Author Topic: SNAAFU ADVENTURE: An experimental foray into using RMVX  (Read 6392 times)

TranceHime

  • Let's have a freaking kid!
  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 935
  • That'll solve ALL our problems!
    • View Profile
SNAAFU ADVENTURE: An experimental foray into using RMVX
« on: July 06, 2011, 07:04:05 AM »
SNAAFU ADVENTURE
A shameless community-based RPG

SNAAFU ADVENTURE is a very stereotypical RPG done using completely cliche'd story elements and writing as a venue for me to fiddle around with RPG Maker VX, and is a vessel for me to get into the wonderful world of actually making a game project. As a result, almost everything in SNAAFU ADVENTURE is: 1) Not quite polished, 2) Plain bad, and 3) Just awkward and badly written (at times). Furthermore, most of the characters which will be detailed shortly are in part heavily based on The Place Which Shall Not Be Named, a place I regular at, and as a result may turn off a bunch of people from this, but it is alright, screw them.

-----

Download:
SNAAFU_ADVENTURE_DemoRv.exe - 41.92MB
RPG Maker VX Run Time Package - 35.00MB

-----

TO DO LIST:
  • Finish the story line
  • Perfect skill numbers/stats, etc.
  • Add more functionality

-----

STORY:
The main protagonist, Sana, finds himself in the top of a mountain, and he has absolutely no idea how he got there. There is absolutely no writing to indicate how this is so, and it is assumed for the majority of the game that Sana is actually on an LSD-induced acid trip and the entire journey he has with the people he meets along the way are actually hallucinations. However, this appears not to be the case when several earth-shattering revelations reveal that whatever place he's been spirited away to is perfectly real and existent, albeit in another dimension. He initially meets and befriends out of completely nowhere three friendly folks, Purvis, Alstroemeria, and Hime, who believe Sana is the key to their vaguely implied problem. First, the party of four learn that an originally great Library nearby has been corrupted by some strange force, and when they find that the dastardly Dark Lady, Moerin, is behind such affairs, Sana finds himself thrust into a strange affair where he is completely lost. Sana encounters new friends, new enemies, and learns to take control of himself and spearhead the campaign to eventually do a very cliche'd and unoriginal "Save the goddamn World" routine.

The overarching story is that the world is governed by several beings similar to that of deities, called Keepers. Each Keeper has jurisdiction over several parts or portions of the world, and allows travel between them. The Dark Lady is an evil being originally weakened and held down by the Keeper, but due to laziness on the part of the Keepers, has caused the Lady to regain her strength and cause havoc. The Keeper's Templar, Roukanken, meets Sana and company and asks them to help her. Sana and his kind heart says HE ABSOLUTELY CAN'T REFUSE BECAUSE HE IS A PROTAGONIST OF A VERY LINEAR jRPG

-----

CHARACTERS


SANA, Magic Swordsman (Ougi)
Ability: Swordsman, self-buffing, physical attacker, well-rounded
Sana is the protagonist of the game, and is fittingly extremely balanced in terms of statistics. However, early on, his damage is sub-par and is often used to soak up damage for the rest of the team. Eventually, as Sana gains levels, his strength begins to increase rapidly, and as he gains access to stronger weapons, he can potentially become one of the hardest hitters on the team. Sana's unique strength is that he gains a Holy-elemental skill extremely early (Blessed Neko Edge), and can utilize it to defeat many Holy-weak enemies. He starts with the ridiculously weak Red Rust, but if you keep it, you can talk to an NPC later on in the game who can repair it and upgrade it to the parasitic Muramasa.


PURVIS, Blood Priestess
Ability: Cleric, ally-buffing, healz (Blessing)
Purvis is the voice of reason for the most part, making wise suggestions throughout the course of the game. Her role in battle is a very stereotypical White Mage, with a bigger emphasis on support rather than outright healing. Since buffs in this game directly influence one's stats, being able to use Purvis' stat buffing spells is a huge boon for the team. At higher levels, Purvis' buffs become MT and buff two stats at once, making her even more invaluable. She also gains some powerful offensive Holy magic at her peak. Purvis can equip both staves and bows, and has the unique ability (Chakra Magic) to restore a target's MP at the cost of her own. She can also target herself with said skill.


ALSTROEMERIA, Dark Witch
Ability: Nuker, enemy debuffer, status (Witchcraft)
Alstroemeria is a strange female demonic being who does not know where she came from. Despite her demonic nature, she is not such a bad person and enjoys the arts. Alstroemeria is actually NOT a Black Mage archetype, though some may be led to that conclusion. In fact, most of her spells are specializing in debilitating enemies, as debuffs are often key to dismantling bosses and enemies who aren't immune to them. She also has a skill, Dark Heirloom, that instantly boosts all of an ally's stats temporarily, but at the cost of damaging them. She also gets Debilitate, of SMT fame, as well as several other powerful debuffs that can screw with an enemy.


HIME, Kensei
Ability: Extreme glass cannon (Deathblow)
Hime seems to have a knowledge of the situation, but is awfully secretive about it. She's also way too serious about everything ever and doesn't really want to admit it. Hime also supposedly owns seven powerful weapons, but most of them got stolen and hidden throughout the world, leaving her with only the Fenris. Hime is an extreme glass cannon, and probably has game-worst durability. She has abnormally high HP growth but gets very little defense. Fortunately her ultimate armor gives her evasion anyway, provided you actually FIND it. She competes with another character for game-best damage. Hime also only has access to about 9 weapons out of every weapon in the entire game, 2 of them being upgraded from her existing loadout. She starts with the Fenris and you must collect the other 6 swords in order.


SAPZ, Bee Hunter
Ability: Physical slugfester, magically inept (Beehunt)
Sapz, self-proclaimed Bee Hunter, is out to hunt for the mythical Hibachi, a mechanized bee that disguised itself as a regular bee in the world. You can enlist Sapz into your team after awakening the incubating Hibachi. Sapz is extremely strong physically, and has an insanely high PDur. Most of her skills revolve around AXEAXEAXE'ing the enemy into tiny bits. However, she is not very fast and she gets her ass handed to her by magic quickly, requiring buffs and/or equipment to augment her deficit in magic.


ROUKANKEN, Keeper's Templar
Ability: Jack of all trades, tanky (Keeper Skill)
The knight of the Keepers, Roukanken has a very strong sense of justice and must ALWAYS SEE THINGS GO RIGHT BECAUSE IF IT DIDN'T THEN THAT'D BE WRONG. Roukan is very tanky, and can equip many sorts of armors and knightly-related weaponry in order to bolster her tankiness. Furthermore, she can learn skills from the various Keepers scattered around the world, provided you can defeat them in battle. After beating a Keeper, you will learn a new skill. These skills are all very useful in their own way, and even Roukan's starting skills are very useful, since she can heal, buff, and attack all at once. It's worth keeping Roukan as a mainstay on the team, though not using her can result in a decent challenge.


DRAKE, Lady Luck
Ability: Probability-based skills (Destiny)
Drake is Sapz's close friend, and... That's mostly it, really. Drake's skills have a set probability of working, though truthfully it's a 50/50 split. Except for her final skill, Eliminate, which is basically a 100% accuracy ID. However, Drake's first three skills are normal physical-skills, which can help Drake to deal damage in a firefight. She is also one of the only characters capable of equipping guns.


HELEPOLIS, Lord Duke
Ability: MP-guzzler (Charisma)
Helepolis is the Lord Duke of a certain part of the world, the Calentz region, and it was his job to check out the strange happenings that were going on as a result of the Dark Lady. Helepolis and Hime are good friends, and Helepolis is more than willing to lend his ship to Sana and company to get around. It turns out that the Dark Lady eliminated Helepolis' main source of strength, which is his charisma. This has direct consequences in the game, where Helepolis actually has virtually no MP to use any of his powerful abilities, and must regain his MP score by drinking tea in various teahouses scattered around the entire world. However, once he has the MP to use his skills, he becomes very powerful, even more so once you assemble the powerful Uber Spear.


BAITY, Eleganz
Ability: Evasion whore, heavy damage dealer (TA Dancing)
Baity is a mercenary hired by Helepolis, however Baity ended up just lazing around in Helepolis' now bare mansion (since he lost all his charisma, his subjects began to lose faith in him etc.) and is a good friend of Drake's. Having Drake in your party will make Baity join you as well. She is an evasion whore and most physical attacks won't touch her. However, she's quite frail as a result and ITE and/or magic will deal some serious damage to her. She has the potential to deal a lot of damage with the proper weapon. It turns out that Baity is actually similar to an android space fighter... Nobody knows how she is like that.


ARASHI KUROBARA, Steel Maiden
Ability: Variety (MaidenARMS)
Arashi is somewhat of a recluse who you initially meet in Pensiole, but eventually you find she lives in Calentz, and is missing the pieces of one of her very important relics. If you reclaim the pieces and give them to you, she will join your entourage as payment. There are various inconspicuous chests in the world that are actually chests containing weapons for Arashi. These are skills that allow Arashi to deal a lot of damage, and she uses primarily bows as weaponry. Her statistics, however, are decidedly average.


SERPENTARIUS, Archmagus
Ability: Extreme nuker (Apocrypha)
Serpentarius, or Serp for short, is a scholar currently on a mission to fight back an intergalactic Eldritch beast by the name of Erebus, but has grown weary of fighting alone. If you help him to fight back Erebus, his mission done, he will join you gladly. You vaguely hear mention of him from an NPC in Spiemcie, the town you start in. In battle, Serp possesses extremely powerful magic attacks, and focuses on dealing weakness damage to many enemies at once. Some of his skills also inflict status.


BOFFERS, or BOFH, Assassin Scholar
Ability: Pseudo-attacker/caster, killer (Assassinate)
bofh is a colleague of Serpentarius, who ended up taking care of his bar/restaurant in Calentz while Serp was out in Arcadia trying to fight Erebus. When you go to bofh in Calentz with Serp in your party, bofh is relieved of not being bored anymore and forces herself into your party. bofh can only use one weapon in the entire game - the Necrololicon, which gives extreme offensive bonuses at the cost of defense. As a result, her damage output is extremely high, but she suffers from similar glass cannon problems as Hime. However, her attack options are far more varied and she can use the almighty Sonic Blow, a physical skill that hits an enemy target 10 times.



19:35:58 (trancehime) there's a specific spot in the game that's for item duping
19:36:14 (Sanae) o.o
19:39:11 (Sanae) I'd love to dupe a second trancehime.

DjinnAndTonic

  • Genie and Potion with Alcoholic Undertones
  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 6938
  • "When you wish upon a bar~"
    • View Profile
    • RPGDL Wiki
Re: SNAAFU ADVENTURE: An experimental foray into using RMVX
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2011, 07:55:50 AM »
Didn't read the individual profiles, but where'd you get the portraits? Looks like a Facemaker program.

The story concept doesn't sound -too- bad, except for the fact that there's obviously a lot of unexplained in-jokes there.

TranceHime

  • Let's have a freaking kid!
  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 935
  • That'll solve ALL our problems!
    • View Profile
Re: SNAAFU ADVENTURE: An experimental foray into using RMVX
« Reply #2 on: July 06, 2011, 08:07:21 AM »
Didn't read the individual profiles, but where'd you get the portraits? Looks like a Facemaker program.

The CLOSET

Quote
The story concept doesn't sound -too- bad, except for the fact that there's obviously a lot of unexplained in-jokes there.

I'm fairly sure I did shoehorn in some in-jokes in there but that's mostly my lack of foresight - I hadn't originally intended to share SNAAFU ADVENTURE outside of my community. So that would be mostly my fault. Don't read too much into the story concept, it's just something I pulled out of my ass so I could actually get a game concept going.
19:35:58 (trancehime) there's a specific spot in the game that's for item duping
19:36:14 (Sanae) o.o
19:39:11 (Sanae) I'd love to dupe a second trancehime.

Grefter

  • Villain.
  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 10386
  • True and Honest. Smarter. More aggressive.
    • View Profile
Re: SNAAFU ADVENTURE: An experimental foray into using RMVX
« Reply #3 on: July 06, 2011, 08:14:16 AM »
Don't read too much into the story concept, it's just something I pulled out of my ass

This is a great plan for how to make Djinn not obsess over it.
NO MORE POKEMON - Meeplelard.
The king perfect of the DL is and always will be Excal. - Superaielman
Don't worry, just jam it in anyway. - SirAlex
Gravellers are like, G-Unit - Trancey.

Laggy

  • ReDux'd
  • Moderator
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 1145
  • Generations of suffering & all I got was a stick
    • View Profile
Re: SNAAFU ADVENTURE: An experimental foray into using RMVX
« Reply #4 on: July 06, 2011, 09:04:14 AM »
L4 bee
<Eph> When Laggy was there to fuel my desire to open crates, my life was happy.  Now I'm stuck playing a shitty moba and playing Anime RPGs.

TranceHime

  • Let's have a freaking kid!
  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 935
  • That'll solve ALL our problems!
    • View Profile
Re: SNAAFU ADVENTURE: An experimental foray into using RMVX
« Reply #5 on: July 06, 2011, 09:05:46 AM »
L4 bee

I see you are extending your Laggyhax to RPGs as well. qq
19:35:58 (trancehime) there's a specific spot in the game that's for item duping
19:36:14 (Sanae) o.o
19:39:11 (Sanae) I'd love to dupe a second trancehime.

MC50

  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 117
    • View Profile
Re: SNAAFU ADVENTURE: An experimental foray into using RMVX
« Reply #6 on: July 06, 2011, 09:56:09 AM »
Played for about an hour! A few random notes.


The main character appears to like gravy.
The first town has a lot of equipment!
I like the level up/battle menus. I'm not sure how custom they are, but they seem good!
Spelling and mapping seem alright. I'm no expert, though.
One piece of advice that I always liked, I heard it somewhere... If you're gonna give someone a piece of equipment that they can buy in a shop, give them gold instead. It's not that important or anything, but I liked it.
I tried to search all the random stuff and got no response. Darn!
Sound effects seemed a bit loud in comparison to the music.
Yeah, it's kind of interesting fumbling through this! Every reference goes over my head, but that's fine. Anyway, I only played for an hour or so (I beat the tower), but I'll probably go back to it later. ALSO - Unless I was missing something obvious, those annoying invisopits are just... annoying. (Well, except on the way back).

The thing with the most potential to me seems like it would be the battles. They're normal turn based, sure, but having a lot of characters who fill specific roles can be interesting!

DjinnAndTonic

  • Genie and Potion with Alcoholic Undertones
  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 6938
  • "When you wish upon a bar~"
    • View Profile
    • RPGDL Wiki
Re: SNAAFU ADVENTURE: An experimental foray into using RMVX
« Reply #7 on: July 06, 2011, 10:12:31 AM »
*checks the RPG Tsukuru materials links* Wow, those are some portraits, I really like the art style of thi- *sees the map sprites* OH GOD ITS HIDEOUS.

Is that really what RMVX map sprites look like? They're -really- horrible. >.>;; I'm all for SD and chibi and cutesy sprites, but man, they just look like they've been used as asscushions for Brahne for a few years.

At least the Portraits are nice.

On a more Trance-related-note, I looked a little at the character roles and I think there's a lot of cool ideas (in particular, BEES!), though I'm a bit skeptical how balanced they can be. Still, as a test-run project, it's a good start.

TranceHime

  • Let's have a freaking kid!
  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 935
  • That'll solve ALL our problems!
    • View Profile
Re: SNAAFU ADVENTURE: An experimental foray into using RMVX
« Reply #8 on: July 06, 2011, 03:13:56 PM »
On a more Trance-related-note, I looked a little at the character roles and I think there's a lot of cool ideas (in particular, BEES!), though I'm a bit skeptical how balanced they can be. Still, as a test-run project, it's a good start.

As it stands now the character balance is still not as good as I'd like it to be. There's one character in that list who pretty much has the potential to ruin every single boss' shit, and I'm working on trying to make every single available PC usable in their own little way/niche, and provide as much options for effective lineups as possible. Those kind of things make me wet, you see.

The first town has a lot of equipment!

It does. I may revise drops/item/load out lists when the main game is finished.

Quote
I like the level up/battle menus. I'm not sure how custom they are, but they seem good!

Custom interfaces for both. The EXP screen is entirely absent when you first make an RMVX game.

Quote
Spelling and mapping seem alright. I'm no expert, though.

Me neither! English isn't my first language and my mapping isn't the best in the world either. Haha.

Quote
One piece of advice that I always liked, I heard it somewhere... If you're gonna give someone a piece of equipment that they can buy in a shop, give them gold instead. It's not that important or anything, but I liked it.

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind.

Quote
I tried to search all the random stuff and got no response. Darn!

Flavor goes last. Laggy already cracked jokes at me for it.

Quote
Sound effects seemed a bit loud in comparison to the music.

Do they? Alright, I'll look into it and try balancing sound out then!

Quote
Yeah, it's kind of interesting fumbling through this! Every reference goes over my head, but that's fine. Anyway, I only played for an hour or so (I beat the tower), but I'll probably go back to it later. ALSO - Unless I was missing something obvious, those annoying invisopits are just... annoying. (Well, except on the way back).

That was the point. Brings me back to the days of Heaven's Corridor...

Quote
The thing with the most potential to me seems like it would be the battles. They're normal turn based, sure, but having a lot of characters who fill specific roles can be interesting!

That was the idea!
19:35:58 (trancehime) there's a specific spot in the game that's for item duping
19:36:14 (Sanae) o.o
19:39:11 (Sanae) I'd love to dupe a second trancehime.

Random Consonant

  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 2188
    • View Profile
Re: SNAAFU ADVENTURE: An experimental foray into using RMVX
« Reply #9 on: July 06, 2011, 07:34:32 PM »
ow valentina is rude

TranceHime

  • Let's have a freaking kid!
  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 935
  • That'll solve ALL our problems!
    • View Profile
Re: SNAAFU ADVENTURE: An experimental foray into using RMVX
« Reply #10 on: July 07, 2011, 12:00:01 PM »
ow valentina is rude

Are you sure you're posting in the right thread?

Or did you mean Valentia? :V
19:35:58 (trancehime) there's a specific spot in the game that's for item duping
19:36:14 (Sanae) o.o
19:39:11 (Sanae) I'd love to dupe a second trancehime.

Random Consonant

  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 2188
    • View Profile
Re: SNAAFU ADVENTURE: An experimental foray into using RMVX
« Reply #11 on: July 07, 2011, 11:24:38 PM »
okay maybe the overall rudeness left me too distracted to notice that there was not in fact a second n in there or something

alternatively random typoes from time to time

TranceHime

  • Let's have a freaking kid!
  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 935
  • That'll solve ALL our problems!
    • View Profile
Re: SNAAFU ADVENTURE: An experimental foray into using RMVX
« Reply #12 on: July 08, 2011, 09:52:18 AM »
okay maybe the overall rudeness left me too distracted to notice that there was not in fact a second n in there or something

Sounds like you're getting destroyed.

Which is kind of the point, but.

i wouldn't be lying if the person the character was based off of was just as rude!
19:35:58 (trancehime) there's a specific spot in the game that's for item duping
19:36:14 (Sanae) o.o
19:39:11 (Sanae) I'd love to dupe a second trancehime.

Random Consonant

  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 2188
    • View Profile
Re: SNAAFU ADVENTURE: An experimental foray into using RMVX
« Reply #13 on: July 08, 2011, 04:23:04 PM »
Was more remarking on the overall gap in worth between her and prior bosses/random encounters in general.  Aside from the optional BEE, the previous bosses weren't much, and random enemies have honestly been pretty sad throughout so far.  At least things have been picking up on the boss end.

074

  • Suggests the birth of an abomination
  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 888
    • View Profile
Re: SNAAFU ADVENTURE: An experimental foray into using RMVX
« Reply #14 on: August 17, 2011, 01:24:10 AM »
Okay, this may be a month or so late, but I decided I might as well give a mechanical overview to it now.  Not bothering with the plot because, as you mentioned, its injokey-ness is kind of inherent and you pulled it out of your ass.  So what I will bother with is the mechanical side.

First, the good: Characters felt distinctive to some degree, there were learning methods other than levels.  I cannot say enough that the experience curve was generally solid; I never had to stop and grind for anything, but I never felt overleveled for a particular challenge.  Weapon options for characters is always a nice detail, and I think you may've hit that spot of just enough unique stuff mixed in with storebought to matter.  Doesn't hurt that you seem to have worked in enough outside-of-stock oddities that I had to turn my head; Sapz' fifth skill alongside the forging system made me quirk an eyebrow, and I'd admit that if I had a registered RMVX copy I'd be taking it apart to see how you did it out of curiosity.

Now, for the things that need improvement, which from a polish/gameplay standpoint, are quite a few.

First thing's a common newbie RMVX problem that I can notice, and it's pretty easily noted; the default magic formula will bite you in the ass if you don't base magic-oriented skillsets around regular upgrade and replacement.  To demonstrate:

Basic attack: 4*a.ATK-2*t.DEF, critical rate between 4-12%, crit mult is something along the lines of 3x.  Roughly 20% variance or so

Physical skill: Power+ATK_Factor*(4*a.ATK-2*t.DEF), + x% variance

Magical skill: Power+MAG_Factor*(2*a.MAG-t.MAG), + x% variance

Composite attack skills just add the latter two, healing will often just ignore the defense step.  But the default code assumes that physical fighters scale up from gear; mages are mostly dependent on gaining higher-powered spells through the game.  Examples of how this impacts gameplay will be touched upon later, mainly regarding the varied PCs, but as a rather egregious example; one PC's physical skill jumped up from 1000 to 1600 damage from an equipment change.  The most a mage PC's magic damage varied between notable equipment was around 200.  Combine that with the generally less-than-optimal magic-power growth offered by equipment and this is a recipe for physical skills being a hell of a lot better than magic on average.

This, thankfully, can be remedied by poking around the code.  Most of the stuff you should probably not mess with unless you knew how it worked (like the forging or Redrum Beat), but equations and strings should be safely alterable.


Serpentarius and bofh both have combat skills that are usable-to-no-effect from the party menu.  This...is probably an oversight, but makes it feel like those two were rushed for the demo.  Serp's Forblaze also lacks an animation, which just makes it worse.

While the curve was not a problem for the most part, late Calentz felt like it was a bit of a slog, with a number of encounters that were neither threatening nor easily dealt with--Wights stuck out as being particularly egregious in that manner.  Might be worth it to modify the encounter list for the mountainous segment there.

Boss balance...is kind of a 'thing' here.  Out of the main plot bosses, they're all trash until you face Valentia.  Who is a decent brickwall in part due to the (admittedly very rude) interrupt move.  Then you go back to facing bosses that aren't all that competent again until you fight Moerin in Calentz, and once you're past Erebus (optional, but notable for recruitment) and that one tower dude whose name I can never remember, the bossfights all turn into rocket tag for the most part, where you do your best to unload as much damage as humanly possible into the boss before you get nuked yourself, and you're praying that their AI doesn't pick the MT 2HKO.  While MT is a decent threat in games without a lot of MT healing, the main case of MT healing that's available in the game scales up very poorly (again, those equations in part), and is on someone who dies fairly easily to the MT attacks in question--and at that point there's very little of a way to mitigate said damage--bosses seem notably statdown-resistant, alongside having easy 2HKO damage, often in MT form, durability, and almost invariably outspeeding most PCs not named Hime.  At which point it turns into a guessing game that can be summarized as "hope the AI falls in your favor."  This...isn't fun.

Erebus is too durable.  Seriously.  On the fight I beat him, I spent the second half of it doing nothing but plinking away at him with Baity's physical.  It felt like it took forever, really.

It feels like you weren't doing much with the last two 'dungeons'.  Not sure if you intended to or not, but they felt a bit rushed, possibly to have something to 'close' the beta with.


Now, might as well do an overview of PCs, given that I've got both time and inclination to do so.

Sana: Sana turned out mostly like you said you wanted him to; starts out crappy, gets better with time.  He has a variety of skills, including a debuff and MP-buster, on top of ITD and later a 3-hit skill.  He's probably the most durable PC in the game considering only direct attack/defense--randoms would frequently tink against him and he had no small amount of HP.  Sadly, that durability didn't translate so well against the rocket tag bosses.  Kogahazan frequently outshines Blessed Neko Strike even against what the latter should be good against, though.

Purvis: Early on, Purvis was either a solid character or a dead slot, pending on if the battle lasted long enough to warrant buffing or not.  However, Valentia spells the point where she got screwed on scaling herself; spells don't scale up much with level; and so Purvis' normal Restore would not keep up.  She fell off more around Arkadia, where her durability wouldn't let her last longer than a turn or two, rendering her skillset useless.

Alstroemeria: Alstroemeria was also likewise gimped by the magic deal; Dead Maser and Arc Impulse stop being useful around mid-Pensiole, if that.  While she does get statdowns, experiences with other statdowns have proven not so useful already, and she's got Purvis' durability issues once you start hitting the Rocket Tag bosses.  (Arkadia onwards especially)

Hime: Okay, not gonna mince words here.  Hime's the MVP for most of the game, and here's why.  Fast.  Utterly sickening damage that keeps getting better and better, especially through bossfights.  Stun weapon that is actually fairly reliable.  High HP giving her actually above-average durability once you hit late Calentz to Arkadia.  Speaking of which, by the end of the demo she can easily do in excess of 15000+ a turn.  Even if that burns out in two turns, that far outstrips anyone.  And given that she tends to both live for longer than is typically expected for party members by the end of the demo and outdamage anyone else by then, it's easy to see why I'd rank her as one of the MVPs.  If anything, along with the bosses, she also needs to be toned down.

Sapz: Early on, she's great.  Tanky, not as frail against magic as advertised (see the note about magic scaling), does solid damage.  Hits weakness on bees, which is good because her relevant bosses (Hibachi) are...generally very nasty.  One-dimensional, but a decent slugfester, and the tankiness is on par with Sana's, especially after Steel Mettle.  Redrum Beat cleans house in general, and early on Bone Crush is good for boss defense-busting.  Falls off later on, though that durability always generally stays respectable.

Roukanken: Honestly, I think she's been oversold in her ability here.  Aside from having a stronger heal than Purvis' starting heal (this is not advertised in any way given that Purvis is -the- healer, so anyone on a first playthrough's going to possibly write her healing off as worse), she's...okay.  Raigeki is good at clearing randoms, and the first such ability you get that's really good for that (again, Dead Maser and Arc Impulse SUCK by the point you get this).  Nice twist in making the Keeper fights not give a gameover, at least, though the first one you're not going to suspect using her (and is thus fairly missable, actually.)  I like the archetype, but she just gets buried below the better fighters later on.  Her HP growth is terrible, too, so she doesn't have much durability at all at lategame.

Drake: She never leveled up enough for me to see one of her chance-based abilities, partly since I got her so late.  It's notable that she's a fairly competent slugger, though, with Strike Force and dual-wield bullshit.  Fairly being the operative word.  Sadly, she's mainly just good for random-slaying, since bosses in Arkadia would, once again, rip her a new one before she could contribute meaningfully.  Furthermore, she's outclassed by others in the damage department, which doesn't do her much good.

Helepolis: Helepolis is a weird case.  He's only been truly useful at one point throughout my playthrough--and that was Erebus.  Even there, he's notable for one skill above all others; Torrential Guard.  Nothing more, nothing less.  His offense never gets impressive, even with the Uber Spear, though that may change once more, higher-end skills start opening up post-demo.  Still, Torrential Guard is handy enough against Erebus that he deserves mention there...

Baity: If Hime is the earlygame and possibly overall MVP, Baity is the lategame MVP.  Her evasion is amazing, and I am impressed that the bosses aren't loaded up with all sorts of ITE to spam.  While, yes, she does die in one hit from any reasonably strong magic, she's both evasive and strong; Power Up->Gunparade Tango spam puts her as second-best damage, and as such that can actually survive the rocket tag that defines the later bossfights, Baity deserves some major credit.  Tiers do sadly exist here, and she's well up there.

Arashi: I admit.  I like the thematics behind Arashi's stuff.  I like the idea behind her.  The problem is that she's also fairly weak when all is said and done.  While she does have some decent weapon access (STATUS RAPE BOW), and her weapons aren't too bad...she's still behind on effectiveness and very cost inefficient.  She's got some of the strongest True MT available (*random letters* does about 2000 damage, MT), but she's stuck on low tier due to generally being below par in all categories, partially due to being kicked in the groin by the magic equations.  Pity, I liked her too.

Serpentarius: For the slog of a fight you have to go through against Erebus to get him...he's disappointing.  Besides the incompleteness, he's...mediocre, really.  On the one end, he's amazing for clearing randoms.  Good supply of varied MT and he never really runs out.  On the other...totally bitten in the ass by the magic damage equations, and while he is a bit of a magic tank, he's not good for bosses.  Was hoping for a bit more for what amounted to a secret character.

Boffers: bofh!  She's damaging as all hell!  She's got a varied skillset!  She has the physical durability of Patchouli from Labyrinth of Touhou!  She's...not that fast.  Sadly, she doesn't outdamage Baity, nevermind Hime, and while Genocide IS a solid source of damage, she's got a very good chance of not living to be able to USE it given the time you get her at.  She never really learned anything else in my play, though her dispel saved me a ton of grief on Valentia 3.  Boffers has the potential to be decent, but as-is...eh.  More quirky than a first-string party member.

[EDIT]: I turned up to the endgame underleveled.  Take this with a grain of salt.
« Last Edit: December 06, 2011, 09:43:14 PM by Namagomi »
<+Nama-EmblemOfFire> ...Have the GhebFE guy and the ostian princess guy collaborate.
 <@Elecman> Seems reasonable.

Sierra

  • N I G H T M A R E E Y E S
  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 5135
  • Go get dead, angel face
    • View Profile
Re: SNAAFU ADVENTURE: An experimental foray into using RMVX
« Reply #15 on: September 03, 2011, 09:22:05 PM »
Oh hey, it's a thing. I am just noticing this and attempted to give it a whirl, but the download link is nonfunctional.

TranceHime

  • Let's have a freaking kid!
  • DL
  • Denizen
  • *
  • Posts: 935
  • That'll solve ALL our problems!
    • View Profile
Re: SNAAFU ADVENTURE: An experimental foray into using RMVX
« Reply #16 on: December 03, 2011, 11:39:22 AM »
Will be posting a hopefully full release of the game by the end of the year.

Please expect that most (if not all) the concerns will be addressed, if they are not, you may brutally punish me.
19:35:58 (trancehime) there's a specific spot in the game that's for item duping
19:36:14 (Sanae) o.o
19:39:11 (Sanae) I'd love to dupe a second trancehime.