Devil Hunter, Seeker of Power by Ski

 

Devil Hunter: Seeker of Power follows the tale of Solian, who is a world famous "Devil Hunter" who loathes his own fame his prior exploits have earned him. He will be needed again, much to his apparent annoyance - yet he is fully committed to his duty.Follow Solian as he meets new friends and enemies alike as he struggles to overcome a past that haunts him as much as the demons he and his allies are fighting against.

 

Devil Hunter: Seeker of Power is really a classic Rpgmaker adventure game: it offers an autoconclusive adventure with dungeons, avoidable battles, boss fights, a nice story and a neat atmosphere. Wandering enemies, animated battles and lots of adventures. Nothing more, nothing less, but a 100% complete game of just the right length (7 hours, more or less).

Download Link

Mirror Link 

Rpgmaker.net

Rmarchiv.de

 

Youtube Playthrough 

 

Random Fact: Solian and Raven are palette swap versions of Sion and Foxy, and Vane is Surlent, all from Treasure of the Rudras (the game uses also other assets from that game like the cult base tilesets). Despite the use of resources from different games, the final result is surprisingly coherent.

 

Final Verdict: what can I say about Devil Hunter: Seeker of Power? It may be old, but it's a very solid classic that does not try anything new or different from what you would expect from an Rpgmaker game, but all is done well: no more annoying random encounters, no banal Rtps. At the same time it uses no new resources or music, anyway it has some novelties that make it stand out giving an identity and a personal style. It also has some flaws and glitches, and for this reason I cannot give a better rating, but you know what? It's a good, enjoyable classic and if you like the best classic jrpgs made with rpgamker, then you will like this one because it's really one of them. Pretty good.

Anastasia - This isn't the way things are supposed to be & Anastasia 2 trailer by 0rig

Anastasia is an orphan girl that is adopted by the Hyde family, composed by mother and son that live inside a huge mansion. The father, Randolf Hyde, is in fact dead, but he left a book in the house, the Necronomicon. The mysterious man known as Cloak asks Anastasia to recover the missing pages of the Necronomicon, and warns her not to trust her new family. But who is really using her?

 

 

Anastasia - This isn't the way things are supposed to be is a classic horror adventure game that includes exploration and puzzles. The game includes some action scenes like chases, but do not expect the usual battle system, nor the rpg elements of the typical Rpgmaker games. The game is very dark and mappings is ok, anyway the environment well recreates an atmosphere of uneasines.

 

Download Link

Rmarchiv.de 

 

Random Fact: a sequel was planned but never realized. The only thing that is left of Anastasia 2 is the intro cutscene that you can find below.

 

Final Verdict: an ok game, not very good today but at the time it was a pretty interesting game due to the lack of Rpgmaker horror adventures.

 

 

 

EXTRA - Anastasia 2 As I ponder weak and weary: this was the planned sequel of Anastasia, but only the intro cutscene was made. This intro is about Anastasia speaking how she became an occultist, and shows her plus other characters probably central to the game. Mapping and edits seems much better than in the first game. 

 

There is not much more I can say about this, since it's just a short teaser.

Download Link

Rmarchiv.de 

Illusion by LunaRolexLer

Illusion is a truly bizarre story set in the Unknown World, a place where everything is possible, but could also be fake, and any hopes of gaining a greater understanding of it is a futile endeavor. Which serves as the backdrop for the journey of Nawara, a young woman who goes on a walk on a mostly uneventful evening, only to stumble down a hole and wind up embarking on a series of episodic escapades that has Nawara bopping between areas each with their own quirks as she desperately tries to return to her home and her father, Monder the Magician. 

 

Illusion is an Rpgmaker comedy game with a surreal setting that wasn't  wasn't intended to be taken seriously, but had so much success that got a sequel, called Reality, which is a plot twist of Illusion itself. 

The game is an adventure with bizarre setting and characters and custom art.

The game was meant to have a bad dialogue (Luna said she wanted it to sound like it was written by a 5 year old), cringy humor and offensive language, so it's not suitable for all audiences as it contains a lot of cussing, the game is mostly popular in the shitposting community.

 

Download Link

Rpgmaker.net 

 

Random Fact: the game had a remake that offers a longer adventure, with better and re-drawn graphics, more characters, more battles and more locations to visit. You can find it on Steam. Recommended.

 

 

Final Verdict: a pretty peculiar and obscure game that isn't a classic Rpgmaker fantasy adventure, nor a horror scenario. Short but fun!

Element of Chaos & Death Fantasia by VAL (italian)

The setting of Element of Chaos is a dark, decadent, and bloodthirsty world where a tragic event has irreparably altered the planet's geography, erasing the Earth's crust and forcing all creatures on Earth to take refuge on small floating islands. The people, who until then had coexisted peacefully with wizards, sorcerers, and various magical beings, now feel terrified of magic, and the Inquisition, taking advantage of this, unleashes a bloody hunt aimed at exterminating every magical creature in existence.

Due to this situation, the protagonist Ariel, an eccentric and opportunistic vampire intent on recovering a magic ring she has set her sights on, finds herself in trouble with the inquisitors.

An excellent game, visually impressive, that includes many different ideas from the use of powers to solve some tasks, various diversions like stealth sections and enigmas, battles an much more. The game is also stylish and solid, uses custom made menus and systems. An example is that you can press the spacebar to run instead of walking.

Download Link

Indiexpo.net

Rmarchiv.de 

 

 

Random Fact: Element of Chaos, a demo made for a contest in 2009, isn't the first adventure of Ariel the vampiress: in fact she was already the protagonist of another game made in 2002 and called Death Fantasia: The Last Night. See below for this first adventure.

 

Final Verdict: one of the best games made in the Rpg2s site, and despite being a demo it offers 4-5 hours of adventures, with various playable characters. Much better than the first game of course.

 

 

 

EXTRA - Death Fantasia: where Element of Chaos is more serious and dark, Death Fantasia is a lighthearted adventure of the young vampiress Ariel and her first hunt. Even if she is rather inexperienced, her father send her to learn to feed and also asks her to steal a relic for him: the Oracle of Marduk. 

 

 

Death Fantasia is a quite short but complete lighthearted adventure originally made for an event. The game offers some unusual abilities like the Bat Form that is optimal for exploring, but makes Ariel quite weaker and the monstrous Blood Form used to attack and feed, that instead makes everyone hostile.

Download Link

Rmarchiv.de

 

Random Fact: most of the important dialogues happen in first person in front of the other person(s) that often assumes various poses and expressions during the scene. Nice sprites and backgrounds for this unusual choice.

 

 

Final Verdict: more light hearted, and more similar to a cute little story compared to the epicness of Element of Chaos, this is still an enjoyable adventure. 

Abstract Paroxysm by DarkCrono

 

The nations of Aggreiok and Nagaryu have been fighting for ages. While Aggreiok has always led battle with swords and military waves, Nagaryu employees have been studying the art of war the entire time.

Xac Hiroshima is the son od a legendary pilot in the Aggreiok Air Force, that grew up with his brother Dahntay, until one day, while he was out practicising his aim with his bb pistol, a group of Nagaryu soldiers attacked his town, killing his parents. Dahntay was nowhere to be seen so Xac reached the Aggreiok headquarters, where his father told he would have been safe.

 

Today Xac is a brave soldier in the war against Nagaryu, together with his best friend Vinny Froher and Dragon Debberman, a mysterious and maybe insane warrior.

 

Meanwhile Dahntay is now the leader of a gang called the Thuds, and also a close associate of the evil President Nagaryu. For a twist of fate the two brothers ended on the opposite sides of the war, and they also take two different sides even for their religious beliefs: Xac becomes a devout Christian, while Dahntaya cultist of Satan.

 

 

Abstract Paroxysm is a very old demo, divided into two parts: while the prologue is in common, the demo has two different linear storylines, one where we play as Xac, and the other as Dahntay. They face different enemies and visit different places, but there are some recurring characters, even if the battle among the two brothers never happens in the demo, but it is predictable to be probable in the future. Most charsets are edits from FFVI, but the setting is modern, almost futuristic.

 

Download Link (demo II 2004)

Download Link (demo I 2003)

Rmarchiv.de 

 

Official Site (Waybackmachine) 

 

Random Fact: the title screen of Abstract Paroxysm shows the subtitle "fratelli di anima" that's the italian for "soul brothers". Despite these italian words, the entire game is in english.

 

 

Final Verdict: an impressive introduction to a sort of futuristic/military crime rpg, that uses lots of edits and some custom made art to create a gritty and dark setting that's very distant from the usual Rpgmaker games. Interesting also the use of two different playable paths.

Speak no Evil by LouisCyphre

A young man receives a call from his girlfriend, inviting him over to watch a movie or two. The couple, laying about on the couch, watches the actors onscreen portray their roles as the hours pass. Midnight arrives.

The world ends.

The sky is cast a dark red, and the sun turns as black as coal. Where once the streets were walked by people, they are now host to beings of night, unclean creatures that seek the flesh of the living. 
The couple discovers their talent to fend off these creatures, and they flee for their lives.

"What's going on? Are there any survivors? How did this happen? Is it just our city, or is it the entire state? The country? The world? What do we eat? Where do we sleep? 
...Can we ever be safe again?"

 

 

 

Speak no Evil is a game inspired by Shin Megami Tensei: a group of survivors have to face demonic creatures in a desperate battle that will determine the survival of the human race. The adventure is focused on exploration and battles, where the importance is exploiting the elemental weaknesses of the opponents. The game is pretty challenging, and uses all original assets. Music was also original, composed by Relyt.

 

Download Link

Rpgmaker.net

Rmarchiv.de

 

Random Fact: even if the game is already challenging, finishing it once unlocks the Hardcore Mode, that makes is even more difficult.

 

Final Verdict: survival horror made using Rm2k3? Oh yes and this is a hard, unforgiving game, but mercifully there is no way to screw things (except at the very end!) since you can re-play areas and grind until you are ready. There are also many save points so you when  you die because you are unprepared, just reload, win and survive... until next combat, probably! It's not a game for everyone, combat is really brutal and unforgiving (the two magi you meet one-shotted my characters before I learned the skill I had to use. Then Alex and Victor one-shotted them in return because they had the right skills to dispose of them!). The enemies are total bastards that can stun or steal energy points, so make no mistake, the game is hardcore even without the unlockable Hardcore Mode.

Unfortunately I found some bugs and errors in some parts, some small, others game breaking (like the blue box on the hotel that always ). Pity, because the base idea, graphics are cool, and the story is captivating. There are even some missions that are about collecting food and eradicating monsters. I liked the story and characters, I appreciated the custom graphics and I find interesting this kind of game even if it may appeal only a selected few. For better or worse this is a game that stands out.

The Kidnapping (and other crimes) of Princess Pri by Liberty & psy_wombats

 

The general idea is that Pri is a princess who gets kidnapped all the damn time, no matter what she tries. She's also blamed for her abductions fairly often by her addled father and her exasperated bodyguard, Andra. It doesn't help that the king doesn't hire decent soldiers or that she doesn't get along well with her bodyguard who is overworked and often takes her frustrations out on Pri.

 

It turns out that after a dozen kidnappings, a princess simply must fight back. Even if it means fighting fire with fire. This is the story of Princess Pri (and the backstory to a life of crime).

 

The Kidnapping of Princess Pri is an exploration/adventure/escape game. Foil (and maybe carry out) a kidnapping by searching items, talking to characters, finding keys, and solving clues. Playtime under an hour and the whole thing is pretty light-hearted. The game uses White Screw assets but with peculiar color filters.

 

Download Link

Rpgmaker.net

Rmarchiv.de

 

Random Fact: this game was made in a month for the Swap in the Middle with Two event, first half by Liberty, and the second by psy_wombats.

 

Final Verdict: I played this game and I had fun. My only problem is that I wanted more, but hey, I know that this kind of games can become boring if they are too long. I don't think there's replayability anyway this game will let you have fun for a while. And despite the small purpouse and size of the game I see that it was clearly done with attention to the details, to the dialogues, and that's something that has to be rewarded, also being a "swap in the middle" game. So yes, it's good for you and worth your time! 

Alter A.I.L.A. Genesis & Alter A.I.L.A. Variant by Neok

 

Alter A.I.L.A. Genesis takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. You play the role of a young man known as Leon, who seeks to survive in the harsh environment he is brought into.

 

Alter A.I.L.A. Genesis is an enhanced, linear RPG Maker 2003 remake of the original Alter A.I.L.A. It removes the multiple-route mechanism in favor of a longer, more humorous plot, adds more art, and completely reworks the combat system. In addition, it expanded the playable cast, and gave them both set names and significant personality changes.

Exploration is done mainly via a side-scrolling view. In certain areas, an exclamation mark will sometimes appear, indicating the presence of hostiles. Press Z when this happens to initiate battle, or wait to let it pass. Sometimes battle will be unavoidable. When walking, enemy encounters won't occur.

The battle system revolves mainly around each character's Abilities, which are a set of commands specific to that character. Abilities require AP and EX to use. AP is gained every time a character takes a turn. The default is 2. EX is gained every time a character uses an Ability. The default is 1. Note that this may change depending on the situation.

Download Link

Rpgmaker.net

Rmarchiv.de 

 

 

Random Fact: the game has a planned sequel called Alter A.I.L.A. Variant. See below for the demo.

Final Verdict: an excellent remake that makes the game more fun and also better looking. Ok, I admit I prefer the old Alter Aila because it's a more traditional and classic sci-fi Rpgmaker2003 game, but it's impossible to deny that Alter Aila Genesis is a game that made everyting better, and my preference of the old (more classic and less refined) gameplay is a matter of taste. The story is excellent and the visuals are very good, this game is clearly a classic for some really good reasons. This is a polished gsme with really nice custom hand drawn graphics and lots of battles. Very good.

 

 

 

EXTRA - Alter A.I.L.A. Variant by Neok: Alter A.I.L.A. Variant takes place in a modern world, 3 years after the events of Alter A.I.L.A. Genesis. 2 years ago, a great war came to a decisive conclusion thanks to the efforts of a small band of people. Peace should have followed, but there are those who would choose to continue fighting. 

 

This game borrows elements from both the two first games: it takes the side-view maps from the prequel Alter A.I.L.A. Genesis, but it also uses dungeons explorations of the first old Alter A.I.L.A. including the wandering enemies. The adventure is divided into a series of missions that the protagonists take from a main hub that acts as the base where the player can manage the party members and their equipments.

Download Link

RpgmakerArchive

Rmarchiv.de 

 

Alter A.I.L.A. by Neok

 

Alter A.I.L.A. takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, on a remote plateau: one of the last remaining land masses above sea level run by the evil Emperor Kugar. You play the role of a young prisoner, Blue, who among others, have had their memories erased, and must now fight for their lives everyday for the entertainment of others. From here, the story can go in 3 separate directions, depending on your choice during the prologue:

 

Rebel: On this route, you'll join up with a rebel faction created to stop the dictatorship of Kugar, the overlord. Your motives are ultimately summed up in overthrowing Kugar and establishing peace and human rights for all.
Imperial: On this route, you'll support Kugar's regime, and work towards crushing the rebellion. All resistance must be terminated.
Independent: On this route, you won't join up with either side. Whoever rules does not matter to you. Your one goal is to be free.  

 

Completing all three will unlock the fourth Innovator route, that is considered the true path, that explains everything about what is going on and leads to the real ending of the story. 

Alter A.I.L.A. is a futuristic adventure/rpg where we play as Blue, that act as a side character for most of the path, except for the fourth innovator route where he becomes a real protagonist. He possess the Analyze ability that is useful to learn the enemies' weaknesses, very important in battles that for the rest is what you can expect from a classic Rpgmaker game, with a party of three characters with different skills.

Expect also puzzles and secrets, but the game also stand out for its original graphics and custom made battlers, besides its incredible dark and futuristic atmosphere. 

 

the game was remade into an upgraded version, Alter A.I.L.A. Genesis. But for that game you will have to wait tomorrow!

Download Link

Rpgmaker.net

Rmarchiv.de 

 

TvTropes 

 

 

Random Fact: the Doors Puzzle was difficult for many players, luckily Neok provided a handy help here: Doors Puzzle guide

Final Verdict: the strong points of this game are the originality of the story, and the setting. While the gameplay pales in comparison to Alter Aila Genesis, this is still a solid entry and a good sci-fi/cyberpunk game that will deliver hours of fun. The weak points are probably the force replayability and the old styled boring combat, anyway this game has still its charm (even if, as already said, probably the re-made version is better under every aspect EXCEPT maybe for the presence of only one single route!).

Despite its flaws this game has its merita and has a special place for me but the quality of this work is clear. It's all quite good, but the story and the narrative are especially noteworthy.

Omega Cerberus by Sill Valt

 

This demo (or complete first episode of an incomplete series) tells the story of the last humans, now space nomads searching for a new home, as they fight for survival. 

The main character of this game is Actea, the "captain" of the colony vessel/sleeper ship Hopegate-III, the last and best hope for humanity's continued survival. Actea has a mysterious past, and has sworn to avenge her lover Ashley who was slain by Nero, the leader of an evil theocracy known as the Templars.

Anyway, the Hopegate-III quest for a new home suitable for humanity (and their constant flight from the Templars) and Actea's quest for revenge aren't without conflict, but together they lead the crew to the planet YY-87. There, Actea finds the mysterious and powerful android Auhsey who is, the evil Nero conveniently fills us in, the key to finding...something...very important called Omega Cerberus. 

Omega Cerberus was the first episode of a series created by Sill Vall, the talented artist behind the Barracuda and Knights of Heliopolis comics and author of some cool Rpgmaker games such as Croix Célestes and Le dernier des Xanten, but unfortunately this introductive adventure was never followed by other episodes.

The game mixes some original artwords and sprites with RefMap assets, edits and rips from games such as Albion. Combat is pretty classic, and the game has a very anime or comic feel, with some cool cutscenes.

 

The game won three Alex D'Or awards in 2007:

Best Silver Game 

Best Immersion 

Best Artwork 

Download Link

Rpgmaker.net

Rmarchiv.de

Internet Archive 

 

Oniromancie (french only) 

Alex D'Or (french only)

 

Random Fact: the game was made only in french, but Creation provided an excellent translated english version. Oh the review I made for this game on RMK.net was also my 100th review! 

 

 

Final Verdict: Omega Cerberus is a game with a great visual style, a nice story and a mediocre gameplay, but there is nothing really bad, except maybe that this is a game that was never completed and left me wondering how was going to end the story, because there are some interesting hints and ideas. Anyway we'll never know!
But I still appreciate the atmosphere and maps of this rough gem, a lot. Personally I'd use this style as inspiration if I had to make a sci-fi or post-apocalyptic game. Not bad at all.

Matricule77: Dragon Fist by Sniper77 aka Kazuki (french)

 

Matricule77: Dragon Fist is a project that has been in development since 2002. It's a game set in a tough neighborhood in Japan where two gangs are at war. You play as Kazuki Sawada, who must avenge his brother's death at the hands of the Yakuza. But to see the gang leader, he must become a member himself. That's why he joins the Yakuza, a rival gang of the Kengukai. 

 

Matricule77: Dragon Fist is an adventure with real-time action battles. It's pretty violent and realistic, offering a grim urban setting and some really excellent custom graphics, starting from a pretty impressive intro. The game is pretty much open, in the sense that you may freely wander around the city.

 

Award-winning game at the 2006 Alex d'Or:  

- Best Universe (Bronze) 

- Best Longevity (Bronze) 

- Best Immersion (Bronze)  

Download Link

Oniromancie

Alex d'Or

Rmarchiv.de 

 

Random Fact: this is the only released game made by Sniper77 aka Kazuki alone, all the other games released by this author were in fact collaborations with at least another developer involved.

 

 

Final Verdict: this game offers action, a unique atmosphere, well-chosen music, and superb artwork by Kanshin. It's a demo, but surely worth checking it out.

Seekers by Shear Destiny

Dominique is a blonde girl that when she was young saw her little brother Eriks fall into a river and disappear... every night she dreams of this, remembering the tragic event. Now she's a grown up woman that works with two associates, Kincade and Teela, and the trio recently heard some Seekes talking about exploring some ruins to the north of their village... this is clearly interesting place for our three adventurers, and they decide to investigate.

 

Seekers is one of the unfortunately incomplete Rpgmaker projects that were quite promising and interesting: besides some enemy sprites ripped from other games, we have some custom made portraits for the protagonists, good mapping and an intriguing story. For the rest this is a classic rpg with random battle encounters, that includes a village, a world map and a complete dungeon, plus some cutscenes.

Download Link 

Rmarchiv.de

Rpgmakerarchive.net

 

Random Fact: Shear Destiny is listed as a "ripper" or someone who extracts game assets) on the French RPG Maker site Rpg-maker.fr. However the protagonist and important character charsets seems to be designed by this developer and Silver X. But this is instead not the case of the portraits, that were created by Mellowmonkey.

 

Final Verdict: a carefully creafted prologue that is unfortunately quite short, and deserved being remembered: the little animations like the people fishing, the cats walking around and other tiny details were pretty nice, considering how old is this game.

Sideways by Superstroke

 

Words are for meaning: once there is meaning, one can forget the words. 

 

A dreamer just arrived in this peculiar world. The inhabitants of this strange world happen to need the help of an outsider.  

 

This is an attempt to make a peaceful, meditative game focusing on an ambience inspired by the Chinese/Mongolian/Tibetan countryside. In addition, as a personal challenge, the game does not contain any dialogs and everything is communicated in some other manner.

 

 

Sideways is a strange experience: the gameplay consist in exploration and solving little puzzles or fetch quest, even if just one is sufficient to end the game, and it's probably the most difficult of all, even if this is a pretty simple and easy game. It's a sort of little cozy adventure game. The visuals use the white screw resource pack, and the map looks beautiful: the game in fact is set on a single map, a sort of cylindrical world, so you can travel around it just walking... sideways.

The music is excellent: four of the tracks are very atmospheric oriental styled tracks by Kevin MacLeod. The music starts with The Rainbow by Talk Talk. It all does an excellent job of defining the game's atmosphere and nothing could have fit it better.  

 

Sideways is a game developped for the 2017 Winterruption event. 

Download Link

Rpgmaker.net

Rmarchiv.de

 

Random Fact: there are exactly eleven quests in this little adventure.  

 

- The Ballad of the Grey Man
- Blood on the Snow
- A Bridge over Trolled Waters
- Dark Side of the Road
- A Grave Remembrance
- The Last Dancer
- Any Port in a Storm
- Rune of the Moon
- Twin Souls
- Visions and Voices
- All's Well That Ends Well 

 

Final Verdict: a lovely, artistic little game that I'm fairly sure is unique. Worth of your time since it's pretty short, and that's its only problem. 

Mugen Legends - Hokutomaru by taima matsumushi

 

Hokutomaru is the student of Andy Bogart in the Fatal Fury series. He first appeared in Garou: Mark of the Wolves, and he is the protagonist of this game. The adventure begins with Andy scolding his pupil for being lazy, and sends him to collect groceries at the nearby Tazawa Village. However the bandits of Earthquake's gang are roaming the region. However the confrontation with the members of the Mad Gear gang will soon be inevitable.

 

Mugen Legends - Hokutomaru starts selecting the version of Hakutumaru you prefer, Slash or Bust, one is more defensive and has more ability points, the other is faster and more offensive, in any case there isn't a lot of difference. The game is a linear adventure rpg with the occasional choice, and includes three missions and one sidequest. Combat uses the classic Rpgmaker system, but it's fast and lethal, so it's preferable to have a good number of healing items and consumables and grind a little, since saving is limited to some locations. The graphics are the strong point of the game, that includes some optional cutscenes and randomized dream sequences that may explain more about the past events and the background of the protagonist.

Download Link

Rmarchiv.de

 

Random Fact: the game includes characters for almost every fighting game: we have Hokutomaru and Andy from the Fatal Fury series, Earthquake, Ukyo and Haomaru from the Samurai Shodown series, Shang Tsung from Mortal Kombat, the various bosses from Final Fight, Ryu from Street Fighter, and other characters from Waku Waku 7, Ninja Masters and World Heroes.

 

 

Final Verdict: although the graphics are sometimes a little mismatched due to the rips from games with different styles (not to mention that Earthquake's charset has a standard size, while he is a giant of man. And I've already found another game that used a bigger charset for him) the fast combat and movement makes this game fun even if pretty challenging from what concerns some battle encounters.