MERCY

[flarify 128]

A story-based fantasy game.

 

 

 

 

YOU ARE A GUARDIAN, keeper of the peace and vanquisher of the Darkness. You have journeyed throughout the region to keep it free of the Darkness' foul influence. When your path leads you to a mysterious forest, you may find what you've been searching for all this time... 

Will you dispense justice to those you encounter? Will you be a merciful beacon to the lawful and lawless alike? And will you find and destroy the Darkness, once and for all?
 
 

 

 

Member of an ancient order sworn to vanquish the Darkness. Your path is clear.


None know the forests as well as this man. But is he friend or foe?

 

 

 

 

 

GRAPHICS
At-Stock, Celianna, Holder, K-Hos, Mack, Mitchi.exe, Momope

MUSIC
Joel Steudler - Cinematic Soundtrack
RM3 Music Pack

SCRIPTS
Dekita, DiamondandPlatinum3, Galv, JV Master, Killozapit, Makoinfused, Modern Algebra, Moghunter, Syvkal, Tsukihime, VM of DT, Wortana, Yami, Yanfly, Zeus81

Contributions detailed in game file.

 

 
DOWNLOAD HERE (RTP Required)
Approx. 1hr playtime.
 

Thank you for taking a look at this game!

[Tsarmina 2,612]

So you're here with a completed game now... It looks beautiful! Well done, very polished looking, which is exactly how a relatively short game should be. it looks simple too, which is something that I like~ Story based games are the best!

[+ Chaosian 617]

This is what I'm talking about Production. Value.

It doesn't need to loud and bombastic to be entertaining or interesting. Subtly, and an attention to detail - like rain drops hitting the ground, and birds flying away when you approach - that stuff builds up and goes a long way.

[flarify 128]

@ Tsarmina : In all honesty, that was almost the entire purpose of MERCY - to prove I could at least finish something in RM. I had been going through a rather tough time regarding Pirate Queen and its lack of progress about... 7 months ago, so I decided to use what I had learned thus far to work on a smaller scale game. I finished it in about a month and a half's time, and then promptly forgot about it until a few days ago where I polished it up a little and decided to post it at last!
 
It was essentially an exercise in environment, and the smaller size really allowed me to focus on trying to get the mood, music, and flow right for every area. There's still a few areas where I wish I had spent a bit more time - especially the aftermath of the final boss battle - but I didn't want to get bogged down in custom-made resources.  Basically I was trying to avoid the mistakes I ran into while working on Pirate Queen.

 

@Chaosian : I'm flattered! MERCY was additionally a testing ground for different environmental details such as the raindrops, the birds, environment color... so I'm glad that effort seems to have paid off! 

[Necromedes 103]

Looks interesting. I'll need to try it out later.

[Knighterius 502]

@ Tsarmina : In all honesty, that was almost the entire purpose of MERCY - to prove I could at least finish something in RM. I had been going through a rather tough time regarding Pirate Queen and its lack of progress about... 7 months ago, so I decided to use what I had learned thus far to work on a smaller scale game. I finished it in about a month and a half's time, and then promptly forgot about it until a few days ago where I polished it up a little and decided to post it at last!

 

It was essentially an exercise in environment, and the smaller size really allowed me to focus on trying to get the mood, music, and flow right for every area. There's still a few areas where I wish I had spent a bit more time - especially the aftermath of the final boss battle - but I didn't want to get bogged down in custom-made resources.  Basically I was trying to avoid the mistakes I ran into while working on Pirate Queen.

 

@Chaosian : I'm flattered! MERCY was additionally a testing ground for different environmental details such as the raindrops, the birds, environment color... so I'm glad that effort seems to have paid off! 

It's funny because you've done a similar thing to what I am doing. I am making a smaller game as a test ground and to also prove I can finish a game. I shall spend some time on this game once I get around to it. It looks really great and I am excited to play it. ^~^

[+ dbchest 160]

one of the few i'll play.

looks great!

[marierock13 12]

The trailer showed off some really beautiful atmospheric effects, so I'm definitely going to give this game a try soon!

 

It helps that the story synopsis is so vague and mysterious - I want detail, and I'm going to get said detail by giving this game a good playthrough.

 

Congratulations on a finished release!

[hiromu656 27]

I finished my first playthrough of the game:

Mild Story Spoilers

 

 

First, I decided to let the bandits go, but then the bandit thanked me under the name "Grinning Bandit" that made me angry haha. So, I reloaded my save and kept that file for my "Mercy Playthrough" I'll do later. Then I continued down the path of Justice:

I killed the bandits, then refused to travel with the Merchant character, then chose Justice for every choice. So it's a "Solo-Justice Playthrough" Playing Solo is pretty tough, but the DEF boost to Shield Bash combo is thankfully very powerful.

It was pretty hard for me to choose Justice on the final decision, but I had to keep with my rules thus far. By the way, the man in the cave mentioned a sword that only those with blood on their hands could find, where would I find this sword? Unless it's a sort of metaphor.

 

 

The game is great, very solid mapping throughout, and excellent storytelling. I tend to have a hard time committing to lengthy RM games, so this was very enjoyable! Can't wait to play it a second time to see how else the story can unfold.

[flarify 128]

@ Necro : Hope you enjoy it, when you do!

 

@ Knight : It definitely allowed me to refine my skills just a little bit more without worrying I'd be breaking a ton of stuff in my large game! Glad to see I'm not the only one doing multiple games at once. c:

 

@ dbchest : I'm flattered, glad you think so! Hope you enjoy it!

 

@ Marie : Giving a game this short a non-vague description without giving away important plot points proved difficult, so I went with the vague route. It fits in with the atmosphere I was going for in the game, too! Hope you enjoy the game when you get a chance to play it!

 

@ Hiromu : I'm glad you enjoyed it! I have to admit I enjoy shorter games as well, nice bite-sized pieces of entertainment that don't require you to memorize a dozen character's names and their appropriate political affiliations.

 

 

There is a sword hidden in the mountains, but it only reaches its full power if you can get through the game (to that point) without killing a single human. At the crossroads just before the Boss, the left path takes you to a ledge with a sparkle on it. The sword is nearby. (if you want a more direct clue, I'm hiding that in yet another spoiler tag)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tharis 212]

This was a good game, Flarify! I enjoyed many aspects of if (though the music in some cases wasn't my favorite, it was well chosen for the mood you were trying to convey... those damned flutes!) not the least of which was your mapping, I have always enjoyed your ability and respect the effort you put into it. Maybe I made some wrong choices but I'm not sure exactly what was going on toward the end of the story... it was very vague, but all in all it's nice to play a game that has well written dialogue and compelling characters. 

 

Great job!

[flarify 128]

It was intentionally left vague, but in hindsight I would have wanted to give the player a more emotional attachment to both the Darkness and to Mercy, and make it a little more clear what exactly was going on. I fear that I may not have made things "personal" enough to make any of the decisions difficult. But perhaps that's just the way Mercy operates - very little emotional attachment. And sorry about the flutes, ahaha!

 

Glad you enjoyed it, Tharis!

[Tharis 212]

The flutes are hardly your fault. I just really love his music if not for those seemingly out of place high pitched flutes.

[JurianChibo 7]

(Do not read if you didn't play yet, since there might be a liiiiiittle bit of spoiler or ruinage of your game experience)

It's rare that I get so involved emotionally in a game in such a short notice. But this game, it's something else.
 

The gameplay, without being revolutionary, is still well executed. You really need to manage the few items you get, since battles are limited, and the fact they are limited makes you fight them, and I think it's something that is lacking from a lot of game, where people just breeze through and end up dead, killed by the boss who's too powerful. The battle system used fits the game really well, since it's fast-paced and is hard, or at least needs some strategy.
The fact that items are hidden around the world allows you to explore it. I hope I got all of them, and that I also encountered everything I needed.

The music is really cool, the proof is that I (almost) didn't notice it, since it was blending so well with the story. The landscapes are gorgeous and well-designed, the mood is there, thanks to the different wildlife included, and the rain that is there for a good part of the game. I guess it was though like that, but even if it's beautiful, it's a bit easy to be a little lost, sometime, and to not remember where you went, but it adds to the mystery, which is nice.

The dialogues are nice, too. Well-written, and really transcribe the characters' personnalities.

 

Last but not least, the choices. I only completed the game once, and I do not think I will play it again, but I would love to see what the other choices do. What if I did kill these bandits? Could I actually refuse that guy's company? But, I saw both endings (Or maybe there's more), so I'm happy. It adds a certain replay value, and it's interesting to see so much effort put into a short game, and an exercice, that is!

 

So, my final note for this game?

Heart pounding, smile and almost tears for Amelia / 10

(Sorry for my horrible grammar, french is my native language)