Sainth by Neok

 

Years after the events of "Wraith", a young girl named Lily, has a chance encounter with someone familiar. Following that, she soon finds herself stranded in a strange place with nary a soul in sight. As she struggles to gain her bearings, a voice echoes inside her head. It is the World Tree, telling her to seek out her memories from long ago... 

 

Wraith: The Second Chapter ~Sainth~ follows the story of Lily Collins whose life has changed after the disappearance of her friend Kana Alywin from the prequel and once again meeting her after 3 years.

Sainth, or Wraith: The Second Chapter, is a sequel of the he survival horror Wraith that focuses on a secondary character, the blonde Lily. This time the game is a visual novel adventure with exploration and searching for items, plus many dialogues, and this makes it pretty different from the first game. Anyway what's still here are the mystery-horror elements, the game is in fact dark and like the first one it includes two different possible endings.

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Random Fact: the game uses a side-view platform-like style that was already used in Alter Aila Genesis. While the setting and the game is completely different, the exploration of the maps is pretty similar to the other game, making this game even more different from the prequel.

 

 

Final Verdict: Sainth is a totally different game compared to the first one, maybe not even a game but a story (even if it has two different endings, one of these is very depressing!), anyway I liked its originality (side scrolling rpgmaker? Really uncommon) and the narrative segments. It's probably not a game for everyone, especially for those who want a real challenge, puzzles or a more complex gameplay, but for me it was a good experience. Naok's art skills and style also makes this adventure look unique. 
In the end, even if this game may not appeal everyone is still an enjoyable story if you played the previous game, maybe not a perfect conclusion to the series, but still a pleasant surprise!

Wraith by Neok

 

During a 3-day workshop in Australia, a girl named Kana discovers a dark secret hidden beneath the manor she is staying at. Now she must work against time to save her friends from a fate worse than death. There are two objectives: Solve the mystery behind the existence of the wraith, and live to see the morning sun. Dawn is only a few hours away...

 

Wraith is an adventure with horror elements, the game is about exploration, and includes visiting various locations from laboratories to a lighthouse and a hedge maze, besides the mansion, of course, but there are also puzzles and various combat encounters against some mutant creatures! This is a sort of Silent-hill-esque rpgmaker game! But here we aren't alone since the protagonist will be sometimes assisted by some npcs. Regarding combat the game uses a sort of custom system that gives us different battle options from attacking with a gun (that is only found after the first half of the game) to run away, push enemies back or use items like a flashlight or a lightstone. Another interesting aspects are music, sounds and the custom CG scenes and portraits drawn by Neok, really well done.

 

The game has a good and a bad ending, depending on what happens and if the Wraith is defeated before or after daybreak. Anyway a walnkthrough can be found HERE.

 

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Random Fact: Wraith was the first Rpgmaker 2003 game by Neok, and was going to be the first part of a trilogy. Unfortunately only a sequel, Sainth, was made and focuses on Lily, Kana's best friend. The third game was titled Candice, and it seems it was first planned, but later cancelled. 

 

 

Final Verdict: Wraith is an ok game! I liked the story, the setting, the graphics... BUT I was not really fond of the combat system or the puzzles, I enjoyed some aspects of the game (aestetic and story), while I found others pretty much frustrating (the gameplay, and I must admit that while I often enjoyed flawed game with not-so-good mechanics, I could not really enjoy this one!). This does not make Wraith a bad game (but yes, it shows being one of Neok's first games, and also it's not my favourite considered other masterpieces we got from this author such as Alter Aila or Red Syndrome), but probably one that can really be appreciated by some players. So, if you like survival horror games I suggest you to give a try and see.

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

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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

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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!

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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.