Support local: Malaysia-made JRPG Alpha Kimori Episode 1 out on Steam tonight

JRPG Alpha Kimori, by Malaysia-based company Sherman3D, is launching on Steam later tonight, at 12:00 A.M. on March 18, 2014. The game will cost $9.99 at launch.

The 2D JRPG, which runs off a modified RPG Maker engine, tells a Romeo-and-Juliet story of two star-crossed lovers from warring factions in a futuristic world. It is the first commercial game to use the RPG Maker game engine, and first made its way onto Steam Greenlight back in August 2012. Alpha Kimori was Greenlit in early December 2013, proving a JRPG doesn’t necessarily have to be made in Japan to succeed. It is not the first RPG Maker game on Steam, though; its predecessors include To The Moon, Aveyond, and Book of Legends.

Although Alpha Kimori will have a total of three episodes, producer Sherman Chin said he is “not sure” about future release dates.

It will really depend on how well Alpha Kimori 1 does on Steam as the other RPG Maker games above have received quite a lot of flak in their community hub on Steam.

Chin said via email that the Sherman3D team were “lucky” in that the game had enough fans who voted for and defended Alpha Kimori even before its launch; he also added that since Alpha Kimori is the first RPG Maker-based game to be Greenlit, “it would surely be an extremely interesting experience.”

It should be noted that the RPG Maker engine used for Alpha Kimori was customized “significantly”, while the art assets were completely customized.