RPG Maker MZ or MV?

[Dragonic]

I recently got interested in wanting to get into RPG making through this software.

Now considering that I'm completely new to the RPG Maker series and therefore don't have any of them yet, which version should I get?

Logically I would think the most recent and extensive one, but looking at reviews, it seems like MV was a lot better received than MZ is.
Is this mostly because MZ wasn't big enough of an upgrade for most people who had MV prior to this (and therefore feel ripped off)? Or are there other issues that make MV better?

Thanks in advance.

[Elriadon]

-MZ has much better performance by default than MV, also better codebase. The most important difference compared to MV, but not as obvious or shiny as some other features.

-MZ has 4 map layers that can be manually edited, MV has 2 and you can't edit them manually, the program does that automatically for you, which can cause problems. You still have that function in MZ if you don't care, but this is a huge bonus to people who like to make really great maps.

-MZ has Time Progression battle system by default in addition to the turn based one. Meaning, everyone takes actions when their action bar fills and you can choose the active variant where the bars keep filling and enemies take actions even when the player is choosing his actions.

-The Character Generator in MZ is improved, you can add custom colors and gradients to the generator (though the process itself is not as user-friendly as it should be), also you have an Offset tool that allows you to move the parts around somewhat, so you can move the character's eyes a bit to the right etc.

-There is an Autosave function by default that can be enabled, which saves the progress in the game after every map change and battle.

-MZ has a lot of small quality-of-life additions that make managing larger projects easier. For example, you can preview an event's move route, you see all the Map Events on the current map in a neat list when you switch to Event mode, you can move the maps in the map tree freelly etc.

-MZ has no in-built animation editor, instead you are meant to be using a program called Effekseer, which is free. So, MZ has 3D animation support by default and all the default animations are 3D.

-The default UI is much better suited for Mouse controls, unlike in MV where that seems to be an afterthought. The default battle menu is also much nicer than in MV, with character portraits being shown and such.

-In MZ, you can also change an actor's or enemy's attack command skill without needing a plugin. The possible targets for skills are also improved, for example you can make a skill that affects allies no matter if they are alive or KO'd without plugins.

-Some minor improvements to event commands, mostly adding more options to the old ones, for example the Button press condition in Conditional Branch can now track more than if the button is pressed down.

-Some of the default music in MZ has vocals and I definitely prefer it to MV's default music.

-MZ has a limit of 2000 Common Events in a game, unlike MV which has max 1000 Common Events. MZ also has a map limit of 2000, while in MV it's 999 maps max.

-MZ has a much more user-friendly way to do Plugin Commands (though there are still of course less plugins than for MV).

-You can change the game resolution without plugins, also choose which categories will be shown in the menu.

-In MZ, you can choose to go back to a previous version in the editor itself, which helps in case an update causes some issues in your project (mostly with plugins).

-When you choose to export map in MZ, the image is pixel perfect, unlike in MV. This makes so-called Parallax Mapping easier.

-MZ is the latest entry in the franchise and as such the vast majority of support will be focused on it.

-The icons are blue instead of green :D

MZ is definitely the best option if you are new.

[rooge]

@Darel I really love your answer. I like MV, but MZ is really tuned in the core and working with it is more agile for me. I use my own parallax maps and so far it doesn't lag like in MV. Like you, I wouldn't write it better.

[Dragonic]

Thanks Darel!
Not sure why the review score of MZ is so much worse than MV then, but definitely seems like it's vastly improved.

[✠GER✠ ™k0b0ld™]

Buy RPGMaker MV ist better..

The RPGMaker MZ have dont battle Animation Creator..

and Less Configuration from the Yeahr 2010.. ist not better how the devoloopers Says!


When you Buy MV.. have you Infinite Resources. Waht you need for you Game!

Free Plugins.. and current configurations that an RPGmaker should have.

This RPGmaker MZ is to Close..

And can do less than the VXAce, MV ..

[[TMI]RastaMan]

VXAce/XP/2k3...

[Mjolk]

MV or the next version.
Skip MZ, is the worst version of the RPGMaker series.

[ޓʕ̯•͡˔•̯᷅ʔ°゜]

@genky if you want to make a game *now* use MV instead because it has more plugins. Usually new rpg maker version take a while for plugins to kick in.

[Kartoffelsuppe]

Some things are better some things are worse. It really depends on what you want to do. It's a tool not a video game to entertain yourself. If you do want to mess around there is no reason to buy the newest and expensive one.

might as well pick XP or 2003 then

listing being able to change resolution as a feature is kinda laughable, I bet the newest RPG Maker still doesn't have audio settings in the title screen like terrible korean mmo's love to do and then they blast full audio at you while you have to sit through an intro and tutorial

[Elriadon]

Both MV and MZ have Options on the title screen by default that allow the player to change the volume of Backround Music, Background Sound Effects, Sound Effects and Music Effects, plus Autodash and remembering the last used Battle command. No Exit Game option on Title Screen by default though. :D