Japan Indie Live Expo - The indie scene of Japanese vidya

[BananaSplit²]

Beyond the livestream event itself, this thread could extend its purpose to discuss and promote Japanese (and East-Asian) indies, for anyone here curious and willing to try out new things.

Ryu’s Office will host INDIE Live Expo 2024 on May 25 at May 25 at 1:00 a.m. PT / 4:00 a.m. ET / 17:00 JST.
You will be able to watch it on YouTube (English, Japanese, Korean), Twitter (English, Japanese, Korean), and Twitch (English, Japanese).

https://store.steampowered.com/sale/indieliveexpo2024

Among the 100-plus game updates promised are news on the following titles:

Blade Chimera (PC / Switch) – Pixel art Metroidvania by Team LadyBug (DRAINUS, Record of Lodoss War, Touhou Luna Nights).

C.A.R.D.S. RPG: The Misty Battlefield (PC / Switch / PS4 / PS5) – Roguelike deckbuilder by ACQUIRE.

Hotel Barcelona (PC, PS5, Xbox Series) – Time-looping horror action game co-developed by Goichi “Suda 51” Suda (Grasshopper Manufacture, No More Heroes series) and Hidetaka “Swery 65” Suehiro (White Owls Inc., Deadly Premonition series).

Hookah Haze (PC / Switch) - Hookah lounge visual novel developed by ACQUIRE and published by Aniplex

Kemono Teatime (PC) – Tea shop simulator by Studio Lalala.

PIGGY ONE SUPER SPARK (PC) – Hyperkinetic action platformer by Hanabushi and hako life.

Witch & Lilies (PC) – Yuri JRPG dungeon-crawler by Stromatosoft.

 

[BirdUp]

i'm sorry but the japanese are bad at making games

 

[BananaSplit²]

i'm sorry but the japanese are bad at making games

I made the thread so that people could eventually discover stuff that isn't the usual Bamco / Capcom / Square-Enix / Sega thing when it comes to Japanese games.
That side of the industry gets easily ignored by western game journalists and dismissed as "shovelware" if it is ever brought up.

Devil Blade Reboot (Shmup) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2882440/DEVIL_BLADE_REBOOT/

BURGGEIST (Action Strategy) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2203210/BURGGEIST/

SHINONOME ABYSS: The Maiden Exorcist (Roguelike Horror) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2948080/SHINONOME_ABYSS_The_Maiden_Exorcist/

Production Staff
Director / Game Designer: Kenichi Iwao (Resident Evil, Einhander, Parasite Eve 2, Final Fantasy XI)
Character Design:Tatsuya Yoshikawa (Breath of Fire series, Devil May Cry 4 and 5, Last Ranker)
Programming:Hiroshi Ogino (Shiren the Wanderer: Mystery Dungeon, Fate/Grand Order, Culdcept Mobile)

 

[Coolio55]

A new suda51 game is poggers but I hate it when people use "kemono" to mean "kemonomimi". FUCK OFF DUDE'S!

 

[Whatevermancer]

i'm sorry but the japanese are bad at making games

Phil Fish, is that you?

 

[BananaSplit²]

NIGHTMARE OPERATOR (Action Horror) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2957360/NIGHTMARE_OPERATOR/

Design Character artist - Takeshia Oga (Gravity Rush)

Scars of Mars (Real-time RPG) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2574460/Scars_of_Mars/

ULTRA MUSHROOM (High-tension Adventure) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2975130/ULTRA_MUSHROOM/

NINJA SLAYER NEO-SAITAMA IN FLAMES (Action) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2752330/NINJA_SLAYER_NEOSAITAMA_IN_FLAMES/

 

[Dojima's Dragon]

i'm sorry but the japanese are bad at making games

Dont you guys have another video game crash to cause?

 

[BananaSplit²]

Pastel☆Parade (Rhythm) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2685840/PastelParade/
(From the same publisher) Kimekawa Genkai Beat-chan!! - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2780040/_/

RewindGirl (Puzzle) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2952990/RewindGirl/

ShapeHero Factory (Simulation) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2389040/ShapeHero_Factory/

Last Standing (Action) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2874130/Last_Standing/

All in Abyss: Judge the Fake (Poker / ADV) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2514640/_/

 

[Born2Sneed]

Japanese anime games are the blandest most mass produced slop ever made.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

Good to see Japs are making some good indies, some of this looks cool. My wishlist is already huge, guess it'll be growing now

 

[Zero MK 2]

Japanese anime games are the blandest most mass produced slop ever made.

2D platformers and SMT styled dungeon crawlers are the most bland mass produced style-over-substance slop ever made. That includes VN’s for all the story segments. Its 2024. We can do better than glorified slideshows.

Everyone spergs about graphics and sales yet never cares about making a game that is worth buying/is fun to play.

 

[BananaSplit²]

AMEDAMA (Action) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2411980/__AMEDAMA/

Snezhinka:Sentinel Girls2 (Shooter) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2608350/Sentinel_Girls2/

Yun Yun Denpa Syndrome (Rhythm) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2914150/Yunyun_Syndrome_Rhythm_Psychosis/

[S.Korea] Ninja Issen (Action) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1714550/Ninja_Issen/

Good to see Japs are making some good indies, some of this looks cool. My wishlist is already huge, guess it'll be growing now

Japanese indie movement is currently in the middle of a golden age, better than what happened with indies in the West.
It also shows once again that PC and Nintendo are pretty much the go-to platforms for Japanese games these days.

 

[Grub]

I was honestly expecting this thread to be nothing but visual novels and hentai games but some of these games actually look pretty decent. That Korean ninja one looks kinda cool.

 

[Ultrapenguin]

Idk I won't play any of these but I appreciate the thread idea.
(Personally I always leaned a little more towards the Russian school of game design. I think all the deprivation and suicidal depression in Eastern Europe really grants their products a certain je ne sais quoi)

Anime is also extremely dumb and juvenile, so it doesn't help that Japanese indie games tend to be overwhelmingly saturated with its influences.

It appears to have caused Eastern indie developers to become complacent making games or aesthetics that fit squarely within cookie cutter genre lines. Which is really ironic, because major Japanese developers have traditionally bucked genre trends.

As per usual, the damage anime has caused cannot be overstated.

 

[Tetra]

People who clicked on this thread just to shout about how much they hate Japanese games/indie games just reminds me of this meme

 

[Tepes Thot]

People who clicked on this thread just to shout about how much they hate Japanese games/indie games just reminds me of this meme

View attachment 6020899

Yeah, but these aren’t good offerings and I like Japanese games. They need more stuff like Toukiden, God Hand, or God Eater and less…that stuff.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

Japanese indie movement is currently in the middle of a golden age, better than what happened with indies in the West.
It also shows once again that PC and Nintendo are pretty much the go-to platforms for Japanese games these days.

Perfect timing, with even big Japanese companies going woke now I'm sure jap indies will be less infected by this shit.

As per usual, the damage anime has caused cannot be overstated.

The only way I agree with this is modern anime art styles, it all blurs together and is really generic. The old stuff looks much better and even seemed to have more variety in concepts and tone, not just aesthetics.

Yeah, but these aren’t good offerings and I like Japanese games. They need more stuff like Toukiden, God Hand, or God Eater and less…that stuff.

Those are not indie games, so I don't know why you'd expect that kinda stuff here.

 

[BananaSplit²]

Yeah, but these aren’t good offerings and I like Japanese games. They need more stuff like Toukiden, God Hand, or God Eater and less…that stuff.

I like these games you listed too and it's A-Okay if you don't personally like what has been showcased in this thread so far.
But right now, the big Japanese third-party companies are still struggling to understand their own home audience and continue to believe Playstation is their lifeblood as if we're still in the 1990's-2000's. I would like to assume the Switch 2 will make things right again, but there is a possibility they would continue running their business in the worst ways possible (such as neutering things for the "global audience").

The purpose of this thread is mainly to show a side of the Japanese game industry that is rarely touched upon despite its current bloom, which also coincide with the rise of PC as a legitimate gaming platform at Japan in the last few years (as it's been reported back during the Tokyo Game Show 2023, but again the executives at Squeenix, Bamco and Capcom were completely dumbfounded at this turn of events).



Nintendo also contributed in making the indie scene popular in Japan with their live events, blog articles and dedicated eshop sections.

I was honestly expecting this thread to be nothing but visual novels and hentai games but some of these games actually look pretty decent. That Korean ninja one looks kinda cool.

Touhou has been a primary setting in doujin "indie" games for a long time too, such as the Tower Defense Gensokyo Defenders, the Mystery Dungeon Gensou Wanderer, or the Etrian Odyssey Labyrinth of Touhou.

Another sample of Japanese indies outside of the recent live presentation are these ones too:

Elechead (Puzzle Platform) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1456880/ElecHead/

Fight Crab (Fighting) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1213750/Fight_Crab/

ENDER LILLIES: Quietus of the Knights (Metroidvania) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1369630/ENDER_LILIES_Quietus_of_the_Knights/

Rusted Moss (Shooting Metroidvania) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1772830/Rusted_Moss/

Kakuriyo (Survival Horror) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2136340/KAKURIYO/

Kitsune: The Journey of Adashino (Adventure) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2065580/Kitsune_The_Journey_of_Adashino/

 

[Tepes Thot]

Those are not indie games, so I don't know why you'd expect that kinda stuff here.

I didn’t say that they were. I picked examples that are undeniably Japanese, but are far away from the 1,000,000th visual novel or yuri fest.

I think that’s why Japan’s indie scene hasn’t popped as much as ours, because it looks like the same stagnant offerings.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

I didn’t say that they were. I picked examples that are undeniably Japanese, but are far away from the 1,000,000th visual novel or yuri fest.

I think that’s why Japan’s indie scene hasn’t popped as much as ours, because it looks like the same stagnant offerings.

I'd take more visual novels over another quirky gay farming game any day.

But overall I think the notion that indies are somehow more innovative is exaggerated. No matter where you look there's a quadrillion Metroidvanias, the only difference is western ones feature tranny niggers in vomitous Calarts-style instead of Japs' anime art that looks AI generated.