Pixel Myth: Germania, JSM Party Themes & The Adventurer's Journey 3

[slimmmeiske2]

I've been looking forward to Pixel Myth for a while now. It's beautifully looking~ Congrats on the release, Sharm!

It's hard to pick a favourite, as admittely I haven't played that many RPGs yet, but I do love Adell (and Rozalin) from Disgaea 2.

Edit: Oh yeah, why I like him.

Spoiler

He's a pretty typical hero character, the "Chosen One", fighting for the weak, against the evil Overlord. He's also very traditional in a sense, with knight-like ideas. I guess, that's why I loved the twist that he is in fact a demon! I was so surprised abou it.Rozalin is also a very traditional princess character, while I didn't always like her personality traits, she was pretty bad ass with her guns and a great character to have in battle (moreso than Adell).

 

[The Prince of Sarcasm]

Favorite Rpg hero. Defintely bowser, from mario and luigi: bowser's inside story. For that game he was actually a hero, and that game was an rpg made by nintendo. It was awsome to just scorch stuff with his fire breath.

 

[Cadh20000]

Giveaway!

To celebrate our new releases, we are having a give-away. 6 lucky winners will win a copy of one of these incredible new releases.

To enter, answer the following question:

Who is your favorite RPG hero and why?

Deadline: Monday, June 30th at 18:00 (6pm) GMT

Winners will be announced on Tuesday, July 1st.

I'll have to say Lloyd from Tales of Symphonia. As to why? Well, to be honest he is really the only established RPG character to stick in my mind even when I haven't played the game in quite a while.

To be totally honest though, he isn't my favorite RPG character or even my overall favorite established game character.

My favorite RPG character would be my custom character in the MMORPG "Mabinogi: Fantasy Life" (though he is swiftly being overtaken by Eric from my current project. Eric is a default name, the player can rename the character to whatever they want at the start of the game) and my overall favorite established video game character would be Link from Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask/Twilight Princess (a toss-up between the 3 versions).

 

[djDarkX]

Gratz to Sharm!  I knew your release would be all kinds of awesome.

My favorite RPG hero and why?  It's tough, but I'd have to say it's Cecil Harvey from Final Fantasy IV and the After Years.  Why?  Well, being brought up by the King of Baron, the most powerful nation on the Blue Planet, he learned to wield the Dark Sword for king and country.  When the King falls prey to one of the Four Elemental Kings, Cecil does horrible things in the name of the Kingdom of Baron.  When he decided to defy the king, a much more sinister plot is discovered to submerge the world in darkness by Zemus/Zeromus.  After Zeromus is defeated, he and his companions head home and go about their lives.  The son of Cecil and Rosa, Ceodore, feels like he's under the shadow of his fathers accomplishments and Cecil has been "taken over" and must find himself and eventually confront his Dark Knight demon to regain his true strength.

Cecil overcomes many different odds, indirectly helps his son become strong and saves the Blue Planet twice over and helps his own brother who was once controlled by Zemomus as Golbez to become a good guy and he has improved the lives of his companions by helping them throughout their adventures.  Long story short, Cecil is awesome as is Final Fantasy IV.

And again, awesome work Sharm!  If I don't win, I'll find a way to buy it later.  Promise!

 

[Faye Valentine]

Pretty nice tilesets. Remembers me alot of Inquisitor's tilesets.

My favorite RPG hero:

Spoiler

Elijah, from Dhux Scar. Why i like him? well, maybe because he is NOT a hero. He is nothing close to a hero. An egoist, coward man. I love how Erilex (the creator of the game) made his personality and defined it so well trough the game, his lines are perfectly designed, he is too far away from any clichés, he is weak in battles... summarizing: not a hero, but still the protagonist of the story. Also, Elijah is not only Elijah but also another character. Two characters in one! I recommend Dhux's Scar to everyone.

 

[DarkstarMatryx]

The Tileset looks great I can't wait to look at it in more detail tomorrow.  While listening to the Adv Journey 3.  Will probably pick up the party themes later.  Nice work from what I've seen of it so far.

As far as a favorite hero, I was always partial to Rydia of FFIV she introduced me to summons and how cool they could be, while not really being so overpowered on that character.  Not to mention you destroy her whole town and she still decides to fight on instead of being crushed by such a tragic event. 

 

[Deleted]

Who is my favourite RPG Hero you ask? Well, without any doubt, it is Zidane Tribal, from Final Fantasy 9.

"You don't need a reason to help people." ~ Zidane. A quote I have tried to live my life by.

Personality:- This guy is just truly awesome. Only sixteen years old, he is charming, charismatic, a born leader, upbeat and very rarely somber, and as his quote makes clear he is a true hero, putting others first. Need an example? When escaping from the Evil Forest, Zidane is prepared to sacrifice himself to save his companions (even Steiner who dislikes him), until his friend Blank pushes him out the way, saving the group and sacrifices himself instead. He is sympathetic towards other's plights, he provides much emotional support to Garnet, Vivi and Freya throughout the game. 

​Appearance:- He just looks so cool. His layered blonde hair, his clothing that makes him look like a bad-ass medieval cowboy. His weapons are also awesome, from his Duel-Wield Daggers to his Double Bladed Naginata. And that tail  Be honest, we all wished we had that amazig tail, I know I did.

Due to his interesting back story, his constant flirtatiousness and humorous personality, he is just a pleasure to play as.

That is why Zidane Tribal IS the best RPG Hero.  BD

Spoiler

 

[Matombo]

Nice work

Since im from germany i want to participate in the givaway:

Favorite Hero: Muggles from Sweet Lily Dreams (a rpg maker game)

The dream of a Flower-Teddybear .. something.

Quote:

The Writer: "When you entered my world you have breathen deadly nerve Gas which should take effect in about half an hour."

Muggles: "It Smelled Funny!"

 

[Juunanagou]

Tiles are so <3. However, my personal RPG hero is Terra of FFVI. Love her story, between human and esper side, she wants to save the world but she keeps part of her heart in the esper world, always asking herself if she will ever be able to love being half human. To us it would seems normal that she could love, because esper can and human can, but she doubts from the life she had to live until her freedom. It's most like: "Will I ever be able to love when first myself have not been loved?". It's quite deep to think in the real world. It's possible for someone to be loved if they haven't recived love in their lives?

Spoiler

 

[Chaneque]

That is one gorgeous-looking tileset. I love the pixel look to it - as much as I like the fancy new RPGs, I still love the pixel look.

My favourite RPG hero? God, that's a tough one. Well, I really like the Avatar from Fire Emblem - I know you can change their appearance, gender and who they marry, but they say the same thing and their personality is great. They're really lovely, and they always have time for other people, even when they're struggling with their own problems.

 

[Alkorri]

This is me just being nosy. Guys, remember when submitting to tell us WHY they're your favourite RPG hero! Some of us also want to know why this hero means so much to you

 

[Vinedrius]

[Giveaway entry]

My favorite RPG hero is Ramza Beoulve.

Spoiler

For being the bastard of Barbaneth Beoulve, he is considered to be unworthy of carrying the House Beoulve name by his paternal siblings and attempts to prove his worth in the academy but it isn't long before he realizes the corruption of politics and making a name means nothing to him if it means innocents would suffer in the process. Watching his closest friend and his sister getting caught up in an explosion is the last straw that leads him to leave his noble ties behind and become a selfless fighter.

He never gives up despite being caught up in a whirl of intrigue and even being branded as a heretic and hunted by the Curch of Glabados. He always fights as a last resort and defends the realm against evil while Delita manipulates and uses it in contrast. He turns his old friend away every time he is offered a place by Delita's side while he is rising to power step by step. He may look like a bland and shallow hero but in fact, he acts like a personification of virtue.

When everything is over, although Matsuno has confirmed that his end is up to player interpretation, he is shown leaving everything he did behind and he has nothing but his sister with him. He knows the realm is in capable hands with his old friend as the king and despite knowing his way of rising to power was evil in itself, he believes peace is finally secured albeit at great costs and he doesn't give up on trusting him as he knows there is a good man inside the shell of a merciless manipulator. He doesn't want to be made an icon, he doesn't want to be remembered. He simply leaves the stage to Delita and takes off.

Thank you Yasumi Matsuno for bringing us the deepest and most touching Final Fantasy story ever.

 

[Ruby]

Sharm, these tiles are absolutely beautiful and I commend you on your hard work! It has taken you a lot of persistence and I am so excited to get these (whether I have to buy them, or win them)

That being said, my favorite RPG Hero, is Riou from Suikoden 2. His backstory, his life in the army, and the incredible willpower he has despite everything is why he is my favorite. Take your best friend for life, and rip them away from you- Turn them into your enemy, and still have the strength to go on without their positive influence that has held you up for many years. Have your sister be killed by one of your enemy's, and still wake up the next day and be a positive influence on the world. That is strength. Even as a fictional character, he is my own personal hero, and I look up to him to be strong in my daily life.

 

[Celianna]

Great to see these released! I know how hard Sharm worked on them


And just to join in for fun (don't pick me ), my favourite RPG hero is Mistral from .Hack//Infection. She's just some extra that joins your party, very upbeat and cheerful, speaking in an annoyingly high voice. She's hyper all the time, but you could really rely on her to be there for you. You'd think she was a 14 year old girl, but in real life she's a woman in her late twenties, pregnant with her first child. I've always enjoyed adding her to my party due to her cheerful personality, but finding out about her background just made me respect her more.

 

[Bonkers]

Review of Pixel Myth:

Spoiler

Alright, the most impressive part of the Germania set has to be the tiles ets A1 and A2.  The amount of beauty in the buildings is solid, and gives a distinct flavor for a setting.

The windows, custom metal gate, furniture and flora make the B-E seem like it's overflowing with options.  It is a strong and fully developed set that even includes lit versions of windows.

Exterior and Interior both saw a lot of love, and the trees are powerful elements.  The shading and lighting of the canopy autotiles and individual trunks/leaves felt similar to classic rpg style tiling.   

Among the characters are included a special crystal sprite, a hidden passage bookshelf, and even a pull chain toilet which is highly thematic.

Water Parallax backgrounds are included, and can serve a variety of uses. A custom frame, window, font(No German ~ or misc symbols present for characters), and even a BGM theme.  The theme itself works as a title menu, or cut scene material.

The style works well and can be adapted to the DS set in some instances as well as XP with some adjustments.

 

*

 

The weakest part of this set is that there is no included example parallax map, or sample game.  We have no usable humanoid characters to put in the setting, and that makes it feel like a ghost town for most maps.  the setting is fully developed, but it's inhabitants are sadly absent.

I am currently checking her resource thread: http://forums.rpgmak...8-sharms-stuff/, and I don't see anything to hint what they will look like, though she does include a wonderful bust template and example!  This means we can edit\display our own as they are not a part of the downloaded set.

Sadly there are no rounded hedges.  Black gradient was not a good choice for the default window skin texture.

Sharm does a great job and thankfully she isn't done with constructing the extras, so I will keep waiting for more.  So far 6 months wait was worth what we've got available.

This is a very hands on set and should be usable by anyone with enough experience to load custom tiles and limited mapping experience. 

9.5/10 Really want those humans to inhabit the buildings.

 

[Sharm]

That's an excellent review Palladinthug, thank you very much!


I thought for sure I'd made the characters for other languages, I'll have to go back and check. I was planning on making an update at some point anyway with all the tiles formatted to work in XP, I'll just make sure that I include an updated font when I do.


I decided to separate out the characters from the rest of the set. I'm not as experienced in making sprites as I am with tiles and I didn't think it was fair to make everyone wait for the tiles while I got good enough to make them. It looks pretty good with the existing tall sprites out there so I hoped that wouldn't be too much of an issue. I am working on a character pack right now that will have not only sprites and busts but also all the pieces so you can put together your own. Maybe some awesome extra stuff if I can pull it off. Hopefully that will be worth having it separate.


Hmm, I didn't think the black gradient looked bad but you're probably right. UI elements have long been a weakness of mine, I'll keep trying to get better at them.

 

[Venka]

That tile set does look pretty amazing I like the RTP painted style.. but I love the detailed pixel art too and it works for tall characters.. there's no down side

Anyway, my favorite rpg hero? Chocobo of Chocobo Dungeon.. how could you go wrong a cute little bird with some attitude that saves the world all by his lonesome? Oh and did I mention you can change his appearance by changing his class? Of course Cid says he helps but he mostly just provides dialog since chocobo doesn't actually speak.

Spoiler

https://katella.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/natural.jpg

 

[frrrosty]

Absolutely gorgeous tileset.  Really lovely.

I want to win one, so here's a favorite RPG hero:  Geralt of Rivia

Spoiler

Geralt is a really interesting hero, or more of an "anti-hero" but a hero nonetheless.  He is a witcher, a monster-slayer that is a human modified at a young age to gain some superhuman traits, at the cost of being made sterile.  He lives in a world where despite his usefulness, his kind is not trusted by the common folk, but is sometimes seen as a "necessary evil."  His character is a true grey character, one who doesn't want to choose sides in conflicts of men but is often forced to in one way or another.  The world he inhabits is interesting, where humans dominate non-human races, where race and class struggles are very real and cause Geralt to have to weigh the cost of not choosing a side and whether that is really another choice in of itself.  He doesn't believe in destiny but he seems to have been chosen, and his struggle with this "fate" is another wrinkle to an already interesting character.

It helps that the games make your choices feel very meaningful on one hand, but also don't succumb to the usual "save the orphanage/burn it down" black-and-white morality system that exists in a lot of other games.  Consequences from your actions usually don't appear until far down the road, making for a more interesting experience.

 

[EternalShadow]

Oh, my gosh. The Witcher. Never thought I'd see that, but that's one of the best games (The Witcher 2) I've ever played! Props to ya.

 

[Sharm]

I'm going to copy Celianna. I want to join the fun but please don't pick me for the prize.


I think Magus is probably my favorite RPG character. He was my introduction to the concept of "everyone is the hero of their own story". Magus starts off as the typical RPG villain, he's trying to take over the world, has done awful things to some good people and is the cause of Lavos destroying things in the future. But the more you learn about him, the more you understand his choices. He's fighting the war because he's standing up for the monster race, a group he has more faith in than humanity for some very good reasons. He's done awful things in the war because war is an awful thing and he thinks that the ends justify the means. He's trying to summon Lavos because he wants to destroy it and save the world, and he understandably thinks he's the only one who can pull that off. The more he interacts with your party, the better a person he becomes and eventually he comes to regret his actions and joins your party! It's pretty rare for a game to let you play through someone's redemption ark like that. Plus, he's super cool, his magic casting animation alone puts him permanently in the awesome category.


I was pretty unhappy when they decided not to use him in Chrono Cross. Instead they took the character that is him in disguise in Radical Dreamers and made him a completely different character. That decision flattened out the new character and suddenly his design made no sense. They never bothered to give that guy a character of his own either so I don't understand why they did it. Maybe the creators knew how awesome Magus was and were worried that he'd completely overshadow the other characters. To be fair they were probably right.