Recent reviews by DallasUnchained

The only saving grace this RPG Maker (VX or VXA) game has is that it is cheap on the wallet. So I guess one positive is that I don't have any buyer's remorse. That being said, a half an hour of this nonsensical writing was about all I could take.

The game wants to be Naruto so bad that it blatantly copy-pastes things that even non-fans could pick up on. The author seems to want to have it both ways with Destiny Warriors; to have the story be taken seriously and be funny (I guess), at the same time. There are some ways to pull that off (provided that is the intention), but this ain't it. Aside from lacking a consistent narrative tone, the grammatical errors and incorrect word usage are just glaring.

There are better RPG Maker games out there (like 'Skyborn', for example).

Have you ever wanted to create your own Fire Emblem game? That is basically what SRPG Studio is. I suppose that one could breach its ceiling to forge something different. But I would say that SRPGM is too specialized with one sort of mold in the genre it encompasses. It is relatively simple to use and learn, but I fear that one challenge it bears would be creating anything truly unique from it.

Still... I do find it very enjoyable for what it does.

RPG Architect shows promise with what it aims to achieve, both as a product on its own and as a rival to others in the same market. Even while it still has some time left in the oven, I am impressed with the potential this engine provides to creators.

Unlike the RPG Maker franchise, I do not need to bargain with a toxic, greedy plugin mafia of scalpers for things that should be baked in editor features from the start. Want more direct control over your UI without programming sorcery? This engine lets you do that. Want to make your own rules on what character attributes do without plugins that would have worked outside of engine limitations? This engine enables you to do just this because it does not *have* these restrictions to begin with. Change your mind about the project being 3D or 2D? This engine allows for that change in a snap.

These things along with the fact that it gets regular updates; RPG Architect earns my recommendation!

Ubisoft hates its consumers. So, I hate them right back.

Oh, the game is fine. It's too bad that Ubisoft decides when I can and can't play it, however.

Pixel Game Engine has wonderful potential. I am impressed by what I can do with it compared to other entry-level game creation engines. It is not quite as limited or specialized (as with some other engines) and it still boasts a fairly intuitive user-friendly experience that I find impressive. As I use the English translation, there are one or two areas that I had to make minor menu corrections (correcting 'Shettings' to Settings, for example). Still, I have to give praise to Pixel Monsters for giving the user an accessible way to fix that with some ease.


Considering the price (especially compared to other engines), I am quite happy to see PGE's continued improvement.

Pixel Game Engine earns my recommendation!

Hmm. Where to start...? The short of it is that MZ doesn't give me enough for what it cost me.


1) There is not enough of a significant improvement over MZ's predecessor. No matter how many hours I try to pump in to justify this purchase. MZ takes three footsteps forward only to take four steps backward. Boy, do I miss when products would take ambitious risks to break new ground. Sadly, MZ didn't attempt this when it should have. MZ plays it safe; promising you an "MV Plus" with 'better-ish' animation, the most 'blah' artwork I've ever seen, and an engine that doesn't exactly boast much more in terms of features than the previous engine did. Is this engine better? I guess, but it's definitely not $70+ better. All sizzle, no steak.

2) The Character Generator content feels even more like a white elephant this time around. And that's saying a lot, considering how past iterations seemed to be lacking in variety. Oh, and give up all hope on making a character that doesn't look like a preteen LEGO child in this one. Yes, I know about anime art but there are techniques in the artform to make characters look more mature and less childlike. Even some past RPGMs have (somehow) managed to do better than MZ in this regard. I just find MZ's over-eager gravitation to this style to be rather... creepy.

3) For the zillionth time in a row; Product insists that I use static images to represent enemies. And depending on which built-in battle system you're using, these look horridly out of place. The monster graphics seem to lack a strong consistent (artistic) theme. Absolutely no forethought was given to this, it seems.

4) There are 2D game development suites (with assets) out there that are about as simple to use as RPGM. In some cases, I might argue that they are even easier to use while offering more flexibility on top of that. Not to mention that some of them offer more to the buyer with an even lighter price tag, by comparison. They even boast robust animation tools, offer expanded customization for game parameters, rules, and user-friendly UI adjusting. These products even continue to add more features to them while RPGM subsists on more of its copy-pasta lasagna.

Edit: To give one current example in good faith; I have been very pleased with what Pixel Game Engine offers in scope of features, flexibility and overall direct control. It feels like a bonus to be free of the need to bargain with other plugin creators when I just don't want to have to do all that work myself merely to color outside of the same old line limitations that RPG Maker continues to confine itself to. PGE simply offers me an engine that is just about as easy for me to use and navigate with more content and features. For about less than half the cost of the RPGMMZ base software (plus whatever you'll have to cough up to the plugin cartel for similar additional features)? PGE does much of that with built-in functions in its engine, and it would only cost me 30 USD. Why pay 80 bucks (and potentially more) when I can get far more with less than half of the cost?

5) After so many RPGMs in the franchise, MZ still needs a mountain of plugins to do the legwork. And a lot of which is doing some of the most basic features and functions that should have been options built into the software from Day 1.

And no, I'm not referring to elaborate battle system implementations or integrating complex game mechanics. I am talking about rather basic things that really shouldn't need plugins. One example (among many)? Turning off that hideous tile 'flash-on-click' (that absolutely nobody liked from MV). Yes -- once again, that annoyance needs this whole plugin written for it if you want that to go away.

Yet one more plugin to add to the bloat on top of several others in the mountain stack of basic things that should have been in-editor features by now.

Dragon's Dogma is simply a fun ride for those who love action-adventure games. Although the game's story itself is fairly thin, most of us as players are simply here for Godzilla. The combat is intense and engaging, *without* having to constantly shower the player's eyeballs with an array of special effects.

Players are rewarded by fighting enemies creatively, and observing that there are usually multiple ways to defeat a given foe. Just about every enemy has a weakness or two; an element, a strategy/technique to employ, or a literal (physical) weak point to exploit. If the player wishes to advance, they must be willing to learn. In nearly all cases, even failure (player death) teaches you to think about how you might succeed:

"What equipment or spells am I using?"
"What does my party composition functionally look like?"
"Does my party have ranged capability?"
"Do we have sufficient curatives for this journey?"
"Do any of us have a light source for dark areas (and/or for nighttime open areas)?"
"What's the best way for me to fight in this current environment I'm in?"
"If things go bad, do I have an escape plan?"

It's not Skyrim. It's not as much of a Souls-like (as it might appear to be), either. Dragon's Dogma is something else of its kind. A better comparison might be calling Dragon's Dogma a distant cousin to Monster Hunter, maybe.

My only criticism remains that players seem to still... prefer(?) having a pawn with (primary) Guardian AI? Despite that Guardian-as-Primary often creates more problems than it solves for many situations. And suspiciously, this seemed more common to me after Easy difficulty was introduced to the game later on. But that's just a theory I've been having for a while. Regardless, I've never liked how ineffective 'Guardian' AI has been in the game while it's a pawn's primary inclination.

Still, if you pick up this game... have fun and always be ready to learn!

Cheers!

I would say that Baldur's Gate has aged keenly through this version.

We tend to forget how clanky it used to work back in 1998, when the original game spanned 5 CD-ROMs. Loading screens ad nauseum, the unexplained un-pausing of the game whenever you went into the inventory screen, classic UI taking up about 40% of the screen, etc. Others coming from BG3 or just newer generations of RPGs have this habit of comparing apples to oranges without even understanding how and why they are doing it. When the aim of this game's world can easily be missed; it was designed as one that can be explored in a non-linear fashion. However, it will not coddle and bend the knee to the player at any place they might wander freely. The world is dangerous. NPCs can help explain the world at large to the player, or they may be caught up in their own lives to bother.

"This world is not meant for you. It has existed long before you arrived in it... it will continue to exist long after you leave it."

This is a mindset that I feel more new players should attempt to understand when picking this game up. And once this philosophy is kept in mind, I feel that more players can appreciate what the first Baldur's Gate adventure was. While there are vague investments to the stakes of current realm events, the fact remains (for most of this game) is that YOU are the adventurer who decides what to do next. Meaning that you must be conscious of when to continue down a path... or run and survive, adjusting your course for a time.

Not all dungeons have that 'convenient rear exit' (that would become a tradition for newer games to have). And some might have a shortcut exit taking you to an unknown place with potential dangers your party may not be prepared for. Sometimes, it is safer (and wiser) to just go back the way you came. With exploration, there is always risk. Hence why several NPCs (early game) will tell you to stick to the roads in your travels.

The heart of this game's story is (essentially) the formula of mystery. So the open-world aspect is there to give that player proper agency to discover (and actually adventure).

In short, I still feel that this game is fantastic. But it can be brutal for those who might be looking something paced more like Diablo.

Was great once and would love to play it again. But I can't seem to get it to work.

Either I can get it running with skipping audio or it just won't run at all after trying literally every single proposed franken-fix 'solution'.

Don't buy it unless you happen to have an operating system from back when Katharine Hepburn's mom was still alive or something.

I mean, free game is free... and it's playable-ish? I should preface this by saying that I DO recommend Daggerfall (the game), just not so much *this* version on Steam (hence my recorded hours). So... this barely gets my thumbs up because I feel like this port isn't all that great.

My advice? Look into getting Daggerfall Unity. It's more stable, modernized and it's quite mod-friendly! If you still prefer the die-hard classic experience, I am pretty sure I've seen other DIY patches for DF on the interwebs. Anyways...

As a game, Daggerfall just might be the greatest ambitious mess of an Elder Scrolls game that I've ever touched. And I kinda love it for that. I'd say it can be such a mess BECAUSE of its ambition. I originally got introduced to Elder Scrolls through Morrowind on Xbox (way back when). But I'm happy that I would finally give this beautiful dinosaur a fair chance.

I love my tavern romps and dungeon crawls through Illiac Bay. The game's world space is absurdly huge. I feel like if I had played it when it first came out, I'd still have stories today as a player about something happening in some other place in the world that I've never been to before. I love this game. Yet... I still say there are better versions now that make the experience more solid and accessible for retro gamers who desire modernization.

VENGEAAANCE!