Nightmarena

In Nightmarena you play as near-faceless karate enthusiast Gerald Ventures, a warrior of the Church of Jaysi who is tasked by said church to retrieve a magical relic; the reward for which will be advancement in Gerald’s career. The relic is awarded to one who can best the titular Nightmarena, and while its powers are unclear there are implications that seizing this bauble will in some way help Gerald overcome his tragic backstory and deal with the death of his parents. The Nightmarena itself seems to be a formless, esoteric realm constituting several floors, either as a tower or a dungeon (this is not made clear, although the latter seems to be the case as between floors Gerald falls through a hole to advance), and on each floor Gerald must do battle with one (or more) of the tower’s denizens. It is not made clear who made the Nightmarena, nor why one should particularly care about Gerald or his quest - characterisation is scant, and tends towards the comedic rather than having anything approaching theming, or complex motivation. Gerald wants to get a promotion at his job. There’s a demon. Go fight your way through hordes of monsters to make that happen by nabbing a crystal. The…

An interesting game that no does not allow you to take passive strategies. It's turn based but also timing base with it's combat. Your fights are based upon if you can duck, jump or backstep away from an incoming attack by reading the attack right. There is some that even have faint little details between the two that let you know, like a sound clue or a certain item turned upwards or downwards. However, when it's your own turn you must act quickly or you'll do nothing more than a simple punch! The combat in this feels smooth, very good and balanced, with it increasingly getting difficult as the game progresses. Some enemies may prove more difficult than others for you depending on not only how well you can read their attacks, but how well you can react in time! With enough victories you get the currency Energi to trade for upgrades to your stats or even buffs, and those first few battles will be easy peasy. Combat alone is not the only thing though. There's plenty of lore and story sprinkled about and given to you in short bursts of dialogue versus long winded exposition. Each NPC that speaks with you having their own personalities and it shows through their dialogue. The knigh…

Rough, but quite creative Punch-Out inspired game. Love the enemy variety, wish the animations were smoother :v. The difficulty curve ramps up quite fast but you can practice all the enemies beforehand. With some help and budget the dev could fix many of the code and graphics issues here but who knows. If you like Punch-Out get this on a sale or something, worth a try!

NA is a game that will challenge you. NA fits as this rouge-like turned based RPG that uses the combat to keep the player on their toes. The game is timing based, using a quick timed event skills by the enemy, that the player will need to either avoid or interact with to succeed. The combat is where this game shines as every enemy attack is a test of the reflexes and some skills themselves can be puzzles meant to be solved. The upgrades at the shop are helpful for your quest and will likely buy you more time when you make mistakes. The story of the game maybe the area that can use the most improvement. Not a lot is going to be understood by the player initially but it does appear that as you meet new factions, you learn more about this world that you find yourself a part of and more of the main character's motivations. I generally find this game fun to play and looking to see what more I can see as I get further into the game.

It’s not the kind of game you’d expect from an RPG Maker title. There are no maps, no exploration and no levelling up or collecting gear — just pure combat with a refreshingly new twist. If you know what you’re getting into, it's definitely worth experiencing. Anyone who enjoys combat systems with interactive dodging and special attack windows (basically what Dark Souls does at its most basic level) will have a great time. Since the game is quite short, it doesn't outstay its welcome. The price is reasonable, supporting a solo developer who wants to create another project. Given the premise of this debut work, I’m curious to see what lies ahead. The combat system itself feels a bit clunky at first, but after you've dodged the first 2–3 attacks and got to grips with your own moves, it starts to feel better. Of course, you can see the engine’s limitations in some areas since it isn’t designed for this type of combat. However, for what the game sets out to do, it does it well. My biggest criticism is aimed more at the UI, which looks blocky and unappealing. However, anyone looking for pure gameplay and willing to do without pretty graphics will feel right at home here for the few …

This game has an interesting battle mechanic of learning enemy attack patterns, pressing the correct direction key to dodge out of the way, and fighting back in a flurry of punches and kicks. Your character gradually grows stronger as you earn points to purchase upgrades in between attempts of challenging the arena. What I enjoyed the most is the creativity in the types of enemies and their attack patterns - growing more complex and surprising as you delve deeper into the arena levels. Some can be quite amusing! However, the telegraphing of some enemy attacks can be unintuitive, occasionally leaving barely any time to react. Some often require a bit of trial and error to decipher what the game is trying to convey. While a little rough around the edges, I still had a fun time!