Play game
A Tale of Power || RPG Maker RTP Game Jam's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Story | #1 | 4.000 | 4.000 |
| Presentation | #2 | 3.333 | 3.333 |
| Creativity | #3 | 3.000 | 3.000 |
| Gameplay | #3 | 2.333 | 2.333 |
| Overall | #3 | 3.167 | 3.167 |
Ranked from 3 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How did you choose to implement the Theme: Evil Empire in your game?
I created a small world that actually suffers at the hand of greed, corruption and of course an empire's rule. However, this is less an immediately apparent empire, but bares such a resemblance that it fits what I tried to show in the game world.
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
Alright, so I've played through it and tried both "endings". I've left some additional comments as a reply to KV-Kingdoms comment, but overall, it's an interesting game. I liked the story and the themes and you definitely have great potential. Keep making games to refine it :) There's 2 more RPG Maker Game jams going on atm, one is another RTP Jam with the theme of Redemption, the other is an RPG Maker Horror game jam that starts in a few days. Feel free to join in if you want, I liked this game and hope to see more from you in the future :)
Some further comments about the game:
I think something is broken in the taxman event. The guy says I need to go pay him, but when I interact with the taxman or the other guy that's with him, they don't say anything, only some balloon icons. I could only progress by randomly exploring the town and finding a package for Zain that let me skip past that.
The last part is really strange.
SPOILERS:
MC decides to get rid of the "tyrant" that everyone hates, after said "tyrant" had a spy caught and drowned in the sea by his men. MC decides enough is enough and decides to depose the tyrant himself. So, how does it play out? Well, MC walks into the tyrant's almost deserted mansion where there are no guards, and the few people inside don't find his presence weird and talk with him normally. One would think it was a public building. Then he just walks inside the tyrant's room without any issue. He didn't even lock himself in.
If it were that easy to get to him and he really was so hated, one would think that he would already be at the mercy of an angry mob long ago. Also, whatever you choose to do with him, the game immediately goes to the title screen after your choice. I'm not sure if this is intended or if this is just a sign of a rushed ending to make it before the end of the game jam, but there really should be more, what happened afterwards and maybe a monologue by the main character about why he chose to do what he did etc.
Thanks for the feedback. I'll definitely be working on improving and getting into more jams in the future.
Thoughts recorded during my playthrough
+ means I liked something
- means I didn't like something
=======
- I'm not a fan of the pauses in the text during the intro dialog; I would prefer that the text be displayed in its entirety so I can spam the OK button if I want.
+ I do appreciate that the intro isn't just a black background with scrolling text, though. Some thought was put into having the characters explain the backstory through dialog, showing their personalities, personal struggles, etc. through natural dialog and movement.
Should be "minutes."
Should be "usurp."
- I'm not sure what the point of the maps before the town were. There are some characters along the side of the road that talk to you (and a goblin that just stares silently), but it doesn't really add to the game.
- The blowing wind ambience continues into the town. I don't know if that was intended, but it's a little annoying.
Should be "care."
- Talking to Ralpho a second time has you going through the entire dialog again. It would be better to flip a self switch after the dialog and either a) have Rlapho disappear (since he needed to go somewhere) or b) have a shorter dialog (something like "What are you still doing here?").
- The transition between these 2 areas is a little odd. When I walk into the next area, I spawn on the point that would take me back to the previous area. While this means I can talk to the girl on the right side (not that there's much point), it also means that when I walk back I end up going to the previous map. Since the transfer events are right next to each other, walking to the side also means that I transfer maps. It's not the worst thing, but it just seems unpolished.
- Wind ambience continues into the mansion. Definitely an issue.
- Should be "But..." (capitalize the b).
- This overlap is awkward. Probably would have been better to have the choice be off to the right.
Needs a space after the first period.
Should be "Naturally, we tried fending them off ourselves."
Should be "fought on the front lines."
"However" - the H should be capitalized.
Second period on the first line is unnecessary.
"real" has an extra L there.
- When all of the questions in this sequence have been asked, I have to talk to Zain again to move to the next quest. It would have been better if Zain had started briefing me about the next quest automatically.
Second period is unnecessary.
- This is the second time I have seen this sequence. The first time was after I met Ralpho in the slums; this time it's after I delivered the payment from the guy directly south of the main house. I think a progression switch was missed. I can even give Ralpho money that I don't have.
- I can also repeat this interaction multiple times. It says that I "lost payment" each time even though I don't have it any more.
- And now I'm stuck. I can't go past this point because Zain is nowhere to be found!
==Summary==
This appears to be a walking simulator: you go from point A to point B and back to advance the story. While it's a fine way to make a game, there are many things that could improve the experience, like making your areas smaller and more content-rich and adding additional mechanics such as puzzles, battles, and branching story lines; otherwise it gets boring after a while. I know my review doesn't have a lot of positives, but that's because there wasn't much that caught my attention or made me go "wow," leaving the flaws on full display. I can see this is your first game, so congratulations on releasing something! I'm sure as you get better you will find ways to improve the experience and make something that is eye-catching. I hope you continue to improve.
When Zain disappears, you are supposed to interact with the stack of papers that appeared on his desk, to read the letter that upset him. He'll then appear in the backyard of the house and you can continue the story by talking to him there. Atleast it was like that for me. The guy guarding the backdoor keeps talking about the letter if you talk to him, so this was actually one part of the game where what you were supposed to do was actually properly hinted at and quite nicely.
Overall, I agree with a lot of things in your review. The biggest issue with the game is the lack of direction. I had little idea of what I was supposed to be doing and where. I was told to talk to some people, but with little indication as to where those people were and what they looked like. I think it's a mistake to start out the player on the road in an almost empty forest map, you should start at Zain's... cottage? Not sure what it is and then work your way from there, so that you are actually aware this area exists and you can return there, especially since you are required to return there for quests multiple times.
As for the city, well, bonus points for making it feel like a city. The size of the maps only accentuates the issue with the lack of direction though. I'd atleast block off parts of the town until they become relevant. Like, when you try to go to the middle-class area from the Slums without talking to Ralpho, Chase says something like "I should check on Ralpho first, he should be somewhere in the Slums" and you can't progress until you've talked to him. Or maybe just block off the rich district until it actually becomes relevant. I spent half an hour wandering everywhere I could, looking for plot by talking to every NPC and entering every building I could.
I really like the story here btw. It is pretty interesting so far. And the mapping is honestly pretty decent, especially for a first game. The dev certainly has potential.
This game was a lot of fun! I really liked the environment and the story was great!
Thank you! I honestly wasn't sure if it would be as good as I hoped.
Are you still planning to release that browser version? Interesting game anyway :)
Yes. It'll be out most likely in the next two days. I've just been a bit busy adding and fixing a few things with it.