Cubenen Gardens: Befriend

This game is something that I found by complete accident while scrolling through itch.io for any games that might seem interesting, and I am so happy that I bought and played it! It was a wonderful experience. The characters are likable and well-written, the story was good, the gameplay is easy but engaging, and although some of the visuals can be a bit rough-looking, the ones made specifically for this game all look great and give the characters and world a lot of emotion and tone. In fact, even the more default textures were always incredibly charming, in my opinion. I think the only cons I can think of are the fact that the game is a bit rough around the edges. Namely, [spoiler] some of the transitions between chapters show up in a rather awkward way, sometimes involving scenes not properly fading in and out into each other, and I did notice a number of typos and misused words here and there in the dialogue and monster descriptions. Additionally, I couldn't seem to figure out how to scroll in some of the monster descriptions without closing the window, but that might just be my lack of modern RPGMaker controls knowledge. I'll admit that I'm mostly used to games made with RPGM…

Fun & simply chill little game. Characters are very cute and colourful, and the battle/fighting system is fun too going up against various monsters with different quirks and abilities. Still got some chapters to play on through, but I have so far being enjoying myself and look forward to exploring this game further. I do recommend checking this one out if you like your good ol' 2D styled rpgs.

An extremely awesome game with cute characters and an engaging story! Michael is a very strong protagonist with a distinct personality that I always want to see more of. I recommend this game to anyone who's interested in RPGs for their story elements, because this one has had me hooked more than most that I've played. The combat system is also engaging, and has a progression system that makes it feel like you're getting stronger or adapting to the situation without having arbitrary numbers go up after X number of battles.

Feels very humble. It has the vibe of a very personal, passion project that the developer should be proud of.

[Disclaimer: I know the creator of this game and have been following its development for a long time. This may be a little biased, lol!] I really enjoyed my time with this one. It's rough around the edges, but the story kept me hooked and the combat system made me think in a way that a good number of indie RPG's don't. I really enjoyed Michael as a protagonist. They are a very flawed person with a very callous attitude and a TERRIBLE bedside manner [spoiler](just ask Ix, whoever they are)[/spoiler] but they also have a strong sense of justice and a drive to make the world a better place. It's fun to see their development throughout the adventure- both positive and negative. The other characters are quite fleshed-out, too. The way their relationships and histories play off of each other and inform the way they act and the decisions they make feels very natural. It's clear that the developer is someone who draws from experience. Their designs are very charming, too. The tone of this game is quite tense. The party gets trapped in a situation that feels hopeless and cruel, and it only worsens as the plot progresses. [spoiler]You really feel for Michael when they begin to have m…

I found out about this game from seeing posts about its progressing development over the years in the Dragon Drop Discord server, and it and the character designs interested me then. So, for a few years, this game had been on the back of my mind from seeing it there. I got around to actually playing through it myself recently, and I loved the story and characters! 💚 I also quite liked the gameplay and a good amount of the music used. The primary location the game takes place in is intriguing (in large part due to how mysterious it is!), and it was fun to learn about the world and its politics across the writing. The only cons I can mention are pretty inconsequential. There's small mistakes with the text (in particular, a few subtle grammar mistakes across the dialogue, and how the text cuts off for some of the robot's information), some tiles that should be walls that you can walk over, and a few music tracks have noticeably louder volume to them, but I only noticed any of these a few times each, and they were never disappointing or game breaking. Overall, I really enjoyed my experience, and thanks to it, I'm now invested in the gardens that connect us all!