I tend not
to do this, as this is a team of two developers at once, and these guys are
pretty well known as far as indies are concerned...I mean, the titles of their
games are too insane to ignore, but...these guys are just brilliant. So insightful, so intelligent, and yet, still
humble. These are the models that every
wannabe JRPG developer, that every piece of RPG Maker shovelware who gets onto Steam,
should look up to. This...is Zeboyd.
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| Retro does not even begin to describe this company...and yet, still more modern than a lot of other JRPGs. |
Zeboyd
consists of Robert Boyd and William Stiernberg, with the duties for each neatly
divided down the middle. Boyd is the
programmer and handles most of the storytelling and gameplay aspects, while
Stiernberg is the artist, who creates characters, environments, and
effects. To me, it's amazing how well
this works. Neither side seems out of
the loop, which helps because it's only a team of two, but...they work so well
together to create such unique titles.
 |
| The men behind the company. |
Before we
get too in-depth with the praise, however, let's go on a little trip back in
time. It's 2009. Xbox Live Indie Games becomes available on
the Xbox Live Marketplace, but only reaches a...minimal audience. Robert Boyd decides to leave his day job and,
being skilled with programming languages and having a love of JRPG and visual
novel games, decides to try his hand at XBLIG.
He and Stiernberg's first title sold less than 1000 digital copies and
was a visual novel style game parodying science fiction tropes. It was called Epiphany in Spaaace! Despite the minimal sales, Zeboyd tried
again. This time, it released a game
called, Molly, the Were-Zombie. Also an
interactive novel game, it also sold less than 1000 copies. Apparently, this lack of success made Zeboyd
change their strategies just a bit.
 |
| Not exactly riveting stuff, but Epihphany in Spaaace! still maintains the trademark off humor of Zeboyd. |
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| Have I mentioned that Zeboyd loves their cameos? |
Zeboyd's
next title is one of the big ones it's known for. Breath of Death VII: The Beginning. This title is remarkable, and not just
because Breath of Death I-VI don't exist(even the title is a parody...). Breath of Death is built as a throwback to
old 8-bit RPGs with a somewhat animated intro mimicking what might have been
seen on the NES. It plays very much like
Dragon Quest and features as main characters, a skeleton warrior, a ghost
priest, a vampire mad scientist, and a zombie prince. This game takes place after the end of the
world where the undead have taken the place of humanity, built cities, and are
occasionally plagued by monsters. This
game is insane. It's rife with parody,
as the main character communicates via thought bubbles, since he is a skeleton
and has no tongue, but while the players can hear him, others take him as a
silent protagonist, and we are subjected to some clever humor lampooning the
notion. It plays very stiffly, but this
is by design, as it mimics the controls of Dragon Quest. However, Robert Boyd wasn't shackled by that
design mentality. Rather than making a
straight up copy of Dragon Quest, he thought of ways to improve the experience
for players. First, the experience is
relatively streamlined. The only real
items carried are potions, which one can use to revive a fallen comrade. Other than that, there are basic equipment
slots for everyone, though it usually consists of weapon and armor. However, it wasn't just made simpler. The game also had a number of improvements to
the old formula. There was a change to
leveling. When a character leveled up,
they got an option of what skills to learn, usually either strength based or
magic based, so players could pick and choose to build a balanced or specific
stat heavy character. Combo attacks were
added, where some characters can forfeit their turn to do a single, powerful
move to either heal or inflict tons of damage.
Enemies grew stronger as turns went by, encouraging encounters to be speedy,
lest the whole party get wiped out. Most
notable amongst the changes to the standard JRPG formula, however, was the
addition of the "Fight" option in the menu, eliminating the need to
look for random encounters AND the fact that the number of encounters in an
area was limited, and once that number was reached the only way to get more was
to use the "Fight" command. It
was a brilliant way to balance the grind of the JRPG with the fact that people
get tired of having to slog through weaker enemies if they need to back
track. Breath of Death sold 40,000
copies during its time on XBLIG and made enough money for the team to try
another game.
This opening...sooooo many warm fuzzy memories
Following
Breath of Death, Zeboyd made Cthulhu Saves the world. Yes, you read that right. Cthulhu.
Saves. The World. It's a game about the elder god from the Lovecraftian mythos, re-imagined as a
humorous RPG character. Why is he saving
the world? Well, because the only way to
regain his dark, evil, wicked power...is to become a true hero. I am not kidding at all. This game was closer to a 16-bit RPG and kept
many of the innovations that Breath of Death pioneered, including the leveling
systems, limited random encounters, and streamlined approach. The game stands out for it's humor, which is
genuinely funny, and the tributes paid to Lovecraft and the world he built. What's remarkable about the game is the
attention to detail paid in the art assets.
While characters aren't displayed on screen, attacks have more effects
to them and every single enemy in the game has two different sprites. One for normal and one for insane, since
turning enemies insane is part of the mechanics of the game. Stiernberg went out of his way to make
characters, even hideous monsters, lose their minds when turned insane. It's pretty amazing. Cthulhu Saves the World is a fitting sequel
to Breath of Death and was released with a bit more fanfare. A parody song was made for it and after its
release on Xbox Live, it was eventually bundled with Breath of Death for sale
before being released on Steam. This
bundle was immensely successful, selling well over 100,000 units only four
months after its subsequent release on Steam.
Yes, this is a real thing used to promote the game. Wow...
This was
how I was introduced to the game.
Zeboyd, however, has managed to do more than merely be successful by
mimicking old school JRPGs. They've
earned a huge amount of goodwill from fans like me. You see, all Zeboyd games are released at
extremely low prices. The Breath of
Death/Cthulhu bundle on Steam was released for $2.99 without any
discounts. And these games also have a
staggering amount of extra features, including new game+ modes and alternate
story modes, where Cthulhu is replaced by another character, with cameos from
some unexpected places. Cameos from
previous games are also a hallmark of Zeboyd, so players can always expect to
meet some old friends.
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| $2.99 or less. What's your excuse for not playing these games? |
So, after
flying high, releasing their games on Steam to huge success, and still being
humble, how does Zeboyd follow it up? By
being entrusted to finish up the Penny Arcade video games. Zeboyd created Penny Arcade: On the Rain
Slick Precipice of Darkness 3 and 4.
These games are...pure madness.
What's more amazing is that people need not have played the previous
games to enjoy them or even be a fan of Penny Arcade's comic. They are magic.
 |
| Never really been a PA fan, but alright, Zeboyd, show us what ya got. |
Zeboyd
decided to break up the formula as well as update the graphics on their game
engines. Penny Arcade 3 featured a class
system, with such classes as crabomancer, hobo, gardener, soothsayer, etc. It allowed players to mix and match up to two
classes, along with their own abilities for some truly unique combos. Players could summon the apocalypse, turn
into a T-rex, and summon a swarm of honey bees all in one turn. Speaking of turns, the game features an
active time battle system that is more akin to Final Fantasy 10 than any
other. Players can see when they are
coming up in the que and when the enemies are and, interestingly, can disrupt
enemy movements to alter the order.
Also, enemies can be seen on the map, so random encounters are not a
problem. The combat is fun, fast paced,
and allows for some bizarre ways to play the game. There are also bonus dungeons near the end of
the game and different filters to apply to the game, such as turning all the
characters into girls or furries. It's
pure insanity.
 |
| Yes, that's a T-rex and a skull in a jar fighting the Thinker. This game is crazy. |
For Penny
Arcade 4, the same battle system was used, though the class system was replaced
by a pokemon-esque system of raising companion monsters. The humor from all their previous titles are
intact, however there are some odd touches that add a bit of darkness to the
humor. More than that, the graphics for
this title are simply beautiful, with players visiting some of the most unusual
of places, such as a giant tree with a zoo inside it, the inside of a monstrous
train that is literally alive, with guts and everything, and a temple run by
different incarnations of the same guy.
Stiernberg really had some fun with this one. The game lacked some of the extras of
previous titles and the lack of random encounters made this and Penny Arcade 3
harder, since grinding was not an option, but on the whole, they were great games.
 |
| Yeah, have I mentioned these games are gorgeous yet? |
Ironically,
for all my praise of these games, I dragged my feet with playing them. For me, Zeboyd games are always good. Not necessarily great, but good. They are solid, innovative, wonderful...but
none of them have really captured my heart the way Chrono Trigger or Final
Fantasy 6 have. I've always enjoyed my
time with them, because they are fast, fun, and quirky, but...well, I suppose
it's unfair to compare a game built by two people to the best of Square in its
hey day.
Interestingly,
Zeboyd does not produce the music for their games in-house. They do not have a dedicated composer, so
they take to the interwebs and use music from indie musicians. What is perhaps more amazing is that all the
tunes work. They all fit the game and
the settings and are often quite beautiful.
Kudos for their choices.
Zeboyd
seems like it's here to stay. The only
cost for the team is their equipment and their own upkeep. With two developers, that's not terribly
much. And it allows them to continue
selling their titles for dirt cheap and getting more good will with the gaming
public. Of the few companies I trust for
quality, there are only 3 at present who I would buy any game from on release
day. Vanillaware, for making some of my
favorite games ever, Mistwalker, for creating spiritual successors to Final
Fantasy, many of which stand side by side with their older brethren...and
Zeboyd. Zeboyd games may not move me
like Mistwalker games, but...they are always, ALWAYS good. Always worth my time. And always dirt cheap. Zeboyd is a product of good will and
effort. They have earned my trust.
 |
| Zeboyd may not be Last Story good, but they are still damned impressive. Hell, almost NO ONE is Last Story good... |
What does
the future hold for Zeboyd? Well, they
recently went to Kickstarter to fund a sci-fi Phantasy Star-esque space RPG,
which looks to have sprites and graphics very close to those of Chrono Trigger. Perhaps they are going to try and butt heads
with giants. All I know is that I helped
fund it and that they're working, even as this post goes up, to get it ready. Be on the lookout for Cosmic Star Heroine.
 |
| You can't tell me that doesn't look sweet. |
Zeboyd also
announced their next sequel, Untamed Armaments!
On April 1...so, yeah, no.
However, that does lead me to one of my closing discussions about
them. Both Boyd and Stiernberg manage
their home website, as each is co-owner of Zeboyd, and their discussions on the
industry are insightful and amusing.
Even when not making games, these two are willing to offer gorgeous art
and common sense on the madness that is the games industry. For example, with Phil Fish's retirement,
they discussed the nature of being in the public eye and, without pointing
fingers or making anyone feel bad, kind of agreed that it's better for everyone
to just be nice(Everyone. Not just
developers. Journalists, reviewers,
fans, EVERYONE.)...which may sound childish or simple, but the way they put it
was simply amazing. Also, there used to
be a kickstarter report, where Robert Boyd would give thoughts on certain,
special kickstarters that he thought were worthy of attention. I rather miss it, as it helped me find some
amazing projects to fund.
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| Not sure what's sadder...that Zeboyd actually made me think, for a while, that they were making this game...or that I know and own the game this title is lampooning. |
Zeboyd is
the whole package. Insightful, mature,
intelligent, and yet still humble. They
do not ask for a fortune for their games, but instead want others to be able to
play them. They treat the RPG genre with
respect, while still modernizing it in ways that will please rather than enrage
fans. And they do it with only a
shoestring budget and two developers.
I'm including the links for the Breath of Death/Cthulhu bundle as well
as Penny Arcade 3 and 4 here, because you SHOULD buy them and play them. They are dirt cheap guys...c'mon...we can
find like 3 bucks in our couch cushions...
Also, this is the link to the main website. Zeboyd is a great place to look for insight
on the industry as well as updates on their games. Give them a look.
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