The Last Prince - Demo Available!

[Ocedic 249]

Okay, I played it and finished my review. You can find it in the critique:

 

http://www.rpgmakervxace.net/topic/12761-review-the-last-prince/

[Radiant Arin 412]

Probably should have posted this here first, but whatever.

 

Thank you for the critique, good sir.

 

Hmm...it seems that there is a lot that I must go back and do, and especially now that I've pretty much completed the barebone structure of the main plot, I definitely have wiggle room to go back and edit maps. I will look into the first enemies and their respective HP stats; I mainly made them high so that players can get a feel for the Combo System. And even though you have minimal Combo Skills to work with at first, they will, rest assured, become more and more important in later stages of the game. Also, I'm looking into something that can be used to escape combat efficiently, like a Common Event. Except, it hasn't been working out well. 

 

How in the world did you get that Follower bug? :S

 

I think mapping is still something that I could definitely work on, especially in Pholoso. Pholoso was kind of rushed, if I remember correctly, so I didn't have much time to go back and make everything perfect, but now that I'm almost done, I can go and touch that up.

 

Hmm, that ship bug is interesting. I'll take a look at it.

 

I'm sorry that the game didn't live up to your expectations, but using this review, I think I have a right direction of where I need to go.

[Radiant Arin 412]

UPDATE! IT'S FINISHED!

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/g7v1jjueqban8yd/The%20Last%20Prince.exe?m

 

[Harmill 5]

Hey, so I played your demo and got as far as I could until I got a crash that prevents further progress. I wrote my notes as I played, so they're not particularly organized. The crash occurs in Chapter 3 when you finally get back to Nolioth as Leon and you try to enter President Hielsenberg's castle. It's a Khas Light Effect error popup. And here's the notes:

 

- Should probably disable the innkeeper after the Pub scene. You could accidentally spend the 100 gold to stay the night thinking that's how you progress.

 

- In the cave, there's a pathway where Leon says "It's locked" when you approach it. We can't see a door so it comes across as strange.

 

- Good progression with JP. Enemies provide enough JP to allow for a good pace at unlocking the available skills/spells. Almost as soon as I had learned the last skills for Leon and Siegfriend, I unlocked the next batch. (o.o)-b

 

- In the dark parts of the cave, you can't even see where the candles are, so you're blindly pressing on the walls in hopes there's a candle there.

 

- It's a bit weird that you have to leave the room and re-enter with the candles out to pass the Gatekeeper.

 

- I hate how the 'Shift' key skips text. I've accidentally skipped so many text boxes because I thought the dialog was finished and so I would hold down the Shift key to start running around...

 

- Persea's skill placement seems inconsistent with the other two. Both Leon and Siegfriend's 'S' key is for their Elemental slashes, and both of their 'D' keys are for attacks with a debuff attached to them. Persea's are swapped, though, where her 'D' key is her Elemental strike, and her 'S' key is a status ailment (similar in nature to a debuff).

 

- When Leon is saying that Cyrus is on fire, the music is still playing that cheerful track from the area. The track clashes with the tone that's supposed to be set so maybe switch the song for that map temporarily to reflect the urgency.

 

- Chester has laughable dialog. Mongrels? Really? No one who wants to sound tough and bad-ass throws that word around. He also comes across as an Albel wannabee (character from Star Ocean 3).

 

- The Pholoso Steppe has really annoying enemies to evade...they chase you at a fast pace and the area is too narrow to dodge them when there's 3 of them trying to get you. Why is the Save Point placed right AFTER the boss fight? That would be super annoying to lose to that boss and have to redo that entire area, which as I've said, is really hard to avoid the battles.

 

- When Chester is leaving, and is asked where he is going, he says "None of your business" but then immediately answers afterwards. When he's walking away, he also stops without leaving the screen. It looks weird if you don't skip the next text box right away.

 

- When you reconfigure your party, the other two party members are at the southeast part of the map/screen, so they have to walk towards you when you gain control.

 

- Hielsenber's speech, he says "Their ultimate plan is to sow discord within our civilization, thereby causing an upheaval in the denizens of Nolioth, the Capital City of Alyster." Why would he have to say "Nolioth, the Capital of Alyster"? That should be obvious to the guard, so it's very unnatural and forced for Hielsenberg to tag that on to the city's name.

 

- Tyrulies reeks of villain. His face set, and even his name scream "I'M EVIL". I hope he's not going to be everything I'm thinking he's going to be.

 

- When on the boat, the captain says they have to make a slight detour north-west to avoid some rocks. Instead, they go south...And there was seriously no point in that little scene either. It's just a waste time. You could cut that and we wouldn't miss anything.

 

- Your environments don't really have any logical advancement either. One map you're on the Pholoso Steppe (mountainous region) and then suddenly you find yourself in an Ice/Crystal Cavern (yet it's called a forest?). Maybe that would work if you actually showed the entrance to a cave, but the transition occurred by just walking to the edge of the map. Another map you're on a beach, and the very next map you're in a snowy forest. It's very random and abrupt and doesn't make much sense.

 

- At the start of Chapter 2, Persea was in my reserve. This was probably because she didn't participate in the previous boss battle, but you would still want to look into making part of your battle party since I triggered a fight and only had Leon to fight with...

 

- Props for the Bulb enemies! I thought it was really cool and unique how you made the Bulbs become Confused if you defeated the Bulb Eye first!

 

- Persea's sudden talk about wanting to protect anyone just sounds like you're trying to recreate Sophie from Tales of Graces. Amnesiac found somewhere who just wants to protect the person that found her? More originality please! Her attachment to Leon seems very forced.

 

- After the boss in Grylle Forest, if you take the left path, there is a popup error about Khas light effects and crashes the game.

 

- When you mine and get multiple Rubies, you say "Rubys". Rubies is the proper spelling.

 

- You're using both Thalzon's battlers and the RTP. These styles clash so I don't recommend mixing them. Disregard this if they are placeholders.

 

- When Yukari rejoins, she retains the same HP and MP as when you last had her. My Yukari joined with 50% health and only 20% MP remaining! She should be fully healed!

 

- Yukari's attacks are performed too slowly. For someone who normally strikes twice, it takes twice as long for her to pull off one attack as it does Persea. It's annoying watching the awkward pause between the two gun shots. Just remove some of the unnecessary wait frames in between shots in the animation.

 

- When you get on the boat to Lied, it doesn't move smoothly. It stops for a fraction of a second between each step.

 

- When the daemon starts saying, "Why won't you just let me live?" I instantly thought of Lambda (Tales of Graces). I seriously hope he doesn't turn into something similar.

 

- I like the emotion system, but I wish it would have been introduced earlier. I think I had like 8 hours clocked before I had my first emotion option. The second option, where Annie asks Siegfried what he'd have done if he was with Leon instead, also doesn't really have logical outcomes. Why would you lose Annie's respect for saying, "I'd have done what I've always done."? And her response seems like she doesn't mind his answer, too.

 

- You need to set some sort of 'grace period' after escaping from battle. In many cases, I instantly re triggered the battle after escaping, which is super annoying.

 

- What? You push the boulders off the high ground and they're supposed to magically turn into a stone bridge? When I pushed the first boulder and entered the room it fell in, I had no idea that first piece of the bridge was that boulder. If I hadn't entered that room in between pushing the two boulders, I would've had NO idea where they had went or what the purpose of pushing them was.

 

- The Covington guy couldn't get past Chester to get to Nolioth? But he has 1/4 of Gesthalt's army with him! What the heck! And he seriously just gives up and says, "Well, I'm just gonna go home then." Also, when he leaves, he doesn't actually leave. He moves like 4 steps down and just stands there while Leon talks to Chester.

 

- Game crashes with another Khas Light Effect error when you try to enter the President's castle in Nolioth. Game can't be continued because of this.

 

 

OK, and here are some additional thoughts after playing as much as I did.

 

The strong point of this game is it's battle system. I've been looking into using the Chain Skill script for my own project, and it was really useful for me to see how effective the system could be. I felt that at some parts, battles felt like too much of a chore due to the length of them. In areas where the paths are too narrow to dodge enemies, or when there's too many enemies hunting you down at too fast a speed, it's very annoying to have to do lengthy battle after lengthy battle with little choice in the matter. However, the battles were very well balanced, and I feel you really capitalized on what you were aiming for. Spamming attacks = agony. Utilizing weak points = profit! I took note of enemy weaknesses, and one thing I noticed was that there's practically NO enemies that are weak to Earth. It makes having an Earth-elemental ability (Siegfried's spell or Persea's combo skill) not as useful as Fire or Ice. I think the first enemy I noticed that was actually weak to Earth was in Chapter 3, 8 hours into the game.

 

As I mentioned in my notes, I thought your pacing in skill progression was pretty good. I rarely found myself having purchased all available skills with nothing new to get with my JP. I liked how most of the combo options had a use (although I didn't find any enemy where using the MDEF or MAG debuffs to be beneficial). Money was a bit too scarce though. It's very hard to keep everyone's equipment up-to-date when enemies either give NO gold at all, or very little. The only things you could really sell for money were items that you needed for crafting items. So you sell the crafting materials just so you can afford the crafting costs, but then once you can afford to craft, you no longer have the necessary items. It's a counter-intuitive system. In other games where enemies don't drop money, they usually drop items where their sole purpose is to be sold off at shops. That's the primary method of making money. So I suggest you try something like that out.

 

Others have already mentioned the weak mapping, so I won't go into too much detail here. As someone who has difficulty completing games (soemtimes due to groaning over having to create a new dungeon or town), I think it's smart to just get your maps and story laid out. Once you have all of the areas created, you can go back and polish them. When (if?) you polish them, I would recommend looking at some tutorials, though.

 

The story was kind of...meh. I really liked the initial concept of the main character being the last prince of an era. There's a lot of potential for a good "finding yourself" storyline. And the first cutscenes even suggested this. But that aspect was quickly thrown aside, and the game's goal or purpose became blurry. You're kind of just travelling around with no idea what your end goal is. The characters had pretty good dialog, but the NPCs were very boring. Guards in towns had copy/paste lines, and very rarely did I ever receive anything beneficial (be it information or items) from talking to a random townsperson.

 

Here's where my main gripe with the game lies. I'm actually playing through Tales of Graces F right now, so all of it's ability names, victory quotes, character names, etc are fresh in my head. And you're copying SO much from Tales of games that it actually quickly became an annoyance. Many names are either directly ripped from a Tales game, or slightly altered. Persea = Presea (Symphonia). Chester = Chester (Phantasia). Leon = Leon (Destiny). The list goes on. And half the ability names are taken straight from Tales of Graces. Burial Blade. Wing Crush. Sparrow Seal. Scarlet Salvo. Aerial Barrage. There's even an enemy named Valkyraffe (that's Asbel's joke weapon). Your victory quotes are also taken straight from other games. "Every gold goes straight to the equipment budget." = Hubert. And then level up quotes taken from Star Ocean 3: "I feel stronger already" = Fayt, "Effort beats talent every time." = Peppita. Maybe it's just me, but I found it super annoying when I came across YET another character or ability from a recognizable game.

 

And it wasn't just the names that were too familiar for my tastes. Persea gave me a very strong Sophie vibe. As I mentioned in my notes, that daemon boss gave me a very strong Lambda vibe. Chester gave me a very strong Albel vibe. Taking inspiration is one thing, but Chester even uses the same vocabulary (maggots).

 

So that's pretty much all I have to say about this version of the game. I had no idea there was so much content in the game when I downloaded it. And when my biggest gripes lies in the unoriginal naming schemes, something that's not nearly as important as gameplay, story, etc, I think that actually says a lot about the game. Gameplay was solid, and that's mostly what pushed me to play for as long as I did (I clocked 9 and a half hours!).

 

I've uploaded some images I took with either mapping errors, or spelling errors. I didn't really think to record these until part-way through the game, so there might be similar types of issues in earlier parts of the game.

 

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/407/errorzi.png/ => You can see the edge of your mapping at the top of the screen.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/812/error02o.png/ => You can walk up onto the high ground via those tall grass tiles.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/687/error03.png/ => You can walk ontop of the moving elves.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/13/error04.png/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/850/error05.png/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/203/error06.png/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/839/error07.png/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/829/error08.png/ => This is a passability error on that decorative tile. Any spot where you reuse that type of tile and place it one tile above ground, you will be able to walk on it.

[Radiant Arin 412]

Hello, Harmill. Thank you for the very extensive and thorough review. Most of the errors encountered (mainly the passability issues) have been already noted and taken care of, for the most part. I'm afraid you are going to have to be more specific with the Khas Lighting Errors, as I am currently going through the game and have encountered no problems so far. And yeah, the game has no originality whatsoever, but then again, nothing really does.

[+ Novem 344]

And yeah, the game has no originality whatsoever, but then again, nothing really does.

 

That's not a really good view to have. Games can be original, you just have to actually try at it. Originality and freshness can make a game a lot more fun to play, and it's something that game creators should aspire to. It's always great to borrow good ideas, but it's also great to try something new. A lack of originality can bring down a games quality for those that have played the games it draws from, just as it has apparently done for Harmill. As it did for me when I played the new Tomb Raider.

 

By the way, the screenshots in your OP are broken,

[Harmill 5]

Ah, I just tried to reproduce the Khas Lighting crash so I could take a screenshot, but it didn't happen this time. I guess it's not a 100% repro rate, which is odd, and would be sort of annoying to work with. I will take some time later today to continue with my playthrough and provide more feedback.

 

EDIT: Well, I tried to continue playing but I got another crash right before fighting the Warden. I took a screenshot:

 

Edited March 11, 2013 by Harmill

[Deej 19]

Hey, those screenshots you posted aren't showing up for me (I'm guessing because they are inside a spoiler? I can't even click them) I would really like to see the visuals of this creation

[Radiant Arin 412]

Hey, those screenshots you posted aren't showing up for me (I'm guessing because they are inside a spoiler? I can't even click them) I would really like to see the visuals of this creation

The screenshots aren't working because I accidentally deleted the attachments for said screenshots. I'll get some up later tonight, if I don't get too distracted with Dawn of Eve.

 

@Harmill: I'll take a look at that error. I might just get rid of the sound effect, since I only use it once (I think).

[Deej 19]

 

Hey, those screenshots you posted aren't showing up for me (I'm guessing because they are inside a spoiler? I can't even click them) I would really like to see the visuals of this creation

The screenshots aren't working because I accidentally deleted the attachments for said screenshots. I'll get some up later tonight, if I don't get too distracted with Dawn of Eve.

 

@Harmill: I'll take a look at that error. I might just get rid of the sound effect, since I only use it once (I think).

Oh ok, awesome. I would just download your demo, but my computer is filling up with stuff haha, I won't until I clean out the useless garbage.. which I'm too lazy to do. I look forward to seeing the Screenshots.

[Wingflame 25]

Well i downloaded the game, imma try it out and write a detailed review along with bugs/glitches or things which i found weird :3

[Radiant Arin 412]

Well, I was hoping to get a revised version with all the bugs and glitches washed away by tonight, anyway, so I think it would be better if you were to wait for like three or four hours while I finish putting in numerous fixes and "Skip Cutscene" dialogue boxes. And then I'll update the thread and everything will be dandy.

[Wingflame 25]

alrighty then ill wait for the updated version and play :3 , lemme know when your done ^^

[Radiant Arin 412]

Okay, now, HOPEFULLY, there shouldn't be any problems.

 

I'm placing LOTS of EMPHASIS on HOPEFULLY.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/g7v1jjueqban8yd/The%20Last%20Prince.exe

[Wingflame 25]

Okay So since the game is Big , I will continue to update this Post as i find bugs and glitches and Some other Weird Things:

 

Bug1:When you enter the town at the starting of the game,The music that is playing isnt looping properly(try listening the whole music for 2-3 mins and ull notice at the end it kinda staggers during the end like a lag or something)

 

Weird1:In the town there are two horses.(you probably know where) they have walking/stepping animation but theyre not moving.it feels weird.(this is upto u , maybe u purposly kept it)

 

Glitch1:

http://puu.sh/2hn5t

the arrow comes ontop of Weapon and armor shop , im pretty sure its not suppose to happen like that.

 

Glitch2: i think the display name is getting cut off in this map http://puu.sh/2hnQB (sorry if im being really accurate , i know uve spend aloot of time on working , just want ur game to be one of the best mah super awesome buddie) :3 . edit : its happening in a couple of places. 

Edited March 14, 2013 by Wingflame

[Radiant Arin 412]

I'll see about the music. I never did like it's loop set-up anyway. That "glitch" there is intentional, though I suppose I CAN move them down. But then that would look weird.

[Radiant Arin 412]

Right, I am still needing general comments about difficulty. For people that are playing on Normal or Hard Mode, I want your critique on how hard the game is so I can accurately make adjustments and balance mobs without it being either too easy or too hard.

[Radiant Arin 412]

Special Birthday Update:

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/g7v1jjueqban8yd/The%20Last%20Prince.exe

 

This new update has too many fixes that there simply aren't enough for a simple post. But the most notable things that are apparent should be the Smooth Map Scrolling and the Skip Cutscene Function in the Options Menu. The former makes the game look much more visually appealing, and the latter is just there just in case you plan on playing through again. There have been various fixes, various bugs have been squashed out, and the difficulty for the first section has been toned down a bit. I've also added luster to some of the mine deposits so that they are easier to spot. Be sure to copy your old Save file over.

 

It feels as though the game is completely different than when I first started out.

[DP3 188]

When you say 'special birthday update', do you mean it was your birthday? and if so, sorry I missed it

 

 

 

I just wanted to let you know that the update is a huge improvement, the game overall feels smoother and I don't feel so vigilant in Encounter Areas.

And with monsters now giving me some coin (which I desperately needed at the start BEFORE anybody knew what on earth a healing skill was), I can buy the equipment I need without having to sacrifice all of my synthesis items which I can now use later for more advanced equipment as needed.

[PyrO17 17]

Ok now my 2. review on Last Prince last one is already kinda old

 

I wont write much this time as the game crashed 2 times at the same spot

 

Ok lets start.

 

- The main menu at the beginning looks good but the particles are cut of at the normal window size and personally i think the font for the menu is to big.

 

 

 

 

 

 

- the carpet in the old mans room looks weird as if it was made to have the border right around his bed and it looks like the carpet isnt all at the bottom wall because of the golden border

 

 

 

 

 

- The maid at the Inn in Cyrus is flying above the box (oh and dont mind the window border unless you like it )

 

 

 

 

 

- Now for the game breaking bug .. the bug appears if you enter the armor shop in Cyrus (atleast after you left the weapon shop)

 

 

 

 

 

And other bugs without a screenshot ..

- The Inn in the first town is broken after you reenter it. The Innkeeper just tells you that you have a room and you cant sleep there again.

(kinda tough if you cant use the cheapest Inn on chaos )

 

- gold gained from selling = 0 even though I sold a lot to earn the money for the Inn

- gold spent 0 after buying helmet and resting at the Inn

 

And i guess its not your intention but crafting still is more expensive than buying stuff atleast for potions.

- potion: buying 100g | crafting 50g + 2x38g (sell worth of the ingredients)

 

So yea I will continue and will give you more feedback and as I wrote above i play it on the most difficult setting at the moment.

 

greets PyrO17

[ff6shadow 5]

Just finished playing through and found a few things that I think are bugs.

 - - Several of your cut scenes are blacked out. Notably, the ship scene and the scene at Lied Docks

 - - One that was very irritating to me was the cutscene before the underground palace with the four knights. I opted to skip the cut scene after dying the first time. After I beat them, the scene played out anyways.

 - - The Inn in the final town is non-functional, I believe. I assumed talking to the book was supposed to initiate an inn scene, but it did not. My guess is a common 'Below Actor' error causing it to not function unless I stand on top of it, which is impossible. On the other hand, if that isn't intended to be a functional inn, my guess was bad.

 

======Posssible Spoilers======

I did feel highly disadvantaged near the end. The enemies were obviously scaling into gear I didn't have. I had a very difficult time gathering enough supplies to craft the better late game gear that I'm guessing I needed. And I never did find out how to mine the etherium ore deposits. Also, it felt like some things weren't explored, such as Persea's past and the deal with Annie and that scene in the Necroplis. Also, what effects do the emotion system have? I didn't really notice anything, but I may have missed it.

======End Possible Spoilers======

 

Overall, I enjoyed the game a good bit. Thanks for the effort you put into it.

Edited May 13, 2013 by ff6shadow

[Radiant Arin 412]

Huh. Glad to see someone is still interested in this terribad project.

 

I am happy to say however that I think I've got most of the cutscenes sorted out. I'll look into the Four Knights and the Inn scene.

 

If you keep going up in the Dark Factory, one of the bosses there (I want to say the Floor 43 boss, but I'll take a look later) will drop the Etherium Axe, which will allow you to mine the Etherium Ore deposits. You can also try your hand at getting a set of Nether Drifter's Armor by completing the Gates of Millenia lots of times. Although, I'll probably scale down the cost of those items in a future patch.

 

The Emotion System is basically a trigger. If your Emotion with one character reaches a certain limit by the end of the game (24), you can unlock a secret cutscene with them. Though, at the moment, it's currently impossible to get all characters to 24 Emotion without cheating, exploiting, hacking, etc.

[Arctic Fox 18]

I played your demo and this is what I think.
 (no spoilers)

Story is really good. I like how you did the cutscenes, it's very nice.

Battle System is good and has a very nice tutorial in game. It was great.

Mapping was good.

One small thing, (it might just be my preference) I like going to a door and not having to hit a button to get it open every time. Maybe you should change those events to event touch. Just a small suggestion.

So my overall verdict is: It's good. I didn't see anything bad about it. So I'll be watching this game.