Hearts of Chaos

In Brief

A casual adventure/strategy RPG made with RPGMaker VX.

Suggestions:

If you win a key for Hearts of Chaos, please give some feedback about your opinion of the game, for example, what you liked or disliked about it, or how it could be improved from your point of view . You can download a demo of the game via Shockwave If you don't like this genre at all, please explain why. What, improvements, if any, would change your opinion? There are thousands of subscribers to the game giveaway of the day every weekend which makes this an ideal forum for giving developers ideas as to what their consumers (i.e you) would like to see in a game. For example, you could suggest extra content such as better or more original mini games, or a level editor that you would like to see that would make it more appealing to you. Maybe you think the graphics are a little dated and are in need of re skinning, or maybe you've just had enough of the genre and want to see something different or something with more originality?

If you don't win a key, don't mind playing games via Steam or miss the offer totally you can get the game 24/7 via Steam HERE. It usually costs £3.99/$4.99 but is on sale at the moment until Jan 13 as an introductory offer for £3.19/$3.99 following it's release on Steam 2 days ago. The game was originally released Summer 2012.

Introduction:

Birthdays are always days of change, even if we don't expect it. We get another year older, wiser, hopefully kinder and better, then we were just the day before. Birthdays can change everything about you, and about the world. Take mine, for instance. I had no idea when my friends came to celebrate just how things would end. I had no idea that a day begun with cake and presents, would end with a journey to stop an evil I had never heard of, a legend I didn't know, from destroying everyone and everything I ever cared about. I didn't know that on my birthday, I would have to embrace not only my destiny, but all my potential destinies, all of our potential destinies. Now me and my friends are exploring lost ruins, soaring through the sky on forgotten ships, and facing down monsters that I can barely imagine, and can just barely survive, all to prevent the very literal end of the world. Suddenly, getting older doesn't look so bad.

Reference accessed HERE

Installation:

Assuming you win a Steam key for Hearts of Chaos, once you've found it (should be sent to the email you used to enter the giveaway) you have to activate the game via your Steam client. Once activated it will be permanently tied to your Steam profile and you'll be able to install the game at any time, anywhere on any computer, so long as you can validate who you are (usually via emails etc). If you've previously used a false email to sign into this site to comment, it may not be possible to get a key because even though you may win a key, the Steam key will be sent to that email you used to sign into the giveawayoftheday comments. If you don't have a Steam account you will first have to download and install the Steam client HERE

Then create a Steam profile/account. Once that has been completed you can input the Steam code that you've received (after completing the form filling) via the game button along the top of the Steam client, (located between friends and Help - see image below). From the drop down menu select 'Activate a product on Steam'. This opens a product activation window. Just follow the prompts to complete activation. Once the Steam code has been accepted, the game will be permanently associated with your Steam account and can be installed any time you wish.

If you have a problem installing or activating or getting Hearts of Chaos to work, please visit the problems section over in the Game Discussion forums, which I've now incorporated into the FAQ's thread, and which you can find HERE

The Game:

When you start a new game after a brief dialogue you can change the name of the character from Farenheit to whatever you choose. After several more dialogue boxes you are told you can change various aspects of how the game looks, for example the color of the dialogue box, which starts off as blue. To do this you click the Esc key, however doing so immediately after that message tells you to access the system option from the menu screen, but you cannot do so because the menu's have been disabled for the time being. Several more dialogue boxes appear and you leave your house to meet your friends, after yet more dialogue boxes you can start to rename your friends, starting with your girlfriend. Finally after almost 40 dialogue boxes you can wander around the town, exploring the environment and interacting with the various inhabitants you meet, picking up the odd item such as potions. It is suggested you make a start by visiting the Inn, however, there's appears to be no signposts so you'll still have to explore the place. When I used to play these games years ago I'd use graph paper to draw out a map, at least with those games that didn't provide one. The first building I came across after I left my home I met an old man that told me that I could spent JP (job points) to level up skills that I learn during the game. Job Points allows you to generate a 'In game' currency used for things like unlocking special content, learn skills, and unlocking other things available in game. if you choose to be a magician you can only use three basic attack spells which are Ice, Fire and Shock; however, as you progress these become progressively more powerfulk versions. Status effects wear off over time. You can see how long they will affect you by looking at the number above your health bar while in battle. Status effects are useful in adding tactics and strategy when you battle. Negative status effects enables you to create cure skills for them, and when these cure effects are added to your weapons/items it will enhance their usefulness in battle, for example poisions may reduce HP (hit points) by a certain percentage, . Both negative and positive status effects give you reasons to cast different actions per turn, since each status effect last a couple of turns.

Once you've met the King Classes will be unlocked in the menu. Classes allow you to use different skills in battle and affect things like attack strength and health. They also affect which weapons and armour you can equip. Until you select a class you cannot equip yourself with anthing you may find in game. Once you've spoken to the Prince in the Kings castle that is located north of the village you start in you can open the menu by clicking Esc. The menu includes Item, Status, Skill, Equip, Class, Save and system. When you open up the menu you will also see an information panel that tells you where you are as well as how long you've been in game and the amount of gold and JP you have at the time.

You can now select classes for each of your party. Clicking on Class opens up the party menu that shows various information such as the level of each character, their name, Class and health status. Clicking on individual names opens up a further panel that enables you to select which class you wish to choose for that character, for example you can choose from a list of eight classes that include Knight, Warrior, Priest, Magician, Paladin, Dark Knight, Grappler and Thief. Each class has different attributes, which can be seen in the right hand pane of the main panel. This will give you the attributes for that class, for example HP (Hit/Health Points), MP (Mana/Magic Points), ATK (Attack Points), DEF (Defence), SPI (Intelligence), RES (Stamina), DEX (Dexterity) and AGI (Agility). When choosing classes for your party, make sure you select a good range of classes, for example if you choose a Paladin they are good warriors, but also can use magic, a thief can be useful when requiring stealth or lock picking skills, whereas a magician is very useful for protection spells, and healing. As you progress your weapon skills will improve, making you more effective in battle. Depending which class you choose there can be several weapon skills to master that include Melee, Slashing, Piercing, Blow, Bow,, Whip and Mind.

Once you've chosen your classes, if you've not played this type of game before, I would explore all of the various menus to get a feel for what is available, then go adventuring, starting with the witches cave north of the Kings castle. good luck.

Finally, check out the Steam stores specials tab, you'll find over 270 games on sale at the moment.