That's an, interesting marketing strategy.....

Wut?

Horrible music, check. Anime/Japanese RPG cliches, check. Names of people and towns seemingly lifted off of earlier, much better RPGs, check. Menu screen copied directly from Final Fantasy games, check and double check.

Oh man, I haven't messed around with RPG Maker in YEARS but all of those sprites and tilesets are immediately familiar.

@Tsuchinoko And yours for just $60! Seriously, what are you waiting for?

The best part of all of this though is the way the trailer just ends out of nowhere.

60 bucks for a game made with RPG Maker template graphics?
And terrible map design, btw. Can't believe this guys are serious.

Fake. The trailer just shows the screenshots that are on the website. Or the scene the screenshots are taken from. I'd say someone made a dialog scene and a battle scene in RPG Maker and put up that website.

Wait, now I remember. Land of Barron? I'm getting Final Fantasy IV flashbacks. And that battle scene background looks awfully familiar...

I, ah, um....what? How strange...

Is this made by the same guys who made the iOS Pokemon clone "Little Masters"?

Brings back so many memories of my older bro and I messing around on RPG Maker.
GOTY

Oh god. RPG Maker has unknowingly become a curse on the gaming world. They're expecting to sell this for $60?...for the standard edition?! Well at least it gave me a good laugh.

How is a tool that helps people make their dream games that you personally never have to play a 'curse?'

Holy embarrassing hyperbole, Batman!

I recognized the RPG Maker graphics before I even got down to the part of the article that mentioned it. This whole thing is just...wow. Blows the semi-absurdity of RPG Maker games on Steam Greenlight out of the water, that's for sure!

They can't be serious.

@OlympicCho - I thought it was obvious that what I was referring to was the people that use RPG Maker to create games which they expect to sell on consoles like the Wii U at $60 - not the ones who use it for their personal games, and that I wasnt being completely serious. Holy embarrassment to yourself there mate.

Preordered the limited edition.

That video looks like it was made in Windows Movie Maker or the like.

They should learn a thing or two from Emmy and everyone else who worked on the awesome Tale of Madness!

I agree with @battLeToaD,
And they can't be serious about the price, it looks terribly dull, bland, cliched, and a lot like the early Final Fantasys.

Very strange story indeed!

Check out their explanation for why the game "looks like" an RPG Maker job.

Amanda Dyar first developed the concept for "Death's Apprentice" in 1992. The video game remained on hold for several years until 2010 when it started development by BGG Media. Ms. Dyar applied for a position working for Alabama Senator Lowell Barron in early 2000. In order to stand out then Ms. Dyar created a short video game that displayed her job portfolio within a virtual world. The player could access parts of the portfolio through solving puzzles and defeating bosses in battle. Once the user nears the end of the game then a final decision is made on rather the apprentice is hired or fired! The overall idea is much like that of the television show "The Apprentice" hosted by Donald Trump. The video gameplay footage that you see within the first trailer is from the original title created by Dyar in 1999. Dyar later went on to obtain a graduate degree in Psychology and used this method as an academic tool for studies involving "Perception." Dyar is the founder of "BioGamer Girl Magazine" which is a family-ran organization where both her children currently are an active part of the team. Dyar's two children were avid team members in the development of "Death's Apprentice."

So, they're claiming that a lesser known game producer is working on this? Well, the game is listed under her IMDb Profile, though I'm not sure if that is a user edited database or not. But, they also claim that the gameplay in the trailer was from the 1999 game, while it was shot with Frags (the watermark at the top of the video proves it), which wasn't around until 2004....

Something tells me the whole story is bull.

Ha ha ha, no.

I can get final fantasy 13 for 20 bucks... NOPE NICE TRY RPG MAKER LOSERS

@siconlolz : Honestly I consider this the better deal out of the two

I actually like the concept being a nice change of pace from the usual save the world story, but I smell something fishy.

I'd personally rather re-play Eternal Eyes or something than this.

Is this a joke? The production value consists of a pirated copy of RPG Maker.

Yeg I can glarl ork 89 goon 89 poggi bl e!

I... wut? Maybe they're setting it to 2015 because they want to make it look better? Hopefully? Either way Im not sold on this, because it looks so expected and cliched!

That translates to 2018 in the Wii-ware world (if ever)

Come on, guys, this is too obviously a joke. If you think people wouldn't purchase a domain name just to make a prank you must be new on the internet.

Not only are those the sprites that come with the RPG Maker, but the entire claim and story is too clearly a parody. I think they just are after the free publicity you're giving them, like that guy with the Youtube video the other time.