This felt very warm and nice, thanks for sharing such a lovely collage <3
Far Away Times
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Hi null! Sorry for the confusion, and thanks so much for playing! Demon's Keep uses a command unique to the modern steam version of RPGMaker 2003 to automatically set the ATB to "Wait" instead of "Active". EasyRPG doesn't recognize this command, so it stays set to "Active" mode, increasing the number of enemy turns. There's no menu option to change it because I didn't like how the game played on Active, and I didn't consider how that would impact EasyRPG players.
Like my game Facets, Demon's Keep uses a hacked executable to remove the Autobattle and Row commands. If it weren't for that, I'd try to support EasyRPG better, but as is I'd rather formally state that EasyRPG is not supported for Demon's Keep. I've added a note to the page to make that clearer for new players.
I have tremendous love and respect for 80s classics, games that made up whole new beautiful languages to tell stories. I'm re-replaying Dragon Quest II right now, this time on NES finally, and I'm having a ball.
It's precisely because of that respect that I have no patience for folks obsessed with reinventing the wheel, who aren't content with understanding their genre and why it already works. I'd rather play a game from someone working competently within an established game vocabulary to tell Their Own Story than someone who thinks they're upending the paradigm without actually having anything to say.
Basically I started off reading this feeling very mad and defensive but it sounds like we pretty much feel the same way lol. I will add that, to me, "working competently within an established vocabulary" can sometimes mean upending established assumptions about that vocabulary. Michael Brough's roguelikes are all pulling from the classic language of Rogue and Nethack, but because he strips out huge swathes of the vocabulary at a time to drill deep in on specific elements, they felt completely fresh and unique on release. All the "formal" work in games happening that I most respect right now is built on that kind of design-by-subtraction -- I find that a lot more inspiring than "we took an arcade shmup and added deckbuilder roguelite mechanics" or whatever.
Masterful... extremely pleasing and satisfying play arc, amazing all-timer bosses, lovely writing and collage aesthetics. Decades of esoteric rom hack fixations sieved into a wonderful little masocore platformer. I think I like this even more than Reggae Operation, which I didn't think was possible given how much I love that game's gonzo finale. (708 deaths and about three hours on first playthrough!)






































