The Singing Scar
A downloadable game for Windows
An 20-hour RPG, where a grand cosmic horror looms over the multiverse.
EXPERIMENTAL PUZZLE-STYLE DESIGN
• All bosses have "puzzling moments" constructed with RPG mechanics. They might gain 100% permanent evasion, reflect all direct attacks, or will cast a spell that wipes your party with 100% certainty. How do you beat them?
• The story is intentionally written to be convoluted. At every point in the journey, you have to piece together what's going on.
• Combat is anything but typical, with odd weapons and weird abilities added throughout the adventure. Become a mindless puppet, turn into a bloodthirsty god, and revive fallen members only to have them die a few turns later. Why would you ever use this?
STRANGE CHARACTERS
• Only when you're about to suffer defeat, play a music box to transform Jozz into a fallen god. Time it right, and you get a glorious comeback victory.
• Musoo is a massive giant who equips other party members instead of weapons.
• Micra has no body, and is an ethereal being encased in a crystal. Throw her between party members to heal and gain spells.
• Omnicron is a powerful robot you can summon into battle, but requires constant refueling.
• At 100% chance, Eve puts enemies to sleep with each and every physical attack, including bosses. Find creative ways to use this to your advantage.
• Finn is a warrior-mechanic who transmutes monsters into resources, if he is able to land the last hit.
• Lilli... well, Lilli is completely useless. She runs away from battle if hurt enough. How could you make her useful?
UNIQUE BATTLE SYSTEM
• Enemies become enraged and more dangerous with each hit they take, and so do your characters. Attack blindly at your own risk.
• Before each and every strike, choose from your entire inventory of weapons, each of which has a unique role.
• Pay close attention to the ever-changing tide of battle, as most attacks inflict one of over 100 status effects.
• New weapons unlock more choices, instead of granting more power. Evolve your strategy as battles become increasingly complicated.
QUALITY OF LIFE
• Autosave & Save anywhere - A small mercy for a difficult game.
• No Random Encounters
• No Grinding Needed - With good strategy, the whole game can be beaten with almost no leveling.
SYNOPSIS
The three have finally caught up to the source of all destruction - an ancient, living weapon known as Agatharos. Hovering above in their gunship, preparing to dive headlong to intercept their foe, they never realized their mistake. For years, they've been chasing the wrong target, and their final battle is about to become anything but.
Unfazed by the greater universe that gradually unfolded, they press on. Dragging with them, memories, wounds and promises. Will they catch up to the past, before their pasts lead them to ruin? Will they make any meaningful dent, in the cold, vast and uncaring abyss, where unfathomable primordial entities rule over time itself?
A WINDING STORY OF UNENDING APOCALYPSE
• Unravel the remnants of many destroyed worlds, once full of life - now devastated.
• Struggle to understand the characters as they were, as they are, and as they shall become. Witness their transformations, their many selves, and their ultimate fates.
• Revisit people & places with different characters to unlock hidden scenes & items.
• Explore the meaninglessness of existence in the face of the unyielding cycle.
• Encounter a deeply complex cosmology of beings and dimensions that transcend mortal understanding.
MISCELLANEOUS
• 20 Hours of Story-driven Gameplay
• Full of Banter & Dialogue Between Characters
• Hours of Complex Cutscene Sequences
• 200 Skill Effects
• 130 Status Effects
• 150 Custom Animation Effects
• 80 Enemies
• Several Remixed Monster Art (2018 version)
LEGACY
This is the sequel to Abyss of Vinsaga: Aquamoon Pandora for PSX RPG Maker. Released in 2003, it received 9.75/10 from RPG Maker Magazine and was nominated for RPG Maker Pavilion's Best PSX RPG Maker Games of All Time. Back in simpler times, it was known for its custom battle systems, made entirely with the eventing system.
ABOUT 2023 REMASTER
• All character faces and enemies have been replaced new art and no longer uses stock assets. I had trouble updating the old project, so some character sprites might look different from their portraits. If that sort of thing bothers you, please try the 2018 version instead.
KNOWN ISSUES
• Does not support high refresh rate monitors.
• A broken statue in the desert tomb of Escaria might bug out. You're not supposed to attack it at all. Leave it alone, and it will crumble into dust.
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Epilogue - The Singing ScarNov 01, 2023
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
How many endings? I got one, but I'm bothered about there being locations on the map that I couldn't get to, and at least one place that needed a key item I was never able to find. Is there a walkthrough?
I have a love-hate relationship with how almost every single boss battle has a gimmick. On the one hand, I like that it gives a very different feel to most RPGs in that you have to learn the trick to it and can't just overlevel and steamroll, but on the other hand, you can't just overlevel and steamroll. Real frustrating when you can't figure out the trick for the life of you when you're really just here because the epilogue baited you with a good story.
Not that the story wasn't engaging, mind you. It's a rare game that keeps me interested enough to finish, and this one did. There's a lot that's not said directly and I'm fairly certain most of the tidbits we needed to piece together flew right over my head, but one thing that made me smile was how it's revealed one of your party members might be a parent. Or it might be a typo, but I sure was grinning for a while after I read it.
Also, took me a while to notice that Jozz might a corruption of Dios, which means "god" in more than one language... and was so glad it took so long because the cringe almost made me put down the game. Very in line with how the locals butcher a couple of other characters' names though. Take your upvote, goddammit.
I played the run with a rule that only the owner of the music box could use it. Felt like it made using it more meaningful, like it was a deliberate choice on that person's part to endure it because it was necessary, instead of someone else forcing it on.
Then I flubbed the timing for the box on the very last battle where it was hinted that I use it. That was the one battle in the game that I cleared with the standard RPG strategy of use your strongest moves and spam items. I had mixed feelings about that, so I redid it, and it was nice to see that the scene afterwards changed slightly depending on whether you pulled off using the box correctly or not.
I also noticed there's a short dialogue that plays every time you end a battle after fulfilling the music box's requirements. There's this one boss that you're supposed to survive a party wipe to, and that dialogue is so jarring when it's what opens up the next scene. So, if anyone wants to skip the box for that one, you can use the damage halving magic and then have one or two characters defend, and they'll survive the party wipe so you can revive someone else on the next turn.
I obviously missed a lot on my first run, so I'll be poking at the game for a bit longer to see if I can figure out how to unlock more stuff. Apparently you can get a helicopter? How?
And, is this the right link for the prequel game? Is it really just 180 KB? How do you run it?
https://www.rpgmmag.com/rmvault/rm/games/2/abyss-of-vinsaga-aquamoon-pandora
Thanks for the great feedback!
Are you sure you’ve beaten the game? That doesn’t sound like the very last battle. The last chapter plays after the credits roll. Did you get to play as Seal’s gunslinger form?
There is a fake-out ending and a true “post-game” ending.
There is no walkthrough, and plenty of secrets. The robot dog can be revived and brought to a foster home, which unlocks an item later on. The sealed chest in the desert world can be opened once you get Micra’s second form. Lilli even has an “ultimate” weapon. And did you ever bring Eve to visit her friend’s grave?
You can’t get the helicopter.
I saw the Fin screen that faded into the title screen. The last fight I did was the one with the gimmicky bomb.
Speaking of Seal's gunslinger form, I thought it was clever that the class name references both guns and Seal's character. That was a nice touch, and I didn't catch it until I actually saw the gunslinger form.
I fixed the dog, it did give me an item, but I can't figure out where to use it. I think I did bring Eve to the grave on the skyway previously, since I'm not getting anything special from visiting it now. I kind of wanted more scenes with Talli too, since I never heard from (that) him again after he ran off from there forever ago. Or are you talking about a different grave? I think I got Lilli's ultimate weapon though, if it's a book from Vinsaga. And I completely forgot about that sealed chest! Better bring Micra to it before I forget.
Too bad about the helicopter, though. Are the towns and locations past the broken skyway and the mountains just inaccessible, then?
Well, before I go poke the game again, let me just echo the other poster that the music is great. I'm not a connoisseur or anything, but I think the tracks set the mood well and never got oId. I especially like how the music for the giant battles really made it feel like I was fighting Godzilla. Which I was, technically, but epic music makes it so much better.
Also, I haven't played the previous version with the stock assets , but in my opinion, going with AI art worked pretty well. It looks great, and that's from someone who's going through itch's free games list specifically looking for pretty games.
...I kind of don't even want to look at the original now, it might spoil the memory of the remaster, haha.
Just wanted to say that it was a great game. I've finished the story, but in a way, it has just started...
My first impression is the battle music. It was catchy enough that playing it in hundreds of battles never bored me. Boss musics were also incredibly climactic.
The first boss was quite challenging, but little did I know there was a lot more in store. Many boss-specific gimmicks are so satisfying once I figured it out. The enrage mechanic blended incredibly well with the battle system.
The fight that was supposed to be what the characters were chasing after as an end goal... I thought that that would be the final battle, but it turns out that true to the synopsis, "they've been chasing the wrong target, and their final battle is about to become anything but". After that, it turns out the worlds now open up and there are much to be explored.
The designed items are incredibly well-suited for battles; the item that basically shortened the first phase of the first boss against an inevitable death actually had uses in similar ways much later. I had to learn the ways I can take advantage of any loots I picked up. (But then in the very last part, it turned out the very loot that must always be examined contains something... special.)
It was a great place to spend time in, thanks for the feast!
Thank you! Having a few people really enjoy the game means so much to me!
I spent total of 24 hr of gameplay to finish this game and it is amazing. However, some of the story lores are confusing. The ending is great. The combat is interesting. It took a while to find the password for the door.
Anyway, great game.
Hi
The game is not opening for some reason on Mac.
I am not sure if the error is "cannot find actors/json" when I open the index.html (because you're not supposed to do that LOL) but when I click the game.app nothing happens. All I see is a black screen. That's the only thing I can add to the issue.
hello.
get back to me.
hello.
where do i go afer the town with the plants.
You need to have Omnicron (the robot) rejoin you (if you didn't find him yet, he's in the sewers of the half-sunken town), then take him to the crater ruins to the East. Look around there.
hello.
what does he do there i looked around there.
Hi.
I would like to include your game to my site/app.
Please contact me at bacsojin.1102@gmail.com
We could discuss more about this.
Hey dude I have made a little YouTube First Impressions Video if you want to check it out sometime. : )
---Spoilers and Bad Language are in the Video---
(Please feel free to move or delete)
Hey man, thanks a lot for the video! Really appreciate it. I enjoyed watching your antics. :)
Although, earlier in the video, you said "I don't need this tutorial!" Not long after that, "I have no idea what's going on!" Erm, well... (>_>);;
In case you want to keep going, you're not expected to grind. At the boss you're stuck at, you're told to use a certain item at the right time (hint hint). Something cool might happen. ;)
Anyway, thanks again.
Haha, I'm glad you enjoyed watching it, I had fun playing it. xD
I should have looked at the tutorial more absolutely 100% my fault lol
I was thinking I missed something important when I was fighting the boss battles...
Hope there was a bit of feedback or something you can use from the vid, I will defiantly be following this game for sure!