ひげ
I'm thinking right now that I might just stick with RPG Maker. The unfortunate reality is that I have way more ideas of things I want to make than I have reasonable time to make them, and learning a new engine from the ground up while I'm working a real job, while doing video editing, while doing music, while learning Japanese, while going to the gym, while also trying to play video games too... It's just another thing on top of it all that I could be spending time actually creating the games I want to create. The lack of 3D is a concession I might just have to live with.
@beardalaxy How good is RPG Maker at making isometric games? Pre-rendered sprites in an isometric perspective is probably the best way to achieve fake 3D easily with the fewest compromises, imo.
@xianc78 pretty good, you just have to get custom graphics for it which I'd be doing anyway. There is also a 3D plug in that renders your game in 3D using the same tilesets and everything, it just protects the textures onto basic shapes like squares and stuff like objects can be turned into crosses or stars so that works well with trees and bushes and fences and stuff. There are certainly still limitations though, I think I can get a better looking 2D game out of rpg maker than a 3D game using that system. You kind of have to accept the jank and personally, I don't think that's great for a horror game unless you're making something surrealist like yume nikke.