OTHER [rmxp] Romancing Walker II - Sequel to old rm2k game

[H3llb0und 2]

Hi

 

For those who have played the original Romancing Walker, a popular game developed by Flare on Rpg Maker 2000. I received permission many years ago to make a sequel to the project, albeit at the time I lost focus and abandoned the project. This year I started work on the sequel to realise my dream of expanding on this games universe. The original game had a lot of charm and managed to produce a very playable game with interesting concepts. 

I introduce to you Romancing Walker II. Sixty years have passed since the end of the original game. Ryle Laster and his companions are remembered throughout Factoria as heroes for defeating Chaos. Although the world has been at peace for so long, Chaos has found a way to return.

 

You set out as a part-elf part-human martial artist, his name is Ryu and he has chosen to move to East Factoria, Lavas Town (Previously known as Lavas Ville) where is grand father resides. He sets out on an adventure to experience Factorian culture, food, meet people and make friends. Along the way he may find something more than friendship or may find himself going it alone, it all depends on the player's actions. There are tons of easter eggs for fans of the original.

TileSets are by Inquisitor of RPG Palace (With additions from myself)
CharSets are a combination of RTP (used sparingly) and Sithjester (With modifications by myself)
New orchestral mp3 quality music from the original  Romancing Walker soundtrack and music by Tanner

*Will add other credits when i build the list properly

I will add and update information when appropriate. Please check out the screenshots.

Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear from any fans of the original game.

Thanks

Latest screenshots (01/01/22) (New Romance system, Quest system, Lighting, detailing, new areas and customised battle system)

Spoiler

 

Older screenshots

Spoiler

 

Edited January 1, 2022 by H3llb0und
Updates

[CorpusChristi 1]

Hello there. I am a big fan of the original Romancing Walker and I have just stumbled upon this post through random Google searching. Your project intrigues me, and I'd be curious to play it once it's complete.

 

So am I to gather from your post that you have been in touch with the original author of Romancing Saga? If you don't mind saying, what are they like? I've always been quite curious about the development of the original game (which I consider to be one of my all-time-favorite RPG Maker games) and would have a handful of questions if you were in touch with them and they were happy to answer.

 

Either way I hope you haven't abandoned the project or site entirely as it seems it's been quite a few months since you've last logged in and unfortunately nobody else really seems to be interested in a sequel to one of the greatest so-bad-it's-good JRPG games ever made. I am a huge fan of the original's terrible translation (seriously, I find it charming and it's not like I can't understand what's being said just because some of the spelling or grammar is a bit funky) and how basic, straightforward, and pure the original was in terms of JRPG mechanics and anime-inspired plot.

[H3llb0und 2]

On 4/18/2021 at 2:27 PM, CorpusChristi said:

Hello there. I am a big fan of the original Romancing Walker and I have just stumbled upon this post through random Google searching. Your project intrigues me, and I'd be curious to play it once it's complete.

 

So am I to gather from your post that you have been in touch with the original author of Romancing Saga? If you don't mind saying, what are they like? I've always been quite curious about the development of the original game (which I consider to be one of my all-time-favorite RPG Maker games) and would have a handful of questions if you were in touch with them and they were happy to answer.

 

Either way I hope you haven't abandoned the project or site entirely as it seems it's been quite a few months since you've last logged in and unfortunately nobody else really seems to be interested in a sequel to one of the greatest so-bad-it's-good JRPG games ever made. I am a huge fan of the original's terrible translation (seriously, I find it charming and it's not like I can't understand what's being said just because some of the spelling or grammar is a bit funky) and how basic, straightforward, and pure the original was in terms of JRPG mechanics and anime-inspired plot.

Hi there

Sorry for the late reply, I hadn't been checking back here because of the low interest. It was a long time ago I was in touch with those who were responsible for the so bad its good translation work (2005 to be exact!) as I couldn't approach Flare directly due to language barriers and no contact info. I've been a fan of the game since the RM2k days. The project is still underway albeit I had taken a break to get better at pixel art, part of the original game I enjoyed was the original art so i hoped i could introduce some myself. 

As a native English speaker it's difficult for me to structure stuff in broken English, I do enjoy the comedic effect it brought but my experience and inspirations differ from the original authors so with my writing I write with structure and grammar, with serious tones but have comedic elements that I tend to lean towards (subtle ironic humour, slapstick, self-deprecation etc.)

I really enjoyed the character chemistry in RW1 and the story although cliched had interesting elements to it. If you are still interested I was wondering if you would be up for a Q&A about what you enjoyed about the first game etc. It would be incredibly useful to me as I've not actually met another RW fan yet!

Thanks,
H3llb0und

[Cyberweasel89 1]

Hi hi! Wow, Romancing Walker was a huge part of my adolescence. Played it back when Kamain's World was still around. It had a big influence on the woman I am today, NGL. I even did a Let's Play of the Hayami Route on Youtube, but I found my commentary to be pretty cringe and set the videos to private, heh. XD

Like CorpusChristi, I found this via Google searching the game, BTW. I really hope you're still planning on making it! I'm a writer so I know from the many works of fiction I've written, and my own attempts to make an RPGMaker game back when I was a teenager, that it isn't easy. Just know that if you're making it still, I'm rooting for ya and I'd actually be happy to help if you wanted it!

I admit due to my reading disability I found some of the broken English of RPGFanBoy's translation to be difficult to comprehend, but there was definitely some charm to it back then. The world was kinda genric medieval fantasy, but the story had some surprising depth, emotional weight, and turns that showed that FLARE wasn't pulling punches in writing it. You can really tell it was a work of creative passion.

I admit some of the "harem comedy" humor like "let's have Caris physically abuse Ryle for something not really his fault some more" and "oh look another reference to Fina having a breast complex" bits were old and tired for me even back then, but conversely there were other parts of the humor that I still enjoy to this day, like Hayami's gag boobs, Mariel's adorable derpiness, and some of the less mean-spirited slapstick.

Aside from the double-standard physical abuse and Fina being frequently ribbed by the entire world for her complex over her small boobs, I also felt there was an underlying current of misandry with how the girls were so neurotic about paying for two rooms for Ryle to sleep alone in one. Even back then as a teenage girl, it bothered the heck out of me since I spent most of my life sharing a room with my twin brother (and at times, my older brother), so to me people of opposite sex sharing a room never seemed unusual to me. And since Caris or the other girls never actually said the reason they didn't want Ryle sleeping in the same room as them, it always seemed like a really arbitrary thing to waste traveling money on to me back then. Even today, I still don't actually understand why Caris made such a big deal of Ryle sleeping in the same room as girls, though I'm at least aware that there's some outdated and traditionalist societal views regarding propriety around such a thing. Meh. Normies, amirite? *shrug*

I really enjoyed the complex character chemistry, slow romantic progression (even if few of the endings actually had payoff for it, which is still something I'm salty about, but that just shows how invested I got in these characters), and the way each of the characters' motivations influences their decisions. The progression of the plot always felt organic and character-driven to me. Ryle sets out on a quest to be more independent and the way he stumbles into a journey to save the world and others join him on it all just feel like natural escalation of that starting point.

There's also the fact that there's so much story-and-gameplay integration, and I'm not just talking about the fourth wall breaking. Ryle learns "Warp" from head trauma and it becomes his only magic spell, and though it's used like Zoom is in Dragon Quest or Fly is in Pokemon, it's still considered a spell that Ryle knows in-world, and he uses it in cut scenes or even in battles to solve plot obstacles. That really stood out to me and stuck with me, TBH.

As a teenage girl when I first played, I also can't deny I found it interesting how breast size was used to restrict certain equipment (the lingerie accessory and the Gaia Armor from the Victory Grail), especially since it allowed me to match up who could equip what with the character art to give me as a player an accurate bust chart in my mind. Wow, proof that even back then, I swung both ways. XD

All in all, it was definitely the character writing that I most enjoyed about Romancing Walker. Depth to everyone, decisions driven by motivations, interesting and emotional character interactions, and I loved the less mean-spirited jokes that strayed away from negative harem anime cliches, especially some of the raunchier jokes regarding Hayami's boobs. I think that's the biggest influence Romancing Walker had on me as a teenager, since even today when I write stories I notice I focus a lot on character motivation-driven plot direction, interpersonal relationships, healthy and mutual romance as an active sub-plot, dynamic character interactions, personal growth of the characters, and big booba jokes. XD

TBH, I feel that since the characters were the game's biggest strength, FLARE should've included more romance in it. When Mariel asked Ryle out on a date in that one cutscene, I would've loved to take her up on it just to see their interactions during it. The fact romance is only ever consummated in the endings, and even then only a scant few of them have them actually confess their love (one of the reasons Hayami is my favorite girl of the cast, maybe with Lucitta as a close second and Mariel as a close third), it feels like the fact that this was half-fantasy RPG/half-harem comedy dating sim, the focus was off-balance. With the character writing being FLARE's biggest strength in my eyes, I feel the game could've used more balanced focus on the dating sim aspect.