RPG Maker Fes Review

RPG Maker Fes is not a game, rather it is a program for your Nintendo 3DS/2DS that is able to create RPG’s that you can then share for everyone to play for free. What you can create is rather simple looking  mind you, but don’t be fooled – making a fully-fledged RPG, is anything but simple.

This program is the latest in a series of RPG Maker titles from Japan published by a variety of companies for various platforms. RPG Maker Fes is the first for the 3DS, and the first for the DS series to a non-Japanese market.

It is important to say first up that RPG Maker Fes is an RPG engine readily customisable but with set rules and options.  If you have a new and original story you wish to be played out, then this is the product for you.

If you wish to create new battle mechanics, graphics and character attributes, then you are better off creating your own game from scratch.  Just include me in the credits for the help I have already given you on your path to greatness.

RPG Maker Fes lets you create maps in a tile-based setup (think some of the earlier versions of Sim City).  You can create large-scale overland maps as well as interiors of various buildings, whether you wish it to be a castle, dungeon, local tavern or shop.  What you can create is pretty much limited only to your imagination and the tile sets available.  While you are able to undo placement of tiles or objects, or with an erase tool, some aspects such as the map size cannot be changed.

So, it is important not to rush into your design, but to plan ahead.

In this mythical world you have created, you must have characters, other it would be a pretty pointless game.  Here is where the addiction really starts – there are quite a lot of options to customise the characters in your story.  These attributes include the characters look, stats, occupation (i.e. class), weapons, items and even spells.   You can choose who your starting hero is, who can join your hero’s party as well as NPCs.

The power you have in creating monsters to battle are also detailed with the ability to customise an enemy’s battle style.  For example; you can randomise attacks or you can plan your final boss to turn truly nasty once it gets low on HP. The fighting style emulates many JRPG titles in a simple turn-based single action per character manner.

Creating your game for a general audience does mean your game needs to be PG, and there are filters in place to help as much as possible, but these seem rather clunky.

One thing missing from RPG Maker Fes is any kind of tutorial and you will find yourself exploring each option for yourself to see what it does.  Although most are thankfully fairly intuitive, the frustrating part of using RPG Maker Fes is that you will spend many hours finding out how to do something that should be fairly simple – such as setting up a shop.