JRPG style indie games

Hey everyone, I was wondering if any good JRPG style indie games have been made? I've really been jonesing for a good 2D adventure recently.

I can't think of very many indie RPGs. Recettear is really the only recent one I can think of. Minecraft and Cave Story have RPG elements but they are more sandbox and metroidvania respectively than RPG.

Any of the Zeboyd games (BoD7,CSTW, Penny Arcade 3). Also Chantelise and Fortune Summoners (by the same people that translated Recettear).

Ah, it's a shame there aren't more of them. You'd think with all of the people out their with fond memories of Chrono Trigger and FFVI there'd be more of them being made.

A bunch of the games at http://rampantgames.com/roleplaying are in the jrpg style. Most (all?) have demos.

@MisterMollusk said:

Ah, it's a shame there aren't more of them. You'd think with all of the people out their with fond memories of Chrono Trigger and FFVI there'd be more of them being made.

I wouldn't be surprised if there's a lot of Japanese independents that are putting out games just like that. We just probably never hear about those titles in the West.

@MisterMollusk said:

Hey everyone, I was wondering if any good JRPG style indie games have been made? I've really been jonesing for a good 2D adventure recently.

This is more of an adventure game I think (didn't play it myself) but it has jrpg aesthetics, so maybe you'll like it.

@CptBedlam: Ah I've heard good things about that game. I'll put it on my list.

I'll throw in Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden on here. The parody story alone merits a look, but as a JRPG by itself it is quite solid.

@MisterMollusk oh man. To the Moon has zero in the way of a jrpg other than the aesthetics, story, and music, all of which are soooo so unbelievably great.

I'll throw in Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden on here. The parody story alone merits a look, but as a JRPG by itself it is quite solid.

Cthulhu Saves the World is pretty good.

Doom and Destiny for Xbox Live Indie Games

Surprisingly good. Story is whatever, but gameplay is pretty great.

Bonded Realities for Xbox Live Indie Games

It's a bit childish, and a bit easy, but it has some decent humour and a decent fighting system.

@MisterMollusk said:

Ah, it's a shame there aren't more of them. You'd think with all of the people out their with fond memories of Chrono Trigger and FFVI there'd be more of them being made.

I imagine most indie developers' strengths are in programming and gameplay systems & mechanics. Character development, plot and narrative are likely lower on the list. So RPGs wouldn't be easy for them to do since there is so much writing on the creative side rather than the technical side. Of course there are things like Bastion where there are creative writers on the team but I don't imagine there are going to be very many one or two person teams that can dedicate time to writing.

I third Barkley, Shut Up and Jam Gaiden. Not only is it a game with pretty interesting mechanics and a great sense of humor (it's an unofficial sequel to Space Jam!), but it's also completely free. It was honestly the first game to come to my mind when I saw the thread, even before Zeboyd's work.