Onyx

I have a soft spot for RPG Maker games that commit to a full-length story instead of folding after six hours, so I wanted Onyx to work. Valkyria Games built something that clearly has ambition behind it: a 30-to-40-hour journey following Rowan, a sharp-tongued, self-contained witch whose most prized possession - a ring left by her late mother - gets stolen by a group called the Nimrod Brotherhood. What starts as a very personal revenge errand gradually opens into something larger, with hidden truths about the ring itself pulling the plot forward. That structural instinct, personal stakes widening into world-level consequences, is actually the best thing about the writing. Rowan herself is the game's most polarizing feature, and I respect that. She is blunt, frequently sarcastic, and not interested in performing warmth for the player's comfort. For people accustomed to plucky RPG heroes, she will feel abrasive. For those who find abrasive protagonists genuinely interesting to spend time with, she has a specific, stubborn appeal. The party that assembles around her is more uneven - some members land, others feel like rough sketches - and the character writing in supporting scenes rarely matches what Rowan herself projects. The humor sprinkled throughout works better than it has any right to, though. It is clearly intentional, and some of the lighter moments breathe well against the heavier plot beats. On the mechanical side, Onyx offers side-view battles with fully visible monster encounters, three difficulty modes, and 51 secret rooms scattered through the world for anyone willing to poke at every wall. The visible-encounter design is a genuine quality-of-life call that I appreciate - no random grinding unless you choose it. The battles themselves follow the familiar RPG Maker template without reinventing it, which is fine, but the map design is where the game stumbles hardest. Some areas feel genuinely confusing to traverse, lacking the internal logic that makes exploration feel rewarding rather than directionless. A separately sold strategy guide exists for a reason, and that reason is the maps. The artwork comes from the same team behind Moonchild and Opaline, and it shows - character illustrations carry craft and personality that the tilesets alone cannot always sustain. Characters are renameable, which is a small touch that longtime fans of this style of RPG will appreciate. Steam cloud saves and partial controller support round out the practical features. With a mixed reception sitting just above the halfway mark across a modest review count, Onyx is a game that has found its defenders and its critics in roughly equal measure. The defenders tend to be people who already love this kind of methodical, old-school RPG pacing. The critics tend to be everyone else.

Kai · Scout Team

Indie & narrative

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