Quirky Indie RPGs - Depression is optional

[LucasSomething]

Oh wow, Monster Tamer Ed's at 90k subs already? I found him when he was at barely 4k. Jeez, what a sudden rise.

All of these games look bad, honestly, there's so much aping of the Pokémon formula it's depressing. I should be used to this already but I'm really not, it's such a waste. I guess the SMT-inspired game looked cool, too, but it also seems very derivative (just of a different franchise).

I hope the genre gets past this shitty starting phase soon and grows into something better as all derivative genres tend to. FPSes had their years of Doom clones, Soulslikes had their years of Dark Souls rip-offs (that you could argue haven't ended yet, but frankly I think the fact that they're at least trying to rip off new things like Hollow Knight or Dead Cells now is a sign that it's gonna be over with soon)... I hope the day that Monster Catchers creep out from under the shadow of Pokémon comes soon.

Yeah, i found him when he had like 17k, i think the Palworld release boosted his numbers a lot cause he was the only guy who talked about it pre-release, good for him tho.

Yeah shame that 90% of the direct looked kinda bad, i think what sucks the soul out of it is that they either try too much to be like pokemon or have terrible presentation. Some games like Coromon, Temtem and Nexomon have decent graphics but terrible monster designs and shit characters so they lose to pokemon anyway.

There are a few different ones that stand out tho. Cassette beasts has a type chart but it plays super different and exploration is fun. Monster Sanctuary is allegedly just a solid deep 3v3 rpg. I didnt play Anode Heart but i heard it's underrated and more inspired by Digimon.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1592750/Anode_Heart/

Doesnt help that now the "original idea" is making pokemon mixed with another genre, like putting crafting and farming in the game, so you get moonstone islands, ova magica and technically Pal world. I saw some pal world clones too so THAT's going to be a thing.

Either way i did play the Pry Into The Void demo and it was underwhelmingly short but is still tight enough. The game somehow has a really strong idendity in it's eye imagery and atmosphere but feels too close to SMT to not mention.


(look at this smt 1-2 pov)

Enemies start as unidentified voids, just like the unknown data in Strange Journey. Once you hit a weakness they become revealed and you can "pry" into them, prompting a "demon negotiation" conversation that is more puzzlelike than RNG. You get thrown into a different space and talk to a human shadow and try to "estabilish a connection" meaning you try to make them like or at least remember you. There is a clear right answer but some require item and others are timed.



You might think this would break fusion but there is seemingly no fusion, at most you can convert enemies into seeds that teach skills and passives. Anyone can learn anything from them, including the MC, letting you customize him a bit.

There are seemingly SMT like resistances and SMT4:A affinities that make "demons" better or worse at elements. There is physical, fire, ice, water, wind, electric, light and dark much like SMT. You can learn a passive that gives +fire affinity but also wind weakness for example. Spells arent in english either. One seed the game gives you gives you a free action after you hit a weakness so you can pretend this is the press turn system too. I feel this would make the MC much better as a mage tho.


(This game was kickstarted btw and i found this art there)

Anyway, the demo we play Josef subconcious ghost and fight a smal linear dungeon with only a save and seed tutorial. The game gives you items but it's easy to die and unforgiving, so if you fuck around you'll die. There is a right way to play which is recruiting enemies and using seeds to give you coverage to recruit more enemies. We keep seeing these tablets talking about the creator and we reach a rotting tree and fight an "antibody", then we drop in a pit and fight an unwinable demon boss.

Then we wake up and it's our birthday in real life.


(sadboy josef)

Josef is the MC and for 8 years he hasnt left his apartment. He doesnt know why but he feels he can't leave so his maid does everything. His grandfather butler visits and says he should leave and work for grandpa but josef refuses. Then he goes to the balcony and self proclaimed god aka "The Creator" tells Josef the void choose him to save the tree. Josef asks if he has a choice and both are bound by fate, so he asks if Josef accepts. Either way it seems josef jumps out of the balcony and the demo ends with the creator saying he has no choice.

Overall i liked it, it's very obvious SMT but the art and sound is okay and the atmosphere is actually horror-like. The main problem is that a lot of enemy designs look like shit like a worm with a helmet and shovel or normal ass bunny with carrot. I understand they're symbolic for people's inner dillemas (The bunny Pry conversation is you soothing a baby) but it's so lame it borders on satire.


(These all look like shitpost monsters and not horror game material)

There is more in the kickstarter page if anyone wants to read, they wanted only 3k and got 5k so the solo dev sounds humble at least.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bigbosserndog/pry-into-the-void

 

[The Ultimate Ramotith]

@Anonitolia and @LucasSomething, what would make a good game out of this genre? /sincere/

 

[LucasSomething]

@Anonitolia and @LucasSomething, what would make a good game out of this genre? /sincere/

You mean like, a pre-existing game or a new idea for a game?

If we take the genre as "rpg inspired by earthbound" then there is certain irony because i feel most people don't get that earthbound was inspired by dragon quest games that were already somewhat quirky D&D adventures.

From my experience and opinion, i quirky indie rpg needs to be memorable first and then have decent presentation and gameplay, which is harder than it sounds because indies made into such a generic sounding genre.

I think Suits is a good example. While it looks lazy at first, the designs are very detailed and unique twists on "man with a suit". The soundtrack is not just good but jazzy which more memorable than chiptunes. The battle system is shallow but has one unique mechanic that changes designs so it doesnt get boring. I forgot to mention but it also has ultra unique stages that i won't forget.

Like, the first stage is a "bank city" where its just a city built around the big bank you must infiltrate. The second city is a dock with bars and fishermen. The third city is a single gigantic gift shop mall. One city is the "Gamer/recycle city" where you get a bunch of dead memes that are almost endearing in how badly they aged. Another city is the lube city / coliseum where even the manager says "whoever designed this city clearly run out of ideas". There is also a laboratory + circus stage where the lab experiments double as circus freaks which is just genius. It all comes back to business and making money in a way.

Compare it to a bad example, we have Heartbeat where i get "forest -> beach -> lava cave -> snow mountain" or whatever shit i didnt bother to remember.

I guess this can work backwards with bad games since something like YIIK is "memorable" for the wrong reasons. I'd personally like to see some devs try to do actual earthboundlike games.

It's bizarre how there isnt really a "spiritual sucessor" to earthbound. You know, a game where you play a modern day boy who gets superpower and go fight aliens to save the world, without being pretentious or ironic about it. Omori and Undertale are not like earthbound at all. I'd like to see a finished game of that for once.

 

[Don Yagon]

something like YIIK is "memorable" for the wrong reasons

YIIK is a trainwreck. It has lots of flaws, but it isn't disingenuous like that sheboon game funded by EU which name I already forgot. Beyond the tedious combat and incomprehensible story you could still see some love and effort put by the Allansons. That's what makes it more memorable than many other games that happen to be technically superior but boring. They're now doubling down on its strong suits like trippy visuals and symbolism in I.V, so we'll see if it's going to be the redemption arc for them.

 

[LucasSomething]

YIIK is a trainwreck. It has lots of flaws, but it isn't disingenuous like that sheboon game funded by EU which name I already forgot. Beyond the tedious combat and incomprehensible story you could still see some love and effort put by the Allansons. That's what makes it more memorable than many other games that happen to be technically superior but boring. They're now doubling down on its strong suits like trippy visuals and symbolism in I.V, so we'll see if it's going to be the redemption arc for them.

Dustborn is such a low bar it's underground, nothing should be compared to it. Yiik has soul but it's also a little too pretentious and ambitious for it's own good so it's best things look like wasted potential. I'm one of the few yiik defenders out there hoping the update makes it genuinely good. Pray for #yiik.

Also i have finished Meg's monster, it's a short 5-6 hour emotional novel-like tale and i'm busy right now so i won't write a big review explaining the entire game like i'm used to. If you dont want to spend 15 dollars at least pirate it like i did.


(Roy is on the left. He literally looks like a resident evil tyrant boss)

Roy is a monster who lives in a dump-like place named underworld with his friend Golan. One day a girl appears and Golan goes to kill her but when she cries the world turns red and feels like it's going to blow up! So they pacify her and take care of her while trying to find her mother.

I really like this story cause it mixes gameplay with plot in a sense that Roy is the most powerful monster ever but he can't let this little girl cry. He actually has 9999 hp and is virtually invincible but if she sees him get hurt she gets unhappy. At the same time's, he's kind of selfish loner where all he wants is to eat sludge all day so he is an asshole for a long time and only becomes better as a bunch of quirky or scary side characters to help him.


(He never had a choice)

IMO the game has mainly 3 issues

1-It's obviously low budget which hampers things a bit. There are not that many animations or songs and they're not that amazing so it never reaches the kino emotional beats you'd get in something like undertale, but i respect how hard it tries with what it has.

2-The main villain is either the best or the worst. He's an evil guy who loves being evil and he's actually funny AND threatning and i liked him but i can see some people disliking how he almost feels like a cartoon character compared to everyone else.

3-The game reaches the climax at and peaks HARD, to the point i kinda teared up a bit... Except i realize that was just the first half of the game. The second half does a much better job fleshing out the cast, making fights harder with minigames and has a great ending but it feels like a retread of some story beats.



All things considered the devs pulled off allright, the game is still a fun journey. It's kinda chiché tbh but it feels like to have a earnest wholesome story in my quirky rpg.

 

[The Ultimate Ramotith]

You mean like, a pre-existing game or a new idea for a game?

I say either one, actually, though I was more focusing on a new idea in this genre.

From my experience and opinion, i quirky indie rpg needs to be memorable first and then have decent presentation and gameplay, which is harder than it sounds because indies made into such a generic sounding genre.

That seems to be the ticket.

It's bizarre how there isnt really a "spiritual sucessor" to earthbound. You know, a game where you play a modern day boy who gets superpower and go fight aliens to save the world, without being pretentious or ironic about it.

I think that others aw the quirky humour of Mother 2 and concluded that pretensions and irony were the source of that humour. I would say that was because of the irony of gameplay from a 'medieval' setting being placed in a modern setting, but I believe tha they missed even that ironic point. They just looked a the surface and filled their own ideas.

Omori and Undertale are not like earthbound at all. I'd like to see a finished game of that for once.

I can tell. Omori was about depression while Undertale was a deconstruction of the lives of video game characters. They may have been inspired by Mother 2, bu they were ultimately different games.
Honestly, I always found weird when others compared Undertale to Mother 2, since they are that different.

 

[Sparky Lurker]

True and Honest spiritual successor to Mother 2:

 

[X Prime]

Absolutely not due to the obvious ending alone.

 

[MsFrancisFoster]

Got rec'd this game by a friend who knows I like farming sims. I can immediately tell the type of people behind it from the MC and first few NPCs alone lmao. Absolute tumblr tier designs. The name of the company fits though, it looks like perfect garbage.

The pixel style is cute but the actual talk sprites for the characters are fucking atrocious. They all look like they have down syndrome.

 

[LucasSomething]

Got rec'd this game by a friend who knows I like farming sims. I can immediately tell the type of people behind it from the MC and first few NPCs alone lmao. Absolute tumblr tier designs. The name of the company fits though, it looks like perfect garbage.

The pixel style is cute but the actual talk sprites for the characters are fucking atrocious. They all look like they have down syndrome.

It sucks cause "Supernatural murder mystery farming simulator" has potential, if only because there should be a market for adult objective driven farming sims but of course this has to have ugly as sin tumblr OCs.

Anyway i google once about it the premise seems broken

https://gamerant.com/grave-seasons-blumhouse-games-horror-stardew-valley/

>Each time players begin a new game of Grave Seasons, one NPC will be randomly chosen to be a serial killer. Players will be tasked with figuring out who the killer is before it's too late.

WELP, that's a mood sinker. If the killer is random then the narrative doesnt really matter right? It's probably going to be some arbitrary clue meter that requires generic resources and tasks to fill which would be laaaaame.

Also, people like farming sims cause they're open ended and can last forever so these type of players probably don't want to feel constrained and pressured.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

It sucks cause "Supernatural murder mystery farming simulator" has potential,

Not really, it sounds like an unholy mixture of popular game tags with no rhyme or reason. Like you said, farming games are open ended and relaxed so having a penalty of losing NPCs is contradictory. And without a narrative just random shit happens without any real development.

It does sound like an ingenious streamer bait though. Since streamers are irl slug people that can waste several hours playing this shit for fake viewer engagement.

 

[LucasSomething]

Not really, it sounds like an unholy mixture of popular game tags with no rhyme or reason. Like you said, farming games are open ended and relaxed so having a penalty of losing NPCs is contradictory. And without a narrative just random shit happens without any real development.

It does sound like an ingenious streamer bait though. Since streamers are irl slug people that can waste several hours playing this shit for fake viewer engagement.

I mean it could work if the two things were synergistic instead of working against each other. There are a lot of games nowadays that mix farm/shop simulator with a second different game loop like fighting in a dungeon so why not.

Maybe we could farm by day so we get money to buy equipment to explore at night and at night we find magic materials that lets us upgrade our farming tools so we get more money to buy more gear so we can explore further... You know, videogame shit. You could have a mystery and a villain and still let the player take their time and keep playing after saving the city or something, a lot of games already do that.

But here i don't see how one thing benefits the other. All i read makes it sound like the devs wanted to make a romance game where one random dating option is a killer and the farming is just there because it's trendy.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

I mean it could work if the two things were synergistic instead of working against each other. There are a lot of games nowadays that mix farm/shop simulator with a second different game loop like fighting in a dungeon so why not.

Maybe we could farm by day so we get money to buy equipment to explore at night and at night we find magic materials that lets us upgrade our farming tools so we get more money to buy more gear so we can explore further... You know, videogame shit. You could have a mystery and a villain and still let the player take their time and keep playing after saving the city or something, a lot of games already do that.

But here i don't see how one thing benefits the other. All i read makes it sound like the devs wanted to make a romance game where one random dating option is a killer and the farming is just there because it's trendy.

The usual issue with mystery games is that once you finish it once there's little reason to do it again, unless you can guarantee another route with wildly different plot and events. And still at the end of the mystery the question why continue to play the game. At least dungeon crawlers can scale enemy attributes and do RNG dungeons.

 

[gata]

Got rec'd this game by a friend who knows I like farming sims. I can immediately tell the type of people behind it from the MC and first few NPCs alone lmao. Absolute tumblr tier designs. The name of the company fits though, it looks like perfect garbage.

The pixel style is cute but the actual talk sprites for the characters are fucking atrocious. They all look like they have down syndrome.

The talking sprites are just a "refined" valiDate artstyle.
I feel that it also wants to be like the sexy "korean webtoon" characters that people thirst over and the player character looks like a fujoshi designed him.

 

[Sparky Lurker]

Mister Hands' Everhood launch trailer:

 

[Two Dollars]

What distinguishes Earthbound from its spiritual “successors” is that Earthbound is optimistic. Characters are living their lives, happy to impart their wisdom or just tell you whatever minutia they’re thinking about at the time. It teaches that everyone has their difficulties, but you have to push past them and keep a bright outlook on life; after all, the most important things are wisdom, courage, and friendship. It’s “quirky” not for the sake of being quirky, but because that how life itself is. There’s good, bad, weird, mundane, and everything in-between. Showcasing all of that makes the game world feel like a real world with real people. And no matter who you are, no matter what your life experiences are, something in the game should resonate with you and leave you different from how it found you.

Most motherlikes don’t understand any of this. Earthbound’s depiction of life’s mix of mundane and weird is mistaken for a generic “quirkiness” where random and wacky take priority above everything else. Earthbound’s realistic depiction of life’s low points is taken as an excuse for the devs to vent about angst and depression and my parents. Sincerity is mistaken for irony, as is often the case among modern devs. They miss the point that life is not only about adversity, but overcoming that adversity and become a better, happier person through it all.

Spoiler: Undertale did it right

I haven’t played many of the notable successful motherlikes, but I can speak for Undertale, and that understands what Itoi wanted to convey. The monsters are trapped underground, but make the most of it. Humans are generally seen in a negative light, but not because the game wants to preach about anything its creator doesn’t like; it all stems from tragedy caused by misunderstanding (the humans thinking Asriel killed Chara) resulting from the malice of one bad human specifically. But your actions show humans have the capacity for good, and there’s hope for the future of both humans and monsters. And if you “mess up” by treating the game like a traditional RPG early on and killing a few monsters? You’re encouraged to see the world less like a video game and more like a reflection of real life (like Earthbound) and try again; it’s never too late to do the right thing, and a positive outlook is key.

(The genocide route is an obvious exception to all this, but that’s by design; you’re going far out of your way to do bad at every possible occasion, because you have to see what happens in this video game. Deconstruction and all that. But even then, you don’t reach the point of no return until you explicitly answer Chara’s demand to erase the world.)

 

[Irrational Bounty Hunter]

I don't know why I can't reply to the post above me but it scares my low post count, infantile mind.

Anyhow, pretend I'm quoting it, I think LISA (specifically Painful, Joyful, Hopeful and Pointless (last two are fan projects, and there are probably more which do this but I don't care to think of them)) accomplishes a feeling of optimism as well. You navigate through their worlds in search of desirable things (Painful is family, safety, redemption; Joyful is power, safety, control; Hopeful is camaraderie, hope, and pussy; Pointless is simply "this place is supposedly better than the shithole I'm currently in") just because it's the only option you'll accept.

I think something interesting to note is that all of these characters could've lied down and done nothing if they really wanted to, there was no immediate threat to any of them individually if they threw in the towel (perhaps Buddy, but if she had the strength to take on the world she had to strength to establish herself as a hermit) and yet they thrust themselves into the gauntlet anyway. Brad couldn't live without his daughter, Buddy wanted to prove she could live without her father, the Hopeful gang wasn't going to let it all be for nothing in search for "The Girl", and the Pointless duo were never going to be satisfied worshipping either garbage or violence until their inevitable, meaningless deaths. In the process they are battered and lose very much, but in the end, unless your choices as a player have led to them making serious fuck-ups Refusing to let Buddy hug Brad, letting Buddy turn into a joy mutant, achieving an ending in Hopeless where all three boys are dead, and abandoning Joel there is a uniform sense of optimistic beauty in their endings to me.

LISA: the Painful is a game which at face value meets every criteria of the "quirky earthbound inspired RPG about depression" but I think it shares a brotherhood with Undertale for how much it had to say for itself. It, its predecessor, and its tribute projects are filled to the brim with nonsensical characters and scenarios, but still maintain enough maturity to say that things can always be a little bit better if we try hard enough. Life is not about wallowing in your own past actions or the consequences of them, and even if those consequences have left you doomed, there is still so much life left to live. Brad's journey is reckless, and destructive, and violent, but in the end if he never took a single joy pill of his own volition during the events of the game, he can die knowing so.

 

[Two Dollars]

I don't know why I can't reply to the post above me but it scares my low post count, infantile mind.

You can’t reply to long posts (I can’t reply to yours), but you can highlight a smaller subsection and reply to that.

I haven’t played any of the Lisa games, but I’ve heard really good things about them, and I want to get around to at least playing the first one some day. As odd as it may sound, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is a series I equate to Mother even though the gameplay is completely different. They share that optimistic outlook and the feeling of “things are bad now, maybe even depressing, but there are people who love you and want you to never give up”. It also has a sense of wonder and beautiful music, which is basically a requirement for a good motherlike.

 

[Sparky Lurker]

Quirkypunk Hero launch trailer:

 

[BarberFerdinand]

I've been seeing people promoting https://store.steampowered.com/app/1627570/The_Plucky_Squire/ everywhere. Anyone here play it? Opinions?

edit: not sure if this counts as indie or not.