Virgo vs the Zodiac

This is a demo review.
This is a review for version 0.1.6. The demo can be finished in about 1 hour.

Intro
Virgo vs the Zodiac is a RPG game about constellations. You'll play as Virgo which embarks to Capricon's place. Most of the items are interactable and the game uses custom assets.

Graphics
As i said before, the game uses custom assets. I love the both the sprite mapping and 2D character potraits. Both ginger man and small salarymen are also adorable.

Music
The music is customized. I love the music, especially the ones in the intro. They sounds great and you won't get bored listening to them for a long time.

Story
Most of the story is emphasized in the intro. All characters have their own talking style and it makes the dialogue flows smoothly. You can even talk to most of the objects and NPC to either find unique facts or items. The ones i really love from the game is how some of the sentences are moving around.



The game
This game offers two difficulties; Stress-free Mode, the easier one, and Zodiac Mode, the normal one. You'll get an extra buff if you choose to play the first one and that's what i played.

There are no random encounters. However, you might not able to distinguish between enemies and NPC because they look similar. Your HP and MP will be restored after each battle. You can also restore your HP and MP using items which are limited in the game. I don't have any problem with the items in Stress-free Mode, but i think i might get a trouble in saving up for the items in Zodiac Mode.

Speaking of battles, the game introduces different types: mutable, fixed, and cardinal. Although these types will be useful in battles, these types will also help in decision making, which i believe will lead to a different story branching. You also can only do some specific action if you have enough stats.



Your equipment will decide your character growth. These equipments will grant you a certain boost (or even a new skill) that can help you in battle or increase your stat on level up.

The battle system is quite different than most RPG Maker games. Although you still have your normal attack, skill, and guard, the guard skill will be completely based on the shield that you use. You also only have a limited amount of skill that you can use for each battle. This makes it very difficult for me to beat the game without using Soap, an item that can restore this counter.

Sometimes, i'm having a hard time to know how to advance through the story because i have to inspect a certain item to progress.. without any notification or whatsoever. I'm not really into inspecting all items, especially because almost all of them are interactable.

The last thing that i want to say is about the save feature. There is this character named "Save Dinosaur" that will help you save (although you can save from the main menu) and warn you to save before the upcoming battle. I find that the Save Dinosaurs to be adorable.

Pros:
- Customizable stats
- Story branching
- No random encounters
- Stat affecting equipments

Cons:
- Sometimes it might be hard to find how to progress the game
- Limited items

Conclusion
This is a RPG Maker game with a lot of features and potential.



--
There is typo on Precise Cut's description. "A tricky slash. Requires precise Z imput but provides high damage.

Final Score: 4/5
Although this is a RPG Maker game, i don't feel like playing a RPG Maker game at all. I'm looking forward to its completion.