NeoSoulGamer's First Impressions and Tutorials

[Neo Soul Gamer]

Hey guys!

Recently, I've started a YouTube channel that mainly consists of RPG Maker content. I haven't really mentioned this outside of a few Discord servers because I wasn't sure if people would enjoy the videos. I also wanted to make sure I had a little bit of experience before I start ramping up production. Lately, I've been getting some pretty positive feedback and figured it was time to get the word out. So here's a call to this wonderful RM Community!

On this channel, I'll be uploading First Impression videos that generally run around 45-60 minutes (if I'm not enjoying the game, I'll probably cut it short). I wouldn't dare say that I'm an expert in any particular aspect of game design. However, I've played several JRPGs and engaged in some pretty deep discussions about them. I've also learned from several mistakes that I've made while developing my own game. So I feel that I can help improve your projects in some way.

I also pride myself on being objective. I love having my views and opinions changed and I love being corrected. If I say something that people may disagree with, I have no problem seeing things from another perspective in attempt to understand their views. On the same token, I have my preferences and my biases. So certain things about a game may not appeal to me. But I digress.

As for the criteria for submissions... There's only one thing that I ask. Please don't ask me to play your game for its own sake. Typically, the developers who have approached me to do First Impressions are people with projects in their early stages. These are the games I prefer. The developers of these games know that they have something that needs improvement, and are completely open to suggestions and feedback. I believe these games bring the best out of me because it helps me create content that aspiring developers can really benefit from. So if you have a game that you really don't see yourself making any real changes to, I'm probably not the person you want showcasing your game. There are many more Let's Players better suited for that job.

With that said, I'll leave you all with a couple of videos you can check out to see what I'm all about. Feel free to reach out to me on this thread if you're looking to have your game played!

Comments are always appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Frogboy]

So if you have a game that you really don't see yourself making any real changes to, I'm probably not the person you want showcasing your game.

That rules me out. I just released the source for both my games. Maybe when I'm get tired of making plugins and want to dive back into making another game. Good stuff, though. We need more RPG Maker YouTubers. Most of the well-known ones have disappeared in the last year so good luck to you and your channel I hope it does well.

 

[Uzuki]

That was a very helpful tutorial and I agree in that prefer tutorials when the action or event is first available rather then before hand before you get the thing. Although with the FF6 example, the NPC was explaining what the relics are that I believe that you find one of before you get to that building and one you get from the chest after the battle. It's also there to explain that relics are important in that they have visible effects that are important in battle. This is to let players know to keep an eye out for them and to equip so you can get their effects.

Another thing is that you don't have to keep saying that you're not an expert in game design. That's just for your own confidence and you don't want that in your videos. It can come off as unprofessional and new watchers, might not take your advice seriously. And I would work on the sound mixing a bit, because your voice was a bit too quiet, but that might just me. Otherwise good videos and I subscribed to your channel so I hope to see more! And when I finish up touching up my project, I hope that you'll give it a look on your channel!

 

[Neo Soul Gamer]

That was a very helpful tutorial and I agree in that prefer tutorials when the action or event is first available rather then before hand before you get the thing. Although with the FF6 example, the NPC was explaining what the relics are that I believe that you find one of before you get to that building and one you get from the chest after the battle. It's also there to explain that relics are important in that they have visible effects that are important in battle. This is to let players know to keep an eye out for them and to equip so you can get their effects.

Thank you! Also, I may have failed at making my point clear. I know why the tutorials are there. The point I was trying to make was, there are more effective and less invasive ways to relay that information to the player. I was speaking about tutorials where you let the player figure things out by putting them in positions where the benefit of a particular mechanic/equipment is obvious. In other words "Show, don't tell". The relics are available early on by purchasing them, but my issue is with the fact that the available relics don't give you any real edge against enemies, as the battles are easy enough that you can just bully your way through them with what you already have.

In a case like that, I'd like to see battles that highlight the application of a particular piece of a equipment. As developers, we can very easily make a battle a bit more difficult without a particular piece of equipment than with it. That's where I felt FFVI dropped the ball, but that's just based on my experience with the game. Could be totally different for other people.

Another thing is that you don't have to keep saying that you're not an expert in game design. That's just for your own confidence and you don't want that in your videos. It can come off as unprofessional and new watchers, might not take your advice seriously.

Actually, that was intended. That's just me being honest, and it's something I often joke about irl. It's who I am. I wouldn't say it has anything to do with confidence or the lack thereof. I can see what you mean by giving people a certain impression of me, but I really don't care. If people want to judge me based on that statement and not on the merits of the information I'm giving, then I'm fine with them not taking me seriously. My only goal is to give back to this awesome community and make sure people benefit from the content I create.

And I would work on the sound mixing a bit, because your voice was a bit too quiet, but that might just me. Otherwise good videos and I subscribed to your channel so I hope to see more! And when I finish up touching up my project, I hope that you'll give it a look on your channel!

You're right about the sound. I'm still playing around with it. Thanks for the input! And please make sure you reach out to me when your project is playable. I'll gladly take a look at it!

And thanks @Frogboy Much appreciated!

 

[Uzuki]

Thank you! Also, I may have failed at making my point clear. I know why the tutorials are there. The point I was trying to make was, there are more effective and less invasive ways to relay that information to the player. I was speaking about tutorials where you let the player figure things out by putting them in positions where the benefit of a particular mechanic/equipment is obvious. In other words "Show, don't tell". The relics are available early on by purchasing them, but my issue is with the fact that the available relics don't give you any real edge against enemies, as the battles are easy enough that you can just bully your way through them with what you already have.

In a case like that, I'd like to see battles that highlight the application of a particular piece of a equipment. As developers, we can very easily make a battle a bit more difficult without a particular piece of equipment than with it. That's where I felt FFVI dropped the ball, but that's just based on my experience with the game. Could be totally different for other people.



Actually, that was intended. That's just me being honest, and it's something I often joke about irl. It's who I am. I wouldn't say it has anything to do with confidence or the lack thereof. I can see what you mean by giving people a certain impression of me, but I really don't care. If people want to judge me based on that statement and not on the merits of the information I'm giving, then I'm fine with them not taking me seriously. My only goal is to give back to this awesome community and make sure people benefit from the content I create.



You're right about the sound. I'm still playing around with it. Thanks for the input! And please make sure you reach out to me when your project is playable. I'll gladly take a look at it!

And thanks @Frogboy Much appreciated!

It helps to remember that when FFVI first came out in 94', the JRPG genre was still relatively new and still needed to accommodate people, mostly kids, to how they worked. That's something to keep in mind when talking about old games and what they get right or wrong. A lot of them were still laying out the ground work of what we use today and barely knew what they were doing and had to work within the limits of the technology at the time. To us this is annoying and bad game design, but to someone from 94' that was probably new info they didn't know about. A good counter to this is when the player first opens a chest and gets the item or when an NPC gives them the item the player gets an explanation on how equipment works and that certain equipments, like relics, have effects that give a nice boost in combat.

I hope I'm not coming off rude, I'm incredibly blunt and when I talk about the things I like, I can go into unnecessary detail and seem like I'm berating you. Just pointing out some stuff so you can learn too.

 

[Neo Soul Gamer]

I hope I'm not coming off rude, I'm incredibly blunt and when I talk about the things I like, I can go into unnecessary detail and seem like I'm berating you. Just pointing out some stuff so you can learn too.

Not at all! Discussions like these are great!

I totally agree with what you said. That's precisely why I used FFVI as an example. When I say FFVI dropped the ball, I'm speaking in retrospect. It would definitely be unfair of me to make that judgement based on when the game was made. It's still one of my favorite games of all time.

 

[Neo Soul Gamer]

Finished off a First Impressions video a couple of days ago. Figured I should get in the habit of posting them in this thread.

Got a chance to take a look at "A Broken Tale" by NoLoot Studios! A fun, quirky game that's a perfect combination of foul language and great, goofy voice acting. Highly recommended! Detailed feedback on the game is in the description.

 

[Arcmagik]

Train me, oh great Neo Soul!

 

[Neo Soul Gamer]

@Arcmagik Only if I get first dibs on Legion Saga DX.

 

[Arcmagik]

You can be an Alpha tester. You have to find the hidden Oswyn Easter Egg first.

 

[Tanarex]

I was hoping you could give my game a try. I haven't had much luck getting reviews on it. It's only a demo stage. It's about an hour and a half long. I know the mapping looks great. All because it was done by someone else. But would like feedback on everything else. I agree with what you said in the tutorial. I try not to bombard people with too much info early on. Blade of Acrimony sounds like the defense of every serial killer. Here is the link to my game if you are interested. https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/dance-of-the-damned.74973/#post-852463

 

[Neo Soul Gamer]

@Tanarex Thanks for sharing! I'll take a look at it and probably have a video ready in a couple of days.

 

[Tanarex]

Ok.Thanks.

 

[Neo Soul Gamer]

@Tanarex

Video is up! Unfortunately, you had a game breaking bug the ended up cutting the video short. Looking back, I probably should have tried talking to the guard from another position. Hopefully I've given at least a little bit of useful feedback.

 

[Tanarex]

.I did some of the face changes myself. You can easily tell from the professional looking ones and the ones that are mine.
lagerˈläɡər/noun 1. a kind of beer, effervescent and light in color and body. I know about the ears. But I didn't like the look of the only male elf pic they had. I thought about changing it with gimp but I'm not that good at it.
Nice that you liked the banter of the characters. My brother complained,"Why are they always fighting?" Like Legolas and Gimli were BFFs from the start. The tileset is all done by the talented Guiguimu. No. That rock is supposed to be there. For a fetch quest later on. I was hoping I'd get a few more laughs from the dialogue. Since it's one of the selling points. I believe the word you are looking for is Alliteration for the names. I find it amusing. Others find it less so. That song is called "The road ahead." From the DS resource pack. I had to add an info dump after other 'players got confused on what to do and where to go. I will try to shorten it. You would have been stuck and unable to continue if you chose the wrong character on any character quests. I did say go back to the Innkeeper to complete the chapter one and talk to him to find the quests. The other players did the same thing. So I added 'hints.' Saw how well that went. LOL.
I was gonna have an actual reason later on why there are few people in the town. A big reveal later on. But I should just prolly have add more people. Since none of the characters bring it up.
Yep. I forgot the word 'like.' I'm bad at spell checking. No comment on the clever Character Quest names?
Add a chimney. Got it.
24:07 Oh, no. He's not gonna go buy equipment for the thief... If you don't buy and equip the equipment the Innkeeper suggests things will go badly for you in battle.
Guard was not in the right place. My bad. It will still work if you talk to him from the front. Yes, you have to do the quest to advance the game. I was planning on adding optional quests later.
Guiguimu also added the mirror script and the walking under bridges one. The mirror script is called Galv's Character Effects. It also adds shadows of the characters like in the campsite scene. You get to shop at specialty stores later on. Don't wanna flood you with too much info. You get to sleep after the battle. You do get rewards after boss battles.
In time you get a quest log that tells you about what you need to do, list of rewards, and access to mini-dungeons. Also crafting, gathering, and trailblazing skills. Anyways I will start fixing the issues and have a fixed version up ASAP.

 

[Kato-A]

hello, can you play my demo?, it's like 30 minute demo
https://kato-san.itch.io/rainbowcity

 

[Neo Soul Gamer]

@Kato-A

Done! Hope you enjoy it!

 

[Kato-A]

Thank you for the feedback!!

 

[Tanarex]

Ok, so I fixed the bug with the guard. He will now simply turn around and open the door. End scene.
Had to fix the following battle as well. I added a new combat menu that I messed up on. And it crashed as well. So you wouldn't have made it very far. So fixed that too.
Redid the crafting system. Because I wanted things to cost less if you made it yourself. There is no grinding for exp or money in this game. So reselling, find stuff, and crafting is very important.
I changed the elf's ear to look more elvish. Either that or he looks like he has a terrible lawnmower accident.
I greatly reduced the info dump near the start.
I added more townspeople to Lower Demore. But Upper Demore (A part that you haven't seen yet.) is still empty for now. That's not towards the end of the demo anyway.
I was unable to fix the chimney thing. Guiguimu did something with parallax map or something and the railing itself isn't under tilesets. So any chimney I put there has a railing through it. And I haven't heard from her in months. So I don't know how to fix it. Looks like I need a new mapper.
You may get stuck crossing the bridge from the south district to the northern one. So just go into a shop and come back out and it will work again. That'd be Guiguimu also. RL has kept me otherwise busy. But I hope you find the time to try the fixed version. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6nlt45a23tgjm1f/AAD0Wmzm_wWQurIrgdmigLTOa?dl=0

 

[Neo Soul Gamer]

New video up! I get a little upset during the first battle after addressing something that I've seen in many RM games that just shouldn't happen.