Crestfallen Studios

Review by ShinyGiver
"Worth the upgrade from XP? Possibly yes, and also possibly no."
Introduction:

After obtaining my copy of this from Japan, I got very excited and decided to get this up and running right away. When I first tried this out, I was awed by the many features that came back from RPG Makers older than XP. I was also happy to see new features, such as a dungeon generator and so on. However, not too long into my enjoyment, I've noticed that there were a few flaws with this RPG Maker (Tsukuru in Japan).

Features 7/10:

This software has some neat new features, such as a dungeon generator and easy to manage, system tags (Items, Skills, Status etc). It also has the script editor from XP but with a cleaner interface and better organized.

What's keeping me from giving this section a 10 is the fact that due to rewritten modules from the new RGSS (A scripting system used in RPG Maker XP), most scripts made in RPG Maker XP won't work in VX. Also because of the fact that you are really limited in map making and you only get two layers to work with. What I mean by really limited in map making is that when making maps for your games, you'll only ever get to work with 5 tabs of one map tile throughout the entire project. A huge draw-back for RPG Maker veterans.


Graphics: 7/10

The default graphics from the Run Time Package, or RTP, are pretty nice, except for the fact that character sets are now chibi sized (And I mean this in a bad way). However, the artworks are okay and the tiles looks pretty smooth in a way. Also, the graphics resolution has gone down from XP, which is kind of bad. But if you don't like the RTP resources, you can always make some yourself or find some new ones.

Sound: 8/10

Although not as well done as the ones from XP, the musics and sounds are okay. It's more like something you'd hear from the older RPG Makers but a tad bit better. Sound effects are pretty much the same from XP so there's not much to say about them.

Usability: 10/10

Compared to XP, this RPG Maker is very easy to use. It has returning features that were taken out of XP and some new ones at that. It's by far the most advanced but user-friendly RPG Maker out there. Even if you're just starting out, it'll be a piece of cake once you learn what everything is and does. This program is more devoted to those who are just making games for fun, but if you want to sell your games (Provided you made everything yourself or have permission to sell the materials along with your game), you can do that too.

Buy Or Trial First?:

Trial first. You'd want to experience a piece of this before you go out and buy it. I wouldn't want you guys to feel disappointed if the flaws I've mentioned were a big bother to you. However, scripting is not usable in the trial version.

Final comments:

To be honest, I was quite satisfied with this RPG Maker but a bit disappointed in a way too. I can see myself making a game with this engine so hopefully you can too, if you ever decide to buy this and try it out. If you ever wanted to make a game, I recommend this software for starters.
Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/28/08

Game Release: RPG Tsukuru VX (JP, 12/27/07)

Shindy wrote:Heres some guy who has too much time on his hands that game a fully functional err..-game thats completed when the frigging RPG maker came out a month ago.
http://www.rpgmakervx.net/index.php?showtopic=274
download link is in the text so its find to hard... for u lazy people:
http://www.rpgmaker.net/~craze/VersusXerza/VX01.zip

Imagine now patch, that gives more than Powermode 2003 - supports bigger amount of pictures (up to 200) with processing texts into image, setting text window size, open variable manipulating, aqquiring real date and time, or even (I don't belive that I write this) online game! The patch is being developed from one and half a year by some freak German RM-maniac, and the recent version is aviavable for "the choosen ones". The patch has obviously many more options - but it's hard to write about them - patch allows to use scripting language (something like JavaScript). So abilities are great.