Beloved Rapture - Demo

[BlindMind]

Download it Here



Beloved Rapture - Theme Song
~Fallen~

Do you remember me,
I'm just a shadow now.
This is where I used to be,
Right here beside you.
Sometimes I call your name,
High on a summer breeze.
What I would give,
To feel the sunlight on my face.
What I would give,
To be lost in your embrace.

I've fallen from a distant star,
Came back, compelled because I love.
I'm caught between two different worlds,
I long for one more night of love.

Do you believe in dreams,
That's how I found you.
But I can't be with you,
Till you take a leap of faith.
What I would give,
To feel the sunlight on my face.
What I would give,
To be lost in your embrace.

I've fallen from a distant star,
Came back, compelled because I love.
I'm caught between two different worlds,
I long for one more night of love.

~Song by Delerium

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~Introduction/ More Preamble

Before continuing, I just want to note that this basically the introduction game to the five part series I am planning to create, all of which are based a on a selection of short stories I wrote years ago. In this installment, although it has a mild "climax," there is no real conclusion, the storyline simply continues directly into the next installment, which I am predicting for the end of this year. The game itself essentially acts as the overall introduction to the rest of the series, so therefore it is much shorter and slower-paced than the other episodes in this series (which will be coming along in the coming years assuming I'm still around)

This is, more or less, a love story. A tale of a rhadshodic yet forrbidden affair, a holy and immoral relic, and the tragic collapse of an empire. While it does have its share of action- and your typical RPG adventuring packed in there, the story is essentially told on a more personal level, and not on saving the world. This is my second time posting here at Charas, but my first with an actual demo, so hopefully you all enjoy.

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~Characters - Images of Characters are located following the list.
(NOTE: Ages based on time frame at start of the game)

John
Age: 16
Weapon: Sword
"No use talking if you have nothing to say."
BIO: Abandoned by his family at a very young age, due to a series of tragic circumstances beyond his own control, John was taken in by another individual, Alexander, when he was only 16 years old. Though John is quite strong physically, his mentality remains rather fragile, and he very often faces feelings of self-doubt.  John does have a strong sense of justice, however, and that sensabilty is very apparent when he feels it's needed.

Omega
Age: 17
Weapon: Rapier
"People are never broken... just lost."
BIO: Omega is the eldest son of Alex, and a close friend to John for most of their lives. Most of Omega's personality remains an enigma to everyone, as he quite often feels hesitant to speak his mind or reveal himself to others. He does, however, respect everyone around him, and is not afraid to show compassion to people when they need it most.

Crystal
Age: 15
Weapon: Magic
"All people are like snowflakes, each one unique... and beautiful."
BIO: The daughter of duke in the small kingdom of Dornaga, Crystal met John while attempting to escape the ggrasp of her very own family. Fearing the worst for her kingdom, she chose to disobery the will of her parents and seek aid from other nations on her own account. And, after meeting John, her cause was dramatically assisted. Crystal always tries to see the true beauty in everyone she comes across, and believes all people are good deep down inside.

Alex
Age: 51
Weapon: Staff
"All the power in the world won't make you a better person."
BIO: Alex is respected by mostly everyone living in Alexandria, and is currently the owner and caretaker of the "Shrine of the Sages", a large magical church in Alexandria. Having lived most of his life surrounded by continuous tradgedy, Alex is known to be wise beyond his years, and has control of formiddable energy attacks within battle.

Violet
Age: 13
Weapon: N/A (NPC)
"Please, daddy, don't leave me again."
BIO: A cheerful young girl, Violet is Omega's younger sister, and Alex's other daughter. She is loud and energetic, and loves her family dearly, fearing only of ever being seperated from them. Though voung and somewhat naive, Violet is usually always able to sense when others are troubled, and isn't at all hesitant to try and cheer them up.

Jake
Age: 15
Weapon: Dagger
"Honesty is only the best policy when it dosn't get you in trouble."
BIO: The young, cocky, prince of Alexandria. Jake runs and manages the Alexandrian army training program, and is good friends with Omega and John. His is sometimes rude and snooty, but deep down he has a good heart, and wants only to be accepted by his friends; namely Omega and John.

Atrumon (NPC)
Age: 40
Weapon: N/A
"Love is but an abstarction, power alone defines human beings."
BIO: One of the top-ranking soldiers of 'The Aeons', Atrumon is an formiddable wizard know who's full well of the countless secrets regarding his cult's dark and ancient magic. His power is not to be under-estimated by any means.

Aqua
Age: 16
Weapon: Shuriken
"Filthy water cannot be washed."
BIO: A rather unwealthy girl living in Sandcaster (a sandy, poor, beach-side town) Rita absolutely loves the water, and had adopted it into her nickname, which she now prefers to be called. Wanting nothing more in life than to see the world, Aqua eagerly joins John on his quest to stop the Aeons when the party shows up in her village.

Kate
Age: 22
"Clouds are quite funny things, you know, able to be mended and molded into whatever we percieve them to be, like the building blocks of our imagination... yet they are made up of only clusters of gas."
BIO: A young woman tasked with the obligation of ruling her kingdom after her father and mother passed away from sudden illness, Kate is constantly struggling to keep her stressful and demanding responsibilities under control.

Zach
Age: 20
Weapon: Long-Blade
"Castles made of sand slip into the sea eventually."
BIO: Second in command of The Aeons, Zach fears no challenge and is read to stand up to any threat against him and his superiors. Once a childhood friend of John, Zach eventually becomes a bitter rival, with a main priority of killing John. He wields an unusually long blade, and has amazing speed in combat.

Draco (NPC)
Age: 45
Weapon: N/A
"Do not delude yourself with false hope, the path to truth is non-existant."
BIO: Draco is the elite ruler of The Aeons, and also is John's father. Having abandoned his wife and son shortly after John reache dhis teenage years, Draco continuously leaves the kingdom for long strecthes of time, and his motives are always a mystery to everyone. His swordmanship is rarely surpassed, and his knowledge of the Omegans' rivals Alex's.

Rachel
Age: 37
Weapon: Black Magic
"I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it."
BIO: A retired servant of the Alexandrian Army, Rachel was once a powerful witch under service of the king. Upon a disagreement with many of his decisions, she left and retired to her humble cottage in the forest, hoping to escape her dreary past in search of a more isolated existance. She now lives alone, her soul satutared with both apathy and deep sorrow.

Nyrule
Age: 16
Weapon: Healing Magic
"You know, sometimes... you can get yourself lost in a book."
BIO: Jake's book-worm girlfriend, Nyrule grew up in the Alexandrian library after her parents were killed in a fire. She absolutely loves reading books of all sorts, and is always trying to impress others with her wide knowledge of rather arbitrary facts. She isn't the strongest fighter, but has a useful knowledge of enemy weaknesses and techniques.

Enigma
Age: Unknown
Weapon: Staff
"Just forget the world you thought you knew."
BIO: As his name implies, little is known of his past or motives. Appearing from time to time when all hope seems to be lost, Enigma, at a glance, seems to want to help lead the party closer to the wherabouts of the Aeons. His true intentions remain unknown, but the party must make use of his perpetual insight in order to end up victorious.

Isolde
Age: 36
"Allow me to shatter your delusions of grandeur so you may face the unforgivable truth."
BIO: The masterfully consummate general of the Alexandrian army, Isolde possesses swordsmanship eminent beyond comparison. Also quite matchless is her astounding beauty... and ice-cold personality. Isolde was, likewise, once a good friend of Rachel while she herself remained in the Alexandria army, although they haven't seen each-other in many years.

Lance
Age: 22
Weapon: Spear
"Don't expect help... my only obligations belong to the royal family."
BIO: A top-ranking soldier in the Alexandrian army, the King had ordered Lance to ensure the downfall of the Aeons before passing away, and as such, Lance now bears the life-long burden of avenging the king. Lance is also rather opposed to companionship, as he spends most of his time traveling alone.

Asema (NPC)
Age: Unknown
Weapon: Magic
"Nothing beautiful can last forever..."
BIO: Asema has been cursed since his birth, being bound to the conditions of being partially a vampire. Though his lust for blood is mostly tame, he occassionally does suffer from both violent outburts and cravings for human flesh. He is "#4" (fourth in command according to the Aeon hierarchy) and is quite respected by Draco.

The Aeons
Besides Draco, Zack, Asema and Atrumon (whom are listed above) most of the other Aeons are listed here. Obviously, being the main antagonists, they are all NPCS.

Xemoras
The oldest and arguably wisest member of the group, he is often found hanging around with Draco and giving tactical advice. Though he is considerably older than the other members, he is no less skilled in combat.

Charna
Unmatched with her skills in archery, Charna never uses any sort of weapon besides an mere bow and arrow. Charna also has a secret admiration for Lucian, though she vowed never to admit it.

Shula
Shula has the perplexing ability to create and manipulate fire, making him quite useful to the Aeons. He does not, however, poccess much maturity or patience, and rarely thinks things through before acting.
 
Lucian
The "spy" of the group, Lucian is often wandering around and spying on possible targets. Further, he takes many of the solo missions assigned to him by Draco, who wouldn't mind all that much to lose him in battle.

Xerxes
Xerses is known as the "intellectual" of the organization, Draco himself often consults him for advice. Though he is physically weak, his rarely surpassed knowledge of the Omegansand their culture is considerably useful to the group.

Hiltraud
The resolute and masterful ninjitsu warrior, Hiltraud joined the Aeons only after they had murdured all the other members of his dojo. Secretly planning to overthrow the Aeons since he joined, Hiltraud remains unaware that both Draco and Zach are already quite aware of his motives, and plan to counter his attack when and if he pulls it off.



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Game Features and Backstory

~Skiefortress' Sprites:

Skie is helping with the vast majority of the main character battle anaimations, meaning she will be editing and formatting them for use, as well as spriting the animations. I thought this would be worth mentioning- expect custom graphics for all the characters.



BTW: I posted this WIP image so nobody would try and steal anything, sorry for those of you who are curious to see more. >_O

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~Character Growth:



As in all the games of this series, the characters not only get stronger as the story progresses, they also grow older. Different sprites define how a character looks every two or three years, and on average a character changes his or her look about 3-4 times.

---------------------

~Backstory

Undated ages past, the planet remained an empty sphere of nothingness.   How our world came to be is a mystery shrouded in myth, time, and legend. The absolute truth is long-forgotten, but this is the tale told by those most ancient spirits that claim the remembrance of time.
   
After many millennia devoid of life, the divine presence who had brought the incarnation of our world arose from the darkness. A single strobe of blinding light ascended into the ashen skies, and Lucina, the omnipotent goddess, spread her flaming arms to shape the earth. Childlike in appearance, she walked the barren and untamed planet for many years before finishing her work.
   
Her power flowing freely from the source of all existence, The Omegan Stone, Lucina began her attempt at bringing order to the chaos that was the world. Over many years of hardship, she shaped the majestic mountains, carved deep canyons, created wondrous caverns, and gardened the once-barren planet. Eventually, she formed the forests, the fields, and planted flowers. She seeded and watered the world, and it came into full fruitation. After all the effort and toil, Lucina retreated unto her ethereal Elysium, and sealed the pathway to where she rested.
   
During the process of creation, Lucina had created two distinct races; Humans, and their slightly superior counterparts, the Omegans. Similar to humans in physical appearance, the Omegans’ were a slightly altered and superior breed of people, their most notable aspects being their inviolable intelligence and precocious physical strength, which in their minds, made them somewhat superior to humans. The reason for dividing the races had gone unknown, but many estimate the goddess indeed intended a specific purpose for her decision.
   
Lucina remained in solitude in her enchanted Ivory Tower, watching over her newly formed creations and making observations on their behavior. The tower, not actually being physically hidden from the world, was recognized by humans and Omegans alike, and, being fully aware of Lucina’s presence, the Omegan’s elected to watch over her divine sanctum in effort to protect her, and keep the world safe.

Centuries past. After many years of struggle, one individual named Orex arose from a local Omegan Tribe. He proclaimed all humans were insignificant "insects" that needed to be eliminated, leaving the earth for the obviously superior Omegans. He gained many follows, and a civil war soon began. Many millions of lives were lost in the struggle, and the Omegan race, being far less in numbers then humans, became nearly extinct. Several hundred remained, however, and in hiding, they continued the bloodline.

200 Years Later...

Alexandria, now in an age of serene, peaceful ways, has adapted from the war-hungry society it once was, into a lovely realm of immortal beauty. A kingdom of grandeur and elegance, Alexandria's royal palace stands erect against the vast fields and forests, it's towering spries outstretched high as mountains. Unfortunately, remaints of Orex's ancient cult remain, and are now bent on domination of Alexandria, leading into the downfall of the royal family.

Now, after a series of horrific murders and attacks, a group of peculiar yet determined friends join the Alexandrian military in effort to help stop the group, now named "The Aeons"- A malevolent cult determined to continue to preach the teaching's of the nearly-forgotten Orex, and obtain immortality, which would subconsciously make them "perfect".  

These young friends continue to endure many personal and physical challenges, while remaining blissfully unaware that the hardships they shall soon endure won't be easy, nor simple. Led by a partially sane man who wishes solely to become "divine" by ANY means necessary, the Aeons are no pushovers, and can't be defeated with normal methods. Coming across pain, chaos, death, and betrayal, the team struggles to maintain their determination... and sanity.

Experience the hatred, the struggle, the love, the joy, the sorrow, the courage.... the Legend.. of Alexandria.

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Newer Screenshots


One of the many palaces of the game.


One of many melodramatic cutscenes in the game.


A view of the modified DBS.


The end of an old friendship...


The Gothic City Devonta - complete with raindrop effects.


A battle against two rather large scorpions in the desert.


A forest in the northern continent.


The outside of a cavern.


A "personal" scene between John and Crystal.


Lost in the Desert.


Crossing a bridge...


A nomad encampment near the desert.


Hallway of Castle Alexandria's basement.


The Overworld.


Tower of Nightmares - Rachel's home.


A pasture area a few hours into the game.


A weapon shop in Devonta.


Part of the introduction.


A view of Crystal's backyard.


John's Bedroom.


A small grove area near the start of the game.

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Official Artwork

All of these images were wonderfully made by Lily Kat, the official artist of this project. The images are big, so dial-up users, be warned. Please note that these are NOT FOR USE by anyone. ALL of these images are EXCLUSIVE to the project, and if I catch anyone using these pictures, I will NOT hesitate to speak to the staff about it.

http://www.lilykat.net/stuff/BelovedRapture/john.png
John.

http://www.lilykat.net/stuff/BelovedRapture/crystal.png
Crystal.

http://www.lilykat.net/stuff/BelovedRapture/omega.png
Omega.

]http://www.lilykat.net/stuff/BelovedRapture/rachel.png
Rachel.

http://www.lilykat.net/stuff/BelovedRapture/zach.png
Zach

http://www.lilykat.net/stuff/BelovedRapture/johnxcrystal.jpg
John and Crystal.

[/hide]

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Video Files:

Here are the links to the two gameplay videos I assembled recently. Both are uploaded on Youtube and do not require downloading.

Trailer 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHV-1nxKxM4

Trailer 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1Npv3j9h0k

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DEMO

Download Link:
Here

Mirror Download:
Here

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~Credits so Far~

Main Staff:
-Storyline/Production: BlindMind
-BattleSystem/sprites: Skiefortress
-Character Artwork: Lily Kat
-Original Soundtrack: Ocean's Dream (with songs taken from various other sources)

Side Help:
-Lighting Effects: Xeno-Soft
Orig, and AznChipMunk
-Monster Sprites: Tiki (one of them...)
-NPC Sprites: Clest
-Random Help: Rizzn.
-Title Screen Illustration: Brown

Beta-Testers:
-King Arthur
-Skiefortress
-Badluck
-Devin7
-Rizzn.
-Trance2/Ashen
-Bujiro
-Ocean' s Dream
& many others!
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Comments are welcome, and thanks for taking the time to read this...

[Osmose]

OH. MY. GOD.

I usually don't play demos around here, but DAMN.

Looks amazing.

[DragonBlaze]

Looks good, I'm impressed. Hopefully you'll be able to finish your series. I'll let you know what I think of the game after I download and play it.

[Bluhman]

Woooooaaaahhh... Wasn't expecting that.

Nah. It's usually, I open up a thread to see a single paragraph and crappy story and no screenshots, but you seriously impress me. I'll try this one out. I am prepared to feel insignificant.

[Meiscool-2]

I think I remember you posting something like this before here Blind, though not with this much info.

I'll say what I said last time about the characters. I'm sure you've got a lot of character devolpement, seeing as you went through the effort to make 3 charasets, posesets, and battle sets for each character, there will probally be a lot of explaining for each character as well.

What I don't like are the mix of things. You use RTP looking charas with First Seed. Also, Rudra and Tales tilesets don't do that great together without some recoloring to match, but that's just my personal opinion and me judging the game by the screens. I might play the demo, I might not.

[MrMister]

I only have two reservations.. the name 'Alexandria' and the weird title page.. looks great yo..

[ZeroKirbyX]

If I were not a lazy fatass, I'd play it. But I'm lazy. Hell, I've played maybe 20 minutes MIC's game, tops.

[Meiscool-2]

Originally posted by ZeroKirbyX
If I were not a lazy fatass, I'd play it. But I'm lazy. Hell, I've played maybe 20 minutes MIC's game, tops.

Which reminds me, I still need the demo sent back:p

[BlindMind]

Well, thanks for the feedback, guys. If any of you actually play the game, I'd appreciate a small review, though. =P

[Bluhman]

I can't really review properly, but I can say this: You use "..." too much.

Other than that and a few spelling errors, the game looks alrighty.

[Trevlac]

I'll give you a professional review if you like, including the official artwork. May I ask if you use Adobe Illustrator to draw those characters?

I'm downloading the game now so expect a review soon. As a preliminary, it looks awesome. I havn't seen a single RPG Maker game that comes close to this.

[Daetyrnis]

Overall, the demo was really good. ^_^

There were a few errors, such as walls that you can walk on, and mistakes in text such as spelling mistakes ('tauht' comes to mind) and words cut off by the edge of the text box.  

The graphics, especially battlewise, were good overall, but seemed to lack proper attention to detail.  Personally, John's throbbing sword creeps me out.  

Also, I don't like seeing the word "f*ck(ing)" in Medieval fantasy games, it detracts from the atmosphere.  I recommend a better play on words, or something like "bloody" to replace it.  That can be considered writing style though, so feel free to ignore it.

EDIT:  Ah yes, I agree with there being too many ellipses (...).

[Trevlac]

I liked the usage of real world words in the game. That particular word was used profusely in the ancient world.

On to the review:

Graphics: 9.3
It's RPG Maker 2003, so it's hard to get a perfect 10. Don't take it as an insult, in fact, for RM2k3, 9 is really friggin' good. The textures were detailed and the terrain was lush. Level layout was absolutely superb and the spots where a user is controlled into walking into a cutscene were not obvious. Everything felt natural and harmonized. The sprites were the only thing that just didn't coalesce with the scenery.

Sound: 10.0
Absoltuely perfect. The most perfect thing about the game. It set the mood stupendously and it has a kind of magical allure to it that made me believe the events on the screen were actually happening. I almost cried when John's mom was found slaughtered in the kitchen - all because of the music. I swear the 'cancel' sound is from Little Fighter 2. And it's going to kill me if I don't know: What game is the sound for 'confirm' from? I know that sound...

Storyline: 7.5 (pending)
Well, as I don't know the whole storyline, the result of that is subject to change with future releases. I actually liked the high frequency of elipses, it set the tone for the characters' speech as did the typwriter-style text boxes. Good job using different colors within the speeches - that's not something you see in any amateur game. The only bad thing I can say about the storyline is it sounds like every other cliché medieval story (group of evil people kill boy's villiage, boy grows up to defeat them later). Though most of the devastating scenes were executed flawlessly such as John's mother laying on the ground in peices and everyone outside in a bloody mass. The only complaint from me was that there was a bit too much storyline and not enough actual playing. It sometimes felt like an interactive movie.

Mechanics: 4.4
None to really speak of. Everything seems rather deault. At least you didn't mess up the game mechanics. There's also not much fighting to speak of for a good hour. Although, being a Harry Potter fan, I did enjoy the spells being put into Latin-sounding names.

Ambiance: 10.0
This is the quintessential element, the absolute crux of this game. If this game did not have the absolutely flawless ambiance then I probably would have stopped playing fairly early. But right from the very beginning you get hooked.  This game exceeds more than 90% of all professionally made RPG's in existance (such as Chrono Trigger, Children of Mana, Golden Sun, etc). Perfect. Freaking. Mood. I felt like I was in a theater watching an epic.

Bugs?
Yes, a few. The same that Daetyrnis mentioned. In addition, at the very beginning monologue, you can open the menu. Also, when John first wakes up to birds chirping there is not background music, yet if you walk into the back of his house for the Power Potion, the music from outside will start. The last one I remember is during the slaughter scene, the facedown yellow guard's sprite will turn transparent if you press the action button near him. Just probably lock his animation to one frame and that'll fix it.

Thank you for honoring me with this demo. I've truely regained hope for the RPG Maker community if someone like you exists. Usually we see rediculously crappy games, or games with potential that get abandonded. I swear to all that is chili dogs, if you ever quit this project, I will find you and hold a knife to your throat until you finish it. No bathroom breaks. ^_^

Looking forward to more awesomeness.

[drenrin2120]

Wow, with all the good reviews, nice screens, and long *** text block, I'll be sure to download this and try it sometime. Right now though, I'm freakin' beat...

[DragonBlaze]

I didn't play through the whole thing, but all in all, pretty impressive. One thing I have to say though is there are way too many cutscenes in the begining. I felt like I was watching a movie. I just think there should be a little more that you as a player can do in there, because even though it was really interesting, it kinda got a little boring not being able to play at all.

The story and graphics are pretty sweet. Through, I was kinda hoping to see an intro a little more original than the standard heros town gets destroyed intro. Its just that almost every other game starts out just like that, and after seeing that over and over again, you kinda want to see something new. Anyway, I think the rest of the intro is intreaging enough to overlook that.

Anyway, I suggest adding more playtime to the beginning instead of just cutscenes. Other than that, I look forward to playing the rest of the game, and good luck with it.