Gods of Ashes by RedCube (german)

Germany, August 12, 1999. Today, the fate of three children scarred by life will be sealed. A final act of terror before they escape their cruel past. Stella, Kasper and Maksim, they are ready to fight, to die, and to kill. But life has other plans, and their schemes fail. From then on, the three become entangled ever deeper in a seemingly endless and bloody maelstrom of violence and despair, drawing in not only the police but also the mafia. Nothing is permanent in a life filled with rage and a merciless city. And to survive in this jungle, they must become worse than all their enemies.

Nothing is permanent in a life filled with rage and a city without mercy. And to survive in this jungle, they must become worse than all their enemies.

They are masters of destruction, angels of death, and gods of ashes!

Gods of Ashes is a dark, grim and violent adventure in a modern setting: we play as three friends that due to a series of events become masked killers. The game is pretty violent and has a modern setting, there is nothing supernatural going on, just like in other games of masked killers fighting criminals and cops, like Hotline Miami, for example. The game uses the classic Rpgmaker 2003 combat system, but the adventure is well realized and takes place in a believable urban setting. The facesets are also custom made and have lots of different expressions.

 

WARNING: the game is about mature themes like bullying, sex, violence, revenge. Expect blood and violence, 

 

Download Link

Rmarchiv.de 

Rpg-Atelier.net 

Youtube Playthrough

 

Random Fact: although the protagonists are Stella, Kasper and Maksim, the gods of ashes, the game starts making us play as Guenther, an experienced police officer and Kasper's father. Not only we control him in the beginning, but also the first battles against criminals are fought controlling him. 

 

 

Final Verdict: a real shame this was never translated, since other games by RedCube such as Grimorum and Wartools had their english version. The game is very stylish and extremely well done, even if not for everyone, but we will see that's a common occurence with RedCube's games.

Moonsong First Verse by Kaempfer

 

After a cataclysm and a flood that destroyed the previous civiliations, new ones arose and rebuilt the world. However conflict is still frequent even in this recent times.
In Moonsong we play as a team of outcast in service to the Baron of Ebora. Starting as a group of mercenaries in the back country of a mighty kingdom, the three heroes will embark on an adventure that will take them all across the land, to fight against the forces of darkness.

 

Moonsong, unlike most other Rpgmaker rpgs doesn't have a set protagonist and intro: the game begins with the choice of our alter ego among six characters of different classes. Each one has his or her own prologue, and later this character will have to choose two companions among the other five adventurers. Each one has a different skill tree, some characters are more combat focused, others can use spells and summon allies. Concerning the adventure, it's pretty linear but not without some diversions like puzzles and stealth sections. 

 

Download Link

Rpgmaker.net

Rmarchiv.de

 

 

Random Fact: Erik, the temporary companion that appears in all six prologues, is never controllable by the player, enforcing his presence as a side-character. In fact he's basically the recruiter of the six playable heroes, and even if it's possible to play just one prologue each playthrough, it means that all six events took place.

 

 

Final Verdict: classic gameplay with a twist and some neat additions, beautiful maps and lots of adventures. My only gripe is that being "First Verse" the game ends in media res, without a real epilogue. Pity. 

Starlancer Six by Badluck

 

Starlancer Six is the story of a young girl, Kita Hoshiko, who thanks to a fairy named Anara becomes a magical girl and obtains magical powers which she uses to attack and destroy the evil Fuzen Empire: this dark organization is in fact threatening her world, and starts by kidnapping one of her teachers. Thus begins a saga that was intended to play out like a 13-episode anime series, but only the first was completed.

 

Starlancer Six plays like a story driven visual novel rpg game, and it's heavily inspired by Sailor Moon. This episode includes some exploration of the town, battles, a dungeon and a puzzle. It's worth noting the use of a custom menu and a town map for fast travel to the various locations, for the rest it's a pretty classic and bare bones game, being a pilot episode.

Download Link

Rpgmaker.net

Rmarchiv.de

 

 

Random Fact: the game, as clarified before, is hevily inspired by Sailor Moon, and includes even its own version of Tuxedo Mask. The episode also ends with a trailer of the (never made) next episode, presenting a new member of the team, Aquarius. BUT if you check the game files you can also find out who  would have been the next two members of the Starlancer team, if this game had received sequel episodes.

 

 

Final Verdict: the author of this game is very good at mapping, so my only complain is about the battles, since you have a single character whose most powerful attack is the standard strike. Mana has more use for the healing spell, and this make unfortunately these battles pretty boring. But for the rest it is all good, and nice idea making a map for fast travelling around!

aunt EMILY by Richterwilker

 

Aunt Emily recently passed away. Being her only parent alive, her house in the small town of Broken Falls now belongs to you. But there's a catch: her ghost still lives within the house, and will not leave for the afterlife until the mystery of her death is resolved. With help from the FBI agent Desmond Miles, it's up to you to investigate find out what happened to your aunt… between performing various activites from farming to fishing, working as a waiter and even dungeon crawling! 

 

 

Richterwilker is back with another open world mystery adventure set in a rural american town, but this time the game seems to homage farming games such as Stardew Valley (the changing seasons mechanic is present here too!) and Harvest Moon. However the focus of the game is still solving a mystery, like in the previous games I posted before, so expect exploration, minigames and action sequences, but also many weird events. Visually it also reminds to me of Earthbound/Mother, after all the protagonist this time is a kid. 

 

Download Link

Itch.io

Rpgmaker.net 

Rmarchiv.de 

 

Random Fact: the FBI agent Desmond Miles, hero of The World Needs You and Deadly Woods is back to take the role of supporter: like agent David Parker helped Bob in Similar Mountains, Desmond will help the protagonist to solve the mystery. Well, can we trust him?

 

 

Final Verdict: another open world adventure but with different style and mood. This time the game isn't inspired by Deadly Premonition or Twin Peaks, but has a more cartoonish look and a simplified Stardew Valley feel. A peculiar and complex game: on one hand it's impressive for details and quantity of things to do, on the other hand it would be really helpful to get some hints (for example how can I dispose of the equipped items? Where can I send the treasures?), moreover there are some little bugs (like the damage that will lock you to face one direction) and glitches (I was able to use a scyte to "shoot" zombies sniping them from afar! REALLY!). A pity, these are just small problems anyway, there are many cool things like for example the randomized dungeons (remember that you can jump traps pressing Shift, but do that standing still).

Ascendence by Rei/Happy

 

Ascendence is a demo divided into three scenes:

 

The professor in the big city: a clumsy professor is for some reason hunted by the servants of a mysterious criminal, the White Saint. The want to capture the professor alive for some reason. Of course, being a man of science, our protagonst will try to escape from them.

The warrior on the train: Cyrus is a honorable warrior that can conjure a magical weapon, and he finds himself in trouble while travelling by train. This scene is about him fighting troopers and avoiding furious passengers.

The mercenaries in the forest: a small squad of hired guns lead by Quinn the sniper has to escort someone important through a forest. The playable character here is Giqara, a young hot headed mercenary that wields a powerful bazooka, but often uses it to club enemies.

 

 

Ascendence is a strange mix of scenes and situations that probably were going to be connected into a full story (there were screenshots with Cyrus fighting side by side with Quinn, for example), and the demo is a mix of minigames, battles, quicktime events and stealth sections.
There are various custom systems, for example the game doesn't use the typical Mana to power special abilities: characters posses a pool of points called PSI, that are used to perform actions. Standard Attacks cost one single point of PSI, while more complex Combo Attacks or other special moves require the expenditure of more. An action called Guard Up lets the hero forfeit the attack to recover some PSI points.

The game includes rips from games like Front Mission, and many edits and custom sprites that the author made freely available after cancelling the updates of the game.

 

Ascendence's won the following 2009 Misaos: Best Setting, Best Atmosphere, Best Sound & Music, Most Technical Prowess, Best Level Design, Best Interface Design, Most Promising Demo.

Download Link

Rpgmaker.net 

Rmarchiv.de

Random Fact: although the professor has no name, and he is simply know as the Professor, he physically looks like Cyrus and shares the same hairstyle. While this may be a coincidence since the two behave quite differently, it's more likely these two characters are somehow connected. I guess we'll never know!

 

Random Fact: this is an excellent demo, while not very long it shows lots of good aspects, ideas and great maps. Music and sounds are also pretty good, and the whole experience is memorable, albeit short.

Forever's End by NicoB

 

King Richard, leader of the Rikalian Empire, has recently lost his wife and daughter to a pack of demons. Now, his mind twisted from grief, Richard is on a quest for domination and plans to harness the power of the six legendary crystals, which, according to scriptures, will bestow the wielder with unimaginable powers if brought together. With Richard on a path of destruction to collect the crystals, war between  the nations of Rikalia and Dorent seems inevitable.

Epoch Lander is Captain of Richard's Dragon Knights, an elite force within the Rikalian Empire. However, when Epoch begins questioning the morals behind Richard's actions, he is arrested for treason and sentenced to death. With his head full of unanswered questions, Epoch must decide whether to accept his fate or fight for what he believes to be the greater good: even if it means fighting alone.

Forever's End: Episode 1 is the complete title, but despite being an unfinished story, this is a classic adventure rpg that offers 10-12 hours of gameplay. The game includes ten different playable characters (plus some temporary guest party members) with various abilities and skills. The game also includes custom facesets and some slides/cutscenes that enhance the narrative. The game includes classic battles against avoidable wandering monsters (represented on the maps by black spirits), duels against bosses and also various puzzles.

 

Winner of 2010's Most Promising Demo Misao
2nd Place in RPG-atelier's Project of the Month of June 2011
Winner of RMRK's Project of the Fall Season 2011 

 

Download Link

Rpgmaker.net

Rmarchiv.de

Rpg Atelier

 

Let's Play 

TvTropes

 

Random Fact: one of the playable characters is Slade Esperolo, an experienced demon hunter with a dark past who is charged with protecting both the physical and metaphysical world from demonic control. This character has a headband and black clothes… exactly like the Slade protagonist of Demon Legacy, the game I posted seven days ago. This is clearly a homage to the great series created by Nightblade. 

 

 

 

Final Verdict: technically Forever's End offers nothing new. But it's like if FFIV took a different direction after the introductive chapter, it's like a sort of is mixture of various Jrpgs of the “Golden Age”, the plot is nothing new and you probably won't be surprised by the events that will occurr, but the end result is a game that's really a joy to play, especially after the first introductive dungeon that is just a prequel to the real adventure and gameplay.

Dragon Saga IV - The Story of the Running Water by YangRPGs

 A group of friends (named Alpha, Beta, Delta, Omega & Gamma!) are fed up with the government that's involved in a war against some rebels. Meanwhile a family formed by Curtis the warrior, Sarah the archer and Mae, an adopted girl that was used in a secret dragon-experiment project after witnessing the destruction of a village become involved in the struggle with the rebellion.

 

Dragon Saga IV is a classic Rpgmaker 2000 fantasy adventure with several playable characters, like its sequel. It's a very long and complete old game, and has several elements taken from Suikoden, but it's not really a clone. There are lots of edits, little animations and even custom made portraits, that were really improved in the sequel. Well, try it, the links are below.

Download Link

Mirror Link

Rmarchiv.de

Random Fact: although there has never been mention of the previous chapters, this game is a prequel of the Rpgmaker XP game Dragon Saga V, that involved some of the characters seen here. You can find this stand alone sequel here: 

Download Link

Rpgmaker.net 

Rmarchiv.de

 

Final Verdict: one of the first long complete games after Laxius Power. It's an impressive work considering the quantity of custom facesets, little animations and edits, even if it's one of the oldest games I played.