Lament of a Pactkeeper

[psy_wombats]

Lament of a Pactkeeper
Download: Download

Collaboration project of WombatRPGs, by psy_wombats, quack_tape, Aulos, bob_esc, originally entered in GamingW 2-Week contest. Made in RM2K, standalone, CBS, CMS

This is a full game, despite only being an hour to two hours long. Basically, we're looking for any comments about the game to determine whether or not to continue the project. It's a plot-based game, but because of the time constraints, it may be a bit rushed, and the dialogue is choppy. (Judge for yourself, I'm a perfectionist) Anyway, this took a short amount of time to make. If there are any redeeming qualities in it, or anyone would be interested in playing/helping develop an expanded, full version, we'd like to here about it. Several areas and conversations were cut during the making of the game, and about three hours could be easily added. The question is: Would anyone play these three hours?

So, here's the premise:

In ancient times the four heroes slew the Dark Deity, who, according to legend, transformed into the Dark Gem, which remained unfound, and the one who wielded the Dark Gem would channel the deity's power. Anyway, this paved the road for the founding of the Empire of Light.

You play Siegfried, the stereotypical revenge-seeking parent-assassinated protagonist, living in Lower Regaldia. Enter Aven as a cold, distant protector, and Magdalena as creepy sister. The cast is rounded out by Mulse, a stalwart companion, Loque, a resident of Upper Regaldia, and the passive-aggressive Loraine. Many other characters, many of them sound cliche... They develop, however, and most are as dynamic as an hour allows. Another reason for more time.

Plot progresses when the archetype hero ceases to be standard, starting with a bit of trauma. Apparently Siegfried has been wanted by the Watch for a long time, with no apparent reason. The seemingly pointless deaths stack up, (leading to a lot of primary character deaths), and the question remains why any of this is occurring. Might as well toss in the normal themes of betrayal, immortality, greed, insanity, love, power, etc. Nice condensed epic. Make your own judgement.

Battle system and menu system are all-new. It's inventory-based, with no experience and no level-ups. Stats are increased through item equipping. A variety of item attack styles are useful in different scenarios, though equipping them all reduces space available for armor and stat-boosters. That's the strategy. You are free to customize the characters. Time constraints prevent this from being fully developed. It's a plot-based game, to be honest.

Obligatory screenshots:


Battle in progress. You can see the inventory layout.


Menu. Notice again inventory, and character art.


Game's token panda. A random cutscene.


Starting slum area. Bleak.

Any comment about potential in the battle system or plot is welcome. Or any comment for that matter. Basically, I'm gauging interest in a bigger version of this game, with the same coding. It wouldn't be too hard, as the CBS and CMS would remain intact. And if you're interested in helping to develop, that's welcome as well. It's a large team anyways.

Oh, and almost 30 charas-generated sprites. Mostly the enemies!