Cope Island: Adrift

There's no doubt that the market for RPGMaker games on Steam is saturated, so when looking at any given game from it, one has to ask the question, 'why should I play this game?'. Why play Cope Island: Adrift over any other of the RPGMaker games out there? Well. Cope Island is a little different from your usual RPGMaker game. There's no huge, epic story spanning dozens of hour here, no large continents to explore, and you're not a boy on a destiny to save the world from a terrifying demon emperor. Instead, Cope Island is a personal journey. You arrive on the shore of a small island as a nameless protagonist, get into a fight, and then open your first chest. And therein lies part of the appeal of Cope Island. On every given run, you'll get a completely random weapon. Said weapon will have two skills assigned to it. Each weapon has it's own distinct use, with some being more support based, while others are all-out offensive, and some lie more in the middle. In Cope Island, you won't be ...

It doesn't take very long to finish this game, but that's also what makes it fun. It may seem like a simple short game with a distinctive mood (music and visuals complement each other well) but you'll keep discovering layers and layers that will make you want to go back and look for secrets. You get different weapons and skills during each playthrough, which adds a lot to the replay value. Certain key items remain in your inventory forever after you get them once, so going through a few times in a row is actually the key to getting more secrets. Of course, none of this would be worth it if the game itself weren't enjoyable to play. The combat starts like a basic RPG but as you progress you'll gain the ability to attack two and even three times in a row. This allows for very strategic thinking as you can heal yourself and use multiple skills in one turn. The endgame enemies are challenging and will force you to give careful thought to each turn. All in all, it's very immersive and f...

This game is a masterclass of mood, non-linear gameplay and storytelling. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. This game has a lot of post-game content available too. I have been aware of zDS's work for a long time, and their games, while they not seem super flashy on the surface, they exhibit a level of depth underneath that is very engaging. I highly recommend this game A+++

This might be a little game at first sight but it offers great "replayability," which is a crucial part of the design. It's an RPG Maker game but far from your standard fare and in my opinion a better piece than To The Moon. The story is an abstract fantasy, which is trying to touch important philosophical and ethical questions. Whether it succeeds or not is questionable as is the nature of such topics. It certainly cares them well and while the themes might feel little forced sometimes, it's never without a taste. Besides that I would recommend the game for swift gameplay centered around weapons and skills tied to them. This makes each playthrough different. Graphics are really nice and some of my favourite pixel art i have seen this year. Especially the colours are very well selected. And man, I love the soundtrack. It's where the game really shines. Somewhere among classic rock, Carpenter's synths and 16-bit fantasy games, it hits the sweet spot and just rocks.