Tales of Banalia & Chronicles of Malvagion by LolloRocketDiver aka MissingSeven (italian)

 

In the past the world was threatened by the King of the Demons that was spreading chaos and distruction everywhere, however a valiant hero, the Knight of Crystal, challenged the King of the Demons. After seven days the Knight won and the King was banished. After many years the forces of evil are resurfacing, but the Knight of Crystal isn't around anymore. Eide, the son of the hero of the past decides to join a former comrade in arms of his father to defeat evil once for all.

 

Tales of Banalia is a jrpg adventure game that's also a parody of the jrpg games: it includes classic dungeons and battles but also many puns and bizarre situations. Despite being a silly game it includes hours of adventure, unlockable party members, optional dungeons and much more. Graphics are both Rtps and edits, plus the custom facesets drawn by the developer.

 

The game was the 3rd place for Best of Rpg2s at Game Contest #2 

 

Download Link

Rmarchiv.de

 

Random Fact: despite being a complete game, a  spin-off sequel adventure was planned, called Chronicles of Malvagion, starring Eiden's rival brother. Unfortunately this was never completed but a demo was made available, see below.

 

 

Final Verdict: an entertaining adventure with lots of surprises. It still offers a classic adventure similar to the games it parodies, and it's really full of little details and funny unexpected moments.

EXTRA - Chronicles of Malvagion: after Lugarth's betrayal, Malvagion the Prince of Darkness is sucked into the Crystal Gate, and Eiden, the hero of Tales of Banalia, believes he has lost his brother forever. In reality, Malevagion hasn't been sealed away, but has simply been thrown into another dimension. Our hero is therefore determined to return to his world and get his revenge.

 

Chronicles of Malvagion is a spin off that takes place during the second half of Tales of Banalia.

 

 

Chronicles of Malvagion, as explained before, is a totally different game, compared to Tales of Banalia, because it offers an action system with some rpg elements focused on avoiding traps and solving puzzles. Combat is still present in real time of course, and we play as a single character.
 

Download Link 

Rmarchiv.de 

 

Random Fact: despite the presence of a main playable character, Malvagion, he is assisted by a thif called Otis, that is a member of the same family of Obli from the first game, the Shadow family of rogues. The wise man Scontatus, a party member of Tales of Banalia, also appears in the prologue.

 

 

Final Verdict: an interesting experiment, and an enjoyable diversion, anyway I still think that it would have been better as a classic rpg like the main game. Anyway graphics and humor are still great here too.

Fifth Era - Fragments of the Holy Stone by LolloRocketDiver aka MissingSeven (italian)

The story opens with four mercenaries sent by the Red Wolf Corporation to check a radio antenna. The squad is attacked by a dragon, and only the swordsman Redian survives. He later learns that monster are returning since the Fourth Era is ending, and the one that collects the pieces of the Holy Stone will become the God of the Fifth Era. Both the ruthless Red Wolf Corporation and the dark sect called Sabbat are looking for the pieces, but Redian decides to antagonize them with the help of a ragtag team of rebels…

 

Fifth Era is the first complete italian rpgmaker game I played, a love letter to Final Fantasy, especially FVII and FVIII, since it takes inspiration manly from those two (but not only! Anyway there is a location identical to Costa del Sol, e party member that looks like Rinoa, etc...). The game is pretty easy, except for a couple of optional quests that flesh out the lore of the setting and explores the past of some characters. 

Speaking about characters, there are 12 party members (3 of these optional), an unlockable stealth minigame, hidden artworks and cutscenes. The game uses many edited sprites, like the colorful Fire Emblem portraits and battlers. The developer later created even better games (such as Theia the Crimson Eclipse), but this was a pretty stylish, enjoyable and fun game too!

Download Link

Rmarchiv.de 

 

Youtube Playthrough 

 

Random Fact: the game originally included a special dungeon that was removed from the game, called The Mad Place. Here the characters had to face opponents from their past (like their parents, their mentor or their younger self) in boss battles. The facesets, charsets and enemy sprites are still in the game, and the author covered this cancelled part in a Youtube video. However other mysteries remain, for example the unused battle of an archer named Seth that doesn't appear in game.

 

A remake, or better, a reboot of this game is in the works. It's going to be a very different game, I mean some party members will become npcs, some npcs will be playable characters, some characters are gender-swapped, the setting is somehow different and the plot was changed… so if you can do not refrain to play both games. The new Fifth Era demo can be found on Itch.io and on Steam.

 

 

Final Verdict: a pretty long game, but despite this I played it twice! It's a pretty and fun game, even if difficulty is very low, except for the very difficult optional quests, summons are overpowered and the dialogues are sometimes a little cringy, but the developer was very young at the time. And made me enjoy a lot his creation!