Save Your Mother

我救你马呢

Super cute, female protagonist. Worth $10 USD? No, not really, for an RPGMaker game its worth towards $3.99 at most. The developer is kind and answers any questions I have, he also updates it and weeds the bugs often. Even though I just did the vocal effects. The story is beautiful and so is the art, though. Recommended :) Tuomo is a great dev to work with!

[h1] Stumbling upon games is nice,[/h1] So, I guess I bought this game the day it was released, by pure accident. Well, it's safe to say that I do not regret the purchase! It's a neat game with an endearing visual style, story, and the gameplay being tight like spandex. Being one of the first few to play this game is a very different challenge, you don't have any resources on the internet to tell you how much of anything you need for an acheivement. But, however, nothing can spoil your experience with the game, which is SO NICE!!! Something that is worth mentioning are all the references, even though the game's atmosphere is a little tense, and rightly so, the humor in these keeps the game feeling a little more light hearted, which I much appriciated after a certain VERY VERY unnerving part of the game, which, by the way, HOLY BUCKETS THAT'S SPOOKY DONE RIGHT! HOOOOOO MAN I WAS ACTUALLY SWEATING BUCKETS AT THAT PART! It's a truly wonderful game though, that rewards you for doing smaller things throughout the story, some of which I have yet to find! The lots of files helps with completeing the game, you can basically rewind to any point and do some backtracking whenever. The few puzzles that exist in game are very clever as well. I also LOVE the soundtrack, it's just so GOOD! WOW! TL;DR, This game is great, if you like games with depth, such as Undertale, you'll have fun with this one too!

[b][i][Review copy was supplied by the developer for the purpose of review][/i][/b] You know, it’s never easy nor a good feeling to come away from a passion project without being able to have mutual feelings for the dedication behind a small-team. Having played many far greater RPGMaker games of greater and lesser quality and knowing that this version is a more polished “release” than the one-month challenge original, Save Your Mother simply feels like an amateur project. It’s not nearly as amateurish as Lamia Must Die, but it showcases a lot of gameplay design pitfalls when making an entertaining game. There are simply far too many problems to recommend SYM in spite of its own charm, which is a shame because in small bursts of moments SYM can kindle some affection. While I cannot attest to the merits of Tuomo’s other titles like Strangers of the Power or the upcoming Adventures of Dragon, these games are likely more polished due to the fact that they appear far more focused on what makes them different from other games and they are benefited from the experience of learning how to make games. As a creator/critic, it’s easier to find faults with past projects than when you create them of the moment because everyone has to start somewhere, and I can only hope that whatever lessons are to be learned from Save Your Mother are carried on to future success and to any aspiring developers who should learn how not to make an JPRG. [h1]Sometimes Words Fail Where Feelings Convey the Real Story[/h1] Normally I avoid using gaming armchair terms that may only serve to make me sound pretentious, but Save Your Mother suffers from two core issues, the lack of conveyance (in gameplay and in storytelling) and the amount of gameplay contrivances. Some of these issues can be excused with the fact that the game was originally part of a contest, but these blunders should have been addressed in its rerelease similar to how OneShot ironed out its RPGmaker flaws. In talking about conveyance, or simply the ability to communicate ideas to the player, let’s start with the storyline’s greatest problem, the introduction. Immediately after the game begins, the player is learning about the mythos through many abstract terms in a quick text-scrawl before the human elements of Alice and her sickened mother are crammed into this massive exposition dump. It also manages to tell us everything we will ever know about Alice and of her mother in the first cutscene through expository text with no dialogue. While all this info is necessary and relevant, SYM chooses the worst way to frame its beginning by doing the opposite of what it should do. Instead, the game should have began with the two characters conversing and showing us how Alice is incapable of curing her mother, thus establishing her as a scholar pushed to her limits, then letting the player discover the textbook which informs the player not only of the mythos but also of Alice’s goals. This kind of oversight reappears throughout all the small little details that keep cropping up the farther you play. Why are the particle effects obscuring so much of the screen all the time? Why are dead/knocked-out characters laid vertically when horizontal bodies better convey this information in 2D? Why are the many side-characters glossed over before you can learn their names? Why are dungeon traps so pixel perfect obstacles (like lava bits that blend into the background)? Why is the elevation drawn so vaguely it is hard to see it through the snow? Why do so many dungeons feel punishing towards people who forget to save by making players replay large chunks of a short game, especially when a puzzle offers no second chances? These are the types of questions I would expect game-testers or other quality-assurance groups would point out as suggestions for improvement, and it’s the main sign of the overall lack of quality behind SYM. The other major issue is how many things feel contrived, and none for good reasons. Many mechanics and systems are included into the game to add “content” without considering how these aspects benefit the game. Things like the fishing mini-game, which is only required once; the coffin ride for one ride; and the scattershot usage of puzzles that often give little information are all pimples of a game in its adolescence. As much as I enjoy subversions from Earthbound-inspired games, this is the kind of problem you would find in AAA games that create content first and contrive “reasons” for their existence after their creation. Even when these elements do fit in such as the puzzles, many can be too punishing and time-consuming like the math challenge because the clues are scattered in a maze and you will reload your save file if you mistype the answer. These puzzles don’t feel rewarding because they feel more like busy-work to keep the player from progressing. What bothers me is none of these added mechanics—aside from the puzzles that show ingenuity—flesh out Alice’s character to show the player she is smart, resourceful and capable because the game doesn’t utilize the mechanics to flesh out her traits. These concerns are all laid on the wayside as the art and music attempt to make for an emotionally bonding experience almost anyone could relate to with going on a journey to save their mother. Except it never really reaches the heights it could have achieved because neither the game’s storytelling nor the gameplay truly commits to making that bond a priority over simply making what feels like any other RPGMaker game. [h1]Perhaps Not All Mistakes Are Seen As Failures to Those Who Understand[/h1] While I could continue describing many other problems such as basing a JRPG as a one-man combat system becoming quickly stale, those concerns seem less important from the more crucial problems that robs Save Your Mother from being an emotionally heartfelt experience. Underneath the charming exterior and the emotionally manipulative set-up to invest players almost cheaply from maternal feelings, this is one experience that I cannot say will remain memorable nor will it retain any fondness in its desire to evoke these feelings. I wouldn’t say the game is a failure nor broken; its ambitions seem too high for the capabilities of the developers to achieve them. It's simply a case where a game did not work out the way they hoped it would plan out. Perhaps for the developers and for their families Save Your Mother does resonate with them more strongly because they have that connection in every line of code, in every pixel and picture drawn, and in all the memories embroidered in the development borne from that same passion that manifests itself more strongly than I ever could imagine.

This game is one of the better RPGMaker games I have played although it has a few flaws. You take on the role of Alice on a quest to save her sick mother by finding the Elohim Cube. You start your journey from a cave in the bottom of a mountain and you fight your way through various landscapes ranging from a icy palace to a volcanic cavern. Battles take place in real time with a cooldown bar between each action. The game has a mix of puzzle solving along with platforming at times. Although the game may have been rebalanced as of now, when I played this game, I was unable to find a spell that was crucial to beating the first boss and I thought certain enemies and bosses needed some rebalancing. I did enjoy what I played of the game though and in my opinion the universe of this game is well thought out. If you are a fan of RPGMaker games, I would recommend you give this game a try, although this game does not take long to beat. Disclaimer: I was provided a review key, however this did not influence my review.

[h1]Can't really say I was a fan. (Ver 1.42) [/h1] After getting a coupon for -90%, I figured why not, but having played through the game I couldn't help but see a bunch of problems that kinda need attention, as well as general criticisms that I don't think will change but I still did not really like. * Really do not like the combat. Combat is real time which isn't necessarily bad, but because what you could do was typically very limited and only could be done at certain times, it felt really bad. For example, in a fight you could basic attack, cast a spell, guard or use an item such as a healing potion. However, fights would typically devolve in to mindlessly doing two things - casting your strongest spell and occasionally topping off your health and mana. There was very little variety in how to play fights because you didn't have time to think and plan what to do, and you objectively had a strongest attack which you'd just spam in order. As such a lot of bosses and enemies just felt like stat checks, since there wasn't really any thought in to beating them it was just "Spam this as much as possible and either kill the enemy or die". Combat definitely needs work in some way, whether it's dropping it down to be turn based to slow things down and let the player plan how to play, or overhaul the items and attacks the player could use in order to make things less binary. * Controls were clunky and could probably do with breaking up some of the buttons which were "press this to do everything", and also there were times in the game which handled REALLY badly. One that springs to mind was the lava lake section, where sometimes the character wouldn't move as you wanted which was really frustrating. * Some things felt fanservicey. I know some people like that, but personally I do not. * Game felt very linear with not much side questing or exploration to get up to. There was a gold collection mechanic too, but never really anything to buy so it would just turn in to "well I can buy hundreds of this thing and I've got nothing else to purchase, so ok". Overall I feel like the game does have potential, but currently isn't really fleshed out enough to justify buying.

I realised I haven't wrote a review of this game, but I feel like I should as it's still in my library and I have played it. I've played this before version 1.43, but given the changelog, only balancing changes happened for the most part, so what I speak should generally still apply. I originally thought this game was the absolute worse, but now reflecting back on it, it isn't so bad, but it's not very good either, not good enough that I would recommend. But there are far worse games than this. So, the good part of the RPG is it presented itself with a lot of oppurtonities to subvert your expectations and writes in a lot of set up seemingly specifically for it and the choices that can potentially explore various ideas to provoke your thoughts. That's where the bad part comes in, despite all the setup, the game never takes advantage of them, it never really explores morality with the goals of the main character which is really unfortunate. This results the game not being very engaging, making it for a very forgettable experience. It's also marred by the fact that it's an RPG Maker game clearly, giving players expectations that it's very cookie cutter as most games are in RPG Maker It's expected of them to bring something strong to the table, and most respond with a very strong story as an RPG Maker game. This game doesn't have a very strong story because it's not engaging. Story aside, the combat is very basic as you only control a single character. The first boss can be summed down to spamming the fire spell you get at the start to win. The the alternative route you can take is grind for hours to just beat the boss without the fire spell which is an odd design choice of offering a choice. The most tactic you can get out of this is maintaining full health and throwing out your strongest attack. OFF by Ghost Mortis had more depth, unfortunately. There were other mechanics in the game that were thrown in without ever being very developed such as the mining. If that idea was played through the entire game with a few tweaks to make it stronger, it would have made ore hunting fun and rewarding, but it ended up only in one section of the game with the sole purpose to inflate you with money. In short, this game had a lot of potential it didn't build upon storywise and mechanic wise, which is a shame. Edit: Also an addendum to this review, this game is beatable within 6 hours of casual playthrough. That is if you're not collecting stuff for the gallery, which is another underdeveloped part of the game. Rewarding you with art. But it doesn't feel very rewarding in the way they do it.

PROS: - unlockable [spoiler]hardcore mode[/spoiler]... - cool [spoiler]casket race[/spoiler]... - amazing drawings - cool music - nice mapping - nice short story - sidequests - cool riddles - [spoiler]secret mini game[/spoiler] CONS: - ...with unfair sections - ...which is hard to control at the beginning - [spoiler]hardcore mode[/spoiler] seems impossible to beat RESULT: If you look for a great RPG Maker game, that is fun to play, here it is. :D But of course not everything is perfect, for the first run everything is fun. If you try to reach all secrets, then you encounter a really unfair boss, which kills you instantly without a chance of winning. To actually beat this one guy, you need to grind your level up to 15 at least!!! The [spoiler]hardcore mode[/spoiler] seems like a bad joke. :/ First problem you can die easily without having any control about it [spoiler]when you're drugged[/spoiler]. Because you have to find 5 random spawning events in time, if you don't, game over... Second problem [spoiler]Ice Lady[/spoiler], if she uses [spoiler]absolute zero[/spoiler] it's an instant kill, even with 2k+ HP!!! *edit* But you got an item, that protects you from ice and I missed it, shame on me. :'( *end of edit* Third problem you've unlock a special equip, that makes many situations easier, but on the final part you're not allowed to use it, else game over!!! Why even giving this object in [spoiler]hardcore mode[/spoiler], if you're not allowed to use it? I was so frustrated after that, that I stopped playing that game for that day. >:O The first run was really fun, even finding all the secrets and finishing the superboss. I also loved the puzzles, they were so outstanding. Oh, how I missed them in modern games. <3 Only question left for me, where the heck can I even find [spoiler]abyss[/spoiler]? Even with finding all secrets, I wasn't be able to find or kill him. :( (\ô/)

游戏质量还算不错的RPG制品 故事背景什么反正就是弑怪救母之类的，也没啥太多可以讲的 游戏并不是普通的碰地雷然后回合制那样子，而是怪物在地图中巡逻，靠近后出发战斗，战斗模式也类似于半即时制，行动条恢复后可以选择攻击、防御、魔法，但你在选择动作的时候对方仍然是在攻击的，所以使用道具这些事情劲量不要放在战斗中进行（除了一些BOSS战没办法外），释放魔法也比较麻烦，但一些BOSS必须要依靠魔法（比如第一只蜘蛛BOSS，你普通攻击完全没有伤害的） 游戏另外的一大部分是包含了一些动作元素，比如间隔触发的陷阱、比如你需要快速通过障碍物、控制不停前进的棺材躲避陷阱和敌人的攻击，总体来说有些地方还是挺难的 游戏地图不大，大概2、3个小时就能通关了吧，有一些隐藏要素，另外普通战斗能打还是打吧，毕竟怪物总数是固定的、怪物掉落一般都是血瓶什么，获取的东西一般都比损伤多，不会亏 不过游戏有一些设计上不怎么好，比如存档。。必须在存档点。。有时候过了一个难题后竟然没有存档点。。后面不小心死了就要重新来。。。有些崩溃

(Received this key via the developer to review for SteadyGiveaways. Thanks!!!) [h1]Mother, hang on just a little longer!!![/h1] From the creator of [i]Lamia Must Die[/i] comes a fresh RPG experience involving a girl on a quest for an antidote for her ill mother by utilizing real-time battle tactics. I admit that I was dissuaded from playing this after seeing the character portraits and CG scenes and learning that they were drawn by Mamabliss (who is well known for her giantess and vore works that tend to look very messy), but seeing how they work in action, I find her works to be well-suited for RPG game usage. The graphics also seem well-done and the levels have some good designs in them. The meme and pop culture references also help this game feel fresh. But what really sells this title is the gameplay and the dev's narrative skills. What makes [i]Save Your Mother[/i] unique is the gameplay involving the lack of entering battle sequences, but instead having fights on the actual field you're running on, implementing the battle functions when the time is right. Mazes and puzzles are what you can typically expect (on the lighter side) and the minigames are rather basic. The biggest problem I have with the game itself is the final battle, where it feels like you barely get a turn where the boss's turn is about 10 times the length of your own turn...prepare to be bored when the final boss's true form appears, you'll know it when you see it. Of course, it's not so much the gameplay that makes me hold this game in such high regard, but the narrative and character designs...also a character artist who I honestly did not expect to see in an RPG game listed on Steam. Talk about a small world. This game is a pinch on the short side with your first run taking about 1-2 hours with the New Game + mode being about 1 hour with your stronger stats. However, I do not recommend taking that challenge as the final boss takes about 3-6 hours to kill...an issue I have complained to the developer about, but a fix will not be provided. It also did not help when the game crashed mid-fight...all that hard work...gone. Do I recommend it? So far, I'd say yes. It's a fresh RPG experience outside of what you're used to with conventions still in place while pushing the usual limits of what RPG Maker games tend to capable of. 8/10 A great step up from [i]Lamia Must Die[/i]. Well done!