My first preview was a little bit harsh, says everybody who commented on it, so I'm gonna try to be a little bit more optimistic whilst pointing things out. Kinda silly of me to expect a demo to come close to matching the quality of a finished product. I for some reason just expect high standards for all releases, demo or otherwise.

Anyway, my next preview is that of Genji's "Four Elements", the first in what is intended to be a two-part series. After we finally figured out how to talk to each other via MSN Messanger, I asked him about his game.

Draygone (DG): A couple of basic questions, first. What is your inspiration/motivation behind Four Elements?

Genji (NG): Well, I play a lot of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, so that is why I want to make it longer. And for the elements, I wanted to make it epic, so I was thinking, "Why not make four fighting kingdoms with a different element that they use for their power?"

DG: How long have you been working on it, and how far along would you say you are?

NG: About 23-24 hours, and the percent about 12% without subquests and extra dungeons.

DG: Over the past month, or longer?

NG: Longer. I have had periods of not working for a week.

DG: The game seems very much like a work in progress so far. Maps and cutscenes, for example. Is there anything you've created so far that is finalized, or is it all going to wind up being reworked somewhat?

NG: Well, all the main characters, magic and items I have finished. The map, I'm gonna make more to the east. The cutscenes, I'm gonna redo them, but they are gonna have the same plot.

DG: What about Matt's "GOOD MORNING WORLD"? Is that really something he'd do, or were you just being silly?

NG: That was just a filler line. It will have been replaced when I upload the demo.

DG: Ah, so you do intend to release a demo. Any idea when you'll be doing that?

NG: Sometime in September.<br><br>

DG: You mention in your game's topic that you'll be able to choose between good and evil. How will that work?

NG: At about half-way, you go into the fire kingdom, where you get captured, and you could escape (good) or change your god to Flemx (fire)(evil). How that will work is, party members will be different and people will look at you differently.

DG: What are you planning as far as subquests go?

NG: Well, you have the "get the strongest weapons, armor and spells". You have the "kill this person and I will give you a reward" and the "help me look for a lost city".

DG: Between choosing your spell path and choosing between good and evil, it sounds like a game that might have some decent replay value. So how big are you intending to make this game?

NG: About as long as it takes to get the Ultimate Keyblade in Kingdom Hearts 2 on Hard. Possibly longer.

DG: And I ahve no idea how long that is.

NG: Let me try a different one, then... Um, about the length of Final Fantasy 8, but a little shorter.

DG: So, maybe 40 hours?

NG: More like 30-35 hours.

DG: Alright, then. That's it. Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.

NG: You're welcome.


As the interview implies, Four Elements has not had a public release at the time of this writing. So I guess that kinda makes this a bit of an exclusive. But as such, the version I played is very much a work-in-progress, especially evident in the world map, so who knows how much of this will be accurate by the demo's eventual release. You play as an Ice Mage named Matt. The intro starts when you walk out of Matt's house, where you're introduced to the story. Basically, a Fire soldier has invaded the Ice Tower, and you have to see what's up. Your starting spells are a weak-but-helpful ice spell and healing spell, a spell to steal MP, and a very MP-consuming "summon" that causes a base 400 damage on all opponents. I was later able to choose whether to continue being an Ice Mage or change to an Earth Healer.

I lost several times against the boss on top of the tower, and it wasn't until one of my later attempts that I found out that I was supposed to just survive the battle until it ended automatically. So, my final trip, I gathered enough potions to survive the first boss, and started taking advantage of my MP-stealing spell and 400-damage summon for the next battles as I escaped town. As I later learned, MP Steal and that summon are very much invaluable to the quest, and it seems like Genji intended as such. A lot of monsters (and especially bosses) have very high HP, and my physical attacks didn't cause sufficient enough damage on their own, despite having gained levels into the upper teens. I have nothing against the idea of relying on summons to get through battles (sure beats holding down the X button), but it would've been nice if regular attacks could've been a bit more comparable to help clean up when you're low on MP. Maybe have stronger physical attacks, or a weaker summon with more powerful summon upgrades furthur along and lower monster HP. One particular annoyance was that a few of the bosses also used a summon, though rarely. If they ever did, though, Game Over, zero chance of survival.

Level design seems to be rushed to quickly move along in the project. The second dungeon, for example, was a straight path with one dead end. The third was a library with rows upon rows of bookshelves, all of them you could travel along. Among these were three hidden paths and two books to find, and it didn't help that the encounter rate was a little high. They'll likely be redesigned before the game's final release. I know I've done the same thing with some of my own dungeon designs. The story also has a rushed feel that'll likely get fixed, which kinda makes it a little hard to judge the plot. But if the sequence of events at the beginning of the game are any indication, the story should be interesting once it's done.

Does this preview sound too negative? I bet it does. But I by no means think that the demo sucks. I mean, the battles weren't really that bad, and battles are real important, right? A game this early in development is just really hard to judge, and like I said, a lot can change between here and the final release. I most certainly wouldn't count it out, yet. I just have a habit of calling things out as I see them. At least I didn't mention the walls. I mean, um, nevermind. Don't stop working on it, Genji. I'm sure you've got something worth being interested in.