Chain of Retribution (CG), A rivalry between sisters threatens to tear down a nation. Options

[Oceans Dream]

Chain of Retribution

Platform- RM2k3

Story
A chain game, sent from person to person, each putting in their part of the epic story in their own style.

When two mercenaries accepted an escort job--thought to be a swift and easy-- they found themselves involved into a global conspiracy that would shake the very core of the earth.

Characters

Siegmund:
A mercenary for hire who was asked to escort Rise to the capital city. He's a bit naive but has a good heart.


Reinhardt:
Siegmunds brother. He works together with Siegmund. He's the more serious of the 2 and more organized.


Rise:
A magician girl, she needs to get to the capital city. She goes and hires some help because she knows the trip isn't going to be so easy...


Domitian:
A warrior who is spoke of in legends. People know little about who he actually is. Domitian arrives to the capital city because of a letter.


Valeria:
A strong and calm warrior, she travels with Domitian for the same reason. While benevolent, she also has little tolerance for stupidity.


Screen Shots

[Show/Hide] Screenshots

Features
*New twist on the battle system: Each character is divided into 3 categories. Striker, Balance or Passive. Striker types regain MP in battle by attacking only. They'll gain 20 MP this way, and are usually more for saving up for a big attack.
Balance types regain 10 MP regardless of what command is used. Their skills tend to cost less but are not usually focused on having a big final attack to use.
Passive types regain 30 MP when you defend. They also start with the most MP in a battle and are Mage-types.

*Encounter Gauge which fills up as you fight encounters (which are seen on the map). Once filled, you can open up a special chest in the area.

*Party changing system

Download
http://rpgmaker.net/games/3597/

Note:
http://oceansdream.net/files/RPG_RT.exe
If you have downloaded since 5/3, replace the RPG_RT file in the folder with this! Otherwise, by 5/13 the main download is fixed.

Credits
It is a chaingame between:

*Dajhail
*GreatOldOne
*Jihaus
*K-hos
*Marimo
*Ocean
*Skie

This post has been edited by Oceans Dream: May 13 2012, 07:14 PM

[amerk]

It will be interesting to see how this flows together, as I can only imagine what sorts of challenges there probably was with various people adding to the story.

[Oceans Dream]

We did it differently than most chaingames do. While we did have one person work and pass it along after a certain time, we also decided that no part was sacred or untouchable. So anyone after could go and alter someones part. The game was revised many times because of this but we felt it was better so we could keep a certain consistency to it.

[ranmaster]

Just beat this game today.
May I say, I was pleased to say the least.

Very enjoyable DBS, plot, great atmosphere, and love the captured style of Bahamut Lagoon.
The face sets are nothing but SEXY, and man, I'd recommend this game to any RMer out there.

[Oceans Dream]

Awesome, and thanks for the recommendation too! I liked the result of the project too between us all so I am hoping that everyone else gets to try it out.

[Lato]

I always love the way your work looks I want to play this game but when I went to download the RPG maker here it said it was disabled..
I cant wait to see what the story is all about!

[Oceans Dream]

I don't think you need RPG Maker to play it. Try it out without it and see if it works for you, I believe it should!

[Lato]

I don't think you need RPG Maker to play it. Try it out without it and see if it works for you, I believe it should!

Ok Ocean I played the game and wrote down some notes I thought I would share with you since you been good to me in the past

The game uses some fade away scenes at the right times then doesnt at times needed which is kinda weird, The very first scene in the game doesn't have a fade away...it just jumps which kinda shocked me.

The first room with a chest in it is kinda weird cause the game talks to you saying you have a item in a weird way but ever chest you open after that says it in the normal way.

Some of the Bahumut Lagoon sprites clash VERY badly, most of all the evil general which is now one of the main char, his char sprite form is just very messed up looking compared to the others, he is way to skinny and pointed and doesnt flow well with the game, your a master spriter why you not edit him?

Gem system was a bit confusing cause it just seemed like it was a extra step for something thats supposed to be normal/common in a game.

The kid friendly dialogue really rubbed me the wrong way, soldiers and mercs dont talk like that, when one of the main char got mad and told the other to "lay off" it made me want to turn off the game because it reminded me of the days where the heros were all 12 year old boys saving the world..

The world map I really enjoyed, until I saw there there was no random battles in it, which just ruined the whole classic feel I was hoping for.

NOW for the things I liked- The FF style ingame explanations of how the game works by game char is so classic and i love it.

The towns are actually INTERESTING! I cant think of a single town in a rpg game that was interesting besides this game, the towns people actually have funny and interesting things to say! That alone makes the game worth playing.

I love how the story isnt over drama at the start, it has a nice simple story.flow to it, most ppl try and rush it.

The battle system looks great even though its not what im used to its still interesting.

I couldnt predict what would happen next, and I tried but I kept getting surprised!

Overall Id give it a 8 out of 10, could have been a 9 or a 10 if it was just you working on it I think but that does take ALOT of time. For a free game im very impressed.

[Oceans Dream]

Thanks for playing it! OK this is good. I have updated the file with some of the fixes.

The chests have been fixed now, Reinhardts sprite is fixed, the lag is addressed, and there are some other fixes.

Some of the other things are design related so i'll go over it here:

Gem system was a bit confusing cause it just seemed like it was a extra step for something thats supposed to be normal/common in a game.

There's one Gem for the elemental, and one Gem for the power of it. We went with a different gem system than we initially had because it made people too similar before. So now it's more about seeing what elemental the enemies are using/weak against and equipping your party to suit that.

The kid friendly dialogue really rubbed me the wrong way, soldiers and mercs dont talk like that, when one of the main char got mad and told the other to "lay off" it made me want to turn off the game because it reminded me of the days where the heros were all 12 year old boys saving the world..

They are not that young but they're still pretty inexperienced at the whole deal. You'll see in the Crossroads what the more experienced mercs sound like, but it's more like Siegmund/Reinhardt got out of the house and had to make do with odd jobs to survive rather than battle hardened mercs that you might think.

The world map I really enjoyed, until I saw there there was no random battles in it, which just ruined the whole classic feel I was hoping for.

I don't think anyone in the team wanted random battles in any capacity. Plus, Chrono Trigger and Terranigma are 2 examples of good classic games which have no battles in the overworld. Plus, the overworld really doesn't have long enough paths for that to even show up. So this is a preference issue on all the developers.

But otherwise, glad you liked it anyway! We're still trying to fix it up so there should be some more improvements as we go on, but hopefully it's not that much we have to fix.

[Lato]

Hm ok the gem thing makes more sense now, and even the char being new to there work. Still feel weird about the world map not having battles, if anything I think it puts more focus on the world map, its nicely done so why should it only be a small part of point A to point B. I wish I could make a world map that nice, I would add in all kinds of random battles but thats just me. There are SOME games that pull off not having random battles but they are very few so that doesnt really have the same classic feel, but i did love crono trigger!


And when you gonna be open for commissions again? RRR needs you ocean! lol.

[Oceans Dream]

I am open for small stuff, like say a charset or 2, icons, things like that. Nothing huge though.

And yeah I guess we could have had more of an overworld but I don't think anyone was really big on that here. I guess we did it more to show where you are in the world rather than to be a massive world to explore. Plus they had to get from the town to the capital city in under 7 days, so it wouldn't be effective to have a massive overworld to explore.

[Lato]

I am open for small stuff, like say a charset or 2, icons, things like that. Nothing huge though.

And yeah I guess we could have had more of an overworld but I don't think anyone was really big on that here. I guess we did it more to show where you are in the world rather than to be a massive world to explore. Plus they had to get from the town to the capital city in under 7 days, so it wouldn't be effective to have a massive overworld to explore.

Oh I don't mean make the world map bigger, the size is good, I just thought that random battles would have really brought it to life. Im a die hard fan of classic world maps! It doesnt matter how big they are as long as they are there cause it just adds a extra classic element to the game. Rpg games nowdays are just so void of the detail from the good old days. But its a great game, and whats even better is that you guys are still editing/improving it so who knows what will happen:)

And I ALWAYS have a few things that need done, ill pm you Ocean.

[thatbennyguy]

I have only started this game (30mins) and I must say that is amazing and underrated! There should be more exposure to this game. I will tell whoever I can to play this game because it is sexy, stylish and well-polished. Here's what I got to say:

[Show/Hide] this

Thoroughly engaging dialogue, peculiar setting and smooth mechanics.
Face art is unique, blends in with the unusual nature of the game.
Humor is subtle, yet witty. You do weird things like collecting frogs, dispensing information to travellers, collecting pub topics.
These are unconventional yet solid features. Everything seems really well-fleshed out, including the battle mechanics. No corners cut.
There is also some meta-dialogue by the characters criticizing RPGs, which is disarmingly accurate.
The non-random encounters are a bit unusual. If the battle animations/characters are custom, then it is amazing the level of detail they
go into.
There are requirements to open certain chests, which is also strange for the traditional RPG. You have to meet a set number of "encounters"
to fill up your gauge to meet this quota. It's intriguing.
For the first 15 minutes though, the whole things seems very linear.
Moves are very balanced though, and my first boss fight (the twins) brought elemental strengths/weaknesses into play.
The elemental attacks are much more noticeable when you realize that your attack is actually 'healing' the opponent.
This boss is the classic "healer and mage" combo, where it makes sense to kill the healer first before the mage.

And that's all I got through so far. A great game, truly. The collabo thing *does* work wonders.

[Oceans Dream]

Yeah it had its share of problems but it helped that each person on the team was good at something so we could each cover for each other. Glad you're enjoying it so far, if you come across any bugs or something feel free to let us know!

[rewells]

Whoa this is good. I'd like to do a full review. Can you give me an idea of how long it takes to beat, so I can plan my weekend around it?

Yeah it had its share of problems but it helped that each person on the team was good at something so we could each cover for each other. Glad you're enjoying it so far, if you come across any bugs or something feel free to let us know!

[Oceans Dream]

Hmm, well I'd say 6-10 hours, It's not that short but it's not a massively long game either. But yes, a review would be great!

[rewells]

Awesome. Where did the art and music come from for this game? I noticed some FF6 and bahamuts lagoon.

[Oceans Dream]

Bahamut Lagoon, FF6, Romancing Saga 3, and custom edits/sprites from us.

Note:
http://oceansdream.net/files/RPG_RT.exe
If you have downloaded since 5/3, replace the RPG_RT file in the folder with this! Otherwise, by now the main download is fixed.

[rewells]

Chain of Retribution Review
Score: 9/10

Game Title: Chain of Retribution
Developers: Oceans Dream, Dajhail, GreatOldOne, Jihaus, K-hos, Marimo, Skie
Game Engine: RPG Maker 2k3
Reviewer: rewells
Approximate Completion Time: 6-10 hours
Topic URL:
http://www.rpgrevolution.com/forums/index....mp;#entry558996
Download Link: 7.9MB




General Comments

Chain of Retribution. Sounds like a blast, right? I envisioned an epic about revenge, going around kicking the crap out of villains who have wronged the main character God of War-style. Well, it's not really about that; the title comes from the fact that this is a chaingame. I had no idea what a chaingame is, but apparently it's like one of those stories where one person writes a paragraph, gives it to some one else, they add to it, they give it to someone else who adds to it...etc. The approach this team took was to allow anyone to alter anyone's part of the game, and it's surprisingly cohesive. Actually, I'd say it's the best written RM game I have played. And on top of that, it's pretty fun to play. Utilizing art from the great RPGs of the 90's, this is sure to please anyone who either missed or misses SNES era games. It has a very classic feel from the opening shot and it made me want to break out Brain Lord (mad props to anyone who knows Brain Lord).

Pros:

-Excellent characters. Each character has a unique personality with virtues and flaws and an interesting backstory.
-Good plot pacing. The story is revealed little by little as the game progresses and it kept me wanting to know more.
-Excellent choice of borrowed graphics and music from SNES classics like FF6 and Bahamut's Lagoon
-Neat ability system. Each character has a unique skill set that can be accessed and modified by equipable items.
-Cool optional cut-scenes. In town pubs, if you talk to the bartender your party is transported to another room and you have the option of having conversations with your party members about various plot points. And even better, I actually wanted to do this because the writing is so good.
-Very well designed towns.

Cons:

-The game is very linear. While the dungeons are worth exploring throughly, there is no backtracking, no traversing the globe in a ship or airship and no side-quests (other than a super boss) that I found.
-The game is long for an RM game (6-10 hours), but it could have easily been longer given the nature of the plot.
-The battle system, while overall quite good, does get a little repetitive at times, especially near the end.
-The world map is very small. So small that it really doesn't even need to be there. There are no enemy encounters and you simply walk short distances from one town/dungeon to the other.
-The tilesets are great, but some of the dungeon maps get a little repetitive, especially the open field near the beginning where you first fight Octavia.

Story



The game doesn't begin with an epic explanation of everything that's happening in the world, like so many RM games do. We get an opening scene with a dark, sinister-looking figure sitting on a throne, then a scene in which a knight receives a letter drawing him on an undisclosed mission, then the story goes back a week later and the game begins. So we have some clues as to where the plot is going to go, but the whole thing isn't spelled out, which gave me an incentive to keep playing.

The main character is Siegmund, a lighthearted kid who is a mercenary with his brother, Reinhardt. The brothers accept a job to escort a magician named Rise to the capital city. Unfortunately, everyone is trying to kill Rise. Even worse, the campaign to kill her is led by her own sister, Fiell. Of course, we find out that Rise is part of a political resistance movement against the current Emperor, and Seigmund gets sucked into the political squabbling, which escalates to a world-threatening event.

It's all pretty standard stuff, but what makes this game unique is the characters. The dialogue between Seigmund, Reinhardt and Rise is funny and flows naturally. They soon meet the goofy twins Freya and Frei, who start out as enemies but quickly ask to join forces after your team defeats them because they are afraid of what Fiell will do with them for failing. The other characters you meet have their own cool back stories that add to the overall plot. From the beginning, you hear of the legendary knight Domitian. Little references are dropped throughout the game, which got me really excited about meeting him, and the pay-off ends up being pretty good. If you explore towns early in the game, you'll meet mysterious ninjas (or nynjas, because, like hippie parents who name their kids Ashleigh, RPG designers like to spell things weird), which builds anticipation for reaching the nynja village later in the game.

What I really liked are the bar sequences, where you can choose to engage in banter with your teammates. This way, if you're into the story you can get more character development, or if you're just trying to breeze through the game you don't have to sit through long cutscenes. I actually did sit through every conversation because they are interesting and well written.


Presentation



The game is very pretty. There is some custom art, but most graphics and music are taken from Bahamut's Lagoon, Final Fantasy 6 and Romancing Saga 3. Bahamut's Lagoon is a very cool SNES title worth checking out if you haven't played it (it's only been officially released in Japan, but there are English translations floating around) and it's obscure enough that most people haven't seen its art used 1,000 times before (says the person who designed a game using entirely FF5 art...). Having drawn from multiple games, everything meshes very well and it doesn't look like the hodgepodge that it actually is. One very simple technique the game uses that improves the visuals a lot is the use of lens flares in some outside scenes. This gave the game a cinematic feel and adds more distinction between indoor and outdoor maps.


Gameplay



It's the usual town > dungeon > town > dungeon fare, which is totally ok with me. Encounters are not random, and there is a neat system where an encounter gauge fills up as you defeat enemies, and once the gauge is full you can open locked treasure chests, so there's an incentive to slay as many enemies as possible (besides leveling up).

Battle is side-view, and each character has unique battle animations, so it actually looks like they are fighting instead of just flashing at each other. HP is restored at the end of battle, and MP rejuvenates overtime (more on this in a sec), so it's impossible to get "stuck" in dungeons and each battle presents the threat of death.

The game's skill system works as follows: each character has equipment slots for an Ability Gem and an Elemental Gem. The level of the Ability Gem determines the number of skills the character has, and the Elemental Gem sets what kind of element the skills take (a quick note - after equipping new gems, you must exit the menu then reopen it to view your new skills - that's just how RM is). Most enemies have elemental strengths and weaknesses, and some elements even heal enemies, so you have to really pay attention to which elements to use. Each character has his or her own skill set, although there is some overlap, and most of the elemental attacks are essentially the same (Fire Smash, Fire Orb and Fire Strike are all pretty much the same attack, but at least the animations are different). The end result is that every character has his or her strengths; however, there is little difference between healer characters like Frei and Rise.

However, to give the characters a little more individuality, each is one of three classes: Striker, Balance or Passive. Strikers regain a lot of MP when they attack, Balances gain a little bit of MP for every move they make, and Passives regain a lot of MP by defending. While Frei and Rise have similar skill sets, Frei is a Balance while Rise is a Passive, so I like Frei better since she can regain MP from attacking. The battles do get repetitive at points, and the game could have benefited from introducing another mechanic or two later in the game to make it more interesting (limit breaks, maybe?), but it's very decent as far as RM games go. My favorite part of the game is when you have to split your party into two teams and switch between them to navigate a dungeon full of switches like the last dungeon if FF6. It's not very elaborate and I wish there more dungeons like it, but I'm glad it's there.

Another cool thing is that equipment changes multiple parameters, so a heavy sword may grant stronger attack power but lower a character's speed or defense. Elemental gems also grant different status bonuses, giving more incentive to play around with them.

The towns are remarkable. All NCPs are interesting to talk to and there's plenty of incentive to explore. Here is a list of things you can do in the game's second town: shop at the regular stores or a super expensive store that sales rare items, view optional cutscenes in the pub, find the Nynja NCP to unlock more cutscenes in the pub, track down frogs (which has no immediate benefit, but you eventually get rare items from this), find treasure chests, and talk to the wandering knight. The wandering knight travels throughout the world asks things like "Are we in the town of ____?" I thought this was cool, because how often do you just go town to town in an RPG and not pay attention to the town's name? Oh, that's just me? Oh well, it should have helped me pay attention, although I didn't really and just went with my gut each time I talked to him and he thanked me and gave me an item, so I don't know if I just got lucky every time and got the right answer or if he gives different items based on whether you're correct or not.

A couple of very nit-picky things: There is no in-game time counter, which I missed because I like to know how much time I've wasted *cough* I mean spent playing video games. Also, you can save anywhere, but there are no save points. This just gripes me - save points are supposed to let you know when a big battle is coming and help pace the gameplay. And sometimes I just get in the zone and forget to save, which really sucks when I unexpectedly get to a strong boss that kills me and sets me back an hour. There are also the usual RM bugs, like NCP's walking on doorways, but nothing bad enough to merit complaint.


Summarized Version

Chain of Retribution captures the magic of the SNES era in a way that no other RM game I have played has. Had I never played Bahamut's Lagoon, someone could have told me this was an original work for a 16 bit system and I would have believed them. This is a must-play for budding game designers and anyone who misses the RPG golden age.

Score: 9/10

[rewells]

Btw Ocean, have you seen this? It's pretty goofy but it's awesome someone made a let's play video for this!