Macabre Demo

Macabre is a cute little indie that welcomes you to pixel art role playing games than have a Japanese influence. The setting is far from that of the Orient, but Macabre’s gameplay should feel familiar.

The story begins in a fantasy world where a giant earthquake seems to have shattered the natural order of things. The main character wakes up with no memory of recent events and sets to return home to help those who might be in need of it.

His journey will not be a short or simple one, so he travels alongside some very interesting characters that inhabit this world. Some will walk with you only for a period of time, others will stick with you to the end, and each one will contribute to a great journey. It’s worth noting that Macabre benefits from good writing as the conversations between the protagonists are well-thought out and make for a captivating story; something that is valuable in an RPG.

Macabre also deserves indie grade appreciation for the lightweight nature of the gameplay. Anyone who has played at least one JRPG at some point will be able to play Macabre without the slightest problem. It’s all very intuitive, even for the newcomer.

When it comes to difficulty, Macabre does a good thing. It lets the player choose if he or she wants to engage the game on a casual level, or face it with a higher degree of difficulty. Crafting is a thing, and there are tons of items to create, leveling up is there and all the core features of JRPG also make an appearance.

If it wasn’t for the vivid story and interesting characters, Macabre would have probably been another generic RPG. Luckily, that’s not the case. Sure, there’s not a lot of originality in it but neither does it play out like a copy-cat.