[Review] RPG Maker MV (PS4/Switch)
RPG Maker MV is a very unique game to review because there is 2 sides to it. Creating RPGs and playing what the community has built. So there is value in both parts. I was initially incredibly excited to start making my own RPG's while crafting my own stories. However that was short lived. I didn't realise how much work went into making SNES like games. I spent a few hours just trying to design the over-world. So if you are using this game to make instead of play, expect to dedicate a lot of hours.
I really had a lot of fun spending time designing. Brought back a lot of memories of Architecture school. It's more than possible that I wasted time making sure rooms were architecturally correct, at this point who knows ?
The game gives you a lot of pre-made assets for you to drag and drop in. Which is great, because it's a great introduction into games. By playing this game you will truly understand more about how games are made. I love how the game's assets/textures are themed depending on what sort of vibe you want to go for, Arabian, Japanese, Western, Steampunk etc. However it's a bit disappointing that you cant mix and match assets from different themes in the same scene.
At times I felt as though the game is trying to do a lot on limited hardware. Which is unfortunate, because the game has crashed a few times. There was some slow down when creating new scenes, maps, characters or even when saving within the editor. It may have better for performance to simplify the editor a lot more, similar to other "maker" style games such as Super Mario Maker. Your canvas is a lot smaller than what you'd expect for a game like this. The different menus take up a lot of space. I would have liked it if the menus could be hidden to save space, similar to the layout of programs like 3DS MAX or Photoshop. Once again I understand that those choices were probably made due to hardware limitations.
Building your game within the editor, is quite complex and confusing, it takes a lot of time to understand and a lot more time to Master. There is a tutorial when you first boot up the game. As long as it is, it only teaches the bare minimum to get you started and then throws you in the deep end.It would have been nice to have seen the option for an extended tutorial for people like me who don't have a clue what they are doing. If you know what you are doing, the game gives you a lot to work with to build an incredible game and share it with the world. Because this isn't a full RPG Maker experience you can't export and then publish your game. However you can share it with the community and download other people's creations.
I loved this feature, it's a game changer. I am not the most talented person, neither do I have the time to invest in learning how to make a game in RPG Maker. But I like playing RPG's and now I have infinite RPG's to enjoy, in theory.
I am not so sure how long people will continue to create content for this game, because of how difficult it is to make RPG's on a console and lack of true customisation. If you are interested in learning how to make RPG's then it may be worth purchasing RPG Maker MV on PC. That way you can import your own audio/visual assets and publish the games you make. That being said I'm giving the Home/Portable Console version a 5/10.
Overall Rating : 5/10
Pros:
+ Playable User Submissions
+ High Replay Value
+ A lot of pre-made assets
Cons:
- A few noticeable glitches
- Long loading times - Very difficult to master
- Confusing Game editor
- Outdated/Clunky UI
This review covers RPG MAKER MV for Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch. I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to NIS America for providing me with the opportunity to play this game and write this review.