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The coming onslaught of JRPG inspired indie games

sublimit

sublimit

Banned
I'm disappointed there was no mention of Shiness the Lightning Kingdom in the OP. :(

Shiness-The-Lightning-Kingdom_2016_09-01-16_004.jpg


Shiness-The-Lightning-Kingdom_2016_09-01-16_002.jpg


Shiness-The-Lightning-Kingdom_2016_05-11-16_001.jpg


Shiness-The-Lightning-Kingdom_2016_05-11-16_002.jpg


Shiness-The-Lightning-Kingdom_2016_05-11-16_004.jpg


Shiness-The-Lightning-Kingdom_2016_05-11-16_003.jpg
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Gameplay
 
E

Enduin

No bald cap? Lies!
Lot of great looking stuff. I back Omori on Kickstarter, been watching Cosmic Star forever now, thought Indivisible looked amazing when I first saw it a couple months ago, but YIIK is totally new to me and really got me intrigued.
 
T

Timeaisis

Member
Really looking forward to CSH and Cross Code. :)

Robert at Zeboyd Games said:
Yeah, I really don't understand why 95% of all indie JRPGs go for generic fantasy settings. Not only is that kind of boring, but it's bad business as well - since there are so many of them, it's really hard to stand out. Whereas "JRPG where you play as Cthulhu as a good guy" is a much easier sales pitch.

Although after working on 5 alternate setting JRPGs, I do think making something like Lunar (standard fantasy meets 80/90s anime) would be a fun change of pace. Not sure how I'd be able to market such thing short of actually making a sequel to Lunar though (and even then, most of the fans of the IP have probably moved on, especially after Dragon Song).
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Honestly, I kind of chalk this up to graphic requirements. JRPGs require a lot of sprite work (as you know much better than I haha), and there are LOTS of free fantasy-esque resources out there of the "generic fantasy", so games are made within those constraints.
 
F

Fou-Lu

Member
I love to see this! Games are looking great.

Hopefully my own game will be on such a list eventually. I am looking forward to finishing school and working on the thing full-ish time. I hope my setting won't be considered generic fantasy by you guys, it definitely has some ideas that I think are unique, but we'll see.
 
D

DNAbro

Member
Fou-Lu said:
I love to see this! Games are looking great.

Hopefully my own game will be on such a list eventually. I am looking forward to finishing school and working on the thing full-ish time. I hope my setting won't be considered generic fantasy by you guys, it definitely has some ideas that I think are unique, but we'll see.
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Same. Hoping to show something significant off by end of next year if life doesn't get in the way too much.
 
E

E_Darkness

Member
Yiik still looks Yuuk to me.

Looking forward to Cosmic Star Heroine quite a bit. Omari is completely new to me and I'm rather interested in that now.
 
N

Nyoro SF

Member
The Lab Zero guys are top notch devs, though that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone at this point. I'm sure Indivisible will really turn out to be a great game, looking forward to it.
 
C

ctothej

Member
CSH has been my most anticipated indie for years. YIIK looks really cool too, haven't heard of it before this thread.
 
Z

zulux21

Member
im quite looking forward to playing CSH physically on my PS4

still haven't decided if I will be playing YIIK: A Postmodern RPG physically on my ps4
 
W

WarRock

Member
The recently announced CrossCode delay pains my heart, but at least we'll have Cosmic Star Heroine next year =)
 
M

Mass One

Member
Very excited to see if Yiik holds up to my expectations at psx. The only turn based rpgs I've ever finished or liked are the non-fantasy indie ones.
 
L

lTyl

Neo Member
Aeana said:
"FINALLY, A RETRO RPG WORTH PLAYING!"


That doesn't seem like a very good pitch for a game that apes dozens of older RPGs and wants to appeal to the people who like them.
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I'm one of the devs for this, and I agree with you there. Dropped the ball on that tagline...
 
P

Purple Cheeto

Member
I had a feeling a few years ago as Metroidvanias all got overdone that JRPGs were the next Indie boom. Started making my own but never finished. Might as well scrap it since I'm way too late to the game now.
 
M

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
Hyped for (and proud backer of):
- Cosmic Star Heroine
- CrossCode
- Indivisible

Shiness looks interesting, but I'm a bit skeptical about the fight system. On paper it sounds cool, fighting game mechanics for the battle, but that's very ambitious and would need to be really well balanced, plus the party members helping you with their AI... that can get iffy real quick. Also framerate looks really rough from the footage, but obviously that's still in development. Worth keeping an eye on, at least.

Shadows of Adam look generic as fuck. Pass.

SOLDIER said:
Not a single one of these has a solid release date, do they? :(

just like most JRPGs this gen, amirite?
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Ooooof xD You aren't wrong (about both sentences), sadly. Seems like it's hard to make JRPGs, even indie ones.

Wolfgunblood Garopa said:
Cosmic Star Heroine still pretty high on my mental list. That first screenshot with the cityscape is top tier retro eyecandy.

Crosscode looks like a really solid Ys type game, I have to check that out.
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Agreed on both. And do check out the CrossCode free demo, it's amazing, and totally reminiscent of Ys. Most of the marketing/promo stuff compare it to Zelda, maybe because of all the puzzles, but honestly it's more like Ys in terms of combat. I backed it on IGG a while ago and can't wait for the full release.
 
J

JC Lately

Member
CO_Andy said:
can't forget this one which will eventually be served a C&D from Ninty

N9GrJlE.gif
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When this one drops I'm making it a point to drop whatever else I'm doing and downloading it immediately before the C&D hits. I wasn't fast enough for Crimson Echoes, and I regret that to this day.
 
Exentryk

Exentryk

Member
Looking forward to Cosmic and Battle Chasers. The timing of their release will be important if I get them day 1 or not.
 
B

Bronetta

Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
I need all of those in my life, except the one with hipsters (plaid shirt with a beard and thick glasses? Let me guess his occupation is a barista?)
 
D

DangerMouse

Member
Great stuff!

Still can't wait for Cosmic Star Heroine (so hyped for it!), Shiness, Indivisible, and Shadows of Adam, hadn't seen CrossCode and Battle Chasers before either which look great here.

YIIK has a neat 3D art style too for an indie, plus voice acting in the description, will keep an eye on that.

sublimit said:
I'm disappointed there was no mention of Shiness the Lightning Kingdom in the OP. :(

Gameplay
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Yeah good to see you bring it up, backed this, game looks really awesome.
 
StereoVsn

StereoVsn

Gold Member
CrossCode is very very good. Ys comparison is very apt. Also the backgrounds are amazing with animation and motion. It's a very well done game even in EA.

Of course looking toward CSH, the setting, spirited and described systems look awesome.
 
D

DNAbro

Member
OniBarubary said:
I think YIIK looks great, y'all is butts.
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One of the reasons I'm so excited for it is that it seems like it's going to have an absolutely killer OST. The vocal tracks are impressive stand outs. https://andrewallanson.bandcamp.com/releases

They don't have a lot of the songs from the demo on that bandcamp and that had some amazing battle themes in it.

J-Skee said:
No love for Knights & Bikes?
Click to expand...

I completely forgot about that one as well. I'm not 100% into it, but it looks nice.
 
O

Omega Kirby

Member
DNAbro said:
Other than not being made in Japan, it's close enough. I think people get what I mean when I say JRPG-inspired. I'm so happy indie devs are making these type of games with interesting settings besides standard RPG Maker asset world.
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Nah, regardless where they're made they're jrpgs. You don't go to an italian restaurant in the USA and say that your eating american food cause the food is being made in the US
 
R

rockx4

Member
Omega Kirby said:
Nah, regardless where they're made they're jrpgs. You don't go to an italian restaurant in the USA and say that your eating american food cause the food is being made in the US
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I don't go to panda express and call it Chinese food though, it's "inspired"... but it's not Chinese food lol.

Of the games listed in OP, the only one I'd buy for sure is Cosmic Star Heroine. Indivisible looks like it could be good, so I'll wait and see. Everything else... the art styles and character designs turns me away.
 
H

HotHamBoy

Member
kswiston said:
I am 100% on board for Cosmic Star Heroine.

I might get Indivisible and Battlechasers if reviews are good, but both of those seem like the type of games that will be in a Humble Monthly within a year of release.
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What an upsetting point of view.

Says so much about the state of the industry.

Support the niche and the risk takers! These people live off ramen!
 
E

eyeball_kid

Member
Com_Raven said:
You forgot the best looking one (imho, of course): Battle Chasers. It's a new project from Joe Madueira (who also worked at Vigil on Darksiders) that combines his 90s comic series Battle Chasers with his love for old console jrpgs. And as you can see, style-wise it looks stunning...

http://www.battlechasers.com/game

1452574744381
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Wow, I love the look of this. There's a certain Dragon's Lair quality to the coloring and architecture art treatment.
 
N

NipplesAndToes23

Member
Serious lack of POC in these JRPGs. It just further perpetuates my need to own my own studio. I'll get black people and others in JRPGs.

rockx4 said:
That's my main issue with many indie games with modern\postmodern setting.
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Really? I would love that because I want to see people that are like me in games.
 
D

DNAbro

Member
Blasian Persuasion said:
Serious lack of POC in these JRPGs. It just further perpetuates my need to own my own studio. I'll get black people and others in JRPGs.



Really? I would love that because I want to see people that are like me in games.
Click to expand...

YIIK has two black party members if I remember correctly.
 
T

Theslammer

Member
As someone who hasn't been into many of the roguelikes and metroidvania indies out there lately, it's cool to see JRPG indies releasing this year. I'll keep an eye on them.

Which platforms are they all coming for, though?
 
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