Dude vs. JRPG Beta

[iMaple]

Yo, RPG Webs.

I've been on a bit of a hiatus, but I suddenly got an urge of productivity in the last month. So I tinkered around a bit in the editor, crafting "grand tales" (delusions of grandeur, to put it mildly) but ultimately got nowhere.

So I told myself: Do something small, polished, you have one week... 

... or so it was. Something doable. I sat down, brainstormed a bit, came up with satire and kept sitting on my chair for a week, and here I am.

Dude vs. The JRPG Beta

Genre: RPG, Fantasy, Parody/Satire.

Feel: Imagine grumpy cat playing a generic JRPG.

Playtime: +-40 Minutes.

Download:

192 MB

Key features:

• You play a game where you control a dude who periodically controls himself in a game he is playing.
• The main protagonist is a cynical ass.
• Tons of references to popular media, including Park Souls, Schoggimon and Fantasy First.
• Cynical hero!
• Incredibly serious light hearted dialogue full of wit and sarcasm.
• The hero is cynical.
• Epic story featuring hats, death, a princess and stone fragments.
• C stands for cynical
• Tons of unique characters and personalities!
• Made by exclusively using the notorious R.T.P.

Da Story:

It is the year... something in the future. As a consequence for making the same game for decades, the japanese games industry is nearing a total collapse. As a last ditch effort, major development companies merge to form Kawai Dotcom, in order to create the ultimate JRPG, the savior, the game, the solution that will carry them out of this financial blackhole.

Kawai Dotcom promised that "The JRPG" will go back to the roots of JRPGs, but still innovate to go with the times, while allowing a cutting edge artificial reality experience through the "Dotcom Diver". (Sold seperately)

One day, some guy heard about this endeavour, and applied for a closed beta key as he had too much time on his hands. Dumb luck or destiny led him to receive such a key along with a QA prototype of the "Dotcom Diver"; He did not waste much time and dove right into the game. But what he found exceeded all expectations: It was an utter mess, a horrible excuse for a video game. Instead of recycling the ultimate JRPG classic, the game recycled every JRPG classic expecting something good to come out of it. Not able to take it any longer, he quit.... He tried, that is. Long story short: He got stuck. In "the JRPG" Beta.

Characters: (sorted by relevance)

 Swagsoldier123 - Protagonist. Highly cynical.

 Harry Eich - Childhood friend.

 Professor Eich - Grandfather of said childhood friend.

 Princess (???) - Apparently a princess.

 Seffirod - Most skilled swordsman in the kingdom.

 Masked Man - Source of all that is evil.

Gameplay:

• Who needs gameplay when you got story?
• Action packed turn based combat, tons of skills, tons of enemies, tons of fun.
• Story
• State of the art interface.
• Read my story pls
• Challenging dungeons!
• It's really good, hero kill evil
• Epic boss battles!
• Offering my services as a writer

Feedback greatly appreciated!

Disclaimer:

• This game is satire because satire sounds more intelligent than comedy.
• I did not notice this at first, but now I do: This game mocks everything, even if unintentionally.
• Inspired by the current state of the japanese games industry, Cliche Quest and Super Quest.

Extra Credits & Thanks:

Galv for his text speed snippet.

DiamondandPlatinum3 for splash map script.

Enterbrain, duh.

 

[iMaple]

Uploaded the final version since tigsource was so kind to playtest it while my post awaited moderation.

Still, any kind of feedback would be appreciated, especially if you got the references. I was told there were too many "cpt. obvious" moments so I made them a bit more subtle, but I don't know if a

player who's not as hardcore as the average tigsource member would catch them.

This is not a bump. It might look like one, but it is not.

 

[Alkorri]

Ummm. Why does the non-RTP version still have such a huge file size? 

 

[bgillisp]

Bookmarked the page, will see if I can give it a try soon (though it may be a week or two, backlog is getting large right now).

 

[iMaple]

Ummm. Why does the non-RTP version still have such a huge file size? 

Surprised by the Non-RTP filesize? That's because the game was exclusively made with the RTP. RTP is love, RTP is life.

 

[no dur hah]

If it's made with the RTP exclusively, you don't need to include the graphics/sounds, only data files...

 

[bluebird]

Scrawk...scrawk.....*spits out an overly-large seed*

That's better!  Can't make a good review with them things stuck down your gullet!

Bluebird plays Dude vs. JRPG Beta Review:

JRPGs are well-known amongst the gaming community for what they’ve brought to eastern and western audiences.  They singlehandedly promoted the idea of storytelling in games, and were the innovators that created timeless classics like Final Fantasy, Zelda, and Pokemon.

That being said...there are always certain quirks to be found in these games, that have been reproduced over and over again.  It comes to the point there such things can be seen as silly or unrealistic, and that makes it all the more entertaining when these endearing qualities become fodder for satire.

Dude vs. The JRPG fulfills what it set out to do, making a satire of various games.  While short, it is refreshing to see an adventure that helps me recall the games I’ve played just as much as seeing how silly they could really be.

Players who have played or grown up around playing Eastern Rpgs are going to consider 'Dude' a treat.  The reactions to various situations in-game made me near-giddy, because as a gamerbird, I too have been victim to things such as 'talk to woman' 'AUTOZZZANDRECOVERY', or silly missions like following someone around like a stalker through a festival until that next story segment starts up.  It's very easy to realize as soon as you start the game, that 'Dude' is going to be full of mockery for those beloved games that shaped the way people play and approach RPGs in general.  I like it.

The game helped me relive some of my favorite gaming memories.  As a huge pokemon fan, starting off in 'Mallet Town' was priceless, and the fact that the map copied the layout of Red/Blue made it all the more nostalgic.  The game isn't subtle at all, going from Pokemon World, to Zelda, to Final Fantasy, to fill-in-the-blank.  It feels refreshing to have a different perspective going into 'Dude', where we are the knowledgeable gamers who already know what to expect- and yet need those priceless reactions from Swagsoldier123 to truly realize the silliness of it all.

While short, it was an overall enjoyable experience.  The only thing that annoyed me was the fact that main character would often get interrupted by someone else, and the text would go by so fast that I couldn't read what he was trying to say.  This happened throughout most of the game, but the introduction screen was the only time where I was truly struggling to follow along with the conversation.  After that scene, the interrupts don't happen as frequently, and it didn't stop me from playing through the game.

You can expect about an hour of gameplay if you click and bump into everything like I did, being the curious featherbrain that I am.  It was an hour well-spent, and I really look forward to iMaple's future endeavors!

My Let's Play of Dude Vs. JRPG Beta  (Sorry for soft voice, was recovering from a cold)

 

[iMaple]

Thanks again, bluebird, for both the LP and feedback you gave me. 

At the start it was both awesome and awkward seeing someone play my game, but I really enjoyed watching it as time progressed.

Best of luck with your channel/brand and I look forward to submitting another game.

 

[bgillisp]

So I finished this game today, here is what I thought

I thought this game did exactly what it set out to do. It made fun of many RPG tropes, using the RTP set as a guide. Also, along the way it made a few stabs at betas as well. I would like to have seem your take on the tropes of the mid-late game, but that would require a longer project too (maybe your next one?).

Also, it does make fun of many earlier games (80'-90's era). I would be curious on your take on the newer games. Again, maybe something to try for your next project.

What are your plans now though? Extend this? Or make a more serious game?

 

[iMaple]

I would've liked to include late game content as well, but then again, the point of this game was to create a quick and dirty prototype to judge the reaction and to see if it was worth to pursue it further.

As you noticed, the game primarily mocks old JRPGs with the occasional reference to modern games. (Fallout: NV reference, anyone?)

Reason for this is simply how easy it is to mock old JRPG tropes. As time passed on, games became a lot more diverse and started to take themselves much more seriously. The only genre for me that has this many tropes would be the FPS genre, but that is both difficult to recreate in RPG Maker and a very touchy subject to begin with, as it contains xenophobia and mindless killing, which is incredibly hard to critique in a smart way. While there has been a funny parody of CoD with Duty Calls, Spec Ops: The Line has basically done it in the most elegant and striking manner I've ever seen - something I couldn't do and don't want to surpass.

If we talk about modern JRPGs, many games still contain a lot of the old JRPG tropes, which leads me to another point, namely the stubbornness of japanese game companies, so it wouldn't be that hard to make one about newer titles. Of course, it would contain some new topics such as sexualization and objectification of female characters, reduction in character diversity and their ondimensional behaviors, centering around the idea of "pleasing the player" instead of "engaging the player", simplification of plot, politics and objectives as well as the use of death to dramatize the game and character development. Plus, costume DLCs, which is not just restricted to JRPGs. I also wanted to include a reference to the monetization of betas and the general decrease of quality in games over time, but I couldn't get it into the game in time.

Now, as for where I'm going with this, I'm not 100% sure yet. Making a full game just continuing where I left off here is out of the question, as nobody wants to walk around for 5 hours reading dialogue. I think the main selling point of this game is the wit and humour being delivered in a very short timeframe, thus keeping it light and not taking itself too seriously. Artificially stretching and extending it would detract from that. As ironic as it is, I don't want to make the game "unfun" to play just because it tries to appear "unfun". In the immediate future, I'm thinking about making a horror game parody in the same format, heavily referencing corpse party. This time I'll try to squeeze in a bit more gameplay to make the narrative more interactive.

If that gets received positively as well, I'll probably go for a quasi-sequel of Dude vs. JRPG Beta, meaning a real JRPG with high production value which is actually fun to play, not just read, but still retaining the humour to make the character(s) unique and go along as USP. It would just go a bit into the background to make room for some more original content.

 

[bgillisp]

Yeah, it is a tough balance to reach, especially as if you draw out the humor too long it just drags on and on and on. Might not be worth it as most of the tropes are at the beginning and the end of the game anyways.

Anyways, keep us updated on what your next project is, whether it is a funny or a serious one!