[[2026 Games]]  ## 2026-01-11 So this is technically a [[Steam]] game, but it’s built off of RPGMaker so I’m running it through Joiplay on my [[Anbernic RG477M]].[^1] **Scarmonde** is a [[JRPG]] Dungeon Crawler in its purist form. Unlike [[Rogue Galaxy]], it doesn’t pretend to be anything else. You pick 4 classes, a-la [[Final Fantasy V]] and get moving. There’s a plot. We’re not gonna talk about that. Aesthetically it sits between the **NES** and [[Game Boy Advance]] versions of the [[Super Nintendo]] **Final Fantasies**. The progression has been very interesting. Gear isn’t just a stat-stick chase, with a lot of stuff being more of a “side-grade” that can be useful in specific moments. There’s multiple ways to build each class too. Particularly interesting is the orb system. Skills aren’t dolled out on level-up, but via orbs of various levels that you can get from blue treasure chests or (less often) random battles. It makes finding chests via exploration more fun, but I’m curious what the resource distribution will be like by mid-to-end game. That’s pretty much all I’ve got so far. It’s been a pretty relaxing, “wind-down” sort of game, and it works perfectly on the aforementioned 477M, because the whole game is at 4:3 ratio, matching the screen. More thoughts to come. [^1]: I hate everything about this disgusting, dweeb-aah sentence, I needed to be bullied more as a kid[^2] [^2]: i’m joking about that last part, sorry for letting this bit go on for so long.