Curate of Curiosities

I'm sure that some of you are familiar with Earthbound, the 90's RPG that's best known for a) its main character being playable in Smash Bros., and b) spawning a wave of indie imitators of varying degrees of quality. Whenever you come across an indie game that sells itself as being "inspired by Earthbound," there's a chance that you'll get a Lisa or a Space Funeral, something memorable and unique, but at the same time, there's a chance that you'll end up with something like YIIK, a needlessly drawn out parade of poor game design and embarrassing storytelling.

No doubt some of you have thought, what if Earthbound leaned all the way into the eldritch horror elements rather than saving it for the very end?

This game is developed by Sapphire Dream, formerly known as Unity, (no relation to the game engine), who, judging by her itch.io page, seems to like making RPGs about lesbians. Not only is this her only free game, but it's suspiciously short on lesbians and long on cosmic horror.

I found out about this game on Twitter. Specifically through a post by Kasey Ozymy, creator of fellow quirky Earthbound-inspired indie RPG Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass, where he recommended this game that he, incidentally, worked on the soundtrack for.

I looked into it, and found that it won several awards at Misao (some kind of award ceremony for RPG Maker games), one of them being Best Title. Yes. Really.

Anyways, the description:

“THERE IS NO NIGHTMARE IN DAYBREAK. THE CITY IS ABSOLUTELY FINE. PLEASE FORGET THAT IT EVER EXISTED.”

Weird and unfortunate things are happening in the city of Daybreak. To the rest of the world, the city seems to have simply vanished, but inside, it has become a playground for mysterious beings who see humans only as hosts for their own amusement.
Alicia’s a bit strange. She still likes to wear her old baseball jersey, even though her team disbanded over a year ago. She can see otherworldly creatures that no one else seems to notice. She also has weird powers that she keeps hidden from the rest of the world. But when she receives a call for help from her niece in Daybreak, she’ll do anything to save her.
Caught up in the struggle along with Alicia are Miriam, a secretary and gun aficionado who only wants to escape the city, Lamar, an overworked middle school English teacher, and Dottie, Alicia’s niece, who has been captured for some nefarious purpose.

One last thing: it's been a long time since the last time that I've played this, so I looked it up in preparation for making this page, expecting the first result to be the game's itch.io page. What a pleasant surprise it was to find out that the game made it on to Steam!

Sections:

1. The Start of the Nightmare (Starting Area)
   This is the story of a town that has been forcibly dragged beyond the veil.
2. New Friends, New Horrors
   When trying to survive in a town that's been invaded by horrors from beyond the veil, it would be wise to have an effective means of defending yourself.
3. The Search Continues (Fulgham Grove)
   They say many hands make light work. This is even true when whoever's helping you doesn't have hands to speak of.
4. Fairytale Rescue (Atkinson Middle School)
   I guess that's one way to get new party members up to speed.
5. Fighting City Hall (Sewers/Downtown)
   What's that? It's been only an hour since the last character interlude? Well here, have another one!
6. Fighting City Hall, Part 2 (City Hall)
   Usually, RPG Maker games don't take more than half the game to give us a full party.
7. The Threshold (Temple of Rebirth)
   Of course he wasn't the last of the baddies, but I'll be damned if he didn't do a good job of making it seem otherwise.
8. Neon Colored Memory Lane (Vinclum)
   Why yes, I have played Yume Nikki. How could you tell? -Unity, probably
9. The Unearthly Depths (Uratheul)
   What's better than one final dungeon? Five separate final dungeons mashed up into one.
10. Mother of All Terrors (Final Battle)
    The climax to this game: a family reunion gone horribly wrong.
11. Final Words