In a world full of amazing new RPG's, why not take the time to make something of your own?
Is it what it says it is?
The game sets up like this, you are given lots of options to create the design, 'system', of your game. You can create monsters and give them stats, a graphic, attacks, treasure to drop, special attacks etc. You can create characters in the same way. You can also make dungeons and towns with a decent array of things to include with lots of items to put in the houses and several backgrounds and wallpapers to use. You can also make your own items and magic spells. One of the coolest parts of designing the game, in my opinion, is actually going through and creating your own graphics to appear when you use a spell, you can have up to three parts to it with lots of different sounds and effects to choose from. You can also create special attacks and skills which offer something along the lines of a job system. You can create a world map and place your towns on it and you can also make a title screen. Now, this can seem very overwhelming, and it is. However, this isn't even the complicated part.
The second part of creating your game is making the events, 'scenario', that will happen throughout your game. THIS WILL MAKE YOU RIP YOUR HAIR OUT! You have to choose one of the dungeons you have created to place events in and then start your story. You really are given an amazing number of options for these events. You can move your characters around, display text, move locations, have them disappear, trigger battles, give or take items, etc. There is no way I could go into detail about every single one. This will take you some time to figure out, so, it will either engross you and you will give up hours in pursuit of your game, or you'll get angry and regret buying this game. You should ask yourself how you think your gonna react before purchasing.
Anyone who has ever played this game to any extent can tell you the one word that will strike fear in the heart of any new player. SWITCHES. Switches are the key to making your game and mastering their uses can take you days and days of testing, or you can read a FAQ, but whatever. Switches will keep your story moving and make it so events don't continue to repeat themselves. You don't want to fight a powerful boss and then beat him to find that he is still on the screen and you have to fight him again because someone forgot to turn a switch on or off.
The point is, this game is not for everyone. If you love RPG's and really think you could spend some time with this game then I suggest getting it. You should realize that you may never finish a game, I haven't, but the fun of going through the process really doesnt make it necessary to complete the product.
This is also probably the best in the series, RPG Maker 2 isn't that great really. However, if you want a more in-depth experience with more satisfying graphics and many more options you may want to think about RPG Maker XP for the computer.
The game also offers an Anime Maker which really isnt all that impressive but I thought I should mention it as well.