Extraneous

Dark Gaia reviews VerifyedRasta's latest game Extraneous

Well, Rasta has told everyone time and again that this game began as nothing more than a little Halloween side project, and was never intended to be a serious game, so overall, I wasn't expecting the next The Way out of this title.
I was right, but what I didn't expect is that the game is full of great programming, funny humor and a short, sharp burst of fun gameplay.

The story is very simple, and nowhere near as serious as it tries to be humerous. You play as a young girl and boy who wake up in the woods outside a human village where trick or treating is currently underway. Your characters mistake all the costumed kiddies as monsters, so immediately you declare war, and after a few battle tutorials, you begin wreaking havok.

The battle system is very well designed and flows very smoothly. Some well written (and humerous) tutorials get you up to speed on how to fight. Basically, you have one melee attacker/mage, and one ranged attacker in your party. The strategy the battle system involves is positioning the two in ways where they will support and help each other out. Your two characters are able to hurt each other, so you have to think in battle, and not many games these days require that sort of strategy.
By winning battles, you can earn points which you can spend to upgrade your character's abilities so that you can kill more monsters/kiddies a lot easier and quicker. The upgrades are good, they make an improvement but don't make you overpowered either.

The mapping and sound, from what I've seen is decent. There's no mind blowing epic custom tracks or anything to be found, and the sounds are the same generica we've all heard countless times, but it gets the job done and seems to fit the tone of the game well.
The mapping is well done, using a mixture of the VX RTP and the Mack tiles. There were a few mapping inconsistencies, such as the tutorial area, but the main village and other areas are done well.

So, in conclusion, I say that although Extraneous isn't the biggest, most epic RPG you'll ever play, it's certainly a fun way to spend an hour or two and I strongly urge you to get it if you are bored.