these games need to be reviewed/previewed, the * indicates a review has been made but the game hasnt had the review attached to it yet.

rpg maker 1

Acre-age
Angels of Rhyzoran
Arena Fighter *
Beer Quest
Bin Laden Quest: Solid
Binding Souls
Bingo's Exxodus
Bingo's F'd Up Kwest
Black Ribbon
Bomberman Tournament 2: SE
Castlemania
Checkers Plus!
Crystal Shores
Custom World Map (technical demo)
Dark Illusions *
Defenders of Light
Devil Hunter Monoko *
Dew Quest
Dynasty Project Revival
Elements of Darkness
Elysium: Exodus into Darkness
Engraved Powers *
Evil Bastard
Fat Fuzz
Final Ocean: BLUE
Five Warriors
Forever's End: Special Edition
Forever's End: The Unknown Savior
Fu-Fu The Acid-Trip Bunny *
Gaia Warriors
George W. Bush's Cocaine Quest
Hell Bent
Hero's Quest
Lady Tuts
Legend of Crystara
Legend of Felenar
Legends, The
Leisure Suit Larry 8
Let's Kill People!
Metroid: Reborn
Michael's Homosexual Adventure 1 & 2
Michael's Homosexual Adventure 3
Minigame RPG
Monkey Brothers
Monster Football
Monster Football *DEMO*
Monsterman 64 1/2
New Title
Nightmares
Oasis
Omegablade Saga
Oriontide
Outsider's Calling
Pacman: Redux
Purgatory
Puzzle Buster
Radiant Darkness
Remote Control
Return to Exia *
Rincar
Robo Challenge
Rogue Star
RPGM Deathmatch
Schtick Phigurez
Seinfeldinator, The
Sen Saga: Shadow of the Sen
Shuffle or Boogie
Star of Tzar
Stranger
Super Metroid Trailing Image Effect
Survival
Tales of Rick
Tide of War, The
Too Many RPGs
Treasure Hunters
Usuru: Ultimate Story
Vengeance
Wait In Line RPG
Way of Peace
Zelda's Pie

rpg maker 2

2D Adventure
Championship Golf 2004 feat. Dave Carter
Crazy Skating 2
Dragon Knight 2: The Macerean War
Dragon Knight 3: The Taizonian Revolution
Happy Hunting Grounds
Legacy: Sky Frontier
Light Warrior: Yuji the Fighter
Mecha Mage
Miniature Mayhem
Moment Of Tragedy Part 1
New Game Plus
Psuedo-Blackjack
PsuedOthello
Rise of Golm
Runewind Saga
Sprite Chaser Hikashi
SS Legends
SS Legends 2
SS Legends 3
SS World
Tabloid: Interview With the Alien
Tetris
The Sims
Tuataria
Unamed Side-Scrolling RPG
Untamed Madness
Zelda: Sword of Magic

rpg maker 3

A Ronin Story
Daniel's Quest III
Daniel's Quest III Full Game (Data Slot 2)
Duder and the Mage
Evil Fantasy
EVIL: THE REDICULOUSLY LONG...
Hamano Miharu
Hidden Valley
Holy-Chaos: Prophecies Unleashed
Land of Mystery
Last DragonSlayer, The
Legacy of Jack
Raiders of Lekunder, The
Remedy, A
Series 4: A Dark Day Dawns Episode 1
Series Aside, A
Shadows of Torayu
Sins of the Century
The Dragon Child
Ursus Quest: Shadow of the Towers
URSUS QUEST: Tree of Life
WereKing
Whispers in the Woods
Who did this!?

xp vx

Corporal Buggy Bear
Crystal Armageddon, The
Dragon Shadow - The Four Hearts
Exile
The Quest!
Tide Myths
Tournament Hero V1.0 (complete)
Watchtower Challenge


as you know i found an old site with a bunch of rpg maker games on it. so, since im in a play other peoples game binge i decided to check these games out and report my findings.

already ive been quite accustomed to the piles of utter crap that have been made for rpg maker. the amount is so huge and so poor that id even call it shovelware - like many wii titles.



holy war

more like holy sh*t! the creator of this game must of finished the first final fantasy before making this game because it mirrored everything about it. you start out with 4 heros, the most generic classes know to man, you deal with a church, and you get your ass handed to you on the first battles.

the world is boring and uninspired, and every object you touch causes a random and equally annoying boink noise. the game gives you starting equip and enough cash to buy... nothing? whats with that, not one coin?

so i entered into the first dungeon expecting to die and i was almost right. at first i had a glimmer of hope as the battles felt moderately balanced. yet when i went to heal i found that the few healing items i had (all having some numerical number in the name) healed for 15 hp. if your going to have an item that barely will heal the damage done in one turn then at least have tons available. unfortunately at 160 bucks a pop it was the most expensive healing item and an utter waste of life.

surprisingly it was my weakest char that died last, a mage who didnt have any magic. he managed to survive a few battles and gain a few levels and once the party hit lv3 i died a slow death trying to escape. there was tons of "tent" items but no way to use them.


castle racovia

horrid, horrid, horrid. if i where to throw up all over the floor after a night of drinking, the vomit would still produce a better game then this. everything is disjointed and unfinished. bugs are most likely the main focus of this game because i couldnt find anything else that made more sense. ive never seen a more budget oriented system as far as equipment and stats, everything was one point or so, minimalist ill call it. though i did like the side scroll style town the guy made.

dont play this game now or ever, and i apologize in advance if you wasted the 30kb of bandwidth to download it.


viator

the real name should be violator because thats just how i feel after playing this game.

the game has many obvious flaws associated with failing to add polish but does have potential. the maps where filled with stuff, though none of it was interactive. the maps where not too bad but had many errors that looked to be caused by failing to use the erase tile command.

items where balanced as far as price goes and healing was at the right level it should be, i was even given an item which defeated battles for me and i needed it! the battles was the crushing force of this game. every battle was an epic struggle to save your life. i died just trying to get to the first save point in the game. the equipment was so ill placed that i was actually naked and unable to do any damage other then by the battle item until i received a stick in the dungeon.

i didnt get very far but the game has potential for being one of the first few releases of rpg maker.


winds of gaeos - the gathering

well, well. finally a gem out of the rubble.

the game starts off like every other cliche game out there, and i was thinking oh god not another freaking epic, this time was different.

my experience with the game almost ended right there at the very start with an opening battle that was very difficult. if you ever desire to play this game - and i think you should - then ill give you a tip: heal every other turn and use your magic once on each foe and finish them off with an attack, leaving the red guy till last. doing anything else or even waiting to use heal will result in your death.

after i restarted a few times i eventually beat it and moved on to greener pastures. the rest of the game - demo i should really call it since it was just that - was good. the environments despite a few flaws where very well organized and innovate. i was very impressed with the fort walls and i saw some ideas that suitably impressed me. the only generic map i saw was the shop map.

the plot itself suffered from a star wars complex but i got over it. i wont really know where the plot is going until the game is finished - which, judging by the times thats already passed - wont ever be. a pitty too since i would seriously play the final version - and if the game was released today, giving the creator mellow yellow a chance to hone his skills a bit more, then id dare say this game would be right up there with the other classics.

this game features a blacksmith system where your weapons become + of their originals for a small fee. this fee must be a closely guarded secret because not once was the price discussed. just a wink and a nod and the cash exchanged hands and my weapon was better. the kind blacksmith did note that i most likely should equip my weapons before venturing out since his blacksmithing required me to remove every piece of equipment i owned - kinky bastard.

im not sure if it was a planned feature or a bug, or a way to speed the demo along but everyone in my party was equipped with a speed ring which maxed out my agility. though a fun item to have it kind of destroyed much of the balance agility creates.

the rest of the games battles where balanced very well. of course the best boon of all was having no random battles at all. i was able to explore every map spot without being pestered, and the graphic choice used for roaming monsters was fairly creative too.

lastly there was tons of treasure to be had. i found items in every nook and corner, in places that where innovative for their time, yet every item i received was boring. yet another tonic, yet another poison cure, yet one more damn mana cure. if variety is the spice of life then treasure hunting in this game needs to visit the west indies.

overall im quite satisfied with the hour it took to clear this very short demo. id recomend playing it, it could give you some ideas for your own game.


one

i played this game yesterday and found that though it wasnt horrible, it certainly wasnt great either.

the plot itself has so many cleche elements that square may use it in an up and coming game. from quiet loner, to perky breasted, to happy chick, to even town subplots of overused material.

the game itself featured a few mini games, one of which was collecting cards where you use 3 cards and battle a guy and win something if you choose right. it looks to be more like rock paper scissors then anything and was disappointingly boring. the rest of his minigames where rather easy, though interesting in their execution. most of it involved trying to click on a certain number of enemies while avoiding some moving or invisible object. not bad for a demo but nothing exciting either.

the gameplay itself had something i never encountered before. in most cases magic is either so powerful that its crushes the game balance or so expensive that you must save it for a boss. in this game the magic i got was outdated in one level. when i got my first magic spells they did less damage then when i received my second and third level in the first dungeon of the game. it could of been useful considering the over powered boss i encountered but overall it was poor planning.

the first boss fight should of been tested with lower levels as the boss can spam attack down status effects making your attacks do no damage. you can be there for a week whittling away 150 hp when you land a 1 point hit once every 5 attacks.

the town itself had all the usual trimmings. equipment was supper expensive, costing several thousand for even entry level items. the first battles never gave over 60 bucks. it takes a long time to save up but with the system of weapons used i can see that it could be balanced.

equipment gained 1 point per upgrade up to a maximum of 8 if you look at the stuff in the editor. my only fear with this type of strategy is that the 1 point is almost totally moot when you compare it to a level. your advantage is far higher for a level then any equipment piece making it almost moot. i didnt even bother buying more then a piece or two the entire game.

the game has some interesting quirks, the world map is overly basic but custom, the rest of it feels more like a first rpg maker attempt which is fine. i dont think we will ever see a full game but that might be best in this case. the plot would have to change drastically to capture anyones interest.

Finally... someone who isn't afraid of stepping on toes. I support your crusade fully.

*salutes*

So far it sounds like we aren't missing much.

Nice reviews, I'll need to play these just for laughs.

you really arnt lol. i had to commandeer my cards for something else but i should be playing another one today or so. once this is done im going to go right ahead and play the rest of the rpg maker 1 games we got. might as well review the whole damn lot!

You, may friend, are a beast. Keep it up.

How much of each game are you going to play before you give a review? Although no professional reviewers seem to do it, to be fair you ought to start a precedent and disclose how much you played if there is some way to guage it. That way others can decide for themselves if you've played enough to really get see what the game has to offer or what the game is lacking.

i play till i finish the game or until the game forces me to restart the entire console. i prefer to play the game to the end and sometimes ignore a console reset once or twice if the game seems halfway noteworthy. in my other reviews i recorded the playtime taken to beat the game for the last few games i havent so ill mention it now.

i played dark illusions for around 5 hours and i got half way through the game and just had no desire to continue with it since i lost the girl i wanted to get. im surprised there isnt a guide out to help you get the right girl, or to tackle some of the more difficult puzzles.

i played the three games in here for over an hour each. if i died it was no big problem, i just continued from the last save point. in some games this was a frequent occurrence and i couldnt get very far, in other games it wasnt a problem at all and i got quite far into the game. in all cases the game was a confusing mess filled with bugs and other such problems that made wanting to play it further an easy decision.

i believe that if a game hasnt proven that there is something in it in the first hour, then it will never be worth the time to play it till the end. this is the same time i give professional games when i rent them and ill extend the same curtsy to rpg designers weather their games deserve it or not.

briefly played engraved tomb. i would of continued to play it but after a scene 10 minutes in forced me to walk around town aimlessly, refusing to let me do anything, i just gave up.

the whole game is a mess. a simple playtest would of uncovered most of the simplistic errors i encountered; from being moved into a bush, to not facing the right way during cut scenes, to screen color changes that didnt revert back. in that 10 minutes i encountered so many error that it would take a long time to chronicle them and would take longer then the game itself. my favorite bug was the never breaking strength item which i promptly used to pump myself to 1000 strength but encountered no battles there after to use it.

its a demo and i did like a few things i saw. the creative use of some tiles made for a new take on building, yet no effort was made to see if you could walk on the tiles or not.

the story itself was hard to follow and came in unrelenting droves. i watched text scroll by with nothing happening in between.


arena fighter

at first glance i was cringing because i thought this would be another painful foray into the forgotten realm of rpg makers unoffical garbage contest winners. yet, it turned out to be not bad.

the concept was very simple as was every aspect about it (hence its low production time), you just needed to defeat monsters and better yourself so you can tackle the boss and continue. what was not so simple was staying alive. the game doesnt use levels which means you rely exclusively on stat boosting item drops and the difficult to obtain equipment.

at first you will die, and die, and die. unless you farm the first rooms monsters then expect to proceed no further. the much needed boost from equipment (though they turn out to provide inconsequential) is far too difficult to get. dont even try to tackle the boss of this first maze, you wont last more then two or three turns.

the battles themselves are well balanced, yet the concept unfortunately breaks the balance as the game is either too hard or becomes too easy after a few good drops.

the introduction of magic and skills is a much needed boon to your arsenal and add a different depth to the game. the biggest problem is that most of what you do happens after the enemies move so if you didnt anticipate losing a lot of hp the turn before and hence set yourself to heal, then you will most like die before any spell is cast.

the chests of the second maze are useful and provide emergency stimulus just in case you somehow beat the first maze boss without actually getting strong enough (the second mazes enemies hurt just as much as the first ones did)

overall id say its not a bad effort. simple in this case proved to be the better course of action. with no real features, the game becomes boring fast as you realize your only in an endless cycle of creature slaying.

Looking forward to hearing about more games that you've played. I love this thread. I hope that you keep at it.