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[Eolz]

I'm mainly making this thread after being surprised by Kotaku's recent retrospective on FFVII and describing it as a weird RPG. I can see some of the points, but it's not even close to being a really weird RPG, which is what I hope everyone will share here (be it well known like Parasite Eve 1 pictured below, or not, bonus points if it's the latter).

I love how this a genre allowing developers a lot of freedom, be it in terms of mechanics, setting or narrative. You can often see the weirdness in those games coming from cultural references, being a product of their time, developers blowing out some steam through this, and countless other interesting reasons.
All of this gave us a lot of gems, which usually don't get a lot of recognition, and I hope that this will help to change that situation a bit.

It's pretty impressive how this a part of Nintendo's legacy (and the studios they own or work with) for example, like with Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland

the Mother series

and other various games, like Baiten Kaitos or Super Mario RPG

Some of those RPG maker games are sometimes making an homage of those previous works or sometimes not...
Games like Space Funeral (1st pic), Barkley Shup up and Jam Gaiden (3rd pic), Yume Nikki (I know, not really an RPG), Undertale, Middens (2nd pic), Lisa, etc

And obviously other companies (usually japanese but not necessarily also tried their hand at this, be it for just bits of the narration or the whole game. Could just be that slight weirdness that is unusual, or sometimes something a lot more disturbing or question-raising...

Drakengard 2

Resonance of Fate

Planescape Torment

Fallout New Vegas

Raidou Kuzunoha 2

Segagaga

EYE Divine Cybermancy

This is obviously a non-exhaustive list, and more a starting point for more examples and recommendations. Let's make it weird!

 

[kagamin]

"Hylics is a recreational program with light JRPG elements."

 

[zoodoo]

Interesting thread.

Can you please name the games? Some look interesting.

 

[Raven117]

A strange and cool game. I don't think anybody other than me ever played it.

 

[Lord of Ostia]

Interesting thread.

Can you please name the games? Some look interesting.

I'm gonna second this, I'd like to know the names as well.

 

[dadjumper]

Space Funeral is one of the best. Such a good game.

My picks are Ihatovo Monogatari

and Gokinjo Boukentai

both not super obscure but neat Super Famicom RPGs. Ihatovo Monogatari is known for being based on Miyazawa Kenji novels. Gokinjo stars a kindergarten child who can see monsters. It has kind of a cool Earthbound feel.

 

[TEJ]

SMT Digital Devil Saga 1-2.

Cannibalism plays a big role in story and gameplay.

Besides smtnocturne these are my favorites in the franchise.

 

[blummer102]

The 1998 James Bond Gameboy game. Basically a little like Link's Awakening, with Bond going to a bunch of different locations and collecting doodads while shooting guys with his dinky pistol. It was great and actually consistently ended up as the number 2 most popular game on Nintendo Power's "Best of Gameboy" list in their letter column for many months.

I think a lot of people thought it was a tie-in to Goldeneye but I think it wasn't. Just a weird, nifty little action RPG with the Bond license attached to it.

 

[TEJ]

I had james bond on the game boy.

Was a fun game!

 

[Eolz]

Some nice examples I didn't know about already!

Interesting thread.

Can you please name the games? Some look interesting.

I'm gonna second this, I'd like to know the names as well.

My bad, editing now.

 

[TEJ]

I need to mention Koudelka, prequel to Shadow Hearts.

It was this bizarre, nifty horror rpg that not many know about.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Robotrek

Secret of Evermore

Baten Kaitos

 

[LurkerPrime]

The answer can only be YIIK. I don't think it's out yet, but one could describe it as hipster Earthbound.

I can't forget it, unfortunately. And now you can't either!
We can suffer together.

 

[TEJ]

The Guardian Legend on the nes.

Was a hybrid shootemup/rpg.

Car Battler Joe on the gba. Was an rpg with vehicle based combat.

 

[Lunarwhale]

I need to mention Koudelka, prequel to Shadow Hearts.

It was this bizarre, nifty horror rpg that not many know about.

hah, was planning on doing an LTTP thread on that. Played through it on Saturday when I was stuck at home with some work-related duties. It's a neat game, even if it does flub some of its execution. Really makes me wish there were more smaller-scale JRPGs like it. Its blend of horror really could have used some refinement. Really loved its cast dynamics as well.

More recently (and not quite as weird in scope/gameplay), I've been going through Shadow Hearts and love it. Its atmosphere and setting are really neat - so far it takes place in early 20th century China, blending occult with Japanese imperialism. It's genuinely hilarious too at points. The escalation of the cannibal village early in the game was great.

 

[TEJ]

hah, was planning on doing an LTTP thread on that. Played through it on Saturday when I was stuck at home with some work-related duties. It's a neat game, even if it does flub some of its execution. Really makes me wish there were more smaller-scale JRPGs like it. Its blend of horror really could have used some refinement. Really loved its cast dynamics as well.

More recently (and not quite as weird in scope/gameplay), I've been going through Shadow Hearts and love it. Its atmosphere and setting are really neat - so far it takes place in early 20th century China, blending occult with Japanese imperialism. It's genuinely hilarious too at points. The escalation of the cannibal village early in the game was great.

I am sad that we will likely never see another game in this franchise.

The SH games are less horror as the franchise goes on. That being said, there's nothing else like them to fill the void.

 

[Sinatar]

Wizardry 4 is pretty damn weird.

Instead of playing a party of adventurers fighting your way to the bottom of some nasty dungeon, it is instead a prison break game. A prison break game in which you play as the main villain of Wizardry 1: Werdna.

You control Werdna who was sealed away at the end of Wizardry and stripped of his power. Instead of an adventuring party you have to find special summoning circles located around the map and summon demons on monsters to fight for you all with their own special abilities. You don't level up traditionally, instead you grow in power for each summoning circle you find, that means the old Wizardry standby technique of grinding to get through hard parts is gone.

And boy howdy is Wizardry 4 hard. Arguably the hardest game ever made. The original retail release came with a sealed envelope with the solution to get through the very first room of the game and a note saying "If you needed this, you may as well give up now you aren't getting any further".

Since you play the villain, instead of fighting traditional monsters you fight the heroes and adventurers you'd traditionally play in the previous games. In fact they had players who'd beaten the previous games mail them their floppy disks with their save files and populated the game world with the actual parties of various players.

So yea, pretty unique game. Really cool if you can stomach the crazy difficulty.

 

[vocab]

Anachronox

 

[TEJ]

Can't believe I forgot about Sweet Home on the nes. A horror rpg. Always wanted to play it.

 

[Taruranto]

Anachronox thread?

 

[TissueBox]

Morrowind, a game built on mushrooms, bug-like transportation mediums, an ashen wasteland, a nefarious volcano, and one head-tripping 4th wall tickler of a character that is one of the pillars of all things great and weird about the Elder Scrolls universe.

 

[Shadow_Lord]

One of the shittiest RPGs I ever played, but I still tried to finish the game, even though I never did.

 

[batfax]

Metal Saga (PS2)

A post-apoc Earth filled with outlaws where you just have to make a name for yourself. Find, customize, and pilot tanks, hunt bounties/other optional bosses like Shaka Khan, Tankasaurus, or a giant hermit crab using an entire building as its shell, choose one of four dogs and make their coat the shiniest in the land, several different endings, lots of completely optional side content, secrets, minigames, and a storyline you can either hunt down and follow or just let it come as you explore aimlessly.

 

[Neoleo2143]

Infinite space is pretty damn weird. It's freaking epic though.

 

[Brandon F]

Metal Saga (PS2)



A post-apoc Earth filled with outlaws where you just have to make a name for yourself. Find, customize, and pilot tanks, hunt bounties/other optional bosses like Shaka Khan, Tankasaurus, or a giant hermit crab using an entire building as its shell, choose one of four dogs and make their coat the shiniest in the land, several different endings, lots of completely optional side content, secrets, minigames, and a storyline you can either hunt down and follow or just let it come as you explore aimlessly.

I always heard great things about Metal Saga, but never bothered to try. Looking at those pics, I was insane for passing it up.

 

[purseowner]

This is an awesome thread featuring many of my favourite games of all time.

Subbed.

 

[SephLuis]

I always heard great things about Metal Saga, but never bothered to try. Looking at those pics, I was insane for passing it up.

I never heard of it, but I am now interested.

 

[WickedLaharl]

I don't remember much about Paladin's Quest but when it came out i was 13 and visually atleast it was quite unique.

 

[kagamin]

Metal Saga (PS2)



A post-apoc Earth filled with outlaws where you just have to make a name for yourself. Find, customize, and pilot tanks, hunt bounties/other optional bosses like Shaka Khan, Tankasaurus, or a giant hermit crab using an entire building as its shell, choose one of four dogs and make their coat the shiniest in the land, several different endings, lots of completely optional side content, secrets, minigames, and a storyline you can either hunt down and follow or just let it come as you explore aimlessly.

I always heard great things about Metal Saga, but never bothered to try. Looking at those pics, I was insane for passing it up.

I never heard of it, but I am now interested.

All the Metal Max games in general are great fun.

 

[Conor_Fool]

Awesome thread! Never heard of Baten Kaitos, gotta check that out!

 

[Neoleo2143]

Awesome thread! Never heard of Baten Kaitos, gotta check that out!

Definitely, do. While the first game has slow combat, the card based systems are really unique and flavorful and the speed comes into its own with Origins which may one of the best prequels in any medium.

Come back Yasuyuki Honne

 

[Keinning]

You had new vegas examples but you missed "Robot! let me past!" and "red means stop so pressing red two times means go"

i'm disappointed

 

[ponpo]

Is Gunparade March weird

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

And boy howdy is Wizardry 4 hard. Arguably the hardest game ever made. The original retail release came with a sealed envelope with the solution to get through the very first room of the game and a note saying "If you needed this, you may as well give up now you aren't getting any further".

Boy, is that first room punishing. You're in an enclosed room with seemingly no exits. The only way to proceed is to summon one particular kind of monster, get into a random battle, and then hope that that monster casts one particular spell in the battle (since of course you can't give direct orders to monster companions; they act in battle at random). That spell will then reveal the hidden door that allows you to leave that room when you finish the battle.

"Novices will rapidly become totally frustrated" indeed. What a harsh game.

 

[Phu]

Wow, just a few days ago I was trying to remember the name of a game I played and I just didn't remember enough specifics to be able to search for it. So thanks, OP, because that was Space Funeral.

 

[Nikodemos]

Dark Sun. It's AD&D, except with a whole bunch of differences. The world, the races, the classes, the magic, it's quite different from your Tolkien-derived fare.

 

[xir]

Great Greed is a pretty weird GB RPG.

from wikipedia:
Story[edit]
The game's plot deals with a protagonist whose name that the player sets, but referred to as "Sierra Sam" in the game's promotional materials. Sam, a resident of the "real world," is transported to the fictional world of Greene in order to prevent Biohazard Harry (simply referred to as "Bio-Haz" in the game) from continuing to pollute Greene, a world of seven nations. Sam finds himself stuck in Greene because Microwave, who brought him there in the first place, lost her power in the previous battle. Sam's adventures range from collecting debut records to helping to expose a corrupt politician.

 

[themaskedndi]

Hourai Gakuen no Bouken!, aka Hourai High, is a great one. It's an old SNES game that was based off a mail-order RPG. It begins with you getting dropkicked off a plan for pestering a flight attendant, and it only gets weirder from there. It has some of the lifesim elements that are present in later Persona games. You attend high school, accumulate friend points, and join school clubs.

I have a weird obsession with toilets in video games, and man, does this game deliver on that front:

It's pretty flawed -- there are way too many random encounters -- but it's weird and charming enough to check out.

 

[PassiveObserver]

I feel like almost every JRPG out there, even relatively mainstream games like Parasite Eve and FFVII, can be arguable for a spot in this thread. Only the most straight-laced of standard fantasy RPGs could be exempt from being deemed weird, and the entirety of the genre have been trying to distinguish itself from Dragon Quest for 30 years.

Anyways, My World My World was a pretty unconventional take. You play a spoiled princess who is able to manipulate the game setting and condition by way of "pout points." Unrepentantly aimed toward younger girls, this is the Super Princess Peach of the genre.

 

[m_dorian]

1989 Accolade Dont go Alone.

Takes place in a haunted house where the 4 members of your group fight ghosts Uses chemistry through the periodic table as spell mechanic.

 

[cj_iwakura]

They don't get much weirder than Drakengard.

 

[Labadal]

Square Enix at their prime. These might not be weird, but they feel unique to me.

Treasure of the Rudras

Bahamut Lagoon

Live A Live

Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen

More games would include the Valkyrie Profile series and Vagrant Story. Legend of Mana was a bit different and not liked by all fans of the series.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Is Gunparade March weird

Just obscure.

 

[blummer102]

I wanna also highlight the Quest for Glory series, basically my favorite games of all time and the ones that really shaped my appreciation for RPGs from a young age. They're not really "weird," persay, but they are unique, since they were the first point 'n click adventure games to bring in RPG elements and allow for character creation. (In fact, to this day they might be the ONLY point 'n click adventures to really have any sort of RPG influence.)

They also had FANTASTIC worldbuilding, featuring locales based off of Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Africa. The third game in the series, Wages of War, is probably still one of the best representations of African fantasy in a video game made by mostly white folks. (Admittedly, there's not much competition.) And the fourth game, Shadows of Darkness, is such an awesome ode to Transylvanian lore and Lovecraft horror that it probably created my attraction to Eastern European creepiness.

Each game also had a different combat system, ranging from a behind the back view to a Street Fighter side view to Diablo clicking.

Anyway, the whole series was awesome and can be bought for cheap on Steam or GOG now. The games hold up well, though the copy protection in the Quest for Glory II is annoying (there's a fan remake that fixes this).

I wrote a whole long thing on the games here if anyone's interested.

 

[Silvergun-Blue]

Although the overall gameplay isn't that weird, the premise of the Narrative in Eternal Sonata is pretty insane.

The entire game is set in dream world conjured up by 19th century Polish composer Frédéric François Chopin while on his death bed. Between chapters you're treated to text snippets detailing Chopin's life set to renditions of his piano compositions and photo's of Polish architecture. Bonkers!

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

Back in 2000-2001, I played through a PC-Engine RPG called Lady Sword.

About a decade later, it was translated by this awesome dude. I helped out on the project as a play-tester. It's probably because at the time, I was the only person who actually completed the game.

To give you somewhat of an idea of what to expect, I'll post this excerpt from Hardcoregaming101's article on romhacking:

Beyond playing games in English, and the aforementioned egos, I asked what else motivates them. With a cheeky zest a Mr Filler revealed something which warrants standalone articles. "You sometimes discover 'hidden treasure'. I ran across a bunch of programmer's notes in Lady Sword, relating things like the time he got drunk at his computer and woke up with a liquor soaked keyboard, or his views on the cold war. That's pretty rare stuff."

For the most part, Lady Sword is a fairly standard dungeon-crawler. There's a great evil, and a lone swordsman must put a stop to it. Among the numerous NPCs the hero meets while climbing the tower is Tanya...a decapitated floating head. As it turns out, there are a lot of decapitated heads floating around in this tower. The kicker is that aside from Tanya, they all look like they're out of a zombie horror game.

It gets worse, this RPG is actually a porn game. You're awarded a picture every time you complete a floor. On one end, you have disturbingly grotesque floating heads. On the other? disturbingly grotesque 8-bit nudity. It's still, to this very day, the weirdest game I've ever played. I still remember the music. I've played through the game twice over the course of two decades, but I can still hear the music.

 

[Morfeo]

I wanna also highlight the Quest for Glory series, basically my favorite games of all time and the ones that really shaped my appreciation for RPGs from a young age. They're not really "weird," persay, but they are unique, since they were the first point 'n click adventure games to bring in RPG elements and allow for character creation. (In fact, to this day they might be the ONLY point 'n click adventures to really have any sort of RPG influence.)

They also had FANTASTIC worldbuilding, featuring locales based off of Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Africa. The third game in the series, Wages of War, is probably still one of the best representations of African fantasy in a video game made by mostly white folks. (Admittedly, there's not much competition.) And the fourth game, Shadows of Darkness, is such an awesome ode to Transylvanian lore and Lovecraft horror that it probably created my attraction to Eastern European creepiness.

Each game also had a different combat system, ranging from a behind the back view to a Street Fighter side view to Diablo clicking.

Anyway, the whole series was awesome and can be bought for cheap on Steam or GOG now. The games hold up well, though the copy protection in the Quest for Glory II is annoying (there's a fan remake that fixes this).

I wrote a whole long thing on the games here if anyone's interested.

How easy is it to get into these games today? I always hated how in Kings Quest, you could progress without picking up all key items, making the game unwinnable. Is stuff like his frequent in QfG?

 

[epmode]

How easy is it to get into these games today? I always hated how in Kings Quest, you could progress without picking up all key items, making the game unwinnable. Is stuff like his frequent in QfG?

The second game has a bit of that because of a time limit but the others are far more friendly than other Sierra adventure games. I can't recall any times when missing an item early on will cause a fail state later in the game. Also, there are usually several ways to solve each puzzle.

QfG is my favorite Sierra series, BTW. The first four are absolutely worth playing. And just because you won't see it mentioned on Steam, QfG2 has an excellent fan remake.

 

[SalvaPot]

Barkley's Shut Up and Jam! Gaiden its a goddamn classic, its the perfect example of how you can take a joke and make an intriguing storyline, imaginative RPG Battle system, and the perfect mix of funny, exciting and even emotional moments.

 

[blummer102]

How easy is it to get into these games today? I always hated how in Kings Quest, you could progress without picking up all key items, making the game unwinnable. Is stuff like his frequent in QfG?

QFG has none of the King's Quest unwinnable BS. Also no inane inventory puzzles! Every puzzle is pretty logical and can be solved in different ways depending on the character class - for example, in the first game you need to retrieve a ring stuck in a bird's nest for a healer. The fighter can climb the tree and get it, the mage can use a Fetch spell and the thief can throw daggers at it until it falls down. Later games feature more complicated variations of this sort of thing - you can sneak into an endgame dungeon in the fifth game as a thief using your grappling hook and stealth, while the mage can cast a Calm spell on the guards and the fighter can just break down the door and go in with sword and shield ready.

Having a walkthrough by your side just in case (there are plenty on GameFAQs) might help with a few things, but it isn't required like in some of the King's Quest games...especially KQ5. Only thing is some of the games are buggy, especially Quest for Glory 4, which shipped in a rough state. There are tons of fixes online though.

Best way to play the games if you've never played them before is the QFG 1 remake, the QFG 2 fan remake (since the first two original games look a bit old and feature a typing parser that might not be everyone's cup of tea), QFG 3, QFG 4 and then QFG 5. You can carry over your character with each game and retain your skills. After you're done, there are a few excellent fan-made spiritual successors worth playing, like Quest for Infamy and Heroine's Quest.