RMXP BURDEN: an RPG Horror [RSE]

[VitaliaDi]

Burden
​

The title is also the theme and you’ll discover more about that as you play. Greg is an ordinary family man thrust into extraordinary circumstances. He has a lot of hard choices to make that he isn’t quite prepared for.

Another addition to the multiple ending RPG Maker Horror genre: Burden. After I discovered games like Ib and The Witch’s House, which were big inspirations for me as I worked on Burden, I realized I could use my art and love of story telling to make a game myself even if I didn’t know how to program. That’s the beauty of the RPG Maker program series.


Disclaimer: While this game isn’t exactly a mature game it does deal with heavy topics such as death and loss.

Check out the trailer here!




Plot

Spoiler

A story of love and loss, Burden follows Greg, father to a recently deceased son Ethan and husband to a wife who can’t quite grasp that loss. After Ethan’s death, late one night Greg receives a mysterious package and Mila goes missing. On his search for Mila, Greg finds himself face to face with Ethan in a world that is not his own.

The game features:

-Unique art and story.

-Immersive music by various artists such as Kevin MacLeod and Dough Maxwell.

-An unsettling atmosphere.

Make your way through strange areas and keep your cool as you find your way back to Mila.

Find and use items to make your way through tough spots, don’t forget to save your progress at the mysterious white handprints.

With three different endings which one will you get? Discover the story of Burden.

Game Length: 1.5 hours

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Game Controls:

Movement= arrow keys

Select= space, enter, c

Menu/Back= esc, x

Full Screen= alt+enter

SCREENSHOTS

Spoiler

DOWNLOAD LINK

Spoiler

https://vitaliadi.itch.io/burdenrpg

CHARACTERS

Spoiler

Greg- The main character of the game. Father to Ethan and husband to Mila. Greg finds himself

Mila- Confused and distraught mother to Ethan and wife to Greg. Can you find her in time?

Ethan- Deceased son of Mila and Greg.

Cai- A mysterious white haired man Greg meets while on his journey to find Mila. What is his role in all of this?

Elzier, Gabi, Runi, Emi, Nazari, Valde- Deceased children Greg meets while on his journey to find Mila.

 

[Gianma]

There is no .exe file

 

[VitaliaDi]

There is no .exe file

The shortcut file in the main folder should work as the link to the exe. Is it broken?

 

[Gianma]

The shortcut file in the main folder should work as the link to the exe. Is it broken?

It says: "Impossible to find a destination"

 

[VitaliaDi]

It says: "Impossible to find a destination"

It might have been because I put the game files into a hidden folder so it wasn't distracting.
I re-uploaded the download link without this issue. If it still doesn't work or you find any other issues feel free to let me know.
Thanks for the original heads up.

 

[Chalk]

Greg is literally the name of my dad, is this story about my dad? I'm guessing it is, okay Vitalia, I'll play your spooky game but I ain't gonna get scared unless there are loud noises . . . And I'm gonna be MAD if there are!

 

[VitaliaDi]

Greg is literally the name of my dad, is this story about my dad? I'm guessing it is, okay Vitalia, I'll play your spooky game but I ain't gonna get scared unless there are loud noises . . . And I'm gonna be MAD if there are!

Do it for your dad

 

[VitaliaDi]

Looks like the download links were still messed up as of yesterday.
I've updated them yet again and there's just one version now, everything should be working fine now. -fingers crossed-

 

[VitaliaDi]

Update: I'm working on translating Burden into Spanish.
Actualización: Estoy traduciendo "Burden" al español.

 

[mathmaster74]

@VitaliaDi Had insomnia last night and played Burden out to 2 of its story endings. Finding that bunny had me stumped for a little while. Thanks for the visual hint, I facepalmed when I got it. Two deaths on the monster hunt and one other I can't recall when or where, but all three were unavoidable monsters because my character froze. I preferred the ones that let me run. Save points were well placed and I quickly learned to use often in case of another unavoidable death. The music got annoying at points. Mostly a volume thing, 'cause I was digging it otherwise. The puzzles were good. I unfortunately solved one due to a spoiler I read on the itch.io page before downloading. Had to find the RTPs and install both. Didn't expect that, but figured it out. I enjoyed the library. Excellent selections. I was surprised by parallels between this game and my first title...because you're collecting hearts and in my game, it's brains. Gotta love horror tropes, eh? Loved the wispy spooky ghost child character voices. You don't often hear vocals with RPG Maker, so...nice touch! The visual art style left me wanting, but art is a subjective thing and one person's Picasso is another person's "Not for me". One exception: I really like the look of the ghost children. It works very well. The settings were good choices and the level design was relatively well done. Some maps had more lengthy routes than they needed and could be cut down in size a bit, but that's just nit-picking. The story seemed a little forced at times, but who ever said the supernatural has to make sense to us natural, living beings all the time? Overall you did well to create an unsettling environment, which led to an enjoyable experience.

 

[VitaliaDi]

@mathmaster74 Thank you so much for the detailed review! These kinds of perspectives are really helpful since funny enough because of the comparison to your own, this was my first game, those horror tropes are great for sure lol
I'm glad you enjoyed it, my biggest focus was the atmosphere so I'm glad it was able to pull you in. Thanks for playing