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   A Home Far Away is a full game designed in RPG Maker 2003 by Strangeluv. This was his attempt to make a game that did not involve saving the world or involving any mission of any grand scheme but to tell a simple story.

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Once Upon a Time, There Lived a Spiky Haired Boy...

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   Put away your heroes trying to save the world from dark overlords, evil towers and mysterious conspiracies by the secret cult of the Magi of the Seven Orbs. A Home Far Away is simply a light-hearted story about a brother and sister getting lost and trying to find their way back home. While a great deal of the game is concentrated on story, Strangeluv steers from making a pantheon of cutscenes and being too didactic.

   The story is divided into two sections, or chapters. The first chapter deals with the brother and sister getting lost. The second chapter deals with them getting back home. What makes this game stand-out is the second chapter,  in which the bulk of the story encompasses a singular town called Willow, minigame-oriented levels and a core system of quests and tasks. Players may find the game slow at the start but it definitely picks up once the story stops walking and starts sprinting.

   The first chapter is the section Strangeluv claims is the more battle-oriented block of the game. The first section begins with a boy, Danais, and his older sister, Farrah, as they go about preparing for a birthday party in their village. As Danais scurries about doing oddjobs for the villagers, a thief, named Skarsgaard, peers on from a hill. His intention is to bring back his clan that night to raid the people's houses while they attend the birthday party. When Danais goes to the store and buys his present (it's a pink bunny plush), it is not long before Skarsgaard bumps into him and snatches it from him. A chase ensues and it leads them both right off a cliff and into a gorge. Farrah sees that her brother is missing and leaves the village to find him.

   Captain Grizzlybeard's legacy is one that no other pirate can rival. He has sailed the seven seas, scoured the earth's treasures and harpooned a giant sea serpent called Riverson. But now he is having a mid-life crisis. He is unmarried and claims the only woman he loves is his ship, The Mighty Matey. He spends his time in a pub, reminiscing about his youth and realizes that when he dies, he will have no child to pass his legacy on to. Until he spots Danais, who he claims is 'the spittin' image of me lan'lubber days'. His crew captures Danais and carries him aboard the new pirate ship to train him to be the next captain. Farrah follows aboard.

   They are eventually dumped on a new continent. This is where the second chapter of the game begins, the block in which battles are minimal and is mostly story and strategy-driven. It revolves around a town called Willow and its residents, and its children has gone missing. Since the entire town is preoccupied, no one is willing to help Danais and Farrah find their way back home. The Mayor slumps on his desk with a migraine and says he cannot do anything until everyone in the town is satisfied. Danais and Farrah both agree to help the Mayor satisfy their requests. He hands them a log with tasks to do. These include helping a band get their music sheets back, moving a boulder that has been blocking a hike trail, chasing a barfly away from the tavern, helping a drunk man sober up and get a job and cheering up a very sad clown. This part of the game, though it traces along a faint set path, is non-linear, as the player can choose what to do when he wants.

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Chips and Dip

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   While the graphics are mostly rips from Suidoken and Rudras Treasure, A Home Far Away still manages to create a bright detailed world. The character sets are taken from the RPG Maker RTP of the PSX. The soundtrack the game uses is mostly cheery and upbeat and doesn't consist of overused Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy tracks. Some tracks were originally composed by C.S. Vallero (Guinness on the forums). My main criticism comes from the graphics during the battles, which include the blurry backdrops and the choppy battlers. The rest of the graphics in the game are above the bar but nothing spectacular.

   However, the design for A Home Far Away's world is vivid and more animated than most other RPG Maker games. In the second chapter, instead of having many towns, he limited his game to one so he could fill it with as much personality as possible. People's activities in the town revolve around a day/night system. In the day, birds sing, the town square is bustling with vendors and the stores open for business. In the night, fireflies flicker, crickets chirp, dogs howl, owls hoot over the faint echo of the ragtime music from the tavern in the square. The town seems desolate except for a group of vagrants gathered around an old cauldron but this is your chance to talk to people who are too busy to converse during the day. It is important for the player to keep track of these schedules if they want to solve the problems the town has.



   Though you play as Danais and Farrah, the most memorable personalities in the game come from the string of characters they encounter and have to interact with. Many of these characters talk in different dialects and provide comic relief, such as the brash but emotional Captain Grizzlybeard, the uninspired poet, the antisocial monkey-loving shaman, the fast-talking constantly burgled merchant and a little painting penguin named Penguincasso. These characters serve more purpose than the usual quirky NPC in RPG Maker games and serve as beacons to move the story forward. In this game, almost all of the characters play a role in advancing the story.

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Wheels and Cogs

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   Gameplay itself is nicely varied. Though it is not limited to battles, battles work at a fast pace and it takes a certain amount of strategy to get through them, especially the boss battles, which each have their own gimmick and individual method of overcoming. However, the difficulty overall of the normal battles was slightly below average and players accustomed to the RPG genre would not find themselves grinding to defeat bosses. The implementation of a 'Charge' system (in which the players can charge their weapons once and twice to deal out extra damage to the enemy party) makes the battles progress smoother. The enemies appear on-screen so those who dislike random battles would not have to worry. However, more could have been done than just having the enemies wander around.

   An odd thing is that the game sticks you with the same armor and weapons through its entirety. No shopkeeper will sell you, as a pair of kids, any weapons or armor and there is no way to upgrade either and many RPG folk may not take this lightly as there is very little room for customization. Gameplay bugs are minimal and mostly minor but could prove to be a nuisance to those who come across them.



   However, due to Strangeluv disliking games that rely on just battles, he decided to flesh out the game with numerous mini-games as well. They include:





   ...as well as many more. However, some of the mini-game oriented levels in the game would end with a "Game Over" if the player's health bar was reduced to zero and this proved to be very frustrating. This could have been alleviated if the player was just teleported to the beginning of the level. This would have cut the frustration in half. Also, it felt like some of the mini-games were too difficult, such as "Bayou Mushroom Bump", where the player had jump from mushroom to mushroom while dodging moths as they zig-zagged and circled along the path.

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Last Words

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   People not interested in the RPG genre may not enjoy this game because the dynamics of an RPG and even though battling is secondary to the story, they still come in numbers that will take away the fun value for them. The core system of quests and mini-games is definitely the strongest point of the game and Strangeluv could have concentrated more on that to make the game even better.

   People interested in the RPG genre may find the game slow or odd because of its simple storyline that doesn't involve saving the world or some sort of greater scheme. However, for RPG lovers, the game is definitely worth picking up and those who play it will most likely feel rewarded, even though it ranks unconventional to RPG Maker standards in both story and gameplay.


Trailer 1

Trailer 2

Full Game Download (26MB) (includes a walkthrough/hint guide!)

Download Link 2 (No RTP needed)


Don't have RPG Maker 2003 installed on your computer? No sweat!

1. Open the file RPG_RT.ini in Notepad.

2. Type in the following under the 'MapEditZoom' line, type "FullPackageFlag=1" (without the ")

3. Run the game now!

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Credit goes to Strangeluv, TFT, and Neophyte, who wrote this article, I am merely posting it under their permission.