I didn't know the default Verge controls, so I could not test it out to the fullest last time. I've gone around and done lots of testing on GM6 WIPs and tried out other Verge demos too.

You never cease to amaze me, Kil. Those are some neat professional-looking menus there. The sprites are excellent, and I still love those awesome lighting effects. The whole experience is very pleasing to the eye. Not only that, the music is very fitting for the ears too. You're very fortunate to have some talented artists working for you. :)

The Chrono Trigger styled battles really distinguish this not only from other Verge games, but all homemade RPGs. A very fresh idea. The skill tree system is a well thought design concept. Giving players a visual mini-goal of earning money for the next skill is priceless. Additionally, it also allows for a certain level of customization like Sphere Grid of FFX. Then you threw in the possibility of getting totally new skill lines via spellbooks. Three birds with one stone - overwhelmingly impressive. :)

However, the battles still seem to lack a special feature. When you come down to it, it is still your average RPG formula of attack-magic-item-flee. The twist Chrono Trigger threw in is the ability to combine character skills for a more powerful attack. This is coupled with area-of-effect damage to make battles more engaging. How about doing some of that? Or you can try a totally new idea, such as using the lighting in the battles: darker areas on the map decreases accuracy and damage. If it's possible, that is. Try to spice it up with an additional twist. ^_^

Just some thoughts.

*sniff* I'm the best graphics artist my team's got... and I'm supposed to be the guy designing stuff. T_T At least I'm not the guy programming the thing, phew. Problem is... we still haven't got anyone that can do the slightest bit of music. *sulks in a corner*

Anyhow, lighting effects were unheard of in previous game-creating communities I've been around. I'm pretty convinced that only Verge (and Sphere maybe?) can do it. Even so, I've only seen it in your game. It's so visually attractive that it drove me to think about how awesome it would be to actually incorporate it into some aspect of your gameplay, rather than just setting the ominous mood for the dungeons. Another thing I had in the back of my mind (but didn't mention since I thought that it would be too much of a hassle to program), is that you can make how the party approaches the enemy strategic. I noticed that there are brighter circles of light in the dungeon. If you make brightness/darkness-system work both ways, the player should attack the enemy party out of darkness.

Or perhaps implement some sort of a trap system that can lure enemies. This way, when characters see a group of enemies in an area, they can try luring those enemies into a bright circle before engaging them (sorta like the trap system used in Breath of Fire 5). Battle engagement may have to be tweaked though, maybe have the battle start only when the characters are about to collide with the enemy. You can even play around with enemy aggressiveness. For example, a battle may start at the moment you see a red-zombie on the screen, while you may actually have to touch a blue-zombie to start a battle with that. Make sure that this trap system stays simple if you do choose to make it though, because it can make the game overly complicated (and it'll save time on your part too).

Another idea about light/dark areas is about having stealth missions. Maybe not as far as having missions, but you put some very tough monsters. They are so hard that the player will be informed beforehand to avoid them by staying in dark areas. Perhaps make a brief backstory about how they are blind in the dark - like some birds are. Now, this is where things can get interesting. If you make items that give off light when activated (a torch, for example), you can do this to prevent the player from overusing that particular item. In other words, although it will make battles easier against small fries (you can't miss in bright light), you'll lose the cover from darkness and these... giant half-blind creatures will immediately spot you. This can create some suspense regarding using the torch or not.

Just throwing around some ideas around. :)

Cool. (is too sleepy to make any half-intelligent reply)