3 Stars of Destiny Now Available from Rampant Games
3 Stars of Destiny is the latest RPG from veteran indie developer Indinera Falls of Aldorlea Games. It's a prequel of sorts to the Laxius series (culminating - at least so far - with Aldorlea's previous game, Laxius Force). It takes place before Random, Sarah, and the other (massive) list of characters from the earlier games have met.

An evil god has discovered that three young mortal souls possess a divine energy which, if brought together, could provide him with sustenance. Gods have these appetites, you know? Unfortunately, there's something of a "no trespassing" sign around the mortal world, preventing the god from just swooping in, grabbing the three youths, and chowing down. Instead, he has to use subtle manipulation to bring them together to a place where they will be vulnerable.

3 Stars of Destiny is another jRPG-style game developed with the popular RPG Maker engine, invoking the look and feel of classic 16-bit console era RPGs. But with nicer graphics. It is the most polished of Aldorlea's games to date. As is typical for their games - and something of a departure from typical jRPGs (Japanese-style RPGs) - the world is large and more open-ended, and the dialog and storyline are comparatively more compact.

You'll spend a lot of your time exploring - which is a big part of design. There are plenty of secrets hidden throughout the game, awaiting discovery. The full version features ten playable characters that can join your party, and over 50 quests. Yes, it's a big game. You'll be busy playing it for a while.

Unfortunately, RPG Maker titles are only (currently) available for Windows systems (we won't talk about the console versions here...) - the Mac isn't currently supported. And there are some idiosynchracies of RPG Maker - based games that take some getting used to - such as lack of mouse support (unless the developer has taken pains to add that support, as with Aveyond 2).

I haven't finished playing this one yet. Be advised that the developer is not a native English speaker, so occasionally the translations come out... well, about like translations of many of the old 16-bit era console RPGs. Also, previous games in the Laxius series have had dialog that is inappropriate for younger players, so parents should be advised not to make assumptions based on cute graphics.

What's funny - for me - is that at heart I'm a western-style computer RPG fan. I pretty much missed the whole 16-bit console jRPG thing - my first exposure to that style of RPG was a Zelda game on a borrowed SNES and Suikoden on the 32-bit Sony Playstation. I'd been snobbish about them up until then. Sure, I heard people talking about the wonders of Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger, but I was all about the Ultimas and "Gold Box" D&D games, Eye of the Beholder 2, the Wizardry games (not that I ever finished 'em), and so forth. I was amazed to find I actually had a taste for both styles of RPGs. Not everyone does. So I had to go back and make up for lost time.

I'm pleased to see the tradition continuing with games like 3 Stars of Destiny. The style may be old-school, but the creators are new, many of the ideas are new, and they bring their own personality and style to the mix.

You can try it out yourself and see what you think with the free demo:

Download 3 Stars of Destiny at Rampant Games

As always - HAVE FUN!

Labels: Game Announcements

- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 7:50 AM (Permalink)