A downloadable game for Windows



A massive SNES inspired time hopping RPG coming in 2023. Inspired by games like Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, and Lunar.




  • A massive 16bit adventure through time!
  • A lighthearted and mysterious story told through unforgettable characters.
  • "Hyperdrift" forward and back in time and unlock ever-expanding locations.
  • Stylish Retro turn based battles.
  • Explore different open overworld maps in three different timelines.
  • Get to know the characters of the world through emotional moments.
  • No random encounters! Avoid enemies or grind them to bits and level up!
  • Find, purchase, and unlock rare weapons and armor to equip your party.
  • Hand pixeled animated cutscenes.
  • A diverse party of six playable characters.
  • Lovingly curated and composed soundtrack full of nostalgia.
  • Full controller support.
  • Unique fast travel NPC's for each time period.




Nostalgia's End is the story of Alex, a boy just trying to keep his head down and live his life in his hometown of Vapor City. Just when he thought things were looking up, he and his best friend Eddie are contacted by a cosmic entity through a mysterious song and swept up in a massive time spanning conspiracy to silence all vibrational life in the universe. Alex, Eddie and eventually a diverse cast of 6 party members must 'hyperdrift' between timelines to seek out the mystical keys destined to unlock the gateway to the hidden reality. Using the potential of their own memories to empower themselves, will Alex and the gang be able to stop the great silencing?



  • Engage in Retro turn-based battles with vast  enemy types.
  • Unlock skills and abilities by leveling up, or by finding certain legendary equipment.
  • Gain TP by performing standard attacks, then spend it to unleash special enemy obliterating abilities!
  • Face fearsome and outrageous boss encounters.
  • Arm yourself with weapons, armor and accessories unique to each character.






Follow me on Youtube: https://bit.ly/3HDG9QQ

 Follow me on Twitter:  https://bit.ly/3BbJ0On 

    Wishlist on Steam:   https://bit.ly/34p1Cyz


Please note the demo is from a pre-Alpha version of the game from late 2021. You are free to still download and check it out, but, the game has changed since then and so it should not be taken as representative of the game's current state.

StatusIn development
PlatformsWindows
Rating
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
(10 total ratings)
AuthorPrimitive Pixels Studio
GenreRole Playing, Adventure
Tags16-bit, JRPG, Pixel Art, Retro, Singleplayer, Story Rich, Top-Down
LinksSteam

Download

Download
GROVE: Nostalgia's End - DEMO Disc 1 1 GB
Version 2 Mar 08, 2022

Development log

Comments

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Chrono Trigger!! Or not ^^ Love the idea of how the story goes..

Thanks Momonga! <3

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You can definetly tell you put a lot of love in the music compositions and the sound design.  Love the use of shaders and filters and the idle warp animations of the characters.

My only gripe is the writing could be a little more compelling, I feel there isn't enough characterisation in the dialogue - especially the main character.

Would love to see some voice acting in the game - would make it perfect.

Another small constructive criticism, make the game over screen quicker or skippable - it is quite long.. haha.

And maybe integrate an autosave function, i hate having to manually save so often.

Curious what revision of rpg maker are you using to create this gem?

Hey Grahf!
Thank you SO much for the feedback and sorry for the late reply as I've been traveling for a few months now.
The demo version you played is from a very old version of the game from 2021.
And I hope you will be happy to hear that I have spent a lot of time updating and working on every criticism you've had.
A lot of the early dialog has been completely rewritten with a big focus to actually develop the characters and the setting, I have added some small voice acted touches to all the main characters so they have more personality.
I added an entirely new save system with a custom save screen, and now the game auto saves upon entering any map so no more losing progress from deaths.
The game over screen is shorter and skippable now ;)
I have around 20 hours of the game finished now and working on it every chance I get.
The version of RPGM I'm using for this project is MV.
Once I have more time I will create a new demo build and upload it.

I can't wait to play it - if you need any contributions of any kind I'd be happy to do anything free of charge :)

This is a huge help! I'll reach out soon. Thanks so much!

If you want you can add me on Discord at grahfmusic.

Or you can email me at contact@grahfmusic.com :)  Look forward to having a general chat about your development journey actually.

Damn... that artwork @_@

I'm glad you are liking it so far! 

Loving the updates! I'm hyped to check out the new demo next month!

That makes me so happy chonker! Thank you very much!

The new artwork is soooo nostalgic!

thanks so much Cthulu

Ok... this looks AWESOME! Reminds me of old rpg games mixed with like 90's anime and cartoons! Can't wait to check this out!

I'm glad the vibe I've been going for is working out! That's very cool! Thanks a lot!

I've been following your posts on twitter. I'm really excited to play your game! 

Hey thanks, and welcome!

I'm glad a lot more 16 bit rpg's are being made. It's my favorite genre. Nostalgias end is looking prettyyy cool so far.

Thank you Kerrigans!

I tried the demo, even with it being almost a year old version the story is super cool. Added to my watchlist ;)

Thank you so much, that really means a lot to me. I'm hoping to have a new demo with all the updates in about a month!

I'll definitely play through the new version,

Nice art! Looking forward to this one. I just have a question, how does the time traveling work in the game?

Thank you so much chonker! 
So time traveling in Nostalgia's End is handled by a process in game called "hyperdrifting". In the beginning of the game you will only travel between times according to the main story arc, but, at a certain point you unlock the ability to travel between times as you please once certain abilities and "hyperdrift locations" are discovered.

I dig it, that reminds me kinda of chrono trigger,

Can definitely see the final fantasy vibes. Interested to check it out when I get time.

Thanks a lot!

Any plans to release a new demo?

Yes in fact, I'll be working on a new build for a Q&A stream I'll be doing in december, so I'm hoping I'll have it uploaded here around the second week of december.

This looks promising! Can I ask you how long the game is going to be?

Sure, it's impossible to say for sure as things can always change during development, but, right now the plan is between 25-40 hours depending on how much side questing you do.

Thanks for taking the time to check out my game!

Nice. It's a good amount of playtime I think.
Good luck with development.

Thank you!

Yoooo! Could always use more snes games in my life! :D I dig the look so far! Nice work dev.

Thanks Kesper!

You're game looks awesome! I love the 16bit look! You listed earthbound as a main influence! It's one of my favorite games! 

Hey Chrono! Thanks so much for checking out my game! Earthbound is my favorite game of all time, I have so many childhood memories exploring that world. I think you will definitely see the influence of EB in a lot of the dialog and battle style.

Ohh I'm so excited to play now!

Going Live

Loved your playthrough man! Thanks so much!

(+1)

We have here an RPG to be rated as one of the best on this platform. I liked pretty much EVERYTHING I saw here, the 90s aesthetic, the soundtrack, the classic RPG style, everything here is excellent. I can't wait for the full version, I want to explore Vapor City as soon as possible. Congratulations on your game.

Thank you so much for checking out the demo and your kind words! It was fun watching your playthrough!