Sore Losers

[Sated]

SORE LOSERS

RMN "FEATURED GAME", MARCH 2010!
NOMINATED FOR RRR "FEATURED GAME", MAY 2009!
NOMINATED FOR "MOST PROMISING DEMO", 2008 MISAOS!

...::: What People Are Saying :::...

"It takes a twelve step program, hypnosis, a sex change, and the whole damn Star Wars series to break you away." - Tyrannos

"A solid romp through the desolate streets of a sci-fi dystopia." - Silviera

"Overall, a very solid cyberpunk game that makes excellent use of its setting and atmosphere." - Solitayre

...::: Storyline and Setting :::...

Ferusia, a totalitarian state led by a Government whose people are genuinely happy with their leaders. With a Government focused on promoting scientific research and the proliferation of human knowledge, whilst at the same time eradicating the distractions of religion and bureaucracy, Ferusia has become the most technologically advanced country in the world. It's also a country where crime is perpetually minuscule, partly due to the nation's powerful military-led police force and partly due to the populace being placated by exceptional technological, educational and entertainment advances.

However, despite the vast majority of people being happy with Ferusian life, and despite the power of the Ferusian military, there are still a minority who are unhappy with the current state of affairs. A group of terrorist rebels known as the Free Radicals vie for power in Ferusia. These rebels believe that a democratic state is the only way a country should be run; want more control over who leads the Government; want the Government to be more transparent regarding rumours of genetic experiments performed within the military; and want an end to "Central Ferusia", a high-security slum district where Ferusia's criminals are sent to fend for themselves, irrespective of the severity of their crime.

In the middle of it all are Markus and David, two criminals who have come to accept this punishment and made a living for themselves in "Central Ferusia" working for a mercenary leader named Jade. Under Jade's orders they carry out various jobs for those with the ability to pay and they're about to set out on their latest. One that will drag them into a rebel conflict they don't understand and don't care to be a part of...

...::: Gameplay, Features and Comments :::...

After five years of trying to finish projects using broadly similar concepts to this one, I've finally managed to finish one of them! I'm pretty amazed with myself because I didn't think this would ever happen, but I also know that my past errors largely centred around attempting to make my stories more "epic" than they needed to be, leading to me abandoning promising projects left, right and centre. Because of this, coming up with an "epic" central storyline is an element I tried to downplay in this project, although I'll admit that I'm still happy with how the storyline comes together given my limited writing talent!

What Sore Losers instead focuses on is providing challenging gameplay mechanics within a deeply immersive environment. The game includes formidable enemies that put item preservation at the top of your priority list; a multitude of different minigame sequences such as the widely lauded lockpicking system; a synthesis system that allows you to create and upgrade new weapons using objects found lying around the slums; dozens of optional missions that flesh out the slums you find yourself in; and a deeply immersive, dystopian setting featuring more quotable NPCs than you can shake a stick at!

...::: Reviews, Images and Downloads :::...

Read Reviews Here: http://rpgmaker.net/games/1210/reviews/
View The Image Gallery Here: http://rpgmaker.net/games/1210/images/
Download The Game Here: http://rpgmaker.net/games/1210/downloads/

 

[Sparx-1]

Right now I'm only at the first mission of the game, but I've gotta say, I'm really interested in what's going on in it! You, sir, have created a fantastic world in the game that feels so alive that it rivals the immersive experience in many commercial RPGs. The slums felt, sounded and acted just like the slums should, every character, even the common civilian NPCs, has a realistic personality, and that makes the whole thing really immersive.

The concept of many of the "status effecting" skills in the game that are usually magic spells in most RPGs were represented here as various forms of trash talk and psychological warfare was pure genius (the only thing that could have made this cooler was if they were actually voiced, like the opening cutscene). I laughed, not out of mockery, but pure amusement at the fact that going into a house and taking things like the common RPG hero actually gets the householder mad at you (AWESOME idea!), and how every locked door could be picked.

Speaking of which, the lock picking system was absolutely great! Did you come up with it yourself? I'd use a similar system in my game, but I wouldn't wanna be a jerk who steals other people's ideas... ^^;

All in all, even writing this review makes me want to go back and play it again, so I think I'll just go do that. It's clear you've put a lot of work into this game, and believe me, it has paid off. One of the best RPG Maker 2000 games I've played so far, all without the need for the scripts or huge sprite capabilities of more recent editions. The thought, effort and challenge put into the game play itself was sufficient.

5/5 (I find no flaws in this game that would hurt its score.)

 

[Sated]

Wow, thanks!

Right now I'm only at the first mission of the game, but I've gotta say, I'm really interested in what's going on in it! You, sir, have created a fantastic world in the game that feels so alive that it rivals the immersive experience in many commercial RPGs. The slums felt, sounded and acted just like the slums should, every character, even the common civilian NPCs, has a realistic personality, and that makes the whole thing really immersive.

The concept of many of the "status effecting" skills in the game that are usually magic spells in most RPGs were represented here as various forms of trash talk and psychological warfare was pure genius (the only thing that could have made this cooler was if they were actually voiced, like the opening cutscene). I laughed, not out of mockery, but pure amusement at the fact that going into a house and taking things like the common RPG hero actually gets the householder mad at you (AWESOME idea!), and how every locked door could be picked.

Most of my ideas when making this game were trying to go against typical RPG things like being able to steal from everyone's house or having NPCs who just stand on one spot and say something stupid like "Welcome to Townsville!". I'm glad you liked it, because a lot of work went into things like the NPCs... well, more than I imagine most games put in.

Speaking of which, the lock picking system was absolutely great! Did you come up with it yourself? I'd use a similar system in my game, but I wouldn't wanna be a jerk who steals other people's ideas... ^^;

The lockpicking system was my own idea. I'd been playing Fallout 3 a lot and the lockpicking in that is just so boring because it is mainly based on the character's stats and not on your own puzzle solving ability - it made me want to create something that was more of a puzzle for the player to get their heads around. In reality it's just a block-pushing puzzle so I wouldn't be too annoyed if other people used similar system but, as far as I know, no other game use that kind of system for lockpicking.

 

[Sated]

I'm a bit late on catching this one since RPGRevolution (RRR) has its reviews hidden away in a forum that I rarely (if ever) check. I figured someone would post something like this to the Sore Losers forum topic or gamepage but, unfortunately, they did not. Still, no matter, I know about it now and, since its really positive (despite the mistaken assumption that Sore Losers was made in RM2K3), I'm quite happy about it.

You can find the original review here: http://www.rpgrevolution.com/forums/ind ... opic=32663

Spoiler: Read The Review Here!

When you typically think about a post-apocalyptic RPG, what usually comes to mind? Well, for me, a lot of things come to mind such as Fallout, Shadowrun, Wild Arms, even Final Fantasy 6. Often, however, what DOESN'T come to mind is comedy. Oh sure, these games have their moments, but we're often not treated to constant sarcasm or anything of that nature.

Therefore, Sore Losers is a breath of fresh air for two reasons, really. For one, Sore Losers is actually a GOOD game made in RPG Maker 2K3, although admittedly, I hadn't played very many RPG Maker games, so I guess I'm not a good determinant thus far on good or bad in comparison to other RPG Maker titles. That said, reason two is the most important anyway: here we have a post-apocalypic, cyber punk game that is, in my opinion, hilarious.

So where to begin? Well, let's start with the mapping. As much flak as I'd given both Chikita and Chaos Knights, you figure I'd probably find something wrong or out of place here. Nope. The mapping is perfect, actually. And in fact, the overall design is top notch. Sure, it looks a little "dated" in comparison to XP and VX titles, but I tell ya, it brings an extra grubby/graininess to the game, which makes sense as it's a cyberpunk game anyway.

Next up is gameplay. Alright, not much is new here when it comes to battles. I mean, it's possible to have limit breaks, but it feels a little random. The techniques and comments are hilarious, but really, it's just your standard first person combat. There are a variety of minigames that occur that are actually pretty well done such as lockpicking, chase scenes, hacking, stealth, learning, and more.

Also included is a "to do list," which I want to figure out for my own game, honestly. It's nothing too complex, but it's pretty handy since there's a fairly decent amount of side quests in the game. You can also have items synthesized, but this brings about an issue that I hated in Final Fantasy 8 that fortunately is crafted a little better here and that is this is the only way (besides finding stuff) to get new equipment.

It's also VERY hard to get money. As an example, you get NO credits for defeating various monsters and very few for defeating human type enemies. While I guess this makes sense, keeping items in stock and paying to sleep makes this kinda tedious. Fortunately, you won't have to grind very much as the game is only moderately difficult, so it all works out.

I really wish the author had decided to use MP3s instead of midis, but the midi selection is fairly good for what he's got going on here. Sounds are nothing special...mostly just RTP stuff with a few additions. And really, that's about it. I can't really think of much to complain about. That said...

Conclusion

The Good

- Good mapping and level design. Nice tilework and good variety in tilesets.
- Hilarious dialogue and story. This alone will make you keep playing.
- Gameplay is juuuuuust right.
- A good variety of fun minigames.
- Cool features like the "to do" list and synthesis.
- Lots of side quests.

The Bad

- Music and sounds could be better. They're not "bad," but they don't feel customized and high quality enough.
- Some may not like the idea of not getting a lot of money and therefore, not really buying new weapons and armor, thus making the game fairly non-traditional.

And The Sorey

What else can I say? The game reeks style AND substance. It's fun to play, innovative, well put together and thought out, and hilarious. Not bad for a 2K3 game, I say.

Verdict: 9.0

 

[Sated]

So, I posted this in the "What Inspired Your Game" topic over on the RMN forums, but I figure I'll post it here as well since I think it says a lot about both this project and its sequel, Sore Losers: Riot Grrrl.

------------------------------

I guess I can talk about the two Sore Losers games a bit...

Both Sore Losers and Sore Losers: Riot Grrrl have a setting that is heavily inspired by the movie Escape From New York, in that all criminals have been sent to a locked-down urban area to fend for themselves as opposed to the state maintaining proper prisons. Secondary inspirations for the setting include Final Fantasy 7 and Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter because both of these games have dystopian societies where slums feature prominently, although in those two games the slums aren't there for the sake of criminals. Another inspiration would be the Streets of Rage games, a game that is referenced heavily in the original Sore Losers in homage to how much I love that series*.

That the original Sore Losers has lots of "one-off" minigames (sniping, chase sequences, helicopter flying, a Frogger minigame** and others) is inspired by the three PS1 Final Fantasy games (7, 8 and 9). All of those titles contained plenty of "one-off" minigames that broke up the standard JRPG gameplay. FF7 was especially great at integrating those segments into the storyline (snowboarding, motorcycling, marching, the hypothermia section etc.) and so that's what I sought to emulate with Sore Losers. I think the result was hit-and-miss based on reviews, but I'm going to try to take those criticisms and use them to create better "one-off" minigames for Sore Losers: Riot Grrrl, which will follow in the same tradition.

Both Sore Losers and Sore Losers: Riot Grrrl also focus quite heavily on "recurring" mini-games (lockpicking, hacking, hotwiring, smashing and others***) and this was largely inspired by the minigames seen in Fallout 3, where lockpicking and hacking also feature prominently****. My original concept for the hacking minigame in Sore Losers was actually a complete rip-off of the hacking minigame in Fallout 3, which based on reviews might have been a better choice than the maths-based minigame I ended up with! Fortunately for you guys, the hacking minigame in Sore Losers: Riot Grrrl will be vastly different based on the those same reviews!

Graphically, I'd say that the original Sore Losers was mostly inspired by another RPGMaker game, The Burning Grail. The credits sequence at the end of Sore Losers is an homage to the excellent, excellent opening sequence contained within that game. You could also say that the movement system in Sore Losers: Riot Grrrl is inspired by The Burning Grail, although it probably owes more to multiple point-and-click adventure titles (without the actual point-and-click because RM2K3). The graphics used in Sore Losers: Riot Grrrl aren't inspired by anything other than my wish to make the game look more "cyberpunk" than Sore Losers did; I never really got across the "cyberpunk" stylings I wanted in the original Sore Losers, something deftly pointed out by Darken in his review of the game.

*Sore Losers: Riot Grrrl was originally thought-up as being a cross between a JRPG and a side-scrolling beat 'em up, but it somehow ended up as a cross between a JRPG and a point-and-click adventure game. Probably because I wanted to use RM2K3 and the idea of making a side-scrolling beat 'em up in RM2K3 scares the pants off me. It is still something I'd like to do though!
**The "Frogger" minigame in the original Sore Losers eventually evolved into Frog, The Collector, which is one of my other titles. That game also takes inspiration from Pacman and similar arcade classics.
***Sore Losers: Riot Grrrl is actually going to have loads more "recurring" minigames than Sore Losers.
****Did you know that the Bethesda Fallout games were originally going to have a surgery minigame for healing crippled limbs? Imagine Surgeon Simulator but via a Pipboy. It was cut to help the pacing of battles, which was probably the correct decision.

 

[Ellie]

I dread to think how you'd even go about making a side scrolling beat'em'up in 2k3, although I have played one... To be honest it seems to be a really underused genre in game making, especially considering Mugen exists. But JRPG + Point n Click is cool too.

I've heard a lot about the Holy Grail but never played it. Maybe I should seek it out.

 

[Sated]

Mugen is more for Street Fighter-style beat 'em ups, isn't it?

If I ever did get around to making an JRPG crossed with a side-scrolling beat 'em up then I'd probably look into using one of the newer RPGMakers (to take advantage of RGSS) or using something even more flexible, like Game Maker. But I have seen pixel-movement side-scrolling shooters made in RM2K3 to really good effect, so I know it'd be possible. I'm just not sure if it would be a little out of my league... at least in terms of patience!

Oh... I put the "Holy" Grail when I meant The BURNING Grail. I'm an idiot. In any case, you can download it here: http://rpgmaker.net/games/31/

I reviewed it ages ago, when my reviews were still terrible. The score is a bit weird because I absolutely adore this game, but there are a lot of flaws with it and so I didn't give an amazing score: http://rpgmaker.net/games/31/reviews/386/