Recent reviews by Shin Kitsune

They are pretty well made. I personally like these sets, but like someone said before, we could use some generator parts and side battler sprites, as well as face sets.
That, and I don't see a good plot for an RPG game involving Team Fortress 2 characters-oh wait a sec...
THAT ALEX IS A SPY!

It is kind of overwhelming when you get to learn a new language. Especially with such a complex language like Japanese.
I have just started playing/learning, and I am happy so far with this.
This game is more than just that, besides engaging into the story itself, it also serves it purpose without being too overwhelming with one thing at a time. Yes, there are free websites where you can learn Hiragana and such, but personally I need something to keep myself motivated into continuing on learning, and "Learn Japanese To Survive: Hiragana Battle" does that with the interactivity it offers, being a game made with RPG Maker. Plus said "free" websites usually start spitting complex words on you without even telling how is each letter/character pronounced.
One example, when I tried Livemocha, the first word they gave me was "Otokonohito" (man). How exactly is every letter in "おとこのひと" pronounced?! Is it Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana?!
Instead, "Learn Japanese to Survive: Hiragana Battle" started with the basics, with a simple lesson on vowels; how are they pronounced, how are they written and such.

Like I mentioned, I'm just getting started myself, but so far I can say I recommend this strongly to anyone that wants to learn Japanese from its basics.

It looks pretty promising... It still has a lot of work left to do, but so far this editor is looking awesome!

So far I like how everything works, and I look forward to whatever the devs have in mind (if the project is still alive)

Then why the thumbs down, Shin?

Because the updates are being pretty slow. This worries me, because anytime now, the developers could just decide to kill the project altogether. It would mean a waste of money for all of us who invested in it.

So, my recommendation for now is, if you're planning to get this engine, wait until it has matured some more.

It is technically the same engine as RPG Maker 2000, for the most part, it even uses mostly the same resources, the most notable difference being its battle system. Unlike RPG Maker 2000's frontal view, RPG Maker 2003 uses a side view battle system similar to that of Final Fantasy. I would recommend this engine to those with some experience using RPG Maker, given the battle system is more complex to set up, compared to the frontal view engines like RPG Maker 2000 and VX Ace.

I have stumbled upon comments of people whining about Enterbrain/KADOKAWA releasing such an "outdated" engine in 2015. Hipocrisy at its finest. Because this engine is what actually made RPG Maker so popular in the West, thanks to Don Miguel.
Yes, there's newer engines like RPG Maker XP, VX Ace or the recently launched MV, but even for a more than 15 year old engine, RPG Maker 2000 is still a very powerful, and one of the easiest engines out there to get started within the RPG Maker series. You don't have to worry about advanced scripting and such. If someone asked me about what would the best engine be for starters, I would say it no doubt: RPG Maker 2000 is the best choice to get yourself started with your first RPG (No, by RPG I don't mean Rocket-Propelled Grenades!)

It feels familiar but fresh at the same time!
If you're familiar with the MacVenture or even the NES version... well, expect so many changes. This remake has mostly the same layout, but it features new, challenging puzzles throughout the game.
My first thought was "If only it featured the NES music...", and guess what... It DOES have not only the NES music, but the transitions, and even text scrolling style (with the quill and all) as well. My only disappointment was the Retro graphic mode. It would have been perfect to feature NES-like graphics for nostalgia sake. But what the retro graphics do is just to pixelate everything. Also, sometimes it might be frustrating as well since you'll probably end up stuck at some point. Besides those details, this is a game I would recommend especially if you're familiar with Shadowgate.

KOF 98 was one of the greatest games in The King of Fighters franchise. And when KOF 98 Ultimate Match first came out in consoles, it has major improvements compared to the original, including ALL the characters from KOF 94 to KOF 97. Unfortunately, the Steam port is a crippled version of the console versions, especially regarding visuals and music. While in the PlayStation2 version you could choose between the classic 2D and re-vamped 3D stages, and between the original soundtrack from the NeoGeo arcades and the arranged soundtrack that played in the original console ports, the Steam version comes only with 2D stages, and the NeoGeo's OST. No options to choose 3D stages or arranged music at all. This was a disappointment to me. Overall, the game itself still retains most of the original's essence, but it lacks features the console versions had.
And in my opinion, some of the arranged versions of the soundtrack are FAR SUPERIOR to the NeoGeo tracks.