CmdrCrunk

Put a good amount of time into creating a project and overall the experience has been good, although limited. By buying RPG Maker FES all you are getting the game creator aspect of the software, the RPG Maker Player is a free app on the 3DS that allows access to all the user made content, and it is also free. If you are only interested in playing free games, just get the player. For those interested in creating content, you can still do a decent job and make fairly complex games, albeit not without its fair share of problems. Firstly, this is not a game but a creative tool. There are no example games provided (there may be in the future to buy... but none at launch, and not for free) and no tutorial. If you want to create a game, you are very much on your own. When you do actually create something, I did not find it too hard to work out, but requires a good amount of trial and error at first. The creation is based on setting tiles to make a map and events for anything you interact or fight with. My initial issue is with the amount of content for creating your game is quite limited. You really have to be creative with what you use to get the most out of the game. The tile sets provided cover the basics, but if you are like me, you'll need to purchase all the DLC to have a broad enough approach to do what you want. On the subject of the DLC, you do not get much for your money and there is no preview before purchase. I recommend checking out the official website to browse before you consider buying. Other negative comments are about limitations in regards to the number of maps being 100 and limited to 64 weapons and armour etc. I do not think this is a limitation, as unless you are planning a major project (and you really should have the latest PC version for this), these limitations will not effect you too much. Also if you are planning a major project there is no way of monetising your creation, so again go with the PC version. A few problems do exist when in creation mode. The most catastrophic is a bug that kills the program, losing all your unsaved work to that point. I have encountered this multiple times, and the only solution is to remember to save regularly. Hopefully this can be fixed, but I'm not holding my breath. Other problems are when creating you can only copy and paste a limited area, less than a screen size. I do like the touch controls for map creation which are intuitive, but often you have to work around the limitations, repeating simple tasks constantly. The main reason you I give this a positive review is in the ease it is to upload, share and download other creations via the network function. RPG Maker FES is a limited version of the full tool, but it is not designed for a complex userbase. It is designed more for the starter or for people making small projects to share for free. The network function is far from perfect however, especially when compared to something like Mario Maker (on Wii U, I've not got the 3DS version). The only categories are best rated within 7 days or most downloaded within 7 days, so if your game is 8 days old it will be buried. The star rating system, like most rating systems, can be gamed by groups of people and the quality of games available can vary significantly. Where Mario Maker shined was that you had to demonstrate that the level could be completed before you could upload, not so here. Prepare for bugs galore, uncompleted stories and impossible to progress situations. Now, an RPG project is a long endeavour and it can't be expected that each game is 100% complete, however people can upload anything, and without a reviewing system (more than the star rating) it is impossible to know if you are going to waste a significant amount of your time. The positive side to the network in RPG Maker FES, and the point where the whole program is worth the purchase for me, is that you can share your game with anyone with a 3DS, without them having to pay for any software. This is the key value to this game, that truly anyone can play, no limitations. All a player needs is the free RPG Maker FES Player software and the name of your game and they are good to go, streamlining and simplifying the sharing process. That's it, as for the takeaway point to this game. If you want to create small project, simplified RPG games (although with a good bit of scope for larger, more complex projects) to share with your friends easily, this is the game for you. If you want to create a massive and complex RPG and have the option of monetising it, go for the PC version. If you want to just play the games, download the free RPG Maker FES Player. I'm enjoying using it for what it is, and that's all I want.