RPG Maker MV scores 7/10 in the verdict of The Games Market editorial team.
Once Upon a Time
RPG Maker MV for PlayStation 4
by Simon Larocca·January 31, 2024
La history of RPG Maker has its roots in the mid-Nineties, a fundamental historical moment for video games in all its forms, a crossroads between the last remnants of arcade cabinet presence in arcades and bars and the advent of the "new" home consoles, which from that moment on would become wildly popular.
Eppure the hard core of PC users never threw in the towel in favor of console home entertainment, perhaps also because of the wider spread of programs, both shareware and freeware.
Tra the many demos that in those years came into my hands, there was that of RPG Maker, a fabulous program that could allow dreams to become reality: create a role-playing game.
The first version of what would become a long-running series, right up to the present day, was called RPG Maker '95 and allowed users to develop stories, create worlds, and write dialogue, so as to relive the exploits of heroes similar to those of Final Fantasy and Chrono Cross, just to name two, with the imagination and creativity of those who had played them to exhaustion.
Yes, I'm talking about myself too.
In 2015, what is currently the penultimate incarnation of the most famous tool ever for creating swashbuckling adventures saw the light of day: RPG Maker MV was released on PC, but not only that, the PlayStation 4 also got to claim this unconventional product, if we think about the type of console audience as we mentioned at the beginning of the article.
RPG Maker MV offers a ton of utilities to let you unleash your creativity. And patience too, considering that the interface with the joypad is not quite the same as with the mouse, and you will soon notice that.
What makes such a special title unique is the possibility of building the fantasy world you have always dreamed of, starting from the basics: the game map, richly defined with forests, lakes, mountains, caves, cities and islands scattered here and there as you please: no limits are contemplated, new video game Tolkien-like creators.
The freedom of choice and of being able to roam from one remote corner to another of the game environment in which you will catapult your characters' avatars is almost total; the only real obstacles will not be the wandering monsters you will program, but rather the difficult menu full of sections and subsections that, especially in the first few hours, will really test your patience, so arm yourselves with plenty of it. You will need it.
Ma all this will reward you when the game takes shape: inserting the cut scenes with which to connect the various chapters of the game is nothing short of exciting, as well as writing the dialogues and characterizing the characters according to your own unique personal taste.
I really like, for example, the graphical interface of turn-based battles, an obvious homage to the "old" role-playing video games like Eye of the Beholder or the early Elder Scrolls: the bestiary that RPG Maker MV makes available to you is standard, what you need to start playing, but nothing prevents you from introducing other races and creatures by importing them, perhaps creating them yourselves if you are digital tablet artists.
Fantasy in power, then, and it could not be otherwise: I recommend it to anyone who wants to try, at least once in their life, their hand at programming, simplified yet complete in every function, a role-playing video game, so as to bring to life new adventures that, let’s face it, we gamers are always in need of.
7
Pro
Possibility of creating your own stories with a series of specially created tools
Fairly intuitive interface, despite the underlying complexity
Contro
It is not a game, but rather an application and as such it is not immediate; it takes time to learn its mechanisms.
Only for those who want to try their hand at programming an RPG video game
Mi chiamo Simon Larocca, e sono un videogiocatore, collezionista e amante della cultura pop in tutte le sue forme. Vado al cinema ogni volta che posso, leggo da quando porto gli occhiali, quindi da sempre, e ho la passione per lo storytelling in tutte le sue forme, così dirompente da farla diventare una professione. Ma come direbbe Doc di Ritorno al Futuro, non ci sarebbe presente se non si guardasse al passato con rispetto e ammirazione, ed è il Simon bambino di più di trent’anni fa, anno più anno meno.
Simon Larocca
Mi chiamo Simon Larocca, e sono un videogiocatore, collezionista e amante della cultura pop in tutte le sue forme. Vado al cinema ogni volta che posso, leggo da quando porto gli occhiali, quindi da sempre, e ho la passione per lo storytelling in tutte le sue forme, così dirompente da farla diventare una professione. Ma come direbbe Doc di Ritorno al Futuro, non ci sarebbe presente se non si guardasse al passato con rispetto e ammirazione, ed è il Simon bambino di più di trent’anni fa, anno più anno meno.
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