Machina of the Planet Tree -Planet Ruler-

(Disclaimer: I was the QA lead for Sekai Project's localization of Machina of the Planet Tree -Planet Ruler- so feel free to take this with the entire salt shaker.) Planet Ruler is an amazingly fun and adorable indie JRPG. I'm a fan of JRPGs in general, so I was expecting to enjoy working on this when I got the opportunity, but between the battle system and the catg-- I mean, the way I ended up really liking all of the characters, it exceeded my expectations. To get the one big downside out of the way first, it's not all that long - I'd ballpark it as being around 7-10 hours for a playthrough that doesn't get stuck on any of the bosses, but it's hard for me to say because I had access to the game files so I knew a lot of the game's inner workings and also had to spend time checking every little thing, both of which distorted my playtime significantly. It's also fairly linear, with no real sidequests other than finding the items needed to upgrade your party's weapons. But past that, it has a fairly unique battle system where you string attacks together using a "Cost" system - basically action points - and deal additional damage on later hits, based on both the number of attacks used, and the number of hits those attacks each dealt. Figuring out what enemies are weak to and then setting up a string of attacks that both builds up the combo meter and strings as many TP-costing "Over-Arts" as you can into the mix without using more TP than you want can be a challenge, but one the game rewards by letting you blow through enemies. Battles are pretty action-packed, especially because the game doesn't really encourage holding back - during boss fights especially, it ends up feeling like every turn is an extreme all-out attack. I also ended up really clicking with more or less all of the characters. Cram is adoracute. *nods* Also, especially if you can understand a bit of Japanese, all three of the playable characters (plus Cronos) have amazingly adorable and hilarious voice acting in combat. Even if you can't, though, the banter between the party outside of combat is really, really good and funny. So yeah. Even if I wasn't paid to work on this game, I'd have to recommend it to JRPG fans. For people who aren't into JRPGs very much but still enjoy anime-styled games, I'd still recommend trying it, especially if their objections are more that JRPGs are long and boring, or don't involve much strategy, than that they're too complicated. (If it's that they're too complex... yeah, Planet Ruler's combat system isn't super tough, but it's significantly more in-depth than "hit the bad guy, heal when you get hurt.")

First impressions (1hr and half in): RPGmaker title, no doubt about it. But with that being said, attention to detail with the map tilesets is noticable - they took time and showed care for the creation of the areas I've seen so far. Character designs and pixel art are of good quality (within the confines of the engine), and the characters themselves are expressive enough visually to keep a scenes mood intact. Translation quality flows well enough, though personality of the characters so far seem to lack "something" - not sure what - but they feel a bit flat. More time playing may fix that though. Standard Jrpg music, nothing obnoxious so far, but nothing amazing either. Japanese voiceacting during combat is a personal plus for me, adds alot of personality. :) Unfortunately full voiceacting outside of combat does not exist - I assume it was just too out of reach for the devs. =/ Gameplay reminds me of a mix of Xenogears, and Star Ocean 2. If I had a complaint - using a controller is a bit twitchy/sensitve during combat, as my 360 controllers' dpad does not work within the game, and instead I have to fiddle with the combat menu using the joystick. But that's more a personal gripe. Enjoying it up to now - it's not a fancy, next-gen game - but it has noticable, genuine effort put into it, and likeable visuals. And so far the gameplay is fun.

This is my 2nd review for today, both for very deserving games (the other was for Fairy Fencer F). Now I have honestly of all my time playing JRPGS have never played an RPG Maker game, mainly because they all really looked the same to me. But I have to say Machina of the Planet Tree really stood out for me, so I felt now that I own the game and I have played through some of it, it is deserving of a review (from someone who hardly ever does reviews haha so please bear with me). Though made from RPG Maker (not sure which I'm assuming the most recent) looks almost nothing like an RPG Maker styled game. The combat is combo based with loads of very stylized and nice looking moves. The story is so far very well done. And the character art looks like it was drawn up by a professional or a group of people who spent lots of hard work and time devolping them. Just overall a game that is currently very deserving of more recongition by the community. This game being as well made as it is,still has that very classic and turn based styled feel to it. So if that's not your cup of tea maybe this game wouldn't be for you. I only am mentioning this because of how lost the art of turn based RPG's has become. But it's how times change of course. Anyways overall verdict... A game well put together using a very limited system, almost brings me to the point of being speechless haha. Well deserving of a purchase by any JRPG fan looking for a solid game. Well that's about it from me! I thank anyone who happens to read this! And of course I hope everyone is doing well and living the best they can! Happy playing my fellow gamers! :)

Pros: -Fairly balanced and creative battle system -Harem party? -Humorous skits Cons: (Luckily, most of these should be fairly easy to add in without significantly rewriting the story) -Lack of NPC interaction, especially for some of the antagonists -Not much backstory for some of the major characters -Not much customization via accessories. There's literally only two different accessories in the game, and both have the same effect but to a different degree. Unfortunately, there aren't even basic accessories for defending against status effects or elements.

The battle system really ruins the fun. So, it's turn based and encourages you to plan out your attacks by having a move repetition penalty and a bonus for varied attacks. So you DON'T want to button mash right? No, you also have a 5 second timer for your combo, think fast! But also, you need to account for what your opponent is weak against. Tough crap that normally they're weak to only one attack, as if you only use the attack that actually does damage on them, you get a repetition penalty, and if you use weak attacks they resist big time. So.. basically you're forced to think hard, button mash, vary up your attacks but not use pointless attacks. So you lose out no matter what you do, because it's throwing several systems at you. That alone is a hot mess. I'm not far into it but I have no idea how to fight this one boss battle when everything is being penalised. I could just keep fighting smaller monsters until I can one shot it, but it's very strong and I don't want to spend that long when I'm clearly supposed to be in for a long thought out fight with this boss. I don't really enjoy fighting, I do it to continue a story. So maybe someone who loves fighting might find this hot mess a unique thing to overcome, in which case go for it? but generally, i feel like it's trying to do too much and not offering any option for personal style because it penalises everything... I also found the sizing of the window ridiculous, it's about 1/4 the size of my screen, so I'm squinting and leaning in while trying to do thought out, fast, varied, not pointless attacks with writing so tiny and confusing layout of commands. but that's totally fun right? The art is what drew me in, and I'm big on RPGs normally, but this one, I feel like they tried to do something new and it flopped.

Short version: Novelty of the gameplay mechanics wears off. It’s an okay game, but that’s about it. Long version: Machina of the Planet -Planet Ruler- is a game I thought I was going to enjoy. Finding which attacks did the most damage in order to dominate the battle quick was fun. For the first few hours. Here close to the end, there are more cons than pros to keep going. Pros! -Custom made characters. -Unique fighting system where every ability has attributes that are either weak or strong against enemies. (Slashing, Blunt, Magic, Lightning, Holy, Fire, etc.) -D-skits. (Like the "Tales of" games.) -Find broken weapons, and repair them for more play options. (More agility over attack power, or more defense, etc.) Cons… -Default assets are abound, from the defense shield to customers at the bar to actual enemies. Not familiar with every asset in this version of RPGMaker, but I know enough. -Traditional “let’s call the male lead a perv” cringe humor. -Traditional tsundere foe. -Bosses are not balanced well. This is by far the worst thing, and it all depends on your abilities and upgraded weapons. Bosses start out as massive damage sponges taking quite a few turns to beat, then later on you’ll find a few that go down quick in a couple turns with some right combos (partly because you have more powerful abilities). One boss fight made everyone jump 2(!) levels, and it probably would have been warranted if anybody on the other side of the 5v3 fight had gotten off a single attack. As it was, Cram did close to 1.5 MILLION damage altogether in one turn, picking up Esty’s slack. -There is slew of bosses for you to fight at the end before the final boss. For no reason I can see aside from giving you levels because they go down fast and hard at that point. (Why is this a thing? And why are there 8? Why not just 4? Games like Chrono Cross do this kind of, but the fights are spread out.)

[quote]Follow my Curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41363546-Fruit-N-Doggie-Reviews/]Fruit N Doggie Reviews,[/url] so you can be updated whenever I post a new review.[/quote] [h1]Overall Rating - Seriously Flawed ★★☆☆☆[/h1] [h1]First Impressions[/h1] When first looking at Machina of the Planet Tree -Planet Ruler- (MP), I didn't have many RPGs in my library, which was many years ago. I've tried more than once to get into this game, but I never got very far, in part because I have a bad habit of leaving partially started games unfinished. Now that I'm more focused on wrapping up things I've begun, it's time to scratch MP off the list.  [h1]Gameplay[/h1] Now that I'm more discrete about what games I want to own, an RPG Maker game doesn't quite make the cut. I'll give it some credit, as it has a few unique traits in its design. One of these is how exploring dungeons work. In almost every RPG I've played, scouring a dungeon for all of its treasures is completed after opening all of the chests, even if that requires a return trip later because you're missing a crucial tool or skill. The difference here is the inclusion of respawning item pools called excavation points, so that you can go back to earlier areas and gather more resources, with no set limit on how often you do it. Since they're areas where you've already beaten the boss, there won't be a big bad to disrupt your grinding sessions, yet will also garner more items than most conventional RPGs. Another noticeable difference is how it handles combat. At any time, each party member can only bring four moves into battle with them, and they'll vary in what elements they contain and how many points it takes to use them. Every character has their own amount of points to use during their turns, and reaching certain levels will increase this number. Casting spells won't draw from this pool, but using items will. You'll select from your four attacks during each turn, and want to mix up the order, as using the same move consecutively reduces the damage. Attacking quickly enough will build combos that makes the last move you use even stronger, leading to some degree of strategy. Going through a routine of attacks works fine enough during most enemies, but boss battles are harder, and will require the use of spells and attentiveness in order to beat. [h1]Controls[/h1] The store page claims that there's partial controller support for MP, but I tried playing it with both of my controllers, and it didn't recognize either of them. Navigating the dungeons and menus with the keyboard isn't too cumbersome, yet it also isn't my preferred way of playing a game. Especially when it emphasizes making quick decisions in battles to maximize my damage output. [h1]Story[/h1] In MP, the story takes the perspective of three individuals, none of whom know each other initially. There's Cram, who has Cronos attached to his arm, augmenting his attacks and providing information and feedback. Oddly, he doesn't tell time though. Shortly after starting the game, a neko named Retla trespasses into a restricted area, with intel too spicy for Cram to hand her over to the authorities. Taking the role of the mysterious plot device character is Esty, who is directly affiliated with Machina, the ancient object that once catapulted the advanced people of the past into paradise, until it went awry. She seems to have unusual, unclear powers, but also suffers from amnesia. I'm pretty sure that'd cover at least ten entries on an RPG story bingo card. [h1]Visuals[/h1] You can certainly tell MP is an RPG Maker game, as it draws from pre-created graphics for things such as the dungeons and enemies. The somewhat cookie cutter dungeon design doesn't bother me so much as the recycled enemies. Knowing they're pulled from a catalog makes them so dull to me. However, unless they're drawing from a resource I'm not aware of, the main characters and NPCs were made by the developers themselves. Their visual quality is an improvement compared to the pre-used assets, so it seems likely. After all, their attacks have animations, while enemies just drag across the screen and fling themselves at you. [h1]Sound Design[/h1] Something that stood out with the game's music early on was this aggravating droning noise. I think it was supposed to reflect the presence of crystals or ether, but it really wasn't pleasant sounding, decreasing my desire to play all the more. The attacks that are used have some punch to them, providing enough visual and audio effects that it helps build a sense of striking enemies. If I had to guess, I'd imagine most of them come from RPG Maker, as I recognize at least some of them. [h1]Pros[/h1] 🌟 Over time, you'll acquire and upgrade your weapons using the items found in the dungeons. It's also really easy to grind for and get an excess of healing items, allowing you to sell your surplus. 🌟 I found the characters likable, and I thought the optional dialogue prompts were an organic way of delivering exposition. [h1]Cons[/h1] ❌ It's not easy to discern what attributes an attack will have simply by its name, which can make selecting and using the right ones in battle confusing. This applies to enemies as well, as their weaknesses or resistances aren't clear until after you try them.  ❌ There's no map system and you can only save the game at designated locations. [h1]Tips[/h1] 🔍 You can return to excavation points and farm them. However, you have to rest at the inn before they'll be available again. I'm sure there are certain ones that would be worth exploiting, but none are worth doing to an extreme.  🔍 I'd sell off excess healing items, although keeping 20 or more of each is a good minimum. Otherwise, I'd hold onto the stronger ones and crafting items. [h1]Final Thoughts[/h1] Coming back to MP after so much time allowed me to return to it with a clean slate, and I've determined that it's not worth playing through for me due to a few factors. The first pertains to my inability to play it with a controller, as I really don't want to have to play through hours of an RPG using a keyboard. Other matters that irk me pertain to a lack of certain quality of life standards I expect nowadays. In MP, you can only save at designated areas instead of being able to save and quit at your own discretion. There's no in-game map system to make navigating dungeons easier, so I'd have to either blindly stumble around or create my own maps. Plus, even if I liked Cram and Retla, the beaten to death tropes in the story greatly diminishes my interest in what's going to happen. Having to fight against lifeless, copy and paste enemies further exacerbates the matter. If that's all the effort they can muster, why shouldn't I be apathetic about their game? I'm more than happy to move on from this game and get it out of my to do box. [table] [tr] [th]PC Specs[/th] [th]Performance[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]Ryzen 2700 RTX 2070 16GB RAM ADATA SSD 1920x1080 [/td] [td]The game ran without incident on default settings. 💖 - MP is healthy [/td] [/tr] [/table]

Just finished this game today, and really impressed overall. The game is around 7 to 10 hour long depending on how fast you can adapt to the combat system (which is pretty simple at first but does have some depth) and if you wanna farm for the last weapons or not (them being optional to finish the game). Difficulty is pretty well balanced, I think I wiped 3 or 4 times total, and never had to grind during the game except just before the final boss. Graphisms wise, well it's a rpg maker game, but a pretty good one : the character art is nice, the sprites go from decent to pretty cool. The maps are pretty well made with a definite attention to details. The music is average with some cool boss themes, but they aren't too agressive and go really well with the mood. Also, the game includes fully friendly character voicing in battle, wich means you get some hype while Cram is shouting things like Gravityyy NOIREEEE and things like that. For people who aren't into that, you can still remove the corresponding files if you want. The rest of the game isn't voiced sadly, but that goes with budget restriction probably. The game itself is pretty straightforward, there is basically no side quest except getting new weapons, and while the story will not be remembered forever, it's pretty decent. There is some pretty good comedy in the in game skits and most of the conversations, which will remind some people of the Tales of serie. Also, to note: a 2.0 version with some added content is to be expected, and this game is basically a test to see if people are interested in it : the studio wants to go for a big full blown rpg sequel if the players reactions are good. Conclusion : you definitely wanna play this game if you like these rpg maker games in general, it's one of the best in the genre. If you like jrpg in general, you probably wanna get a look at it, the combat system and the interaction between characters are pretty good and worth a try.

If you like old-school RPGs like Goldne Sun, Tales of Phantasia, or the early Final Fantasy games and you like anime of really any sort, this game is an absolute must. So very many things about this game made me smile. EASILY worth $13 but honestly if I knew how much I was going to enjoy the game I would have been willing to spend DOUBLE. For a game made by a very small indie company it has alot of polish and you can tell the developers took pride and care in making truely fun and enjoyable unlike so many big companies these days. If this game is on sale, don't even bother thinking or reading this review. Just buy it and play it right away. The makers of this game also left out lots of stuff you didn't like about other old style RPGs. No wandering around absolutely huge towns inspecting every single pot and table in every house and dungeon, no talking to hundreds of boring villagers, no exploring giant boring world maps. There isn't even much back tracking thanks to the handy warp system. I bought this game wanting an old-school style JRPG that stayed true to the good things about the genre and thats exactly what Machina of the Planet Tree delivered. Things I absolutely loved about the game: 1. Music (aka RPG ear candy) 2. Combat (Very Satisfying due to multiple things but especially the combo system) 3. Control Simplicity (seriously the game is played with 7 keys on the keyboard and thats including the arrow keys) 4. Not much time spent doing boring things (like inspecting the environment, traveling, and talking to NPCs) 5. Difficulty Level (is just right) 6. Combat voice acting (this is both cool and amusing regardless of if you understand much Japanese or not) 7. Amusing dialogue between the characters. I could list many more things but I really don't think I need to go on.

용머리 툴로 뽑아낼 수 있는 최상급의 퀄리티로 구현된 정통 rpg게임 보통 용머리 툴로 만든 게임의 승부수는 king exit처럼 스토리가 개쩔거나 deed시리즈처럼 게임 진행이 독특한 경우인데 이 게임의 경우는 스토리도 왕도, 전투도 왕도인데 배틀 퀄리티를 최상으로 올려버렸다. 일단 전투가 용머리툴에서 대다수가 채택하는 드래곤퀘스트식 서술형 전투가 아니라 파이날판타지 식의 사이드 뷰 형식으로 주인공캐릭들이 전투시 모션이 있고, 그것도 사용기술마다 별도로 보이스, 개별 모션 다 넣어줬다. 거기다 콤보시스템, 기술마다 제각각의 속성이 있어 전투 하나만큼은 최근 나온 어중간한 인디 rpg보다도 재미있고 퀄리티도 높다. 거기다 일어 청해만 된다면 전투 끝나고 여러가지 유형의 승리보이스 듣고 있으면 은근히 재밌다. 거기다 엔딩곡이 있다는 것도 놀라운데 퀄리티도 나쁘지 않은 편. 뭐 단점도 있긴 있는데 낮은 해상도에 요즘은 선호되지 않는 랜덤인카운터, 약간 짧은 스토리와 던전, 스팀클라우드 미지원이긴 하지만 이런 단점을 충분히 상쇄할만한 명작 rpg임.