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A game where I can play as a bunch of ants killing everything? Absolute kino.
Quirky Indie RPGs - Depression is optional
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- Oct 6, 2016
I'm thinking about Barkley Gaiden again and it's still pretty shocking that - despite being a joke game - it has better plot and progression than most modern indie RPGs.
At all times you know what your goal is and why it's important. The game is intentionally jarring and yet so many things are well thought out and compelling.
I'm not even sure if half of it was intentional. Even the developers couldn't make lightning strike twice...
At all times you know what your goal is and why it's important. The game is intentionally jarring and yet so many things are well thought out and compelling.
I'm not even sure if half of it was intentional. Even the developers couldn't make lightning strike twice...
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- Dec 18, 2022
look outside picked up the torch that ToG dropped with 2. it helps that cboyardee did not abandon frankie during development on look outside.
wtfNeedSignUp
kiwifarms.net
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You could make a funny joke of it only happening if you try to sneak around the enemy and fail.
Something just doesn't feel right for me with Look Outside. It tries to style itself a horror game but it feels far more likely it's a fetish game based around transforming.
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2019
Can you give examples of what gives you that impression?
I feel like if it was a fetish game it would have made the photographer guy more sympathetic.
EDIT: Wait, I forgot there was an update. Did they change something?
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Mr. Bobby Brown
kiwifarms.net
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If you mean that big "Last Vision" update, they added in a bunch of content.
wtfNeedSignUp
kiwifarms.net
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- Dec 17, 2019
Just to preface, transformation is 100% a fetish. With that said, a lot of the game overs go in loving detail of how you are being transformed, sometimes with an "oh it hurts like an eternity in hell times 11".
The best comparison is a game where dozens of game overs is the description of you being flattened by a foot of a giant woman, even if the text is about how it hurts, it's not fooling anyone.
Mr. Bobby Brown
kiwifarms.net
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I don't know about that man. Pretty sure pletty of horror stuff go into detail about shit like that?
Especially stuff that involves body horror and lovecraftian shit?
Feel like you're kinda going through a thing where you seen so much shitty fetishy stuff made by troons and degenerates that it kinda ruins any normal stuff you see that doesn't do that.
LucasSomething
kiwifarms.net
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- Jun 21, 2016
Barkley is weirdly great because it's complete nonsense that takes itself serious like kingdom hearts except the drama is actually well written which in turn makes the retarded worldbuilding loop back into being even funnier. Like how the intro shows the world gone to shit and thugs beating a hobo and stealing his... neo shekels.
LISA is kinda similar in that sense, where you know the story is dark and MC is dead serious in his goal while zany bullshit happens around him and you're not meant to think much about.
Most indie rpgs are badly written in general and most quirky ones float on this dumb millenial style of "You thought it was a show for KIDS but now it's DARK AND EDGY!" that is eyerolling at this point. You never know how seriously you're supposed to take them.
This game reminds me of another one with a similar story that i'm not sure was mentioned here. It's called Underhero, a game where the hero literally dies in the introduction and you play the villain's underling who stole his sword and becomes the next hero.
This game is kinda like paper mario but not really. It's a 2d platformer with action turn based combat where you watch the bar raise and use actions in real time, including different types of dodge, a shield, and attacks. It's not hyper comedic but it's still a quirky game and i actually beat it fully years ago so i recommend. You can also pay enemies to not fight them (we undertale now) and they'll become npcs that can give you important tips but you never know who is useful and who isn't.
The main downsides that i remember right now is that dungeons can kinda go on for a little too long and can be annoying mazes or platforming. Another thing is how you start combat in true real time meaning if you touch the enemy the fight starts regardless of where the fuck both of you are standanding which lead me to actual softlocks as me and the enemy would be in different elevations and never hit each other. Some stuff is permanently missable too so make sure to explore before you finish the stage or leave headquarters.
btw i have forgotten to post some demos i tried in my previous comment, some stuff i saw on itcho was
Adiasis is a very short rpg like mario and luigi where you press to dodge but no attack mingames (god bless)
This was less than 30 minutes but pretty cool game. The story is pretty simple with the mc simply hearind a voice telling her to destroy evil and she wakes up and does that. She meets a normal sane guy who helps her and fights a few weirdos on the way. The aesthetics are cool and gameplay is fast and fun, with surprisingly good transitions and animations. If you can spare 30 minutes go check it out.
That said, the game has a very underwhelming ending when the hero says "now what?" and the developer literally appears and says "oh now the game ends. it was me who told to do it so i could make a game. I didnt think any of this much really." then the hero calls that really lame and the game ends. Not like i was expecting high art of course but even an honest mediocre ending would be better than a cynical one. I feel like the dev was trying to have self depreciation humor but it didn't land cause the game was good and i would've liked to see more.
Another one was 5th Era, a game in rpg maker but one of those so well produced that you forget it. There is only a demo so far tho and it's a lil bit quirky.
I did not finish this demo but i played the intro and enough to get into real gameplay. Combat in this game is pretty standard, you got your turn based with mana management. There is a system where enemies have weaknesses and hitting them enough makes them BREAK where they take more damage (i think octopath traveler has this?). There is also a limit break bar that stars at 0 every battle.
This is one of those games that really loves customization so you can customize too much imo. You dont buy better weapons, you simply unlock sidegrades with different passives and weapon mod slots. Characters have different archetypes with different skill trees and you can even change how you prefer to get you limit break and this all feels kinda overestimulating. Feels like one of those rpg maker games that went through feature creep over years and no one stopped the dev.
Story in this game is kinda weird. You play the intro with a different team fighting some terrorists in a mine or something. Turn out this world is a some kind of tower of babel-like where lower class lives in the lower layers and people there are exploited so these terrorists might be rebels? Anyway there is some important ore there that they stealing and shit so we fight them, but then freaking LIGHT MONSTERS spawn from them and start killing everyone. Then a white haired man with magic powers that fell from upper layer tries to absorb this light from the ore but fails and escape, and the team you play first dies. Then we get timeskip and light monsters started appearing all over and you're a special mercenary who has a special weapon who can fight them.
Kinda cliche kinda overcomplicated but ok, i respect the ambition. What i dont respect tho is the main character.
So Redian (yeah his name is fucking Redian). I think he was an attempt at creating a lovable shounen himbo who loves swords and guns, is a bit dumb and lazy but is kinda badass when he gets serious but from what i played Redian just comes across as a jackass loser. He looks so overdesigned and tryhardy with assimetric outfit, giant techsword + pistol, red scarf and jeans, etc.
He is late for work, takes the new prototype sword to the arena without permission, loses his pistol, and keeps drinking coffee while his friend has to fight enemies i alone. You even control redian during the fight where he drinks coffee to restore mana and i'm like "oh he's gonna pop off after finishing the coffee" but he never does. I'm sure the idea is that this is how their dynamic work, as redian says he knew she would win and cecilia is meant to be the responsible one and this is her badass intro moment but if it wasn't her Redian would probably die here. There is a line between laid back and a bothersome baby.
But then his boss asks if he won the arena match and he smugly says yeah boss and they both laugh and it's all forgiven. This is a fun dynamic that i felt was undermined by Redian feeling a little too incompetent for me to believe he should get away with it.
Anyway, the game's intro with the doomed cast is ok (1 hour long) then we get some meandering with redian until we talk to our boss who tells us to track and find this gang leader. Then we finally get to explore, pratically 2 hours in, and this game has a weird ass world system.
(i had to find a random youtuber for this)
ok so this game has like, actual tabletop-esque map where squares have random events and there is night and day cycle and stamina and i walk one square and start an elite fight where i fucking die. My first random battle and i die cause i can't kill even one of the 2 enemies. WHY is it like this man? I just want to play my quirky turnbased indie rpg... You can choose to rest and talk to your friends and level up friendship that unlocks new passives but you can also set up different passives for the day and that takes a resource and you can also eat food or something and it felt like too much so i took a break.
Anyways, i respect the ambition so good luck on the dev and it's project. The animations are really good and i remember sound and music too, even fi you can obviously tell the rpg maker engine holds it back. I'm sure someone will enjoy it more than me.
Now for my final game, i saw this one called Soma Union that is free. i didnt play but it looks like if someone made a quirky rpg with kirby characters.
(you know this is a quirky indie rpg because it says it has WACKY characters)
This looks pretty ok for a free game, it's been out since 2021 and only has 63 reviews on steam and 500 views on youtube. Then i click the channel and realize it's a sequel to an even more obscure game called soma spirits
And the dev made other cute quirky games that can be seen here, including two dragon quest like games. I think they are all free. https://torch60.itch.io
Checking their social media, they made their first game 10 years ago and apparently still working on more so, ya know, i gotta respect indie devs doing it for the love of the game.
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Blacklight
kiwifarms.net
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- Jan 10, 2020
That's one hell of a reach, and honestly you could say anything is a fetish if you frame it correctly.
Nine times out of ten in Look Outside the transformations are shown to be fucking horrific mind shattering things ending with pure ego death and leaving nothing but a shambling monster behind. In the rare cases where the person who transforms doesn't turn into a monster it's never a good thing.
I'm pretty sure there are only about three or four people who are 'cool' with what happens to them.
1. Joel. Joel is just a kid so he's young enough to not worry about what happened to him.
2. Leigh. Leigh was proven to be a murderous psychopath even before her transformation into the Grinning Beast, and even then she can still choose to look 100% human if she chooses.
3. Hellen. Hellen doesn't have much to go off of, but her transformation wasn't even that bad, ending with just a fucked up face.
Mr. Bobby Brown
kiwifarms.net
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- Jan 24, 2024
Oh damn, I actually played a decent amount of Brave Hero Yuusha. It's a pretty neat, enjoyable rpg maker game.
Speaking of RPG Maker, rpgmaker.net reccently came back online, so there's a place to check out more stuff there.
The closest thing you could say is fetishy or sexual is shit involving Spine, which is clearly meant to be horrifc.
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- Dec 6, 2017
Hermit and pig release:
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- Feb 8, 2019
I played Escape from Ever After and I have opinions, mostly about the writing and side content, and I'd love to go into detail sometime when I've got time, but I will say in looks it's got bug fables beat.
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LucasSomething
kiwifarms.net
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- Jun 21, 2016
Steam recommended me "cozy fun and dark game list" so i spotted this interesting trailer out of nowhere: Dream Channel Zero, where you get isekaied in a game and meet wacky people.
There is not much gameplay shown but it apparently to have minigame combat system and the steam page tries REALLY hard to overhype the game.
"Dive into a glitched-out game world! Explore synthwave skylines, fight freaky phantoms, and meet a whole host of quirky characters in this hysterically surreal adventure!"
It keeps calling itself a hysterical and CRAZY adventure and disturbing and i think it will be one of those games with dark/sad twists that are better enjoyed with low expectations.
Another i spotted was Codex Eternal eclipse, a rather pretty and quirky style and paper mario gameplay
I realized that Away from home released and it wasn't even posted here. It has mixed reviews, it seems the game had a very rough launch and was basically unfinishable, but later reviews mention the game is too hard and too short for it's price, with only a few mandatory real fights.
I tried to find a walkthrough but got nothing but the discovery that apparently it shares the same title as some porn game. It seems the dev has conceded and lowered the price and promised some content updates.
edit: I realized late that the dream channel 0 trailer shows 2024 that didn't happen. It still has no release on steam page and no news there so i wonder if it's dead. Had to track the dev's jap twitter and find a 6 month old tweet saying they're working on it.
There is not much gameplay shown but it apparently to have minigame combat system and the steam page tries REALLY hard to overhype the game.
"Dive into a glitched-out game world! Explore synthwave skylines, fight freaky phantoms, and meet a whole host of quirky characters in this hysterically surreal adventure!"
It keeps calling itself a hysterical and CRAZY adventure and disturbing and i think it will be one of those games with dark/sad twists that are better enjoyed with low expectations.
Another i spotted was Codex Eternal eclipse, a rather pretty and quirky style and paper mario gameplay
I realized that Away from home released and it wasn't even posted here. It has mixed reviews, it seems the game had a very rough launch and was basically unfinishable, but later reviews mention the game is too hard and too short for it's price, with only a few mandatory real fights.
I tried to find a walkthrough but got nothing but the discovery that apparently it shares the same title as some porn game. It seems the dev has conceded and lowered the price and promised some content updates.
edit: I realized late that the dream channel 0 trailer shows 2024 that didn't happen. It still has no release on steam page and no news there so i wonder if it's dead. Had to track the dev's jap twitter and find a 6 month old tweet saying they're working on it.
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- Joined
- Oct 6, 2016
That's by the people who made Zelle.
Zelle is definately worth a play but the plot resolution is a bit too UNDERTALE-y and it's a bit silly.
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2017
Placid Plastic Deck release:
LucasSomething
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2016
Spotted this in the wild, Hellescape a game that is like deltarune and has a demo.
>and what else about it?
Huh? What do you mean what else about it?
>you're supposed to say more stuff about the game
But i did? Didn't you see the part where is said it's like deltarune? What else is there to say?... Ok, maybe i'm being unfair to the game, it looks like a ripoff but ya know... it's not the first and won't be the last.
btw steam next fest started so i'll try to find demos and trailers
DOSA DIVAS is a game where you play 2 women and a mech in some alegria art style world where a bad woman wants to "rid the world of cookin" so people have to buy her fast food burgers. Yeah. It has QTEs cause ofc. April release.
next we have A Snail's Tale, a game inspired by final fantasy 1 about heroes searching for crystals so they have enough power to fight the immortal snail that is slooooooowly aproaching the castle. Very slowly tho. I cannot find a trailer on youtube because this title is awful but it has demo.
Spaceman memories has a demo, i'm not sure what this game is about but looks quirkish and calls itself retro (it does not look retro).
Petrichor has a pretty unique artstyle that i like, definitely a certified quirky indie turn based rpg, it even has funny audio samples and everything. Looks very kirby-ish. The mc wants to find a house plant decoration and nothing will stop him.
Stitched together is a game about the mc coming back home from school and stuff is different, with apparent supernatural stuff around so they meet friends and investigate. This is not an original premise but i cannot fucking disociate it with godamn YIIK. The characters even look like yiik rejects in a paper mario world
It sucks cause it doesn't look awful but it doesn't look good by any means. That walking animation is terrible and this voice acting is rough and vocaroo tier. The trailer has less than 200 views after 7 months.
Tantalus is looking like a true and honest quirky rpg maker game. It features a witch and satan fighting their way out of hell and up to heaven to, i quote, "topple the regime of the "One True God" and free the wrongly convicted from Hell". (hmmmmmm)
Trivia Fantasy is a final fantasy 1 like game but you must answer random trivia during battle. This sounds like such a pointless idea but i respect it, especially when you have the balls to show a harry potter question. I cannot find a trailer on youtube cause this is an awful title.
People of note is a musical rpg with clearly much more budget than the other games i mentioned. It's probably very linear and GAY and probably mid but it doesn't look visually bad and has rhythm minigames.
I saw Calamity Angels too but that's idea factory so i guess not indie, but does look a quirky jrpg regardless.
Posse of 3 is an rpg maker about some wacky wild west tale with some quirky looking mcs and a FURRY that remind me of some cartoon or something that i can't remember right now. They got composers tho and the trailer song is kinda good. Fun fact, this trailer literally has 0 views. I am probably the first person sharing this.
(why does this artstyle and world sprites feel familiar... and that native guy is totally white in his sprite!)
Friends of a Feather looks like a comedy game with maybe some light rpg battles in. It does market itself as a funny game which tends to make your job harder instead of eaiser. While glancing the page i found out it's brazilian game.
Void of lily is a game that is tagged as having choices and many endings, and it looks until until the battle in the trailer starts and it's slaps me with RIPOFF OF SANS FIGHT WITH GASTERBLASTER SPAM and i almost have to applaud the lack of shame to not only do that but to start with it. I guess it's an undertale clone but in a futurisc human world? You even control a heart for gods sake!
Fun Omega Zone is hard to grasp but i guess it's like Final fantasy 1 (we really getting some FF1 games today) but in a post apocalypse world that is trippy and colorful and quirky and you have more classes to pick at the beginning so ya know, if the gameplay is tight and you like that kind of classic rpg, here is another option.
While more of a monster tame game, there is a demo for Yami Kids and Lumentale, the first is much more gameboy colorish. A game named Kaibil is a monochrome rpg where you play some maya native and doesn't look very quirky or good at all i'm just mentioning.
Those were the ones i found on the JRPG tag but there might be more. All ofthese have demos and idk if i'll play any. Void of Lily actually looks well made and fun if you ignore the fact it's a ripoff, petrichor and posse of 3 might be worth depending on the writing.
Unrelated but i glanced at old games i was interested and i'm afraid Dog Adventure harmony is dead like i expected here (the developer hasn't posted anything in social media for over 6 months) and Pillory is probably buried because the dev went to work fulltime on a Burder Street Station that looks like a lame walking sim. SHAME.
>and what else about it?
Huh? What do you mean what else about it?
>you're supposed to say more stuff about the game
But i did? Didn't you see the part where is said it's like deltarune? What else is there to say?... Ok, maybe i'm being unfair to the game, it looks like a ripoff but ya know... it's not the first and won't be the last.
btw steam next fest started so i'll try to find demos and trailers
DOSA DIVAS is a game where you play 2 women and a mech in some alegria art style world where a bad woman wants to "rid the world of cookin" so people have to buy her fast food burgers. Yeah. It has QTEs cause ofc. April release.
next we have A Snail's Tale, a game inspired by final fantasy 1 about heroes searching for crystals so they have enough power to fight the immortal snail that is slooooooowly aproaching the castle. Very slowly tho. I cannot find a trailer on youtube because this title is awful but it has demo.
Spaceman memories has a demo, i'm not sure what this game is about but looks quirkish and calls itself retro (it does not look retro).
Petrichor has a pretty unique artstyle that i like, definitely a certified quirky indie turn based rpg, it even has funny audio samples and everything. Looks very kirby-ish. The mc wants to find a house plant decoration and nothing will stop him.
Stitched together is a game about the mc coming back home from school and stuff is different, with apparent supernatural stuff around so they meet friends and investigate. This is not an original premise but i cannot fucking disociate it with godamn YIIK. The characters even look like yiik rejects in a paper mario world
It sucks cause it doesn't look awful but it doesn't look good by any means. That walking animation is terrible and this voice acting is rough and vocaroo tier. The trailer has less than 200 views after 7 months.
Tantalus is looking like a true and honest quirky rpg maker game. It features a witch and satan fighting their way out of hell and up to heaven to, i quote, "topple the regime of the "One True God" and free the wrongly convicted from Hell". (hmmmmmm)
Trivia Fantasy is a final fantasy 1 like game but you must answer random trivia during battle. This sounds like such a pointless idea but i respect it, especially when you have the balls to show a harry potter question. I cannot find a trailer on youtube cause this is an awful title.
People of note is a musical rpg with clearly much more budget than the other games i mentioned. It's probably very linear and GAY and probably mid but it doesn't look visually bad and has rhythm minigames.
I saw Calamity Angels too but that's idea factory so i guess not indie, but does look a quirky jrpg regardless.
Posse of 3 is an rpg maker about some wacky wild west tale with some quirky looking mcs and a FURRY that remind me of some cartoon or something that i can't remember right now. They got composers tho and the trailer song is kinda good. Fun fact, this trailer literally has 0 views. I am probably the first person sharing this.
Friends of a Feather looks like a comedy game with maybe some light rpg battles in. It does market itself as a funny game which tends to make your job harder instead of eaiser. While glancing the page i found out it's brazilian game.
Void of lily is a game that is tagged as having choices and many endings, and it looks until until the battle in the trailer starts and it's slaps me with RIPOFF OF SANS FIGHT WITH GASTERBLASTER SPAM and i almost have to applaud the lack of shame to not only do that but to start with it. I guess it's an undertale clone but in a futurisc human world? You even control a heart for gods sake!
Fun Omega Zone is hard to grasp but i guess it's like Final fantasy 1 (we really getting some FF1 games today) but in a post apocalypse world that is trippy and colorful and quirky and you have more classes to pick at the beginning so ya know, if the gameplay is tight and you like that kind of classic rpg, here is another option.
While more of a monster tame game, there is a demo for Yami Kids and Lumentale, the first is much more gameboy colorish. A game named Kaibil is a monochrome rpg where you play some maya native and doesn't look very quirky or good at all i'm just mentioning.
Those were the ones i found on the JRPG tag but there might be more. All ofthese have demos and idk if i'll play any. Void of Lily actually looks well made and fun if you ignore the fact it's a ripoff, petrichor and posse of 3 might be worth depending on the writing.
Unrelated but i glanced at old games i was interested and i'm afraid Dog Adventure harmony is dead like i expected here (the developer hasn't posted anything in social media for over 6 months) and Pillory is probably buried because the dev went to work fulltime on a Burder Street Station that looks like a lame walking sim. SHAME.
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2016
A video about this was in my recommended - debating how much inspiration is too much.
Didn't actually watch it though.
It doesn't look like a bad knockoff but it does look like one of those Chinese GBC games that are openly ripping from something else. The "Zook Hero" of DELTARUNE.
It's practically indistinguishable from that part in YiiK where the world is unraveling. Fuck. I loved that part.
Welcome Back: Uncommon Time
I mean, I ASSUME. That game was a big meme on 8chan (before YiiK) but hell if I'm sitting through 10 hours of default RPG Maker graphics.
What is it with Brazil and feet?
Actually, this looks good. It's clearly furry but not in your typical inbred furry artstyle. It's probably more identifiable as derivative in Brazil though.
This is just UNDERTALE crossed with Valhalla.
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2018
Th English translation of Segagaga is out... and initially AI translated, but given a human pass.