RPG Maker Let's Play - Rising Saga Origins - Game Critique

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Studio Blue

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Published on January 25, 2019 9:04:32 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN5TbrpuAVU

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RPG Maker (1997)

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Let's Play

Duration: 2:11:48

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Hello everyone! In this RPG Maker Let's Play, we look at Act 1 of the epic that is Rising Saga Origins by Karthus, exploring the beginnings of this anime-stylized game.

There is a lot to unpack in this video, and it's a crazy ride filled with laughs and tears, snorts and jeers. The visual presentation is top-notch with loads of custom graphics and good music (are they copyrighted?).

Level Design: There are some instances of buildings being bigger on the inside than the outside, but these are exceptions. The protagonist's house is very well designed, although having the protagonist's room in its own separate map is weird. We didn't explore Potter City due to time limitations, but it seemed fine. The first forest dungeon, however, has a massive backtrack that simply should not be allowed. That needs to be redesigned, as no reward is worth backtracking the entire way.

Combat: Fine for the most part. If this is an anime-based game, moves need to be flashier and with more showcase, not just typical skills with default animations. We recommend looking at games like Fairy Fencer F on how to handle the skills. Also, Kuro reloading his gun one bullet at a time is both an unrealistic and unacceptable mechanic. That needs to be revisited.

Music: Very good, although we recommend against vocals when characters are talking. Loved the battle tracks!

There are some pretty sweet positives, though. Although character generation should not break the fourth wall in this situation, being able to choose your name, sex, class, and characteristics are pretty sweet. The only thing that would make it better is if you could create your character's look using SumRandomDude's plugin. The game closely mimics an anime TV series in its visual presentation, and that needs to be taken even further. Use DBZ-style energy motion backgrounds, eye-catches, and more over-the-top moments to ramp up the stylization.

By the way, them some of the largest boobs we done even seen on Serrani. Also, underboob. Is this an ecchi game? O_o;

However, despite the fantastic visual and audio presentation, the game falls apart in the execution of its story. The story has been workshopped on our Discord channel, but unfortunately, the way it comes out is jagged and almost incoherent. The plot goes all over the place, there's writer's convenience, information is given to the player only for it to be used within the scene moments later, there is way too much exhibition and exposition, and so many plot twists are revealed within the confines of the first Act that they completely lose their impact. Not to mention you barely play Act 1. Instead, you mostly watch it via tons of cutscenes with minimal exploration and one very annoying dungeon.

Then there are the conversations. So many words are used, but very little is said. Dialogue not only meanders, but it also contradicts itself. The most emotional scene in Act 1 (Serrani saying goodbye to the protagonist) falls flat. And the big "plot moving scene" at the end of Act 1 is executed very poorly. We did love the introduction to the Academy Instructors and the subsequent class introductions. That was not only handled well, but it was also very humorous.

Lastly, and this is the biggest problem of all, this game looks and feels very amateurish from a writing stand-point. This comes across in two ways: (1) It feels like several elements that the developer likes were heterogeneously thrown together instead of homogeneously mixed, and (2) it is very, very obvious that this is the developer's first game. Both of us highly recommend that the developer shelf this massive epic for a few years, create smaller games to hone their craft, and then pick this game back up. Otherwise, the developer will get stuck in the vicious cycle of patching up every problem, and this game needs more help than just a bunch of band-aids. It's not to say that the developer can't make a great game--quite the opposite, they've shown great potential--but this is probably too big of a project for them to handle this early in their career.

What do you all think? How can the developer make this the best game it can be? Are we missing anything? What can be done to make this the next RPG Maker epic?

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