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Includes 53 items: La-Mulana, Unholy Heights, Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae, One Way Heroics, Gunhound, Astebreed, Magical Battle Festa, Kero Blaster, Rime Berta, REVOLVER360 RE:ACTOR, Meadowland, GOCCO OF WAR, An Octave Higher, Futuridium EP Deluxe, One Way Heroics Plus, NEO AQUARIUM - The King of Crustaceans -, D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die -Season One-, Artifact Adventure, In Space We Brawl, Hacker's Beat, Forget Me Not: My Organic Garden, Starchaser: Priestess of the Night Sky, D4: SWERY's Choice Costume Set -4 Cups of Coffee-, D4: SWERY's Choice Costume Set -4 Bottles of Tequila-, D4: Mini Soundtrack, D4: Special Art Book, D4: Season One Voice Over Script, D4: Special Costume Set -12 Beers-, LiEat, D4: In Game Document Full Unlock Key, D4: David's Costume Full Unlock Key, D4: Forrest's Costume Full Unlock Key, D4: Olivia's Costume Full Unlock Key, D4: David's Beard Full Unlock Key, D4: Hand Cursor Set　Vol.1, D4: Hand Cursor Set　Vol.2, D4: Hand Cursor Set　Vol.3, LA-MULANA Original Sound Track, Star Sky, Kero Rhythm, An Octave Higher - Extended Soundtrack, Helen's Mysterious Castle, Gocco of War: Theme Song, NightCry, Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight, Futuridium EP Deluxe Original Sound Track, Magic Potion Explorer, Neo Aquarium Soundtrack, Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight OST, Ace of Seafood, NightCry Soundtrack, NightCry Artbook, NightCry Storyboards

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About This Game

Caution
This game is made by RPG Maker, so the engine's exclusive feature is available as shown below.
If you want to take a screenshot using Steam Overlay feature, please change the key to the key other than F12.

F12: Reset the game
Alt+Enter: Full screen / Window mode

Helen knows little about who she is and where she is, but she's dying to find out. Stuck on a floating island with a maze-like castle begging to be explored, Helen lets her curiosity get the better of her. It's a good thing she's more than capable.
Armed with a plethora of weapons she finds on her journey, Helen must battle monsters, collect new equipment, and uncover the secrets of her mysterious home.

Helen spends the game fighting on her own, and she wouldn't have it any other way. Using the unique 1-on-1 combat system, Helen can collect weapons, and switch between them during battle as the situation dictates.
Using the passage of time and a knowledge of your opponents, you can quickly bring out the right weapon for the job and finish off foes before they have a chance to react.

Upgrade weapons using experience points gathered from defeated enemies, collect new weapons hidden within the labyrinth, and build the perfect arsenal.
Equip and upgrade weapons of all shapes and sizes, from bows and shields to broadswords and devastating magic spells. Learning when to use each weapon is the ultimate key to victory.

Helen
Our heroine. A girl of few words.

Ardis
A man that lives with Helen.

The Demon King
Ruler of the Four Lords.

Undead Knight
He seems to appear wherever Helen goes.

Zack
A hero.

The Fairy
The hero's attendant.

Death isn't the End

Death can come swiftly in the world of Helen's Mysterious Castle, but it's not the end of the adventure. Every time Helen perishes, she'll reawaken in the cabin with a piping hot salisbury steak ready to eat. Gobbling up this delicious meal will grant her a permanent increase to her life, making otherwise difficult foes just a little easier.

FAQ

Q. Does Helen level up?

A. You need to level up your items with your experience points.

Q. There is a glitch or aspect ratio issue in the game.
A. Please change to Window mode by pressing F4 or Alt+Enter.

Q. Manual?
A. ReadMe file is available inside your steam directory;
C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\Helen's Mysterious Castle\helen

Q. Why does the Japanese version crash?
A. The Japanese coding in this game runs only on Japanese Locales. If you want to play the game in Japanese and it is crashing, please change your System Locale to Japanese.

System Requirements

Minimum:

OS: Windows 2000 / XP / Vista / 7 / 8

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Most Helpful Reviews In the past 30 days

Crono Maniac

214 products in account

1 review

Posted: September 27

Helen's Mysterious Castle shines with charm and class.

Its story is minimal and affecting. It starts with no intro to speak of, dropping you straight into its world, then gradually unfurls. Little characters and moments are far more important than they initially appear. Short conversations endear you to its characters, so much so that you're sad when they're seemingly gone forever, and overjoyed when they return.

These narrative arcs elevate what's already a world-class dungeon-crawler. The level layouts are smart, economical, and dense. The one-on-one battles last under a minute a-piece, and pose extremely clever and engaging tactical challenges. It's a hard game at times, but also very kind -- death in battle poses no penalty except for sending you to the start of the dungeon, where you're given a meal that permanently raises your max HP.

The aesthetic builds on default resources with heaps of excellent custom sprites, animation, and reorchestrated music. For someone already delighted by the RPGMaker 2000 aesthetic, the effect is intoxicating.

Helen's Mysterious Castle takes exactly the amount of time it needs to fully explore the greater realities of its combat and its characters. Then it ends, without wasting your time. It is a thoughtful and lovely game, and I look forward to revisiting it in the future.

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Arwym

230 products in account

3 reviews

Posted: September 11

Green-haired dude(?): "Good morning, Helen. I made you a steak!"
Helen: *Looks around.* "WHERE'S MY F*****G STEAK?!"

WTF was that? There wasn't even an intro to the story. I was just thrown into a map with no f* clue of what to do, what the character's motivations, or even daily routine, are.
Man, Ive been trolled.

Now, in all seriousness:

Your game's Steam store page has more story and explanations than the game itself. All of the things you explain in there, you should explain naturally within the game. At the least, start the player with an initial dialogue or some basic intro sequence.

Mechanics show potential, graphics are very cute, and so is the music. I just think you underdid the story and player-friendliness aspects, which are very important here, since you're actually selling the girl's story in the store page.

You're charging for this game. This feels like a game demo you would find in RMRK.net or some other RMRK community site, to be honest. If you are going to sell your game, show that at least you tried to make it worth our time and money (yes, even if it costs so little). That is my very honest opinion, as a consumer.

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Most Helpful Reviews Overall

Zeebrax the Astral Lifejacket

1,455 products in account

144 reviews

Posted: April 2

This inexpensive little doujin game is shockingly good!

Though there is a nice little story -- I would call it "tidily epic" -- the main attraction is a unique take on traditional turn-based JRPG combat. Helen, the titular Elven child warrior, fights each enemy one-on-one. Every weapon and spell has attack power, defensive power, and a specific deployment countdown; thus you can use a broadsword, which has high defense, as an automatic shield as you wait for it to slash. The enemies operate likewise, and just as you can see their countdowns and the attacks they lead to, they adjust their tactics based on yours. There are no random die-rolls; every bit of HP loss is determined directly by weapon stats and defensive subtractions. This system is very fun, and it creates a much greater sense of involvement than the "I hit you, you hit me, I heal me" progression of yore. I never got bored with it in the nearly 12 hours I spent with the game! Helen is fairly easy, but it's so much fun fighting monsters and exploring the castle that it doesn't really matter.

Negligible negatives: I encountered a couple of crashes and you currently can't fullscreen it without FPS drops or tearing (I would suggest Windows Magnifier to combat the lack of fullscreen).

Highly recommended -- a wonderful value for the cheap price! I had a blast playing this before work every morning!

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Alien King

278 products in account

15 reviews

Posted: April 21

I usually come into reviews after a great deal of thought, but with this game I just couldn't wait to start, I enjoyed it so much; yet oddly enough I can not for the life of me put my finger on exactly why, it has a how to put it.....a certain charm to it.

After finishing my first playthrough I went right back and played it again, and then after my second playthrough I went and played a third time, honestly I have no idea why I got so engrossed with it.

The story is simple and enjoyable, it doesn't try to be anything more than it is, and even though it is a RPG Maker game I must give credit where it is due, the creator did an outstanding job on this nice little game.

Combat is I would have to say the main part of the game and is where it stands out, every weapon has its own pros and cons, you don't level up per-se rather you use xp as a currency to improve your weapons, however you may not want to stick with your starter gear and just keep leveling it up as there are many different weapons you can acquire throughout the game.

The various different areas, each having their own theme whether your finding secrets or solving puzzles, there is a great deal of backtracking going back and forth through these areas but it never gets to an annoying point throughout all my playthroughs it never once bothered me.

Overall I would have to say that Helen's Mysterious Castle is a great game that is more than worth the price, it is both well written and presented, the game is not difficult so you can just sit back and enjoy the ride.

(Like all my reviews I do not put a score as it is my belief that games like all forms of art are subjective and therefore it is impossible to afix a number to them)

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Saximus

492 products in account

22 reviews

Posted: May 28

I first came across HMC a couple of years ago, and I'm so happy that it made its way to Steam.

You are Helen, a girl of indeterminate age who can't speak or read...and that's kind of it! The story reveals itself as you make your way through the titular mysterious castle, and while an RPG that drops you right into gameplay without a cutscene or whatnot can be disorienting, it does allow you to get right into the battles, which is where HMC really shines.

I'm a fan of JRPGs that:
a) require more than mashing A to win
b) have defending be a viable strategy
c) have grinding/buying a ton of healing items not be the solution to everything
...and HMC meets all three criteria. Battles are duels - you (Helen) v. a monster. As you explore, you can find a massive array of weapons, with each weapon having three stats - Effect (how much damage the weapon does), Defense (how much of your opponent's damage the weapon can negate), and Wait (how long it takes to use the weapon). Each enemy also has its own set of attacks, which makes battles a kind of back-and-forth dance: the monster is getting ready for a big attack! Do you put up a shield to block it? Or use your longsword to both attack and block some of the damage? Or spam a ton of quick, weak attacks so that you beat them first? Or charge up your healing spell so that it comes out right after the attack connects?

Another thing that makes HMC unique is that Helen herself never levels up: you still earn experience points after battle, but they're instead used as a kind of currency to level up your weapons, to increase Effect & Defense and/or decrease Wait. The only way Helen can get stronger is through HP upgrades, which are found through exploring - these optional upgrades, as well as the veritable arsenal of weapons you can find, gives the game a great amount of replay value.

The story is genuinely funny at times, although ultimately it's not much to write home about. The game itself isn't particularly long, too - it can easy be finished in an afternoon. Regardless, Helen's Mysterious Castle is a delightful little JRPG, and two dollars is a steal for a game this fun. Buy it whydontcha

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mad2bthere

701 products in account

6 reviews

Posted: March 18

a simple RPG, nice combat you lvl your weapons not your toon. Its good little game nice music, almost no story. its worth it the 1.99 I paid for it. The biggest fault i can find its the resolution its really small, and if maximaze it, looks weird. so in summary.
*Good little RPG on a good little window
*Simplistic (I think you could play this game with a two button controller)
*Fun for short plays
*Good price
*Good little graphics

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Rookie (ZOE)

79 products in account

15 reviews

Posted: March 18

For the VERY low price this is set on, it's basically a steal. It seems simple at first glance, but once you get into it you realize it is a LOT more unique than most RPGs out there, you have to think along the lines of which of your weapons/shields/spells should be best used for each situation, ESPECIALLY the boss fights. So far i'm loving this title already and while some "might" get stuck at parts, they just have to use what they can plainly see to get them through each time they are stuck. The part with the locked rooms for instance, well... Let's just say that the hint you're given literally spells out what to do, all you need to do is just relax where he says to, simple as that. ^^

All-in-all I love this title already, a solid 9/10 for me, worthy of a sequel if you ask me, hell, even RPGMaker titles based on its unique system would be nice as well, dead serious here...!. ^^

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hiroruby

159 products in account

2 reviews

Posted: March 26

I greatly enjoyed this game, I havn't enjoyed anything in a long time either.

I can't give it any higher praise than that.

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Iyashikei

115 products in account

15 reviews

Posted: May 14

Pros:
+ nice story
+ cute jokes
+ unusual battle system
+ a bunch of explorable secrets
+ overall kind and cuddly feel

Depends on taste:
+- only stock RTP content
+- somewhat short

Cons:
- no fullscreen; you'll have to use 3rd party software to enable it
google "Another Fullscreen Mode by Cherry"
EDIT: it's better to use a utility called DXGL, since it keeps the aspect ratio

Some rant:
For those who've played other RPGmaker2000 games before it should already be pretty obvious from the screenshots that the game utilises only stock RTP content. I managed to find practically nothing custom in there, except the unusual battle scripting. So, if it's an issue for you, be warned.
But for me this was no problem at all since I happen to really like RPGmaker2000's default sprites, tiles, themes, etc. And I love playing as an elf character, so that was yet another appealing point for me.
Also keep in mind that the game was apparently made by one person, so you could cut him/her some slack. And most importantly you can rest assured: Helen's Castle DOES NOT feel like a cash-grabbing quickie made on a lap. Honest effort and soul was definitely put into this one.

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grey_cain

36 products in account

1 review

Posted: March 19

Such a fun little game, and well worth the asking price!

Combat is easily the best part of the game, and it's really fun! More fun than just about any other RPG on the market, completely unlike any other RPG Maker game I've seen. Each weapon has its own advantages and disadvantages between Effect (attack power), Defense (you can reduce damage even while attacking), and Wait (the delay before the attack occurs). The wait timer is the key to it all, as even a single point of difference in Wait can change your options significantly.

You don't have levels, but your weapons do. You spend your XP to improve your weapons, so your starter gear can still put up a fight for a long time without needing to be replaced. There are also a lot of weapons to choose from, but you can only carry 8 at a time. However, you are able to get back dropped items, so there's never any worry about dropping the wrong item to make space for new ones.

There's very little randomization in the way enemies react, so it's a little like a puzzle to try to figure out the most efficient ways to take down each enemy. Saying that, the AI is a little weak. Once you know what attacks they have, It's easy to lock enemies into a pattern that they will never break out of. Figuring that out, though, can take some educated guesswork.

The dungeons are different in both appearance and theme. One area is about helping people, another is about solving (easy) puzzles, a third is about finding secret rooms (other areas have hidden rooms, but this area uses them to progress as well), and the starter areas and final zones to round out the package. The story takes you up and down through the levels multiple times, so there's additional backtracking in case you missed something or you can use shortcuts. Content-wise, other than the equipment there isn't really a whole lot, but I don't have any complaints for the price I paid.

I'd really love to see more games in this style, and I definitely recommend this game for 16-bit RPG fans!

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Recently Posted

Posted: October 7

A really great little JRPG!

Helen's Mysterious Castle is simple, fun, short, and charming. It does what it does well and scratches all the right JRPG itches, with an awesome combat system that you can pick up in moments, yet which keeps on delivering depth throughout the whole 5-6 hour experience thanks to the plethora of unique items and interesting encounter designs. Much like the combat, the story starts off incredibly basic, yet manages to pull off an emotionally engaging ending by the time it's done. I have to give this game huge points for being so accessible and easy to pick up, unlike so many JRPGs that frontload slow paced story and tutorials. Helen's Mysterious Castle has enough confidence in its gameplay and tone to allow those parts to suck you in first, before layering on the narrative and mechanical complexity as the adventure unfolds.

The only noteworthy negative I encountered with the game was related to a section of backtracking, waiting, and moderate confusion at around the mid point, where the requirements for progression started straying into the "run around talking to everyone and examining everything to try and find the progression trigger" ballpark. There are perhaps one or two other moments in which this might happen for some players when the progression path is unclear, and the lack of online walkthroughs for this game might result in a little frustration, but thankfully there is at least one commentary-free LP on youtube that should help anyone who gets stuck.

Aside from that, however, my time with Helen's Mysterious Castle was thoroughly enjoyable. The music is fantastic and enthralling, the storyline and characters are cute, the difficulty progression ramps up beautifully from smooth to challenging, and there's potentially a fair bit of replay value if you want to try and find all the hidden items and try out varying builds.

As far as simple, small-scale indie JRPGs go, this is one of the best I've played. A perfect game to drop a couple of bucks and a weekend on.

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Posted: October 6

I'll be honest, I didn't expect much when I bought this game. Just another cheap little indie RPG to add to the collection. But this game surprised me more than any other game I've ever played on here. I loved exploring and getting little glimpses of the world that this game created, I loved the game's battle system, which put a unique spin on turn-based battling that I have never seen used quite so well. The music was fantastic, there were plenty of secrets to discover, and the ending... I don't want to spoil anything, but this game's ending is by far my favorite ending of any RPG. What a rush! Buy this game, and I promise you won't regret it.

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Posted: October 5

Six or seven hours' worth of the most fun battle system I've ever seen in a JRPG. I was a BIT skeptical when I saw the stock RPG Maker 2000 graphics in the screenshots, but the characters are entertaining, the maps are excellent, there's plenty of easter eggs hidden in places you wouldn't expect them, and the story, while nothing extremely revolutionary, is enjoyable nonetheless.

But the main draw is definitely the battle system, which you learn in a dungeon designed to teach you through experience. The game, while certainly difficult, isn't out to murder your progress; you're sufficiently warned before any incoming boss fights, and if you do go down, you just end up at your house (or the inn), with a steak next to your bed that you can eat for a permanent HP boost.

My only complaint is a certain bug that might crash the game after the main boss of the second floor. Be sure to save after defeating the miniboss Soul Cage!

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Posted: September 28

I absolutely LOVED this game. Adorable, entertaining, a little confusing at times. The mechanics are simple but unique and the story is more than what you expect it to be! I highly recommend this game to anyone looking for a cute RPG to have some fun with.

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Posted: September 25

Love it!
- The combat system is deceptively simple yet the more you play the more you realise how deep it can be, and how it gives rise to a wide variety of uniquely-feeling encounters. Combat feels tactile and strategic with only a few elements. Very clever.
- It's light on story and it doesn't take itself too seriously, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The story gets out of the way and lets you focus on adventuring.
- Dungeons are small but densely-packed. You might die a few times, but you'll constantly be opening up shortcuts so getting back to where you died is a breeze.
- The music can get a bit repetitive. Oh well, not a big deal.
- And because I know some people will care about this: yes, it uses a fair few RTP assets, but it uses them well and there are loads of custom-made assets too. There's enough new stuff here to make it feel like its own thing. It doesn't really feel like an RPG Maker game.

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Posted: September 14

A very fun RPG where there are no random misses or critical hits. Instead, each weapon has three stats and (in some cases) a special effect. The three stats are the time it takes to use the weapon, the defense bonus while the weapon is being used, and the damage dealt when the wait time finishes. Quick, flimsy attacks allow you to deal great damage when an enemy uses a low-defense weapon, and coordinating your wait times to use a heavy hitting weapon without getting hit are just two examples of how this battle system opens many unique encounters with new strategic opportunities.
You do not level up in this game. Instead, XP is spent on weapons to upgrade them. You can only have eight weapons at a time, so choosing an effective loadout is important. Don't worry about losing weapons you drop on the floor to get more inventory space: A room reachable fairly early in the game allows you to regain your dropped weapons, and they will still be leveled up!
The story is good at driving the action and motivating the player (especially toward the end of the game), but don't go into this game expecting it to be story-heavy, since the story is secondary to the battles.
Sound effects and visuals are the standard RPG maker type, but the sprites manage to be especially detailed and well animated. Music is good and decently varied.
I would give this game an 8/10. It's definitely worth playing.

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Posted: September 9

A cute little semi-turn-based game. Definitely worth the price.

It should be noted that reaching the end of the game requires finding two or three secret passaged.
If you find yoursel stuck, you're gonna want to walk into every wall you can find.

Overall I rate this a 7/10, but don't expect an epic journey. Helen's Mysterious Castle is relatively short, appropriately so for the complexity of its gameplay.

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Posted: September 7

A very fun little game, with a heartwarming plot and fresh battle mechanics that work surprisingly well.

I highly recommend picking this up, there are a few problems with the game itself (couple of bugs and lack of direction at times) but I'll cover what I discovered here...

After defeating Mr Undead you will have to break the barrier, which is the the building to the north of where you entered that room from, if you enter on the left side of that door it might crash the game, so make sure to enter from the center (or maybe it was coincidence that it worked whe I entered through the middle, but hey, it worked for me!)

After you break the barrier, there is a extra bit of pathway on the top left behind the barrier, walk onto that square and move left to proceed to the next area! I spent 40 minutes going in circles around the dungeon trying to find a character with directions, heh.

anyway, a very good game for the price, doesn't take too long to beat (only took me 5 hrs) and I am hoping very much for a sequel. Also, if you enjoyed this, you might enjoy the labyronia rpg series, if you haven't already tried it, ty have fun :)

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