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Recent reviews by YPRPG

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2 people found this review helpful
5.6 hrs on record
Jade's Journey is a roughly 5 hour adventure game made in RPG Maker. It is hardly a ground-breaking game - it uses only the most basic features of the genre, but there are no glaring problems with it either.

The premise of the game is that a young girl named Jade discovers she is the chosen one after her father is kidnapped and held for ransom by an evil sorceress. Jade and her party must obtain some orbs and give them up to the sorceress in exchange for his freedom. The story is entirely quest-based, and there is little dynamic between the characters.

You start out as a party of two, and build up to four by the halfway point. The game consists of a series of wilderness mazes filled with enemies. The mazes are not complicated. When you reach a fork in the road, one of them will be a short dead-end path with a treasure chest at the end. Enemies are visible and are moderately difficult to avoid, but presumably you need to fight a lot of them anyway to level up. It becomes an issue though, when you have to travel back the way you came, because enemies respawn whenever you leave the map.

Battles are tedious. Each wilderness area has exactly two kinds of enemy troops, and there is exactly one strategy that works best for all of them. Each area has a boss at the end, with a spot immediately before that replenishes all HP and MP. The boss takes a long time to defeat, but there isn't much strategy involved.

Characters learn new skills by levelling up, but they all pretty much do the same thing. There are stores in the towns which sell items, and occasionally equipment. The same equipment can usually be found in the treasure chests of the wilderness though. If you fight every enemy you meet, you will have enough gold to buy many times more items than you will need in the entire game.

Overall, this game is very basic, and not very exciting.
Posted March 13, 2021.
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No one has rated this review as helpful yet
41.6 hrs on record
Arvale is an adventure game, with 40 hours of gameplay, made in RPG Maker. The highlights of the game include a choice of multiple party members, and a diverse skill set for each character which evolves as they level up.

The game starts out with only the main character, and other party members are acquired as part of the plot progression. It is of the "save the world" variety, and the setting is the world map. The game is mostly linear, with a handful of side quests. By game's end, you have eight party members, and must choose the main character plus three more to use in battle. You may only alter the party at certain locations on the map, so you are stuck with the party you have through the enemy zones. In some parts of the game, your troop is separated, and you must play each party in turn, using the characters on hand.

The story is fine, and mostly plot-driven, but the characters also chat amongst themselves a lot, mostly with silly dialog.

The gameplay alternates between safe towns, with weapon and item stores, and maps with enemies and a boss at the end. The enemies are visible, stationary, and can be avoided if necessary, but you must fight a lot of them for the purpose of levelling up. Just before the boss, there is always a pool which restores all HP and MP. On most maps, it is possible to walk all the way to the pool without fighting any enemies. If you leave this map, the enemies will all reappear; if you beat the boss, they will be gone forever. The gameplay is not perfectly balanced between these enemy zones, and safe towns. I found that both went on longer than necessary.

The enemies are moderately diverse, but not much thinking is required to beat them. The bosses, of course, are more challenging.

Gold can be used to purchase equipment and items in the store. For most of the game, it is not possible to buy all the equipment you would like, meaning you always have to play catchup in each new town.

Each character has lots of skills to choose from, and many of these become useless against the new enemies. Levelling up regularly brings new skills to use.

Overall, the game was fun as each new development progressed the plot, but often got tedious while going through the long parts.
Posted March 10, 2021. Last edited March 10, 2021.
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No one has rated this review as helpful yet
6.4 hrs on record
A Princess' Tale is a 6 hour long adventure RPG. The premise of the story is that you, the princess, having been descended from a great warrior who saved the world in the past, must prevent a giant beast from waking up. To do this, you must make contracts with four fairies to reactivate their crystals.

You start with only the main character, but quickly accumulate a party of four, which stays with you for the rest of the game. The world map is populated with towns and enemy locations, but there is no danger in travelling between them, and you cannot access most locations until the story warrants it. The game is mostly linear, with quests being completed one at a time. The story is well told and, more than other RPGs, it seems to remain with you as you progress through the action.

Advancing levels is satisfying, as you learn new skills, and use the gold you accumulate to upgrade your equipment.

Locations in which enemies appear are usually complex mazes which span several maps. Treasure chests are very common, and enemies appear on the map, but can easily be avoided. Some enemies must be fought, of course, to build up levels, so you can defeat the bosses, whose battles are not optional. There is very little diversity in the types of enemies that appear at each location, and it can easily become tiresome.

Overall, the story is very good, it is a relatively short game, and my only complaint is that some of the locations are a bit too large.

Posted October 17, 2019.
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No one has rated this review as helpful yet
3.9 hrs on record
Thorne - Death Merchants is an action adventure game made in RPG Maker. It takes 3 hours to complete, and has an open world with numerous side quests.

The story follows an assassin-for-hire with moral standards as he helps the people of a small village deal with a problem. The game is very short, but is intended as Part 1 of a continuing series with the same protagonist. The characters and dialogue are well done, and the plot is interesting, although the spelling and grammar are bad at times.

Enemies appear on the map, and battles are fought in real time using the keyboard. Q allows you to heal HP, but there is a wait time before you can reuse it. You can also access the menu during battles to consume HP-healing items. Some enemies are strong enough to kill you, but it takes long enough that you can easily survive through item use. Your only real enemy is over-confidence.

The world map consists of a town, a military outpust, a noble's mansion, and the wilderness in between. The main adventure takes you to several locations, and thoroughly exploring the open wilderness will dig up a variety of side quests and other secrets. The game does very well at satisfying an explorer's palette.

This is a good game all around with a great story, and lots of side quests, but it's kind of short.
Posted December 11, 2018. Last edited December 18, 2018.
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1 person found this review helpful
18.2 hrs on record
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.
Posted December 1, 2018. Last edited December 11, 2018.
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2 people found this review helpful
2.0 hrs on record
Lilly and Sasha: Guardian Angels is part 3 of a trilogy of adventure RPGs made in RPG Maker. While the first two installments stand alone quite well, this game in particular has a story which won't make much sense without playing both of the prequels. There are 17 hours of gameplay in the main adventure, and all the side quests are found together in one megatown which, due to events from the story, replaces all of the smaller towns from the previous games. Side quests apparently make up 50% of the playable content.

The plot is set up quite differently from the first two games. Instead of staying together in one party, the eight playable characters from before plus one more are, for the most part, fractured into groups of two, each doing their part in the greater mission. Character development is much improved from the previous installments, and the story follows you every step of the way, as the game takes you from party to party, each completing their own quests in a linear fashion.

Enemies appear on the map, and are easy to avoid, but you may need to fight some of them to level up. Battles are the same as in part 1. Each character has a basic move, a strong move, a status-type move, and a team move with each of the other party members. Each of the two main moves may have a rune attached, and each character may carry two trinkets which enhance their abilities. Previously acquired pets are still with you, and you may choose two of these to help you during battles. Each pet will have its own way to assist the party. Weapons are equipped automatically, and upgrades for each character are found in treasure chests along the way.

There is a large megatown to explore, with shops, along with puzzles and other challenges. You are granted access to more sections of the town as you progress through the game. You may visit this town at any time through a pocket teleporter, and return to the same spot you left, when you are finished.

The cutscenes are more frequent and more interesting than previous installments, and the ending is very good, and provides closure to the series.

The puzzles are more difficult than in part 2, and sometimes require a lot of thinking and figuring. There are quite a few annoyances in this area, including monsters that must be re-killed if you restart the puzzle, and several puzzles that have no explanation or obvious function.

Overall, this game is the best of the trilogy, especially in terms of the story, both visually, and in writing, and it provides a great wrapup to the series, although the puzzles were more annoying at times.
Posted November 17, 2018.
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No one has rated this review as helpful yet
1.4 hrs on record
Lilly and Sasha: Nexus of Souls is part 2 of an adventure RPG trilogy made in RPG Maker, with puzzles as a main feature. The story continues where it left off, with Sasha absent from the party. Some of the other party members leave throughout the course of the adventure, and new ones are acquired. There is well over 20 hours of gameplay.

***Warning: this game has serious lag when played through Steam. It is suggested that you play it offline.***

The story is entirely plot-based. The characters' backgrounds are never explored beyond simple introductions, and they are used mostly for quest-related discussions, and occasional humor. Cutscenes provide ample entertainment throughout your progress, and often include comedy as well as drama.

Puzzles are a primary feature of the game, and travelling through an area usually means completing one puzzle after another. There is enormous variety in these puzzles, and they are satisfying, without being difficult. There seems to be an improvement over part 1 in this area. Side quests sometimes contain more difficult puzzles, if you are interested.

Enemies are visible on the map, and are easily avoided, but you must fight most of them anyway, to level up so you can beat the bosses. Battles are the same as in part 1. Each character has a basic move, a strong move, a status-type move, and a team move with each of the other party members. Each of the two main moves may have a rune attached, and each character may carry two trinkets which enhance their abilities. Pets are acquired throughout your travels, and you may choose two of these to help you during battles. Each pet will have its own way to assist the party. Although you might have up to five party members, you may choose only three to fight in battles. Weapons are equipped automatically, and upgrades for each character are found in treasure chests along the way.

The game is mostly linear, but sometimes you might have more than one quest in the log book. Side quests are not documented here, and although they seemed to be scarce, my progress meter showed that I completed only 75% of the game.

Towns have shops where you can buy a lot of items, but runes are the only thing worth buying. You'll acquire more gold than you'll ever need, and you can use it to buy various houses in different towns, and upgrade them, but after buying two houses, I didn't discover anything useful about having them.

The flow of the game is very nice. I was never bored, always knew what to do next (except for the one time I couldn't find Quenera), and the battles are quick and painless. Overall, this game is quite good, and the constant puzzles give it an even greater edge over other similar titles. It is slightly better than part 1 of the same series.
Posted November 7, 2018.
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1 person found this review helpful
6.0 hrs on record
Bleeding Knife is an adventure game made in RPG Maker, with a horror theme. There are no battles - the gameplay consists of finding items and using them elsewhere, to progress through the game. Game time is about five hours, but may vary.

The game is mostly linear, where you clear one area at a time, before gaining access to the next one; but sometimes you are required to return to a previous area. Each of the five main areas contains 15-30 rooms with maps and save locations scattered throughout. Usually some exploring is required before you gain access to the entire area. You must find items, and then figure out where to use them. Usually this is fairly obvious, with hints frequently given in the item's description. Sometimes there is a puzzle to solve. Rarely do you have more than one item in your inventory at a time to find a use for.

The game begins with a terrible massacre and graphic horrors, but this quickly gives way to more of a mystery theme, although the horror is still part of the main plot. You play the role of a prisoner who finds his cell unlocked amid this horror, and must find out what's going on, who is responsible, and ultimately stop them and/or escape. The story has a moderate amount of writing, and some of this is voiced. Although the voicing is non-English (the writing is English), this rather suits the ominous atmosphere. Cutscenes are common throughout the game, as you enter new locations. There are multiple endings possible, depending on a few things you do or don't do in the game. There are also quite a few ways to die in the game, but these are easily avoided once you know what they are.

The game seems overly simple at first, but improves as you progress, and the pacing never falls short. The story is not much on plot, beyond the player's own actions (except for a nailbiting ending), but maintains a sense of mystery, and has some interesting characters. It is usually obvious what you have to look for next, and in the rare times when you can't find it, there is a walkthrough video available.

Overall, the game unfolds at a good pace, and is never tedious; although it is a bit on the simple side, in terms of gameplay.
Posted October 22, 2018. Last edited October 22, 2018.
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5 people found this review helpful
13.2 hrs on record
Aurora is an 11 hour adventure RPG made in RPGMaker. Its strong points include a quick paced game progression, and an interesting story. There are occasional game crashes and disparate save points when in a wilderness other than the world map, but the parts repeated are not tedious or difficult.

The premise of the story is the one where you wake up with amnesia and travel to various continents trying to discover who you are, while picking up companions along the way, then of course, finding out that you are the savior of the world, who must defeat an ultimate evil.

The game progress is linear. On the world map, it is very obvious in which direction you should travel, while in area maps, there is a labyrinth filled with treasure, and these tend to be obvious as well, in terms of which direction to go. There is one exception with a map that apparently shapeshifts. There are no side quests that I could find.

The world map is used to travel between areas, and these areas generally alternate between towns and wilderness trails.

Party members are acquired one at a time, spaced nicely apart, and levelling up happens quickly with a lot of new and unique skills. Each town has lots of weapons and armour to buy. Your gold will usually buy a lot of stuff, but leave you missing some things. Grinding will help with this, but the battles are easy enough as it is.

Random encounters will happen both on the world map, and in wilderness areas. Two or three rounds are typical in most cases. Boss battles take a long time, but are easy to beat, due to strong equipment and character skills.

Overall, this game feels more playable than others of its genre, because it lacks any long drawn out parts. It is simple and fun until the end.
Posted April 29, 2018.
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4 people found this review helpful
29.8 hrs on record
Selatria: Advent of the Dakk'rian Empire is a 20 hour adventure RPG with voiced dialogue. This is only part one, and the game, although satisfying up until the end, stops rather abruptly, without letting you know you can't go further.

The story is good, and very well enhanced by the voiced audio. The premise is that two young magicians, after their school is attacked, must venture to stop the Dakk'rians - the previously conquered enemy of their people - from getting revenge and capturing the crystal essence of their magic.

There are five characters that join your party, but only four at a given time. Each character has a unique set of skills to level up, and grinding does help, but is rarely necessary. One of the main characters can switch between three vastly different skillsets (strongly elemental, curative, or a light mix of both), but must do so outside of battle.

Enemy troops usually take four or five rounds to kill, but it is usually not hard to keep your party alive when facing random enemies through the various maps. Boss battles are often difficult though, and the heavy dialogue leading up to them makes it frustrating when you have to start over a dozen times and listen to it all again. Some even have two battles back to back, without an opportunity to save in between.

The game is linear, and the plot takes you from town to town. Each town has a new set of weapons and armour to buy to improve your character stats. There is also an annoying discount salesman that appears in various places.

For the most part, travelling through the world happens at a good pace, but there are a few places that seem to go on endlessly, where it is easy to get lost in a sea of dangerous enemies.

Overall, the game is more enjoyable than the average RPG Maker title.
Posted April 21, 2018.
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Showing 1-10 of 50 entries