Quirky Indie RPGs - Depression is optional

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Have any of these recent ones had fun equipment/mechanical stuff? For all the crap people give Jimmy about grinding it really felt like exploring was worth something with the gear and monster variety, and that seems to be one thing that the quirky rpg subset generally tends to drop the ball on.

How "recent" we talking? If you liked jimmy for the gear, classes and dungeons then Crystal Project is top tier but it's not quirky. Most quirky rpgs don't really have great rpg system.

BTW i've been playing a rpg maker game called Rise of The Third Power

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You might think this looks like generic fantasy rpg maker, and you'd be right, but this game is definitely trying to be as quirky as possible instead of nostalgic, which feels really weird tbh. It's very comedy focused and the main characters are all assholes.

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This would be a fine introduction except they reuse this converastion AGAIN 3 minutes and i realized the writing is just kinda bad.

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The worst part is that they don't actually explain WHY we're kidnapping the princess either (until hours later) so it doesn't even work as exposition.

One conversation i really didn't like was something like

Girl: THis is the room they signed the peace treaty for the war. My parents died in the war so i kinda... kinda feel like this place is important and
Pirate: We dont have time for this, lets move on.
*next room*
pirate: Hmm, we should take this opportunity to steal from the nobles while we can.
Girl: I CAN'T TALK ABOUT MY DEAD PARENTS FOR ONE MINUTE AND YOU ALREADY WANT TO STEAL STUFF?

And it's like, paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaainnnn... It's not all this bad, a few lines are funny but i don't like the protagonsits.

This is also one of those rpg makers that tries to be "strategic" and removes mana bar and focuses on attacks making stacks and dots that buff other attacks to give a sense of "combos" but this means the game is completely solved after the first fight. The main pirate guy has an unmissable taunt and a free self heal while the thief girl has a sleep and big oneshot so every fight is the same flowchart. It also has an exhaustion mechanic so you can't stall and self heal every fight or else you get tired and get no exp.

Enemies are also divided in classes which looks cute but ironically makes them all feel the same Tank/Healer/DPS roles. Here are human enemies, they have gunner (dps), shielder (tank) and mage (heal). Here are goblins, they have sword, shielder and mage. Here are frogs, they have sword, shielder and mage...

Overall i already switched to story mode which is just normal but adds an auto-win button, because the enemy density is too high. There were two chests protected by 3 easy encounters and i dont see the point, but you don't want to avoid combat cause leveling gives skill tree points that are fairly strong. The combat sprite are pretty solid and kinda carry the game tbh (if you get a crit there is a huge blood splatter that covers the floor).

Either way Steamfest february 2025 started so there should be new demos to look at.


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This game is quirky pokemon made by brazilians and i fear only brazilians will get a lot of jokes here. For example, the evil team is dubbed by team rocket brazilian VAs. It does look to have okay production values so it might not be too bad.


Unfriendly friend doesn't look rpg but it does give me STRONG "horror rpg that is actually about depression" vibes. It's also monochrome as any good depression rpg is.

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Moonchild looks mother 1 but without style. It apparently had a demo since end of last year so if it was posted here already my bad. Sadly it doesnt look good so it would need to have amazing write to standout.

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This game is called "Jeff and Crackhead". It looks bad but also looks like a shitpost game with typos and swearing. The gameplay looks surprisingly ambitious for a top down rpg, having platforming, exploration tools, combat minigames and you can dodge projectiles in real time so it's not a lazy rpg maker slop. The demo is out there for any believers.

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I already played the Muffles life sentence when it released months ago and it's an edgy quirky rpg inspired by LISA but with card battle system. My problem with it is that the gameplay loops since it becomes a retarded flowchart of "attack and stock 2 shields, use 3 shield to defend the enemy charged attack, repeat". The new cards were too expensive and didn't feel well with the loop of the game because every single enemy has a super charged attack you want to block with 3 shield cards.

If someone likes card rpgs they might have more fun tho, this game releases march 7.



It's everhood 2 baby everyone's favourite reverse undertale! (or not). The demo is out there and the game releases march 4.


This game is inspired by cyberpunk 2077 and looks fairly stylish with a few jokes in the trailer and has a demo.

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This game on paper is a mix of a bunch of different things i love like but looks kinda ugly and apparently had a failed kickstarter. Like, it's not even low effort ugly, the artstyle is just fugly. It's half crime deduction death game visual novel but with superhero style rpg combat, which SOUNDS cool at least... A quick glance at the quickstarter reveals they/them pronouns so it is what it is...

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There are other rpgs with rpg maker default assets out there and might have missed something, but these were the one i found had demos and looked quirky or different enough.
 
psychodelic gross (horror?) rpg about bugs with a bunch of minigames named Eulogy of an insect. They got Hylics 2 composer, so i think it's aiming for the trippy quirky crowd.
The same Hylics composer also heavily promotes Flipside (aka Flips¿de)
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The game includes a colourful cast of characters with a she/they protagonist wearing a TeddyFresh hoodie, and of course, an Earthbound inspired battle system.
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Game Trailer uploaded by Chuck Salamone:
 

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Some of the games are rather known a this point: Indivisible, Born of Bread, Rhapsody, a Musical Adventure, I am Setsuna, and Chained Echoes. However, there are a few other notesworthy ones:

Terra Memoria​

(Aside from furries, th is just Dragon Quest HD-2D. The construction mechanic is interesting, though.)

Eternights​

(When an indie developer gets inspired by Metaphor: ReFantazio without right ripping off the game...)

Cris Tales​

(To those who wish that Cucumber Quest was a full, playable game...)

Haven​

(When BlueSky discovers No Man's Sky...)
 
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Some of the games are rather known a this point: Indivisible, Born of Bread, Rhapsody, a Musical Adventure, I am Setsuna, and Chained Echoes. However, there are a few other notesworthy ones:

In Stars and Time​

(If you stop at 0:11, the game becomes way better.)

Terra Memoria​

(Aside from furries, th is just Dragon Quest HD-2D. The construction mechanic is interesting, though.)

Eternights​

(When an indie developer gets inspired by Metaphor: ReFantazio without right ripping off the game...)

Cris Tales​

(To those who wish that Cucumber Quest was a full, playable game...)

Haven​

(When BlueSky discovers No Man's Sky...)
In Stars and Time was already discussed here a few pages back:
Cris Tales was briefly mentioned here since devs are now doing their own take on Persona:
 
So i played some of the demons i mentioned, some quick thoughts

>Unfriendly Friend

I don't know why this game is tagged as JRPG when it's not a jrpg by any means. I guess it's on me for not reading the page tho... It doesn't say much beyonf "your choices matters and define your real friends" and the game is about a group of friends going to an abandoned hospital and the final game will probably be about keeping them alive with choices.

I assume the premise is of a visual novel where your choices decide who lives and who die in the hospital but the demo ends before the hospital so i dont feel the weight. You can be asshole yo your childhood friend for no reason i guess, or solve an npc riddle for a pen (imagine if you need it for the good end).

The main real choice is wether you bring an extra friend with you as this adds a lot more dialogue. One of your friends found out Olivia "isn't the good person she appears" and start bullying her out of the friend group but you can invite her. Having Olivia adds a significant amount of dialogue so it feels like the "canon" choice.

The demo ends before the ends so i technically didnt do shit. I also never felt scared because our cast of teenagers are all absurdly handsome.

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LOOK AT ALL THESE TWINKS


>CHI project

This game is really unfortunate because it feels like a single dev passion project and they're trying THEIR BEST but it doesn't matter cause their art, coding and game design is simply not good enough.

There are 3 main characters but in the demo only 2. Nathaniel is a gladiator and has the combat rpg part, Rika is a detective and has the deduction parts. You start with Nathaniel and it's really rough because the game does not look good and the basic bitch rpg combat does not feel good and i don't understand why it starts with multiple fights. Nathaniel is also a Bland McBlanderson protag and the only interesting things about him is that he likes money (no explanation given) and has no arms so he uses prosthetics controlled by his psychic powers.

1740530642703.jpeg (This pop up of Skylar is particular UGLY)

1740530713560.jpeg (she looks a little better here, and this designs are ok in a vaacum)

At the same time the game does a few things i find actually great. There is a friendship level system because of course, you learn spells from it but, after you befriend Skylar, nathaniel healing spell animation changes to him hi fiving her with both smiling which is cute.

The game also has few fights but they all hame some gimmick and Nathan can use "clues" to counter the enemy. This usually leads to things like "The enemy has metal swords, how could i counter it? and if you pick skylar he tells her to use her eletric powers and she learns a new spell. Later on you can use a clue on a boss that creates fake clones and nathan will mark the real one based on her voicelines. It's basic bitch shounen shit but sells him as a smart character.

Rika's gameplay is very short tutorial of just one room but i like her a lot more. She's basically a giddy girl eager to prove herself and that's just so different it feels unique. Her art is also okay and she has the most sprites in the game.

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Her part is too braindead to be fun, you just examine 3 things and use clues in the right order, which is a shame because if your combat will feel bad your puzzles should feel good. After her you alternate back to nathan.

The game is definitely zane inbetween serious, so you get shit like Nathan working in the maid cafe everyday for 200 gold and stat boosts (at least they did make clear he likes money). Cody also feels liek it's trying too hard to be tumblr sexy man.

One thing i like is how Nathan being a cripple is totally a real plot point, with the person who hired you straight up saying "your gimmick is that you're a cute disabled boy so people will root for you" and Nathan says nothing, only nods and the conversation ends. Altho it's also implied she only hired him cause he has very strong "CHI". In the intro Nathan deflects a bullet with his mind and knocks a thug. Another guy also gets impressed and tries to hire him. Having big CHI seems like a big deal in this society, especially when they reveal that Skylar is a clone of her sister because her parents wanted more children with big CHI.

And then Skylar sister dies offscreen and skylar is the suspect and the demo ends. It sucks how it does have some good ideas but the competence is just not there to pull them off.

>Fumehead

This is a very short demo. The protagonist Dart is kinda of a goober trying too hard to sound cool talking to himself and hunting big worms. He fights some gangster because they go insane and Dart hears a voice in his head of a being named "Slither" who says they'll take control over everyone and he cant resist it. Dart talks with Ami and they agree to work together and search for answers. It's overall not explained much.

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The combat is quick and mostly okay, you basically use your best cost effective cards and optimize the small numbers to kill fast and take less damage. Other than the MC animations being great, this game screams low budget and feels like one of those fun ideas that will never release.

Some of the games are rather known a this point: Indivisible, Born of Bread, Rhapsody, a Musical Adventure, I am Setsuna, and Chained Echoes. However, there are a few other notesworthy ones:

I am Setsuna is not underrated, that game is mediocre as hell. I did see Terra Memoria release a year agp but i didnt mention here cause i wasn't sure it would fit the thread, it does look like an okay fantasy furry rpg but allegedly very easy.
 
Oh, hey! That's Frankie from Barkley 2.
Guy's a huge french canadian bitch though so beware!

I thought he switched it to Game Maker but it still appears to be RPG Maker ...unless he deliberately copied it very closely.

I wondered about buying it and decided to just watch moments from the game on youtube. It looks like classic case of game having interesting art and premise but being a chore to play.
I don't know anything about the developer but I watched the endings for the game and I really like it. The way he describes feelings of panic and appearance of some of the monsters really impressed me.
The game itself does scream RpgMaker and looks a bit too cartoony like he was going for an Earthbound theme.
I highly recommend watching the Ritual Endings (Accept and Deny).

On the accept ending he does a really good job of describing your mind deteriorating as it struggles to comprehend the visitor while it slowly pans out further and further to show a fragment of his body.
 
Just found out that game i played the demo, Silver Daze, had a kickstarter 2 weeks ago


They only want 6.125k and are stuck on 4800 so it might not be completed which is a shame since i liked the demo and would love to pirate the game (i guess i'm not helping). Gameplay was simple but fast and unique, and i found the characters well written despite their short screentime.

In other games, i watched some Everhood 2 reviews and it seems like the devs thought people only liked the first game because DUDE WEED LMAO and the story is just lol so random nonsense and nothing happens. The game ends with the MC looking at the screen, doing a dance and credits roll.

In other news, Oddventure should release on early acess april 3 and tbh, the kickstarter demo wasn't that good but they said the gameplay changed so i wonder what they'll do. They sound like they have no idea when the final game will release either so we'll see...
 
In other games, i watched some Everhood 2 reviews and it seems like the devs thought people only liked the first game because DUDE WEED LMAO and the story is just lol so random nonsense and nothing happens. The game ends with the MC looking at the screen, doing a dance and credits roll.
Didn't think they would American Psycho 2 their own game, but here we are.
 
Oh, hey! That's Frankie from Barkley 2.
Guy's a huge french canadian bitch though so beware!

I thought he switched it to Game Maker but it still appears to be RPG Maker ...unless he deliberately copied it very closely.
I have basically gone through the whole game and can say that it is, unbelievably, shockingly, free of leftist politics.

No trans shit, no gay shit, absolutely nothing I have been able to detect that I could reasonably describe as "woke" or anything. It is honestly unbelievable, the guy who made this is a Something Awful goon. It even manages to avoid mocking Christianity when given the opportunity. It borders on miraculous.
 
I have basically gone through the whole game and can say that it is, unbelievably, shockingly, free of leftist politics.

No trans shit, no gay shit, absolutely nothing I have been able to detect that I could reasonably describe as "woke" or anything. It is honestly unbelievable, the guy who made this is a Something Awful goon. It even manages to avoid mocking Christianity when given the opportunity. It borders on miraculous.
There is one part where you can "kiss" a monster, who is presumed male, but it's so clearly played off as a joke you'd have to be the most prudent prude faggot to have taken any issue with it.
 
You also can hug a male monster, but doing so will kill you, and you're warned repeatedly, so it's done for the lulz. Also, if you go and kiss that monster and open your eyes (you have to do so with the eyes closed), you won't like what you see.
Moreover, the one monster that has a crush on you is obsessive and disturbing on purpose.
 
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