MAIA 2K7 [beta]
This is a superior remake for the RPG XP of a RPG 2K3 game. This is a very unique game, because it encompases such a broad range of tasks, characters and side quests. In fact like Morrowind, this game seems to be like one giant side quest. You chose what you want to do from the moment you start the game. The demo is supposedly the completed game, without the endings.
There are two major modes of play. The traditional form where you follow the main quest of Maia, Geo and Morgan. They each have distinct personalities and they do have a main storyline, but you can chose to follow it or you can do whatever else you want! The second major mode of play is the Free Form game, which is like the original Final Fantasy where you start the game by picking your 3 characters from a WIDE array of 12 jobs / species. To top it off you get to chose the "sign" of the character to drasticly affect how they evolve. In other words if you select a mage class, and chose it to have a "Tower" sign, which is one of the strength signs, you will have a very strong mage! You can still follow the main storyline even if you choose the freeform game.
The main storyline of Maia, Geo and Morgan follows them as they try to clear their good names. It is kind of like reading a mistery novel where everything that has happened is revealed the further you get. The main storyline does have an assortment of gameplay options, whether its hiding in a box to evade guards, or the squeaking of mice awakening someone, to just out right combat against goons. The main storyline will get you involved in everything so you know what's out there. To add to the customizability of the game, you steal costumes while avoiding squeaky mice, when you have the costumes you get to select the LOOK and sign for Maia, Geo and Morgan.
As I mentioned before, many people feel that this is a lot like Morrowind. I suppose that is true, because you can play the game how you chose to play it. I think is more like Grand Theft Auto. Not in the way that you can drive and kill pedestrians, but how various people that you will meet give you quest after quest to do. With each quest it builds on the story of that person. example: Meeting Rajah in the Mage's Guild he gives you tasks that lead up to you learning alchemy. He has a storyline that progresses, while in morrowind there is no real storyline. In Maia 2K7 you get to see Anna Archer's love for one of the main characters blossom based on the tasks you do with her. She is quite the guide to the game, I was pleasantly surprised to see that you get to go on random dates with her by the end of the game.
It was enjoyable playing it in my opinion. I enjoyed it so much I not only played the alpha for four hours, I played the beta for a full 10 hours over the span of two weeks. I still have yet to complete all of the game's quests and side tasks.
I can see that the game incorperates a lot of elements of RPGs into one single game. example: There are side rooms in the caves that remind me of Zelda how the player would need to complete a puzzle to advance or for a treasure. The puzzles in this game are not one dimensional rock pushers. Some are tricky simply because no other RPG XP / 2K3 game I have played has had puzzles like it before. I did not expect them. Another thing that is also very Zelda like is you earn talents that you can use to affect things, like the plant slice lets you cut down bushes and flowers to pick them (for dates and the Mage's Guild).
The maps are very nicely detailed yet randomly laid out so you get a more natural feeling than a "carefully planned by a game maker" feeling. However with some places it is too detailed and with the game's programming it can make heavily populated areas run slow. In each town, it seems so populated (in a good way) and like there is a lot to do (the backlash is it gets SLOW in towns). I think thanks to the game's "trabble" it makes the NPCs seem a lot more fleshed out and much better to speak with them, because they comment on the time of day, the weather and the quests!
Speaking of programming the game has more than an arms length of features which other games have, but with this game they are integrated quite smoothly. Such as you can fish almost anywhere, same with cooking. There are recepies to learn and different kinds of cooking. Simple cooking and complex cooking that you need recepies for. Once you learn how to cook in the game, catch some fish, buy a frying pan and cook in a fireplace or kitchen! The alchemy is very similar to the game's advanced cooking system. Find how to make a potion, gather the ingreedients, a mixing bowl and a meal grinder to make the potions.
Like the old Maia 2K3, there are dreams. Which while they are interesting, they pertain nothing to the game and last less than a minutes. They are a fun little time killer.
Continuing on with the crazy amount of tasks you can do is my favorite. Dating. Other games have tried it and failed at it. This game claims to have 3 people to date, but I have only found one. On the date, the date choses at random one of the four tasks you will do. 1. Get something to eat that your date wants, where you take them to wherever sells the food. 2. Take your date to go dancing (It is like playing Dance Dance Revolution) (sometimes this is hard, sometimes this is easy). 3. take your date to pick flowers 4. take your date to pick mushrooms (she picks what kind of mushrooms and flowers). You leave your party and go out with your date one on one. Your date says random things at the change of a morning, day, evening, night and late night. Fortunately the one date I've found is rather strong, so while it is not likely she will die, she still can. If one of the two dies on the date, then it is deemed unsuccessful and you should return the date home. You also hear different greetings and different endings as time progresses.
I could gush about this game and its features so much more, but this review is already long enough. The only real negatives I have found were the slow downs. The major plusses in this game are memorable characters, dialog and storylines. The many different uses of gameplay and the Bestiary was fun to watch grow.
In Fun:
4 stars
In Challenge:
3 stars
Mapping:
5 stars
Use of Programming:
5 stars
Overall:
4 stars (out of 5)
Well worth a 6 MB download
Discord
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