I already played this game for a long time before it came to Steam, but decided to buy it again, because I'm not sure where I left the full installation file.

The game was made with the RPG maker, so you know what kind of interface and movement you should be expecting. I'm not commenting on sounds here, because I usually turn those off. The game itself is very addictive, however, especially once you've found your first rare monster and have gathered a horde of normal ones, too. The guide is very informative and well-written.

I'm not sure how many hours I've really logged on this game - since I played it before my computer had problems and my harddisk was completely reset (long story, has nothing to do with this game). The 'just one more dungeon' drive is as bad as the 'one more day' drive in Stardew Valley or the 'just another five minutes' in The Sims. The dungeons are randomly generated and usually not too big, so you can just spend a couple of minutes with one dungeon, save, and leave the game (theoretically, that is). I also like the different outfits you can unlock, buy, and wear.

It's not a triple A game, but you'll get a lot of gaming out of the money you pay for it.

This is a fun game though I feel the interface can be annoying. I will get out the cons out of the way before I can say what I enjoyed, which I feel if you liked the trailer, then you'll like the game.

Cons:
1) Story is very light, I feel the DLC Monsterville Handbook does a better job immersing the player than just doing quests.
2) The interface is a pain. I don't think I can switch monsters outside of battle, and it takes a turn to switch. I also cannot set up my party with 2 monsters fighting at once; if the main character uses switch, then the monster switches for someone else.
3) Loading the game takes you to the beginning of the 1 town in the game.
4) Poison sucks; when it hits enemies, it only took 1% of a boss. In other words, I'm doing 300 damage to a boss, and the poison does 17, and it takes a couple turns to work. If it was 17 per second maybe, it would be fine.
5) You have to finish the 2nd dungeon before saving. However, once you are done with that, you can save as you please.

Here are the pros of the game, which is why I'm recommending it though it's a tough sell:
Pros:
1) This game is funny. From the voice acting (The witch ironically says, "Ding Dong, you're dead," when she wins), to the flavor text, I can enjoy myself. I think it's a game for those who enjoy NPC's in an rpg, more than character development or dramatic stories. For example, The wolf's description says it uses puppy eyes to stall its victims.
2) The Monsterville Handbook DLC feels like a beautiful tour, although it's a PDF manual. The trailer and screenshots were very honest. I liked the story about the werewolf most, and the interview with Peter Pretzel felt like an immersive tabloid.
3) I like the entry monsters. The wolf can do a lot of damage, though the skorpion I chose is like a tank. It can take some damage, and slow down enemies with charge.
4) The way you choose between the grizzler, skorpion, and attacknid (I believe the attacknid was the 3rd one, but these are puns as you can see), with the ones you didn't choose ganging up on you out of a jealous rage is hilarious.
5) I like the looting celebrations to feel like an accomplishment every time I finish a dungeon.

Overall, I feel the game is fun though needs some patience. An update will definitely make it an easy sell, though I feel the handbook is definitely worth the purchase, with the game's potential as the add-on.

Very similar to a Gameboy Color game called Monster Rancher Battle Card Game. This game needs a bike or skates to move faster between areas.

Also, needs to have a reliable way to reset your special moves and you use these moves for killing bosses. Fun for 3-4 hours and the better beasts are unlocked after you reach lv 26. I feel after lv 20, they should be unlockable since the highest dungeon lv is 15 for the first half of game and at that point you are just doing quests, grinding for gold, or leveling your party.

Fun game and slick design. I got it because I've long enjoyed games that allow me to create my own party of monsters like this dating back to the old Game Boy title Final Fantasy Legend (yeah the one where you eat monster meat) - and more recent fare like the casual Line Rangers, and ER has that in spades within the first 5 minutes of play. I have enjoyed the play experience so far, it's exactly what I wanted - exceeded my expectations in fact - and my daughter is getting into it as well.

I haven't really noticed any kind of overarching epic storyline but actually that's a welcome relief. I have too many unfinshed RPGs with epic quests. Instead there are a bunch of fun little NPCs, some quests that seem more like achievements (some you can also pick up from random NPCs) and generated dungeons that are actually fun and interesting to search around. Of course the collector in me wants go "get em all" (yeah I never really got into Pokemon but I guess this game might appeal to fans of those games as well). The monsters are also your choice to fight or not -- not like some of those cheap JRPGs that lead you down a seemingly endless corridor of frustrating random monster attacks to add to their "40 hours of gameplay". No, in this title -- so far at least -- it's just me and my crazy party of misfit monsters like the creepy eye monster with approriate names like "peeker" that can be changed if you like. Fun stuff, worth the sale price for sure. Will the fun last when I'm 10 hours in? Will see but so far I'm hopeful. Everything is within easy reach and it's quick to get to the action - meaningful action. At least I'm not slogging across a continent of nothing with endless random battles with pre-made cliche character archetypes.

Controls I'm using are simple cursor keys and space. The battle system is exactly what you'd expect from a classic JRPG like the one I mentioned above - nothing fancy or deep. For full screen, just type ALT+ENTER. And ESC for the menus. Pretty simple stuff - again, nice for a change.

Summary: If you are looking for a casual, inexpensive top down JRPG with simple controls and interesting replay elements as well as collecting monsters in a party of your own making, this game is for you.

Pros:

-Nice sounds, gameplay, and the screens keep the action coming. Little "dead space" - the town is jam-packed with points of interest. Exploration and searching is rewarded.
-The items on-screen are not always just useless furniture or obstacles - some can be used if you move up to them an hit space, and they are not always immediately obvious. In cheaper titles using similar engines I notice almost nothing is useable - so it's a nice step up even in "random" dungeons, which speaks to good design.
-Random generated dungeons for replay value. I've found these generally really work well and the corny names remind me of my early days of BASIC programming. Note that not all dungeons will neccessarily have the items you require to bypass all obstacles. Sometimes you may need an extra item already in your inventory.
-Fun voice acting in battle that differs by the main character you select in the beginning. Will I tire of the Werewolf's corny battle cries? Perhaps but so far they are amusing.
Music is decent enough that I can keep it on when playing and seems professional and appropriate for where it is used, but not very memorable.
-A manly middle-aged main character you can choose to play. Or not. Play the other guy or the cool witch if you like. Decent selection between the 3 main characters. Would have some impact on the type of companion you choose from what I can tell of the skills.
-Just when I thought I had seen all the little tricks each randomly generated dungeon had to offer, I run into a block-slide puzzle that's new.

Cons:
-No earth-shattering story about how you need to defeat the great bad Wizard Frobozzle from taking over the world. OK, maybe that's not a con.
-Only 2 party members fight at the same time and the rest "tag" in. Not a terrible arrangement and your opponents are limited to the same rule, but I would have preferred 4 party members in the same fight. That said it forces you to be choosy and the skills an individual monster owns become more important.
-Seems like an indie effort (but a good one) and the tiny postage-stamp sized screen at start up that requires the arcane use of "ALT-ENTER" to resize it to useable full-screen levels is a bit crude. That said the option to go full-screen is available in the options/settings menu once you're in the game
-Seems to be some framerate loss with Options set to "full effects" when you are in combat. I expect this is a limitation of the engine, but I can live with it
-Voice acting recordings sound a bit flat and like they were not done on high grade recording equipment. The voices themselves are fine and amusing, however.

I wanted to like it. I really did. The idea behind the game is really pretty neat where you are in Monsterville and you collect monsters. There just aren't many quests and everything gets so repetitive.

I absolutely loved this game. I got it back when it was on sale and came with the monster guide (which was EXTREMELY helpful). Ended up beating it with all the monsters you could get. The graphics are what you'd expect from an RPG maker game, the music was generic (many other games have used the same tunes), the maps can get repetitive, and there are MANY of the same battles, but it always felt fun regardless. It is kinda like Pokemon in a way, where you look past all of the generic-ness because you feel compelled to "Catch them all". Would definitely recommend this if you're looking for something to put 20+ hours into.

I usually try and finish games I play before leaving a review of them, however, if this game actually does have an ending, it probably requires several more hours of grinding in order for me to actually reach it, so I think I'll make an exception here.

This game is made by the same creator of the Lilly and Sasha series and it shows. You see all the strengths and weaknesses of John Wizard's game design on full display in this game. The gameplay tactics and attention to detail are all typical of his games, and it's hard not to love. A personal favourite is the "Weather Effect" that was modified to shoot confetti whenever you finished an area. You can tell this was made with a lot of love, even if a lot of the resources are from the RPG Maker VX Ace RTP. (Which I don't have a problem with, personally, since they're so well used.)

The biggest problem with this game for me is, well, for being an RPG, it is sorely lacking in story. Not that every game needs to have an elaborate story to justify its existence, but with games made in the RPG Maker program, you'd kind of expect that? I dunno. The entire time I played it, it felt like a mobile game that just happened to be made with RPG Maker, which, well, was fine. But it just kind of left me wanting for more...

The gameplay is the highlight of this game as its extremely well polished, intricately designed, and very fun to play. I can see that this was a precursor to the Lilly and Sasha games as many of the gameplay aspects carried over to those games, or were improved upon. You train little monsters you meet, not unlike Pokemon, I suppose, and you go through various randomised dungeons. As someone who's worked with the RPG Maker Program, the intricacy of the dungeon design is frankly mind-blowing, and must have taken several hundreds of hours to complete. For these dungeons alone, this game is worth playing.

I realise that this game has been taken down from the mainstream Steam Market, which in a way, is a shame. It's sad to play a game by John Wizard after he has already quit making them, and it's a bit of a shame, because he is really good at what he does. Team him up with a good writer and he could easily make some of best games on the market. But, for now, we must sadly ponder what could have been, and remember the legacy he left behind.

If it seems to be your thing, play this game if you can get your hands on it. Otherwise, bow your head in a moment of silence for John Wizard, one of many great Indie-Devs who unfortunately fell by the wayside.

Extravaganza Rising is an adventure RPG made in RPG Maker. Lacking any kind of unfolding story, it is essentially a dungeon crawler. The main theme is monsters, which you can collect and use as party members.

Quests are given to you one at a time by your mentor, and are generally of the form, "collect x number of this item". Most of these quests are completed naturally while levelling up, but you do get a prize for each one completed. The town is a safe place which you return to after completing each dungeon, and includes an inn, shops, and a large number of NPCs who you can talk to and discover new things throughout the game.

There are five or so dungeons found throughout the town, each with a minimum level requirement. Dungeons appear to be randomly generated, and include three different sizes. A dungeon consists of a maze of rooms. Some rooms are blocked off until you find the right color lever to lift the block. A final type of block must be opened with several keys, found in treasure boxes. Treasures containing gold and other useful items are common, and are also dropped by enemies.

Enemies are visible in each room, come in groups of 2 to 5, and must be fought together in a single battle. Two enemies from the group can be fought at one time, and when one is killed, another moves forward to take its place. Turns are fluidly based on agility. You may bring up to three monsters with you as party members, but only one can fight alongside you at a time. When your monster is killed, another moves forward to takes its place. If you are killed, the game is over. Each dungeon has a boss with a large number of hit points. When the boss is defeated, there is an adjacent room filled with treasure and a way out.

Some rooms in a dungeon contain a secret, which usually requires a specific item to activate. Many of these items can be found somewhere in the town. Finding rare monsters is a common secret, and becomes important later in the game.

Although the dungeon crawling is repetitive, a single expedition is relatively short, so the game does not get tedious. Secret rooms appear randomly, and you may have to visit a dungeon repeatedly in the hopes of finding a specific one. Early in the game, this is not a problem, because you have other reasons for being there, such as collecting items and levelling up, but it can become tedious towards the end.

Overall, the lack of a story makes the game a bit boring, but there is always a drive to enter one more dungeon to complete your next goal, and the fun stays fresh until just before the end, when you can't find those final rare monsters.

This is an interesting idea. You play as one of three characters, a witch, werewolf, or gunslinger. Entering town, you go through a quick tutorial that gives you two monsters/pets. These pets are your companions in combat situations. Combat is handled in a turn-by-turn basis, with a bar under each character that activates when full.

Is a fun little game.

It's kind of like pokemon, with more grinding and less fun. Would recommend to buy it while it's on sale for about 50% if you're not sure.