Twice Upon A Hero

[Lunarea]

The world was on the brink of destruction. Demons rose in power and sought to enslave life as all knew it. An unlikely group of young heroes banded together in hopes of defeating evil. Together, they brought an end to Azazel's reign of terror and life moved on. 15 years later, Alistair is trying to live a normal life. But a casual visit from an old acquaintance threatens to propel him back into a world of adventure - whether he likes it or not!
Embark on a journey to explore the world and the unique perspective of what happens to the world once the fairytale of might and magic is over.


Alistair Leblanc  ~ Age: 32 ~ Occupation: Bartender of a tavern in a small town
15 years ago, he was the Chosen One that dealt Azazel the mortal blow. His idealist and impulsive nature led him into many adventures and sticky situations in the past, but the years have turned him into a more prudent and thoughtful man. Though he never received a formal education, he is intelligent and well-read.
Cordelia Carter ~ Age: 16 ~ Occupation: Student at the Patriot Academy
She keeps crossing paths with Alistair. Though very young and naive, she is a sweet and generous person. She reminds Alistair of Lillian.
Penelope Jackson ~ Age: 19 ~ Occupation: Priestess in training of the Church of Aceso
Her talents in healing and desire to help others brought Penelope to the church. She has studied her duties with zeal and developed unrivaled discipline, especially when it comes to rules and laws. Though initially forced to accompany Alistair, she has grown to like and respect him as a leader.
Claudia Black ~ Age: 26 ~ Occupation: Senior at Sparrowight Academy of Magic
Beneath a wild and rebelious exterior lies an intelligent and thoughtful woman. Her magical potential is high, but she lacks the discipline to excel in her studies. She initially joins Alistair as a way to get good grades effortlessly, but she sticks around for her love of adventure.

(click to show/hide)

- Party Relationship System, affecting the availability of certain cutscenes, items and endings.
- Personality System, affecting available side quests and opening special item/skill vendors.
- Character Field Skills, allowing access to new areas or new approaches to completing quest objectives.


Chapter 1 * **
* Note that there is a Font folder with 3 files included. Please make sure you install them prior to playing.
** You will need to download and install VX RTP (you can find it here).


~ 07/13 Project thread created.

[Lunarea]

For some reason, the edit button's not loading for me. There's an issue with the download link in the original post. Please use the following link instead:
http://www.mediafire.com/?4y3xbjgeq5mxio3

[Volrath]

Fixed your original post, Luna.

You guys should give this a shot. It's well put-together all around and the premise is neat. How much longer is this than the beta I played a while back?

[Lunarea]

Probably another 20 minutes or so of content. 

[Volrath]

Nice! It was cool to go through this again and see the new stuff. I can give better feedback later, I'm too tired at the moment. I did want to note that the entire fairy legislature of Solest takes deep offense at the slander contained in this game. They may pass a non-binding resolution condeming it! 

Anyhow, I hope the MotW fans here decide to expand their RM horizons cause this game is nice, if on the short side still. How long do you imagine the final product will be?

[Lunarea]

Hehehe, if it makes the fairies feel any better, one of my future projects is going to be about them! 

I've got 10 chapters planned, or rather the plot is divided into 10 sections. The first chapter is essentially a very long introduction (about an hour long). I'll probably rework it once I get further into the story. There are only a few elements of gameplay, but nothing spectacular. Chapter 2 will still have cutscenes, but also start opening up areas and quests that are more interesting (hopefully). Overall, I'm hoping to get about 30 hours total.

I've also got ideas for a few smaller projects that will probably pop up when I get into their development stage. 

[HarryE]

Just downloaded it. I'll play it soon, looking forward to it!

[aolist]

Up to just after the nectar collection. Will finish and write up proper review within next few days (unless I forget).

For now, have my notes to self:

assuming the bit at the beginning pre-openning credits is from later on in the story? But the text before and the general premise would suggest it's a flashback. Kind of confusing.
A personal thing but - blank credits at the end are fine, blank credits at the beginning are sort of offputting. I guess they imply that the story's already happenned? or something? It might be appropriate in that case but really I just want to start the game.
Facial expressions are superfancy and really help it stand out despite being RTP edits. Some look a little odd (chester) but they're still great!
A 'karma' system that doesn't seem to be just 'good and 'evil'? Awesome!
I like Micki.
I like the flavour text when you get items! It helps show Alistair and the NPC's characteization so effectively.
Cordelia is adorable.
Cordelia is still adorable (during talking to Diana)
I like Thomas. He is this game's cabbage guy in my mind. I want to see more of the crazy gardener.
The calmness of the bgm and the fact that it starts playing immediately after battle makes me think I'm getting game overs all the time. Maybe have a victory fanfare of some sort?
Cordelia is, once again, adorable. She's like a puppy.

[Lunarea]

Thank you very much for the comments! I really enjoy hearing how others perceive the characters, especially early on. And I'm very glad that the general feelings are hitting the mark. I hope I can keep it up through all the story twists and turns an deliver some good character development.

I will remake the introduction sequence (part before the credits and sticking the credits at the end) completely as I progress a little more with the locations. Though they've all been planned out, I've still got to finish mapping them. I'm also second-guessing myself on using in media res for the intro, but I've been told that that introductory chapter was uneventful and I'm afraid it would be too boring if there was no "action" whatsoever.

I know there was a reason for the victory fanfare being gone, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it is now. I can only assume it was some sort of audio bug. I'll look into it and figure out a good way to transition between battles and field.

[Untra]

I tend to be very skeptical of VX games, as the potential for awful mapping and game quality seems fairly high. But after playing this, I am seriously considering taking a look at other VX games. If anything, your maps are wonderfully made and your story (although I'm still a little confused on who the villain and who the hero is; first impressions told me Justin was the hero, but I'm pretty confident it's definitely Alistair) is definitely well thought out.

But the full-length credit sequence after the intro first made me think you had made the shortest demo to record   . A simple "Lunarea presents" would have sufficed.

Edit: If you have a icon you would like to represent your game with, I can change the default VX game icon to make your project more unique. Just putting that offer out there 

[Lunarea]

Thanks very much for the offer, Untra. I'll think about what kind of icon would be best fitting, but I will definitely let you know. A small custom touch like that would be fun.

The credits were odd, I admit. Someone suggested that since it seems to be a trend now to show game credits at the beginning, but I think we're still all used to credits being at the end. I think it might be easier to just keep a credit list in a text file that's packaged with the game.

I appreciate the feedback! And I'm working hard on improvements and future chapters

[aolist]

I don't think it's the credits themselves that are the problem, rather it's the fact that they're blank. If you still want to include them I'd suggest maybe having them over something so you can go 'OH HEY LOOK STUFF'S STILL HAPPENNING'.

Scrolling credits on a black background is just something that's hard to detatch mentally from OKAY MOVIE'S OVER.