Bringing in his first installment created from RPG Maker 3, JMB thisMAN is definitely a fantasy enthusiast. Drawing his inspiration from series such as Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights, JMB thisMAN has employed RPG Maker 3 to create a non-linear character driven adventure of his own.

Unlike your typical romp through the fantasy realm, every MP and HP Point will count. This game absolutely does not lead the player by the hand, and makes even the most seemingly useless of skills invaluable to your party. The style of the game is very much different in respects as to one would come to expect of an RPG Maker console game.

I caught JMB thisMAN for this very informing interview.

Fayorei (FA): First question- what is your game's title?

JMB thisMAN (JT): A Dashing Endeavour

FA: What type of RPG would you say it is? A sword romp? A puzzling endeavor? Or perhaps something else?

JT: A non-linear character driven adventure

FA: Ah, and what RPG Maker version is it on?

JT: RPGM3

FA: So, what's the basic storyline driving this adventure?

JT: Basically, you play as Alexander Dashing and his three friends Shalazar, Archibald, and Maria. After accidentally summoning a demon from the depths of hell, they learn that due to a family curse it is their destiny to destroy the demon each generation or else their family lines will end.

Along the way, it's the four of them coping with the adventure themselves. They each have their own little secrets, problems, and goals. They get along, fight with each other, and grow together as a more sinister plot in the background unfolds. That's it for the basics.

FA: I like how you are including character relations. I notice a lot of people forget that an RPG's party needs to interact.

so, did you draw inspiration from anywhere to come up with your ideas?

JT: My inspiration mainly comes from computer rpg's like Jagged Alliance, the Forgotten Realm series (Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights, etc.), Elder Scrolls, and Wizardry. These games aren't driven by story, rather how the characters react. Often times the game will halt in the middle of a field and the characters will talk to each other. Sometimes they'll say humerous stuff and pat each other on the back, other times they'll verbally fight and even leave the party if they're insulted.

FA: That's an excellent source to gather some inspiration. Very true. Any features that will make your game stand out?

JT: The game itself is rather non-linear; you can tackle the 4 main quests in any order you want. The leveling in the game isn't gradual like other rpg's so equipment and proper management of your skills are important in tough battles (let's just say skills like poison are actually useful). You can completely skip all battles but you'll be missing out on good money and items. There are a couple of puzzles strewn about the main dungeons. Other than that, it's the game's style that I think will stand out the most.

It doesn't hold you by the hand so you'll have to investigate the locations more closely. It's pretty difficult but not impossibly hard and I think people will relate to at least one of the characters. They seem normal on the outside but they're all pretty disturbed really.

FA: I like the fact that your game is non-linear, it really would make it stand out from the linear games already released. So no mini-games at all?

JT: It's pretty much next to impossible to have a true mini-game in rpgm3 due to it's movement limitations but there will probably be a fighting arena you can enter and bet on and I'm also working on a random quest generator. It's nothing special, but it basically generates a simple fetch quest like "go to point A and kill badguy B" or "bring 50 bee stingers for payment." It's designed to give easy jobs to people who blew all their money because you use money a lot in the game itself. Other than that, the adventure is kept pure. The focus is on the environment and the characters and that's what I'm putting all my skill into. Mini-games and side events will come afterwards.

FA: That just makes logical sense in my eyes. Speaking of this, about how many minutes is your game so far, or perhaps hours?

JT: I've lost motivation for a few weeks so it isn't as long as I wanted, but the watered down preview I have took me about an hour and thirty to get from the beginning to where I'm at now. Keep in mind this is me knowing where to go and WITHOUT battles and the ability to warp. I expect about 2 hours in the final version.

FA: Why did you decide to make this game?

JT: It's a pretty long story actually. I always made my games for the pc makers (legal copies of course) due to their ease of use and availability. The console market simply didn't interest me. Rpgm2 looked promising and I planned a game for it called Antagonist's Amnesty which was a Monkey Island spoof about a guy who wanted to become a villain while batteling the do-gooder Alexander Dashing. I scrapped the game when I figured out how terrible rpgm2 was (for various reasons) and the idea sat on my shelf in a dusty folder. I was incredibly impressed by rpgm3 and it's style and while the game itself is pretty limiting, it allows me to focus on the game itself and not how many things I can tack onto it (hence why my motivation for it is generally higher than the other makers). I wanted a really cool first game, something that would wow everybody and destroy the stereotypes about rpgm3. I decided on a simple concept, port the characters from my first game, and went with it from there. There's absolutely no planning involved in the game, no writing of scripts, no text documents. I want this game to feel natural and be the first of it's kind for the console maker community.

FA: A really well-thought out response. Do you think it will do well with the RPG Maker audience?<br><br>

JT: I hope so. Most console gamers feel intimidated by a game that doesn't give them a clear goal. I've fixed this by giving the character journal entries as treasure objects and several helpful locations like a library and helpful adventurer's guild but I feel the fact that the game doesn't hold your hand and you have to make decisions on your own a possible feature that may be disliked. Either way, I'm making this game for my own enjoyment rather than someone elses.

FA: I can understand where you're coming from, that goes for any creating. Lastly, when can we expect an official release date for the demo, and full game?

JT: There's a .0005% chance I'll actually release a demo simply because the style of the game can't support one (unless I remove every location but one). I'm working pretty fast and already have the 1st out of 4 story quests done so hopefully by mid november. It would have been released next week, but my motivation plummeted for a bit. I'm in the Navy and ship off on December 12 for active duty so I can promise SOMETHING will be released before then.

FA: Well, that's all of my questions. It's been a pleasure to interview you.

JT: No problem, and thanks.

I had the chance to play JMB thisMAN's creation after a very long period of silence because of technical problems. At any rate I am unaware if the demo was released to the public yet or not. Much less the full game, because JMB thisMAN shipped off on December 12th, 2005 to serve our nation. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to play this demo after trial and error on my part and uncontrollable conditions. To be sure, this game is true to the Fantasy genre. You begin your quest as Alexander Dashing, the son of Lord Dashing. He is questing along with Maria(a stylish priest), Shalazar(a cunning and shadowy character), and Archibald(a skilled archer and "Spellslinger"). They begin their quest at the Tender Drumstick Pub gathering information. From there, the adventurers set out to a home to bandits which holds a Summoning Stone(brings monsters into the world) that our adventurers must obtain from evil hands.

However, the mechanics of the gameplay are indeed VERY difficult. Random battles do occur frequently(it is hard not to include random battles in the RPG Maker 3 format).The balancing in this game is insane. For example, enemies in the first area of fighting can kill Shalazar in one hit. Each character has under 5 MP(including Maria, the healing character), and all characters also possess under 15 HP. The characters do not gain experience from battle; therefore, even the first dungeon is almost impossibly diffucult for the casual RPGamer. If you wonder about to much, you are sure to run out of healing items and MP to be able to recover from your injuries. Exp is received via items, if received at all. This really makes the player think, but it is executed to such a level that the game can become unplayable to the target audience.

Overall, I was intruiged with this game. That feeling soon faded when I had to obtain the Summoning Stone from the first dungeon. The frequent random encounters and lack of experience and healing items led my party to death one too many times because the dungeon was quite confusing to explore. The experience left me jaded, personally. The game certainly isn't below par, yet by adding more balance for the casual RPGamer it could ascend beyond the average crop of RPG Maker games. The characters each have their own distinctive personality, and the story is very much above average. Regardless, work to the gameplay could polish this original game to the limit.