RMMV Eternal Remnant: The First Chapter - An emotional RPG journey | Demo available now!

[thepsyche]

A small update on some side content I've been polishing up on, getting ready for the final release! Not far now.

 

[Nomi]

This looks really great psyche... I just downloaded it!

 

[thepsyche]

This looks really great psyche... I just downloaded it!

Thanks! I hope you enjoyed it!

A sneak peak at a dungeon that features in The First Chapter. You'll need more than your skills in combat to get through this one - both your wits and a bit of magical flare are your friends!

 

[thepsyche]

I'll be yapping about the game over at Next Fest for a Stream at 2PM PDT / 5PM EST.

Feel free to drop in.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1946380/view/3298347770872307330

 

[thepsyche]

And again today!

At 3pm PDT we'll be covering some post-demo content for Next Fest here.

 

[thepsyche]

Currently, end-game content is being developed for The First Chapter. We've had some wild ideas with where to go with it, and I think it should be a blast to cap things off!

 

[matthewwells]

Just downloaded the demo. Gorgeous artwork! These all look like custom environments and characters to me. Also, excellent work with environmental and lighting effects. Also, you've got animated enemies! And they look phenomenal. Well done. The music I've heard so far accompanies the scenes well and hits the right emotional beats. This is all custom, correct? The characters seem to be written well. I like the bits of personality thrown in. It's too early for me to say much about the story otherwise.

Some nitpicks:

• The battle music doesn't loop.
• The sound effects are noticeably RPG Maker stock assets.
• My party was destroyed by the imp that came out of the chest (one imp plus two rock creatures). Perhaps I should have taken out one of the rock creatures first, but that battle seemed ridiculously hard for a first-dungeon-of-the-game battle.

 

[matthewwells]

Finished the demo. None of my major impressions have changed. Seems like a fun game. I just hope it's not too much longer before I get some autonomy on moving my characters around the game world. The experience so far is very on rails, and I can tolerate that for an hour or so, but after that, I'd like some autonomy to start exploring. Looking forward to the full version!

 

[thepsyche]

Hi @matthewwells - thanks for your feedback! I appreciate it!

To assuage some of your concerns - pretty much everything you've mentioned has been addressed in the current build!

Regarding battle music, you'll have to let me know your PC specs (including sound card) because I've confirmed the looping is working correctly for others - though I have encountered similar bugs in the past.

Cheers!

 

[matthewwells]

Awesome! Glad to hear you've already addressed those issues. Now that I think back to the battle where I lost, I think that was a combination of my characters' bad rolls on damage and the imp getting the attack buff onto both of the rock creatures. Probably an edge case. The second time through the difficulty seemed pretty balanced. The boss was just about right, by the way. By the time it ended, my characters were on the verge of not being able to hold out much longer.

I will direct message you my computer and sound card card specs. Is your game MV or MZ? I use looping OGGs is my own MZ game, and they have always worked just fine.

 

[thepsyche]

Game is in MV actually! Thanks for the info, I'll give it some testing.

 

[thepsyche]

Working on some post-game content as the main quest content is largely COMPLETED!

Post-game content in Eternal Remnant will add to the lore and story of the world. I want to use it as a means to shed light on some pieces of the story that have relevance to the main plot, but are not fully explored. This will hopefully be just as rewarding for me as it is for the player!

Here, we a stand off between Curate Hyguel of the Second Order, and Gerlund - leader of the Bearskins clan. For a decade, both factions have been fighting over control of the town, and the confidence of the townsfolk.

 

[thepsyche]

Post-game content continues. Some of your first hunts will land you in the lives of the world's characters that on a journey parallel to your own - in this case, Robertson has a propensity to drag his old pal Ennison into his grand idealistic plans.

 

[MAH1RO]

Looks really nice so far.
I usually don't like "typical" RPG-Maker games and I often look for the more extraordinary ones, but your game seems to use the possibilities of a typical RPG-Maker games to the fullest.

Looking forward for it.

 

[thepsyche]

Thanks for your comment @MAH1RO ! I love that you can appreciate that about the game.

I always intended for the conventional fantasy aesthetic that you mention (if that's what you mean) to be just a veneer. What the characters go through on a personal level is much extraordinary and paramount to the experience than the typical setup - that's where you'll find the core of it.

Look forward to bringing you the rest!

 

[coucassi]

My partner (who already wrote to you on twitter I think) just showed this to me and wowowow this was incredibly cool!

The whole time while playing I was like" Oh no, why is it just a demo, I don't want this to end" xD
It felt really really polished in every aspect. The mapping is nice especially the light, I love what you did to the enemy battlers and the story and atmosphere were also really engaging.

The chibi heads on the HINE sprites (?) look a bit strange in my opinion, but it's nothing that would stop me from enjoying the game. Also I think the Limit skill animations could be a bit more flashy (if it's not planned for the higher levels already).

However, those are just minor things, overall I am totally hyped for the full version It's definitely one of the most promising rpg maker demos I've ever played.

 

[thepsyche]

@coucassi - really appreciate this feedback, thank you so much! It's very nice to hear that the game is working for you in all the right ways.

You mentioned the mapping and lighting - that makes me very happy, because I've spent countless hours getting the process down to be reproducible and viable for production. Even now I look at some of them and want to spruce them up (actually, the game's already had one mapping overhaul for the demo areas - see below) but I know that's a good way to make a project ever-lasting.

Spoiler

The sprites are actually HiddenOne's MV Tall template (I think it's called) - although there are a few different custom sizes at play for teenagers, etc. I think it's aimed at more of an FF6 style - although early on I was thinking of a more Chrono Cross style (but alas, resources are so finite) . I think if I had limitless resources, the proportions of Octopath Traveler characters would be neat.

Anyway, thanks so much for playing the demo and leaving your thoughts! I really appreciate it!

 

[coucassi]

Uuh, I love those before-after-comparisons! And in this case it was definitely worth it

 

[Blackfield]

wow, looks amazing. Your graphics are insane, love what you were able to create out of the MV engine!

 

[thepsyche]

Well, it's been a minute, so I thought I'd post some progress. Post-game is progressing well in terms of database , encounters and bosses, and now focus turns to creating some environmental storytelling in the remaining areas.