MV - Above & Below - Demo v1.3 Active!

Above & Below is a semi-open world, story-driven RPG about how a search for one girl’s lost memory becomes a desperate struggle to defy prophetic destiny and uncover how the after-effects of a thousands-year-old war reshaped the fates of two intertwined worlds.

Geraria has always been known to the people of Calindor as the land of angels, a world where the goddess they worship resides. The people of Calindor believe that one day their goddess will send her child, the Harbinger, to the world to cleanse it of the Fallen, angels who have committed wicked acts against the goddess, and who create evil monsters to destroy the humans of Calindor. What the people don't realize is, just how skewed their perception of the two worlds really is.

Join Colette, an angel fallen from the heavens above; and Arietta, a girl who fits the criteria of the Church of Calindor’s savior written of in their holy text, as they soon start to help Colette regain her lost memories, and Arietta learns that just maybe, the world really doesn’t need purged of “evil”…


Characters





Name: Colette Rundel

Class: The Valkyrie

For reasons forgotten to her, one day Colette plummeted from the sky and landed in Calindor, just north of Shasla Village. She wields a decorated sword, and wears emerald tinted armor. Colette agrees to join Arietta in hopes to regain her missing memories of her previous life, and how/why she fell from Geraria.





Name: Arietta Kathla

Class: The Harbinger

Where the art of magic is said only to be able to be controlled by the divine, Arietta seems to naturally be able to control fire. She's also able to see the wings of the Fallen; both these seemingly unrelated traits are also marks of the Harbinger. Arietta prefers to live a peaceful life in Shasla Village with her grandparents, and after seeing Colette, wants to seek the real truth behind her destiny.





Name: Riley Sylven

Class: The Cleric

A young boy in service of the Church of Calindor, Riley has chosen to spend his life worshiping Lady Gamma, the revered goddess of the church. Joining up with Colette and Arietta however, threatens to destroy his faith and his self-appearance. It's also been noticed that his diadem looks suspiciously like those worn by the royal family of the far-off kingdom of Sylvant.





Name: Jade Iscariot

Class: The Hunter

Formerly a member of Geraria's elite, Jade purposely left of his own volition after learning of his superiors' plans for Calindor. Jade has now spent his time roaming the land of Calindor, taking it all in, and now with the arrival of the Harbinger; he hopes to intercept them before the Church's prophecy becomes realized...





Name: Arewean Cerano

Class: The Siren

The last known living member of the Divines, a race of people that had originally occupied Geraria before the war, Arewean fled her home thousands of years ago after the Drasna took the land for themselves, slaying or imprisoning any Divine in their way. While not fond of the Drasnic people, for obvious reasons, Arewean joined with a group of fallen Drasna and have been with them since due to the same goal: seeking the downfall of the current Drasnic leaders.





Name: Lorren Da'monde

Class: The Druid

Living in a society of secluded humans within Kasuda Swamp, Lorren is a self-proclaimed scientist of Shyllen, a mysterious mineral that acts as a powerful catalyst for mana. While normal humans lack the synergy to control mana and thus use magic, Lorren has figured how to properly craft weapons from Shyllen, allowing for the use of magic by humans. Lorren himself sports a pair of Shyllen-crafted bracers. He's a curious soul, who someday wishes to explore Calindor.


Features

The screenshots look great and I'm always excited for lots of female characters :)

Thank you! This is actually a game I've wanted to make since 2012 when I first picked up RPGMaker VX Ace, but couldn't/didn't because of inexperience. I finally believe I've got the skill to get it started.


I've also added a screenshot of the tavern in Shasla Village! Slowly but surely I'll get a demo built... 

Updated the main post with Colette's character bust done by @Katsudoom!

You've got a great eye for colour and it shows in these screenshots. The colour tones match so well. Nicely done :)

These characters are interesting in that they're all very obviously different from each other and they already seem to have opposing goals and foci. Arietta is the character that makes me the most interested! And to top it all off, the world's themes and facets are weaved into these characters really well already. And that makes me really intrigued to find out what other side-character's stories are out there.


In addition, I'm intrigued by what you allude to in the character descriptions about how "most human beings cannot use magic", and that's something, too, that not only builds the world but also has an effect on the game's combat mechanics. And I can't wait to see how that works out (if that's a thing...)

Beautiful mapping and yay for siren girl. I'm pretty interested in sirens so that's cool.

Thank you! I wanted to make the characters different from each other, yet all integral to the story. Old JRPGs like Chrono Trigger and Tales of Phantasia did so well because they made everything seem to tie into the plot, and I want to also do something of the sort. The player is only forced to the minimum of 3 party members, (Colette, Arietta and Jade; or Colette, Lorren and Jade) but I want the player to seek out the others, not solely because, "Hey what can this person do in combat?", but because they each play a role in the story, and each of them knows different things about the worlds, and really, the only way to get the full story is to have all 6 party members.


(Fun fact, Arietta's class was originally the Pyromancer, but I changed her character to be more integral to the plot because she really was only there as a plot device to get the game started and wasn't really needed as a character after that point.)


In reference to humans not being able to use magic, yes, that will have combat effects. Skills are divided into either tactics or spells. I've sort of worked into that all the playable human characters will be able to use some form of magic, but pretty much every human enemy that the player encounters can't use any spell of any kind, unless they have a Shyllen weapon equipped. (I'd actually like to use a linear motion battle system instead of turn based but that's beyond my realm of expertise and I don't believe MV has a script for it, also it'd take alot of funds to get a programmer and sprite sheet for it.)


Lorren can obviously use magic because of his Shyllen bracers, but a character like Arietta is locked into only using Fire and Energy based spells, and being locked out of any other magic group. 

After a quick Google search, it looks like "Moghunter" has made the battle system you're talking about. The "Linear Action" one, an MV version and everything. But it does look like a bit of a resource investment, sprite-wise. I can't really tell because the entire thing is in Portugese, but it certainly isn't impossible once you learn the notetags and stuff.


Still. I'm rooting for you. It looks like "Above & Below" has a pretty tight design between the combat mechanics, exploration, and flavor, with plenty of good wiggle room. That can be very uncommon around here. And I like the sound of it!



Best of luck!

Remember how I said I didn't have the funds to do a Linear Motion Battle System? Well...


A very good friend of mine gave me the money needed to implement an LMBS into the game demo. (Still yet to be halfway finished.)


@svarn is doing the sprite art for it, and here's a preview of Colette's walk animation:





Once she and an enemy type become finished, I'll make a video just showcasing the battle system.

Added a new screenshot, I've also made this comparison picture of the first forest map from the old VX Ace version of the game made probably over 6 months ago, to the map for the current version. (I like to think my parallaxing has gotten better...)

Still here. I haven't disappeared yet. Work has been extremely slow due to work and school and my health issues I've been having, but I'm starting to get back at it. Expect to see more frequent updates after the holidays are over. Now to the stuff!





Concept art for a slime battler done by @svarn. When this is done, I'm hoping to get out a demo video of the battle engine.





Finished the map that the player finds Colette in. Once I get the other intro maps done, I'll start eventing this.

hey, this is nice! i'll be keeping an eye on it so i can playtest the demo :)

Updated the main post. @eadgear is doing the art for the character busts now. I love his work.


Edit: I can also officially say that all 39 maps for the demo are finished!

Yeah, your updated maps are looking soooo good! Can't wait to play test the demo  ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ 

I really enjoy you mapping, it looks so pretty! Very well done.

I'm hoping to get the demo out by early February at the latest. Once more stuff gets done except actual game screenshots and not just maps.

@The_Trinity


The Story


First of all, after reading the synopsis, I thought to myself, "What a fitting title for a game." I love it. The story sounds simple, yet interesting, and I think I know what it ends up being about, but part of me also believes there's more to the story than what I think I know. Which is great! I love knowing what a game is basically about and being blown away or impressed when all the pieces of the story finally come together at the end. I think it makes it more enjoyable.


The Characters

• Colette Rundel: I don't need to know much about Colette, but the fact that she fell from the land of angels and lost her memories of Geraria or why she fell definitely makes me wonder what's going on up there and if it has anything to do with the Fallen.
   
  
• Arietta Kathla: Another interesting character in pursuit of the truth. The fact that she has all, or almost all, of the makings of the Harbinger makes me curious to know what her story is as well. She seems like a nice girl, living peacefully with her grandparents, but you don't get a name or title like Harbinger for being cozy with your grandparents, lol.
   
  
• Riley Sylven: Yet another interesting character. Aren't you on a roll? This time, we have a church-loving young man whose faith is about to get a wake-up call and who might be a member of a far-off royal family. Wait, what? What the heck is he doing here then? Hmm.
   
  
• Jade Iscariot: I'll admit, I don't find the name fitting at all, but that's just my personal taste. Other than that, Jade sounds like a guy who might have some answers as to why Colette fell from Geraria and lost her memories.
   
  
• Arewean Cerano: Interesting first name. Not sure I'm pronouncing it correctly. Nevertheless, Arewean's a Divine - a race that inhabited Geraria (land of the angels) before its current occupants (the Drasna) overtook it? If so, does that mean Colette is a Dras...nian? Interesting.
   
  
• Lorren Da'monde: He looks like he could play an interesting role in things. The fact that he's a druid, but looks nothing like a druid (at least in my head) has me curious to learn more about him. Definitely an interesting sounding/looking character.
  

Lasting Thoughts


Since I'm out of time to write more, I'll end by saying that your game looks absolutely beautiful. Even the old VXAce screenshots look great. The current ones look even better, but there's something else about it all that I find incredibly appealing. Good job on it all. I look forward to seeing more.

*takes a deep breath* It's been awhile since an update, but jeez, have I been working. Intro is completely finished, side quests are starting to be implemented, and finally, the linear motion battle system is in place! (Oh, I'm also working on custom menus too.)





It still needs tweaked, but the bare bones are in place at least.


I've also added the busts for Riley and Jade!

I just wanna say that i absolutely love both the story and the art!! I will wait for the demo~


oh, and the linear motion battle system reminds me of early Tales Series, can't wait!!