Le Dernier des Xanten by Sill Valt (french)

 

The Last of the Xanten follows the journey of Siegfried, son of Siegmund, the sole descendant of the Xanten line. The story begins as he returns to his old family castle, accompanied by Mime and his dog.

However once he arrives there he discovers that someone invaded his lands, a mysterious man followed by some orcs. At first Siegfried is surprised and captured, but he escapes thanks to Mime...

 

 

The first game from Sill Valt, the renowned creator of Croix Célestes and, more notably, Omega Cerberus, two really very well done demos that earned some awards, that have been posted here before. Anyway the first game from this author was Le dernier des Xanten, a fantasy adventure. The demo is abut 1 hour long, and it's a classic dungeon delving adventure with random encounters and bosses, but done pretty well.

 

The 0.7 demo is the most advanced and features the famous isometric view later used in Croix Célestes, but the 0.2 demo featured custom speech bubbles, reminiscent of the comic book world so dear to the author. 

 

Download Link (demo 0.2)

Download Link (demo 0.7)

Oniromancie

Rmarchiv.de

 

Random Fact: while the story seems to be original, the name of the main characters seems to be inspired by the ancient Germanic and Nordic epics: there is Siegfried, Mime, Siegmund, Fafner, Brünnhilde... anyway their roles are completely changed, this is a fantasy adventure that's not based on Richard Wagner's cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen.

 

 

Final Verdict: probably not the best the game by Sill Valt, but still an excellent demo, with a really impressive intro and some well made maps, even if it's not as popular as the other games.

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.

Croix Célestes by Sill Valt (french)

 

Celestial Crosses are ancient relics scattered across the world. They contain the Ark Noah, the souls of divine beings from the dawn of time. Whoever makes a pact with one of these crosses receives the protection of the divine being it contains. Play as Syria, a warrior serving Marquis Kalas Mark alongside her sister, Christa. Just as the Marquis has received the protection of a Celestial Cross for his city, Elirya, he must choose one of the two sisters to be promoted to general. To the surprise of both women, Syria is chosen, provoking her sister's jealousy and sowing discord between our two protagonists. 

 

Upon returning home, Syria is deeply worried about her sister; she still hasn't come back... A mysterious and strange man, Caligula claims to have kidnapped Christa: if Syria doesn't retrieve Elirya's celestial cross before sunrise, she'll never see her sister again… 

 

Although the game is destined to remain a demo, it is nonetheless a classic rpg of rare quality, shining with its masterful mapping, its fluid and immersive narrative, and its combat system adopting a perspective rarely explored in RPG Maker. You will experience this story through the eyes of Syria, a woman whose honor and devotion to her people will be put to the test.

Download Link

Alex d'Or

Oniromancie

Rmarchiv.de

Random Fact: this demo may have been passed unnoticed, but Sill Valt was more popular for another demo, the sci-fi adventure Omega Cerberus, that also received an english translation.

 

 

Final Verdict: an excellent adventure, a very well made stylish demo with inspired story and characters, nice maps and interesting battle setup.