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)

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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.

Dyhortfight series by Bradgeone (french)

 

This time not a single game, not two, but a series of four! Dyhortfight is in fact a French indie RPG series created with RPG Maker by Bradgeone starting in 2001, featuring an interconnected puzzle-like plot across multiple chapters. 

 

Official Site 

 

Dyhortfight  

In the first game of the series Bradge must destroy one of the Timeless Dragons in the year 2999. To do so, he must find a way to take part in a grand monster hunt organized by the King of Tempo. 

 

Although it stands apart from the later episodes—particularly regarding the CBS, which hasn't aged very well—this is arguably the series' most uninhibited installment; it lays the groundwork for a complex time-travel plot and introduces us to a key figure: Bradge, the most ambiguous and unpredictable character in Dyhortfight.

 

Official Page 

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Dyhortfight 2

 

This time, we dive into the 25th century, where Bloosky—accompanied by Kléa and Darkbeat—attempts to retrieve the seven energy orbs belonging to the Timeless Dragons...  

 

This episode is the first to truly define the series, introducing elements that would become staples of the franchise, such as a trio of heroes, a menu system featuring spell learning and custom stat boosters, and a combat system with the visual flair of fighting games like *Street Fighter*. It’s a real feast for the eyes!

Official Page

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Dyhortfight 3

This installment stands out because it continues the story of Chapter 2 with Bloosky, Darkbeat, and Kléa, while simultaneously following another group—Alastor, Tyonie, and Oko. This time, the plot centers on a competition in the year 2436, where the winner earns the chance to ask two questions of the man who knows everything... The competition will be fierce, but will there be a winner?  

 

Captivating, moving, and action-packed—don't miss this episode!

Official Page

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Dyhortfight 4

The fourth chapter of Dyhortfight takes place primarily in the year 4000—an era equivalent to our own modern world. Follow Falco, Pride, and Etniie as you try to survive amidst Sleipnir’s elite troops, the "Enfants de Cœur," and the "doubles," whose power is beginning to rise dangerously.  

 

This chapter can be played independently of the others, as it features its own unique story and plot.

Official Page

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Alex d'Or 

 

Random Fact: the fifth entry is apparently in deveopment. This will the final chapter of Dyhortfight. You will have to travel through all the eras to resolve a multitude of temporal problems.

Ketsuro by sriden (french)

 

The story takes place in 1581, in the remote northern reaches of China. Japanese migrants settled here as early as the 15th century, establishing their own small, independent territory in these forgotten lands. They blended local cultures with those of the Mongols and Chinese, but one aspect of their original Japanese culture remained deeply ingrained: the veneration of the sword.  

 

In short, it is in this mountainous and barbaric environment that we find our hero: Heiden. He belongs to a resistance group of skilled warriors who oppose the sordid regime of Kyôda, a brutal and corrupt tyrant who has been poisoning the territory for 17 years. But an unexpected alliance might hasten the bloody fate of this small territory.

 

Ketsuro is an oriental adventure in which we play as a swordsman that later is joined in his adventures by other warriors. The game is mostly a realistic/historical adventure with battle against human opponents and wild animals, anyway the system is the usual Rpgmaker 2003 with some edited sprites and rips from games like Samurai Shodown and The Last Blade. The game also includes action sections, and saving can be done at the stone lanterns.

Award-winning game at the 2022 Alex d'Or:  - Best Direction   

Download Link

Play Online 

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Youtube Longplay

 

Random Fact: the hand-drawn portraits are sketches scribbled in ballpoint pen by the author in the margins of his school notebooks between 1997 and 2003,  where he drew these characters, among others, to hone his drawing skills from scratch.  The game's ending was also created using hand-drawn animation.

Inside the game you can also find a drawing school where you may see additional artworks. 

 

There was also an attempt to make the game using only custom made graphics, as you can see in the video below.

 

Final Verdict: an excellent adventure game with a perfectly reacreated oriental setting. Visually really impressive with excellent music and an evocative setting, and it's even a complete story.

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

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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.

Acsiosa, Terre des Cieux, Terre de Magie by ThrillerProd / Corentin Flach (french)

 

Lita is a resident of Acsiosa, the legendary floating island, is peacefully napping on one of the archipelago's islets when three spirits possess her. Feeling unwell, she falls from the floating island to the world below, where she's rescue by Ulric, a young man wanted by the men of King Faust, that outlawed magic to porsue the ways of technology. The adventure of Lita then begins in the town of Nomura, and being like all Acsiosaians a wirlder of primal magic, she becomes the hope of the restistance against the king. However who are the spirits that possessed her? And is it really a coincidence that she arrived in a village of rebels?

 

Acsiosa is an action rpg game where we control Lita in real-time exploration and combat encounters. The game uses many custom made menus and an original battle system and interface, unlike most other rpgmaker games. On the other hand the graphics uses the classic Rfmap resources and the maps are really prettye and well done, with a particular attention to Lightning effects.

Download Link

Mirror Link

Alex d'Or

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Random Fact: the author made another game about two years before Acsiosa: LothFer. This game is darker, and tells the story of a half-demon, LothFer. However it presents may aspects in common with Acsiosa, like a real-time action combat system and an interesting use of lightning.

 

Final Verdict: I am not a fan of real-time action rpgs but I cannot deny the quality of this project. While the story and characters aren't very original, he interface isn't bad at all, and the maps are especially well made.