RPG Maker - Stop Hating on RPG Maker

Aubrielle

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Motherboard admonishes us to stop hating on RPG Maker, insisting that it's the easy-to-use tool that can help any RPG fan achieve their dreams.

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What if, on your deathbed, you had the opportunity to change your life and fulfill your wildest dreams? In your final moments, what if you could completely rewrite your memories in order to experience the pleasures of finally achieving your deepest desires. In To the Moon, a critically-acclaimed game created entirely in RPG Maker by Freebird Games, you can do just that for the game’s protagonist, Johnny.

Most RPG Maker games don't tackle this kind of subject matter, and even fewer garner any kind of critical praise. It's a newbie-friendly tool for creating 2D Japanese role-playing games (JRPG). Most people think of it as a kind of Final Fantasy fan fiction creation engine, but it can be so much more.
More information.

More information.
 
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As I said before I have been playing RPGMaker games for at least ten years already. You can play games ranging from mediocre to outstanding depending on the games creator.

Here are a few recent ones on Steam I found quite enjoyable,

City of Chains

Link - http://store.steampowered.com/app/412170/?snr=1_237_querypaginated__103

STAR-BOX: RPG Adventures in Space

Link - http://store.steampowered.com/app/363510/?snr=1_237_querypaginated__103_3

WasteWalkers

Link - http://store.steampowered.com/app/371100/?snr=1_237_querypaginated__103_6
 
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It's difficult to get past the really low resolution. And those games that try to change the game's combat system or add something else not really intended for the engine, we end up with a game that feels clunky.

A game like FF6 took more than a year to be made by many professionals, full time. No wonder a RPG Maker game looks really simplistic compared to the JRPG we love. Most of the time it's a guy or a few, doing it as an hobby.

That being said, this kind of software always intrigued me and made me want to do something. But then I try other people's projects and... It's not worth it if even I wouldn't want to play these games.

I haven't tried To the Moon, but I'm curious about that one for sometime. I'll try that one.
 
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I'd love to see something that go do real 3-D Iso with the 'ease' of RPG Maker. I guess there's a reason why something like that doesn't exist, but one can hope right?
 
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It's not so much the tool the problem, it's the community that it attracts. 99% of it is generic, derivative and forgettable. It just depresses me when I recognize I look at another RPG Maker game where everything looks the same as the thousands of games before it.

It allows people to get away with meager efforts and it shows.

Essentially, since it requires very little skill, it allows people who know nothing about games but who have pretentious "artistic" endeavors to make pseudo-games that rely on gimmicks rather than anything else.

To the Moon is included on that, it's just another overhyped "story" with no gameplay. I remember a few days ago when I went to the developper's forum to call him out on it, especially the meta humor that was annoying.
 
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I guess no one here would hate on a tool that allows for making stat heavy RPG's with branching dialogue and chess combat, preferrably with assets in a Western art style.
 
I actually loved RPGmaker games for a while, but then I just stopped caring. It's not hate, I just don't want it any more. Too many of those games passed through my hands and I want something new. And it seems developers that use RPGmaker can't invent anything fresh not seen already.

Not mentioned by others, I can recommend Aveyond. It's not available on Steam (neither it's sequel, only the third game as episodic I think is), but you can grab it here:
http://www.bigfishgames.com/games/1030/aveyond/
 
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Aveyond is quintessential generic RPGMaker fodder. I'm sorry but even though it is a decent game, you lose absolutely nothing by never playing it. It doesn't stray at all from the most basic RPGMaker template.

Why would I play this when I have much better games on handhelds by actual Japanese developers that have much better production values and that have better features, more imagination, better art and better gameplay? It makes no sense at all.
 
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dont like them? dont play them. does it really have to get more complicated? for those who have to hear themselves type, of course it does.
 
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I usually click away whenever I see the tags "rpg maker" or "mobile port" on Steam.
 
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Aveyond is quintessential generic RPGMaker fodder.
Sorry man, but either you never played Aveyond, played it without it's actual soundtrack or completely missed the point of the game.
dont like them? dont play them. does it really have to get more complicated? for those who have to hear themselves type, of course it does.
+1
 
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I have no problem with RPGmaker games as such. The problem is that Steam is so flooded with them, that finding a really good one is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Add on top of that the market is flooded with rpgs at the moment, whether handy or console ports, or kickstarter games, that I don't give most RPGMaker games much of a look now of days. That used to not be true. I've played more than a handful. Some were actually pretty enjoyable, but none of them absolutely blew me away.
 
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My dream would be to have that tool with another graphics set. No 'J-'. Take all the Japanese-style shit an replace it with European art and graphics. Then I would consider playing it, or even making my own game. 'Cause I don't dream Japanese, hombre!
 
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To each their own, I guess, but I'd take Aveyond before Diablo or any of it's ARPG clones.

By the way, the Aveyond prequel, Ahriman's Prophecy, is free on the developer's website :

http://aveyond.com/games/ahrimans-prophecy/

Personally, I like playing a RPGmaker game between two more traditional RPGs like Baldur's Gate, Fallout or Might & Magic.

With that said, I can understand why some people just don't want to bother with these games. There are so many RPGs made these days, that we need to disciminate. And although I like RPGmaker games, I was certainly less excited by the Aveyond 4 release then by Underrail or by Charles' Sword & Sorcery reboot.
 
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