MV - Titans of Illumia (15+hrs Non-Linear RPG)

Presumably non of the story characters will ever get the pick axe or shovel.? Should I have started with the prologue then?

Only for the early stages while following each character route. A new game in adventure mode will allow you to unlock things from the start as it skips the prologue which is roughly an hour long. Hope that helps.

I started playing this game because I saw how many pages were attached to it (silly, I know...)
i decided to skip the prologue (since honestly, I *hate* prologues, so it's nothing against this game!) and I can see why it could be necessary to play, since I felt a bit disconnected from the characters a little, so I went back and started the prologue and got stuck on the fighter girl, unsure what I needed to do.

I'm just kind of dumb when it comes to games, which is why I like it when there are like, if you get "stuck" you can get a quest hint, or something like that. This is just an observation, not necessarily something I think you need (since I'm the only person who is getting stuck LOL)

I went back to my original playthrough (so far 2 hours in!) and I have to say I really like the class changes, and a lot of the skills (I'm a skill spammer...haha). I went to the first "dungeon?" if you wanna call it that, and kept dying so I left. The fishy people seem to have a lot of health? I do like that you don't level up necessarily but I'm sitting here like, how do I beat up these fishy people?

I do like that the game seems to have a very open-world feel to it, and the puzzles I've encountered so far (like getting the pickaxe) are simple, but not too simple, but not too challenging either. I actually accepted my first "mark" and Idk where this jewel thief is but I refuse to look it up or ask because I'm going to find him before that other dude does.

Overall, I really can't wait until I get further in the game because so far I'm enjoying it a lot!

I do have one question though, how are you doing the thing where you cut the grass or break the rocks on the map? ;; Is this an ABS function?

@kaiijuu,
I think I'll have to update the current quest objectives a little at some point as there's a few locations that aren't that obvious. If you're unsure of where to go in the prologue:


Fire works well for the Segha'an but they do have a bit too much health in all fairness. The other main 3 dungeons are a bit harder but you can always find different weapon/ armour combinations through crafting, exploring, and visiting other towns.

The rocks/ grass are done through eventing, showing a quick animation then running a random variable to determine what item or coin comes up. I had to look up ABS, not that familiar with it but looks interesting.

It's always nice to hear feedback, glad you're enjoying the game!

Hey Hopeless, sorry I stopped playing after I rage quited while trying to win the battle against the fire titan. That battle is ruthless :eswt:
The dragon is by far the toughest enemy I faced. Any tips on how to deal with it? I literally have all the max physical defense I could find and the party has fire shield equipped, and it's still very hard.

@Blue Symphony,

The heat-proof visor should prevent burn which will cripple your ATK stat. If you have the Spellsword contract then Fire form will half all fire damage for the whole party with no armour slot investment.

Pillar of flames which is used by both the dragon and Flambosa is magic damage. If you set Alice up with a high spirit stat she can provoke some of those hits that would normally 1-2 shot a character. Lauriett having a high spirit stat is a good idea as he can be a bulky healer that can deal damage with Spirit shot too.

The Hunter skill Ice Prison is guaranteed to inflict Frost on the Dragon halving it's speed and potentially reducing how often it's turn comes up.

Generally if you have any of the spirit weapons which you can unlock the quest for in Elfheim they're a big help for damage output and getting around MP/LB costs.

Hope that helps,

-HD

Hi, really enjoying your game (actually I made an account just to comment on it, this is the first RPG Maker made game I have ever played!) I am about six hours through, having started with the prologue, I really can not believe how polished it is. I am not sure what would spoil the game for someone so I will just put my comments in a spoiler.
Again really fun game, I like how the monsters were easier in the prologue, then when I was thinking I hope it doesn't stay this easy, it got complex. Nice curve there. I look forward to playing it more when I get a chance.

@DarksteelKami,
Hey, thanks for checking out the game and letting me know. Glad you're enjoying it so far, there's a ton of great rpg maker games out there so defo worth checking them out!

I'll have fixes for these issues in the next update as they shouldn't take too long. The one thing you mentioned that seemed like an exploit is semi-intentional but I may give them a slight resistance to it just to mix up replay-ability of that encounter. I kinda like some minor exploits if players find them just so everyone can take their own approach to the game and play it the way they want.

Version 1.0.12 is out!
Got a bit carried away writing a walk through for the game which is a work in progress for now but should help nonetheless.
Wanted to get this fix out soon as though in case anyone was experiencing an issue with quest rewards (Contracts) not appearing.
Cheats are now a thing to play around with too, there's a bit more information in the walk through included!

just started playing a bit am still in the prologue playing as lauriett and made it over toward elfheim where I ran into lauriett praying at the graves? I believe most likely not supposed to be able to go to elfheim yet? also the state effect icons for the gems in the shop seem to be off or maybe your just using something different for them

The enemy art is great. I love the cartoony style.

I feel like the way the game is designed currently, the Dark Mirror isn't optional.... you're kind of forcing players to grind thru old bosses in order to gain stat points. Two major problems with that: stat altering and grinding should never be required. If a player wants to spend a bunch of hours maxing out characters, that's cool, for them, but should not be necessary just to beat the regular story line. I think you have fallen into a trap here, where you want the players to experience everything you've done, so you've made the "story mode" really difficult unless they go around and complete all the side quests. That is not how non-linear usually works. Usually non-linear games get criticized for the main story being too easy, if anything, but that's expected, as the whole point of having an "open world" concept is that the player can CHOOSE how much or how little "extra stuff" to do; but again, I feel you're trying to force players to do everything.

I should not have to stat-grind in any game. That is a waste of my time and lazy game development.

Besides that though, the game is really well done. I like the characters and variety of abilities. Class system is definitely impressive.

It's possible to beat the main story without the dark mirror, I'm sure of it. I did it. Set the right equipments and upgrade the mercant to buy mega potions.....ah...and buy a lot of bombs. Good luck

@gvduck10,
I can assure you the game is beatable without the Dark Mirror though admittedly I was worried that if someone were to grind for stat boosts that it would be repetitive. Equipment found, crafted or bought is really the best way to progress, the right combinations can do a lot of damage or make some encounters trivial.
While I wanted to give players the option to boost stats, exploration is the intent so I'll take what you've said in consideration of that idea. I agree with you regarding excessive stat grinding as it becomes less of a game and more of a grinding task.
I'm a little hesitant to lower the difficulty but I'd like to address any problems with the game if I can. I imagine this is also more of a general issue rather than encounter specific balance issues so I'll have to give a lot of thought before making any major changes. If you or anyone else have any suggestions I'm all ears but I can't promise I'll implement every suggestion.

I've had a look into the state icons but I'm not entirely sure what you mean. Each gem has a chance to inflict 1 state and there should be 1 icon per gem.
You are supposed to be able to reach Elfheim at that point and it'll give you a big advantage too. The characters appearing here is a mistake on my part though...

A lot of the sprites are done by the talented akashics! Their sprites can be found here: http://www.akashics.moe/

Out of curiosity, did you use any bombs for enemies?

oh ok well for the icons i was meaning where things like the sapphire says it does water and shows a silence icon which i guess is also just something it does but i was confused as the ruby says fire and also shows a fire icon but im guessing that is meaning a lingering burn effect?

also was messing with a mine cart puzzle with boulders and levers and the cart got stuck along the track it didn't get to a stopping point or one of the mid stops you push again and the the character couldn't move and the cart just sat jiggling i waited a bit and still nothing happened so just closed it and reloaded

If you ask me, Bombs are very useful after the prologue for first bosses, because deal a secure damage to all enemy boss party (even those unreachable); bomb's strategy avoid possible missed attacks and kills quikly the guards of the boss. At the same time, the boss have les hp

Hey there, I'd love to try your game but for some reason I just can't get it to run consistently. The load for a window to even pop up takes several minutes, and the one time I was patient enough to eventually get a title screen the lag was outrageous to the point where the game just wasn't playable. I don't know if this is just the laptop I'm trying to play it on or what, but I have no problems playtesting my own project. Have you heard of this problem before?