Quirky Indie RPGs - Depression is optional

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Breadbassket said:
Motherlike games have a tendency to focus on quirky first, good experience second.
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Let's be real though: They're just copying the original in that regard. Earthbound had a unique, charming atmosphere, but the gameplay was pretty bad. Combat was clunky, travel was slow, and the inventory system could've been its own circle of hell.

Problem is that the imitators can't even get the atmosphere right. I have yet to play a game that shows me the developer understood WHY Earthbound was interesting. They just think "well, Earthbound was quirky, and my game is quirky, therefore my game is Earthbound".

Basically, fuck Undertale.
 
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Lord of the Large Pants said:
Let's be real though: They're just copying the original in that regard. Earthbound had a unique, charming atmosphere, but the gameplay was pretty bad. Combat was clunky, travel was slow, and the inventory system could've been its own circle of hell.

Problem is that the imitators can't even get the atmosphere right. I have yet to play a game that shows me the developer understood WHY Earthbound was interesting. They just think "well, Earthbound was quirky, and my game is quirky, therefore my game is Earthbound".

Basically, fuck Undertale.
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Most Mother-like RPGs post-Undertale have more of the silliness from Mario RPGs in their DNA than Mother, pair this with the "smart" meta-narratives about the "player is a character" or "protagonist is an ambiguous jerk" that 90% of Mother-likes borrows from OFF and you get all these frankensteins out there.
 
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Sparky Lurker said:
Creator of Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass announced a new game a few days ago:
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I hope this is good. The art is certainly much better than the first game although the character designs are suspect.

Jimmy always looked a bit duff to me. The art was crap and it has a twist so stereotypical that you have a genuine chance of guessing it without knowing anything about the game. That's what happened to me.

As for another "hellworld RPG": there's always Barkley 2's cousin, Octopus City Blues.
That actually has a release date now.
 
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Sparky Lurker said:
Most Mother-like RPGs post-Undertale have more of the silliness from Mario RPGs in their DNA than Mother, pair this with the "smart" meta-narratives about the "player is a character" or "protagonist is an ambiguous jerk" that 90% of Mother-likes borrows from OFF and you get all these frankensteins out there.
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The idea of a jerk protagonist is something that never really works because either the game forces you to act in a certain way or it ignores context to paint you as a villain. A game that doesn't fall into it is Nier, that has the protagonist do horrific shit but it is not his fault due to circumstances or lack of communication, and the game doesn't start lecturing how evil he is. Meanwhile Undertale puts self defence as something wrong with the weird as shit justification that "the game is really easy". Like if a group of toddlers start ambushing me with knives I'd still kick them than take the risk of being stabbed.

Ditto player is character is just pointless. Usually it will be massive projection of the creator's failings on the player (yiik) as the dev has no way to know the player outside of cold readings (though a game that actually uses you gameplay as a way to read you will be pretty awesome if done correctly).

Someone needs to do Knox Commandments to shitty video game storytelling. Since all of those things fall squarely in "neat the first time, garbage afterwards".
 
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Lord of the Large Pants said:
Earthbound had a unique, charming atmosphere, but the gameplay was pretty bad. Combat was clunky, travel was slow, and the inventory system could've been its own circle of hell.
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Combat was very basic, but I wouldn't say bad, especially since it actually had that interesting rolling HP mechanic which could get you on the edge of your seat sometimes. I liked the Guts system too, letting you survive a deadly attack sometimes (IIRC).

Inventory was small, but the game is easy enough that it's actually a good thing to limit it imo.
 
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wtfNeedSignUp said:
The idea of a jerk protagonist is something that never really works because either the game forces you to act in a certain way or it ignores context to paint you as a villain. A game that doesn't fall into it is Nier, that has the protagonist do horrific shit but it is not his fault due to circumstances or lack of communication, and the game doesn't start lecturing how evil he is. Meanwhile Undertale puts self defence as something wrong with the weird as shit justification that "the game is really easy". Like if a group of toddlers start ambushing me with knives I'd still kick them than take the risk of being stabbed.

Ditto player is character is just pointless. Usually it will be massive projection of the creator's failings on the player (yiik) as the dev has no way to know the player outside of cold readings (though a game that actually uses you gameplay as a way to read you will be pretty awesome if done correctly).

Someone needs to do Knox Commandments to shitty video game storytelling. Since all of those things fall squarely in "neat the first time, garbage afterwards".
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I dunno. I think that mean protagonists can work but they need a lot of care. Maybe that's just because I'm writing multiple of them.
Firstly, they shouldn't ever be used as commentary on the player. That's stupid.
They also have to walk a fine line between being unappealingly nasty and just being a goody two shoes that's painted as a villain. Good characters to study are Ren from Ren and Stimpy and Zim from Invader Zim.
There's also the problem where people might not understand that they're supposed to be in the wrong. YiiK beats you over the head with how Alex is a cunt (even though he was right about Rory's sister) and yet tons of people still complained about it. There's barely a moment where he isn't being scolded by everyone for being an ass. His monologues and dialogue are awful but that's not what a lot of people focus on.
I've been getting a lot of mileage out of having them do the right thing for very wrong reasons. Their goals align with the player but their motives are totally different.
You don't have to like a protagonist, you just have to have a perverse desire to see what they do next.

SSj_Ness said:
Combat was very basic, but I wouldn't say bad, especially since it actually had that interesting rolling HP mechanic which was could get you on the edge of your seat sometimes. I liked the Guts system too, letting you survive a deadly attack sometimes (IIRC).

Inventory was small, but the game is easy enough that it's actually a good thing to limit it imo.
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Mother 3 made it way better though. Combos were a huge part of the battle system and being unable to combo shielded enemies made them much more powerful.
The rolling meters were made slower and I was constantly gambling my life. It turned a really mundane system into something addictive.
 
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Coolio55 said:
Mother 3 made it way better though. Combos were a huge part of the battle system and being unable to combo shielded enemies made them much more powerful.
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I played it waaay back when the translation patch first came out, and I remember being unable to combo (either due to emulator or skill issues), but don't remember it being all that important because I got by just fine. It was a cool addition though.
 
Coolio55 said:
I dunno. I think that mean protagonists can work but they need a lot of care. Maybe that's just because I'm writing multiple of them.
Firstly, they shouldn't ever be used as commentary on the player. That's stupid.
They also have to walk a fine line between being unappealingly nasty and just being a goody two shoes that's painted as a villain. Good characters to study are Ren from Ren and Stimpy and Zim from Invader Zim.
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Mean protagonists can work as long as they have some sympathy, or alternatively are so heinous that they are entertaining. Issue is well meaning characters being painted as villains for either things they had no control/choice over or because their quests is evil if you look at it from the angle of the other side.

This reminds me, another aspect of "quirky indie rpg" is getting way too dark later on. Done because retards really like that Sonic.exe *here is something from your childhood but dark".
 
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I'd love a game that captures the feel of Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced 1&2(even the original FFT doesn't get it quite right). There is an indie game Spiritlink Tactics with a demo out now that really catches the asthetics, but gameplay wise it is a slog. Weak attacks with too much health, anemic abilities, and your entire party shares a mana pool that's very limited.

FFTA had a great style, but it was also really well balanced. Fights were at a decent speed, so your didn't mind grinding out several in a row. Mixing your units abilities was really rewarding.

It's such a fucking shame all we got after A2 was a mobile game that never came to the West, and endless rereleases of War of the Lion.

Something I looked up reminiscing and can't believe it's still being developed is Battle For Wesnoth. I probably played this game 15 years ago, and probably was my first foray into the genre. More Fire Emblem than FFT, I am going to have to revisit the game.
 
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Super Mario RPG at home released today:

Polyboros2 said:
I'd love a game that captures the feel of Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced 1&2(even the original FFT doesn't get it quite right). There is an indie game Spiritlink Tactics with a demo out now that really catches the asthetics, but gameplay wise it is a slog. Weak attacks with too much health, anemic abilities, and your entire party shares a mana pool that's very limited.

FFTA had a great style, but it was also really well balanced. Fights were at a decent speed, so your didn't mind grinding out several in a row. Mixing your units abilities was really rewarding.

It's such a fucking shame all we got after A2 was a mobile game that never came to the West, and endless rereleases of War of the Lion.

Something I looked up reminiscing and can't believe it's still being developed is Battle For Wesnoth. I probably played this game 15 years ago, and probably was my first foray into the genre. More Fire Emblem than FFT, I am going to have to revisit the game.
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Probably wrong thread considering the types of RPGs discussed here, but this reminds me of this quirky indie tactical RPG that I bought ages ago and completely forgot about it called Fae Tactics:
Most reviews called it a jack of all trades and master of none type of game, its cheap at least.
 
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2 games that piqued my interest, mostly because of aesthetics:
Mario and Luigi style combat: My familiar
Grid/Lane-based combat on the style of Robotrek/Radiant Historia: Kingdoms of the Dump
 
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Mr.Miyagi said:
I'll vouch for World of Horror. I think it's a pretty good adventure/RPG game, though I'll always say that it needs more and more cases/stories available to add variety in runs. I'm a fan of Ito's work, and it feels like it nails that kind of horror pretty well. It's a decently challenging game, too, and I'd say it's more akin to a roguelite than something like Earthbound.
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World of horror looks really good and i think it supports mods too
 
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Sparky Lurker said:
2 games that piqued my interest, mostly because of aesthetics:
Mario and Luigi style combat: My familiar
Grid/Lane-based combat on the style of Robotrek/Radiant Historia: Kingdoms of the Dump
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KotD has pretty bad character design but seems to have good music.
 
Everhood 2 will likely be the typical sequel where the gameplay improves massively while the story suffers a downgrade.
 
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