End of 2025 Review (Into 2026)
This isn't really an update on anything, so feel free to skip by this post if you so wish. I just wanted to take a little time to reflect on 2025 and all of the progress I've made on Arvale Protocol since I first started working on it.
2025 has been a really fun year for me. I got to add in a few things into Arvale Protocol I've been wanting to do for a long time: Eleanor's Dilemma, the recruitment system, and The Heavens storyline which would end up being Route B. There's been a lot of ups and downs, but for the most part, I've enjoyed working on the game. Trust me, if I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't even be working on it, since it's pretty much free for the most part. I've heard positive things, and of course, I have also heard a few negative things. Obviously the positives outweigh the negatives which is great, and I am so glad to have finally reached the finish line for it. Originally, the game was meant to be a lot smaller, but since a lot of people enjoyed it, I kept going, and went out of my way to expand on it.
There's still quite a bit more left for the game. 0.9.0 will be the conclusion to Route B, and 1.0 will be the full release. Compared to when I first released the demo back in 2023, Arvale Protocol has grown to be a very big game. Some people have said they love the characters and the setting, and some people have said the characters talk too much. Arvale Protocol has always been primarily a story driven game, and I think I've reached the majority of the RPG Maker crowd, ultimately satisfying the majority of people who enjoy this type of game. I'll be honest, it was very tiring at times working on it. Creating a big game such as this can be exhausting, and to be honest, I don't know if I want to do another big project again (at least not open world). Still, it was very fun to work on!
Now 2026 is coming up. I have my sights set on my next project which will end up being a romantic size thriller, similar to a few other games on the market. You can read about it in my previous posts if you're interested. The remainder of this year will mainly be focusing on finishing any remaining assets such as: side quests scenes, safehouse size scenes, and balancing all playable characters. Beginning January, I want to get to work on my next project, while also saving time to finish up Arvale Protocol. I pretty much have everything I need, I just have to find time in between weeks to implement everything.
Besides my next game, "Tiniest Desires," I do technically have more ideas to continue the story of Arvale Protocol, but I don't think I'm ready for a sequel anytime soon, and I'm still unsure if I'll end up doing it. Anyway, that's about it. Thank you for sticking around and interacting, or just playing the game. Simply playing Arvale Protocol is enough to make me happy. I can't wait to showcase what I have in store next year!
Oh, and attached to this post is the early design document I made for Arvale Protocol all the way back in 2022. If you want to see more of it, you can let me know. There's a lot of early stuff that never made the cut in there.