenote: Somebody out there please make an evil version of simtown.)
Marking the rest as a spoiler, because every other thing I say is a spoiler.
Those are some interesting suggestions you've got there, but managing conquered provinces would turn this into a different type of game. It would be like evil simtown. While I would pay good money to play evil simtown, it's not really the type of game I was aiming to make. (Sidenote: Somebody out there please make an evil version of simtown.)
Marking the rest as a spoiler, because every other thing I say is a spoiler.
The villains don't actually get going when it comes to outright conquering things until the sequel, though by that time you won't be in control of them. At the very least you can look forward to seeing how familiar locations have changed under the acolytes' rule.
Thank you for making this game, it's truly awesome. I finished it with 15 hours of play, will leave a review in spoilers.
Story
There isn't much to say about it... The characters go on a quest to bring darkness upon the world and that's it. It's much more about the relationships between the characters and their motivation for helping the god of darkness.
Pandora wants revenge upon the world for the death of her loved ones.
Damien I feel just wanted to live normally, but people would hate him just for being a dark mage so he might as well kill them.
Azrielle wants the human world for the demons as the demon world is terrible compared to it.
Marcus is in search of knowledge, but the people around him wouldn't let him so he went to the dark side.
Gryger just wants more and more power.
There are many funny dialogs too, like Azrielle's and Pandora's dick sucking for Ragnarok or Marcus overly detailing everything or even the torturer guy saying he is busy making a spell to incinerate humans from the inside out.
Also there are lots of side stories, including those of the "heroes" (opposing party), that give the game a lot more depth.
Gameplay
Story
There isn't much to say about it... The characters go on a quest to bring darkness upon the world and that's it. It's much more about the relationships between the characters and their motivation for helping the god of darkness.
Pandora wants revenge upon the world for the death of her loved ones.
Damien I feel just wanted to live normally, but people would hate him just for being a dark mage so he might as well kill them.
Azrielle wants the human world for the demons as the demon world is terrible compared to it.
Marcus is in search of knowledge, but the people around him wouldn't let him so he went to the dark side.
Gryger just wants more and more power.
There are many funny dialogs too, like Azrielle's and Pandora's dick sucking for Ragnarok or Marcus overly detailing everything or even the torturer guy saying he is busy making a spell to incinerate humans from the inside out.
Also there are lots of side stories, including those of the "heroes" (opposing party), that give the game a lot more depth.
Gameplay
There are lots of cool mechanics and each character is unique in what they can do. I didn't like the idea of swapping characters though, either I use only 3 characters or use all of them and they stay all underlevelled, so I just decided to play with only Damien and Azrielle and ignore the other two. One thing that would be better for this is if all characters gained exp regardless of being in battle, or a exp boost for underlevelled party members.
Regarding the characters:
-Pandora is the best character as she can do everything from healing, buffing and damaging. But that doesn't matter as she is always in the party.
-Damien is a good supportive character because of the revive and the marionette skill that gives extra turns to allies (also goes well with pandora's black shield as the drawback is completely ignored).
-Azrielle is very versatile with good single target and aoe skills combined with the highest HP pool I think.
-Marcus. I found him lacking, maybe that's because he was underlevelled when I used him (near the end when all characters fight together).
-Gryger. Even though he as at the same level as Marcus ~15 end game, I found him overpowered because of high damage and immortality: if he were to die with berserker mode on, he instead healed to full health, I don't know if this is intended or not, but it's very OP.
Summons: I didn't really use other summons that much besides Lanith and the Gorgon.
-Lanith: The problem with her is that her charm abilities are useless... Against normal monsters you should be dealing damage to dispatch them quickly, but male bosses, which her abilities would be good against, are simply immune to them.
Her TP abilites deal good damage and her heal is useful. Her best use was in the tourney where I just spammed her drain claw attack making it a breeze.
-Kraken: This guy can act twice a turn, but his attacks deal low damage or drain all his mana to make him worthwhile.
-Dragon: I evolved him to the last form, but even then I felt he was too weak because of his low life and his new aoe attack draining half his total mana for less damage than the other characters. He was only useful early in the game when the party lacked aoe attacks.
-Gorgon: The best summon I think. Her ability to always crit combined with pandora's attack buffs and damien's marionette let me dispatch most bosses in a few turns. Not even counting her aoe coil swarm ability that can stun bosses and can crit, dealing even more damage than her attacks.
Regarding the characters:
-Pandora is the best character as she can do everything from healing, buffing and damaging. But that doesn't matter as she is always in the party.
-Damien is a good supportive character because of the revive and the marionette skill that gives extra turns to allies (also goes well with pandora's black shield as the drawback is completely ignored).
-Azrielle is very versatile with good single target and aoe skills combined with the highest HP pool I think.
-Marcus. I found him lacking, maybe that's because he was underlevelled when I used him (near the end when all characters fight together).
-Gryger. Even though he as at the same level as Marcus ~15 end game, I found him overpowered because of high damage and immortality: if he were to die with berserker mode on, he instead healed to full health, I don't know if this is intended or not, but it's very OP.
Summons: I didn't really use other summons that much besides Lanith and the Gorgon.
-Lanith: The problem with her is that her charm abilities are useless... Against normal monsters you should be dealing damage to dispatch them quickly, but male bosses, which her abilities would be good against, are simply immune to them.
Her TP abilites deal good damage and her heal is useful. Her best use was in the tourney where I just spammed her drain claw attack making it a breeze.
-Kraken: This guy can act twice a turn, but his attacks deal low damage or drain all his mana to make him worthwhile.
-Dragon: I evolved him to the last form, but even then I felt he was too weak because of his low life and his new aoe attack draining half his total mana for less damage than the other characters. He was only useful early in the game when the party lacked aoe attacks.
-Gorgon: The best summon I think. Her ability to always crit combined with pandora's attack buffs and damien's marionette let me dispatch most bosses in a few turns. Not even counting her aoe coil swarm ability that can stun bosses and can crit, dealing even more damage than her attacks.
WheelmanZero
947
Thanks for the review icaro, it was a pleasure to read through. It seems people have been discovering OP combinations that even I hadn't though of! That pesky glitch that restores HP upon dying in berserk mode has been annoyingly persistent, but I've been trying to think of a way to fix it.
Your rundown of each character's strengths and weaknesses made for quite an enjoyable read. While some characters are definitely better than others, I thought having a large selection to choose from would increase player options and add some replay value to the game.
Thanks for playing and sharing your thoughts, you made my day with this.
Your rundown of each character's strengths and weaknesses made for quite an enjoyable read. While some characters are definitely better than others, I thought having a large selection to choose from would increase player options and add some replay value to the game.
I powered through the game with Damien, Marcus, Lanith and the Kraken myself.
Thanks for playing and sharing your thoughts, you made my day with this.
Probably one of the RPG greatest games I've played! Much better than many very good paid games.
I am sure this game will get on the featured list, where it deserves to be.
Some general/specific things I have in mind that I haven't seen mentioned previously (spoilers, of course):
*Rozalind is near-invincible (she held up against Athena for like 50 turns alone, in the battle I thought I was supposed to win lol). I'm not sure if you intended this, but when she's in bat form and her HP drops to 0, she returns to normal form with full health. I thought this might be intentional, since she is supposedly the most powerful vampire, but the bat form ability can be spammed at no cost, so I wasn't sure if this was a bug or not. Anyways, a very very easy way to win the tournaments. If it were up to me, I'd keep the "bug", but make bat form allowable once per battle.
*I'd get rid of most of the instant-death scenarios though, like the bandits rolling boulders on you and the fire. Maybe make them injure you severely or something, or make only several misteps kill you. It just seems out of place, since you're surviving powerful thunderbolts from Odin, taking little damage from infernos, etc.
*I really liked the "last performance" ability, which I made Odin kill himself with. All the RPG games have bosses that are invincible to any status effects, so I felt it was very nice to have a character get strong enough to use very powerful spells. Also, just many unique characters and clever skills that really makes the battling much different and better than other RPGs. Damien was an incredibly unique character in every respect. So was Markus. And so were most other characters lol. Just an incredible job with characters.
*The game is incredibly well-balanced. All the major battles were not ridiculously difficult, and most weren't too easy. An "easy, medium, hard", setting could be added, but not necessary.
*You somehow managed to add voicing for all the attacks that weren't annoying (like most I've found) and really made the battle more realistic and energizing. The voice acting part was all great.
*I would like it if you gave Lanith just one moderately strong damaging attack, that can be used in general (and not just on men), that used her MP. Or maybe increase her attack stat a bit. She is underpowered in that sense, although the HP restore is insanely good.
*I couldn't help but think of Pokemon battle frontier (those arenas you go to after you beat the game) when I saw the tournament. A really good reference, if that's what you meant it to be.
***I really like how evil "truly wins" at the end. It's not some cliche RPG where an evil character turns "good" or something. This really falls in line with what I thought was the message of the game.
And please, whatever you do, don't make the sequel one where the good guys come in and beat the bad guys (for good) and everyone lives happily forever, etc.
This is just part of the incredible creativity that you show in story design.
***What really made the game incredible was the social commentary. I don't know if this was intentional or not, but it really reflects well the sentiments you see today (which I won't discuss too much). The fact that the "evil" characters aren't totally one-dimensional (which you did a great job in) really helps the player reflect upon the real world while playing.
These are just some things to come to mind. I have to admit I haven't discovered half of what's in the game yet (although I've finished it) because my first run-through of a game is mainly to beat it/get the endings, but I have a feeling the replay value here will be very great.
I'll probably post more comments later, when I've seen the game in more depth!
Thank you for making such a legendary game. I'm definitely looking forward to more from you, free or paid.
I am sure this game will get on the featured list, where it deserves to be.
Some general/specific things I have in mind that I haven't seen mentioned previously (spoilers, of course):
*Rozalind is near-invincible (she held up against Athena for like 50 turns alone, in the battle I thought I was supposed to win lol). I'm not sure if you intended this, but when she's in bat form and her HP drops to 0, she returns to normal form with full health. I thought this might be intentional, since she is supposedly the most powerful vampire, but the bat form ability can be spammed at no cost, so I wasn't sure if this was a bug or not. Anyways, a very very easy way to win the tournaments. If it were up to me, I'd keep the "bug", but make bat form allowable once per battle.
*I'd get rid of most of the instant-death scenarios though, like the bandits rolling boulders on you and the fire. Maybe make them injure you severely or something, or make only several misteps kill you. It just seems out of place, since you're surviving powerful thunderbolts from Odin, taking little damage from infernos, etc.
*I really liked the "last performance" ability, which I made Odin kill himself with. All the RPG games have bosses that are invincible to any status effects, so I felt it was very nice to have a character get strong enough to use very powerful spells. Also, just many unique characters and clever skills that really makes the battling much different and better than other RPGs. Damien was an incredibly unique character in every respect. So was Markus. And so were most other characters lol. Just an incredible job with characters.
*The game is incredibly well-balanced. All the major battles were not ridiculously difficult, and most weren't too easy. An "easy, medium, hard", setting could be added, but not necessary.
*You somehow managed to add voicing for all the attacks that weren't annoying (like most I've found) and really made the battle more realistic and energizing. The voice acting part was all great.
*I would like it if you gave Lanith just one moderately strong damaging attack, that can be used in general (and not just on men), that used her MP. Or maybe increase her attack stat a bit. She is underpowered in that sense, although the HP restore is insanely good.
*I couldn't help but think of Pokemon battle frontier (those arenas you go to after you beat the game) when I saw the tournament. A really good reference, if that's what you meant it to be.
***I really like how evil "truly wins" at the end. It's not some cliche RPG where an evil character turns "good" or something. This really falls in line with what I thought was the message of the game.
And please, whatever you do, don't make the sequel one where the good guys come in and beat the bad guys (for good) and everyone lives happily forever, etc.
This is just part of the incredible creativity that you show in story design.
***What really made the game incredible was the social commentary. I don't know if this was intentional or not, but it really reflects well the sentiments you see today (which I won't discuss too much). The fact that the "evil" characters aren't totally one-dimensional (which you did a great job in) really helps the player reflect upon the real world while playing.
These are just some things to come to mind. I have to admit I haven't discovered half of what's in the game yet (although I've finished it) because my first run-through of a game is mainly to beat it/get the endings, but I have a feeling the replay value here will be very great.
I'll probably post more comments later, when I've seen the game in more depth!
Thank you for making such a legendary game. I'm definitely looking forward to more from you, free or paid.
WheelmanZero
947
The tears of joy are real man. They're so real. That's some crazy high praise you just gave Enjel. The fact that you enjoyed the game that much is just wow. Crazy wow. That's the only way I can think to describe it. Crazy wow. I'll try to discuss everything using my usual "dump everything in a spoiler tag" method. Buckle up, because this is gonna be one doozy of a post.
The Woes of becoming Super Saiyan
It's funny you should mention limiting Rozalin's bat form to once per battle. Since I haven't been able to get her to actually die when her bat form is defeated for the life of me, I was thinking of using the solution you just suggested. Now the only problem is getting the skill sealing state to actually stick.
Instantaneous Demises
Ah yes, the insta-death segments. I had to be careful while creating those sections in order to avoid giving the player a cheap death without warning. I thought they would break up the gameplay, but from a realistic standpoint, Pandora should be able to shrug off having a mountain dropped on her head after all the abuse she's gone through. Of course, this is true of many rpg protagonists. How many of us laughed when Sephiroth's Supernova destroyed several planets, a moon and the sun, only for it to fail to kill a party of plucky young heroes?
Kakuna used Harden! It's super effective!
Creating the various movesets was a lot of fun, particularly Damien's. In the original build of he game, he didn't have last performance or marionette, making him one of the most useless characters in the game. Then me and a friend got to brainstorming and I was inspired to make those two attacks. Now he's easily one of the most valuable characters in the game. In general, I gave the various characters powers I've always wanted to have in an rpg.
Sound Snippets
The voices were a lot of fun to add as well. Albeit tedious fun, but still fun. I managed to stumble across a sound effect resource site that had compiled countless sounds from various games. When I first found it, I felt like a kid in a candy store. I don't know how many hours I sunk into sifting through voice clips, but whenever I found a fitting voice I thought to myself, "YES! That's exactly what I wanted him\her to sound like!" It was awesome.
You got your Assassin in my White Mage!
While it does take some time to build up, Lanith's sadistic lash is easily one of the strongest physicals in the game, especially when she's buffed. I thought having that along with her blistering speed and the ability to heal made her pretty OP. She definitely has her faults, being somewhat of a gimmick character, but I wanted each summon to have certain strengths and weaknesses so that the player wouldn't rely on a single one the entire game.
Umbral Soul Red/Blue Version
I had Pokemon Colosseum in mind when I created Arcfall Colosseum, so you hit the nail on the head there. I'm a sucker for pokemon games, since it was one of the very first rpg's I had ever played. Come to think of it, pokemon blue might've been my first rpg.
Empathetic Evil
To be honest, I didn't have any kind of social commentary in mind when making this game. One thing I did want to do however, was explore the more human side of villains, and how they come to be what they are. I enjoy villains who are evil simply because they're psychotic maniacs or selfish jerks, but in this series I wanted the player to understand the perspectives of both sides of the conflict. I thought being invested in both the heroes and the villains would raise the stakes when they finally clash, as you would have grown attached to both parties. I suppose I did end up making a social commentary though. Often times people become who they are due to their circumstances and how they are treated.
I'm honored that you would hold my game in such high esteem and look forward to providing you with more entertainment in the future. I'm steering clear of steam though. Adding money into the mix severely limits what you can do without getting sued when it comes to rpg maker.
The Woes of becoming Super Saiyan
It's funny you should mention limiting Rozalin's bat form to once per battle. Since I haven't been able to get her to actually die when her bat form is defeated for the life of me, I was thinking of using the solution you just suggested. Now the only problem is getting the skill sealing state to actually stick.
Instantaneous Demises
Ah yes, the insta-death segments. I had to be careful while creating those sections in order to avoid giving the player a cheap death without warning. I thought they would break up the gameplay, but from a realistic standpoint, Pandora should be able to shrug off having a mountain dropped on her head after all the abuse she's gone through. Of course, this is true of many rpg protagonists. How many of us laughed when Sephiroth's Supernova destroyed several planets, a moon and the sun, only for it to fail to kill a party of plucky young heroes?
Kakuna used Harden! It's super effective!
Creating the various movesets was a lot of fun, particularly Damien's. In the original build of he game, he didn't have last performance or marionette, making him one of the most useless characters in the game. Then me and a friend got to brainstorming and I was inspired to make those two attacks. Now he's easily one of the most valuable characters in the game. In general, I gave the various characters powers I've always wanted to have in an rpg.
Sound Snippets
The voices were a lot of fun to add as well. Albeit tedious fun, but still fun. I managed to stumble across a sound effect resource site that had compiled countless sounds from various games. When I first found it, I felt like a kid in a candy store. I don't know how many hours I sunk into sifting through voice clips, but whenever I found a fitting voice I thought to myself, "YES! That's exactly what I wanted him\her to sound like!" It was awesome.
You got your Assassin in my White Mage!
While it does take some time to build up, Lanith's sadistic lash is easily one of the strongest physicals in the game, especially when she's buffed. I thought having that along with her blistering speed and the ability to heal made her pretty OP. She definitely has her faults, being somewhat of a gimmick character, but I wanted each summon to have certain strengths and weaknesses so that the player wouldn't rely on a single one the entire game.
Umbral Soul Red/Blue Version
I had Pokemon Colosseum in mind when I created Arcfall Colosseum, so you hit the nail on the head there. I'm a sucker for pokemon games, since it was one of the very first rpg's I had ever played. Come to think of it, pokemon blue might've been my first rpg.
Empathetic Evil
To be honest, I didn't have any kind of social commentary in mind when making this game. One thing I did want to do however, was explore the more human side of villains, and how they come to be what they are. I enjoy villains who are evil simply because they're psychotic maniacs or selfish jerks, but in this series I wanted the player to understand the perspectives of both sides of the conflict. I thought being invested in both the heroes and the villains would raise the stakes when they finally clash, as you would have grown attached to both parties. I suppose I did end up making a social commentary though. Often times people become who they are due to their circumstances and how they are treated.
I'm honored that you would hold my game in such high esteem and look forward to providing you with more entertainment in the future. I'm steering clear of steam though. Adding money into the mix severely limits what you can do without getting sued when it comes to rpg maker.
]I'm glad you like my comments! I'm just telling the truth though :)
Also, here are some other things I noticed:
(1) Ragnarok can defeat Jeremy in the prologue with taking as little damage as possible from the 2nd round, and getting low rolls from Avatar Jeremy, and spamming the move that raises MAT +2 (fear me!) and the very strong single-target dark attack (cease to exist!). I managed to do this with 80 HP left, and couldn't make any progress, since the goddess just didn't do anything and took 0 from everything. So I'd make Jeremy more resistant to ensure he wins.
(2) Perhaps allow forfeits from the Arena. I accidentally put like a LV.13 Demora against the bloodsucker, and it was basically slapping the bug while it got all its health back. Luckily, after at least a hundred turns, the bug missed enough shots so that I could finally win, but I think you should allow for an escape (Demora's regen made defeat impossible) by forfeit, or else this could be a very bad way to lose a ton of game progress.
(3) Make it impossible to enter the castle from the final battle. I managed to do this, and the whole army was at the castle, and it was raining inside. But yeah, disable that option.
(4) Bringing Helga to the arena signup place puts a permanent sprite of Grelda nearby, which can't be interacted with.
(5) Although the lobster salesman is gone from Gullivan before the final battle, you can still talk to him, like as if he were invisible.
(6) I think Chimera's attack should be lowered a bit. It gets very strong, and the attack stat drops a lot upon evolution.
(7) I disagree with some previous comments that Demora is overpowered - the ability to reflect magic isn't useful until the very end more or less.
(8) Talking to Lanith and taking a bath shows a second Lanith or Pandora (forgot which one) standing there, so that should be deleted.
These are just some small suggestions I have to really smooth out this game. I would also add more sidequests if possible, and even expand the game, since it's just that good.
Hope this helps!
Also, here are some other things I noticed:
(1) Ragnarok can defeat Jeremy in the prologue with taking as little damage as possible from the 2nd round, and getting low rolls from Avatar Jeremy, and spamming the move that raises MAT +2 (fear me!) and the very strong single-target dark attack (cease to exist!). I managed to do this with 80 HP left, and couldn't make any progress, since the goddess just didn't do anything and took 0 from everything. So I'd make Jeremy more resistant to ensure he wins.
(2) Perhaps allow forfeits from the Arena. I accidentally put like a LV.13 Demora against the bloodsucker, and it was basically slapping the bug while it got all its health back. Luckily, after at least a hundred turns, the bug missed enough shots so that I could finally win, but I think you should allow for an escape (Demora's regen made defeat impossible) by forfeit, or else this could be a very bad way to lose a ton of game progress.
(3) Make it impossible to enter the castle from the final battle. I managed to do this, and the whole army was at the castle, and it was raining inside. But yeah, disable that option.
(4) Bringing Helga to the arena signup place puts a permanent sprite of Grelda nearby, which can't be interacted with.
(5) Although the lobster salesman is gone from Gullivan before the final battle, you can still talk to him, like as if he were invisible.
(6) I think Chimera's attack should be lowered a bit. It gets very strong, and the attack stat drops a lot upon evolution.
(7) I disagree with some previous comments that Demora is overpowered - the ability to reflect magic isn't useful until the very end more or less.
(8) Talking to Lanith and taking a bath shows a second Lanith or Pandora (forgot which one) standing there, so that should be deleted.
These are just some small suggestions I have to really smooth out this game. I would also add more sidequests if possible, and even expand the game, since it's just that good.
Hope this helps!
WheelmanZero
947
Its been a good long while since I got a bug report. Thanks Enjel, this was extremely helpful.
Starmage
8425
OMG!!! I've enjoyed the demo so much and now I can't believe it is actually done, lol! I haven't checked the status and only noticed the "Completed" just now. xDD Wow, I'm going to enjoy playing the full version! xDD :D
I will sure be back with my thoughts soon, Wheelman! ;)
I will sure be back with my thoughts soon, Wheelman! ;)
WheelmanZero
947
Enjoy bud! There are a few lingering issues that have already been corrected for the next version, but the game is perfectly beatable as is. Let me know if you have any trouble.
Starmage
8425
Ohh!! Well, I haven't noticed anything so far (I guess maybe when you're immersed to the game so much you'd no longer look for issues, lol. xD ) I played through the prologue again btw, just so I can experience once again its epicness. xDD
Hey Wheelman! I just finished the game and wanted to make some comments on it (hidden for spoilers):
On the whole, I greatly enjoyed the game, and appreciate all the hard work you've poured into it!
Criticisms:
1. As much as I enjoyed the story on the whole, please, please get a spell checker. I twitched every time I saw "thier", for example, and early on spelling errors were almost enough to make me not give the game a fair chance.
2. Pandora's healing spell might be too much; perhaps making it single target would pull it in line? I managed to beat Athena with just Pandora and Lanith by combining that with the regen potions and Lanith's own heal in emergencies (both characters were in the low 30s). I got the hint that it was supposed to be a guaranteed loss from Pandora thinking "maybe I can't win this", but I stubbornly managed to prove that wrong, no matter what the post-battle cutscene said. ;P
3. Is there a way to help keep alternate main party members and especially summons from falling behind in levels? A few hours into the game I made the determination to stick with Lanith since she often added amusing commentary, and my other summons languished almost entirely unused.
Praise:
1. I know it has to be a lot of work, but having cool, unique context-sensitive dialogue is a huge plus. I made a point of summoning each of my monsters in the early Damien fight because I wanted to see what he would say, and again to see the announcer's/summon's commentary in the coliseum whenever he first meets a new talking summon. I also saved/reloaded to see each party member combination version of the scene where you meet Lanith's sister Lonnie, which had lots of enjoyable moments like Damien being his amusingly asshole-y self in pestering Marcus, Azrielle being able to see through the illusion outright, and Gryger revealing hidden depths that he's a lot sharper than people might assume.
2. I was impressed by how involved and epic some of the sidequests turned out to be. For example, I never imagined that the conversation with the sister from Damien's church would culminate in an apocalyptic battle with Reinhart over who got to be dark god.
3. I don't know if this was intentional or a consequence of being overleveled, but guaranteed escape from random battles was fantastic. It went a long way towards preserving my patience towards the end of the game.
Also, a couple bug reports (current as of June 18):
1. Chimera doesn't get EXP from those 600-EXP drink things (in his first form, at least; not sure about later ones).
2. When I played, there was an NPC in the final dungeon I could talk to who would remove the light barrier keeping me from Athena (presumably a debugging assistant who wasn't supposed to make it into the game?)
1. As much as I enjoyed the story on the whole, please, please get a spell checker. I twitched every time I saw "thier", for example, and early on spelling errors were almost enough to make me not give the game a fair chance.
2. Pandora's healing spell might be too much; perhaps making it single target would pull it in line? I managed to beat Athena with just Pandora and Lanith by combining that with the regen potions and Lanith's own heal in emergencies (both characters were in the low 30s). I got the hint that it was supposed to be a guaranteed loss from Pandora thinking "maybe I can't win this", but I stubbornly managed to prove that wrong, no matter what the post-battle cutscene said. ;P
3. Is there a way to help keep alternate main party members and especially summons from falling behind in levels? A few hours into the game I made the determination to stick with Lanith since she often added amusing commentary, and my other summons languished almost entirely unused.
Praise:
1. I know it has to be a lot of work, but having cool, unique context-sensitive dialogue is a huge plus. I made a point of summoning each of my monsters in the early Damien fight because I wanted to see what he would say, and again to see the announcer's/summon's commentary in the coliseum whenever he first meets a new talking summon. I also saved/reloaded to see each party member combination version of the scene where you meet Lanith's sister Lonnie, which had lots of enjoyable moments like Damien being his amusingly asshole-y self in pestering Marcus, Azrielle being able to see through the illusion outright, and Gryger revealing hidden depths that he's a lot sharper than people might assume.
2. I was impressed by how involved and epic some of the sidequests turned out to be. For example, I never imagined that the conversation with the sister from Damien's church would culminate in an apocalyptic battle with Reinhart over who got to be dark god.
3. I don't know if this was intentional or a consequence of being overleveled, but guaranteed escape from random battles was fantastic. It went a long way towards preserving my patience towards the end of the game.
Also, a couple bug reports (current as of June 18):
1. Chimera doesn't get EXP from those 600-EXP drink things (in his first form, at least; not sure about later ones).
2. When I played, there was an NPC in the final dungeon I could talk to who would remove the light barrier keeping me from Athena (presumably a debugging assistant who wasn't supposed to make it into the game?)
On the whole, I greatly enjoyed the game, and appreciate all the hard work you've poured into it!
WheelmanZero
947
Thanks for the feedback Envy, I'm glad you were able to survive the onslaught of "thiers". They have tested the fortitude of many brave souls, several of which have faltered, but I am pleased you were stone-willed enough to stand your ground against their scourge until the end.
Alright alright, on a more serious note, I'm pleased to say that most of your concerns have already been addressed for the the next version of the game. I've corrected a myriad of spelling errors and various other glitches, and removed Pandora's healing spell (it was making things far too easy to be honest).
I've adjusted Pandora's leveling curve so she doesn't outlevel everyone else quite as fast. In order to make leveling summons easier, I've also made gold more readily available, and increased the effects of Demon's Draughts. I'll have to double check the common event that assigns exp boosts when draughts are used to make sure Chimera gets his due. And yeah, that NPC was a debug event, but fortunately he's been fired. He's now making a respectable salary at Longhorn Steakhouse.
Being unable to escape from random battles is a pet peeve of mine, so I made nearly all the battles in the game have a 100% escape rate thanks to a handy little script I found. My rule is, if it doesn't seem fun to me, it's not making it into my rpg. Yeesh, yet another player managed to win a supposedly unwinnable battle. Man, I must really tank at my own game. Fortunately I've tweaked that as well.
Thanks a boatload Envy, your imput means a lot. I won't be done with this game until it has reached absolute perfection! But since absolute perfection doesn't actually exist, I'll just settle for ambiguous perfection.
Alright alright, on a more serious note, I'm pleased to say that most of your concerns have already been addressed for the the next version of the game. I've corrected a myriad of spelling errors and various other glitches, and removed Pandora's healing spell (it was making things far too easy to be honest).
I've adjusted Pandora's leveling curve so she doesn't outlevel everyone else quite as fast. In order to make leveling summons easier, I've also made gold more readily available, and increased the effects of Demon's Draughts. I'll have to double check the common event that assigns exp boosts when draughts are used to make sure Chimera gets his due. And yeah, that NPC was a debug event, but fortunately he's been fired. He's now making a respectable salary at Longhorn Steakhouse.
Being unable to escape from random battles is a pet peeve of mine, so I made nearly all the battles in the game have a 100% escape rate thanks to a handy little script I found. My rule is, if it doesn't seem fun to me, it's not making it into my rpg. Yeesh, yet another player managed to win a supposedly unwinnable battle. Man, I must really tank at my own game. Fortunately I've tweaked that as well.
Thanks a boatload Envy, your imput means a lot. I won't be done with this game until it has reached absolute perfection! But since absolute perfection doesn't actually exist, I'll just settle for ambiguous perfection.
