Oceans Dream

RPG Maker games are pretty well known for using the default graphics, having parody stories, being FF fangames, or just being generic and uninteresting in general.

There are however some RPG Maker games that are actually quality games and I’d recommend playing them! I will note on which ones I have personally played and what I thought about it, and what were just given to me as suggestions that I have heard of but not yet played. As a note, I trust their opinions as they are not 8 year olds making “My First RPG”.

This list is not arranged in any particular order, and may be subject to be added on to or subtracted from with additional input.

                             Sunset over Imdahl

Sunset over Imdahl is made by Teo. It is a story about a boy who visits his village and finds it abandoned, as everyone is dead. A man comes to him and tells him how he could go back in the past to see if he can save the village. This is not an RPG, there are no battle systems. There are some minigames but mainly you will be talking to people and finding out what happened to the village. The backgrounds are all hand drawn by Teo. I did play this one before so I can recommend it too. Teo is now working with Brandon Abley on Wilfred the Hero.

Alter Aila Genesis

Alter A.I.L.A. is made by Neok. It’s a sidescroller RPG, which was well received outside of the RPG Maker community and featured as one of the top 5 RPG Maker games in PC Gamer. It is a post apocalyptic scifi world, where Leon struggles to survive in this environment. Each character has their own skillsets and there are various fields which modify how the battles are played.

Necropolis

Necropolis is made by Jude. It has a custom battle system and custom graphics all by Jude. This turn based battle system revolves around combos and finishers. You play as an old war veteran who wakes up and finds he has become one of the undead. He has to find out what happened to him and take his vengeance against them! Another game I played, this one was made pretty recently. The gameplay really picks up once you get to Level 2 and higher, and can pick different attacks and combos to use against the enemies. Quite a nice looking old school type of game too!

Nocturne

Nocturne is made by cogwheel and Gozaru. This one is in Japanese, other than the menu commands which are in english. It’s an active turn based game with original graphics. The game deals with vampires, which are different than the ordinary (and also do not sparkle). A solid game that may be translated into english in the future!

U.S.G. ~A new beginning~

U.S.G. is made by hima. This is an RPG Maker XP game, but is not an RPG but rather a shoot em up. You are being set on a variety of missions while they question why they are being sent, what the U.S.G. mission really is, and why their friends are disappearing. You can change your elemental powers, upgrade your weapons when you level up and more.

Space Funeral

Space Funeral, by thecatamites. A very unconventional game, with custom graphics and weirdness all over. Plays with your expectations too. Phillip and the Leghorse go off to find the secret of the Space Funeral. For a very different type of game, give this one a try!

Exit Fate

Exit Fate is made by SCF. It is a Suikoden styled game with 6 party member battles, some tactical battles, 75 characters to recruit and being able to set up your castle and army. A war is breaking out between the Kirgard faction and the Zelmony one between an Island that is in a strategic position between the 2 countries.

Avarice

Avarice is by Anaryu, Solitayre and Krisanna. Actually a short 2 week game made in RPG Maker VX, It is still is well done and interesting. It is an Action RPG where you can play either the mage Vandeli or the mechanic Lexi. They have their own styles of play, from Vandelis magic and MP use to Lexis gun use. You can use the mouse to play too. You customize your characters as you gain EXP, and the treasure you find is randomized so it is different each play through. The story is about a Mage named Vandeli who is looking for a relic and will do anything to get it, and a mechanic who always seems to get into trouble somehow.

I’ll stop here for the moment though, I had about 15 more i wanted to put but this should be a good list for now. I’ll go post more later! Also, I’ll give a heads up warning, not all of these games I will post have fancy custom graphics or anything, but may be good because of their story or that they are creative. I will not post games that do not yet have a download.

Platform- RMVX

Story
You are caught and accused of the murder of Sir Edmund. A trial happens which determines whether you are set free or whether you end up in Jail. Being as you aren’t the one who did it, it becomes a search to find the true murderer, and the feud between the temple and the palace.

Screen Shots

Beach map. You uncover more of the map as you explore.

Character Creation! Choose from male or female, from various hair styles/colors and initial items. Then a name.

A skippable intro!

Items you find in treasures and stores are all randomized. They vary greatly from playthrough to playthrough.

Battle system! Move your character close to the enemy so they can attack or use a spell. You can even hire a character to help if you find one.

About
You can create your character in the start. Being a roguelike, a lot of the elements are randomized. Where you go, what items you find in chests, how many chests appear in a floor, what items are sold in shops, all of that is randomized. While the areas you go to are randomized, the maps are hand designed with custom tiles.

NOTE: when selecting an item in the intro, press UP and then Z at the item.

In battle, you can move up to the enemy. Depending on what armor and what weapon you have will determine how many steps you can take and how long your weapon range is. You can hire a mercenary to join you temporarily, though they may leave after you fight the boss of the area.

You can move around up to the amount of steps you have. Press Z to bring up the attack cursor. If the enemy is in range, you can select them to attack. X to cancel out.

Press X while its your turn to bring up the submenu. You can use an item or spell (unless you have already attacked/used an item or spell in that turn), Pass your turn, Leave the battle (if you’re as far south in the battlefield as you can go or have defeated all the enemies), or view the enemy names.

You can hire a helper into battle too. So you go first, then your ally if you have one, then the enemies go.

This is an experimental game which I wanted to try when I saw the roguelike challenge!

Download
http://rpgmaker.net/games/3883/
Mirror: http://www.mediafire.com/?o15gj4d4rzra8vi

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjuBH7DBOl8

Me and a few friends decided to do a game from Wednesday to Monday. So I released a private version to them, and went to fix it up a bit. Took a little longer to fix it up and just add the ending that I didn’t get to finish then. So it’s a total of 10 days for this game.

You play as 3 girls who are guarding a Mayor to his destination out west, where he is overseeing a war going on. After that, you can take on quests to raise up the money you need to free someone. Mina, a city Guard; Tonia, a Rune Knight; and Dylena, a Medic form the team.

Mina Mazzin
Age: 25
Personality: She’s both energetic and laidback. She tends to be hungry and comes from a rather poor family. She joined as a guard when most of the people have left to fight in the wars out west. She’s the fastest one in battle and is a decent physical attacker.

Tonia Arrison
Age: 29
Personality: She is more impulsive and more serious than Mina. She trained as a Rune Knight, which is both a powerful and magically adept warrior with high defense and can play either roles well. However, she is a lot slower than someone like Mina.

Dylena Geraci
Age: 32
Personality: She is calm but thinks the most of the group. She already has a husband who was sent out to fight as a Soldier. She is a Medic and has various ways of healing and buffing.

Feel free to comment and give suggestions for future games, but this was mainly a short break before I get back to Adalyn. Feedback is still okay though!

Credits are listed in a textfile in the project folder.

Download here

Now that Adalyn has been released, it has received Two Reviews so far! I am very happy at this and for the feedback that they provide. Honestly, I did not have much time to fix things as it was for a contest so there are issues that I just did not have time to fix. However, feedback and criticism is still appreciated. You don’t really learn by going “You are wrong, I CHOSE to do it that way!” for everything or saying “You’re mean or just jealous! I’m keeping it the way it is!”. Perhaps someone has an idea that I never thought of! I will encourage longer comments in this, so please don’t feel lazy for just this once and try to reply here. I don’t mind using the chatbox for other things generally, I encourage that.

It is very likely that I will continue Adalyn once I get the contest scores up. I don’t want to mess around with it much just in case, but I think they are judging as we speak. I don’t know if I have much competitors but we’ll see how that goes. Will this push Azuleas development back? Honestly, not by very much. Azulea is still in the battle system phase, so until I can get that finished, it is really not that far in. Working on Adalyn and re-releasing it will be faster.

I have a few questions that I’d like you to answer if you have played the game:

- What weapons were your favorites? Your least favorites? Why?

-Any suggestions for weapon swapping during mid-area? Adalyn did not have this, so you had to pick your 2 weapons before you went off. It is compensated by the areas not being very big. If they were bigger, this could become more of an issue.

-Did you feel that it would have been better to experiment with weapons before entering an area to do so? How would I pull this off?

I might have left out a few things, and some issues I am aware of. For example, I would have liked to show a cooldown graphic in the HUD for when you’ve used a spell so you can see how long until it comes back, reduce the HUD so it doesn’t block so much, lag issues and such. If you have any other potential issues or suggestions, feel free to let me know!

Story:

The nation is recovering from a very recent civil war, only two years ago, fought between the ‘Democracy’ and ‘Monarchy’. The Democrats pushed for a ‘modernization’ of their nation, trying to throw out the outdated government system that had been used before then. The war went on for several years, but eventually the Democrats lost, and the Monarchs strengthened their hold on the country, under the pretense of ‘rebuilding’ their nation, restricting resources and increasing taxes. Corruption and poverty is everywhere.

As Adalyn, you are a girl who has been labelled an outlaw. Looking to escape, you head down south hoping to avoid being caught. With a gun and a knife, you’re able to defend yourself against whatever comes your way…

Screens:

Download HERE
Controls:
Z- Primary weapon (Initially the Pistol. Becomes the knife if you are out of ammo in your primary weapon)
X- Secondary weapon (Initially the knife.)
A- Skill (Can be used without cost, but takes time to use again)
S- Second Skill (Can be used without cost, but takes time to use again)

Credits:

Ocean’s Dream

GreatOldOne: Story

Marimo: Faceset

Scripts from: BigEd, Jens, Yanfly, Gameclover, Shanghai

Thanks to rhyme, linkz0r and Jihaus for assistance
Made in a week for a contest! Wish me luck!

What’s next?

Now what’s next to come, is deciding what game to do next. Should I work on fixing up Adalyn first? Rubi first? Work on releasing Azulea next? I will try to set up a poll for this!

Blog updates

Also, please check out Meridian Dance! There are new updates on it from various members. I have Adalyn on there as well, plus there are interviews, updates on new games, and articles to read. I liked the interview for David Miles Carter, i’d recommend checking that out!