MV - Once Upon the Woods (One map event entry)

Starmage · 2018-05-10T23:16:00+0900

Hi guys! Once Upon the Woods is my entry submission for the One Map Challenge event being held at Rpgmaker.web. It is a very short and simple RPG that features the story of Hansel and Gretel, an old fairy-tale that we have all heard. This game is sort of like my high-fantasy take on the story. ^_^ I hope that you enjoy! Spoiler Once upon a time in a faraway forest, there lived a poor family that has two twin children: Hansel and Gretel. The twins' parents have been in an economic struggle for a very long time, and they decided to take the twins out in the woods to abandon them and free themselves from the burden of feeding the twins. Fortunately, Hansel left a trail of white stones from where they left which helped them return home, but, the Mother was angered with their return and decided to take the twins out on the woods again to abandon them once more. With Hansel leaving behind a trail of breadcrumbs, will this help them find their way back home again? Spoiler Gretel: The girl of the twins, Gretel is a timid and shy girl who has an optimistic outlook on life. She's easily frightened but is always determined to see her and her brother's dreams fulfilled. She has learned magic from secretly reading their mother's books on witchcraft and wizardry. Gretel specializes mostly in healing and light magic. Hansel: The boy of the twins, Hansel is a brave and caring boy who is very protective of her sister. He has a strong sense of justice and is the one who has overheard their parents talking about their abandonment. Hansel has learned the way of the sword by finding his father's old battle equipment. Hansel specializes in tanking incoming damage and dealing physical damage. Spoiler Spoiler Once Upon the Woods 2.0 Features: - Very short and sweet - Challenging, strategic and engaging battles - Beautiful Celtic music

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Started by Starmage May 10, 2018, 02:16 PM 12 posts View original ↗

Starmage

#1 May 10, 2018, 02:16 PM Source

Hi guys! Once Upon the Woods is my entry submission for the One Map Challenge event being held at Rpgmaker.web. :) It is a very short and simple RPG that features the story of Hansel and Gretel, an old fairy-tale that we have all heard. This game is sort of like my high-fantasy take on the story. ^_^ I hope that you enjoy! :)

Spoiler
Once upon a time in a faraway forest, there lived a poor family that has two twin children: Hansel and Gretel. The twins' parents have been in an economic struggle for a very long time, and they decided to take the twins out in the woods to abandon them and free themselves from the burden of feeding the twins. Fortunately, Hansel left a trail of white stones from where they left which helped them return home, but, the Mother was angered with their return and decided to take the twins out on the woods again to abandon them once more. With Hansel leaving behind a trail of breadcrumbs, will this help them find their way back home again?

Spoiler

Gretel:
The girl of the twins, Gretel is a timid and shy girl who has an optimistic outlook on life. She's easily frightened but is always determined to see her and her brother's dreams fulfilled. She has learned magic from secretly reading their mother's books on witchcraft and wizardry. Gretel specializes mostly in healing and light magic.

Hansel:
The boy of the twins, Hansel is a brave and caring boy who is very protective of her sister. He has a strong sense of justice and is the one who has overheard their parents talking about their abandonment. Hansel has learned the way of the sword by finding his father's old battle equipment. Hansel specializes in tanking incoming damage and dealing physical damage.

Spoiler

Spoiler
Once Upon the Woods 2.0

Features:

- Very short and sweet
- Challenging, strategic and engaging battles
- Beautiful Celtic music
Starmage

#2 May 13, 2018, 04:02 PM Source

I just noticed now that the thread got accepted xDD Thanks so much! :) Hope people will enjoy my simple entry for the fun one map event! ^_^
Canini

#3 May 19, 2018, 08:24 PM Source

I did a short review of this:
http://atspela.blogspot.se/2018/05/once-upon-forest.html

My main points:
- Really fun rewrite of the basic Hansel and Gretel story. The whole mood of the game were great!
- Had the content of the chests been randomized that would have made it fun to retry the game.
- The battles are really well-balanced and the designs are very creative.
- I really liked the strategy of the skills and the resource-management you had to do. The game was pretty challenging but never felt unfair.
- I was a bit confused about how old the characters where supposed to be?
Starmage

#4 May 21, 2018, 09:52 AM Source

@Canini - Wow!! I'm really that you took the time to review this short simple game of mine, Canini! ^_^ :) Thank you so much for your feedback!! :) I'm glad that you liked the gameplay and mood of the game!! ^_^ :)

Oh, and the twins are supposedly teenagers in this game xDD Kinda like, 17-20 years old! xDD :)

Also, I do agree with you. That idea with a randomized chest would increase replayability and strategic flexibility! ;) Should've done that, too! ^_^

Once again, thanks a lot for your review, Canini, I really appreciate it! ^_^
aarn321

#5 Jun 3, 2018, 09:29 PM Source

Loved it, the third battle and final boss were challenging but not impossible, took me a few times on each. Loved the attention to detail in the mapping and graphics, using rotating pictures for blowing leaves, having a frame on the screen's edge in battles, and re-hauling the menu screen to make it fit a game with a two person max party, and the music was downright exquisite. My only complaint is at the end they decide to stay in the house forever because they were too nervous to return to their parents because of a argument they had with them. Personally, and this is just me, I would have had them realize after what they went through, how fleeting life can be and how important family is, despite the differences they have with them, and the game would end with them rushing home back to their parents not even remembering what the argument was about.
Starmage

#6 Jun 10, 2018, 11:29 AM Source

@aarn321 - Hello and thank you so much for trying out this short and simple game! ^_^ :) I'm very glad you enjoyed the gameplay and the overall feel of the game! It means a lot to me, for, even in such a small project like this, I poured my heart and soul into! xDD :)

Also, I do agree with why you feel that way regarding Hansel and Gretel's decisions with fully abandoning their parents and putting all chances of reconciliation out of the picture. x(( I do, however, believe that the children would first need some time to heal from the wounds of their parents' neglect. xD :) But yeah, hopefully, in the future, they all get along and forgiveness is done. :)

Once again, thanks so much for your feedback aarn321! :)
eluukkanen

#7 Jun 11, 2018, 11:12 AM Source

Looks rpg-ish, but not too much for my taste! :rhappy: Game itself has much of this feel of old stories (Hansel and Gretel) Looking guud!
Starmage

#8 Jun 15, 2018, 11:27 AM Source

Hi @eluukkanen !! Thanks so much for checking out!! ^_^ :) Hahaha yes indeed, it is truly inspired by an old fairy-tale!! ;) xD ^_^
dreamfall887

#9 Sep 12, 2020, 01:55 PM Source
Hi @Starmage! :kaohi:

Okay I finished the game! I enjoyed it, it was challenging but fun! Here's are some notes I wrote while I was playing it. :)
Notes

I like the music and the design of the menu.

I like the fairy tale theme.

I noticed the faces are different in battle. I like the artstyle but I think it would be better to stick to either the MV RTP faces or the detailed faces. :)

Wow, this game is kinda hard. I keep dying!:kaomad2:

I like the battler sprites for Hansel and Gretel. Did you make them yourself? :)

Wow, the Windy and Lightning Bolt spells are so powerful, they kept killing poor Gretel over and over! XD

Gretel stop dying! I'm running out of red feathers! :kaomad2:

I got stuck on the fight just before the final boss. After the fifth(!) attempt, I realised that Gretel was in the front. *facepalm* I moved her to the back and I was able to win that fight. :kaoswt:

I beat the witch on my first try. Yay! :kaojoy:
Starmage

#10 Sep 12, 2020, 03:44 PM Source

Hello @dreamfall887 !! Woow! ^_^ <3 I am so happy to hear your thoughts and feedback about the game, dreamfall! Thanks so much for playing my one map entry! :D haha yeah, the battles can be pretty intense, and I know Gretel can keep on dying due to the low hp. xD But you can use Hansel's "Protect" skill to taunt enemies to only attack him for 5 turns. ;)

And sweet! You beat the boss on the first attempt! :D xD

Btw, I also plan to play your one map entry soon once I get back to my pc! <3 ^_^
Starmage

#12 Mar 7, 2023, 08:53 AM Source

Hi everyone! Here's a new poster for Once Upon the Woods, my game entry for the RMW One Map challenge! A Hansel and Gretel-inspired game. Once again with the help of Leonardo A.I. art generator, photoshopped + put together by me! Hope you like it! ^_^ <3

You can download original large image here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/f2fm5z5xsm3zsti/Once+upon+the+woods+poster+Large.png/file
Starmage

#13 Mar 16, 2025, 06:53 PM Source

Continuing my journey to replace all Leonardo A.I. cover arts on some of my games! This time done for Once Upon the Woods! Also made a small graphical update for the game, now available for download! :D <3