Helen's Mysterious Castle

[tepidsnake]

Helen's Mysterious Castle is.a Windows RPG, created in RPG School 2000 by Satsu (who's made several other small-scale RPGs) that was translated and released on Playism in 2014. Normally this isn't my sort of thing as I am completely terrible at RPGs- I almost never complete them- but with a recommended playtime of about 4 hours, I figured I might actually finish this one. As Helen, a girl who can't remember her origins and can only speak in '?' and '!', you set off to find your way off the floating castle she lives in. The story isn't too special, although it's got a lot of charm and a lighthearted tone that still sticks around even after the serious parts of the plot kick in. That said, the story is told in a neat way- a lot of details are things you have to find yourself after you're allowed to read the game's signs and books, and a character who joins later has expository chatter for every room in the game.

Where the game shines is the battle system, which is simple to pick up but has a lot of neat little details that make fights really fun! Each weapon you can use is set to a 'wait' timer- wait the allotted time and you'll use it, but every enemy attack also has this timer, so they'll go first if your wait time is longer. The four core weapon types have different attributes tied to this wait time- bows are weak but have short wait periods, swords have medium wait times but let you defend, shields don't attack but reduce/nullify damage taken while you wait, and spells are powerful and pierce through shields but have long wait times. As a result, the battles are pretty engaging as it's a matter of timing and planning ahead- with the right move choices, you can conquer any foe with little damage!

The way the game handles its inventory and levelling-up systems is a little different too- you earn EXP during battle but use this to level up your items (except stat-boosting ones) which you can only have eight of at a time, and raising a weapon's level can make it more powerful or reduce its wait time. Later you also get access to a blacksmith who can refine items (including stat-boosters) to make them even stronger. There's only a handful of each type of weapon and item, but there's enough differences between them that you'll pick a favourite. This simple inventory stuff ties in with another of the game's strengths, that it's super-friendly, with a lot of features added to make the game easier to get to the end of- you're very clearly prompted if you want to fight or run before a boss battle, a room you find later in game keeps any items you've had to drop so you can get them back, and dying restarts you either at your home or the inn with a steak ready for you which permanently raises your HP. While this doesn't make the game challenging, the fact that you have to plan a little for battles and figure out strategies for each enemy means it still feels satisfying to progress, there's just a few safety nets to help you along.

I often find that I enjoy short games a lot more, and Helen's Mysterious Castle is a gem of a tiny RPG, with the one downside being that it can sometimes be easy to have no idea where to go (as a hint, there are some areas where you can go into the walls, and these are usually telegraphed in some way) but aside from that this is an easy recommendation to try- it's available from its Playism page. Beyond the cut, we just have a few extra screenshots of other parts of the game, and while I've done my best to avoid any spoilers, if you'd like to go in completely blind then go no further!

 

First up is the Undead Knight, one of the supporting characters who already knows he's a boss and is polite enough to introduce himself to Helen as such.

This is one of the Four Evil Lords you have to fight to get to the second half of the game. His specialty is that he'll 'seal' the last move you used

And the leader of those Four Evil Lords is the Demon King. I shall present him to you in his own words.

There weren't many of them, but I still managed to get a shot of the Mimic enemy! Once you beat them, you can get the item in the treasurechest they were impersonating.

And we'll end on Helen and the Undead Knight taking a minute to stare at the sky.

... OK, one more thing, nowadays when I beat a big game like this (well, big for me at any rate) I like to immortalize it in a tiny MS Paint-drawn half-circle like this. Almost like a little plaque, or a snowglobe. So here's Helen facing off with one of the Four Evil Lords.

Comments

[moon_hotel]

I started playing this a few weeks ago after we talked about it and I like it a lot! I'm still in the first area, but I think I'll try to go through it a little more today. I've mentioned this before, but I really like RPGs that have a twist on the standard battle formula. This one looks really satisfying and I'm excited to play more!

I always like your MSPaint scenes, too! They remind me a lot of tympana from Greek and Roman architecture. I don't know if you intended that, but I've always found it to be really cool :^)

[tepidsnake]

I'm glad you like it so far! And same, it really helps when an RPG does something different with its battle system. Doesn't guarantee I'll make it through- Resonance of Fate has a really cool battle system that's half turn-based and half-not, but I still never finished it- but it keeps my interest for longer!

And thank you very much! That wasn't my intention but that's nicely spotted! It's more based around the fact that I draw best when I have as little space as possible, and the half-circle shape keeps it nice and tiny.