A Most Inconvenient Evening

Game Title: A Most Inconvenient Evening
Engine: RPG Maker VX Ace
Status at review: Completed


This is a game made during the Winterruption event, where entries had a focus on side-quests.

The game has undergone some revisions since it's initial release. This review is based on version 1.2 of the game. With that in mind, let's drop in, and see exactly how inconvenient this evening is!


Story/Writing
The basic story is pretty compact. We have our protagonist, the dragon Kylaila, whose favorite watering hole has been cursed by a succubus. She decides to take it upon herself to undo the curse. Maybe help out some of the nearby villagers as well, because SIDE QUESTS she's a friendly dragon.

As for writing, I didn't spot anything wrong. Kylaila, herself, is memorable, as is the succubus that cursed the land, Sir Tinsley (though he can get a little annoying), and the "Boyfriend Enthusiast". The latter of which was memorable for a different reason, which I'll get to later.


Graphics/Music
There's a touch of run-time package usage that I was able to detect. However, for the most part, the graphics were made, by and large, by pianotm. Of course, the dragon is not called Kylaila without reason.

As for music, there's a few tracks that had me tap my feet, and/or snap my fingers with the beat. It all comes together really really well.


Gameplay
One of the first things I noticed while playing the game was the player's movement speed. It's painfully slow. I get that you're playing as this big fucking dragon, and maybe one shouldn't expect to be running at high speeds everywhere. The "running" speed actually the same as what would be "normal" walking speed, but it still feels slower than that. It makes the game feel much more tedious than it probably should be.

Talking to the villagers tends to initiate side-quests. Such was expected, but, I personally would have liked a quest-tracker to refer to. However, perhaps the event-based nature of development curtailed such a feature, so I'm willing to give the game some leeway on this point.

If there is one side-quest I had no idea how to complete for the longest time, it's the one where the priestess is looking for dragon scales for a dress she's trying to make. Other quests I had trouble with include chasing the apple thief, and paying the troll's toll. Thankfully, the game comes with a help-file for the troll, which was immensely helpful! The other quests I didn't have too much trouble with.

One thing I have to mention is that there seems to be an inconsistent bug when talking to the "Boyfriend Enthusiast". In one conversation, the screen fades to black, displays to another map, plays an animation, fades to black again, and never fades back in. I'm pretty sure I've had that very same conversation previously without a hitch, so I'm not sure what's going on here.


The moment of truth
I definitely feel the speed of which players move around is a huge damper in my enjoyment of this game. Like, this is a pretty solid game in all other aspects I can think of. It almost seems unfair to the game dock points away because of that one thing, but, it's a pretty big thing in my book.

So, what does all that mean, in the end? I believe the game has the potential to achieve a 3.5 rating. Maybe even 4! However, I think what this game ends up being in it's current form is a...


BOTTOM LINE: 2.5/5