DIS'S PROFILE

Camtasia Studio

Looking good. I'd like to add that the font used is a public font made by East. =)

I didn't get a chance to play the third project, but thats ok because I'm buddied up with the author so I'll submit a review on that later. (I'll submit my reviews on the main site as well.)

BALMUNG CYCLE - By The Magi

Story: 7/10
The story was based on Magi's vast knowledge of Norse Mythology. (Something that I take a huge interest in.) I'm not going to give everything away, but it is interesting enough to want to know what's going to happen. It is decent, doesn't really grab me enough to the point that I MUST play, but it's still pretty good. Dialogue was genius and was a strong point in the story. (The humor was prime!)

Gameplay: 8/10
This game is FUN. Unlike most rm2k/3 games, the gameplay in Balmung Cycle will keep you entertained if anything else. The battle system is a highly editted version of the dbs and features a few neat little systems, like Adrenaline. The dungeons were very colorful and were filled with difficult enemies, as well as some sort of puzzle or problem to solve. (Noatun Forest was the bomb!) Weapon Attributes were a very nice touch that added to some slight customization. (Although if you used Distortion, good luck inflicting damage on anyone. =() Only slight problem I see here is that battles weren't very balanced at the beginning. (I don't know if this was fixed in one of the 26734739 patches he had.) Also, normal battles got very boring eventually, considering how most of the time I did the same thing every battle. Boss battles were prime, but I found myself turning the game off if I got into a battle on the world map, or if I got tired of doing the same thing over and over in a dungeon. This of course is probably just my personal opinion, I tend to like battles that make me use my brain a little more.

Music: 9/10
I didn't recognize any of the music in this game at all. (Which is a good thing.) Every track was very nice and used at the perfect time. (I loved the music used in Borea!) Balmung Cycle has a very nice musical score that seems like was pieced together from several obscure sources. Music is a breaking point for me when it comes to games. If your music sucks, I won't play. (Along with a few other people I'm sure.) If you like good music in a game, then you should definately check out some of the selections Magi made for his project! =D

Graphics: 7/10
This is the game's weak end. It looks VERY similar to the game Rudra's Treasure. But I won't let that rule this game out, Magi has mastered the use of ripped graphics and it definately shows in Balmung Cycle. Every map looks like it was carefully made and you'll find that this game has very many chipset mixes that you haven't seen before. (I assume he ripped them himself) Even though they are rips, Magi still took his time to make his game look VERY nice, and I admire that in an author.

Overall: 8.5/10
This game is a perfect example of what I frequently call "Glorious". The graphics, although rips, were used very well and it is obvious that Magi took his time building the maps and editting chipsets. I didn't recognize ONE song used in this, each track must have come from a very obscure source and they were all used at the perfect moment. (Music plays a BIG part in rpgs) Gameplay will keep the average gamer entertained until the very end. An overall very great game, I recommend it to everyone that enjoys a good rpg experience.


DEMON LEGACY - By Nightblade
Story: 9/10
Wow... what a story! I'm not going to leak anything, but Demon Legacy's story blew me away and just left me wanting more from Nightblade. The villain is a very glorious character. If there is anything that I like, it's an interesting villain. You would think from a name like "Demon Legacy" that it would be some cliche story about hell, but you better think again. It started off a little slow, but it definately picks up later on. If you play rpgs for it's story, then play Demon Legacy. You won't be disappointed.

Gameplay: 6/10
This is the game's weak end. Battles use the dbs, but it's your average battle system. The techniques were nice, but there isn't very much customization in the game. Gameplay is very linear and if the story wasn't so nice I don't think I would've been as interested as I was. However, it is still well enough to keep the average gamer entertained. There were some nice puzzles in some of the dungeons, but they were buggy. Very nice animations though!

Music: 7/10
Music was used perfectly. I loved the villain's theme, I didn't reconize it at all. I wish Nightblade had kept his old battle song, it sounded a lot better than the one he has now. (It sounds like your average "I have to save the day" song.) Overall, music was nice, although I recognized quite a few tracks used. (From other professional games.)

Graphics: 6/10
Graphics were used well. They were a mixture of rips and rtp styled characters. (Mostly Final Fantasy 3 and Chrono Trigger graphics were used.) There were quite a few mixes in the chipsets, and consistancy is not a plus in this case. However, Nightblade did make the look work, and you probably won't even notice anything bad about the graphical use unless you were a designer yourself.

Overall: 7.5/10
Another good game that I'd recommend to check out. However, if you're into zooming through the story and getting right to the action, you will probably not play the game all the way through. I loved this game for it's story. Gameplay is average, but if that is what you are looking for, then go play Final Fantasy, because you'll only be entertained by this game for an hour or so.

You talk about GW alot... whats your obsession with that place?

Haha! That shit's raw!