Melon Journey: Kind Of A Hello Kitty Episode Directed By David Lynch

Posted on August 2, 2012 by geelw

Thanks to its charming tone and visuals, quirky yet descriptive writing (“He is singing a quiet song about eating vanilla ice cream in a warm room”) and low-key but catchy MIDI score, this short and sweet adventure game by RPGMaker.net users Mario & Karolina (almondmelon on the site) comes highly recommended. It can easily be completed in one sitting (about 2 hours or so) and when you’re done, you’ll wish it was a bit longer. Gameplay revolves around locating items within and around the village, which in turn nets you other items you can use or trade in order to progress further in the story. There’s a tiny bit of an Animal Crossing vibe here as well, but the game’s brevity and offbeat style makes it a bit better in my opinion. Saying more will spoil the fun, so if you like adventure games and strangeness that will make you smile, definitely make this little town your next gaming stop. Get it here and thank me later.

Random Indie Game Of The Week: Paradise Blue

Posted on July 30, 2012 by geelw

One of the nicer RPGMaker games I’ve played this year is Paradise Blue, a Final Fantasy homage that’s actually a bit more impressive in a few areas. The developer, Ocean went as far as to redo the familiar RPGM backgrounds with his own artwork, boosting the normally straightforward color palette and detail considerably. While the game still has the look of a quality NES title, colors practically pop off the screen in nearly every map making this one of the more unique-looking “old-school” RPGs I’ve seen to date. It takes a little while to get used to some of those details, however. You’ll be dazzled by sparkly areas and items that look as if they SHOULD be interactive, only to find they’re just there for effect.

Where the game shines is in some of the well-scripted dialog, the skills system (which is deep and rewarding once you get into it) and some of the trickier battles the game drops you into. Switching out classes and equipping the proper skills is a must here, as some high-level side quest battles can wipe out your party before you know it. In addition to some addictive gameplay, there’s also an excellent score that works quite well at conveying mood. As usual, you can grab this game for FREE at the link above and it comes highly recommended if you’re a fan of classic 8-bit JRPG bliss. Ocean also has some other cool titles I’ll get around to reviewing as I find time to do so. Heck, this review WOULD be longer, except for I’m even more backlogged than ever since discovering RMN!

(thanks to YouTube user Vysethedetermined2 for the gameplay video)

Random Indie Game Of The Week: Cavern of Doom

Posted on July 22, 2012 by geelw

Most of the popular RPG Maker games out there are the usual Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest clones of assorted quality (terrible to truly inspired masterworks), but Cavern of Doom manages to take retro to an even more nostalgic level. Imagine an actual turn-based RPG made for the Atari 260- and you get the idea. If you love the blocky graphics old Atari home games had, CoD will get you smiling as soon as you see it in motion. the guy who made this gem, bobthebobish, clearly has a great sense of humor as you’ll see when you’re playing the game. I love how his chunky sprite monsters, simple use of color and even more straightforward dungeon mazes all tickled the proper nerves while the more modern turn-based combat appealed to my JRPG loving side. There’s also a cool upgrade system where you buy new skills with gained experience, a necessary thing as the game can be quite tough if you move too quickly through the dungeons. A sequel of sorts was in the works, but real life has halted progress on it for the time being. Anyway, CoD is ONLY about a 3 MB download, it’s FREE and if you happen to like the art style, you’ll get a kick out of what’s here even if you’re not big into the genre.

Random Indie Game of the Week: Hellion: Diablo Meets Dragon Quest (And It’s A Blast)

Posted on July 8, 2012 by geelw

I found this cool little indie RPG quite by accident a few days ago while looking up something entirely different, downloaded it and got an immediate grin going when I fired it up. One of a few very awesome NES-inspired RPGs made by a a user called kentona (with Enterbrain’s wonderfully retro RPG Maker 2003), Hellion plays like bits of Dragon Quest, Diablo and Final Fantasy dropped into a blender and mixed up just right. Basically, you choose a character class at the beginning, assign some skill points and set out to tackle the dangerous multi-level dungeon under the town you start the game in. There are random monster drops, traps and chests to disarm, a bunch of side missions to tackle and more.

While I’m only three floors in, I like the ability to hire up to three party members, the alignment system that changes based on your choices during the game (some NPCs and potential teammates won’t deal with you if you’re too goody-goody or too much a total jerk), the level of challenge right from the start and more. The game uses graphics and music lifted from the DQ series, but I like the 8-bit visuals and tunes because of the nostalgia value. That and it’s actually more fun than Diablo III because you don’t need to be always online to play or have to deal with stupid stuff the DRM in that game was supposed to stop from occurring. Anyway, go check it out and while you’re there, take a peek at kentona’s other works as well as some of the other great games on the RPGMaker website.