NTC3'S PROFILE

Well, I didn't check this for a couple of days, and now my quote had led to this mini-argument. Interesting, especially since I kind of see both points.

author=Sooz
"Thing there, go get," has been a tried and true videro game plot for decades.

True.

author=kentona
...have you played the original Final Fantasy?

Also true (although I haven't played it.) However, that was how many years ago exactly? The world has indeed moved on, even if our engines is limited to the glory days of late 80's/early 90's.

I certainly understand the scope creep, and a detailed story with 30 characters would not really work, unless split over several instalments to create RMN version of Game of Thrones (someone totally ought to consider that the next time, BTW.)

However, I do kind of wonder for whom the finished product will really be for. It's said that the 30 characters are the core of the project and stuff, but does it really matter to someone who wasn't present during those discussions, and who will only see a bunch of interchangeable faces with somewhat different skill selections, most of which would not even be needed for completing the game?

I do suppose that an RMN community game should be oriented towards said community first and foremost, but this is not one of those Mario level packs anymore. People are prepared to put in some real effort, and it's worth asking whether that would justify a game that gets a couple hundred downloads post-completion and then sits there gathering digital dust. (AKA, the fate of nearly every other community game I've seen on here so far.) Sure, you can always bring Hero's Realm as a counter-point, but that had power of nostalgia that this doesn't really seem to have. The only other successful example of story-lacking JRPG on here I can think of is Wine & Roses, and that also had a rather different specific with its boss-only approach.

Again, I'm only trying to present outsider's perspective of the project: the last thing I want to do is offend anyone on here.

Well, the way you had that list at the end sounded very definitive, almost like a post-mortem, and so I assumed most of it is done. Nevertheless, I really hope you're right about the people you're getting feedback from being enough to justify the lack of demo. Otherwise, you'll end like this game, which had no demo too. Here's the reception it got.

Sure, point taken about your previous games, but I think that going from one incomplete and two short games, neither of which was received well on here, to a full-fledged commercial game where it'll be judged by professional critics, many eager for blood, is a brave leap indeed. To be fair, I actually like a the trust of your blog, and really impressed at how you managed to have doors breaking down. Nevertheless, I do advise caution and extra care with development, because once it's out commercially, it's out, and any negative reception it might get early on, and you won't be able to scrub it out of existence.

As a counterpoint, here are two other RMN games that were released recently commercially on Metacritic. Both of them were received very well on here and their developers also had better track records. Right now, one is a semi-success story with decent Metascore and sales. The other one was hit by a bad review early on, and gathered fewer attention in spite of being released earlier.

TLDR: I do hope this gets is finished and is good, but I also want to summarise better the degree of competition out in the commercial world.
Like I said before, this is what can easily happen to RMN games even with established developers

A bit late here, so...

author=iddalai
Don't worry unity, we still love you! :)

Basically this. Not sure if there's anything more to say.

author=LockeZ
The locations are what make it potentially so much work, not the characters. Adding more characters beyond about the tenth one doesn't cost more than an hour of time for each one, really. At that point they're all just additional combinations of existing skills and equipment, and don't change the game balance enough to require more testing or anything like that. Also, the character submissions are the heart of the game, and the thing people got really into coming up with - the locations were done later and the topic where we came up with the locations got a far less enthusiastic response in the forums.

Gameplay-wise, you're absolutely right. However, isn't there supposed to be some story attached to them too? In this case, cutting character number down would certainly help to make it more manageable. Unless, of course, it's going be a Jagged Alliance kind of thing where the non-gameplay differences between characters begin and end with their biography and there's no character development/evolution throughout the entire game. From what I have gathered so far, that's not really going to be the case, although I may be mistaken here.

Anyway, best of luck to those trying to revive the game now. I would've gladly joined you, but I don't even have time for reviews at the moment, let alone proper writing.

Well, I hope you have a good holiday! I have played a bit of the demo too, actually and liked it a lot more than the others I have played so far, actually (except for OMNIS: Erias Line, but that's as complete as it's going to be). I should have a review done by the end of next month, since I'm unfortunately swamped with IRL stuff at the moment.

Nice pixel art! And well, those examples you mentioned all had one action figure type, right? It's probably best to do the same here, especially since action figures of our characters don't really make any sense in universe, unlike those examples you mentioned.

I would say an Enforcer Captain action figure would make the most sense, if it's actively produced to make the Solis forces look cool even to young children. Alternatively, tech worker one is my favorite, and can be justified as a way to ensure this otherwise unglamorous branch of Solis forces wouldn't get understaffed in comparison to regular Enforcers.