RPG Maker MV has been delayed a bit outside of Japan, but people in Japan have already been able to pick up the software and start making some games. Which means people worldwide who want to sample what it has to offer can turn to the RPG Maker MV Player, which is free, and can start looking through what has already been uploaded. It is already available in English and is easy enough to acquire, though getting started might be a bit daunting.
Getting RPG Maker MV Player on the Nintendo Switch is easy enough. All someone needs to do is make a Japanese account, then head to the official Nintendo eShop listing to grab it. It is completely free and has an English language option. Once it is on your system, you can start browsing by top uploads and genre to see what there might be to play.
Now, browsing might not be a cakewalk. The RPG Maker MV Player has some quirks, just like the full software does. There will very likely be connection issues when trying to view the games currently available. You might be able to get to a listing, but then experience a series of failed download attempts. (Completely exiting the free app and restarting can sometimes make it possible to then get a better connection. Sometimes.) A game that has been downloaded might not load and require a redownload to actually be played.
If you can manage to get things going, there are actually a few games available via the RPG Maker MV Player archives worth testing out. Many of the titles out there are RPGs that are in-progress, which means now is not the best time to jump in. However there are two Japanese games that can be enjoyed even if you can’t read the language and one in-progress English-language game has been released.
The first game people might want to try is 二度踏み厳禁! DX by Suiran, which loosely translates to Two Steps Prohibited! DX. In this puzzle game, you are faced with puzzles where you have to step on each tile once to change the color. All tiles have to be walked on once to open the door to the next room. If you step on a tile twice, you lose a life. If you lose all five lives, that’s it.
The next game that is easy to pick up and play is 早撃ち王への道 by Aioi Soft. You could call it Road to the Quick Draw King, if you like. In this game, you follow a gunslinger who has come to a bar to duel against opponents. It calls to mind the Quick Draw minigames from Kirby’s Adventure and other installments, as you have audio and visual cues letting you know when to press the A button to shoot your opponent.
Finally, there is the English language game Project: Summer Ice – Collect the Keys from play.ExecuteCode.com. It is very easy to find, because… well… it is the only game that shows up if you change from Japanese to English in the Ranking. This is an in-progress visual novel that has one maze where you have to head through to collect a key. Players can choose between Yet and Hanna, a couple out on a date, but it currently lasts about 10 minutes and ends on a cliffhanger. It needs a lot of work, as it is mainly a trial and proof of concept title at the moment, but is unique in that it is the only English project available right now.
RPG Maker MV and RPG Maker MV Player are both immediately available on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in Japan. The program will be coming to the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in other regions in 2019. NIS America is hosting a 2019 showcase on March 11, 2019, and more information could appear regarding its worldwide release then.
