One of the most overlooked communities of the indie gaming scene is RMN, dedicated to projects created with a program called RPG Maker. RMN is not the only RPG Maker-centric website, but it is certainly the central hub.
Today's topic of discussion is a free title known as "Mysterious Room Escape" by developer Okami_Amaterasu. The little gem can take up perhaps 20 minutes to an hour of your time to play, depending on your puzzle-solving skills.
Story 1/5
You’re trapped in a room and you have to get out. And there’s a mysterious backstory to uncover.
The rating behind this is a tricky one: on one hand, I can see the desire for answers as to why you’re trapped. But on the other hand, I feel as though it doesn’t even need a story. I’ve played room escape games before, and I never cared about the story (or if there ever even was one). In fact I think not having a story opens it to be even more mysterious.
None of the books with the hints of backstory interested me. It’s cool to be able to actually read some pages from the bookcase, but I still don’t think it’s necessary. The ending was not fulfilling because I got to learn what the mystery was, it was fulfilling just because I had won the game. 
Graphics 5/5
I absolutely love the art. I’m always a sucker for monochromatic palettes, especially this warm sepia tone. I like all of the close ups, too––like when I clicked on the pillow, I was not expecting it to have its own CG.
Audio 3/5
I really wish there was custom music, but for a free game, I suppose there’s no use in complaining. The music provided lends itself very well to the game––it’s a perfect blend of creepy and uneasy-but-still-soothing-and-calm. I do wish more than one track played, but I have no idea where one would fit in.
As for the sound effects, the only problem I had was the beeping tone during the puzzles. As sliding puzzles, a soft sound such as wood-against-wood might have been nice, or even a quiet click. Hearing the same beep over and over again while trying to figure out the very lengthy and complicated puzzles starts becoming annoying and adds to the frustration. Otherwise, I liked the sort of bit-crushed feel of the sound effects.
Gameplay 4/5
Seeing a point-and-click game made using RPG Maker is unheard of to me. I’d like to think I’ve played quite a lot of RPGM games, and I’ve never seen anything like this before. And even if it has been made before in this program, it still amazes me.
Personally, I really like the layout of the game, the inventory on the bottom, arrow on the top. It’s all very simple and clean. The arrow keeps everything easy to navigate, which is always a plus. I’ve seen some people complaining about lag, and I did get a teensy bit of it here or there, but it was never a problem for me.
When it came to the puzzles and exploration, it walked the delicate tight rope of white knucklingly difficult, and fair yet challenging. Yet, I still played and beat the game three times. It’s not often that finishing a puzzle in a game will actually give me a sense of fulfillment. But when I solved that last puzzle, I felt such a swell of victory it made the frustration worth it.
The apple puzzle was to a lesser extent though, since I didn’t exactly understand the rules at first. I know it’s a game about being dropped in parts or not and figuring it out yourself, but it took me way too long to figure out why the blocks were moving the way they were. I don’t think the last puzzle should be easier to understand than one of the first available. That might just be my problem, but nevertheless.
The only other real gripe that I have is the card suit puzzle. When you find the clue there are six suits, yet only three are used to solve it. To open the locked drawer I had to complete it by just making random combinations till one worked, as if I had never even found a clue to begin with.
But overall, I loved this experience. I really wish there was more, maybe another room, a sequel or something.
To me that is the mark of a great game.
Final Score: 4.5/5
