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[Yuterald]

What kind of issues usually come up? I'm just curious because the only RPG Maker game I've played for any length of time is The Tiamat Sacrament, and I really like the design and the mechanics in that one. It's designed where each character has a different mechanic for learning and using skills, and they all have powers that interact with the other party members' abilities so that they can only fight to their fullest potential by actually working as a team.

Honestly, when we demo a lot of people's games we usually don't last too long because the grammar/spelling is so ridiculously poor. So, even if there have been some games with decent ideas and interesting battle mechanics we never see them because we're so quickly turned off by the presentation. If there are misspellings left and right, awkward sentences and grammar mistakes, we're less likely to give the game a chance. It's just offensive.

Anyway, when we do find something that we can tolerate for more than a half hour we've found that a lot of people (not everyone) use the default damage formulas and the preset item/equipment database stuff. It's like no one cares enough about the "backdoor" work because it's not fun, for most people. There's nothing glamorous about programming stats or balancing a game. I think most projects (especially if it's one person) don't go anywhere or offer anything worthwhile because no single person (in most cases) can handle all aspects of a game. Fortunately, my brother is our "back office" kind of guy and he's come up with his own damage formulas, level growths, etc. From what we've experienced and researched in this (RPG Maker) community is that most people value visuals, scripts made by others, imported assets/tile sets, among other things...but they forget the rest!

I could go on and on about this RPG Maker/Indie scene, but I don't think this is the thread for it. I'll just leave it at that, for now, hah! =D

 

[RSLAEV]

Looks awesome!

 

[AndyMoogle]

Hopefully they will speed it up before release, because it looks painfully slow in that video.

 

[Aru]

Hopefully they will speed it up before release, because it looks painfully slow in that video.

This.
I dig the artstyle and graphics, but combat seems boring.

 

[djtiesto]

Looks very polished for an indie RPG, nice art. Since it's from Norway let's get some Lindstrom, Todd Terje, Prins Thomas and other nu-disco artists on the soundtrack

 

[cosmicblizzard]

More non-J JRPGs are always welcome. The art is good, but I'm not a giant fan of it. Reminds me of Bastion, which I also didn't care for the art in.

That being said, if it's a good game like it's shaping up to be, I'll buy it.

 

[Supermanisdead]

wow that was a horribly slow battle. having only 1 turn between 2 characters is bad.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Looks very polished for an indie RPG, nice art. Since it's from Norway let's get some Lindstrom, Todd Terje, Prins Thomas and other nu-disco artists on the soundtrack

Pffft, norsk arysk blak metal or bust!

Spoiler

Turbonegro or A-Ha is also acceptable.

 

[bryehn]

That interface needs work, but everything else looks really good/polished. Art gives me a Bastion meets Penny Arcade game vibe.

 

[Wix]

Jeg også!

Da er vi tre.

 

[ResidentDante]

Jeg også!

Da er vi tre.

Herlig, bør vi lage en Norge tråd i off-topic ell? Svenskene har en.....

And as a german, who's favorite country is Norway, I support your post.

Sie sind herzlich willkommen! Btw, Germany is a really cool country to holiday in!

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Herlig, bør vi lage en Norge tråd i off-topic ell? Svenskene har en.....

Blir kanskje litt lite med fire personer som snakker med hverandre

(Translation: I just suggested GAF having a gay orgy while listening to Rendezvous with Anus.

 

[Jay Sosa]

That rabbit pig already annoys me after watching the trailer for 1 minute..

A bit OT: But why are most protagonists in JRPGS so goddamn stupid?

"This is a crystal holder but it's missing a crystal!" (wow what an astute observation!)

"What do you think it does when it has a crystal?" (Are you fucking kidding me? There's a goddamn locked gate right next to it.)

Art looks very bad (from an artistic standpoint) and uninspired and the fighting not too interesting or fun, thanks but I'll pass.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

But why call it JRPG

Cartoony visuals, turn-based combat, cute wacky sidekick (aka False Positives).

Looks pretty bland to me...

That too, but mostly it was the dialogue. I guess Norsk ends up sounding as dull in English as Nihongo if translated literally.

 

[Syril]

That rabbit pig already annoys me after watching the trailer for 1 minute..

A bit OT: But why are most protagonists in JRPGS so goddamn stupid?

"This is a crystal holder but it's missing a crystal!" (wow what an astute observation!)

"What do you think it does when it has a crystal?" (Are you fucking kidding me? There's a goddamn locked gate right next to it.)

This is no different than how the heroes of adventure games act, yet when adventure game heroes make really obvious observations in response to the "examine" command, people don't ask why are most adventure game heroes so goddamn stupid.

 

[Pyrrhus]

Cartoony visuals, turn-based combat, cute wacky sidekick (aka False Positives).

They have kana and kanji in their promotional art and they're doing their best Uematsu impression with the battle music. They clearly want to be considered a jRPG. The problem is that they're taking too much from the modern "talk about shit forever because space constraints are now non-existent and it's cheaper than actual game content" and not enough from the well-paced 16-bit stuff.

 

[Ventron]

This is no different than how the heroes of adventure games act, yet when adventure game heroes make really obvious observations in response to the "examine" command, people don't ask why are most adventure game heroes so goddamn stupid.

I think because the examine text is briefer and normally only triggered by people who are genuinely stuck and need a hint.
I kind of disagree with Jay, the line "This is a crystal holder but it's missing a crystal!" isn't bad because I couldn't tell what it was at the camera's distance. The rest is redundant, though.

 

[shaowebb]

Loving the return to classic Final Fantasy style stuff that this offers up. Count me in. Well done.

 

[BocoDragon]

I'm very supportive of non-Japanese jRPGs. I really want to see this genre continue, and why should it be tied to the fate of a few developers in one country?

 

[Alexios]

I think because the examine text is briefer and normally only triggered by people who are genuinely stuck and need a hint.
I kind of disagree with Jay, the line "This is a crystal holder but it's missing a crystal!" isn't bad because I couldn't tell what it was at the camera's distance. The rest is redundant, though.

It explains game mechanics and some story exposition in a cute manner. I don't see what's so bad about it since it's clearly the early parts of the game as the sidekick explains things like what you mention, the different types of ammo, how locked chests work, how battles begin, etc, without going out of character (to me it seems the human somehow just got transported there while the animal sidekick is more familiar with the area), which is neat. Only the statue thing was really not important to someone who may have not played such games before, but it too helps with the story perhaps. Maybe the statue looks otherworldly to us but that doesn't mean it is so for the characters, it could be normal for that world, but their remark shows it isn't. Now if the whole game continues like that with actually useless dialogue interruptions, you guys may have a point, but it's too soon to know that.

 

[Finaika]

I'm very supportive of non-Japanese jRPGs. I really want to see this genre continue, and why should it be tied to the fate of a few developers in one country?

I'm surprised that there are little to no Western made JRPGs.

I mean, the demand is there.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

I think because the examine text is briefer and normally only triggered by people who are genuinely stuck and need a hint.
I kind of disagree with Jay, the line "This is a crystal holder but it's missing a crystal!" isn't bad because I couldn't tell what it was at the camera's distance. The rest is redundant, though.

Lots of the dialogue having no liveliness to it is certainly not helping dissuade that feeling.

 

[VanillaCakeIsBurning]

Seems kind of strange to call it a JRPG.

Labeling a game as WRPG or JRPG seems disingenuous when that doesn't actually tell you how the game plays, also insinuates that certain gameplay features are property of certain countries, and to implement those in your game makes it "Japanese" or "Western" which isn't the case.

Under this Xenoblade would be considered a WRPG. Using J or WRPG to denote location is more accurate imo. You can then research the specific game to see how it actually plays.

Since the game is in progress it looks pretty rough. I saw someone mentioned this on the first page but the text bubbles look just like the ones in Tales of Vesperia.

Combat looks basic, I think that might improve with time. Needs a battle system like LRMBS or LACS or whatever long acronym you can think of.

 

[Roto13]

Oh my god, so sssslllooooowwwww. I can see this game driving me insane with its pacing.

 

[DSix]

The graphics are super nice (it's running on unity right?), but everything else is pretty bad. It's way too talkative for no good reason, it's a slog to watch.
If the entire game is designed like that it will be awful.

 

[zoukka]

As great as it looks for an indie game, it didn't interest me in any level going by that video. The graphics might look nice, but it still feels like a home made game made by a JRPG fan. Those have never, ever been good.

 

[ChosenPredator]

He just needs to crank up the combat and make it mind blowingly amazing and then he'll have a stellar game on his hands if the story/cast is great.

 

[djtiesto]

I'm surprised that there are little to no Western made JRPGs.

I mean, the demand is there.

There's a whole ton of RPG maker projects... and a few games on XBLIG. A few of them are actually worth playing, too.

 

[Wolf Akela]

Gives me FFIX vibes, from the colorful imaginative overworld down to the slow battle system lol

Needs less talking though.

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

Production values are nice. 90 seconds of watching the player select "Attack" to kill 3 weak enemies isn't the way to sell people on your game though.

Their staff list has me worried. They have 9 members, but only half of them are actually building the game (2 programmers & 3 artists); the rest are marketing, or "tell everyone else what to do" jobs. Given that they're going for high quality cartoony 3D art (ala the Torchlight series), I can see this game either taking forever to make or never getting finished.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

I'm surprised that there are little to no Western made JRPGs.

I mean, the demand is there.

There's a semi-decent chunk. There have been more recently and it will probably only increase as people get even more nostalgic for the 16 bit era. Off the top of my head, there's:

Black Sigil
Septerra Core
Costume Quest
Anachronox
Sonic Chronicles
The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age
Penny Arcade games
Everything from Zeboyd
that game on PS1 I can't remember the name of with Beyond in the title
a billion RPG Maker games both commercial and non-commercial

It would be nice if we could get a high-budget western made JRPG on consoles one day.

 

[Roto13]

There's a semi-decent chunk. There have been more recently and it will probably only increase as people get even more nostalgic for the 16 bit era. Off the top of my head, there's:

Black Sigil
Septerra Core
Costume Quest
Anachronox
Sonic Chronicles
The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age
Penny Arcade games
Everything from Zeboyd
that game on PS1 I can't remember the name of with Beyond in the title
a billion RPG Maker games both commercial and non-commercial

It would be nice if we could get a high-budget western made JRPG on consoles one day.

Semi-serious question: How many of these games are good? I've played Costume Quest and it didn't really grab me (maybe I'll give it another try, since I didn't hate it and Halloween is coming), Breath of Death VII was god awful and Cthulhu Saves the World seemed like more of the same so I didn't bother to play for more than a few minutes, and I've heard a lot of bad things about Sonic Chronicles.

It kind of seems like that type of RPG is the kind of game that Western developers have a hard time "getting", like fighting games.

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

that game on PS1 I can't remember the name of with Beyond in the title

Only RPG I can think on the PS1 with Beyond in the title is Beyond the Beyond and that was made by a Japanese company. Maybe you're thinking Shadow Madness?

Another Western JRPG-style game of note that you left off your list is Pier Solar (indie RPG that was released for the Genesis a couple years ago).

 

[ZoddGutts]

Wish more people would copy the battle system from the Grandia series or Shadow Hearts series. This combat looked slow, even slower than FF9!

 

[cosmicblizzard]

Only RPG I can think on the PS1 with Beyond in the title is Beyond the Beyond and that was made by a Japanese company. Maybe you're thinking Shadow Madness?

Yep, you're right. Got those two confused.

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

Semi-serious question: How many of these games are good? I've played Costume Quest and it didn't really grab me (maybe I'll give it another try, since I didn't hate it and Halloween is coming), Breath of Death VII was god awful and Cthulhu Saves the World seemed like more of the same so I didn't bother to play for more than a few minutes, and I've heard a lot of bad things about Sonic Chronicles.

It kind of seems like that type of RPG is the kind of game that Western developers have a hard time "getting", like fighting games.

From Metacritic:

Black Sigil - 58
Septerra Core - 72
Costume Quest - 74-77
Anachronox - 77
Sonic Chronicles - 74
The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age - 73-75
Penny Arcade Rain-Slick 1 - 76-77
Penny Arcade Rain-Slick 2 - 75-80
Penny Arcade Rain-Slick 3 - 77
Cthulhu Saves the World - 78
Shadow Madness - 66 (Gamerankings, not on Metacritic)

So yeah, none of the Western developed JRPG-style games have gotten mainstream acclaim. Excluding the ones I'm obviously biased towards, I really liked Lord of the Rings: The Third Age - sure the story was awful but the combat & leveling was fun (albeit a bit unbalanced).

Oh and Cthulhu Saves the World is DRASTICALLY better than Breath of Death VII but if you loathed the one, I don't know that it'll change your mind. We took 3 months to make BoDVII and since it was the first real non-text based game I had ever made, we were still learning the basics like how to code a battle system and how to scroll maps. With Cthulhu Saves the World, we took a lot longer (6-8 months) and we already had a basic engine & knowledge to work with so I think it's a much better game - better design, funnier, more interesting characters, as well as the obvious improvements to the visuals & music.

In any case, we're making enough money that we can do this full-time (unlike our first two games which were made part-time) so we're going to keep honing our craft until we're making games that can stand on equal footing with the classics of the genre.

 

[Roto13]

From Metacritic:

Black Sigil - 58
Septerra Core - 72
Costume Quest - 74-77
Anachronox - 77
Sonic Chronicles - 74
The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age - 73-75
Penny Arcade Rain-Slick 1 - 76-77
Penny Arcade Rain-Slick 2 - 75-80
Penny Arcade Rain-Slick 3 - 77
Cthulhu Saves the World - 78
Shadow Madness - 66 (Gamerankings, not on Metacritic)

So yeah, none of the Western developed JRPG-style games have gotten mainstream acclaim. Excluding the ones I'm obviously biased towards, I really liked Lord of the Rings: The Third Age - sure the story was awful but the combat & leveling was fun (albeit a bit unbalanced).

Oh and Cthulhu Saves the World is DRASTICALLY better than Breath of Death VII but if you loathed the one, I don't know that it'll change your mind. We took 3 months to make BoDVII and since it was the first real non-text based game I had ever made, we were still learning the basics like how to code a battle system and how to scroll maps. With Cthulhu Saves the World, we took a lot longer (6-8 months) and we already had a basic engine & knowledge to work with so I think it's a much better game - better design, funnier, more interesting characters, as well as the obvious improvements to the visuals & music.

In any case, we're making enough money that we can do this full-time (unlike our first two games which were made part-time) so we're going to keep honing our craft until we're making games that can stand on equal footing with the classics of the genre.

Is The Third Age the one that's basically a reskinned Final Fantasy X? Because I'm totally ok with that and always meant to pick it up if I saw it in a bargain bin, but I just never did.

I do plan to give Penny Arcade 3 a try eventually. I have it in my Steam library, right under Penny Arcade 1 and 2 which I also have to get around to....

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

Is The Third Age the one that's basically a reskinned Final Fantasy X? Because I'm totally ok with that and always meant to pick it up if I saw it in a bargain bin, but I just never did.

Yeah, the combat system in The Third Age is straight out of FFX. Pretty challenging game if you stick the difficulty at max. And I liked how you had a lot of freedom to customize your characters with the stat & skill system.

 

[Alexios]

I missed this concept, it looks like we'll have a farm. Maybe to grow the ammo at home instead of always having to find them scavenging? And other things going by this.

It reminds me of Rune Factory Frontier.

 

[D-e-f-]

I dig the battle music.

Combat does seem a bit slow, you'd think nade launcher would be more effective against rats.

Funny, I just commented on the youtube page that they should change the battle music because it's extremely intrusive. I think it would get annoying really really fast. They can have a cool, get-you-excited battle theme and have it be more subtle.

 

[Roq12]

Looks amazing for beeing just pre-alpha. With a little more polish, feedback and particle effects, wow.

 

[BrainZEROX]

The game is very charming but the battle encounter in the video... It seems boring, slow and old. I hit you, you hit me, I hit you, you hit me, I... Zzzzzzz

Well I hope by the time the game is available, the battle scheme will be fixed. It only really needs to be sped up a bit and something like a mean to counter attack maybe. The gameplay in battle needs quite a bit more involvement from the player.

 

[ULTROS!]

It looks a little bland in my opinion. And the battle tune seems like a slight ripoff of FFIX's.

I dunno but the last Western JRPG that I liked was Secret of Evermore.

 

[dragonlife]

Charming graphics.

The issues I noticed were mostly in the battle. The sound effects sounded really weak and flimsy. The HUD was pretty ugly, too, as well as the renders used. The bar seemed pretty simple and boring.

Either way, this is now on my radar. It looks like it could be interesting.

 

[Canis lupus]

Looks cute.

 

[Wix]

Herlig, bør vi lage en Norge tråd i off-topic ell? Svenskene har en.....

Vår helt egen tråd, bare for oss tre nordmenn på NeoGaf? Go for it!

 

[djtiesto]

It looks a little bland in my opinion. And the battle tune seems like a slight ripoff of FFIX's.

I dunno but the last Western JRPG that I liked was Secret of Evermore.

You ever play any of Zeboyd's games? Those are my favorite. They're like classic 8-bit RPGs with the speed turned way up and some cool character development systems that make you think about your choices a bit. Only problem is that the dungeon layouts are pretty dull.

 

[Alexios]

Updates with the design process of the farm scene and other stuff.

 

[Alexios]

New teaser video for GC showing lots more things.

They also seem to update their indiedb profile more often with news.

 

[Celine]

Reminds me of this old PC game.