RPG Maker game recommendations, anyone?

[Raiden]

I'll go first... and here we go.

Laxius Power/Force - one of the biggest RM game series. It's fairly easy to play and the battles are challenging enough so you don't get bored. There's a nice variety in characters, the plot doesn't seem too simple and the dialogue can be hilarious at times. I think Thomas and Zanbard are actually two of my favorite characters.

Romancing Walker - a fun game. It's sort of like playing a dating sim / RPG hybrid. And Fina Delstar can't be anything but a copy of Lina Inverse. XD (Great for an anime junkie like me.)

Lucid Awakening - I don't remember much of it, but I thought it was fun. Plus it was really easy. :/ Maybe even too easy for expert players.

Ahriman's Prophecy - the battle system was interesting. It took a bit of getting used to, but I really liked it. Also liked the story and characters (especially Devin and Talia).

Final Fantasy - Time and Again - I nearly had a fangirl moment when I saw that it was a Final Fantasy IV fangame. The new characters in the game were just as cool as the original ones. And who wouldn't want to see Kain drunk (and later hungover) due to the dwarves' "blue stuff". X'D How many guesses the blue stuff was actually coolant? ;P It has to be if it's strong enough to get a dwarf drunk. Plus the narrator has a really nice voice.

Everlong - wow, this game is big and long. o___o; ...The witch at the top of the tower was one of the hardest bosses in any game I've played so far. ._. (I really liked the enemy city + train scene for some reason. Don't really remember if that was from this game or not, though. XD)

Legion Saga - intentional Suikoden clone. ...I friggin loved these three games. (I still can't help laughing when I see Eijin from Legion Saga III, though. His name combined with his red hair and face... he reminds me of Eiji Kikumaru from Prince of Tennis.)

Legionwood - ...I hate that assassin. Fighting him in the mountains took me five tries. -_-' Now I need to level-grind because the monsters on some plain keep killing me. But this is still an awesome game. :0 I actually like Ark (a character) so much that I named a dragon of mine at Dragon Cave after him. XD (And a character in my fantasy story has that as a nickname now.)

Book of Three - a must for anyone who likes Chronicles of Prydain. Too bad there's no "The Black Cauldron" game. I want to see Adaon and Ellidyr. :/

I can't think of other games right now. I've played so many of them... ._.

[Rayne Aven]

Really? A mention of RPG Maker games without A Blurred Line? One of my favorite games of all time, RPG Maker unconsidered. Some absolutely legendary storytelling and contains one of the few characters I consider to be truly relatable.

Legion Saga 2 is the only good one. Legion Saga 1 was utterly generic and 3 was incredibly buggy to the point of being unplayable.

Utopian Chaos has generally been a good series throughout RPG Maker's PC history. Doctor has a good sense of humor and always tries to make interesting element systems. It's too bad the one he made on RM2k3 is lost on the internet.

I've also heard Quintessence was really good. I got bored about half an hour into it, but it's got a lot of cred in the RM world.

[DarkValkyr]

Well.

Master of the Wind, obviously. ;p

Quintessence was incredibly awesome. It's a bit slow, and there's really not much fighting, but the story's so powerful and well told.

A Blurred Line is fantastically fantastic, with its amazing storytelling and story branching which makes things so interesting.

Final Fantasy Endless Nova was nostalgic - it's not perfect - but I've had a lot of fun with the game - I've even been so bored as to add in another character to the game - added extra bits, though the character used a different system of growth than the other characters.

Legion Saga - ah yes, the Suikoden wannabe games. I liked Legion Saga 1 - though replaying it again was horridly horrid. Legion Saga 2 was a masterpiece though I felt characters - especially the main ones needed more development. I really enjoyed the game so much I also edited in a major character to the game to make Nastra and Fuban a trio - and added many more moments for character development. (Yes, I had that much time) Legion Saga 3 was trash. Absolute Trash. Buggy (well, latest version released was a beta), crappy story that was a Deus Ex that killed everything I loved in Legion Saga. That said, I did have to add in the same character and add in a huge list of Clive-like side-quests for him...unlike FFEN, I made sure the character I added in Legion Saga blended with the game's system.

Iron Gaia and Iron Gaia: Virus - It's a mind-wracking story, well thought of. Iron Gaia didn't have great maps because a lot made no sense, but the story felt surreal. The first game was really hard though. Virus was interesting in that you had 3 gameplay hours to finish the game, and in that time you could do so much or skip things that were optional, with a much better feeling and game feel. Shame it seemed to have vanished before Iron Gaia 2 was completed (if this was otherwise, someone let me know)

There is also Clouded Hearts, which was a very nice story - cliche, but lovely to play through.

Shichimenchouken was an amazing game with a unique currency system in that you rely on bartering, and you had 2 parties to play with. The game is fun though you had to farm for items a lot to get the good stuff, and the battle system while great became really easy once you got the good stuff (assuming you had patience to get tons of soybean so you could trade for salmon so you could trade for weaponry)

Chocobo Panic and Chocobo Panic Xmas edition are nice pac-man like games that you can pass time with. Yoshi Maze Mania is a very intriguing and more difficult puzzle game.

Mog's Adventure was a very fun play...I had heaps fun with it and it's lighter story.

[Volrath]

There was a demo for Iron Gaia II released years ago, but I don't believe Legion ever finished it.

My favorite RPG Maker game is probably still Memento Vivere, by Rye. She had a real knack for party dynamics and using dialogue to do a great job with otherwise unappealing character types like the emo kid. That takes real talent, plus the game was just visually gorgeous and incorporated a lot of her own artwork. It was an all-around solid piece of work, but she never finished it and I'm not sure it's even available anymore. She's got an RMVX project in the works called Star Stealing Prince. I played the demo and it looks good so far.

I'll play anything by Anaryu and Yaoumei, they have many worthy projects, though the two that jump immediately to mind are Outlaw City and Cast Aside.

Team Dragonfly is also great - Ethereal Dreams was a really promising demo full of custom artwork, though it never seems to get beyond the demo stage...the eternal curse of fully customized projects. They also put out a smaller-scale project for VX called Castle Chase which was a really fun adventure/dating sim.

As far as Reives projects go, Quintessence may have the bigger fanbase but my favorite project of his was The Mirror Lied, a short 15 minute game that tossed all sorts of themes and concepts at you. How you interpret it says just as much about you as the game.

The most recent game I played was the demo of Twice Upon a Hero, by Lunarea, perhaps best known in these parts for the Flight of a Robin MotW fangame. That project is right here on our forums though, so check it out.

[Solitayre]

People actually play RM games? Well I guess I might know a few...

The Tiamat Sacrament is a traditional roleplaying game made in RM2k3 by Drakonais. It features creative and extremely entertaining battle mechanics, clever puzzles and strong writing as well as a mini-games, side-quests, and a great deal of post-game content that make it perhaps my favorite RPG Maker title to date. Maybe the graphics aren't that great, but I've never been one to hold that against a game. Also, the main character is a dragon. That's pretty cool, right?


Dhux's Scar is a very untraditional RPG made in RM2k by Erilex. The main draw of this game is the bizarre, enthralling narrative. The writing is stellar, capable of being both hilarious and chilling in a way few games ever manage. It makes a few tweaks to the traditional battle system to keep things fresh, and contains an absolutely ludicrous amount of original artwork. I highly recommend it, but the game is very dark, graphic, violent, and features a lot of mature adult themes, and is definitely not for the faint-hearted. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Hellion is a dungeon-crawling RM2k3 game that it's creator, kentona, would probably describe as "neo-retro." It combines elements of Diablo with Dragon Warrior to create an entertaining 8-bit experience that is focused strongly on combat and D&D-style skill-based exploration. Don't be put off by the graphics, it's a very fun experience.

[aolist]

People actually play RM games?

On a forum about an RM game? It's probably not that unlikely.

I'm going to go ahead and suggest Yume Nikki. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, though.