Good/underrated RPG Maker games
Oct 17, 2019 10:16:10 GMT -5
Post by Woody Alien on Oct 17, 2019 10:16:10 GMT -5
Other two examples because for some reason I feel the need to update this thread every now and then.
Pocket Quest is a game made in the space of about 7 years by a lone Italian dude. It's interesting mostly because it's one of the very few (if not the only?) sugoroku/board game style games made in RPG Maker, and also because most of the assets have been modified and Frankensteined from dozens of other titles. For example, the snail that follows the main character has been lifted from Pulirula, and the little enemy devil is pretty clearly Etna from Disgaea. I never actually played it but it looks like an interesting experiment if anything. However I don't think that as of now there is an English translation...
Right now I'm also playing to pass the time (and also because I found it for free) another RPG Maker game called Introvert Quest, that has nothing to do with the above.
The generic battle system, standard graphical assets, cheap faux-anime style in which characters are drawn, typo-ridden dialogues and a few bugs all point to a shitty mediocre game, however I must say that I loved the offbeat premise and wacky bizarre humour. (interestingly enough, the game devs are Croatian, who'd have guessed that?)
Basically the story is that we play as some guy who's kind of a hikikomori and an agoraphobic, so his therapist sends him to do simple things around the city, like go to the convenience store, to get him to open up a bit more with other people. However that city is so full of pimps, scammers, protesters, stupid robbers, crazy survivalists and assorted weirdos, that whatever we do our poor guy will always get in trouble... but making the right choices will make him become more confident with himself and maybe also find the girl of his dreams!
I know it is pretty stupid and unambitious, but I found it quite endearing and humorous, and also some of the choices actually influence the game. The theme of choice is also used in that there's only one save slot so sometimes we just have to live with our actions (for examples I gave cigarettes to a little girl for the lulz).
Also I found very clever how the areas are walled off: in the beginning our hero only wants to explore the surroundings of his house, then as the days pass and he gets more confident he'll be able to take the bus and subway to other, further zones of the city.
I wish this game to be remade in a better and more competent way because it has several interesting ideas.