Okay, Here's my full review of Master of the Wind thus far. It likely contains spoilers:
Story: 19/20
The story in Master of the Wind Arks I and II is that of two mismatched medievil superheroes, Shroud and Stoic, who at the beginning are trailing the vampire Andau. From here the characters chase Andau to the top of the old decrepit fort, where he makes his escape.
The two heroes turn in for the night and the next day shows the personal lives of the two otherwise "normal"-"ish" people. Cade and Bones work at an armor store (Not farmboys! Or Squires! Yay!).
In the intrest of "I can't remember the friggin' names" and "I don't want to give away the story", all I can say is that this middle ages-placed story becomes rather deep with themes of big business vs. small business. Though due to the fact that Equipment King is basically Wal-Mart, the story keeps a very humorous air to it. I must say, though, that the story in Ark II becomes one entailing all of the modern day themes that you would never expect to see in this type of story (Like, a medievil one).
Gameplay: 19/20
The gameplay in MotW boats little in the way of brand new things for the RPG genre. That said, the systems used, the battle system, crafting, multi-equipment, and the way combat is balanced make this is good, challenging, solid RMXP game.
The combat in the beginning, I thought, was pretty damn hard. Well, my fault entirely, as I learned after dying twice that the beds were usable. Still, the combat gets challenging, and me, Mr. Hoards-Items-But-Avoids-Using-Them-At-All-Costs-Because-I'm-A-Dumbass (Long name), actually found myself using items a lot, and going through them at a fast rate (You would never believe it, I ACTUALLY used not only items like dynamite, but even miracle drops!).
As for puzzles and such, they are what truly give this game it's score here. Puzzles ranged from easier than cake (like those "puzzles" in the last dungeon, or even the breaking floors in the Fort) to harder than... um... hard stuff (Most of the puzzles in the mansion, a couple of them in the church). I just loved the puzzles in this game.
Graphics: 14/20
The graphics in MotW were mostly RTP, but I've never judged a game based on the number of custom sprites used. Ark I's graphics were certainly inferior to Ark II's because they were updated between then, so I'll judge Ark II primarily.
As for custom graphics, some of the faces were a little blurry (mostly Shroud and Cade) and the customized skeletons looked a little blurry as well (actually, it was just the rib cages). Also, one of the enemies (that pig thing up in the mountains) had a lot of stray-looking pixels. Other than that, the graphics (especially the main character's battlers) were excellent. I loved Finley's battler, by the way. I'm assuming you did that, Artbane?
The maps are where this game loses a few graphics points, though. Most of the maps are well-assembled, but I can't help but catch small graphical errors here and there. They are pretty minor, but they tend to bug me. Also, travelling up the apartments gets a little old sometimes.
Music: 19/20
I'm just going to get this out of the way: The ONLY reason these guys don't get a perfect 20 for music is because it isn't actually made by them. However, they collected a perfect soundtrack to fit this game, and everything from Finley's theme to the Port Arianna song are utterly PERFECT for the roles they're assigned to. I can't stress how much I loved MotW's music, so I won't bother trying.
Replayability/Fun Factor: 20/20
I stuck both here so they would all be 20's, making it easier on me.
Anyway, I'm going to go replay Ark I. 'Nuff said.
Overall: 91/100 A-
It screams "Made in RMXP", lending a beautiful charm, but the story and involved history make it better than some commercial games I've played. Would I reccomend it? Without a doubt. Go play it, now. You won't be disappointed.
