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Abyss of Vinsaga: Aquamoon Pandora
Reviewer(s): Rhen2002
Developer: Joewoof
Genre: Traditional
Release: July 2003
Rating: Teen
Platform: RPG Maker
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Overview:
For Abyss of Vinsaga, the strongest point is its story. With a story
that has been over a decade in development (yes, you heard right),
you can expect at least some polish. Although you can only catch a
small glimpse of the overall story from this short first chapter, it
is enough to drag you in. I cannot wait to experience the entire
story, regardless of the medium chosen.
The key points of AoV's story comes up with its themes. Despite
the shortcomings of the medium, AoV pulls off the emotion
intended with the plot. When Jocz longs for his friends, you
will understand how he feels and even sympathize with him.
When he experiences the revelations that will drive most anyone
insane, you will experience in much the same way as the game
wants you to.
Perhaps the most unique feature comes in when the very essence
of reality is questioned. The game asks if you ever thought
that anything game you've played may actually be real- whether
it be in another time, dimension, or other form of reality.
A good question, and one that makes its way throughout the
game as the characters acknowledge you, the player. It also
questions whether we are all just puppets being pulled by
someone, or something, else. We, the players, control the
characters- or, do they control us? And in the end, you
cannot factor out Joewoof, the creator of AoV himself.
Then again, he cannot do all that he wanted with RPGM,
because of the shortcomings and limited amount of memory
card and sprite space.
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| Positive + |
Presentation |
Negative - |
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This is one of the few RPGMaker games that uses a CBS (custom battle system), and I must say it is effective. That does not mean it is without flaws. Being on the medium of RPGMaker, the battles tend to go slow especially when you are just starting to learn this complex system. That does not stop it from being fun, and it refreshing to see such a fresh system of fighting. You can tell Joewoof has spent some time just working out the mechanics of the system itself: not to mention the time spent to implement it and test it out for bugs!
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I found nothing flawed with the presentation. The only downside is that newbies will be a little lost with the Trans-Chapter menu, but nothing is wrong with it.
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| [Final]: 25/25% |
| Positive + |
Features |
Negative - |
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As mentioned in Presentation, there are some hefty and well implemented features in AoV. The completion of the Aquamoon Pandora scenario warrants an item that unlocks one of the features in the Extras menu on the trans-chapter menu. The minigame, like the main game, is unique and fun. There are two, in fact, as you first have a strategical race against a ship and then perform a series of battles using a mini, simplified version of AoV's battle system.
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The features are numerous, well thought out and fun. There are no complaints here.
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| [Final]: 25/25% |
| Positive + |
Debugging |
Negative - |
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There are no visible bugs in Abyss of Vinsaga. Everything works fine, and Joewoof took great care in his spelling and grammar.
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Only a few grammatical errors in this game that keeps this area from obtaining a perfect score. There were a few misspellings of words, but there were also times when sentences were incomplete. A few need words were omitted, causing a few (yet very minor) sentence fragments. Although I am not sure if it was intended or not, the ending dialogue for the Tutorial/Practice battle and the real battle was different. It changed from saying "You have Won" to "You are Victorious". Yet, there is nothing that anybody but picky people (like reviewers) will notice.
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| [Final]: 24/25% |
| Positive + |
Fun |
Negative - |
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The unique battle system, although slow, will intrigue almost anyone the first time through. But at least it is a break from the norm with a system that actually requires strategic thinking. This is a welcome departure from the majority of RPGs out there, be it commercial or amateur-made. With most games, you can solve the problem of it being difficult by simply fighting more small battles and overleveling. In AoV, there is no overleveling or brute force. No, you must use your mind in this one! For some, that may be a problem, but hey, we all want a challenge right?
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The slowness of the battle system can be cumbersome for many people. The balance of the game is thown off as the battles suddenly switch from being very easy to being difficult. In fact, the last battle in the AoV scenario made me want to break something after about 15 minutes, due to the combined efforts of slowness and difficulty. Doesn’t put that much of a damper on the game itself, thankfully.
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| [Final]: 22/25% |
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It is quite a shame that AoV will not be completed on RPGMaker. This game shows
so much promise it is not funny, yet it will be completed someday, but probably
not with this medium. In any case, Joewoof has proved to be someone to keep your
eye on. Until more games come out to showcase his talent, pick up Abyss of Vinsaga.
You will not be disappointed.
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| [Overall]: 96/100% |
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