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A Lesson in Trying Something Different


Emzee

1,793 views

So I played Flow of the River for the few-hundredth time a few days ago.

 

Honestly, my major inclination to play it again was really just to see if it even remotely stood the test of time. After all, that game, which barely runs correctly on modern Windows machines, is over 12 years old.

 

Yes. 12 years.

 

This game played a major role in me joining this community and getting into game development, even if said development was really just tinkering around with RPG Maker. While I disliked the idea that this game would only be laughable now, a game only of its time, made by a few teenagers, I had naturally presumed and accepted that this would be the case.

 

Except it wasn't the case.

 

This game, outside of the repetitiveness that comes with any Japanese-style RPG like that, still isn't half bad.

 

A while ago, I played through the 1st MNOG, having the same reservations I had had before playing Flow of the River again. Yet, as you might expect, the game still gives me that positive feeling that it gives everyone else, hence why it's still to this day hailed as one of the better Bionicle games.

 

That game is even older than Flow of the River (obvious considering much of the design of the Koros in Flow of the River were based off of the MNOG). It's funny actually, I remember back in the day, competing with these games, especially Flow of the River, pledging to and eventually believing that I had, in fact, created a fan game that was better than Flow of the River in every way.

 

And then I played Fall of the Conqueror. Right after Flow of the River.

 

Fall of the Conqueror is the closest thing I have to a magnum opus. It was the game that I decided to have everything I wanted to have, tell the story I wanted to tell, and feature new characters and Rahi born out of 3 years of role-playing alone in my room with my Bionicle and action figure sets. I had finished that project knowing that it would be my greatest and last game made with an RPG Maker program. How could it not surpass Flow of the River in greatness?

 

Well, I soon realized after completing my recent playthrough of Fall of the Conqueror is that I needed to find an answer to that question, and fast -- lest I make another Fall of the Conqueror.

 

That's not to say that I think my games are bad... but they're not Flow of the River, and they're definitely not MNOG (Fall of the Conqueror in particular had some rather shocking moments -- and not the good kind of shocking).

 

Just today, a revelation appeared in my mind.

 

Instead of trying to surpass the greatness of Flow of the River and the MNOG, maybe try matching them?

 

It's an interesting thought -- one that I thought I'd just share with all of you.

 

With that said... well... let's just say that I'm taking a hard look over the mechanics and storyline of Power Lies Beneath. As fun as making something I'd like is... maybe it's time to make something everyone would like.

 

P.S. If the game will run on your computer, I highly recommend checking out Flow of the River if you've never played it.

P.S.S. Character System update was a success. Power Lies Beneath is chugging along just fine!

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