A downloadable game

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1109945269266698371/1109948467318632488/image.png

Understood: Monster Island

Introduction

A 2D JRPG style game that follows a young elf woman named Miriam. She, like all the other wonderful members of her little community, is a monster. What’s a monster you ask? Well, who really knows, all the people in this quaint town know, is that they’re different. That alone isn’t a big deal, but in this world there are also heroes. One of the things heroes love most about life is grinding those sweet sweet gold and loot drops. After all, it’s just monsters, so who cares right? Join Miriam on her journey to bring a lost little friend back home. One might think that a simple quest like this might be easy right? Well, one would be wrong. Help Miriam prevail despite the obstacles she faces, from both outside forces and from within. Can she quiet her own demons long enough to see her quest through to the end?  

Background

Understood is an indie game made using the RPG Maker MZ engine by a solo developer. It was originally released as a game jam entry made in the span of 25 days. Judges placed Understood 13th among 260 entries. It’s been in development on and off for 6 years. Four previous versions have been discontinued with the latest version being started from a blank project in 2022. It’s expected to be released by 2024. 

Description

You’ll play as an elf woman named Miriam. She’s tasked herself with finding the home of an unexpected arrival in town. She and the other townsfolk suffer from various issues ranging from severe mental illness, to physical disability. Their conditions are never directly addressed, but they will play a big role in her interactions with NPC’s in the game. The battle system consists of a side view battle system. Miriam has a basic set of skills, while her companion can summon the monsters on the island for help during battles. She will have to complete quests to discover where her companion came from. In doing so, she uncovers a plot by the Hero king and she must act fast to save those he wishes to harm.

Key Features

  • Character based story telling.
  • Immersive sprite animations during dialog scenes.
  • Animated cinematic graphics to illustrate key moments in the game.
  • Fast paced battles with challenging scripted boss fights.
  • Many optional side quests with a meaningful impact in the game.
  • Multiple endings possible depending on which side quests you complete.
  • Players will be able to determine difficulty by using or choosing not to use certain skills.

Genre

Understood: Monster Island falls squarely in the story heavy classic JRPG genre. The player will role play as the protagonist while building her stats and strength to face the final battle. 

Platform

The targeted platform is PC. 

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1109945269266698371/1109948753282080809/image.png

See the latest updates here:
Driftwood Gaming Discord

GAME MECHANICS

Quest Mechanics

The player will interact with NPC characters in the community and be presented with the option to complete quests for them. These quests will vary from simple fetch quests to defeating nuisance heroes and everything in between. Each Quest giver will have multiple quests to offer, the first one being mandatory. If the player chooses to complete the full quest line for an NPC they will unlock certain aspects of the game such as game outcomes, special gear and items, new locations, and variations in the ending of the game. 


Battle Mechanics

Miriam will have bow specific skills and first aid knowledge for healing. Her character will represent the primary DPS for the party. Dog (Miriam’s companion) will have a more complex skill system that is built over time as you encounter battles in the world. Dog is able to speak to all speechless monsters, which the player will encounter periodically through the battle system. Speechless monsters will appear in battle as an ally to the party and will be uncontrollable during the first encounter. After the first encounter with said monster, a skill will appear in Dog’s menu which will enable him to call the monster in future battles. Each monster will have 3 unique skills.


Charge points

At the start of battle and during each round the party members will be awarded one charge point or CP. Each player has a max of 3 CP. Their skills will have CP tiers 1, 2 and 3. The player will be able choose the charges they want to use for the skill they’ve selected which will determine the strength of the skill. Certain items will be available to add charge points in battle. For example: Miriam has the skill “First Aid”. She currently has 2 CP. She can choose to use First Aid with either 1 or 2 CP. If she chooses 1, it will be a weak heal skill, if she chooses 2, it will be a medium heal skill, 3 isn’t an option since she only has 2 CP, but it would be a strong heal skill.


Player Progression

Miriam will progress mainly through experience earned after defeating enemies. She will also be able to upgrade her equipment by completing quests for certain NPC’s. Dog’s progression will be mainly through experience earned after defeating enemies. He will gain a wide range of skills by encountering monsters in battle. 


https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1109945269266698371/1109949505769570385/image.png


See the latest updates here:

Driftwood Gaming Discord

StatusIn development
Rating
Rated 4.8 out of 5 stars
(6 total ratings)
AuthorTea
GenreRole Playing
Made withRPG Maker
Tags2D, Coming Of Age, Female Protagonist, Funny, JRPG, RPG Maker, sadness, Singleplayer, Story Rich
Average sessionA few minutes
LanguagesEnglish

Development log

Comments

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How do I have access to play the game? I found out through you liking my post on twitter :o 

I'm genuinely interested! I may have that type of disorder maybe it'll finally resolve what strife I've been facing and never had a word to dub it as.

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I'm glad you're interested! :D

It's in development now and doesn't have a working demo at the moment. I hope to release it within the next year. :D

So I decided to give it a try and I was actually really glad I played it. Understood is a short game were you play as Miriam, a cute monster girl that suffers from the inability to properly express her emotions, this could easily be a way to not get identified with her as she's the protagonist, but as a person that has a friend like this is depicted very accurately and it hit me way too close to home at some points. You basically do just some short quest in which you end up being an annoyance because of Miriam's problem. Also I must say I smirked and even laughed at some points, is pretty funny, and the characters are pretty likable, I wish it was a little longer and had more proper ending, since things are pretty rushed, but I understand as this game was made in less than a month. 
In a nutshell:
Cute and funny game which explores a real life disease, and I enjoyed. 

(+1)

Thank you so much for playing and leaving feedback, I'm very glad you enjoyed the game! :)

I've heard many good things about this entry, both on the submission page and at the RM forums, and I finally decided I'll be giving this a go. It looks cute and the subject matter interesting.

On a slightly off-topic note, your LPs are pretty funny too!

Great job! I love the story and message here! Deeper than it originally appears to be, which is always a nice touch! Thanks for making a great game! :D

Great little game! Well crafted environments, attention to detail, and introduced me to Alexithymia, which was an interesting condition I had never heard of before. You have my vote, best of luck!

This game has an amazing story, one that can make you laugh and cry. Memorable characters and scenes, beautiful maps, easy gameplay. 

It will open your mind to Alexithymia, a personality construct difficult to relate to... Understood is a must play.

Thank you so much for playing the game, I'm glad it got it's point across. :D

nice!

(1 edit)

Thank you for playing the game! I'm glad you liked it :) .