(Archive) Velsarbor by Lachsen - RM2k

Now available in English

Special Thanks to WatDubHekBro. 
Main Download - GitHub
Mirror - MediaFire
Prepatched English Download Beta - MediaFire

Will update with more info later.

(Archive) Corpse Party - Dante98 (Japanese)

(I made a vow not to upload Corpse Party until I could find  the original Japanese PC-98 version copy of Corpse-Party PC-98, I have.)

The Original PC-98 version of corpse party is available through webarchive on enterbrain's site.
The emulator to play it is also available through enterbrain as well. (Use D2 by Mr.Nakao instead!) I've include the emulator and the game as a download:

---(Warning, Full Screen only)----
---How to play Japanese RPGMaker Games (Google it)---
PC Download (Japanese)
Mac Download (Japanese)(Mouse only)
(you'll need to quit by selecting the last option from the save menu)

Enjoy.

--For the playable English PC freeware remake---, please check out:
CorpseParty-Rebuilt- over on, http://www.memoriesoffear.com/ these guys are a really cool fan translation group that are translating a whole bunch of really cool japanese rpgmaker games.

(from corpseparty.wikia.com : CORPSE-PARTY (PC-98))

CORPSE-PARTY (コープスパーティー Kōpusu Pātī?) is the original survival horror adventure game in the Corpse Party series created by KENIX SOFT. It was made using the RPG Tkool Dante 98 program for the NEC PC-9801 home system, and it was released in Japan on April 22, 1996. It is usually known under the abbreviation Dante 98 (Dante98版 Dante98 Han?) in Japan and occasionally as CP98 overseas.

On December 17th, 1992, a Japanese group called ASCII released a program titled RPG Tkool Dante 98 for the Japanese exclusive home system known as NEC PC-9801 which allowed people to develop their own role-playing games. They further promoted their tool by publishing a monthly magazine titled LOGIN Sofcom where amateur developers could submit their creations. On April 22nd, 1996, an adventure game called CORPSE-PARTY was published in the Spring 1996 edition of LOGIN Sofcom No.6. It was made by a 22-year-old college student by the name of Makoto Kedouin. On February 26th, 1997, Kedouin won second place in the Second Annual ASCII ENTERTAINMENT competition, netting him 5 million yen [$61,675.00 USD].

This game was remade nine years later for the mobile under the title Corpse Party: NewChapter. This new version would later be ported to the PC as Corpse Party BloodCovered and once again to the PSP as Corpse Party: BloodCovered ...Repeated Fear.

On September 1, 2011 Corpse Party saw a sequel, titled Corpse Party: Book of Shadows for PSP and iOS which further tells the story about the Kisaragi students. Since then, Corpse Party had many spin-offs, manga adaptations, an OVA and a live-action movie.
Three years after the release of Book of Shadows, the final part to Heavenly Host saga was released, called Corpse Party: Blood Drive for PSVita.

About a year before Corpse Party: BLOOD DRIVE was released, the first chapter of a new project titled Corpse Party 2: DEAD PATIENT was released. Taking place five years after the conclusion of Heavenly Host Elementary School saga, it serves as the latest installment of the series.

(Spotted) Helen's Mysterious Castle - RM2k - Playism

(will update with more info)

(Spotted) Ara Fell - RM2k3 - Badluck

(Really busy this month...Will update with more info later on)

(Spotted) Actual SunLight - RMVXAce - Will O'Neill

(from HG101 Article by Jonathan Kaharl - May 1st, 2016)
"CONTENT WARNING: The following article discusses depression and suicide.

Indie gaming has been involving for a good while, and one of its most popular subgenres in the western world has become the narrative game. Many of these developers are more interested in telling a story than presenting a traditional game for a player to have fun with, and it's been met with mixed responses, mainly due to how so few of these developers understand how interactivity with their chosen medium can change the experience. But it's unclear all these developers even think things that far through. Some are so focused on capturing an idea or feeling that all the flaws in their title can't take away the sheer impact.

Actual Sunlight is one of those games. It is also not a happy game by any stretch of the imagination.

The designer, Will O'Neill, grew up in Toronto, Canada all his life, working not in any sort of videogame related field, but a creative director at a communications agency that had no real reach outside his home city. His real dream and passion was not in gaming, but in writing, creating a very darkly comedic and biting style founded in his own depression and self-loathing. To this day, subtly is not his strength, but sheer, unrelenting honesty at the cruel realities that surround us and his own many shortcomings, or at least as he sees them. His weight, a sense of lacking skill or talent, no significant others. These qualities, mixed with his crippling depression, made his twenties, as he describes them, a "black hole." Sometime in his early thirties, his issues finally piled up, and he ended up nearly killing himself, though didn't go through with it in the end.

Actual Sunlight was O'Neill's attempt to capture something beautiful about life in one of the ugliest times of his life. Picking up a copy of RPG Maker and playing with it for a bit, he eventually found a way to make the medium he's been familiar with as a player work for him as a storytelling tool."

Actual Sunlight on Playstation Store (PS4, PSVita)
Actual Sunlight on Steam

(Archive) Space Funeral - RM2k3 - catmitts

(From RockPaperShotgun- "My Favourite Art Style: Space Funeral" by Brittany Vincent March 27th, 2016)

by SirRailgun via DeviantArt

"Space Funeral stars a crying miscreant named Phillip who faffs about in striped pajamas while beating up bloody dogs. We aren’t talking a few stray tears, either. He’s full-on ugly crying, grimacing in pain and shuffling through life looking as though his mother hates him. It kind of seems like she does, and his dad too.

It’s not immediately apparent why Phillip is sad when you start up the game, whose options are “BLOOD, BLOOD and BLOOD” at the main menu. Maybe it’s because there’s a coffin with someone in it who looks just like Phillip. Maybe Phillip exists in a state of existential torment and anguish that reaches into his very soul because he lives in a world where a creature known as a Leg Horse can amble up to him and verbally berate him, a contorted mass of bloody stumps with no real regard for anything other than itself. Perhaps it’s because he knows there are no other games like Space Funeral; nothing to rival the attitude or the aesthetic, which I harbor an intense and passionate love for.

From the clashing color schemes to the flat 2D Frankenstein monster-esque heads that seem as though they’ve been scribbled on in MS Paint, Space Funeral is like an acid flashback filtered through RPG Maker and set to Ruth White’s bizarre spoken-word “Spleen,” and is beautifully corrupt and broken in every single way, down to the surreal landscapes, creatures, and ideals that permeate the land. What seems to exist totally at random is explained ever so succinctly by the end of the journey, which makes the ugliness of it all feel even more special. It’s grotesque, terrifying, and crude. And that’s why I love it so much, misshapen heroes, enemies, and all."

(From NeoGaf- "RPG Maker Games: Underlooked Gems" by Dust Golem 12-26-2012)

"A surrealistic turn-based RPG that is just strange. With a weird artstyle and sloppy animation, but surprisingly interesting setting and soundtrack, it isn't very long (lasting about an hour or two) and is quite a different experience for those who seek it."

Via RMN
Mirror Download
(Will up date this entry with a video I have in the works
There were a couple of other places that mentioned Space Funeral during it's time of release, which i'll also include later on)

by Momogirl via DeviantArt

(Archive) Super Columbine Massacre RPG - RM2k

"While I've never played it, I heard that Super Columbine Massacre RPG!, despite the morbid subject matter, is good from both a strictly gaming point and as a satire on the events and media hype surrounding them." -  (from HG101 Forums - "Good/Underrated RPG Maker Games" by Woody Alien - January 18, 2016)

(Will probably post more, once more information becomes available)

Mirror Download

Cherry Tree High Comedy Club - RMXP - CAPCOM

(from HG101 Article by Jonathan Kaharl - December 12, 2015)

"The rise of Steam has lead to a lot of obscure Japanese games finding new audiences in the west. While Recettear is the most notable name among these, another that tends to pop up in conversation is Cherry Tree High Comedy Club!  It's a sort of adventure game/visual novel that's modest in scope, but charming in its simplicity. It's also about subject matter not normally explored in games at all; stand-up comedy. Well, sort of. The game uses that as a jumping off point for its real themes, resulting in a game oozing with personality. It's also a great example of how different comedic sensibilities between western and eastern tastes are.

The story starts at the beginning of Japanese spring break, as Mairu Hibisu returns to town and her high school, fresh off some unseen adventure. She wants to resurrect the school's old comedy club, which gave birth to a popular comedic duo many years ago, but her rich rival Chitose has other plans. Now a member of the student council, she's not willing to let Mairu bypass the rules to establish a club, stating that she has until the end of April to gather together three more members besides herself and her best friend Hoemi, or else the club won't be officially established or funded by the school. So, the goal now is to scout out possible club members across town, then convince them to join..."

"...Like many low budget Japanese games brought over to the west, Cherry Tree High suffered some translation problems on first release. As usual for Capcom (who helped publish it), the game was originally released in the vain of Phoenix Wright. Japanese words, names, and concepts were brushed aside and called by American names, even when it's obvious that the game doesn't take place in America. There's a Shinto shrine with a shrine priestess and a man who lives at a Japanese mansion in a kimono, it couldn't possibly be anywhere else than Japan. Even the names of the characters were different, such as Mairu being called 'Miley.'

After enough complaints, the translation was fixed to use proper Japanese terminology, causing several of the cultural jokes to suddenly make sense. Playing the game in Steam allows you to switch between the proper localization and the westernized version whenever you start back up, an admirable attempt to please those who liked the original translation regardless. However, a few lines here and there still read as the westernized version while playing the proper translation, such as Hoemi calling Mairu 'Miley' when you talk to her in the dorm room. Thankfully, these moments are only in basic dialog when you start talking with someone."



(From NeoGaf- "RPG Maker Games: Underlooked Gems" by Dust Golem 12-26-2012)

"Comedy fanatic and high school student Miley Verisse has decided to set up a comedy club in her school, but her nemesis and the head of the student council, Octavia Richmond, isn’t about to make things easy… The school rules require a minimum of 5 students to set up a new club and Miley is 3 people short! Spring break has just started and Miley has until the end of April to recruit the 3 new members she needs to start the club or Octavia will have the last laugh!

The game takes on a very Persona-esque look and feel of the social linking done in that series, but with a style that's completely surrounded around that. Published by Capcom, the translation was helped on by part of the Team that did the translations for the Ace Attorney series, and the tone they bring fits the game perfectly. This game isn't free, but worth checking out for people who are particularly interested in visual novels as most of what you do is explore, interact, and manage your time.

You can check out the games Steam page here.

You can check out the games official website here."

(Archive) OFF - RM2k3

(from HG101 Article by Iwant - November 30, 2013)

"Communities centered around RPG Maker used to be very active a few years ago. The French-speaking scene was no exception; some might say it was a little world in itself. It's no surprise Enterbrain's legendary tool attracted so many people, mainly beginners who had no knowledge of game design at all, but really wanted to make their own game. Of course, game design is difficult, so only the most determined of those makers managed to complete their projects. In spite of the flow of games that were ultimately cancelled or sometimes not even started, what could be nowadays called cult classics ended up marking their era. It's not rare to find French gamers that didn't really follow the development scene but know about games like Dark Soul, Aëdemphia or Mystery of Solarus nonetheless.

And it's been two years now since a certain game born from this background started garnering popularity in English-speaking forums: OFF, which was initially released in May 2008 exclusively in French after a year-long development with RPG Maker 2003. It was granted several "Alex d'Or" awards at the time, but its popularity remained confined to a somewhat private audience within the French-speaking web.

It was a ground-breaking success from a critical standpoint, though, and dedicated fans collectively known as the "Reconstructed Game Team" would go on to make an English translation of the game in the hope that it would help it achieve much deserved international success. And their hard work paid off. OFF ended up becoming a cult hit in foreign niches.

The team behind OFF, called Unproductive Fun Time, is actually a collaborative effort between two twenty-something Belgian guys who had been friends since high school: Mortis Ghost and Alias Conrald Coldwood. Mortis first and foremost a comics artist, but he was also fiddling with RPG Maker since his early teens, and he decided to initiate a more serious project around 2006. He produced a draft, which he showed to his friend ACC, who was interested enough not only to offer his help as a programmer, but also to propose to compose a soundtrack. One of the main concepts behind the production was the use of purely "custom" assets, in opposition to the frequent reuse of the software's stock libraries in such productions.

Besides, you'll need to forget your potential prejudice towards RPG Maker-made Western amateur games. Not that you could really be blamed for it, though. Cliché'd plotlines, generic backgrounds and overall lack of depth are rife in these productions. But then again, if you thought two unknown guys couldn't possibly make a difference, you'll see how you'll have been mistaken..."

(Continued on HG101)

(...need to find a better trailer)
(From NeoGaf- "RPG Maker Games: Underlooked Gems" by Dust Golem 12-26-2012)
"OFF is a free French RPG where you take control of a mysterious person called “The Batter”, who is described to be on an important mission. The Batter, and yourself as his controller, are dropped off in zone 0, the first of 4 zones in a perplexing, unknown world about which you slowly find out more and more in the process of the game.

Known for its amazing characters, original soundtrack, and a twisted yet entertaining journey into the depths of this strange world, it is worth it for fans of RPGs, especially those that like Mother 3, which it draws some inspiration from. It is very off-beat, but very well made."

Via Oniromancie (French)

Mirror Download (English Translation)
Official Website (French)

(Archive) Alter A.I.L.A Genesis - RM2k3 - RMN

(from PC Gamer by Chris Thursten - February 25, 2011)
"One of the most celebrated games on the network, Alter A.I.L.A Genesis is a side-scrolling cyberpunk epic offering a thorough reworking of traditional JRPG gameplay. Genesis builds upon the existing RPG Maker 2003 combat system, adding an extensive resistance/damage-type system along with a escalating series of EX attacks and 'Field Effects' (environmental conditions) – all of which must be taken into account when building a team. Experienced JRPG players will recognise most if not all of these from other games; but in the context of a lengthy, free adventure built by a single creator it's impressive stuff.

The plot, while familiar, is sufficiently well-told to pass without incident. There are highs and lows – while the game's hand-drawn artwork can be ropey, there's some accomplished spritecraft on display and the soundtrack is punchy without becoming overbearing. Perhaps thanks to its unique perspective, Alter A.I.L.A Genesis doesn't really feel like anything else on RPG Maker – no small feat, given the swap-and-trade nature of the community.

When it comes down to it, though, the combat system is the reason to give Genesis your time. If you're looking to sink a few hours into honing a squad, rooting out hidden areas and working on your boss strategies, this is your game."

(From NeoGaf- "RPG Maker Games: Underlooked Gems" by Dust Golem 12-26-2012)

"A platforming-stealth RPG featuring a futuristic punk world and colorful cast of characters. The game does have turn-based battles when you encounter enemies, but its main gameplay involves stealth invoked through platforming. Surprisingly fun and interesting, mixing in original art with edits, it is different and worth it for anyone looking for a stealth-RPG-Platformer, a strange hybrid but one that works and executes it quite well!"

Via RMN
Mirror Download

(...Will update with a better source that better summarizes this game)

(Spotted) Aëdemphia - RM2k3 - Oniromancie

Via Oniromancie (Aëdemphia's Creator, Community Site)
Aëdemphia's Website (French)
Aëdemphia (English Demo) (very old)
(Will update this entry if I can find any interviews/english version for download)

Yume Nikki - RM2k3

(from HG101 Article by Ryan McSwain - January 22, 2011)

"I was eighteen years old when I first watched David Lynch's Eraserhead. I found a beat-up VHS cassette at the library and decided to give it a try. Little did I know how lucky I was--at that point in time, it was out of print and extremely rare, so most rental and library copies of the film had been stolen. The cassette was in my car when a group of us were hanging out and looking for something to do. I mentioned I had this crazy movie that none of us knew anything about, and we ended up watching it.

Minds were blown and lives were changed.

With each increasingly bizarre scene, confusion and frustration ran more and more rampant. My friends yelled at the screen, "What is that thing? What's happening?" People were already heatedly arguing over the symbolism of the film before it was even over. Even as the movie ended, I knew that certain scenes would continue to haunt me.

And that was how I felt when I first discovered Yume Nikki. Here was a game that was unashamedly ambiguous, making no real attempt to explain itself yet begging to be explored. It was a bottomless rabbit hole disguised as the simplest of adventure games, and its depths were full of pale creatures with rows of jagged teeth. If you are a gamer seeking something truly bizarre, experiential and full of psychological horror, Yume Nikki is the game for you..."

(Continued on HG101)



(From NeoGaf- "RPG Maker Games: Underlooked Gems" by Dust Golem 12-26-2012)

"Yume Nikki is a free adventure game about dreams. This game is still -technically- unfinished, but has a high level of quality in its current version (version 0.10) and can be played from beginning to end (the creator apparently wants to one day add more to the game). It originally came out in 2005, but it only started to get a lot of attention in 2008, when the game was picked up by the most popular Japanese gaming board, which helped spread it to even English-speaking audiences. The game has become big enough to inspire a ton of fan-made content, and official merchandise in Japan.

In the game, you play as a girl named Madotsuki. The game takes a lot of visual inspirations from Mother 3, but has a completely open style of design. Initially to new players, there may be no clear goal. You start off in a room, unable to leave, but can fiddle around with things, or play a Super Nintendo game about eggplants, and eventually go off to sleep. When you sleep is when the game really begins, soon you'll find yourself in a room full of doors, each of which leading to completely different surreal area. You can explore freely, with a surprisingly large amount of deeper areas and doors hidden away to go even deeper into your dreams. Each area has its own train of logic you have to crack and figure out, like a dream. Soon you'll probably interact with a strange object or character and gain something called an 'effect'. Going to your menu, you can equip the effect and transform Madotsuki in some sort of way. Some of these effects give you special powers, some are completely aesthetic, but the goal is to collect all 24. However, not all is safe here in the world of dreams, as there are nightmare areas and stalkers of sorts who will try to catch you, and will wake you up from your dream the moment you're caught.

The game has a lot of symbolism and does a great job capturing the feeling of a dream. It has inspired a TON of fan games and works, and remains one of the most popular RPG Maker games. It has a lot of secrets hidden away in the game, and lots of surprises for those who decide to travel to Madotsuki's dreamscae. Worth checking out if you're a fan of exploring in games, surreal or 'experience' games, or if the whole concept just sounds intriguing. You can read up more on the game and download it from here."

Mirror Download (English)

Forget Me Not: Palette - RM95

(from HG101 Article by Iwant - November 4, 2013)

"When Yume Nikki started to become popular in the West a few years after its initial success with 2ch denizens in 2004, it became obvious that the sometimes-derided RPG Maker tool was not only capable of producing good games, but also very original takes that didn't even have anything to with RPGs. Indeed, Yume Nikki soon became a cult hit both in its native country and abroad, as well as an icon of what amateur development could do best. Team GrisGris's 1996 Corpse Party is an earlier example of RPG Maker-made "non-RPG", but it was somewhat classical in its game design and lacked Yume Nikki's distinctive blend of conceptual adventure and psychological horror. However, what a lot of people seems to ignore is that Yume Nikki still isn't the first in that kind of production.

We need to go way back in time, six years before the Yume Nikki phenomenon. In 1998, the multimedia giant ASCII Entertainment organized its fourth entry in a series of annual competitions where contestants were required to submit a self-made game created using either RPG Maker or developed from scratch. That's when a man called Nishida Yoshitaka - nicknamed "Yubiningyou" - came in with a strange project developed with the help of RPG Maker '95 titled Palette. And it didn't have anything to do with the RPG genre at all..."

(Continued on HG101)

(From NeoGaf- "RPG Maker Games: Underlooked Gems" by Dust Golem 12-26-2012)

"Palette was originally released in Japan in the mid-90s, and won an award at the Fourth ASCII Entertainment Software Contest, granting the creator 10 million yen. With that money, he went on to remake his game and release it on the PS1 in Japan in 2001. This game is very unknown at this time, but of very high quality. The reason in big part is as the game is rather text-heavy, and has never been translated (officially or by fans) for any language outside of Japanese.

(Archive) Velsarbor by Lachsen - RM2k

Mirror Download

(From Looking Back:Velsarbor by Tau 01/25/2013 via RMN )

(Need to revise this a bit later)