NIGHTBLADE'S PROFILE

author=Darken
I really don't think you should give up on this project. Just take a break like you said.

Learning from your mistakes on a unfinished game is nothing compared to actually completing a game. It's sad that we honour deadly accurate criticism yet at the same time want games to be completed. I am the few that enjoyed the demo (idk maybe it's because I have a foggy memory of the last iteration). But just fix things that are undeniably flawed and move on.

Well I would have to re-write a lot. The demo kind of lacked a lot of the character interaction I like to put in because of how the story flowed. Difficulty and balance can be easily changed, but after altering the game so much it's really hard to go back and alter it yet again.

A few corrections.

The sprites consist mostly of DQ (I believe)

This game uses Romancing Saga styled sprites.

especially in the desert town you come across later in the game (a number of which I pointed out in my beta notes)

The pass-ability issues mentioned in yours and everyone else' notes were fixed. If you've found anything new, please post them here.

There are no chests, hidden items, or sidequests to speak of anywhere, basically leaving you with no choice but to head straight to your destination; and where's the fun in that?

The above is inherently untrue, and I - oh wait...

I never really felt like I was grinding at all, and actually enjoyed some of the random strong monsters that guarded special treasures

Incidentally, well... not really. But there are two optional encounters in the game. One optional sub boss, and one optional super-boss.

I also added a few extra chests to the "useless town" you were referring to... you know, after the beta.

Also, it took me until Part One's conclusion to realize that Alistar could use those throwing knives as his way of physically attacking enemies.

In the very room you recruit the character, there is a large blue sparkle where you find the daggers. The character who can use them has a quick aside explaining how theyre "crudely made but good in a pinch". Aside from shoving a giant stupid message box in your face saying "ALISTAR CAN USE THESE" right after this really forward reference, I'm not sure how much easier I can make it.

My favorite thing about Demon Legacy was watching the characters interact with each other in interesting in humorous ways.

Yeah I liked those too... ... ... which is exactly why I included scenes like that in this game. You're free to question the execution though.

Battles and puzzles aside, there are a couple of other things I need to point out that really bothered me. First off, there is a point in the game where you are given a choice to either continue the dungeon or leave with a key dropped by one of the antagonists. If you choose to leave, it just sends you back to the title screen. This is a piss-poor way of giving the player "free-choice" in-game. If you're going to allow the player to make a choice that may impact the storyline, don't just have it so that it's essentially a "gameover" if players choose one way instead of the other; it takes away any semblance of choice by basically forcing the player to pick the alternative path.

It's called a bad ending, Demon Legacy had one of those too, actually. Oh sorry, I was supposed to be pointing out contradictions and inaccuracies, but I'll explain for your benefit. The scene you're describing is supposed to show *CHARACTER A's* reluctance to kill you. You, as the player are presented with a choice. Of course you're supposed to ignore the warning, but I find it adds a little flavor to the plot when you do things like this.

Slade going out with a whimper as opposed to his previous bad ass, heroic end.

.... .... Both intros ended in the exact same way - Slade charging one last time. I'm not particularly sure what your problem is with this part of the intro.

My other issue was something that happens near the game's conclusion, where you are forced to fight one-on-one with another character. After dishing out some damage with Nero, the enemy used an attack that hurt me for over 6k damage, killing me instantly. I assumed, at first, that this was intentional and that I was just supposed to lose...until I saw the game over screen. I then worked out that I must have to kill him within a certain amount of time.

I did actually ad a few lines of dialogue to help make this more obvious, as you weren't the only person with this problem... You know, after the beta.

I have no issue with a mediocre or even bad review, but please; it's more helpful to me if you actually have your facts straight.

I missed a few contradictions, but I think you get my point.

author=dragonheartman
@NightBlade,

The first time I played through the Shadar battle, he did do a big powerful attack, but then the game crashed due to an "Event Script Referenced an Item That Does Not Exist" error. (I think Leo and Leah had a similar issue.)

The second time, the event never triggered. I've had this issue with 2k3's DBS and it may be some bit of a priority issue with battle event preconditions. Perhaps you could procedurally check if the powerful attack occurred before the battle suddenly stops, and if it hadn't executed, maybe just quickly do the powerful attack and end the battle.

That's a good idea, but it's getting to the point where I'm getting annoyed with RPG maker. This isn't the first nonsensical bug I've encountered. Things occur for certain people for no reason (supposedly missing events mainly and animations), yet works fine for other people.

The problem with the healing items is I have no way to get more, and I don't know how many and how strong bosses are up next, meaning I have to use as few as possible, preferably none, or I'll end up with none when against an even more powerful boss. A miss here.

Items are dirt cheap and are littered across dungeons and dropped by monsters constantly. I do wish I had went back and healed the party to full after every battle the encourage more skill use, but oh well.

Oh, and the fight against Shadar (?) in the prologue was so pointless... You couldn't have made it any more transparent that you're not supposed to win, could you? I mean, the guy overtly regenerates 999 HP every round and you deal less than that with your best attack. And he doesn't even move, so how do I know his true power? I don't know, maybe he's an immortal weakling. Make him obliterate the hero with some nasty limit breaks or something so we know he's the real deal, not some punk with god mode on.

Er... That's what he does? He hits you with a powerful attack and a status ailment that locks your HP to 1.

The new one is... a generic castle with lots of dead soldiers

...and a hidden alchemic laboratory infested with monstrous failed experiments.

and as a side note, enemies kind of DO respawn, but there are factors.

If the fight was unavoidable, the enemy will most likely not respawn (IE: If the enemy had a high movement speed).

If the fight was in an enclosed space and a bit hard to avoid, it might take a bit to respawn

If the fight was easily avoided, the time is a little shorter. This is to avoid forcing people to fight the same encounter over and over again when backtracking through dungeons but allow people to grind if they really want to.

Alex, violence isn't always the answer.