Title: Monster’s Den: Book of Dread Developer: Monstrum Games (Daniel Stradwick) Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux Price: Free Guest Review by Tof Eklund Monster’s Den and its sequel Monster’s Den: Book of Dread are pure hack-and-slash. As Book of Dread is half-sequel, half updated version (it includes the original dungeon in Monster’s Den in it), this […]
Read the rest of this entry »I’ve received an email from a Dr. Tof Eklund pointing me to a review he wrote of the indie RPG Embric of Wulfhammer’s Castle. He describes it as sort of a strange cross between RPG and interactive fiction, with an overweening focus on building romantic relationships substituting for combat as the meat of the gameplay. […]
Read the rest of this entry »Title: Arvale: Treasure of Memories Episode 1 Developer: Jaybot7 Platforms: Windows Price: $5.00 Arvale: Treasure of Memories, Episode 1 is a jRPG by Jaybot7 (Jason Surguine) originally released back in 2009. Created in RPG Maker and using mostly default RPG Maker assets, Arvale is a short game with a silly atmosphere and some amusing dialog. […]
Read the rest of this entry »Title: Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale Developer: EasyGameStation (localized by Carpe Fulgur) Platforms: Windows Price: $19.95 Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale is a Japanese indie RPG originally developed and released by EasyGameStation in 2007, now localized and re-released in English by Carpe Fulgur. The gist is that you play a young girl forced to pay […]
Read the rest of this entry »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 […]
Read the rest of this entry »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, […]
Read the rest of this entry »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 […]
Read the rest of this entry »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 […]
Read the rest of this entry »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). […]
Read the rest of this entry »Title: Ara Fell: The Legend of Dirisetsu Hollow Developer: Stephen Anthony Platforms: Windows Price: Free [NOTE: This review is for an older, freeware version of this game. Ara Fell has since been remade and released as a commercial product; this review is likely to be unrepresentative of this more recent version.] Ara Fell is a […]
Read the rest of this entry »
