I'm making a game called Prelude of Identities. Its a remake of a game I made in highschool. I've since graduated university so I have vastly more experience in writing, game design, etc.

History

More than a mere port from VX to VXa, it is a retelling of the story I originally told. About a knight that is pursuing a serial killer, it is also an exploration on how people identify themselves. Identity being a major theme in the games. Prelude was 1/3 of a trilogy, but I only ever finished the first game and half of the second.

Taking what I learned while making part 2, I redesigned my battle system from the basic turn based skill spam of the original, to an interesting take on turn based battles that make extensive use of states, stacked effects, and a complicated mix of elemental attributes. The result is a high risk/reward playstyle similar to that of the Shin Megami Tensei games.

My original game was praised as a very classic style jrpg. It did nothing ground breaking but was one of few competent full length JRPGs. Very rare on RM, as they take a long time to develop. I had several side quests and hidden easter eggs that reference other games my friends were making and actual commercial games. Still, the main criticism I received was that the game was extremely difficult and the game ended on a cliff hanger. Thus despite how complete the game was to play, the story left things to be desired.

This remake aims to address my own gripes I had with the original. Using the experience I gained over the years, I plan to make a high quality JRPG with tons to do and explore.

What's New & Unique about PID

The videos I've released so far on my youtube channel show off some of the new features I've been working on. Most notably the new phone feature. I've mixed real life things in my games before, and this version is no different. The original game's window skin, sounds, and phone system was based on Windows Mobile. This version is updated to look like Windows 8/10 with Modern UI elements. While the phone was only used during cutscenes in the original, this version allows you to call important characters to ask for advice, and eventually call in support. Influenced heavily by Codecs from Metal Gear Solid, I found this to be a great way to expand on characters in an optional way.

The battle system has been revamped to use a new skill system. This new system separates physical attacks from ethereal attacks to use two different resources. Characters are designed to excel both at magic and melee fighting, with the exception of gun users. This is because you only get 3 characters for the entire game, and their roles are customizable. Levels barely give any stats, it's armour and weapons that change how a character will play. Players are encouraged to switch roles if battles aren't going well. Enemies have more extensive AI and resistance/weakness traits in this version, making even normal encounters a puzzle. Because the skill ceiling is higher, the encounter rate is dropped significantly and the rewards are increased.

I've reconned some of the story so it allows more player freedom more often. After the prologue, players will be given the freedom to tackle a number of side scenarios. Police requests is a side story that follows completely separate events, but follows the progression of the main story. Investigations are a series of missions that have no combat, and the goal is to determine the truth of certain crime scenes. Beside those two scenarios, there are the usual side quests in each town. A vast amount of effort is being put into making each area large and detailed.

Lastly, the story of this game will continue passed the point where the last game ended, as to bring true closure to this arc.

Bottom Line

Real rpgs are very rare on RPG Maker. Let's be real, nobody finishes shit here because they lack the discipline to follow through. It's either some pretentious crap with no gameplay and is 10 minutes long or its a long demo that never gets a full release. Or its a blatant kickstarter cash grab that is so lazily done.

I'm never going to ask for money. I'm doing this because I actually want to. I might even pay for some comissioned art too. Only thing I won't be able to afford is music so I'll continue using other game's music. At the end of the day, this is a passion project that I guarantee will have the features I've laid out above. It's a very strange mix of many games I love, and I feel anyone with similar tastes will enjoy it. While a demo is still very far away, production is going along smoothly and I'll have more to show sometime this month.