RPG Maker FES Player

Genre: Compilation / RPG / Misc.

Players: 1

.

Review:

When RPG Maker FES released on Nintendo 3DS in 2017, it came alongside this free-to-play Application, RPG Maker FES Player, which would allow even those who didn’t go in on a purchase of RPG Maker FES to still play the games created and shared within that Application.

For fans of old-school RPGs on the Nintendo 3DS, this represents a huge wealth of games for players to play, though as I write this in 2023 there is a major caveat to this, as this game will soon be losing nearly all of its functionality.

With the Nintendo 3DS eShop closing on March 27, 2023, NIS America has followed suit in announcing that the online servers for this game will be shut down soon after, on March 31, 2023. This means that those interested in using this Application to download others’ creations will need to do so quickly, as the time draws very near where you will no longer be able to do this (though after that time, you’ll be able to replay the downloaded content you’ve previously grabbed whenever you like).

However, that’s not to say that players shouldn’t even bother. Quite the contrary – the fact that the games featured on this software were expressly created with and for RPG Maker FES means that they aren’t available anywhere else, and after the eShop closes and the RPG Maker FES servers are shut down, they won’t be available anywhere.

So exactly what is on offer here? As with any user-generated offerings on an RPG Maker game, there’s a pretty disparate selection here, with a mix of well-made and poorly-made Turn-Based RPGs (usually fairly short in length), along with some simple Visual Novel and Graphic Adventure games, and a few oddball games that find creative ways to make entirely different kinds of games – one creator made a working version of the Puzzle game Minesweeper, and another created a quirky Arcade-style Thief game.

Suffice it to say, you’re not likely to find anything even approaching the level of even decades-old greats of the RPG genre, but there are still some fun and interesting experiences to be had here all the same. Players can peruse these creations through a system that sorts based on a number of criteria, including user ratings, though of course your mileage may vary. These games all make use of pixel art 2D visuals with a pretty good synthesized soundtrack, though of course how these elements are used will vary from game to game.

In short, I think that if you own a Nintendo 3DS and you even slightly enjoy RPGs, you should probably get RPG Maker FES Player, since it’s absolutely free and some of the offerings on here are at least interesting. However, don’t get your hopes too high, and be prepared to be locked out of all of the online offerings starting on March 31, 2023. After that point, you’ll only have access to the games you’ve already downloaded.

tl;dr – RPG Maker FES Player is a free-to-play Compilation of RPGs and other loosely-associated games made on RPG Maker FES. While none of these games are quite on par with the greats of the genre, there are nevertheless some worthwhile games to download and play using this software. However, be aware that the window to do so is quickly closing – after March 31, 2023, the servers for this game will be shut down, and at that point you’ll only be able to play the games you have previously downloaded. Be sure to grab up what you want before then!

Grade: C

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Ben, Andy Miller, Exlene, Homer Simpin, Johannes, Talissa, Eli Goodman, Gabriel Coronado-Medina, Ilya Zverev, Kristoffer Wulff, and Seth Christenfeld. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}