RIIStar: A Postmodern Ristarpg

RIIStar: A Postmodern Ristarpg is an infamous ROM hack for YIIK: A Post-Modern RPG. The ROM hack is controversial for its accuracy to the original game, with all changes being to the combat and characters with little changes to the script. Instead of combat involving short mini-games based on reaction time, every time the player wants to attack or dodge they need to beat a Ristar game. The amount of damage dealt or blocked depends on how fast the player can speedrun the game. Ristar games included in the ROM hack include Ristar for the Sega Game Gear, Ristar 2: And the Crystal Shards, Ristar:13 But I Loved You, Ristar 16: A Mozzarella Mystery (2017 PS4 Remaster that’s the full title), Ristarpg V: Skyrim, Ristar 31.4: Formula SCAT, and, disturbingly, Plok. The creator of the game is unknown, though the inclusion of lines addressing the various Ristar characters that were not previously in the game’s files has led some fans to speculate the creator is Alex YIIK himself.
The game was uploaded to the RistarNet forums by user sweatingforstar1, who claims that a microUSB containing the file was spit out at him by a skeleton in the middle of the night. The validity of this claim wasn’t contested. Any attempts at uploading footage of the ROM hack online has resulted in the uploader’s account being banned, regardless of what website it was uploaded on.
== Characters ==
Warning: Unmarked spoilers for RIIStar and YIIK
Every character, besides Alex YIIK, has been replaced by a lovable rogue from the Ristar series. Speculated reasoning for each character’s assignment is posted alongside the character.
Michael - Grey ristar (a common sidekick throughout the series)
Vella - Yistar (is a girl)
Rory - Ristar (reasoning is actually known; among the few changes to the script, every mention of Rory’s dead sister is replaced with mentions of Steve Jobs)
Claudio - Bigstar (his average size matches Claudio’s high damage output)
Chaundra - Smallstar (Bigstar’s small sibling. Smallstar’s fandom-created love of “hoops and hooping” also possibly informed this decision, but there’s no confirmation of this)
Mama YIIK - Dark Grandpappy Dark Ristar (takes on a maternal tone with the player)
Inner Alex YIIKs - Dark Ristar (Dark Ristar’s smoothing dulcet tones of mockery match the internal conflict Alex YIIK faces)
Sammy - Bistar (Bistar’s death at the end of Ristar 31.2: Baby is seen as one of the biggest tearjerkers in the series. This is reflected in the infamous “elevator scene”, where instead of Bistar being taken by a cosmic horror, he turns into a bee.)
Panda - Roster (a popular meme within the Ristar fandom of a shittily-drawn ristar from a Ristar 2 bootleg)
Golden Alpaca - Radical Red Ristar (a fan-favorite boss from the series, his gamer nature sooted the alpaca perfectly)
Proto-Alex - Feel (just makes sense y’know)
== Reception ==
While the ROM hack’s length and script were negatively received and accusations of seizure-inducing anti-piracy measures (which would trigger on every save file due to the nature of the ROM) were levied, the hack is still seen as an improvement over the original game. One review stated “this game is shovelware, malware, and vaporware, but it has my favorite character Ristar, so I’m thinking a light 6 for this game”. Andrew Allanson said “video games are now art again” on the NeoNoise podcast. RistarNet forum users unanimously agreed the game was “the story of YIIK, with the gameplay of all my favorite Ristar games”. Other reviews were more negative, and the game received the first ever 1 from Roblox user Trey-zazu. “I’m RIIStaring out!” he said I recall.
== Trivia ==
* The symbology of the council of Alex YIIKs being Dark Ristar, as well as the seeming absence of the fan favorite character and a scene where Alex tries to push homosexuality onto Rory!Ristar, has led some to speculate that Alex YIIK himself is a manifestation of Dark Ristar. 
* While the ROM hack is widely seen as a celebration of the Ristar series, some take the cynical manner in which the hack was created as a condemnation of the series’ remaining prevalence, one hidden file saying only “im piss [sic]”.
* This ROM hack’s existence and relative critical success brought about flame wars between the Ristar and YIIK fandoms, culminating in several events where many pages on the Ristar wiki were taken down. This feud ended when one Ristar fan and one YIIK fan, who had fallen in love, tragically died in a wacky series of misunderstandings.
* There is no cap to the damage a player can do during a turn; this can result in softlocking, as fights that are meant to be unwinnable can be easily surpassed through the credits warps available in every Ristar game made after the first.
* Rather than having a list of games referenced, there's a list of every registered user of the RistarNet forums, their date of birth, and their date of death. 
Category:Games