Developer: Interbrain
Publisher: Agetec Inc
Genre: RPG
Region: NTSC
Format:
Release Date: 20 Sep 05

User Rating
9 (11 votes)

Score 10 (Best) 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 (Worst)

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Overview

The whole world of RPG's is one of those that can be the hardest to judge what is to come from it next. Whether it is online or offline, it is just one of those genres that really are the hardest to predict. We have had a lot of RPG strong years and others that people can probably forget what an RPG is. Well this year we have had a moderate year and today we had the great privilege to check out a game that lets you create your own RPG, in RPG Maker 3. So is this the game for those aspiring game masters? Read our full review to find out!

Gameplay

Being a gamer since birth (close enough) I must say that although I never had the real urge to spend the years that it takes to build a game, I still had that simple desire to create my own game. Well there have been some attempts at making games that allow you to do just that, make your own custom games. Now of course those are limited to whatever that disc holds, but they still have allowed you to customize things your own way. And thus today we are going to check out a game that attempts to allow you to create your own RPG, but is it all that its made up to be?

The one thing about RPG Maker 3 is that it really can seem intimidating right out of the box because the game has so many different options to choose from, and the whole idea of making your own game can be a bit intimidating. What you have to realize when you sit down and play RPG Maker 3 is that this is something that gets better, depending on the amount of time that you put into it. I found the more time I allotted myself to really create a great game, the better they ended up coming out. The key to this game is that if you have patience then in the end you will be rewarded.

The game does have a tutorial mode, which does an excellent job of teaching what can be done with the game. Rather than providing step-by-step instructions, this mode gives you an already built world that you can tinker to your heart's content in order to learn how this whole system works. So you can customize what the developers have already put together and then play through it, or just leave it as is and play through the game that way as well, the choice is really up to you.

When you do sit down and start creating your very own RPG, I found that RPG Maker 3 did a great job making things easy to navigate and easy to really just jump into the game and begin creating. However to really master everything in the game you will need to create a workable RPG. What I found though was that after creating a few different games, which does take a long time, I found that I was kind of left feeling like I was making the same sort of game over and over again. However the game does let you try to use some of your creative blood to work through this game.

Can you make the next award winning RPG with RPG Maker 3? No. But the game does allow you to create a workable one that is a lot of fun because you are playing through your very own game, and that is always something fun to do, especially since the game does make the controls and such very easy to maneuver and get used to. However there was in my opinion a slight lack of options to choose from and have a slight effect on the game's replay value and longevity.

Graphics

When it comes to RPG's you have the great looking ones and then you have the ones that you wonder why they are on this generation of consoles. Well RPG Maker 3 unfortunately just doesn't cut it in terms of making a decent looking visual experience, as both the choices of character models and the choices of environments are a good amount but the quality is not all that high. My first complaint is the lack of variety as they kind of went with the same old sort of designs without really trying to make a new path. And my second complaint is that the game just never got any detail to help move the game either and this to me would have helped as well.

I must say for a game that tries to help you create a game they showed me that of course visuals are not on the top of their priority list. Therefore in conclusion RPG Maker 3 although not a terrible looking game, never does anything out of the ordinary with their visuals.

Fun Factor

RPG Maker 3 is a fun game but that wow factor of being able to create your own RPG kind of fades away after sometime, as the amount of variety that you can put into your games begins to wear thin. In my opinion the developers did a fine job in creating a very workable system that made creating games not very difficult but still giving you the user the ability to make it your own. In the long run this was a fun experience, but one that after a while just lost that introductory "wow" factor and just became a rather average gaming experience.

Overall

What I found neat about RPG Maker 3 was that it tries to do something different from anyone else on the market already, and that is create a game that allows you to create a game. And for that you have to tip your hat to the developers, and although this is not a perfect experience if you have always wanted to create your own game or feel like this sounds interesting, then I would highly recommend renting this game as for the amount of time for a rental you will really be able to get everything out of this game and although its not perfect it is an enjoyable experience.

Gameplay
8.0

Graphics
6.0

Fun Factor
7.0

Overall
7.0

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