RPG 2

RPG 2, fully titled RPG 2: Dimension X, is a text-based role-playing game made in 2003 for the TI-83 Plus calculator by Gregory McLeod and published by McLeodGaming. It is the sequel to Gregory McLeod's first major game, RPG, made the same year. It continued the story of the original game while also expanding on its gameplay mechanics.

Plot
The game begins directly after the end of the original game. The protagonist and their family are warped to the year 3000, where they find weapons with the protagonist's name on them. The name is then determined by the player. While looking for a way out of this world, they encounter an unfamiliar monster that they defeat. When they arrive at Static City, the shopkeeper Frank explains that the monster was one of many robots, which have been taking over some places but are not hard to fight. They then enter the Ruins, where they come across a strange stone and a Time Gauge, which is jammed at 3000. The group then leaves and decides to separate, with the protagonist venturing on their own.

After reaching Metropia, the protagonist comes across the shopkeeper Bob VI, the descendant of the protagonist's friend Bob. They also come across his father, Bob V, who gives them a laser for listening to his long story (even though the protagonist falls asleep in the middle), as well as a man named "Guy in Suit", who gives them an airplane ticket to Cyber City for not laughing at his name. They then take the airplane to Cyber City, where there is a mall with several stores and a mini casino. They arrive in Summerville after leaving. After leaving Summerville, they come across their family, who also took a plane to get here, and they join the protagonist's party.

The group leaves to Gamepoint City, where there is a locked building. After unlocking the door with a key, they encounter a scientist who explains that he is the creator of the Time Dragon that the protagonist had previously destroyed. He explains that the Time Dragon has the power to travel through time and take other people with it, but it can only travel to each year once, meaning it cannot take the family home to the year they came from. However, he does have a time machine that can do this instead, but there are two problems: there are only two pods, and there is a chance it may instead lead them into another dimension, Dimension X, where the Time Dragon may be. The group accepts, and the protagonist and Scott take the pods.

The two land in Dimension X, where they encounter the Time Dragon. They manage to defeat it, and they enter the time machine once more and travel back to the year 3000, but the time machine breaks when they come back. The scientist suggests one more alternative: the Time Gauge that the family found in the Ruins. After going back to the Ruins, the scientist shows the family how the Ruins Stone reacts with the Time Gauge to activate. The family then uses it travel back to their home year, where they decide to relax for a while.

Gameplay
Being a direct sequel to RPG, the game's mechanics are very similar to how the original works: the player must progress forward through a linear series of battles against monsters, with visits to different residencies in-between. The player also has to manage their HP that decreases every time they are attacked, but unlike the original RPG, losing all HP results in a Game Over. They also can collect a variety of items, some of which are required to progress. These items may also increase their total attack power or replenish their HP.

Several other new mechanics are introduced in this game. One such mechanic is money, which the player collects when winning battles. Money can be used for a variety of functions, such as purchasing items from shops and using the mini casino in Cyber City. Another mechanic is EXP, also gained through battling. Earning enough EXP will cause the player to level up, which increases their attack power and defense. There is also now a party system that allows for a second character, Scott, to assist in battling.

When visiting locations, the player has a variety of options they can perform, depending on the location. Most locations have a shop with a unique shopkeeper and set of items. There is also a house in most locations, with a unique resident who speaks to the protagonist, often having items to give to them, and players also may have the option to talk to a nearby resident who acts the same way. Certain locations allow the player to search the area, revealing an item necessary to progress. The player can also check their level, experience, money, HP, and the state of Scott (if he is in the party) in the Status menu, as well as the name of their protagonist. Finally, the protagonist can leave to the next location.

Battling monsters occurs in-between each location, and it is very limited. Only two varieties of monsters exist, with one being a robot and the other the Time Dragon. Against robots, the player first is given the option to fight it, with the option to skip the fight altogether, which can also be done while fighting. This does not appear when fighting the Time Dragon; instead, the player has the option to fully recover their health instead of attack, though this may fail. Attacking will deal a certain amount of damage to the monster, who will then respond with an attack of their own to the player, ending the turn. If the player has Scott in their party, he will attack after the player does, always dealing 30 damage. The damage each attack deals depends on the player's attack and defense stats. Additionally, there is a chance the player may perform a "Special Attack" that deals much more damage and displays an image of the attack being executed. Dealing enough damage to the monster will defeat it, ending the battle.

Trivia

 * This game takes up a significant amount of memory on a calculator, so much so that it cannot be completed in a single run, as storing every file will overload the memory. Thus, the player is encouraged to archive game files they are not using at that time to save space, some of which are separated by when the game saves.
 * If the player does not have a high-enough level when they use the time machine, they will not enter Dimension X. Instead they will travel to the prehistoric age, where they will be immediately eaten by a dinosaur, resulting in a Game Over.

External link

 * Download RPG 2 to your computer (requires a TI-83/84 Plus to run).