RPG Maker - PlayStation

With RPG Maker for the PlayStation, would-be game designers can finally create their own digital world. All you need is a PlayStation, a little imagination, a lot of time, and you can create your own Final Fantasy, Ogre Battle, or Dragon Warrior adventure--sort of. It takes teams of 50 to 100 people two to three years to design and create the RPGs that we play today. If you think you've got the patience to do it on your own, then this game (or should we say set of tools) has a lot to offer.

Write, design, and control everything from the story line to dungeon designs, to organizing and constructing the towns in your game. You can even choose item locations, weapons, and enemy hit-point totals. Such standard, modern-day RPG elements are all at your disposal here. For those who really want to go for all the gusto, you can design and animate your own characters from scratch! The animation quality doesn't approach a Disney level, but at least the option is there.

This isn't a plug-and-play type of title; it will take you quite some time just to figure out where you want to start. If you don't have the patience to play a traditional RPG to the finish, then you might want to pass on RPG Maker. For everyone else, there's no better place to start! --Todd Mowatt

Pros: Players can create their own role-playing adventure from scratch Players can design and animate their own characters Cons: Requires huge time commitment and lots of patience