THIS GAME HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN DISCONTINUED!
I apologize for anyone who has still been waiting for an update but as some may know from the forum I had a harddrive corrupt on me and lost all my files pertaining to this project. I'm truly so sorry as this will be the first time I won't be able to finish a game I have started. Maybe one day if there is enough interest I can finish it off on another engine but I make no promises in that regard. Thank you to anyone who has enjoyed it until, now.
I am pleased to present you with my most recent project "A Link Between Realms." Some of you may have already guessed from the title but this game is loosely inspired by the LoZ series. I came across some sprites for rpg maker that were clearly based off characters from those games while making "His First Adventure" and was sort of messing around with them as a fun side project that ended up turning into a full blown game not long after.
The story begins with our hero enjoying a life of peace after having already saved the land in a previous adventure. As you will learn right away this is all about to come to an end when you learn that the princess has gone missing! Shortly after beginning your search to find out what happened to her you find yourself in a strange parallel realm that appears to be a warped version of your own. As you continue to unravel the mystery of what is happening you quickly learn that what started out as a quest to find the princess may very well involve forces that could threaten the entire world! Your only chance of preventing this and saving the princess leaves you with the task of collecting the spiritual stones found in this twisted shadow realm. You will need to traverse the boundaries between this world and your own if you have any hope of saving either of them.
This game does contain combat which I'm sure is no surprise. Most of those encounters will be easily avoidable but you will most likely have to level up at least once to defeat some bosses. I've still continued to constantly make changes to yourself and enemies trying to find a good balance so please let me know your thoughts on this matter.
I was trying to make this game not be as linear as most of mine often turn out to be. You will find points throughout the story that will involve some level of exploration but I don't imagine anything will prove to be overly daunting. That said there are a few events that can be found at certain points that are entirely missable if the main story progresses. This mainly consist of "bad endings" but there are a few that are just simply thrown in for fun. I plan to hopefully add in more things like this down the line but as usual we'll see how that goes. As I just touched upon you will also come across some various bad endings. Most of which will most likely be fairly obvious but a few may prove otherwise so save often!
I guess that about wraps up the main points I wanted to cover for the first release. Some may find the first half of the current version to be somewhat lackluster when you first start playing. I'm honestly not overly thrilled myself at not only some of the writing but the general layout of the first two main dungeons. It does all set up the general premise for the rest of the game but I might make small revisions eventually. For those willing to see the current version to the end I hope you'll be pleasantly surprised to see how things pick up around the start of the third dungeon. This is when I begin working on it again and I feel not only did the writing massively improve but the game play as well! On my most recent test run I finished with a time just a little over 3 hours so this will probably end up being my longest game to date when it is completed. If I had to guess I'd say it's maybe about 3/5 of the way done main story wise but we'll see. Please, let me know of any bugs anyone may come across or any comments/concerns in general.
I hope you all enjoy and thank you for playing!
Note: You will need to have the Run Time Package (RTP) installed for rpg maker vx to be able to play the game.
A comment recently left by someone in the forums mentioned wishing they had a way to show me their appreciation and support made me decide to try out something I thought I'd never do and make a Ko-fi account. I've never even thought for a second of asking for anything to play one of my games and I never will. However, If you ever wished you could do the same and would like to help me continue to make my games better and better you now have a place to do so here: https://ko-fi.com/xxeyiexx
.70 Changes:
Major Update!
Added just a little over an hour of new story content! You can expect the cliffhanger ending of the initial release to be all but resolved.
Two new main areas to explore and experience! One of which involves my first time experimenting with implementing a small "stealth and sneak" type portion deal. This is nothing super impressive but I still hope you enjoy it. Please, let me know your thoughts and/or concerns about how I did with it in the forums.
I don't want to give too much else away so I'll just let you see the rest for yourselves!
.66.5 Changes:
Changed it so the plants sleep ability will no longer have an effect on the player since this does make more sense and seemed to bother a lot of people. They will still be able to use the skill so just consider that a wasted turn on their part, for now.
Removed one of the bee encounters that were found on the floor that had two of them. This seemed to cause some to be caught in an annoying loop trying to get away. I also slowed down the speed at which they should approach the player.
Lastly, I drastically lowered the chance for enemy skills that involved stun to have an effect on the player, as well.
(I'm pretty sure that's it for now even though I feel like I'm forgetting something...)
.66 Changes:
I tried to attempt a quickfix for people's concerns over the combat balancing. I lowered the stats of all enemies and bosses very quickly while increasing the exp you obtain from them. I will continue to fine tune this more in future updates but for now I hope it helps those who were very unhappy with it.
Also, I removed the "test bug" that allowed you to gain a level by talking to a random npc before the volcano boss.
A fun nostalgic romp that is equal parts irreverent fun and consistent treatment of the classic franchise that began my love of gaming many years ago. The story makes light of the many criticisms of the franchise in a loving manner that feels like it could be a part of that world were it not for the sex-based nature of it all.
Narrative
The characters are engaging if not overly complex in a way that pets the nostalgia just right. After 3 playthroughs I can honestly say I will continue watching this one in the hopes of more joy. Each time I pick it up I have to ensure that I have several hours to spend uninterrupted; once I start, I just can't stop. This game is a true homage to the quintessential SNES and N64 installments of the parodied franchise.
4.5/5
Art
The graphics are standard sprite and tile for the most part with sexy and or titillating renderings of all the transformations of which there are many. It is standard fare for a RPG Maker game but don't let that dissuade you. It is executed with an obvious eye for detail and love of the end product. This game would not be the same without the renders.
3.7
Mechanics
The mechanics are a nod to the SNES signature installment of the series and the dark world transformations that present a significant challenge in that game. These transformations act more like the items from that game in that they confer specific abilities to you that allow you to overcome the specific challenges of the present dungeon. Further the mechanics are fun and feel consistent with the form you have acquired. It is rare that I see Indy games where the mechanics are directly tied to driving the narrative and it makes the experience more immersive.
Finally, as far as combat difficulty is concerned, the game is not designed to have complex or difficult combat, rather it feels like combat is more of a secondary feature designed to allow you to grow inside your new form before you confront the boss. I like that the combat mechanics are not there to be a major feature as they tend to get in the way of the wonderful narrative in such games. This makes the game minimally grindy, and maximally engaging.
4.6
Overall
I love this game and I love how well designed it is to serve a narrative. The episodic nature with the forms and the fact that you lose access to them once you acquire a new form is my only criticisms and those are extreemly minor in the scheme of this game.
4.2/5
Second game by this developer I Played, second day ruined from me spending too much time playing the game. I can only hope that this one gets finished. Great story, as long as you just fight some random enemies along your way the bosses are easiest things in the world to beat, so Im happy that the story is what got me to stay as the combat isnt too interesting. I was really happy with the direction of the story and king of upset at one part near the end of the desert which I wont mention to not spoil anyone.
Great game. Simple, but engaging. Does not have tedious combat like other games. Hoping for multiple endings.
I always love the games you make. It's nice to see VX still being used too, and fun to see a few references of rooms and jokes from your other games. I enjoyed a lot of the level design as well as the two states of the world. I didn't find anything climactic enough, but it came close a few times. There are a few scenes that hold huge potential for an exciting bad end, most notably the water temple. There was so much build up with that one, but nothing happened in the end. There aren't many game over scenes, even for the bosses later in the game. I wasn't expecting the game to be unfinished, and I felt very upset when it hit me. I'm very excited for what you do next!
This is one of the most artistic and somewhat normal games on this website. It started seeming like another lesbian-focused story based around monster girls, but it turns out being more like a journey of becoming a woman and changes you might start to feel from estrogen. It was the first game since Alone Amongst Demons that I have seen use tactics of persuasion concerning sexuality, although I feel like there are very few stories I have played in general that focus on persuasion like this. It is like a mind-control game, but the writing attacks the player as much as the character. It feels like an adventure psychologically and managed to be immersive, but also very twisted.
However, there are things that drag this game down quite a bit. First of all, the Zelda theme is not followed much at all. It focuses on the most generic aspect from Zelda, which is spiritual stones/orbs, as that is something many RPGs have already. You could also say the themed dungeons also match, but it feels completely different from a Zelda dungeon. It is more cutscene driven than puzzle driven and the tools to survival are usually leveling up to learn a skill. And as an RPG, this game is also very weak, not giving you any real equipment, not giving you the opportunity to get higher than level 3 usually, and forcing your level to reset while you are getting further into the game as you are playing different characters which are meant to be a nod to Link's different forms in Majora's Mask. Yet you still do not get any opportunities to use any kind of switching and it feels like the current content ends close to the end of the game. Also, you never gain any money for real and I do not think rupees are even the currency. Key items for solving a dungeon are always unique, which is another thing that never happened in Zelda as they always relied on keys. And you can not encounter anything in the overworld. There are very few secrets and nothing that carries over. Would be nice to see some kind of health boost that could be shared between characters at least. This is also a tightly balanced game, whereas Zelda has always been so loosely balanced that it feels like you can only be challenged until you have more than 7 hearts.
And there are barely any character designs resembling Zelda despite apparently being the reason this game got made. There are Dekus, who do not really play a role in the story, as well as Zoras and Gorons who still are not central to anything. Instead, most of the content revolves around the Dark World characters who do not resemble Zelda at all, but at least that is acknowledged by the characters at times. Still kind of a shame not having a proper Navi sprite since it is very simple to design and I doubt there was not one to use.
Anyway, the game is worth trying and you only have a small amount of skills. You should always be able to beat everything on first or second try if you actually learn how to use your only options. The skills are actually on the overpowered side most of the time, but it does get annoying that you typically need to heal after every random encounter and your only healing option is a spring or something like that. I think this game has had a positive impact on my life despite the issues and the dark themes. It is rare to get an RPG Maker game that uses the engine well and VX has some of the most enjoyable music for this sort of game too.
