Introduction:
"This is the secret lake of the water deity. This is my world. I was born as the owner of this world. I do not know why I was chosen to own this world, but I am special, because my world holds a deity. I must protect this place, to prevent the water deity from ever being reached by those who wish it harm."

Storyline:
Ikode: TWOI takes place in a universe where every human being is born with their soul contained in a necklace which they wear around their neck. In Alaro, the town the main character lives in, there is a cave which reacts to the soul necklaces by creating a unique world for every soul necklace upon entering the cave.
Naturally, one wouldn't want to part with their own soul. But the main character, Atrius, begins a collection of soul necklaces when his old friend passes away and leaves his soul necklace to him. What will happen when a person enters the world of someone else's soul will soon be found out...

Characters:
Atrius: Age 30: The Main character. His soul necklace contains the water deity. Atrius is a very introverted character, and has very few friends. He spends more time in the lake shrine (his soul world) than anywhere else, and most of the rest of his time in his house.
Odaru: Age 24: The front desk keeper in Atrius's apartment building. She is in love with Atrius, but he never pays her much attention.
Lerold: Age 125 (deceased): Atrius's old friend, who passes away in the beginning of the story. His soul necklace contains a fairy who helps crops grow.
Hamemy: Age ??: The fairy who lives in Lerold's world. Not much is known about her, since only Lerold has ever met her and now he is dead.
Areniss: Age ??: The priestess in Alaro. Areniss alone knows the contents of Atrius's soul, and she acts as an advisor to Atrius.
Burlend: Age 26: Alaro's town guard. Friendly with Atrius. He is mute.
Reymi: Age 8: The Alaro shopkeeper's son. He looks up to Atrius.
Tireon: Age 40: A wandering merchant who comes to Alaro in seek of Atrius's help.

Features:
Gameplay style is Traditional RPG, however world exploration is not required, since all the areas of the game are generated from the one cave in the town. Game focuses on customization aspects, with limited resources. You may purchase weapons, armor, accessories, items, stat-ups, spells, and extra soul necklaces all from the same limited pool of money.

Version 1.2 Updates:
Fixed more "deity" vs "diety" spelling errors
Modified sidequest slightly
Fixed storyline slightly to account for sequel
Removed all unused files for smaller file size

Credits:
Scripting by Blizzard and Sandgolem and Nechigawara Sanzenin(as of v1.1)
Original Music by Bjorn Lynne, Gregor Rozman, T.J. Moir, and Michael Fonos

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Game Length: 5-10 Hours

Screenshots:





Download Game (version 1.3):
Ikode: The World of Infinity v1.3

Website:
Ikode Website

Whoa, this looks pretty good so I think I might try this out when I get a chance.

Hey, I just played your game and I have to say I'm impressed. I'm not sure what it was about it but everything seemed to flow really nicely and the story was awsome. I really like how simple you made the element system, no need to scan or anything, you just new what element to use if you had it which was a nice change xD. Also the skills seemed really well balanced, they seemed to come right when you needed them and none really felt useless except Demon Hunter. It might have been because I gave it to Hamemy (awsome name btw) but it never seemed to do over 1000 damage even once she reached like lvl 30. All in all it seemed to be one of those games that you keep on playing obsessivly but you can't exactly put your finger on why.

There were a few bits where the story went kind of crazy though:



Apart from those issues I found the story to be one of the best I've played. At the start there was that mysterious "soul amulet" fact making you want to explore the world and kept you intruiged until you could get into the actual story. Also the characters were awsome, one of the biggest issues I find with games are bad characters but these were fun. They seemed natural and I didn't feel like strangling any of them xD.

Graphics wise the maps were alright but a little bland and were repeated in places. The main thing though is that I didn't really notice or care because I was so wrapped in the story and levelling my characters, I would have trudged through a map of plain grass if I had to xD.

Also, I'll admit I didn't do all the optional stuff (Although I plan on going back, I only bought the casino and then got snapped in the cathedral) but are there more weapons that do elemental damage or have status effects? All I found was the angel sword and the staffs I could buy from the ghosts in the castle.

And one last question, I've reached Glonawe and I'm not sure what to do, is there further to go or anything else to do?
Oh and in the castle with the last boss, you can leave through the door on the second floor that you came through on your second visit to the castle. Once there you go back to the cave and I'm not sure if you can get back to the castle after that?

Anyways, awsome game so keep it up! ^^

Wow... Thank you very much! I never expected to get such a good review of my game

You happen to have pointed out the parts of the storyline where I most obviously floundered, so i'm not so surprised. It was EXTREMELY hard to keep the storyline flowing like I made it, and when the complexity goes that far, sometimes it's hard to tie in everything together... I did the best I could and hope it was satisfying.

The weapons and armors are pretty much everything that you see there. The bonus souls all have some bonus equipment (casino, etc. all have some equipment prizes), but there's no status or elemental weapons. If you feel lacking your ability to deal statuses, you can always buy more spells from the cameo girl in the spell shop

I'm not really sure about those bugs, I'll check when I get the chance...

And there's more to do in Glonawe and beyond, but it's not necessary. The game itself has already ended, but that area of the game has some storyline enders and if you travel the full world (it's relatively linear) you can fight one final boss who is probably harder than all the others combined. It's not necessary, as the future of the characters will be covered in the sequel, but that world gives you a different perspective that will not be revisited. (Kinda like the Evangeleon series, the ending was mad confusing so they released a movie which replaced the last 3 episodes as a new ending)

I'm so glad you enjoyed the game I'll let you know when my other games are done

About the weapons, it wasn't that I felt I wanted to deal more conditions it's just that it seemed like that feature would be there =P. Like whenever you go to the equip menu the weapons have "elemental attack" and "status attack" in green. And considering you said that there arn't any status/elemental weapons maybe you should go back and check Celestius because before you equip it it seems to suggest that it does light damage and inflicts blind. So that's kind of what I was going by when I asked about the status and elements, there's also a man in the church at the start who says something about infusing the diety's into weapon making but I suppose that could be read as merely spiritual and not a practical application :x.

Oh and what I forgot about in the last post is to ask about that puzzle in the Angel's Soul where it's black and you have to walk through in the right way or youll be teleported back out the door xD. I still have no idea how I got through it, I think it had something to do with the carpet on the floor, but I only managed to get through by sheer stubborness xD. So yeh, I don't know what you could do but maybe add the solution somewhere for those people who arn't as stubborn as me :x. But I did love the idea of the puzzle even if I still don't understand how I got through it (I can replicate my results aswell and the ammount of footsteps I took makes no sense to me.)

But yeh I'd love to hear when you get the next game out! Until then I'll try to figure out where to go from Glonawe xD.

P.S Cathedral music was awsome.

Hmm... You have a point. I kinda forgot about putting the statuses in Celestius (and a couple of other hidden swords have status and elemental attacks too). The elemental wands also have elemental damage. It's kinda a careless error on my part. I explained it but never really implemented it that much, there's only a handful of weapons that have elemental or status attacks. If I release a editied version of the game I might put some more in.

I PMed you about the Angel dark puzzle.

My games are all relatively close to completion, but since I finished this one, I haven't been working on them. I plan on resuming soon:

Ikode 2 was made long before Ikode 1 for RM2k3. I am currently updating the game because a lot of character names and stories have changed. I have not decided if I'm going to actually update the game for 2k3 or remake it in XP. My biggest concern is the maps, because both 2 and 3 take place in the same world as 1, and I figure that will get very boring very quickly. The game will look much different in 2k3.

Ikode 3 was also made before Ikode 1, for XP, and is a complete game, taking place unrelated to the original story but in the same universe. However, the maps SUCKED. I'm updating them. The game itself is horror/mystery based, with an even more gripping storyline than 1 IMO. This will probably be released first.

And I'm also working on a joke RPG called the Two Moons based around 4th Wall breach. It's a remake of the very first full-length (30 minute) RPG I made when I was 13 (I'm 21 now), and it retains and references most of the gaping plot-holes from the original. You might enjoy it, it's really dumb and only about an hour long.

If you'd like, I'll PM you specifically when I finish one of them

The Cathedral music is a MIDI I made based on the song Cathedral by doom metal band Daylight Dies. I have a pretty decent chunk of original music in the game if you check the songs folder.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8RcZvbYLgk 1:32 may seem very familiar

Hey it's obsorber. I just wanted to say I played your game by the way. And here are my thoughts about it although you might find them a bit harsh:

MAPPING: It terms of your maps, I wouldn't give it a high score because I felt that some of them had mistakes on them. They generally weren't very detailed either and some of them looked like they were rushed a bit. Although I did feel that many of your maps weren't so bad and quite decent to a certain extent. Your maps were good enough to keep the player playing. 5/10

PLOT AND STORY: Ok, your plot is quite different to most games I suppose. This is good because it doesn't follow the general rule of rpg plots making it different although I felt bored of your story in about 10 minutes of gameplay. For me, it didn't feel so enjoyable because it was as if the whole plot was explained practically straight away and the hero, atrius knew all about the cave and knecklaces which made it to plain. Maybe it may have been more interesting if the hero learnt about the cave and the knecklaces. I didn't play for more than 2 hours and the plot was very linear from what I've seen. It seems you need to do quests for people in the town you are in and return to cave every time. 5/10

GAMEPLAY: Ok, the gameplay wasn't crap but it wasn't good either. Like I said, you have to keep returning to the same cave although the cave changes when you put a different knecklace on for different quests. Battles weren't too boring but I was expecting more of a diversity in monsters seeing as the game is meant to be a good 5-10 hours not a demo. I liked that you could buy skills instead of just learning all of them. You couldn't leave town because there was a random sign there there which was a bit weird. Maybe you could make up that there is storm or something ahead blocking you from proceeding further but I hated that idea. What I really liked about your gameplay was the difficulty. Items and Equipments weren't so cheap and weren't incredibly expensive. You made monsters simple at the start which increased in difficulty due to progression which will make the game friendly to all rpg players and not just newbs or pros so Kudos. 6/10

MUSIC: This was the best part of the game. I liked the music althought I feel it could have been used better if you had interesting scenes and what not although you implemented them well in your maps. 7/10

OVERALL: From what I played, your game is quite a simple rpg game which doesn't leave much to be admired. I felt the story was quite dull or poorly introduced at the start. The gameplay wasn't good or bad but possibly too simple maybe you could try adding some extra scripts or other things you could do. Some of the mapping could be improved although I suppose it's not bad enough to completely put people off. And the music was quite well used in your maps. 5/10

I would reccomend playing this game to get some nice ideas. This game leaves a lot to be admired and could possibly be a lot better if it was revamped. That saying, I only managed to play 2 hours of this game before I got bored but I might continue it on a later time in the future and repost my review.

Anyways good job creating Ikode. I'm glad I played it and if gave me a few ideas, the game was much different to most game you find in rmxp.

I appreciate your review, but I don't think it's very fair. I don't think a game can be accurately reviewed based solely on the introduction.

The biggest thing that stands out is your comment on how it's poorly introduced at the start, and that it has a dull beginning story. I'll keep that in mind, since obviously the first part of the game wasn't enticing enough if you gave up before you got to the real story.



That's not even considered the plot. Atrius is just explaining the backstory.



I thought I did have some interesting scenes once the "bad guys" show up...



This is not true at all. My storyline is far from being that generic. Just how far did you get in the game before you gave up?

Your right, maybe it isn't fair and your game shouldn't be judged fully for just the intro. But I found it a little bit boring as if I had no specific reason to continue the plot. Like I said, I only played for 2 hours so I didn't really get that far enough. From what I played, you had to return to the church to do quests for people. My review might be a bit harsh though. Even so, your game needs some improvement from what I've played so far but if I get any further and complete it in the future, like I said I will repost another review.

Also, compared to many people I'm quite lenient when it comes to reviewing peoples games so to some people you may get worse critisims.

I thought I'd just give you some feedback so you could improve it and fix a few map errors or possibly remake some of the scenes and whatever needs doing...

So in other words, you went to the dead man's forest, came back, talked to the wandering merchant and got his wife's soul necklace, and had to rid her world of the undead, and that's when you gave up. Is that about right?

You only return to the church to do a quest for someone ONCE. At that point you haven't even GOTTEN to the actual plot yet. If you finished the undead quest, you would have gotten to the first big mystery, and at that point you would have a reason to continue the story.

You really shouldn't be giving my game a full game review if you have no idea what's going on in the story. I highly doubt that you got 2 hours of game time, considering the testers got to that point in about 20-30 minutes. I pride my games in having very deep, intricate PLOTS over anything else. The storyline is supposed to be so gripping that you don't want to put down the game, despite the fact that the gameplay is very basic. You've very much offended me by playing to the point you did and telling me that the game is boring because there's no depth to the plot.



If they made their review at the same point in the game that you did, I would dismiss them just as much. Playing the intro to a full-length game and writing a bad review is a really shitty thing to do to someone. How would you like it if someone did that to your game?

If you finished my game and then told me it was the worst game you've ever played for the following reasons, I'd thank you for your opinion and say that I was sorry you didn't enjoy it.

Ok now you are seriously starting to piss me off. How old are you because you sound about 5 years old. I definately will not come back to re-reviewing the game. Didn't you hear me the first time that I said I only played game for about 2 hours and got bored. I even stated that when I come back to it and play more that I would do another review. The reason it took me 2 hours to get undead skeleton defeated was because I wandered the other place leveling up because I felt I wasn't strong enough and needed to be stronger before proceeding further. That said after I beat the skeleton I didn't know what to do anymore to get any further so I got a little bit fed up. I saved the game so I could return to it at a later time.

I'm the type of person who likes to take his time while playing through games. Plus it also takes me a while to figure things out if the narrator doesn't properly explain where I have to head next etz so if your testers did it so quick then give them a platinum medal for it kiddo but it still isn't gonna change my way and style of playing rpp games.

You've seriously offended me because I spent my personal time playing someone elses game to give some feedback so he could make improvements. Now if you don't want to take some of the critisms I made to hand, that is your problem not mine. The truth is, your game needs a lot of work, it's not rubbish but it's still far from perfect. I reccomend playing some rpg maker games such as, Prophecy of the Demon Kingdom, Legionwood, Midnight, Vacant Sky, Beloved Rapture and Mana Conquest. By playing these games, you will see how well polished they are because these are games which I would give a high score in a review.

Also, I'm not putting down your game, I stated that your game could be alot better if it was revamped. I'm not the best when it comes to making rpgmaker games either. I'm not the best at mapping either but yours needs improvements because of mistakes and possibly less time on detailing them. Some of your maps were ok though. Like I said, you didn't make the introduction so interesting at the start which puts many people like myself off completely. I didn't liike the frontal battlesystem either and it could have been better if you used scripts.

I will not continue to play your game because so far I'm not enjoying it anyway and I believe you have way too much high expectations of it. Plus, you have also offended me, a person who took personal time to play your game and give feedback. You are also getting annoyed like a child because I didn't enjoy it and stating negetave points I already pointed out in the review such as not playing the whole game.

Lastly, I've been given a harsh review once but I would take the critisims if they were good ones. Just because so far everyone who has tried your game and liked it up until now doesn't mean everyone else will continue to.

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the game enough to continue it. I assure you that if you did play through further, your opinion would have changed about its quality.

All I was trying to say was that I didn't think you should be giving any game a full review if you've only played a small part of it. It isn't fair to the game.

If you gave the game a bad review after playing the whole game, I would have been happy.

Or if you commented on how you lost interest and couldn't make it through the game, I would have been slightly less happy.

But you went through not even 10% of the game and then gave a review with a score and everything. That's not just giving constructive criticism. I do appreciate the criticism! Good and bad have all been noted and if I ever get back into RPG making, I will enhance the game. But I don't appreciate my whole game being rated based on the first 10%. If you planned on continuing the game and re-reviewing it, why did you post the first review?

I understand what you mean. One of the reasons why I posted a review without playing the whole game is because sometimes I forget to play the whole game once I save. I like to play many new rpg maker games and give them feedback at same time with making my own project. I was planning to finish your game and then re-review it. Thats one of the reasons why I stated I would re-review it and that my review covers only the first 2 hours of play or rather 30mins according to you.

I apologise if I offended you because I didn't review the whole game but one thing you know that is clear is the fact that I still think the introduction could have been introduced better. Intro's to games are important because many players give up or get bored of amateurr games if it isn't giving them that buzz of excitment.

And before you get offended agan, by "amateur" I mean games made by people who aren't proffesional developers using programs and tools and utilities like rpg maker.

I'm sorry that I snapped at you.

I have taken it into heavy consideration that the intro to a game needs to be very exciting. If not for this game, then at least for future games that I make.

The reason why I was frustrated is that a lot of the other things you mentioned in the review only apply to the beginning, and so it doesn't accurately portray the rest of the game. Like seriously five more minutes difference. When you complete the undead quest, the game really begins lol.

And yeah, I'm an amateur at it I know. I'm just some college kid who makes these games in class and at home instead of doing my homework lol. I've been making shitty games since I was in 8th grade because it's fun for me. Is this whole community made of amateur game creators, or are there actually professionals among us?

Try and keep it calm and friendly.

Although you seem to have worked it out between you, I would remind obsorber, that he was essentially flaming, which he has been warned for before.

LostSamurai, so it takes around 30 minutes for the game to kick in? I hope to try it out soon.

I have had several opinions about the "interest level" of the beginning of the game.

Obsorber was the most to the point about how the intro is not very interesting, and one of my anonymous testers said it "gets better later on in the game." So yes, you could say it kicks in in about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on your speed. (time is relative though. Let's say it kicks in after the second mini-quest)

However Knot said: Most of my testers shared similar enthusiasm. If you enjoy the idea of a new system of creating worlds, exploring the backstory, which is essentially what the beginning is about, should be very enticing. Just when you start getting used to it, the plot of the game hits you full force.

After that, ironically, I've had more comments about how the game's story moves too FAST haha. And either way, I assure you that the game is at the very least worth trying.

LostSamurai, I think you've gotten the idea that I think your game is rubbish. I don't think such a thing otherwise I wouldn't have spent time playing it. I only feel that there are many improvements which need to be made to make your game one of the very best. One improvement would be trying to make the introduction more exciting. I enjoyed your game and as I stated before, one of the reasons I liked it was because it was very different compared to many games I've played in rpg maker so kudos on that part.

The game wouldn't load for me, I went into game.ini and changed "Library=RGSS100J.dll" to "Library=RGSS102e.dll", seems to work now.

A few things I've noticed so far...In the shadow of the top left building, you can walk over the stacks of logs. I noticed things like, where you live, the doors you can see all have names next to them, but the doors you can't see have no names, which doesn't make much sense. Sayenth's (in the weapon shop) text is cut off. The word 'deity' is often spelt incorrectly. I viewed the cutscene with the carriage from below, and so I seemed to just appear at the top, it made no sense.

Hi,
first of all - I like your game. But I stuck at the Angel dark puzzle. I've tried a lot of things, to solve this puzzle, but I'm to stupid for this

To Obsorber:
Yeah, I was pretty much under that impression. I figured you were trying to put it nicely. I'm glad to know that you think otherwise.

To Rob_Riv:
As it's pretty obvious, I'm kinda careless. I'm making note of all the small glitches and they will all be fixed eventually. The new version also won't requre the RGSS library change. I was using a different version when I uploaded the game.

To Wildwind:
PM me with what you're having trouble with and I'll help you

Updates!!!

I'm currently revising the game. I wrote down everyone's suggestions and I plan on using almost all of them. (Especially since most were errors that I made)
I'm also adding some new systems, like an upgraded spell shop, and some other surprises
And I installed my old MIDI composing program, so expect some new original tracks

The new version should be released in a few weeks

Version 1.1 has been released!

Version 1.1 Updates:
New and updated character and spell customization options.
5 new original music tracks.
Fixed bugs, including one game-crashing glitch.
Changed some dialogue, and fixed spelling errors.
Made minor graphical enhancements.
Made the Dark Angel puzzle easier.

Download version 1.1 here:
Ikode TWOI v1.1(Megaupload)

Unfortunately, due to the changes and new scripts, version 1.1 is not compatible with old save files.

Awesome. The story concept seems really interesting.

I just downloaded it. About how long does it take to beat, on average? And this is a demo or a completed game?

It's a full game, but it moves pretty fast. I played the older version and beat it in . . . five hours, maybe? I'm still trying to beat this bonus thing at the end. Stupid puzzle . . .

Robo- Ereth is right on. It takes an average of 5 hours to beat the game. If you play all the sidequests and bonuses and everything, it can take 7-8 hours.

Ereth- what puzzle are you stuck on? You can PM me if you need help.

It's the bonus puzzle thing at the very end of the game.

I'm having the same problem. Can't beat the puzzel ;
Also I want to say that I really liked the game. The stroy takes a little bit to kick in but once it does its truley fantastic! I hope this dosent offend you but i played it more for the stroy than I did for the gameply lol. Also Im soooo stuck on that last puzzel... please how can i get passed it!?

I'm trying this out now and so fare I am liking what I am seeing. However you're caves suffer from a common mistake in that they come out to straight and square.

My own rule of thumbs when making caves.
* Never have a wall be more then 3 straight tiles long, including diagonal.
* Avoid making things to round/square/symmetrical.
* Be weary of making paths 1 tile wide, don't make a whole long pathway of such. Mine are typically 1, MAYBE 2 tiles long.
* There are alternate wall tiles, use to bake up the 'repeating' look on walls but don't over use them.

Here's a nice example to show of a cave to my own game.



You can have straight paths, but making the walls curve in and out some can really improve the look and make it more natural in apperance. A nice tidbit for your next game perhaps ^.-


By the way, I am confused as to what to do in the Forest...

Pudding:
I have to say, I created the game more for the story then the actual gameplay, so I'm glad to know you enjoyed it. My hopes is that the story is captivating enough to merit playing through. (The balance of effort is like 95% story and 5% gameplay too, its really storyline focused)

Pudding/Ereth
For the puzzle:


Taiine:
Thank you for the input on the caves. I see your point about natural-ness and stuff, and I may consider it for future games. However, all the maps are done for the sequel to this game already and I can't really change them anymore.

In response to your stuck-ness:


Announcement:
I'm about 80% done with Ikode 2. I'm anticipating a first version release in a few months

I am on the 16 piece puzzel and try as I might I can't beat it. Idont no which ones to to press. Help!

Pudding, the puzzle is really easy. Here's a tip: Step on the four corners first :3

Thanks!!

So I finally got time to truly sit down and enjoy this game. I must say, it is damn good. But there are a few thing's I'd like to point out.

Love the story, and the way the game play is designed keeps you on your tows, wanting to keep playing to explore all these soul worlds. Some of the mapping could be better, like with the caves I addressed before, but nothing to big. Keep an eye on your tree shadows however, noticed a repeat cut off of the shadow tiles on your trees.


Having random battles going off when your trying to do puzzles is also not a good thing, your trying to focus on sorting out a puzzle and your thought process keeps getting interrupted by these battles popping up. It was a rather big annoyance.

The Stat Distribution really should have been added to the games main menu, and not accessible by an item. At first I didn't even know what the item was for that was in my invitatory, and then it kept being forgotten about, in fact, it wasn't until the water deity when selecting items I needed that I recalled 'Oh yeah the stat book' but even upping the stats didn't help the fight much, that comes with the next issue.

Main issue came with player balance against the enemies they face.

I fought every battle I came across though my game play, and even some extras as I wondered randomly (like when I got lost with the tree) but was noticing that enemies/boss's were becoming harder and harder to beat, basic fights I was scarcely passing. I had to fight the water deity several times before -just- getting by. At this point I think I HAVE to level grind to continue, something that isn't desirable. I grinded six extra levels for everyone before continuing, and was still having issues.

I get up to the guardian and get owned, everyone nearly one shotted.

Everyone is around lv 30-36.

So with fighting every battle I came across, even grinding some levels. I was scarcely beating fights and now get owned. So I can not beat the guardian. Two of my guys get one shotted right off, the others go down in two/three hits. I even bought the heal spells for those that could learn it for that extra help, and still, nada. I grinded three extra levels, still got owned.

The balancing of the fights is my real big complaint. They either have WAY to much HP or their attacks are just to strong for that part of the game. I also really rather not sit for a few hours grinding levels :/

I very much appreciate your feedback Taiine


In regards to your comment:

1. What puzzle did you have to fight random encounters during? I thought I got rid of the encounters for all rooms with puzzles. This is definitely an error, I'll have to fix it for version 1.2 (to be released after Ikode 2 sets sail)

2. I finally figured out enough of RGSS coding to actually put the stat-distribution in the menu, so assuming all goes well, the item will be removed and the stat-screen will replace the Equipment section of the menu. EDIT: All is NOT going well with this!

3. Leveling up doesn't really make your characters strong enough to beat these enemies. The important thing grinding gives you is more money, not experience. The biggest factor in your strength vs the enemies is the equipment and spells. If you're hoarding money but not equipping your characters with the best stuff or teaching them some nasty spells, then it is fully understandable that you're having trouble. If you did the above, and you still cannot beat the Guardian, feel free to PM me with more info about your characters' equipment and skills and I'll offer some insider-suggestions on how to deck them out so they can't be stopped. I am aware of the difficulty of the game, which is why saving is never limited. However, it is expected to be beatable without extra grinding. (assuming you fight the majority of the random encounters the game normally poses)


I'm glad to know you like the game, and I hope you continue to.

1. The rock puzzle in the corrupt water deity room. It's simple yes but took me a few and the battles weren't helping salve it even as easy as ti is.

2. It's not that hard to add it to the menu system. I could help if still stuck.

3. The main characters stat in str is maxed, the rest are not fare behind in their own, and there doing huge damage. But it's not enough.
I have bought skills, but with the flow of the game buying new gear feels low on the 'must do' list. While I have a few thing's like gods sword and such, not much more, few random thing's here and there but the game play was smooth up until there and easy beating of boss's and enemies up till then didn't warren buying new gear.With the world gone BOOM not much opp to get any.

1. I actually kinda forgot about that puzzle. I'll probably reduce the encounter rate a bit, because if I remove it entirely that's a big portion of the dungeon without encounters.

2. I think I'll need help. I failed miserably when I tried.

3. Try buying all your characters the best armor, helmets, and accessories you can afford and see how that helps. The difference is shocking. While it may not feel like a high priority, it's probably top on the list of "must-do" things. I'll have to think about why it doesn't feel that way.

Also, if you want the BEST equipment, buy the casino and game world soul necklaces and play until you can win the best armor and sword.

I still cant beat the guardian either and somehow my characters are 45 without grinding! Lol I got the best armor and swords the second i got the casion necklace. took a while but the rest of the game fighting was a brezze just cast sharp on everyone and use that demon attack. oh and yeah there is no way to beat the guardian!!:P um Atrius has Erisala sword Baltan helm carishe armor and a power ring (status defence) all of the others have the same except matthias has the dual blade tireon the devil sythe and hameny the norse armor... its to late to go back to the casino im just wondering if there is a possible way to win this fight?

Pudding are you talking about the supreme dragon?

He says the guardian, so he is stuck same as be, by that bird before the true cave.
So sense you say levels have no strong point in the game (something that is odd as it's expected to be)

I replayed the game, this time focusing on the gear everyone had, made sure they had the best I could find,l even grinded up for the cash to get some, played the games in the casino. I remembered the state page this time and kept everyone up, main char is maxed in his str and dex.

The water dirty was still kicking my tush, again I just scarsly beat her after stacking up on a -LOT- of healing items and spells and ending with all but one knocked out and went into an attack-heal-attack-heal-attack-heal saving mana for the heal and using basic attacks cause well, each hit would have two shotted me otherwise.

So after much struggle, most fights ending up with the same attack-heal-attack-heal strat, I reach the guardian.

He stuns/sleeps then one/two shotted everyone.

So boss's are rather unblanced sadly if even the best gear + levels + maxed stats.

Have you tried playing this yourself from start to end to see if the boss's CAN be beaten?


I really think you should rethink how strong your boss's are as well as sort out the whole 'you have to get the best gear' sort of thing. There is no indication that this casino and game world have the best gear, I just assumed they were silly games to play to pass time or brake from the normal game. So they went ignored my first play through, I didn't even waste the money on any of them. I wanted to play the game, not blow time on mini games where there's no indication anything of real use will come out of them. Most games that have minigames may reward you with more of an item you have or an upgrade to what you have, but isn't vital to beating the game. They are optional, but you placed the best items in these that to me sound vital to beating the game, yet have no clear saying you need to do such.

There's no indication you need to buy new gear at all really. The only items in the games shop are the iron items. They didn't seem to make much a difference in battle. The new world had the Mythril items, but again, they really didn't seem to make much a difference.

The shop world seems to have downdrades to that, but a few trinkets. But again, didn't even think to go in there the first play through. I wanted to play the game and follow the story, and there was no direct saying 'Go to this shop world to get items'. If it was a market place you had to walk through, one may look around at the shop owners and see what they got and get upgrades. But the shop being an optional world, and the games telling you to go to this other instead to continue the story don't really make you want to mess with anything else.

The only extra world I bought was the cathedral, and I wasn't in there for very long before I left to go back to the game play. It was a 'huh, this looks interesting, but I wana play the game, I might come back to this on another play through if I'm curious enough' sort of deal.

This is the main issue, these extra world you get, they should be left optional, something not vital to the game play, something that if the player don't want to mess with and wants to follow what they are being told to do in the game they can and still beat the game. But you're playing vital items in these worlds and not telling the player you HAVE to go into these worlds to get these upgrades.

I didn't know any of these items existed until you told me, and yet even with them, my tush is still being handed to me in boss fights. I hope you take these into accounts for your next two games of this, as I see your high in your progress of them... cause this seems like a big flaw right now.

I'm shocked. I've never had this much problem with that boss. He is supposed to be one of the hardest bosses in the game, but I've still beaten him without any grinding, sidequests, or bonus souls. I usually just sleep/silence/etc. him, kill his army, then whittle him away, throwing status effects and weakening him as often as I can to make sure he doesn't do too much damage. It usually works unless I have bad luck with skills.

Oh I was talking about the supreme dragon lol. The gurdain you are talking about isnt that hard just make sure to get stauts on him.

I thought so. There's no way you could make it to level 45 without grinding unless you're at the very end of the game.

The Supreme Dragon is ridiculously difficult. I kinda threw him in there as a bonus boss, because all the stuff that happens after the credits is basically a limbo between the two games anyway. If you beat him, I'll be very impressed. If you don't, you're not missing anything in the storyline, just be sure to pick up the 2nd game when it's released in a few weeks to find out what happens

Lol I think I will try, but fail for his IS ridiclous . I will difently pick up the second one!!! Cant wait to see what happened! But just if I would like to try do you have any strategys?
Thanks!

I think the issue still is that you are still making a boss that roughly needs these skills to beat him, same with gear. But there is nothing in game that tells you where to get the best gear, or even to buy skills. I didn't even know you could buy skills until I stumbled across it, and even then I didn't buy to much into it on my first play through cause I well, thought these skills were optional fun thing's to get. I bought heal for the main player, figure it save on HP items, that is as much as I got into that my first play through.

Boss's in game should be able to be beaten with what the player gets from levels, and the items clearly provided. If updates are needed, they should be hinted at somewhere or made clear that they are there. You're shops in game don't provide much in gear, your best items are in extra worlds that you buy and again have no hint or anything saying they are in these worlds. On top of that, these extra worlds, again my first play through, I didn't know there were any until I stumbled onto them (late in the game play) and then I only bought one to see what it was then went back to the main game, cause well, I wanted to play the main game, not wonder around extra worlds that I thought were there just for some fun or provide a new area to grind.

You as the creator know the flow of the game, know where everything is and what is needed to get. But with out hints of something telling the player something is there, no one else is going to find out less like me, they stumble onto it or you tell them.

When I play games released here, or other areas, I don't read the forum posts, I don't look at strats. I go in blind, I want to find thing's out on my own. So I didn't know these extra worlds existed, I didn't know you could buy skills. I just followed along with the game, buying a few healing items, and the gear in the black smith and went along. It wasn't until I struggled with the water deity that I stumbled across the shop selling skills, and bought the big heal for my main character figiring it may help.

So the big issues.

• Extra worlds you can buy, but no hint that these worlds even exist or can be bought less you stumble the merchant.
• Vital gear in these worlds gotten by random luck or playing games, again not hinted that the gear exists.
• These extra worlds should be optional, not needed to beat the game, and should just provide with a little extra fun or some nice items that again, are not vital/must have to beating the game.
• Skills you can buy that you again don't know there is a shop you can buy these from unless you stumble onto it.
• These skills should also be optional, stuff that may help you/make thing's easier, but not a must have to beating the game.

You're story also gives the idea that there are no extra worlds you can buy. Each person has their own soul world that's connected to that person. So even with that you don't think you can just buy these worlds.

Over all it is a good game, just has a few issues and sufferers from one of the mistakes I use to make in my early games. The dreaded 'Well if I know this, then everyone else will some how automatically know it as well!" ;3

But didn't you say you like to go in blind? Also I found that if you talk to everyone it wasn't like the extra worlds and skills were hidden, you just had to be a little curious. Also I ended up with all skills for all characters and best equiptment for everyone because I played blackjack for about an hour give or take. You dont need to grind, you just have to be patient and curious. I actually ended up with wayyyyy more healing items then I needed, I don't think I ever even used one. I'm not trying to disagree with you, but the creator cannot control the tendencies of the player. If you choose not to explore and talk to everyone, you can't expect to get everything.

Yes I went in blind on my first play through, and then got the rest of the info from reading here after being stuck. Going in blind means I go in knowing nothing but the summery provided on the first page, no spoilers to the story people may give away or such, I came asking for help once when I got stuck on one map and that was it.

I did explore. But the game became very linear, first time going in I talked to everyone, also did my normal explore the whole map looking for any little treasure that may be stashed here or there. Then I went to play, each new area or change to an area, repeated.

But the point still is, there's no outward sign that you can buy these extra worlds, or buy skills until you stumble across the vender.You also said, you played black jack for an hour... I didn't come into this to play black jack. I saw a casino and figure that's just an extra way to make more money, something I wasn't really needing. I wanted to play the game, so I didn't bother with any of the mini games or even the extra worlds, I wanted to play and enjoy the game. But got stuck cause I apparently didn't have the best gear needed or the proper skills cause what I thought were optional thing's ended up being very vital if not a must do to beat it.

I'm curious about your standpoint with these issues Taiine, so I'm going to try to explain my logic better, and then hopefully hear your opinion. If we happen to still disagree, it might be because certain elements of game making fall into the "personal preference category" and therefore can never be solved.

1. I get the impression that you think the bonus souls, sidequests, and "super equipment" that you can get from said bonus souls and sidequests are crucial to beating the game. I admit that this is probably my fault, because when you told me you were having trouble, I suggested you get the secret equipment in order to assure your victory. However, I will stress again that I and my three game testers all beat the game without any bonus souls, any sidequests, grinding, or super equipment. I know this for a fact because these extra souls and super equipment were created some time after the initial playthroughs, while the bosses were unchanged. These extra souls are exactly what you said, an extra way to make more money, etc. An optional path to enrich the overall experience of the game. Therefore the prizes given in these bonus materials are also optional. Some of them just happen to be game-breaking equipment which will allow the player to power through the rest of the game with no effort, but by no means are they required.

2. On the other hand, it was a deliberate decision, not a mistake, to make certain bosses only beatable with the aid of extra skills or equipment purchased from Canis's soul. I'm sure you've noticed by playing through this game, there is a large exploration and puzzle-solving element. From very early on, you are expected to pay attention to what's going on and figure out the rules of the world(s). That includes checking out every soul necklace that you come across. Having done this, the player would hopefully figure out the staple souls: Atrius for healing and sacred water, Mosdan for answers, and Canis for shops. Therefore, these resources are expected to be utilized to the fullest by the player's conscious decision. I personally don't think it's asking too much for a player to voluntarily return to the shop to buy new equipment and skills when money becomes available or when a difficult boss presents themselves. It's a common thing in RPGs for bosses to have weaknesses, and it is not rare for these weaknesses to be vital for victory. This is to prevent the entire game from becoming "Attack-mashing." I don't feel like the weaknesses are too hard to find, as long as you don't fall for the trap of "RPG bosses are never weak to status effects!" Then again, just as Pudding said, the creator cannot fully control the tendencies of the player. I tried my best to teach through the gameplay the mentality that is expected of the player, but everyone's reaction will still be different.

3. Even beyond gameplay issues, there are several things in this game which may seem like errors which are actually carefully done for storyline purposes. I have had several waves of testers go through this game already, most of the mistakes have been found and fixed. I'm not saying that this is true for all, as you've found at least one mistake already which will be addressed in version 1.2, but some of the "mistakes" that remain really aren't mistakes.

4. This game is meant to be challenging. Perhaps the self-imposed difficulty rating of "Medium/Hard" should be changed to "Hard." Most of the bosses require strategy and some luck to beat. The game allows saving all the time because I expect game overs. That's why there is no penalty for gameovering, i consider it part of the game.

5. I've been making RPGs for 10 years now, and a few years ago I finally learned that whole "Other people playing the game don't know what the creator knows about the game." If you want to know just how bad I was back when I was 13-16, check out my other game, The Two Moons, which is a remake of my very first full RPG. In the zip file download, I included the original RPG Maker 2000 version I made about 8 years ago, which I believe is literally unbeatable without outside knowledge. It makes a hilarious reference for the remake

I hope I have addressed all of your issues, and I thank you for your extensive feedback. All opinions and problems are noted, and when I make updates to the game I take everyone's words into consideration. I hope you are still enjoying the game despite them, and I will do my best to help you through it.

Just downloaded the game I will give you my review soon

Great, I hope you enjoy it!

Sorry about this took so long anyway your game is interesting I will say and the music is beautiful...That's my favorite about games is the music. But your maps give me a bit of the bleh side...But anyway your game is decent and you did a good job on it....