RPG Maker
Thank you, Atlus! It's about time the US Market saw something new and refreshing. This isn't your average game. In fact it's a game that lets you make other Role Playing Games (RPGs). And you can do some pretty interesting stuff. Such as Writing the Dialog, Creating your Characters and Environments, Set-Up Monsters and Battles, and Even Script Plot Lines and Story Sequences.
Graphics-wise, don't expect anything beyond what you see in your average 16-bit RPG. There's alot of options to build the kind of look you want. You can choose between Pre-Made Scenery, Create you own using the Paint Program or Paste One together with a Selection of Parts. Backgrounds pieces include Medievel, Futuristic, Egyptian, and other miscellaneous parts. Speaking of the Paint Program it's a really cool feature to make Custom graphics with, but it eats up alot of Memory Card space and you'll defintiely need a mouse to make precise drawings. There's also a couple of Special Effects such as Fog, Lightning, and Flying Birds (as pictured below).
Designing the Gameplay and Story Sequences isn't as easy however. Be prepared to read the two separate manuals included with the game and to visit some FAQ pages on the net for info. I also recommend laying out your stages and ideas on paper first so you have a mini-guide to follow while designing your game. There's alot of little options and features to tinker with, but making sense of it all is the hard part. After a few hours of playing with the menues you should be able to start setting the game up. It can seem overwhelming but once you get use to the layout you can create alot of different gameplay elements and stories. Basically anything you've ever witnessed in an RPG game before. But in the end of your game you'd better play through a few times and do some bug testing so the people playing your game don't run into any problems (developer glitches as I call them). You can also upload your game or download other RPGs from the net using a Dex Drive that you can purchase separately at your local video game store.
All in all. RPG Maker is an interesting title. Despite the lack of an immediately understandable menu layout and 32-bit graphics, there's still alot of fun things you can do and create. But once again, you'd better be ready to spend alot of time into developing your game. I also recommend making the RPGs for other people to play through as making a game for yourself isn't all that fun since you know what to expect. Give it a try if you think you're upto it.
(thanks to videogames.com for the pics)
| Category | Rating | How & Why? |
| Graphics | 7 | Old School 16-bit RPG Graphics / Characters and Backgrounds range from Medievel to Futuristic / Ugly Green Menues / Some Okay Special Effects / Paint Program lets you Customize Characers and Objects... |
| Music | 7 | A Couple of Good Tunes / Can be Synched with Story Plots and Stages / Lots of Soundeffects to Chose From / But I still wish there was More Variety in Both... |
| Gameplay | 7 | Carries all the RPG Elements you'd Expect / How Good an RPG is depends on how Good of a Maker you are / Lots of Tools and Different Graphics, but it can be Confusing and Overwhelming at Times / Creating a Decent RPG will Take Alot of Work / Lots of Bug Testing to do as Well... |
| Innovation | 8 | It's Great that a Game like this Got Released in the US / But I wish more Time was Put into Making The Menues Readily Understandable and Game Easier to Build |
| Replay | 6 | You Can Create Some Really Neat RPGs / But you'll Easily Put in 50+ Developement Hours to Make a 4-5 Hour Game / Graphics and Menues should have Really been Expanded to Allow for More Options and Easy Use... |
Overall 7.0
Review written by ShinjiZ for GameyPlace.com on January 11, 2001