The version I personally like to use. |
And sell, many RPG Maker users do! The land of
lower-price titles in the Steam store is home to dozens of games that were
built with that engine. Of course, just because someone can finish a game and
publish it on Steam doesn’t mean that the published game is all that great.
Granted, the published games tend to be better than some games in development
showcased in the Workshop... but that's faint praise.
And that's only Page 2! |
Hopefully you'll remember this scene when the end of the game rolls around... but you likely won't. |
On the left: Town map, on the right: World map. |
I should also say that in RPG Maker, the default type
of dialogue has a small frame with the character’s face appearing on the left
in the text box. Some people more adept with the software can change this so
that the screen instead features a full bust of that character, as shown here.
Wouldn’t be too bad, mind you, except that it’s been done in The Chosen for a
very particular reason, as we’ll see.
Edge goes to the graveyard, finds his mother’s grave (who
builds a graveyard at the end of a miniature maze?), and finds her bangle
there. We also learn that his father has been missing for a couple months now.
Edge returns home, only to see his long-time friend Serenity being harassed by
local guards. They team up – Serenity joins the party – and defeat them. She
thanks Edge, and as per this game’s tradition, her text shows her emotions and-
Wo hoah! That is NOT proper attire, miss!
Suddenly, surprise boobs. I mean, kudos for the art of these busts, but... that's gratuitous. |
But here? Nah, all three women who join the party seem
to be in their underwear. Serenity has a tight-fitting bra that reveals her
nipples, and low-waist pants… that is, if she wears pants at all. Same for the
other two! These are not animations, just still images that pop up when these
characters are talking, so there isn’t much of a point (and besides what they
say is supposed to be more important than their looks). Thank God there aren't many other female characters whose busts appear while talking, or they'll all be in lingerie!
More bonus points of awful, all the guys who show up as busts when talking are
either correctly clothed or wear full body armor! Including Edge! That’s…
that’s just bad. Seriously, I like fanservice, but this is probably the poorest
example I have ever seen. Granted, it has nothing to do with how the game is
programmed, but it’s a serious issue with this one.
Here is an issue linked to the way the game is
programmed, though: The enemies. In RPG Maker, there is an entire section where
you can set up the enemies’ stats and appearance. Upon buying the software, you
get a readily-available selection of battlers (that’s how the enemies’ pictures
are called). The screen during a fight usually looks like this:
Note how the party characters are not on the screen,
implying you see the battle from their point of view, hence why the enemies are
so large. However, using scripts, it is possible to get a screen closer to
Final Fantasy games, with sprites of the characters appearing on the right,
fighting the enemies on the left – like this example.
The creator of The Chosen RPG set up the Final Fantasy
style of combat… but kept the battlers from the normal battle mechanics of RPG
Maker, and used the overworld sprites for the heroes, resulting in screens that look like… this:
THESE TWO STYLES DO NOT MIX! Also note how all the battling enemies are still actually facing the player, like in the usual RPG Maker system. |
Every. Single. Enemy. Is. Freaking. Giant. Here. And
they have no reason to be! It’s particularly noticeable when the group is
fighting human opponents, and they appear as these colossal, humongous,
gigantic characters, in comparison to the group’s sprites, which are so small.
This game’s maker should have either resized the battlers, or kept the normal
RPG Maker mechanics. This just looks silly.
This text almost trailed off the screen. We're missing the dot. |
Serenity asks the guards why they’re persecuting the
town, and they reply that they’re trying to steal the legendary weapon, dubbed
the God’s Tear, from the tower north of the village. Edge and Serenity head up
there and repel the invading forces. Speaking of, there’s another thing that
bugs me with this game. See those circles?
They’re meant to show the squares that must be used
for Edge to walk to and from certain places. Edge cannot even walk on them,
just walk towards them and he’ll be magically teleported to the place these
circles bring him to. Not the most practical way to have characters move
between closed off places, if you ask me…
A dark knight un full armor, against a hero and his three accomplices in chainmail bikinis? Sue, we can win! |
Oh, by the way, the village’s fine even if they come
back to it later. No evil guards left to terrorize the population. Well that
wasn’t something to worry about after all! Before leaving the village, we
can go to the local shops and buy items, weapons and armor to improve the main
characters’ stats. Standard RPG fare, really. Take note that the character
busts never change, so you can equip to these girls the best, heaviest or most
covering armor you can find, they’re still gonna appear on the screen like they
just woke up and only had time to put on a bra.
We get to Myste’s home, and- Wo hoah! I wasn’t joking
with that last “bra” comment!
Might as well go topless, for God's sake. Also, yes, erect nipples on all of them. All the time. Because that's how female anatomy works, right? |
Again: As fanservice, that’s fucking shameless.
This reminds me that I have to add some magic attacks in my own game... I've yet to do that. |
This underground passage has a dragon statue in one
room by the way. Is it plot-relevant? No, but it’s something to remember.
Reading plain text on a video game screen is so interesting! |
After this explanation, we’re told to investigate the
local deserted castle. Before that, we can visit Volcano Village (and get new items
and equipment if needed). Speaking with some townspeople also reveals that this
particular island has been suffering from semi-frequent earthquakes for a while
now, and that’s something else that need to be stopped. The team enters the nearby castle and sees its guards and King dead. They do end up finding a legendary
item in there, though: The Angel Wing, which turns out to be vital in upgrading
the God’s Tear. Upon going back to the village, the place shakes even more than
before, so we’re told to explore the volcano.
Look at the timer on the top right. Yeah, unless you're very unlucky, you shouldn't see it run all the way to 0:00. |
The bigger they are... the harder they are to kill. |
"Didn't receive damage"? Damn, we're fighting the final boss so early? We're screwed. |
Sailing around, we find Akuma’s Fortress and encounter
Akuma – although he has end-boss stats and is impossible to defeat at the
moment. This fight is lost, but the party is teleported out of the fortress before
Akuma can retrieve the sword. Outside, we find out who exactly teleported out our
characters: Trinity, another girl in a (Wo hoah!) skimpy outfit, because it’s
practically a requirement in this game.
Trinity is a jack-of-all-stats, able to fight and use
magic, unlike Myste, whose physical attack is useless. With her in the team, we
can level up a bit more, then look for Elfbush Village, where we might find
the second piece towards completing the legendary sword upgrade. Upon meeting
the elders of the elf village, we’re told to go to the Snow Temple, located south.
Hm… How about we continue this in Part 2?
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