Developer: Kadokawa Corporation, Enterbrain
Publisher: NIS America
Platform: Switch, PS4, PS5
Tested on: Switch
RPG Maker WITH – Review
Ah, RPG Maker, we meet again. Four years ago, we gave the series’ first entry on the Switch a try with RPG Maker MV. Although the Switch’s successor is supposedly on the horizon, NIS decided to grace the aging hybrid handheld with another RPG Maker title. Perhaps surprisingly, this latest entry, RPG Maker WITH, is currently exclusive to Nintendo’s platform, although PlayStation versions are on the horizon. We felt that RPG Maker MV was more suited for PC than it was for consoles, so we were curious about a console-exclusive entry. Is RPG Maker WITH a better and more accessible tool than its predecessor? Let’s find out.
We want to preface our review of RPG Maker WITH by emphasizing just how powerful of a toolkit this kind of program can be in the right hands. Look no further than 8-Bit Adventures 2, which was made entirely in RPG Maker MV. That said, it’s also important to keep in mind that you’re still required to put in a lot of hard work in order to create a fantastic RPG. We have no doubt that this latest iteration of the tool allows skilled programmers to push things to the next level. For newcomers, however, RPG Maker WITH is an absolute nightmare, simply because there are no tutorials or explanations built into the tool whatsoever this time around. RPG Maker WITH throws you off the deep end and expects you to be able to swim. If you have prior experience with the series, this shouldn’t be an issue, as RPG Maker WITH simply expands on what was included in previous entries. If you’re completely new to making bespoke RPGs, be prepared to do a lot of outside-of-the-tool reading.
Granted, you can go into the game’s so-called Maker Plaza and download a tutorial-of-sorts, but this isn’t something RPG Maker WITH tells you to do. Instead, you’ll actively have to enter Maker Plaza, look for the top downloaded games of all time, and accidentally stumble upon the tutorial. Once you download and play the tutorial, it just lets you wander around and interact with things. When you do so, the most basic text blurb gives you an indication of the kind of programming that went into it, but there are no step-by-step instructions. Now, the general idea behind RPG Maker WITH is hidden in plain sight in the game’s title: the WITH hints at working together with other makers in order to create the RPG of your dreams. You can download not just the full-fledged creations of others to try out for yourself, but you can also search for specific assets uploaded by community members and then put them in your own games. After all, why would you go through the effort of creating and programming an in-game inn, if you can simply grab one off of Maker Plaza?
You can save up to 16 games from the community. Unlike with RPG Maker MV, there is no free separate download here where you can grab community-created games and just play them, even if you don’t own the tool itself. Instead, downloading and playing games is all handled through RPG Maker WITH’s in-game interface. We’ve had a quick look around what Maker Plaza had to offer, but it is currently still early days in the tool’s lifespan. The top downloaded games are the aforementioned tutorial-of-sorts and a sample RPG made by the RPG Maker MV development team. Other currently popular entries included a game with lengthy, error-ridden, and foul language-fulled dialogue as well as a very basic attempt at recreating the first generation of Pokémon. This leads us to believe that there are currently no real quality control or copyright checks implemented. Developing a good RPG takes time of course, and there is no doubt in our mind that eventually, the best creations will undoubtedly rise to the top, but as it stands, the offerings of RPG Maker WITH’s Maker Plaza mainly comprised short, unfinished projects.
This wouldn’t be as much of an issue if there was more focus on helping newbies understand the possibilities of RPG Maker WITH. As it stands, the approach of looking at what experienced creators can do and then copying it seems counterintuitive. The core tool itself didn’t seem to have changed a whole lot compared to RPG Maker MV, but given that several years have passed since we touched that, we did feel utterly lost. It doesn’t help that navigating the menus with a Joy-Con is a bit of a struggle. Just like the previous entry, it’s clear that mouse and keyboard are the way to go here. We should also add that although there is a wide range of tiles and sprites present in RPG Maker WITH’s toolbox, there are additional asset packs that can be bought as paid DLC, and we expect more to become available in the future. The current range includes assets from previous RPG Maker entries, like RPG Maker DS. Picking up every available paid asset in a bundle will set you back €139.99. Given that the tool itself already costs €49.99, that DLC bundle price seems excessive. Nonetheless, given how much there is to learn here, you’ll have gotten your money’s worth by the time you start to feel limited by what’s included in the base entry.
Conclusion
The main selling point of RPG Maker WITH is that you’ll be able to share your self-created assets with the community and download those of others through Maker Plaza. While this does bode well in the long run, we’re not sure there is enough here to upgrade from RPG Maker MV. If you have no prior experience with the series, it’s also important to keep in mind that RPG Maker WITH expects you to figure everything out for yourself. In the long run, as more projects and pre-programmed assets become available through experienced community members, we expect RPG Maker WITH to come into its own, but in its current state, it’s a hard sell.
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