RPG Maker 3

Reviewed by Grace Bautista
October 16, 2005

Developer: Agetec Publisher: Enterbrain Consoles Available: PS2 Number of Players: 1 ESRB Rating: E for Everyone Website: Click Here

Finally, a game has arrived that will give Role Playing enthusiasts an outlet that will allow them to bring to life their own fantasy in a game created by themselves. Gamers will create a world, develop characters, and narrate a story without the help of dice and a pencil. Upon completion, what is left is a playable RPG game that may be likened to the early years of Final Fantasy and the other well known RPG games.

While RPG Maker 3 is more of an application than it is a game, it was fun to explore the many options and selections provided for world and character generation. The application does not skimp out on detail either. Beginning with a blank canvass, you place every object, from grass to tree, to house and weather. The world is not complete without living beings, and RPG Maker allows for both human and animal creation. Of course, you must then define their class and skill, and both editors in the game offer a great many selections. As the creator, you can define the event to take place when interaction is made with an object, which is done easily with the Event editor. RPG Maker 3 offers even more Editors with a surprising variety of choices that makes this application robust.

However, those who are not an avid RPG fan may not take to RPG Maker 3 as you will already know the ins and outs of the game you have created. There will be no discovery of the unknown, like most gamers are used to. Creating a playable game is more complicated than you would think, and many hours will be spent tinkering out every detail. While the selection menus are easy to navigate, there are MANY menus that you have to go through. One must make sure that everything is in order, or else the game is not playable. Sometimes, you don't know where the trouble is that needs to be fixed.

Because RPG Maker 3 is an original application/game that allows many hours of creating and re-creating, replay value is good. Create a game to test your dormant “dungeon master” skills or create a game for your friend to play. Yet the game falls short in luring only fantasy aficionados, and even with the abundant choices available in game, over time it may become outdated. This title earns a medium Evolution Factor. It will be interesting to see if there will be an RPG Maker 4 and what the developers will do to push the envelope for RPG creation for consumers.

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