Vital Stats
Writer: Lantis
Creator: TAKE
Be Instructive
Event of Today
Parody Quest 2
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If you've been around the RPG Maker community long enough,
you're bound to run into the name TAKE (Tah-kay). He is
well known for this RPG Maker 2 title, "License Hunter"
which featured a full functional action RPG with a very
in depth combo system. Minus the story line for License
Hunter, we can assume that it's one of the leading games produced
with Agetec's software.
But it doesn't end there. Our friend from overseas has
picked up on RPG Maker 1. And when you think of RPG Maker
1, you tend to notice the limitations as compared to the
second installment. That alone makes these three titles
amazing. Yet again does he pull out all the stops:
The Event of Today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLeJi9cgifM
"The Event of Today" is a traditional RPG with a plethora
of mini-games. But before you start picking out major
things such as this, take a closer look. If you notice,
the characters within the game take poses that aren't
within RPG Maker's software. It seems he took the RPGC
(or something similar) and pulls the sprites from RPG
Maker, edited completely new sprites, and uploaded them
back into his game. Now the sprites can do such things as
fall over unconscious, bend over in pain, and more. This
is a wonderful touch to really get into the game.
The mini-games are some of the best in the RM community. There
are games that involve time bars that fill on-screen. A
good example would be what looks to be some form of racing
game. As he progresses around the track, the bar fills.
But this is nothing to what I saw next. It seems that
he has simulated a strategic RPG battle system. It may be
just a mini-game as in the video it shows standard RPG
Maker fighting. But impressive none the less. Each
character has a health bar on either side of the screen.
Then, as your turn comes, you can move your character in a
ranged area just like in Final Fantasy Tactics, then attack
accordingly.
And while not all are as dumbfounding as tactical fighting,
there are still more impressive game to point out. Such as
a Mortal Kombat style "Test your Might" where you have to
fill your bar to max to strike a bolder. As well as a mock
Dance Dance Revolution game (a nod to Remote Control?).
And even has custom menus.
This game features some things we haven't seen in RPG Maker 1
history. If ever you have an opportunity to play this, do so.
PARODY QUEST 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLjNl4Vq_LA
"PARODY QUEST 2" is another traditional RPG. This one isn't
focused on mini-games as much as it is on the actual game.
Again, he's used extra custom made frames for character
movement unknown to RPG Maker. Even though a character
can only have 9 frames, you can change that characters
current model. So you can upload another 9 frames of action
for a single character model and be able to seamlessly
change them during any event.
Custom menus come in spades. You are able to change from
what seems to be potentially 10 different characters. The
interface is very smooth, smooth enough to not realize
you are in a blank dungeon as your cursor passes over each
event.
After you have your party, it seems you can even go into
deeper detail as you customize that party. There are
helpful bars to let you know exactly how well said
character will perform.
As the title suggests, there will be jokes around. There
is even a scene that looks just like the Bowser fight
from Super Mario Bros. The character smoothly jumps over
Bowser's head to grab a sword. And these movements aren't
slow and blocky, he looks as if he is really leaping over
to plunge Bowser to his doom. And this isn't the only time
such motion is seen. A character attacks an enemy on
screen in a big figure 8 which looks splendid.
In what looks to be one of the final areas in the game, a
building gets engulfed in fire. And it's not just fire
models that pop up. The flames actually run across the
screen, filling the room. All this should make the game
a wonderful addition to the TAKE collection.
Be instructive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUtfSNZ1e1o
"Be instructive" isn't even an RPG at all. Not even close.
It's a fighter. One can only imagine how many memory cards
this game will take just to load it up. As the other two
games have had extra frames, this game goes far beyond
that. Each character in the game has SEVERAL poses of
punches, kicks, getting hit, blocking, and powering up.
Your menu in the game is the standard menu for most RPG
Maker 1 games. But instead of magic spells, you have
combos. It will list the actual button combinations to do
various moves in battle. So down, left, right, and up plus
the Circle button will actually be a move or a combo.
In battle you have many things to look at. First would be
the top of the screen. You have an icon of yourself that
matches your movement in battle. Right beside that would
be your health bar. Under this is what looks to be a
special meter. I can only assume that depending on how
full this bar is, is when and what special move you can
use. Also, if you look in the center of the top, it seems
that the current action taken by your character is listed
by an icon. The enemy's heath is on the other side of the
screen, and does not have a special meter. I'm guessing
that your enemies can use their special attacks whenever
they please. Fun…
As for the fighting, you are on some form of ring. And it
casting your opponent out of the ring, "Ring Out" is very
possible. There are a few stages, it seems, that doesn't
allow for ring outs which alleviates the game from
redundancy. Oh, and you and your opponent have a chance
to recover from falling out of the ring too.
This game isn't limited to just fighting either. There are
mini-games that stand in your way to progress. Games from
guessing the order to a room full of buttons, to managing
your way throw a maze of switches.
Wrapup
In closing, these games don't show us how much we lack in
creating our own games… but what we can do. We can take
what TAKE has done and apply it to what we already have
done. There really is not limit to what you can do with
this software if you know how to use it.
I'm sure that TAKE will soon get his hands on RPG Maker 3.
And I can promise you that dispite the limitations that
RM3 has, it will be breathtaking.
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