HALIBABICA'S PROFILE

Well, I must admit, I wasn't expecting this! Thanks for the honest criticism, this is the most in-depth I've ever gotten. I can see where your opinions are coming from, too. Glad to hear you didn't totally hate it. Seems my games suffer from more than I originally thought...

Again, thank you very much! And good luck with your future reviews!

Also, would you mind if I added that review to my crappy official site for Pokemon Hunter?

Even the really short ones? Mine aren't all that depthy.

Yeah, anything by Mister Big T should meet your description.

*jumps in line*

Hey, there! Think you might give Pokemon Hunter a review? It's been around for a while, but people seem to have a hard time warming up to it*. Here's a link to its gamepage at RMN. Thanks, and let me know what you decide.

*ie actually playing it

All right, I put this off for a while, but here it is. I played a bunch of the games from the list I made earlier, and here's what I thought of them. In alphabetical order…

Backstage II

I never played the first Backstage, but I'm familiar enough with the horror genre to get what they're about. Making a horror game in RPG Maker sounds tricky, considering the importance of visuals to this type of game. All sorts of things need to come together to make a scary game work, including setting, music, sound, etc. I'd say Max has done a good job making this game scary, in spite of the platform he's chosen to make it in. The graphics are something of a weak point, but there's only so much you can do with the old RMs. Max makes up for it well with the mood his music and sound choices create. It still feels like a creepy game, even though the visual side isn't quite there, and it can give you that eerie feeling horror games are supposed to.

The game itself plays very simply. The monsters aren't much to actually look at, but the way they're introduced and presented makes up for this well enough. It didn't seem like there was much to combat, however. ABSs in RM can be very tedious, and I don't know what goes on behind the scenes in this one, but I feel that Max's easy approach to battle is a good one, as it's not the game's main selling point. Also, it may get more complex later, as this is only a demo (and there weren't many foes to see).

All in all, Max has done a good job creating the feel of a horror game in RM. It's not a genre you would expect to work in this system, but he uses what he can to make it work as best as possible.

Dragon Kingdoms IV

You'll have to forgive me if this sounds harsh, but this game needs a lot of work.

This game…is lacking in almost every area of its design. The graphics are mismatched and don't blend well at all. The mapping is flat and uninspiring, and several map errors allow you to walk on walls and water.

The characters aren't much better than stereotypes, and the dialogue doesn't sound natural at all. Couple this with fourth-wall breaking and RTP jokes, and it all starts coming off very weak.

The gameplay consists mostly of DBS enter-mashing. The monsters aren't even remotely difficult, although they might be tougher if you didn't find the AI controlled guard NPCs to join you.

The story is cliché and the intro is force-fed to you. The intro is also very long, opening with what seems more like a trailer for the game you're already playing.

The most impressive “feature” of the game is its day / night animations, which look nice when they're playing, but happen entirely too often. Every day and night seems to last less than five minutes, and the animations for them get tiresome in a hurry. The dialogue boxes announcing the time shift interrupt cut scenes and really disrupt the game's flow.

I don't want to sound like a jerk, but this game is fundamentally flawed in multiple ways. VideoWizard, I would recommend that you take a step back and seriously look at what you've done so far. This game doesn't have to be terrible, and it can be improved, but you need to be able to see its weaknesses in order to fix them. There isn't a single area of this game that excels, and the whole thing feels really crappy. Take a good, long look, put your thinking cap on, and fix this mess one piece at a time. It might not be easy, but game making rarely is. Better luck next time!

Dungeon Crawl

This was an interesting entry. Liberty's top-down approach really gives the game a unique feeling compared to others. I found it rather difficult to associate the characters with their on-screen representations, though. Having little more than a colored dot to identify a person with makes things tricky, especially when their names are so outlandish. Regardless of my trouble remembering/identifying them, the characters all have distinct personalities, and I had no trouble distinguishing them once I'd talked to them enough.

The gameplay, as the title may suggest, is all dungeon crawling. It seems to have something of a rogue like approach, as it requires decisions on when and how to use supplies. The game didn't have any battles (from what I saw), so most of the action comes from lever flipping, switch pressing, and careful observation of your surroundings.

I enjoyed playing the game, although some parts of the mazes are rather tedious to navigate. The only real problem I encountered was I ran out of wood and was unable to rescue a necessary NPC. I couldn't advance, and the setup of switches prevented me from backtracking for more supplies.

I'm not sure how much more Liberty needs to put into this game, but from the looks of things now, it'll be something to see once it's finished.

Miracle on RTP Street

This wasn't actually part of RS!D, but Kentona listed it as being released around that time, and I played it anyway. I must say, this is one of the better games I played.

From the outset, this looks like the kind of lame comedy game you'd expect from some noob who thinks they're funny. This is one of those times that looks can be deceiving. While it is indeed a “crappy comedy game,” it somehow succeeds at being good. There's more to it than mere comedy. The puzzle-solving aspects of the game are quite solid, and it offers some decent challenges to the player.

It's full of little touches that really make the game a success. Things like GOD inscribed on a statue of Santa, little squish noises when you walk on the corpses of elves, and jolly Christmas music playing while people scream from their chainsaw-massacring (is that a word?).

Taken lightly, this game is a simple joy to play. It's not too difficult (except for that box-pushing puzzle), and it's just wacky enough to be good for a chuckle or three. Merry F-in' Christmas!

Project X

I didn't play much of this project, and it seems it's already gotten some in-depth feedback from someone else, but here's what I thought of what I played.

The intro was fairly interesting, and having the text spoken in game was a nice touch. The graphics were mostly good, though some things seemed to stick out more than others. It wasn't until I got to the actual gameplay that things became a problem.

There seemed to be some issue with the mapping, as there were pink squares lying about the city where something probably should've been. The game also revealed itself to be something of a Metal Gear clone, right down to sounds and graphics. The character dialogue was good, but I'm not that big a fan of Metal Gear. I quit after I was caught by policemen, which didn't take long. There didn't seem to be any adequate way to fend them off once spotted. I also had to fight with the program just to get it closed. Dunno what's up with that.

This seems like it has potential, but I'd say it might have a long way to go.

Secrets of the Light

The last game I played for RS!D. This is probably about as common as they come, too.

SotL is a typical RPG from graphics to presentation to gameplay. You choose your party from the classes provided, and you wander through the world map and dungeons fighting monsters in random encounters. It's not badly done, but it's certainly nothing new, either.

I have to admit, I felt the intro of the game was lacking in a few ways. This is one of those cases where things should be shown rather than told. The backstory of the world and its situation are all stated directly, and while it doesn't go into too much detail (like some games are prone to), it doesn't explain things in an interesting way. It's hard to care about this world and its impending problems, and I think a different presentation would really help with this.

The gameplay itself if fairly challenging. The early monsters won't oppose you much past level 1, but the bosses I fought were tough enough to make me strategize a bit.

So far, the game works pretty well for what it is. But, it doesn't stand out in any remarkable ways, either. In other words, it's not bad, but it's not great, either. The dialogue and presentation could use some help, and the mapping is a bit bland. Other than that, it has a decent foundation to work with, and if Gemini can do more to distinguish it from the other games of it's kind, it might be something worth playing someday.