How much do you (dis)like lewd games made in RPGM?

[Crimson Delight Games]

So I've noticed while browsing F95 over the past 2+ years that many users here say they absolutely hate RPG Maker games and won't touch them with a 10-foot pole. Now granted this isn't completely undeserved because many (most?) RPGM games tend to abuse stock assets (sounds, tiles, portraits, sprites) and on top of that tend to have have piss-poor gameplay. It's usually baby's first RPG that gets made with it... with all the pitfalls that come along. Also the engine's kinda clunky out of the box, so interacting with its UI is painful at the best of times.

RenPy AVNs seem to be by far the most popular type of adult games here, but there's also some RPGM heavy hitters like Treasure of Nadia and Karryn's Prison. (click me!)

Now I'm just interested in how many of you play RPG Maker games if they're well made and fun... hence the poll. Feel free to comment down below and post your thoughts/experences with the engine and its games, whether as a player, dev, or both. Bonus points if you can list RPGM games with solid combat systems.

 

[Winterfire]

Just ignore it.
I've also read "I'll never try unity games!!12" and even a couple rare "I won't try renpy/vn!1"

It's just much easier to screw up in Unity/RPGM than it is to screw up a ren'py game or vn.
Worst case scenario (for renpy/vn), your graphics suck and you can tell from the previews and just move on.
Bad case in RPGM, the dev has no clue of what he's doing and they make a big empty map with nothing in it, following no rules whatsoever, and you had to download the game to find out.

 

[uiochasd]

Some rpg maker games are really great, I like them.

 

[MarshmallowCasserole]

Now granted this isn't completely undeserved because many (most?) RPGM games tend to abuse stock assets (sounds, tiles, portraits, sprites) and on top of that tend to have have piss-poor gameplay. It's usually baby's first RPG that gets made with it... with all the pitfalls that come along. Also the engine's kinda clunky out of the box, so interacting with its UI is painful at the best of times.

"Look, I know there's explanation why the sky is blue, something about oxygen I think. Anyway I'm gonna ask you, dear forum dwellers, is the sky blue?
1) BLUUUUUEEE
2) Sometimes
3) No! It's gray right now
4) It's nighttime here, LMAO"

 

[Crimson Delight Games]

Look, I know there's explanation why the sky is blue, something about oxygen I think. Anyway I'm gonna ask you, dear forum dwellers, is the sky blue?

You're missing the point tho (re-read the OP); everyone knows *why* players complain about RPGM games -- and I've listed the main reasons -- but what's more interesting is how many of them end up playing those games anyway... hence the poll for, you know, polling!

 

[MarshmallowCasserole]

You're missing the point tho (re-read the OP); everyone knows *why* players complain about RPGM games

Oh I wouldn't be so sure about that, I've seen a lot of people insisting that nothing's wrong with the RPGM experience.

The poll is, more or less, meaningless in my opinion, because it does not work like the options presented. If the game offers excellent content, people will tolerate the bad UX and shitty tilesets, even most RPGM haters. But given a choice of two equally mediocre games people will gravitate towards the one that doesn't have an UI from the last century.

 

[desmosome]

You forgot the option "I don't care." Engine is just the engine. Can be good or bad, depending on the game.

 

[balitz Method]

Things like stock assets don't bother me too much. I've developed a genuine affection for low budget lewd games that are really trying and RPG Maker is a good engine to dip your toes in without needing to learn much of any code work. I'm more hesitant to try out any old RenPy game because those rely very heavily on the visuals (which more often than not are going to look noticeably cheap or, more recently, have the stink of boring samey generative AI all over them) and the writing, which is usually going to be its weakest area.

There's just something about being able to walk around a space that someone put together that makes weak writing to justify some lewdness more fun.

 

[Insomnimaniac Games]

So I've noticed while browsing F95 over the past 2+ years that many users here say they absolutely hate RPG Maker games and won't touch them with a 10-foot pole.

I mean, a lot of people say they hate sandboxes too, but if you look at the most viewed games here most of them are sandboxes. Similar thing.

 

[CaptainBipto]

I do enjoy RPGM games, I voted that I enjoy most RPGM games and actively look for them.
RPGM games have pretty standarized interfaces and standarized controls. I don't have to play 'guess the key command' or 'guess what the stat does' games.
I don't exclusively play RPGM games, but if I encounter 'a good one', I am happy to play it.

I have seen garbage games made in Ren'py, Unity, UnReal, Godot, Wolf RPG, HTML, and RPGMaker. A crappy is going to be a crappy game and it won't matter what engine it is made in.

<Snip> ... Bonus points if you can list RPGM games with solid combat systems.

Good luck with that one. What one person thinks is a 'solid combat system' can like be crap to the next person.
A whole lot of RPGMaker games have a pretty bog standard approach and some folks won't like it because it is 'standard fare'.

Having said that, I will suggest this game as one with solid combat: Eldorante

Fair warning: the game can be grindy as fuck, even for a RPGM game, 'the completionist' will probably like it, but focusing on 'the story' can leave you with a 'WTF, crap game!' moment.

The thing I liked about it:
You are always level 1 when you enter a dungeon and you can gain bonus items if you are low enough level when you beat a boss
Your basic attack is actually effective.
Skills/spells are dependent upon the weapon type you have AND you can swap weapons mid combat if you need a different skill.
Enemies have weaknesses to different weapons and elements, so a basic attack with your 'knuckle dusters of ice' could be just as (or more) effective than your 'ultra holy firestorm' spell
TP skills are expensive to use, but they can be 'the one shot boss skill'.

 

[Baronluck]

If I can recognize an RPG Maker game by the screenshots, I'll likely be turned off to it. If it got great reviews, then I'll definitely consider it like any other game. But that first impression is hard to get over, because I assume the standard look is going to come with the standard gameplay, and there's a million games like that. It could be an amazing game, and I would want to play it if that's the case, but there's so many other games out there that look more likely to be good. So reviews save me time by telling me whether an RPG Maker looking game fits the mold or not.

It doesn't have to be limited to RPG Maker though. Games like Vampire Survivors and Undertale look terrible but have amazing reviews. It's the visual trap that everyone making a classic/retro looking game has to avoid. RPG Maker games are an easier target because they can usually be spotted from a distance.

 

[tuvrelm11]

Even though there's a mountain of shovewalre made in RPGM, even if I want for RPGM games to not waste my time with walking from point A to point B, I keep returning to RPGM games. There's just something about them that VNs don't have. That extra bit of gameplay and grind makes the reward just a bit sweeter.

Although I wish RPGM devs would look into basics of game design some more. Just because you can have RPGM battles, doesn't mean you should. CG hunters, endless mediocre RPG grind, gigantic empty maps, bugs and lag in a game engine this simple, linearity of a kinetic novel - are some of the thing that make me lose interest faster than "insert hated fetish here".

 

[Pretentious Goblin]

I'd rather play a RPGM with flawed gameplay than a VN, all other things being equal.

 

[BjornTheLorn]

As others have stated I think most people are just neutral on RPGM tbh, really comes down to whether or not its actually good of a game or if its grindy shovelware. All sorts of engines can be either, but low barriers to entry does generally cause more slop to be produced, but also means more people can at least try their hand at it and maybe make something good or at least interesting.

That said I'm a sicko who kinda prefers even most of the shit tier RPGM games just because I kinda like being able to explore settings and think about what the intentions were in making maps / side characters and most VN's tend to be too utilitarian in design to have too many of those or if they do are somehow even more grindy and soulless than most slop RPGM games.

 

[LS47]

I can't speak for anyone else. Personally, I don't judge a game base on its engine, a game is only as good as the monkey between the chair and the keyboard. Monster girl quest is one of my favorites JVN make in Renpy, and yet it screams amateur work and stock assets. It's fine for a game made as a hobby and/or by beginners to use stock assets and to be put together with spit and glue. I myself am slightly culprit of this, even though I try as hard as I can to make my own assets, even if they suck.

However, one thing that surprised me on this site is how many developers are simply content with the bare minimum of presentation, like, I understand the porn and the gameplay are the most important things here, but when I see so many devs (especially RPGM devs) reusing the same default assets over and over again, I can't help but go... Would it kill them to at least change the defaut font? The default spritesheet for the environment and characters? I'm pretty sure if I googled it right now, I could find tons of free assets on Itch that would do the job perfectly fine.

While I'm not a "high-end graphics matter" kind of guy, presentation is important, and seeing all those asset flips gives me the impression these devs do not care whatsoever for their games, and that they're putting out the bare minimum to try and make bank, as futile as it is. Because that kind of shit can and already has turned off many people from these games, myself included. I've never touched games like Black Souls or Karryn's prison even though they seem to be highly regarded here, because they just repulse me due to how sick I am of seeing thes same-looking assets.

 

[nulnil]

Bonus points if you can list RPGM games with solid combat systems.

Black Souls is probably the best RPGM game you're gonna find in terms of gameplay. Combat is sort of like a puzzle, but you're given a lot of tools that aren't always helpful to the current fight you're in. Like if an enemy uses a ton of magic attacks, you should find a way to debuff them with silence to prevent them from using magic. It's even possible to beat the game at level 1 if you're feeling masochistic.

 

[Ayymao]

I'm a sucker for female protagonist games and most of them just happen to be RPGM games. I know what to expect from japanese games (even if they are not great) while western RPGM games often feel like they are going nowhere.

I'm more skeptical towards Renpy "sandbox" games, they are often unreasonably grindy for what reward you get.

 

[Last69!]

I swear a thread with this topic is actually made like once in three months. The game engine doesn't matter what matters is the gameplay, fetishes, story art/renders and most importantly the execution.

 

[Crimson Delight Games]

and even a couple rare "I won't try renpy/vn!1"

Never seen that myself, but it's pretty funny if people are hating on RenPy now too

You forgot the option "I don't care." Engine is just the engine. Can be good or bad, depending on the game.

Yeah but there's a sizeable (and vocal) group of players here on F95 that won't even touch an RPGM game, regardless of quality.

I'm more hesitant to try out any old RenPy game because those rely very heavily on the visuals (which more often than not are going to look noticeably cheap or, more recently, have the stink of boring samey generative AI all over them) and the writing, which is usually going to be its weakest area.

Yeah I've noticed a few RenPy games with AI art in the "latest uploads" section. You can tell pretty much right away.

 

[KJay9051]

some of my favorite H games are made in RPGM, down to personal preference i guess. Like i understand why ppl would avoid it a lot of slop comes outta RPGM but that's kinda every engine now a days I feel.