ONYX

"The game is set in modern times, the year 2014. You are playing as CHAD DANIELS, a rather "moody" teenage boy who, unfortunately, lost his mother to a disease. His father ran out on him, and his Aunt is constantly sick. Trying to be the best nephew you can, you assist your Aunt by trying to find her a pillow from your storage room...but...there's someone inside...a little boy. You ask the little boy to identify himself. Instead, he screams and runs off. Confused by the event, you go to check up on your Aunt...but she's gone, and to make matters worse, you begin to hear monstrous sounds coming from outside your front door. You are saved by an angel, who explains to you that the did is actually the "Onyx Boy", one who knows of the location of the Onyx, an is the object of pursuit by many powerful forces. The angel calls you the "Peditra", the only one who can connect with the Onyx Boy and destroy the Onyx."

- Copy/pasted from the game's profile

ONYX is a surprisingly good first game by Yeaster, created in RPG Maker 2000 back in 2006. It boasts a rather well-written story, mildly entertaining combat, and a diverse and interesting cast. If you can deal with some poor design choices (such as aimless towns), then there's a lot of fun to be had. Clocks in at about 20 to 40 hours. Grab it here.


 * Adam Smith Hates Your Guts
 * An Economy Is You: Not quite - you just don't have any business for stores that cater to your needs.
 * Another Dimension: Chad is transported into one in the opening sequence of the game.
 * Arbitrary Gun Power: Tari's guns are actually noticeably weaker than most of the melee fighters' weapon choices.
 * Elemental Powers: Lots, including weird ones like "crystal".
 * Fake Longevity: Astonishingly absent - the dungeons, fights, quests, and so on are all of a very reasonable length. The game is just that long.
 * Guns Are Worthless: Again, Tari's guns.
 * Informed Equipment
 * Let's Split Up, Gang!: Infiltrating the arcade to rescue Tempest, among others.
 * Money Spider
 * News Travels Fast: Reasonably justified, since mass media such as TV exists.
 * Party in My Pocket: Even characters who aren't in your "proper" party are accommodated this way.
 * Title Drop: The titular Onyx is mentioned about every other scene.
 * Universal Poison