Title: Eschalon Book II Developer: Basilisk Games Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux Price: $24.95 Eschalon Book II is the second game in the Eschalon series by Basilisk Games. Eschalon is an isometric, nonlinear wRPG reminiscent of Fallout and Baldur’s Gate. It does almost everything well, but there are a few areas where the game fails to [...]

Title: Deadly Sin 2: Shining Faith Developer: Deadly Sin Studios Platforms: Windows Price: $19.95 Deadly Sin 2: Shining Faith is a jRPG developed by Deadly Sin Studios in RPG Maker. The author was plainly influenced by Final Fantasy 6, evident in some of the character names, much of the overall plot structure of the game, [...]

Title: Dubloon Developer: Banov Platforms: Windows Price: Free Dubloon is a jRPG developed by Banov that sports a pirate theme, tile-based movement, and visible, wandering enemy encounters. Featuring an odd mix of inspired design decisions and sloppy implementation, Dubloon is the first RPG I can recall having played where the system I played it on [...]

Title: Ainevoltas 2 Developer: Silvernova Platforms: Windows Price: Free Developed by Silvernova, Ainevoltas 2 has been described as a platformer-RPG. In reality, it plays more like a platformer with stats and floaty damage numbers than a proper RPG. Imagine Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, but minus the puzzles, loot, cool abilities, tight controls, and most [...]

Title: Din’s Curse Developer: Soldak Entertainment (Steven Peeler) Platforms: Windows, Mac Price: $24.99 If Diablo and Diner Dash had offspring, I imagine it would turn out something like this. Din’s Curse is a 3D isometric action RPG by Soldak Entertainment (which is to say, it’s by Steven Peeler and a small group of contract workers). [...]

Title: Ara Fell: The Legend of Dirisetsu Hollow Developer: Stephen Anthony Platforms: Windows Price: Free Ara Fell is a freeware jRPG produced in RPG Maker 2003 by Stephen Anthony (a.k.a. “Badluck”). The game is unfinished, which is a pity, because it’s really quite fun while it lasts. To summarize the plot is to summarize the [...]

Title: Boundless Ocean Developer: RPGCreations Platforms: Windows Price: Free An RPG by Hardi “Orchard-L” Gosal of Radical Poesis Games, Boundless Ocean is a bit like a jRPG take on What Dreams May Come. It has some great ideas, but unfortunately, it is also saddled with an execution that doesn’t quite do them justice. Boundless Ocean’s [...]

Title: Exit Fate Developer: SCF Platforms: Windows Price: Free Exit Fate is an improvement upon Last Scenario in almost every conceivable area. It’s quite a good RPG, albeit something of a shameless rip-off (not that you’d know it from reviews like this). First, what Exit Fate gets right. The biggest area of improvement is in [...]

Title: Last Scenario Developer: SCF Platforms: Windows Price: Free Made using RPG Maker XP by SCF, Last Scenario is a typical jRPG with typical jRPG weaknesses. It stands out vis-a-vis other RPG Maker RPGs primarily because it has some nice custom graphics. While most of the tilesets used in the game are stock RPG Maker [...]

Title: Avernum 6 Developer: Spiderweb Software (Jeff Vogel) Platforms: Windows, Mac Price: $28 (plus $6 to purchase it on CD) I’ll start with a confession: Avernum 6 is the first Avernum game I’ve played. So I write with a fresh eye toward the thing, rather than seeing it as one in a series of gradually [...]