Mango Mischief

[b] TL;DR: It's quite good. [/b] I'm not one for long-winded reviews, so I'll keep it concise. [b] Note that while this is my honest opinion, I did get the chance to play the game pre-release, and was given a free Steam key as well. [/b] Just wanted to keep it transparent. The writing is phenomenal, but VERY self-referential. It plays off of tropes commonly found not only in JRPGs, but most older games, and does a good job satirizing the medium. It genuinely made me laugh. Make of that what you will. Oh, puns. So many puns. More puns than your body has room for. The combat is largely about exploiting elemental weaknesses, with your four party members having a pool of MP (Mana) and TP (Technical Points), the latter regenerating in one of 6 different ways. You get to chose how each party member generates TP, and each have their own special ability at 100TP. Otherwise, it's a perfectly good turn-based RPG. It shows the turn order, allowing you to plan around it. It throws plenty of items at you, allowing to customize your characters to your liking. None of it is revolutionary, but it is a good game with good systems. It throws puzzles at you, one of which made me feel like an absolute bozo. They're good, they don't get in the way, and (in my opinion) make the game more interesting.

Endearing and addictive. I've had the opportunity to watch other people play this game and knew I wanted to play this through on my own. Despite having seen some of the game, my first play through so far has been amazing and I really enjoy the thought put into all the interactions your character gets to have, even with the NPCs that are just snoozing or chatting in the tavern. Definitely recommend to anyone interested in this genre and even to those (who are like me) that wouldn't normally gravitate to this sort of game.

This game draws together all of the best features of the JRPGs you loved growing up and puts them into one game. An engaging story! Lots of humor! Perfect soundtrack! Classic battle mechanics! I love they way you can tweak and customize your characters abilities. I'm just scratching the surface, but I gather that this game has dozens of hours of original story, and eight dungeons that can be played in any order, open-world style. Can't wait to play some more!

So right at the top, I met Mr. Mango a few months ago on Twitter. We both enjoyed old school Final Fantasy games, and he seemed like a pretty nice dude (he is) so I bought his game. We've chatted a few times, and he's watched me play his game a few times, but otherwise that's about it. I haven't received anything other than a game that I paid $10 for. But yeah, so far I think that this is a fun little game and I don't feel like I have wasted my money. The class system in the game is reminiscent to Final Fantasy's job system and so I'm pretty excited about building a party in this game. In general the writing is pretty clever, and I'll often find myself being reminded of some trope or frustrating thing from something like a S/NES Final Fantasy or Gen 1 Pokemon that is then referenced in the game. I did have some awkward moments playing this game but overall I think this is a very solid first attempt at making a video game. There was obviously a lot of time, care, and effort put into making this game by someone that grew up on SNES era JRPGs. I feel like this would be a game for someone into indie or fan made games for sure.

Just for the sake of transparency I was one of the beta testers of the game and yes I did get a free code for the game as well. If you're a fan of retro RPGs as well as games that move away from the norm this game is for you. It is a satire that is meant to poke fun at all other RPGs, JRPGs, etc. It is not meant to be taken as serious as AAA high budget games with insane over the top graphics, and a completely involved storyline with character development. The characters are self-aware, there are plenty of jokes (which are actually funny), hidden pop culture and video game references, and puns-a-plenty. Underneath it all there is a story behind the veil that is revealed over time and culminates to a pretty shocking discovery that will tug a few heart strings. Also, this was solo developed. One person with no knowledge of coding or game development made a full blown 20-40 hour (depending on your speed) RPG. That in and of itself is pretty impressive. If there is anything I've been vocal about on the negative side was the insane amount of skills spread across all characters in odd groupings. Check out my full review I did together with another beta tester here (my channel was originally called Aces High Gamers; just changed): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xjiT0Wcq7w

* This is an excellent fun little game that I recommend. * $10.00 will get you about 25 hours of content (100% completion). I could probably cut that time in half if I played it again (now that I know what to do for everything) but still decent length. Makes fun of JRPG tropes very "aware" of itself. Story is fun, doesn't suck. Fun game, worth the $10.00.

I had a lot of fun with this Game, the puns hit nicely and I just loved the math references. Of course you have to keep in mind that this was done on RPG Maker by just one guy, and for that, it turned out great! I especially, besides the funny stuff, liked the class system, giving me a lot of classes to chose from, and it doesn't take hours upon hours of grinding through each class to master them. I don't mind grinding in general, but for this game not being too grind heavy just was the right decision.

Why didn't I buy this game earlier. I thought I would never see a good classic rpg adventure being released again but here it is: The characters are very likable and the story enjoyable and fun. it's not supposed to be complex or to have 400 IQ professional quality characters and that's what I was missing. they're better than that they're just people that I like and that I would make friends with. the fact that it's a parody only makes it better, you go inside a house in the capital and the main characters start questioning a mage about the elements. me and the friend I was streaming for completely lost it when they ask for a periodic table and state that the mage failed chemistry I feel like that's what's missing in the entertainment industry today, specially outside of japan. I can like the game not rationally.

This is a fun and engaging game. Even though there are areas that could use improvement, the gameplay is easy to like after encountering the first major dungeon and changing character classes. If I didn't have to sleep I would probably just sit there endlessly playing Mango Mischief tonight. Here are the things I liked and disliked in a pros and cons format. [b]Pros[/b] - The class changing system is excellent. Classes have their own levels that increase after battle and they max out quickly, making way for even more new classes. I was jumping from class to class and learning numerous abilities even during the early hours of the game. The class system is such that you would be switching classes and constantly racking up new types of abilities. Buffs, debuffs, and elemental strengths and weaknesses make a noticeable difference in most fights and particularly during boss fights. I also like that guarding is not useless and sometimes worthwhile strategically. The presence of a bonus attack gauge makes for an extra limit break-style skill to look forward to utilizing at the right time. There is also this challenging question of whether to prepare for a boss or go all in and see what happens. Overall, there is a lot to the combat and character progression, but I found it all very user-friendly and appealing. - The general pace is well-balanced. Battles are resolved quickly and can be made even faster with multiple options to skip battle animations. The level of challenge is not compromised in my opinion. Enemies hit hard. - NPCs have fun dialogue that seems well-edited, as if ran through with a fine-tooth comb for quality. I can't recall too many (if any) spelling errors or grammatical errors. There is some flavor to the dialogue and party members sometimes contribute to conversations with NPCs. I love that sort of thing. - Aside from the dungeon/town/cut-scenes structure, there are puzzles peppered throughout. These often involve paying careful attention to what NPCs are saying or being observant of small details in the environment. - The music is nice. I really liked the theme that plays during boss fights the most. - The little rhyming poems on the sign posts in every town are a nice touch and charming to read. [b]Cons[/b] - Given the amount of effort put into the greater parts, the visuals are unremarkable. This game doesn't play bland, it doesn't read bland, so it's unfortunate that it looks bland. When considering the large numbers of JRPGs out there with a more distinct art direction, Mango Mischief can easily fade in the background under a hasty glance. - While I did chuckle at some jokes and enjoyed some of the humor, the fourth wall breaking jokes can be repetitive or groan-worthy even if purposefully so. - The encounter rate varies oddly. Sometimes it's too high. Some quests involve some backtracking that can be tedious. [hr][/hr] I'll update this review as I explore more of this game. But overall I have largely good things to say. I had a nostalgic feeling all throughout playing that kept me hooked. The class/job system is rewarding to explore. Combat is consistently fun. Finally, I like the writing in general and the storyline though it becomes a bit more minimalistic as the game proceeds. Maybe that will change. But overall, this has been well worth playing.

A game that starts with humor and ends with feels. It is more than a game it is a jorney that gets you addicted. Fun world elements, easy combat system a must buy for jrpg fans.