Last year, we showcased the top indie games made with the RPG Maker engine as part of
our game engine showcase series.
We presented our picks, and our community left a lot of comments on YouTube and our
Discord server to give us really valuable feedback on some great games that we missed.
Well, we’re back on topic once more.
All of the new recommendations have been well received, and we are giving you another round
of inspiring RPG Maker games - and this time the titles are those suggested by our viewers!
We are Ask Gamedev and these are the Best RPG Maker games that we missed!
Welcome back!
We make videos on how to elevate your games and inspire others.
If you want to continue the game development conversation after this video, check the video
description for a link to our Discord channel.
Our first entry, perhaps one of the most mentioned RPG Maker games in our last video’s comments,
is none other than the experimental horror adventure game Yume Nikki.
It is the creation of Kikiyama, an enigmatic developer from Japan, whose story is interesting
enough to create a whole video on, but for now, just check out this Kotaku article.
Yume Nikki is directly translated as Dream Diary, and the basic premise revolves around
just that.
Your recluse main character, Madotsuki travels through dark, unsettling worlds within her
dreams in search of “effects”.
These effects transform Madotsuki’s appearance, and some also grant abilities.
The game is open ended and encourages players to wander and explore, with little to no direction,
text, or dialog.
Some players have stated that this adds to the isolating, lonely atmosphere of the game.
Others point out that the lack of verbal interaction emphasizes the fact that the player is in
a dream world.
Whatever your observation of the game is, it is almost certain to give a good experience
of the fear of the unknown.
The game’s development dates back all the way to June 2004 (and maybe even further),
with version 0.10 being released in 2007.
Over a decade later, the game was released on Steam in 2018.
Over the years, it has definitely hit cult classic status with it’s large vocal fanbase,
amazing unofficial fangames, and praise from some of our generations best indie game developers
including Derek Yu.
You can even find an homage to the game in Toby Fox’s Undertale.
As mentioned, Yume Nikki is available on Steam.
You can also find 2018’s 3D reboot YUMENIKKI -DREAM DIARY- available on the platform.
Inspired by other RPG Maker horror adventures like The Witch’s House, and ib, our second
title on the list is Pocket Mirror, developed by team Astral Shift using RPG MAKER VX ACE.
Without spoiling anything, Pocket Mirror is all about discovering personal identity, highlighted
by the interesting people that you meet along the way as you guide your character on their
journey to find it.
Ambient, is perhaps the best word to describe Pocket Mirror’s gameplay.
It combines expressive music, with immersive graphic elements and cutscenes, some of which
might be just slightly akin to the likes of Yume Nikki.
Pocket Mirror was the first major project of Astral Shift and is available for free
on itch.io and Gamejolt.
It was first released in July 2016.
As of this video’s posting, Pocket Mirror version 1.3 is currently available on the
PC.
You can download it at the team’s itch.io page for free.
This rather simple-named game, OFF, is the brainchild of Belgian game development team
Unproductive Fun Five.
The game’s main protagonist is “The Batter”, who is thematically dressed in complete baseball
uniform.
Your mission: traverse bizarre zones, and clear the world of ghost-like creatures called
spectres, and defeat each zone’s guardian.
OFF was first officially released in 2008, and since 2013, it has exponentially gained
a huge following internationally.
Gameplay-wise, OFF runs like your typical classic RPG: progressing the story, gaining
new party members, levelling up, and other traditional core elements.
Zones represent areas, and spectres are your main enemy.
There is a rather eerie and somewhat surreal symbolism to the game, which is emphasized
by how the spectres are visualized and designed to look bizarre and out of this world.
In addition, a memorable experience awaits as you get to the last area, but we’ll save
it for those who will be interested to take the game that far.
In any case, OFF is available for PC in its original French version for free, with patches
for other languages also available.
If you’re interested in something that is even more classic, and in a more fantasy themed
style of RPG Maker games, then look no further than #4 on our list, Last Dream.
In this game, you relive the fun and whimsical days of the classic JRPG era.
Take off on an adventure, search for new friends, and tread the path that will make your characters
stronger.
Last Dream was first introduced in 2013 as a Kickstarter Project.
Primary distribution was eventually moved to Steam as it was officially released in
early 2014.
The project continued further to include an expansion pack, and its sequel, Last Dream
II.
Last Dream is very much inspired by the likes of old JRPGs, specifically the early 1990’s
variety.
Production values are for the most part, are off the charts, with amazing visuals that
would shine on the SNES and Sega Genesis platforms.
Another great part of Last Dream is its character growth system.
This system includes the classic point-per-point stat allocation, a sophisticated but not too
complicated equipment system, a very long list of skills sets, and of course crafting
systems!
These make for a highly enjoyable and very replayable experience for an RPG.
The game is, as mentioned, currently available for Steam.
It’s currently rated “Very Positive” with over 350 reviews.
Fifth on the list is another classic RPG Maker horror game.
Mad Father is the product of a Japanese developer by the name of Sen.
It takes you to a fictional version of Germany, where a seemingly happy family is suddenly
disturbed by a set of revelations that will push their daughter, Aya, into darkness.
Mad Father first made its official debut on December 2012 under Sen’s registered company
called Miscreant’s Room.
Later in January of 2015, the game was updated to version 2.0, featuring added maps, graphic
upgrades, and the “If” ending.
In September 2016, a Steam version by AGM Playism became available, which features updated
cutscenes and artwork.
As far as horror games go, Mad Father takes the familiar route of using puzzle-solving
mechanics.
The player is given environmental and situational problems to solve, all the while attempting
to keep the main character Aya alive for as long as possible.
The plot twists take the player to hopeless depths, but you’re in for a fun and thrilling
ride with this RPG Maker horror classic.
Oh, and like so many other puzzle-solving horror games, be prepared for a lot of playthroughs
if you don’t want to use help or guides.
While there are other channels to officially download this game, Steam is perhaps the most
convenient option at the moment, where it’s currently rated “Overwhelmingly Positive”
with over 1000 reviews.
Before we get to the last game on the list, let’s look at an upcoming RPG Maker game,
suggested by the community, that is still in the works.
Keep an eye out for Portal Hunters - a game developed by Connor Rogers that combines the
visual elements of an RPG, the gameplay mechanics of an action game, and the combat of a top-down
arcade shooter.
You play as an interdimensional contract killer who is out to assassinate!
There are so many things that excite us about this game, like it’s 35 different guns,
weapon upgrades, boss battles, and roguelite mechanics.
We checked out Portal Hunters after our community members recommended this game - and we were
impressed to learn that its development is being driven by one sole individual.
We’re always impressed when we see an indie dev take on all game dev roles by themselves.
Maybe we’ll even see Portal Hunters on a future installment of our solo devs series!
Let’s also talk about this week’s Ask Gamedev Community Member Game of the Week.
This week we’ve got the cyber-thriller, file://maniac by Born Frustrated Studio.
File://maniac is a detective game where the main interactions are done in the REAL game
directory.
The game was first conceived during Global Game Jam 2019, and because of the great response,
the team decided to put additional time into development to create a full game.
The final version was made in Unity by a team of 7, working part-time over the course of
two months.
You can download it right now on the team’s itch.io page.
Give it a try and give the devs your feedback as they hope to release additional chapters
in the future.
Last but not the least, Corpse Party of course enters our list as one of the best RPG Maker
games to date.
The premise takes a group of high school students who get transported into a malevolent alternate
dimension after a ghost storytelling session.
The task?
To save everyone, (or probably just yourself) The game as a series was developed and ported
to a number of different systems over the course of many years.
The original 1996 version for instance, was released for the PC-98.
The remake, released in 2008, which is made with RPG Maker, is the more popular release
internationally, and the first version that made it onto the PC.
The main objective of the game is to investigate the circumstances of the bizarre transportation
phenomenon, and to eventually find your other classmates.
In true visual novel format, the scenarios spread out depending on the players’ progression,
as well as their choices within the game.
This leads to several ending options, some of which are required to play through first
before you can get to the “true ending”.
The appeal of the game doesn’t really focus on the actual fear factor and dread elements,
but rather to the narrative setting, much like Pocket Mirror.
Don’t be fooled though, there are still lots of twists and surprises here and there,
so you still need to keep on your toes.
There are a lot of entries in the Corpse Party franchise but most of the PC-based Corpse
Party games are the ones built directly from RPG Maker.
If you want a more versatile game experience however, you might want to try out several
other spin-offs and sequels of the game series on the PSP, PS Vita, 3DS, Android, and iOS.