Aelwyn's Journey

Aelwyn's Journey by kory_toombs



First Thoughts:
Right from the title screen, I knew that Aelwyn's Journey was going to be more serious in tone than the other games I've recently played. It's not that RPG Maker games can't have epic storylines or contain serious subject matter, it's just that when characters are all cutesy little guys, you have to work extra hard to make your game serious. Aelwyn's Journey, by virtue of the chosen graphics, the dark and drab setting, the ominus music and monster sprites, might be enough for some to say "This is too realistic for me!"

Story:
You are Aelwyn, an Elf and one of the few remaining of her kind in existence. Humans have conquered the realm and the Kingdom of Sura has decreed that all other races be snuffed out. Aelwyn's people have fled north some time ago, and since she has just escaped from the kingdom that would have killed her, she is now on a journey to join them. As she'll soon learn, not all Humans want her dead, and a gallant warrior known as "The Wall" has agreed to escort her home. It's a good thing too, as hunters from the Kingdom of Sura are hot on their trail and relentlessly stay in pursuit of their prey.



Game Play:
Aelwyn's Journey has some interesting game mechanics. Aelwyn begins the game with only a basic sword and the "Steal" skill. It makes sense, as I can imagine that she has to steal to survive while you're hiding from everyone who wants to kill you. Gawion, "The Wall", has the "Cover" skill when he joins you as befits his role as escort and bodyguard.

The battles are side view and there's no ATB guage. On your turn you input BOTH Aelwyn's and Gawion's Actions, and then round plays out. As the game progresses, the characters learn new skills that cost MP to use. When Aelwyn caps out at level 15, she'll have just 5 MP points. Spells cost 1, and her later abilities of Enrage and Final Attack cost 3 and 5 respectively. The characters also have the "Guard" skill which not only reduces damage by 50%, but it also restores 1 MP point back. The challenge now becomes managing your MP points while also attempting to dole out damage and heal yourself properly.

After each battle, you are fully healed in both HP and MP, whether you level up or not. Random battles are frequent, so as long as you save your game in between battles, you're ALWAYS going to be at full health. The game gets much harder after you leave the fort to the north, so be prepared to grind in the first area for a little while. However, You are able to change the difficulty setting (I played on Hard Mode up until the last boss.)

There's a Teleport feature that's quite useful. If you press "S" on the map, you'll set an invisible warp destination. If you press "D" you are instantly teleported to that exact spot. I used this right in front of the store, then I went to kill monsters and when I was done... warped right back to the store to upgrade equipment. It's a time saver!

There's a puzzle involving a Red, Blue, and Black orbs... which wasn't hard, but took a little time finding the correct combination.

Ultimately, the game play is challenging and the boss battles are satisfying to beat (at least on hard mode anyhow).



Graphics and Music:
The graphics in this game feature animated fantasy models. Whether these graphics were intended for RPG Maker VX Ace or not, I'm unsure. What I do know is that the level of detail and realism of the character busts just solidifies the serious tone of the game as a whole. The mapping is decent enough, with clear paths to follow. Another detail that I really appreciated was that the enemies you kill leave their dead bodies on the battlefield. It's just another way to give the game that extra bit of realism that actually hits home when you're fighting other humans (as opposed to beasts and bugs). These humans left you no choice but to slay them. The music is dreary, ominous, and repetitive in some areas. It fit the scenes, but after grinding for awhile I turned my sound off.



Overall:
Aelwyn's Journey is a good game that I definitely recommend playing. It does have a few gameplay issues that only really appear in hindsight. For example, once you have left the fort and reached the cave, there really is no use for money anymore. The fire, ice, and thunder spells are weak and there are no stronger versions of those spells. Not that I'd use them anyway once I had Enrage and Final Attack.. if you can pull off an "Enraged Final Attack" you'll kill anything!

Story-wise, the twist ending made a lot of sense to me and I didn't see it coming. Therefore, while a good ending, it was bittersweet. Just like in real life, it rarely ends with "And they lived happily ever after..."