The Star of a Fantasy RPG Adventure
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
SPOTLIGHT ON INDIE RPGS NOV./DEC. 2020 THE MAGAZINE FOR PHYSICAL GAME PLAYERS $0.00 or Zeboyd Games’ Robert Boyd, the “RPGs give a lot of bang for your the idea to make each battle self-contained Eldritch Enterprises! appeal of the role-playing genre isn’t buck—at least 20-30 hours, as with no long-term resource management was Zeboyd’s RPG hits! hard to pin down. “As a kid, JRPGs opposed to an action game” inspired by Final Fantasy XIII. Desperation really appealed to me,” he says. “They mode—negative HP—was inspired by Bor- had fun stories and characters mixed “With Cosmic Star Heroine, we were trying derlands. Having cooldowns instead of MP Dragon Fantasy... Fwith strategic gameplay, in an era where to make a spiritual successor to Phantasy was inspired by the Xenoblade games. Items F You Got Your most games had minimal stories and action- Star IV with visuals reminiscent of Chrono that recharge after combat may have been focused gameplay.” That made them an easy Trigger,” Boyd says. “Our upcoming magical inspired by Paladin’s Quest or Dark Souls— Quest in My buy, despite their often being more expensive girl RPG, This Way Madness Lies, is heavily and ailment HP was definitelyinspired by Final Trigger! than other 8- and 16-bit games: “They gave inspired by the later Persona games, while Dark Souls.” a lot of bang for your buck, with the average having combat visuals reminiscent of the It can be tricky to navigate the one being 20-30 hours, as opposed to an ac- Shining Force & Golden Sun games.” line between homage and retread, but games ALSO IN THIS ISSUE tion game that might only last a day or two.” At the same time, Boyd says, like Cosmic Star Heroine and Cthulhu Saves “The star of a RPGs no longer need to ship on there’s much to be learned about modern Christmas prove it’s possible. “When you Rumors! Profiles! huge, battery-powered carts that inflate their game design. “We take influences from take all of these elements and add periodic fantasy RPG Fold-Out Poster! Wow! price, but the design principles that once both old and new,” he says, “which is why super turns, it creates a dynamic, unique drove the genre have inspired Zeboyd to I feel like our games don’t necessarily feel battle system that’s more than the sum of its adventure...” follow in the footsteps of the old-time greats. as derivative as they might. For example, parts,” says Boyd. LR Alyssa Flashback: Cosmic Star Heroine CE for Vita: Outer box; Vita case with manual and cart; Sega CD style bonus storage case with Vita cart holder insert and oversized alternate manual; fold-out Coming soon from Limited Run Games: poster; set of four litho art prints with slipcase. (Also available for PlayStation 4 version.) Cthulhu Saves Christmas, a follow-up to Zeboyd’s breakout hit, Cthulhu Saves the World. If you missed that one, don’t worry; Christmas is a prequel that requires no familiarity with the previous game. According to Boyd, that’s by design. “It’s been such a long time, and I’m in a very different place now than when we made CSTW,” he says. “I felt a new cast and not having to worry about the developments of CSTW would be for the best.” All you need to know is that you play as a slumbering god beyond mortal comprehension, whose plans for world conquest involve… delivering presents to kids everywhere? SPOTLIGHT ON INDIE RPGS Community Profile: Connor Nichols Know Your Role (Playing Game) ..hat does it mean to be an “RPG”? These days, practically every game claims to have “RPG elements,” even if it’s just little numbers that pop out when you damage Wsomething.W Even games with strong connec- Please introduce yourself!: My name is Con- Mystery Chronicle: One Way Heroics for PS tions to the tabletop and computer roots of the nor Nichols. I’m a huge retro gaming fan. I run Vita and PS4. I was in the middle of a Pokémon genre tend to be all over the place—consider a review website (seafoamgaming.com) Mystery Dungeon retrospective, and figured I games inspired by roguelike RPGs, like Chun and YouTube channel (youtube.com/ might as well add this MD spinoff to my collec- Soft’s One-Way Heroics and Mossmouth’s seafoamgaming). tion. When I got a PS4, I went crazy with LRG Spelunky, which play nothing like Square What’s your first video game memory?: It’s purchases due to loving the idea of owning in- Enix’s Dragon Quest (which inspired Dragon very tough to pinpoint. It’s either Pajama dies physically and helping out the devs more! Fantasy) or Nintendo’s Super Mario RPG (the Sam, Super Mario 64, or Mega Man 64. My What’s your favorite Limited Run release?: creative spark behind Mighty Rabbit’s Satur- favorite memory, though—after being adopted It’s a super close tie between Dariusburst day Morning RPG). Or Sidebar’s Golf Story, in 2006, I was rewarded with Pokémon Mystery Chronicle Saviors or the very recent Blaster which seems like a normal sports simulation... Dungeon: Red Rescue Team. It was the most Master Zero double pack releases. until you get into the stat growth and narrative emotional game I had played by far, and young What’s your Limited Run dream release?: elements. For every game that’s undeniably ideo games can spark players’ imag- “Because RPGs are such a loved as a kid, but with new stories and mod- me learned a lot of life lessons that made the As a Mystery Dungeon fanatic, a Collector’s an RPG in the classic sense of the term, like inations, but in the case of Muteki blank slate, you can bring ern niceties.” These ambitions show clearly transition of that rough moment a lot easier. Edition of Shiren the Wanderer 5 would be awe- Zeboyd’s Cosmic Star Heroine, there’s some- Corp.’s Adam Rippon, they sparked a ton of ideas into them” in Muteki’s Dragon Fantasy games, which How did you start your Limited Run collec- some! My other equally big want would just thing like Asymmetric’s West of Loathing, a a career—though the mere thought of combines the best elements of multiple clas- tion?: Half a year after I started my YouTube be any release of Hamster’s Arcade Classic Ar- stick-figure Western comedy with “RPG ele- gaming was only a fantasy. “When I Rippon’s fascination with those sic RPGs in unexpected ways while updating channel, I started recording unboxings on a chives series. They have a ton of games, though, ments.” In short? RPGs are one of those things wasVV a kid, my friend gave me a bunch of Nin- games never faded. Instead, it helped shape their core mechanics to feel more in line with whim. I heard that Limited Run was pressing and it would probably make me go bankrupt! LR you just kinda know when you see it. LR tendo Powers and the Final Fantasy Strategy his own creations. “I’m a bit nuts for those modern games. Both Dragon Fantasy and Guide,” says Rippon. “I didn’t have an NES, 8-bit and 16-bit Japanese RPGs like Dragon its sequel can feel like a stroll down memory but I dug through those magazines and played Quest and Final Fantasy,” he says. “I pretty lane for people who grew up playing classics Profile: Art Director/CCO Shadie El-Haddad the games in my head. Final Fantasy seemed much stuck to that era. I try to use a Super of the role-playing genre, yet neither game is Playing Roles like the coolest game imaginable to me.” Nintendo-like design philosophy in a lot of content to simply nod at history. They both PROFILE: How did you get your start here?: I met Josh in 2010 Eventually, Rippon did play those my work. Limitation breeds creativity, so contain as many surprises as memories. Without the Rolls SHADIE EL-HADDAD when I opened my own game studio alongside Mighty games, and they lived up to his imagina- even when I’m working in Unreal Engine, I In the end, Rippon is perhaps most he role-playing game! Whether it Rabbit. Once that ran its course, Josh brought me on to tion. Not long after, console emulation gave base my work on colors from the NES palette drawn to the format by the possibilities it of- was Pokémon, Final Fantasy VII, MRS in 2012. I transitioned over to LRG in 2017 when the American RPG fans access to Japanese and design things with a tile layout.” fers him as a writer. “JRPGs are really simple Skyrim, Ultima, or even a pen-and- creative side started to become a huge undertaking. games they had previously been denied, and It’s not simply childhood obsession if you boil them down,” he says. “You have a paper session where you sat with a Any non-gaming hobbies?: Currently, my main non-gam- Rippon quickly got to work on shoring up the that fuels Rippon’s interest, though; he has a world, you have characters, and you go from group of friends around a table trying ing hobby is woodworking, I’ve become quite passionate gaps in his fandom. “I worked with the fan great appreciation for the economy of design point A to point B. But because they’re such a toTT outsmart a mean-spirited Game Master, about designing in that medium.