8/11 Update
The Game Place features many familiar faces. NPCs like Megan have context-sensitive dialogue when approached by the player. Interacting with certain objects will trigger a saga splash screen, as seen with Megan's in the alpha 2 teaser video posted earlier.
Chris's sprite animations were completely re-done for the game, switching from event tiles to common events in the RPG Maker engine. This should reduce lag a bit. Chris also now has talking frames!