RPG #17: Hero RPG Review

Hero RPG is the sequel to Athalina RPG in spirit, if not in practice. After all, the same author behind Athalina (Michael Neumann) produced Hero RPG. The graphic style will look extremely familiar to anyone who played Athalina, and the gameplay feels similar as well, though there are some key differences between the games.

Hero RPG's combat system is somewhat different, for starters. In order to attack, you must now hit the space bar, at which point your character will be locked in place and pivot to face your mouse. You then left-click to actually attack. You'll break out of combat mode when you move again. It is unclear exactly why the creator felt the need to implement this two-step process instead of the less complicated system from Athalina RPG, though I personally suspect that it may have been put in to make it easier to program enemy AI.

Although the Hero RPG combat system feels clunkier than the one in Athalina RPG, there are some improvements in other areas. The aforementioned AI actually is better--some enemies will exhibit behavior that looks almost like honest-to-goodness teamwork, with one enemy engaging you up close while the other whips out a bow and arrow and takes pot shots from a distance. Character models look somewhat nicer in this edition, with more fluid animations. And although the music was a weak point in the original, composer Matt Winkler has clearly honed his chops for this round, with some tunes that are actually pretty darn catchy.

In fact, with the exception of that one questionable change to the combat engine, just about everything in Hero RPG is like Athalina, only better. The bottom line: if you liked Athalina RPG, there's no good reason not to be playing Hero RPG right this instant!

RPG #16: Telepath RPG Review

Full disclosure: I wrote these games, so what follows are my (undoubtedly biased) opinions. The Telepath RPG series is notable for a few reasons. To begin with, it was the first in Flash to feature well-crafted characters, storyline, and dialog. The series also eschews random enemy encounters and lets you level up individual stats and attacks through a training system.

Many reviewers on Newgrounds compare Telepath RPG Chapter 1 to Harry Potter. There are some similarities, to be sure. You begin the game as a gifted student at the Psy Academy, a military school where young men and women with psychic powers are trained and prepared for leadership positions in the human military. You are free to wander the Academy and interact with fellow students, faculty and guards, including several friends whom you can recruit to assist you in your journey. The combat in Telepath RPG Chapter 1 involves quite a lot of randomness at first, though you can balance things out a bit by leveling up your combat skills with Helen in the Southeast Building.

Telepath RPG Chapter 2 picks up where Chapter 1 left off, but does so with much better graphics and music, as well as a cool tactical battle system that will remind you a bit of Shining Force, Final Fantasy Tactics, or Fire Emblem. You can now have up to 7 characters other than your main character under your command in battle at the same time. Even better, there are a whopping 10 playable characters you can get to join you if you play your cards right. Each character has their own unique set of skills and attacks, and most of them can learn new skills through training (or in one case, by having new parts installed on him).

Both Telepath RPG chapters use a dialog tree system similar to the one in Fallout, which allows for some freedom in your interaction with various NPCs. Talking with other characters is especially important in Chapter 2, and there are dozens of characters with hundreds of lines of dialog that you can do this with.

The bottom line: the Telepath RPG series remains one of the most compelling RPG series in Flash, and Telepath Chapter 2 may actually be the best RPG ever made in Flash. If you play no other game on this blog, make sure you play Telepath RPG Chapter 2!

RPG # 15: Strategy Defense Review

Strategy Defense is a little weird. You play a heroic character who fights bad guys and levels up in order to save his kingdom, and the game features a definite (though extremely limited) plot which might lead you to believe that it is an RPG. However, all of these RPG elements are subordinate to the main thrust of the game, which is strategic in nature.

Essentially, you fight a series of turn-based tactical battles against enemies who look suspiciously like Lego men with weapons. After each battle, you advance to another one via a linear map. After you've fought a few battles, you'll start being taken to a shop where you can purchase special arrows, healing potions, and transformations before you advance. Occasionally, you'll witness some sort of dialog between your character and someone else, but you never have control over this.

The battles themselves are pretty neat, occurring from an isometric perspective that reminds one quite a bit of Final Fantasy Tactics. You spend the first quarter or so of Strategy Defense as an archer, and you can get pretty far using hit-and-run tactics. You may find this difficult at first, since the game only lets you move in a straight line on any given turn. The enemies face this limitation as well, however, so it shouldn't take you too long to adapt. More annoying, however, is the fact that you don't get to command any sort of fighting force against your enemies. Every battle is fought single-handedly, which limits the tactical possibilities quite a bit. Also, later on in the game, large enemy sprites tend to obscure surrounding spaces, making targeting difficult.

Those are relatively minor quibbles, however. The enemy AI is pretty good, and will give you a decent challenge during the first third of the game. The game gets much more difficult once you start facing riflemen, however, and the AI isn't to blame. Rather, this drastic shift in difficulty comes about because you must now start to rely much more on expensive magic in order to win battles. You'll also start drinking Health+ potions like it's your job. In a true RPG, you could make up for the difficulty by fighting optional battles and leveling up. Not in Strategy Defense, however. You can't re-fight old battles. You just have to struggle onward.

The bottom line: it ain't Shining Force, but despite the occasional design flaw, Strategy Defense is a good game for fans of tactical RPGs.

RPG #14: Lethal RPG Review

The Lethal RPG series is easily the most prolific RPG series in Flash, with 10 games released by creator Ben Spyda over the two years. In chronological order, they are:

Lethal RPG Battle
Lethal RPG Adventure
Lethal RPG War
Lethal RPG War 2
Lethal RPG Conqueror
Lethal RPG Destiny
Lethal RPG Destiny: Maximum Revenge
Lethal RPG Universe: Lost Sweeper
Lethal RPG Universe 2: Resurrection (Note: there is an earlier version of this release titled Domination--same game, fewer features)
http://www.sinisterdesign.net/LRU3DarknessReborn.html
Lethal RPG Universe 3: Darkness Reborn

These games are pretty simplistic for the most part, consisting almost entirely of turn-based one-on-one battles and little else. However, for folks that enjoy the grind of endless, mind-numbing combat and leveling without the bother of distractions like character, plot, or even simple exploration, these games are just about all you could ask for.

At least, that's true of the first six or so games in the series. Things have gradually improved, however. Starting with the second-to-last version, Lethal RPG Universe: Lost Sweeper, the games have included a hit gauge in combat that allows you to string together up to three attacks in a turn. This adds some element of skill to the battles and makes them substantially more interesting. Lost Sweeper, Resurrection, and Darkness Reborn also include a top-down exploration mode that gives the whole affair more of a sense of adventure, though you can expect to be randomly attacked quite a bit while walking around like this.

In conclusion, the Lethal RPG series is lacking in many areas, but if you want to give it a try, try out the last three entries in the series. I wouldn't bother with anything earlier than that.

RPG #13: Artifission RPG Review

Artifission RPG is an interesting new sci-fi RPG series from Swedish game designer Johan Teleman (a.k.a. "Fickludd"). The story takes place in a parallel universe during the second Cold War, and presumably it's in the relatively near future as well. Artifission RPG features combat remarkably similar to that you'd find in most Final Fantasy games, but with some minor differences. To name two: you can get attacked while standing still, and you can't run from combat. On the plus side, however, this game features a sophisticated leveling system that allots experience to your stats depending on which ones you use during combat, and how much you use them. (Amusingly, you level up your hit points simply by getting beaten up a lot by enemies.)

So far, two chapters of Artifission RPG have been released--and unlike most flash RPG series out right now, this one seems to hold some promise of continuing with further chapters:

Artifission RPG Chapter 0 is, by the designer's own admission, more of a prologue than a proper chapter. It lacks a save feature, items, or a level-up function, and yet it is still worth playing for the mood, the nice hand-drawn artwork, the well-produced music, and the introduction to the story that it gives you.

Artifission RPG Chapter 1, however, is where things really start to pick up. For one thing, this chapter features such niceties as items, save points, and the ability to improve your character. You start this chapter off with an entirely new character, which explains certain events in the prior chapter. Chapter 1 makes a little more sense of the plot, which is hard to discern from Chapter 0, and features more interesting combat with a greater variety of enemies (including a rather strange boss early on).

Ultimately, if you lose patience with Artifission RPG Chapter 0, you may like Artifission RPG Chapter 1 better. My advice: definitely give this series a chance. It's worth it.

RPG #12: Sinjid: Shadow of the Warrior Review

Sinjid is a classic Flash RPG that plays a bit like a demo, albeit a demo with a fully-realized leveling and skill tree system, a good combat engine, and an interesting town to explore. The plot of Sinjid starts out pretty intriguingly: you are the infant son of Hattori, a legendary warrior fighting against the evil Lord Baka. After Lord Baka assaults your town, Fujin fights his way over to Hattori, who hands you over and instructs Fujin to take you to a hidden refuge in the mountains. As you grow up, Fujin trains you to be a badass ninja warrior. By the time the game starts, your training is almost over with.

Unfortnuately, all this plot is really just a bald justification for having you fight a linear series of one-on-one, one-on-two, or one-on-three Final Fantasy-style battles. In theory, you're proving your readiness to go out into the world and fight Lord Baka. In reality, you're just playing a demo whose author couldn't be bothered to create actual missions or battles with plot significance.

Despite Sinjid's limitations, however, what is there is actually quite good. There is a decent variety of equipment, abilities, and well-animated enemies, and there are many different ways you can develop your character, depending on what fighting style you're aiming for. The game has some very nice graphics, and the music is pretty decent as well. As long as you're not looking for a game that tells a story as you play or introduces you to any characters worth mentioning, you should enjoy Sinjid just fine.

RPG #11: Dreams Review

Dreams is a fabulous and vastly underrated RPG that unfortunately has only one chapter to its name at the moment. The game's back story is explained in an opening cut scene told in comic book style. The Hammerhead Brothers, Hunk and Zeke, are called to meet with a mysterious man called the Seer. He has a task for them: they are to head for a bizarre clockwork tower (apparently designed by Salvador Dali) and seek something called the Source.

Your arrival does not come unnoticed: it isn't long before you are assaulted by strange phantoms with rifles. Don't worry, though--Dreams has no random battles, and the ones you do fight are actually pretty fun. Dreams has one of the most unique combat engines I've seen in a game, period. Not just in a flash game. Not just in an RPG. I mean any game.

Combat is turn-based, but your "turn" is really just an allotment of about 20 seconds during which you can switch freely between the Hammerhead Brothers. Hunk has a rifle with two types of ammunition: while he is selected, the battle is shown from his perspective in first-person, where you can target and shoot the enemies from where Hunk is standing. Zeke, on the other hand, has a gigantic hammer and some sort of winged creature (a parasite, perhaps?) on his back. While Zeke is selected, the battlefield is shown from the side, and Zeke must hurtle towards the enemies trying to bash them with his hammer as quickly as possible. For some enemies, you'll need to switch back and forth between the Hammerhead Brothers to perform combos. During the enemy turn, you must try to dodge enemy attacks. With practice, you can go through entire battles untouched, though it won't matter much if you do, as your characters are fully healed at the end of each battle regardless. Just don't die.

So far, Dreams is easily one of the most unique and stylistically impressive RPGs created in Flash. The first chapter was submitted to Newgrounds in November 2006, and after going so long without word of a sequel, I began to believe that the series had been abandoned. Or so it seemed, until I stumbled upon this. Yes, that's art for "Dreams Ch. 2," and it was posted in February 2009. It seems like the series might be continued after all...

RPG #10: Mardek RPG Review

Mardek RPG is a highly popular and clever RPG series by Pseudolonewolf of Fig Hunter games that plays like a tongue-in-cheek Final Fantasy game. With the release of Mardek RPG Chapter 2, Pseudolonewolf seems to be cementing Mardek RPG's place in the pantheon of great flash RPG series.

Combat in Mardek RPG is pure Final Fantasy fare, with reaction commands thrown in to spice things up. Graphics in combat are lovely--if you're like me, you'll especially love the forest fish from Chapter 1, which look like they were taken straight out of an M.C. Escher drawing. The graphics in the overworld, strangely, don't match with the graphics in combat at all. While everything is nicely hand-drawn and animated in combat, your characters and the world around them become low-tech sprites of the Final Fantasy IV variety once you return to exploration mode. Some people find this touch nostalgic--others find it aesthetically grating.

Mardek RPG Chapter 1 may seem confusing to you at first--in fact, the characters themselves seem pretty confused about what they're supposed to do or say during the opening sequence! But don't worry. Just keep playing, and you'll quickly realize that the beginning is actually a cute storytelling contrivance by the creator. The game proper has an actual plot worth mentioning, along with a fleshed-out game world, even if it isn't apparent at first.

Mardek RPG Chapter 2 continues the storyline of the previous chapter, but picks up eight years later, with Mardek and Deugan enlisted in the royal guard of Goznor (whatever that is). The tongue-in-cheek, highly self-aware humor of the first game is still here in spades, along with a helping of goofy teen angst. (My favorite line: "Well, I'd only kill a guy if he killed me first!")

Pseudolonewolf stated on his blog today that he is set to work exclusively on finishing up Mardek RPG Chapter 3, and that Chapter 3 will include remade versions of Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 bundled in with it. Once it's out, I'll be updating this entry to reflect that.

The bottom line: Mardek RPG is wildly popular for a reason. If you like RPGs at all, stop dilly-dallying and go play it!

RPG #9: The Adventures of Guy Review

The Adventures of Guy is a silly, whimsical RPG with cartoony graphics and a combat style taken directly from the Paper Mario series. The plot is extremely straightforward: you awaken one morning and are promptly transported to a strange world full of beings that want to kill you, by a wizard who wants to kill you as well--except that he also wants you to fetch 50 magic stones for him first.

The combat system in the game is straightforward, turn-based, one-on-one RPG combat with reaction commands to shave off damage you take and to boost damage you give. It's nothing new, but it's implemented well in this game, and it makes the battles more challenging and fun. It also helps that the enemies are all animated frame by frame, many with some very cute and creative moves.

Though disliked by some for its almost nonexistent plot and occasional problems with the main character getting stuck in walls (for which the only solution is to reload the entire game), The Adventures of Guy is one of the better offerings around for casual RPG gameplay. You can pick it up whenever you like without having to concentrate too much on what's been happening in the game: there aren't really any puzzles, there's no real plot to keep track of, and there's basically only one quest. You could put this game aside for a month and have no trouble picking it right back up again where you left off.

Of course, that's both a blessing and a curse. All in all, The Adventures of Guy serves as a fun diversion for the casual RPG gamer, though it runs the risk of annoying people who take their RPGs seriously.

RPG #8: Linion RPG Review

Linion RPG is a popular Flash RPG with an interesting and original combat system. You start the game in the city of Ignya, though it's not clear if you live there or if you're a new arrival. Either way, you're stuck in a city besieged by goblins until you level up a little.

Not to worry, however--this turns out to be quite easy! Linion's claim to fame is that you can fight every last character in the game, including the people in town. Whenever you talk to someone, the game displays their level, so you will have a good sense of whether it's a good idea to duel with them or not (though level isn't always a good indicator of difficulty).

The combat system in Linion RPG is the game's strongest point. Linion RPG's combat is pretty unique, requiring decent reflexes and a good sense of timing. You can dodge attacks by jumping in the air at the proper moment, or (as I prefer) simply timing your attacks so you won't be standing where your enemy's attacks land, when they land. It's quite fun, though as with any RPG, when you fight the same enemy over and over and over, it gets old. And unfortunately, Linion RPG does not excel in this department. By the time you make it through the forest maze, you'll think that the creator ran out of ideas for new monsters just after watching Jurassic Park. The fact that enemies randomly attack you every few steps doesn't help either.

Linion RPG's art is cartoony but well-animated. The game has no sounds whatsoever, which may have been intended to keep the file size within manageable limits (even without sounds, the game manages to be quite large). Ultimately, Linion RPG is an unique and enjoyable game, though issues with pacing and difficulty can hurt the fun factor after the first few areas. If you haven't played it before, this is definitely a game to try.

RPG #7: Murloc RPG Review

Murloc RPG is a very professional-looking, though ultimately rather tedious RPG that has gained some notoriety in the flash gaming world. You play as a murloc, a sort of giant, colorful frog with nasty-looking spines on its back and weird vocalizations. The game is extremely linear, and every single quest seems to be a protracted fetch quest (e.g. "fetch me 10 crab cakes") involving dull one-on-one combat with a series of nearly identical enemies.

Murlocs are from the online RPG World of Warcraft. In fact, just about everything in Murloc RPG comes from World of Warcraft, including the graphics and the GUI. They are so nice-looking because they were actually made by Blizzard, and the maker of Murloc RPG simply used them for a spin-off game. Granted, he did a very nice job of turning everything into sprites, but he certainly deserves less credit than if he had modeled and rendered the in-game graphics himself. He's also quite lucky that Blizzard decided to view his game as an effort that promotes their universe, rather than as a competing product that infringes on their copyrights.

Despite the fact that I find Murloc RPG to be intolerably boring, it remains an extremely popular game, so I'm quite sure that nothing I say here will convince you to play some other game with better gameplay.

RPG #6: Mobile Weapon Review

Mobile Weapon is a beautiful, well-made game with unfortunately somewhat mediocre gameplay. The basic gist is that you have a mech (the game calls these "MAWs") that you must use to accomplish various tasks. The plot gets fairly interesting eventually, but expect to be trudging around a junkyard looking for spare parts for your uncle and fighting the same two enemies over and over for at least the first 30 minutes or so. In fact, expect to be doing a lot of trudging around looking for items throughout the game, since most of the game's quests revolve around this dynamic.

There can be no doubt that Mobile Weapon is an extremely well-made game. Most in-game graphics were clearly modeled and rendered in 3D, then exported to Flash. The GUI, likewise, is very slick and professional looking, and the movement and combat engines are very smooth and well thought out. Nearly every task in the game, from movement to combat, can be accomplished both entirely via keyboard and entirely via mouse.

This game is much like a traditional RPG in that you advance your characters in one of three stats, which in turn govern which weapons and equipment they can use. The combat, likewise, is typical Final Fantasy fare, but without spells and cool status effects. At any point, you are limited to only two different attacks per character, so sadly there isn't very much strategy involved in combat. True, there are some tactical decisions to be made in terms of which characters to give which weapons, but once your characters learn their limit breaks, there isn't be much point in using conventional attacks anyway.

The bottom line: if you want a well-produced but rather slow-moving FF clone with a futuristic theme, Mobile Weapon is a pretty good bet.

RPG #5: Kingdom Fire Review

Rounding out our selection of Flash RPGs that might remind you of Diablo is Kingdom Fire, an action RPG with a sophisticated in-game engine that can be manipulated entirely with the mouse. The stat system in Kingdom Fire, while original, is highly reminiscent of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, and gives the game a bit of an AD&D-ish feel.

You begin Kingdom Fire as a largely unformed adventurer with a randomized name--there is no real customization of your character at this point. Instead, you gradually choose your areas of specialty as you level up. There is a wide variety of equipment scattered throughout the game (over 150 items, by the author's count) for you to find or purchase, and up to 20 spells that you can cast.

Unfortunately, Kingdom Fire suffers from certain bugs relating to the inventory system, but if you're lucky you won't run into any. It's also rather short, ending at the conclusion of the first mission. Despite many requests, the author has stated that he will not further develop the game--a shame, considering that Kingdom Fire is one of the most highly-rated games on Newgrounds.

RPG #4: Kimblis the Blue Review

While we're on the subject of overhead-view action RPGs, I would be remiss not to mention Kimblis the Blue. Although otherwise excellent, this game requires some patience to get into. The control scheme is difficult to get the hang of, for one thing, and some people will be frustrated by the task of constantly caring for a (mostly helpless) little girl who follows you around through most of the game.

Even with these disadvantages, however, Kimblis the Blue is a great game. The graphics are superb, the music very well-orchestrated, and the story advanced through animated cut scenes of professional quality. Combat in Kimblis the Blue is quite challenging, as are many of the game's puzzles. You are granted a good deal of control over your character's advancement, and can learn a bevy of spells (some of which are definitely more useful than others).

Despite its difficulty, Kimblis the Blue is actually a rather short game. Once you figure out to control yourself in combat and how the puzzles work, it takes only 20 minutes to breeze through from start to finish. Still, this game is definitely worth playing at least once: RPGs of such high quality don't come along in Flash all that often.

RPG #3: Athalina RPG Review

Athalina RPG is an overhead-view action RPG of the Diablo stripe. The basic gist is that you run around performing quests for various people around town, most of which involve killing lots of creatures and/or finding items. In the process, you level up, put points into strength, health, or magic, and upgrade your weapons and armor.

Athalina RPG contains a decent variety of enemies and environments, though the game can get a bit repetitive at points. The game engine is pretty good, and allows for two different control schemes. There are also a variety of spells you can learn, though in my case I found it unnecessary to learn anything past fire breath, as you can easily dispatch even difficult nemies by breathing fire at the same time you're swinging your sword.

Athalina RPG is unfortunately rather lacking in terms of plot and character development, but if you're looking for a little hack-and-slash adventuring in Flash, this is one of the better games available.

RPG #2: Caravaneer Review

One part Oregon Trail, one part Mad Max, Caravaneer puts you in the post-apocalyptic future with no family, no job, and no resources except for a rifle, a donkey, and 1000 dollars left to you by your now-deceased uncle. From this, you can gradually build an economic empire, overthrow the government, or become a bandit who roams the wastes robbing unfortunate caravans.

Caravaneer takes a little while to become familiar with, but once you do, it's an addictive and very enjoyable RPG. The creator, Dmitry Zheltobriukhov, has told me he was heavily influenced by the Fallout series, and it shows. There is a vast array of weaponry and equipment with which you can arm yourself and your henchmen, and every town has a unique economy to exploit. The game is very open-ended: if it weren't for the tactical turn-based combat and occasional cues to advance the plot, you might almost think you were engaged in an economic simulation.

For those who need it, here is my formula for starting the game: you begin in Poca Cosa, the southeasternmost town in the world of Caravaneer. Click on the building with the sheriff's badge to receive your inheritance. Then click on the shop (the "S" building) and buy as many small, medium, and large canteens for your water as you can. Fill up at the well, then buy 50 food and forage at the market (the "M" building). Then buy as much leather as you can and head for Caganel.

RPG #1: Mesiria RPG Review

I've decided to start my survey of the great RPGs released in Macromedia Flash with this decidedly old school Phantasy Star-style game created by Snails Animation. So far only two chapters of the game have been finished, but they're really very good. Chapter 3 is out in a "barebones" version that lacks dialog, items hidden in barrels, and various bug fixes, but it's not clear when it'll be done.

Chapter 1 begins with the hero, Max Mesiria, at a pier saying goodbye to his father as he prepares to board a ship for the University of Esnel. This chapter is a bit slow-moving as far as the plot goes, but it's really just supposed to introduce you to the gameplay. This Chapter features some rather light puzzle-solving and battles with unfriendly wildlife. Although Chapter 1 doesn't have the same graphical splendor as its sequel, it's still quite apparent that everything is hand-animated, and animated well at that.

Chapter 2 is where things start to get really good. Max finally makes it to civilization, meaning that there is some opportunity for fun character interactions. The art in this installment is simply gorgeous, and the plot thickens in a most intriguing way. Combat is more enjoyable and the puzzles are more numerous and challenging. All in all, this chapter is quite satisfying, and provides one of the better RPG experiences I've had so far in Flash. (A tip, by the way, for the first boss: don't fight it until you're at least level 8.)

Mesiria Chapter 3 is in a state of limbo. Released in a halfway-finished state in late December 2007, Snails Animation has twice delayed releasing a finished version. Last I heard from them, Snails Animation was delaying release until the end of January, citing financial difficulties. January has come and gone, and there's still no word on the finished game. Here's hoping they come up with a finished version soon!