Here are my thoughts on the final 5 games in the 64D RPG competition, in the random order I played them. I avoid giving away anything I would consider a spoiler.

The Twilight Realm

I was drawn in immediately by the mysterious plot and immersive music, which is consistently very well fitting throughout. The slow introduction builds up the tension, making your initial encounter even more dramatic. Thoughtfully, there are an unlimited number of enemies at the class selection area, giving you plenty of time to try the wide range of abilities and choose your favourite.

I appreciated the small attentions to detail, such as the colours in the dialogue that match the current speaker, and the dramatic and subtle emotions in the animations of the characters.

Occasionally it was misleading as to where you can go. There is not always a distinction between the edge of the map, and an exit.

While combat is a large portion of this game, there are refreshing puzzles here and there which are sometimes challenging to solve. Depending upon the choices you make, there is also a substantial number of different bosses, each with their own distinctly unique attacks.

The world itself is an interesting place to walk through, with many different environments, from a creepy forest, to a stormy desert, to a world crumbling apart. Visual details help reinforce these environments, such as an ever thickening dust cloud, or rocks floating in the distance.

After I had lit up 3 of the 8 beams required to reach the final stage, I was slightly disappointed to find the last 5 beams were magnitudes quicker to light up. I was hoping the game would be longer, but I understand that some content had to be cut out.

The music really beefs up in the boss battles, creating a very exciting atmosphere, well accompanied by the beautiful but deadly arrangement of bullets, beams, and whatever else you must avoid. I found some of the dialogue gave me frisson, an example being in the final battle: “Solar, lunar, astral, dawn, dusk… and… twilightâ€?. It all came together as one great experience.

The ending left me wanting to play again; firstly, because I didn’t get the best ending, and secondly, because this game simply is fun. It has great replayability value, due to its large selection of classes, difficult moral dilemmas, and varying events dependent upon your actions.

Upon replaying, I got the second best ending, and if I had the time would play yet again.

Shattered World: Beneath A Stone Sky

Initially I had low expectations, since after double clicking the exe file the default game maker loading bar appeared. I am glad to say, this prejudice soon turned out to be horribly misconceived.

You are introduced to several characters who have distinct, interesting personalities, strongly conveyed through their dialogue and varied visual emotions, with the occasional bit of humour and even romance chucked in!

After the cut-scene sets the story, you are guided through the basics of the game before being left to your own devices. A suggestion would be to make it clear which keys are being pressed during this tutorial, though it is very easy to pick up the controls.

I found the difficulty to be extremely well balanced initially, and the combat system very well designed. The option to move or attack in either order, with the additional ability of being able to throw players and convert enemies leads to many wonderfully fun tactical battles.

Walking around while in the isometric non-battle mode can sometimes feel a bit clunky when you struggle to walk past an NPC or enter a door, but otherwise the whole walking/map system works very well. It gives a great sense of setting and physical scale of the world, luring you to continue playing in order to discover what lies beyond the “safetyâ€? of the first town.

As you build up your party and loot, the immersion really sets in, with a sense of belonging over what you have achieved so far. There is a massive variety of weapons and items, but it is easy to judge which you want and what they do, thanks to the well-designed interface and dialogue. Equipping your players is enjoyable, and adds even more room for tactics. For example, I gave my axe-wielding player 3 pairs of thick glasses to compensate for their terribly poor aim!

The exciting storyline continues to unfold regularly, with plenty of appropriate and exciting cut-scenes, though there is the occasional grammatical error. When the difficulty begins to ramp up, you can resort to grinding up the levels in the available fighting arenas.

Music is very good and very fitting, and the pixel art graphics work together wonderfully. I can honestly say that with bugs ironed out and a bit more polish, this is a game I would hand over money for.

Dungeonmen: Men of Dungeons

From the very start, Dungeonmen is slick and high quality. The retro theme is brilliantly executed; I really enjoy the cute two frame character animations, amusing animal sound effects, and wonderfully crafted music.

The opening cut-scene sets the mood and style of the game, which - aside from the nudity - is consistent throughout!

Dialogue is quite heavy, but very well written and often interesting, even funny to read, while still being informative.

The world is initially almost completely open, which is actually a cleverly disguised curse. I set off from the safety of town, and was almost immediately killed in my first encounter with enemies. Returning to town, I found I should have first bought armour, potions, and weapons(!). Even after doing so, battles were still very tough, and the “openâ€? world was actually limited to the least deadly of the four available realms.

The graphics are rather splendid, with attentive details such as shadows drawn on quarter tiles.

Purchasing items can be quite burdensome, since finding out their stats requires manually reading the in-game manual, one item at a time. Displaying the relevant manual page while purchasing items would remove all those unnecessary steps.

Once you get your head around it, the wide range of items and variety of player classes provides a multitude of possibilities, enhancing the replayability. Providing you can manage to survive the initially very difficult situation, this turns out to be a game as good as it looks and feels.

Beluas and Castles

I found this game a refreshing take on the RPG genre compared to the other entrants. You are dropped right in to fast paced action which doesn’t ever give you much time to rest, and must constantly dash around in order to survive. It even features multiplayer! There is satisfaction to be found in constructing your castle; however the defence it provides is not worth the pain of constant repair.

The fast day/night cycle, spawning monsters, and tools are reminiscent of a certain fairly popular cube based digging and building game, but it actually fits rather well. It allows you to roam freely to gather materials, while simultaneously working towards specific goals, such as repairing a bridge.

The music changes to reflect the current situation, and the weather presents some nice variety to the scenery. A rumbling screen is a clever indication that a large enemy has arrived.

Bugs are what hold this game back, that and it can often just feel very clunky. Some steep slopes become unwalkable once your speed increases, and the insta-kill shark provides much frustration - especially when combined with a saving system that only has one slot.

The opening cut-scene is fairly well crafted, however seems to have little to do with the plot, other than setting the location.

With some polish and sharp corners smoothed down, this would be a very solid, fun game for playing alone or with friends.

Exile

The labyrinthine level design and foggy 3D graphics keeps the tension high as you navigate around, cautiously opening doors, encountering various enemies, bosses and deadly lava. Carefully placed health packs save your life just as you think you’re at death’s door.

Combat, however, is rather difficult to execute without being certain of receiving damage yourself. The initially slow sword forces you to carefully time your blows as you dart back and forth at the enemy. It can often be much safer simply to run past enemies.

Music changes from level to level, reflecting the increase in difficulty.

Temporary magic spells can be tactically cast before fighting bosses, boosting a stat such as defence, giving you that much needed edge, leading you to victory.