In Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising... something about those balloon reactions popping above the characters’ heads unlocked many memories for me. Memories of being fourteen years old, tinkering with RPG Maker 2003, and of being wide-eyed and dreaming big with the release of RPG Maker XP. I remembered making ugly sprites in a program called GraphicsGale, and falling in love with Suikoden II’s spritesheets way before playing the game itself.

I think I’ll give RPG Maker MZ a closer look.