Forgotten Beginnings: A New Afterlife (AppID: 3866660)

This game is free to download, with the option to support me by purchasing the OST and/or the strategy guide.  You are welcome to download it for free and come back later to buy an extra if you decide to.  No ads, no data collection, just free with the option of buying something, if you decide you liked it enough to support me!

I wanted to have my own music in a game, so decided to make my own game.  This is the full version of a prologue/demo I released in early 2025. It was made in RPG Maker MZ.

Essentially, this is a 1980s NES styled RPG, with some modern quality of life to make it more accessible. It does still have some 1980s NES RPG RNG that will cause game overs at times, as part of the design. It has turn-based combat, challenging boss encounters (where you can get RNG screwed just like the old days!), and it has been designed to have a minimal amount of grinding (maybe 20 minutes total intentional grinding on the 2nd fastest game speed). You control a party of four with different skillsets, enemies have weaknesses you can exploit for max damage, some enemies will even reflect your spells back at you!

The soundtrack uses the free NES VST plugin for instruments, so it is authentic to NES in that sense. However, it uses a seperate plugin for vibrato to give it a unique sound - this plugin is not NES authentic. Also, while the visual art pack I bought was NES authentic, I occasionally made changes that were not NES authentic because I didn't like the limitations it sometimes imposed (ie. map sprite coloring being a mismatch with combat sprite coloring). The drums were made using Tweakbench Toad, which is NES authentic. While I did want the game to be like NES, ultimately I wanted to try doing something a little different to set it apart.

As far as story goes, it is hard to say much without spoiling the game, as most information isn't revealed until late in the game... but essentially, the game starts off with your party hearing a strange voice, and coming to life in a strange new world that is full of conflict.

My playthrough was ~4.5 hours long on the "faster" game speed setting, with animations turned on.  This time also does not count time spent in battles that result in defeat and require a reload, so depending on your game speed + how many reloads you need, it may be shorter or it may be longer. As far as replability goes, it would just be if you want to play it again, there is currently no new game +, or any other game modes. It was intended to be a bite-sized NES RPG experience. I hope that's what it's perceived as!

If you enjoy the game and want to support me, consider buying the OST! There is also a strategy guide, there is a sample included in the game install directory as "strategy guide SAMPLE.txt" so you have an idea of how it's laid out.