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Message: [QUOTE="LiberoVulpes, post: 353910, member: 204772"] [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" width="668px" alt="Cover.png"]121742[/ATTACH][/CENTER] I return, with yet another RPG Maker game, this time, for once, its one I have actually never played before, but, it has been on my backlog for ages, so, its about time I gave it a go. [JUSTIFY] Paranormal Syndrome, was released in 2011, yet another one of the RPG Maker Horror craze of the 10s, made in RPG Maker 2000… Even though better versions of the engine already existed at the time, still, popularity wise, wasn’t as big as its contemporaries, but it did decently in Japan, with the dev still making games to this day. It also has a “remake,” which I will not be playing as it only covers ¼ of this game, but it gets stretched into a full game on its own. This one, is heavily inspired by Japanese folkore, from classical stories, to other paranormal stories which got popular on internet forums, most notably, from 2chan. Anyway, let’s get on with it.[/JUSTIFY] [HEADING=2]Story & Setting[/HEADING] [JUSTIFY]Himeno Mikoto, visits her friend’s house due to reasons unknown, there, she discovers her friend has decided to play a very dangerous game, 1 person hide and seek, which has completelly gotten out of hand, with the entire household killed by a vengeful spirit, Mikoto must find a way to exorcise the spirit, and survive the night, yet, this won’t be the only event. Unbeknownst to Mikoto, this is just the beginning, the ritual performed by her friend, had innavertedly open the gate for a myriad of paranormal events, while also cursing Mikoto solely by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. An entire village disappearing over night, people dying in their sleep, masks possessed by vengeful spirits, Mikoto will become a magnet for the paranormal, she had been afflicted by a Paranormal Syndrome. This game takes an episodic approach, with each episode focusing on a different Japanese legend, in a new locale. Chapter 1: 1 person hide and seek. Chapter 2: KuneKune. Chapter 3: Monkey Dream. Chapter 4: Noh Mask.[/JUSTIFY] [HEADING=2]Presentation[/HEADING] [JUSTIFY]It does look like the average RPG Maker game, and when compared side by side with other games made in RPG Maker 2000, it will be difficult to tell them apart, that of course was 1 of the biggest limitations of RPG Maker 2000 and RPG Maker 2003, as, besides sprites, there isn’t much else to do to lose the easily identifiable RPG Maker look. The resolution is limited to 4:3, which is a limitation of the engine. Still, the game does try to make up for it on how the levels themselves look and play, with each chapter feeling very unique, not just because of the different creatures, but the locales as well. The pixel art is pretty good, most characters are easily recognizable, and that applies to the creatures as well. There are instances in which photos are used, which can either look decently when used for landscapes, but very pixelated when used for assets, some even looking quite out of place, specially with some background elements in chapter 4. [/JUSTIFY] [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" alt="Presentation.webp"]121745[/ATTACH][/CENTER] [JUSTIFY]A certain problem, comes in the form of interacting with the tiles and objects, as its hard to tell what is important, or if something is hidden there, putting the player in a situation in which they must interact with everything, it doesn’t help, that some objects cover multiple tiles, and sometimes, it can prompt something different depending which of its tiles the character is facing. The translation, does have a few moments in which the phrasing could be better, and sometimes it feels like the translators didn’t take into account context for certain sentences, making them come out weird, since this is entirely fan-translated, I guess I can give it a pass. Music wise, it uses music to enhance the atmosphere of the scene, often being reserved for important moments in the story, or for tense moments, like chase sequences. The results are often pretty good, and, each chapter has different chase music, as a way to embody the vibe of the creature you are dealing with, also, since chapter 3 has 2 creatures, each one gets its own theme when chasing you. Although, the chase music can become annoying if you trigger chase sequences too much. For sound effects, most are stock RPG Maker sounds, nothing out there. There is some voice acting, but its only in very specific moments, like screams of people dying, laughter of sadistic creatures, or the creatures sounds, some of which can actually talk and will try to scare the player. Presentation wise, at the end of the day, the game takes the less is more approach, opting to go more in the direction of maintaining atmosphere and vibe, over helpful game design, which is something I can respect. [/JUSTIFY] [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" alt="Presentation 2.webp"]121746[/ATTACH][/CENTER] [HEADING=2]Mechanics[/HEADING] [JUSTIFY]Pretty much what you would expect from a version of RPG Maker this old, RPG Maker 2000 was even before they used Ruby for coding. Most of the progression is tied to finding keys, items, and/or notes to progress, the game is pretty linear all things considered, and most of its playtime is pretty much spent interacting with everything until something happens. Something that can be annoying in replaying, is that some items can only be found or picked up, after the character realizes she needs them, which makes sense sure, but its still annoying, as it feels like padding. Chapter 2 has a special way to progress, as most of it, is actually tied to interacting with characters, and slowly unraveling the truth. Each chapter has hidden tips, which just give general overviews on what to do or how things work in the specific chapter. Even with tips, the game can be quite obtuse with what to do, forcing you to simply get lost and try to interact with everything. In all chapters, the player will be chased by a different creature, in chapter 1 is a possessed doll, in chapter 2 is the kunekune, chapter 3 is divided in 2 parts, in part 1 you are chased by the drill monkey, in part 2 you are chased by sword monkey, and, in chapter 4 is the floating Noh mask. Just by being touched, you get a game over. [/JUSTIFY] [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" alt="Mechanics.webp"]121747[/ATTACH][/CENTER] [JUSTIFY]You can get them to stop in a few ways, either go to a room and interact with special items to use as defense (these items will either be bouncing, or have an arrow next to them. This only happens when you are being chased) which will destroy the item and has a chance of ending the chase, another, is to go through multiple screens until the creature gets bored and leaves, or hide in special areas until the monster goes away. Chapter 3 part 1 has a very tanky and persistent monster. Chapter 3 part 2 has a special way for defense, when entering a room with a hiding spot, you will get 5 seconds to find a hiding spot, if you fail to hide, the chase will continue as normal, but, if you hide, there is a chance the creature will find you, if it finds you, the hiding place becomes useless for the rest of the chapter. You cannot use your inventory while being chased. Chases are triggered in a few ways, sometimes the creature will just spawn when you enter a room, other times it will ambush you (with the game even having red herring rooms meant solely for the creature to spawn), or, if you have gone through too many screens, the game will spawn the creature as punishment for being lost. Something that is quite annoying, is that keys aren’t used automatically, and some items aren’t used automatically either. Most of the creatures are defeated in a cutscene, with some exceptions: Chapter 1 forces you to complete the ritual the legit way. Chapter 3 part 2, and Chapter 4, have boss fights. This game doesn’t save automatically, thankfully, it lets you save whenever (except while being chased). [/JUSTIFY] [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" alt="Mechanics 2.webp"]121748[/ATTACH][/CENTER] [HEADING=2]Final Thoughts[/HEADING] [JUSTIFY]Its a pretty solid game, but with quite a few drawbacks. As I said, its obtuse nature for progressing is artificial padding for making your 1st time playing longer than it should. Although, there are moments (specially in Chapter 4) in which not even the game wants to keep the obtuse thing going, and just flat out tells you where to go. The chases get old, specially when the defense options become rng based, how many screens does it take for the creature to stop chasing? A lot, and, since defense options get destroyed when used… Add that the creature will just start chasing you if you are lost, now, take into account the obtuse progression. All this adds up to make the game be longer, and more tedious than it should be. The chasing monsters also suffer from the rudimentary pathfinding of RPG Maker 2000, so they get stuck quite easily when chasing you. Its quite cool to see how Mikoto grows as a character between chapters, which culminates in a pretty cool moment in Chapter 4. Its quite impressive what the dev was able to program with the boss fight in chapter 4, specially taking into account the limitations in RPG Maker 2000. Its pretty cool that the game teaches you some Japanese urban legends, by having to experience and beat them. If you want a little time waster, with a pretty good and engaging story, and you are interested in Japanese folklore, this game is worth playing. Article cover image taken from [URL]https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/23503252[/URL] Yes, the game doesn't have an official cover, so we have to make do with the title screen. Edit: Forgot to mention this, this is one of those games which require Japanese RTP for RPG Maker 2000 in order to work.[/JUSTIFY] [/QUOTE]

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