[img width=658 height=515]http://s.pro-gmedia.com/videogamer/media/images/pub/large/pandoras_tower.jpg[/img] Square Enix and Level-5, two well known JRPG developers. The games of these studios are household names to almost any gamer and collector, but what about NIS or Atlus? Here at RF Generation those who focus their collecting habits on RPGs or are more open to different genres are likely to be familiar with the more obscure side of Role Playing games - the niche RPG. Niche games are made with a specific target audience in mind. Whether its rogue-like dungeon crawlers, stories of cute alchemists, or the adventures of high school kids with supernatural abilities these RPGs are not destined to be million dollar blockbuster games. On one level this is likely because Role Playing games are much more popular in Japan than they are stateside. North American gamers should consider themselves lucky to reap the rewards of the successful Operation Rainfall campaign. The primary demographic of niche RPGs are the otaku - anime enthusiasts. These people are more likely to pick up on the unique style of Japanese humour that would be lost on the typical North American gamer. While not a Role Playing game, the Katamari series is a perfect example. The Disgaea games published by NIS use the anime art style and feature many gameplay elements that naturally appeal to fans of Japanese animation. Fan service is another aspect of the niche RPG with the otaku in mind. Often sharing similarities to these games, though not always, are the rogue-like RPGs. [img width=600 height=200]http://darkzero.co.uk/asset/2010/03/disgaea-2-psp-header.jpg[/img] In a word a rogue-like games can be described as unrelenting. All items and progress are lost should the player fail to clear the dungeon safely. This is hugely frustrating of course, but if successful the reward is sweet. To add to the complexity and difficulty these game occasionally feature randomly generated levels. Shiren the Wanderer (Wii) is a modern dungeon crawler. Crafting, weapon customization, and alchemy are also common elements of niche RPGs. The Atelier game rely heavily on these game mechanics. Sorting through submenus to find the optimal combination of items may not be for everyone, certainly not for someone who just wants to embark upon a journey of grand proportions. [img width=700 height=393]http://andriasang.com/con0gd/atelier_ayesha_screens/23vc2.jpg[/img] Because these niche games seem so unusual according to North American expectations they are often never released in the west. These really are games that are not specifically made for North American audiences though some of the more accessible titles have been translated and redone for English-speaking gamers. Knowing that only a select number of people who make up the intended market demographic will purchase these games publishers typically have lower retail forecasts and thus these games will see smaller print runs. Though the other side of the RPG scene is weird, difficult, and complex it is still worthwhile to experiment with these games. And as a collector why not add some quirky titles to your shelves?
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I think a big reason we here in the US tend to get away from those standard RPG type games is because they tend to be very large scale and time consuming games. It's seemingly all about money and time is money apparently so, as a comsumer, if I spend 40 hours on a game it's taking a big chunk out of my day/week/month etc. Here in the US people want to sit down, play a few matches of Call of Duty and get on with their lives.
That being said, there are still people here who will gladly find time for some of these games, but that's what results in the smaller print runs of these oft overlooked titles. I know Nintendo Power or Game Informer or whatever will publish a small article on them but that's about it. They want to promote your Halos, your Call of Dutys because that's what the people want.
I know I'm all over the place, but I can at least count myself one of the ones who does enjoy those 40 hour quests. I've sunk a good 45 hours into the new Fire Emblem for 3DS (over 2 save files of course) and I've recently started the Fire Emblem for the Wii that I recently acquired. I remember as a child (or adult) sitting through 40 plus hours of Final Fantasy II and Breath of Fire several times, and I'm sad that my dislike for Sony has kept me away from those franchises for so long. But it's never too late to pick up an old friend like the Breath of Fire series and give it another try and a slightly more mature adult. I do realize that Fire Emblem and Breath of Fire are not necessarily the most obscure RPGs but you get my point. I wish they would publish more copies here but I'm also in the minority overall. Here's to hoping.
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The huge time commitment required to finish RPGs sure does turn many potential gamers away, no doubt about that. It's all time management really. Furthermore, these games only appeal to a small portion of the gaming market. Some of these game listed here, though, would be titles for even a smaller market group of the RPG fans.
I think it was Grey Ghost who picked up an Atelier game and posted in the small scores. That got me thinking about the more obscure RPGs.
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I'll certainly second the time requirement as the reason I don't get into more RPGs in general. My gaming has to serve my other interests and priorities, and the time investment requirements of most RPGs, MMOs, etc., simply don't fit well.
That being said, there are always games for which I'll make exceptions. My Love and I went through the Mass Effect Trilogy together and it was a great shared experience, and the portable nature of the Etrian Odyssey games have allowed me to slowly grind my way through at my leisure while attending to kids and house chores. Speaking of Etrian Odyssey...
The Dark Spire is a stand alone DS release for Wizardry fans than think Etrian Odyssey is too modern and easy. It even has a wireframe graphics mode for the truly hardcore. If you're looking for the opposite of hardcore and want to take a break from saving the world in every game, maybe try...
The Atelier series on PS3: They are certainly something different, and the latest was just released (Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk) but published by Tecmo Koei instead of NISA, and the result seems to have effected quality issues such as translation. (My love has put some time into them, but she tends to get bored and loses interest because the focus is more on the crafting system and other game mechanics, and less on story.) Another series my girl lost interest in was...
The Ar Tonelico series: (PS2 and PS3) Most reviews noted the unnecessary pseudo-sexual themes and odd translations. The innuendo and strange play mechanics were indeed too much for my Love to get all the way through. Speaking of strange play mechanics...
The Magna Carta NA releases (PS2 and XBox 360) haven't exactly picked up a cult following as far as I'm aware, although they are generally considered decent games with overtly complex gameplay mechanics. If you're looking for a series with a (probably undeserved) cult following, try...
The Hyperdimension Neptunia series (PS3) are notable for the meta-themes of a personified game industry, including laughably proportioned 'Goddesses' representing everything from 360 to portables to the unreleased Sega Neptune as the title character. To be honest, while I enjoyed them I didn't find them very fun to actually play, as they aren't very refined or well designed. The third in the series is set to release soon, but I don't expect a break in the trend. If you want to get frustrated over a broken trend, try collecting all of the physical releases of...
The Record of Agarest War series (XBox 360 and PS3) is an interesting series of time sinks that combine Strategy RPGs with dating sim elements. More importantly, it features the most oddly scattered physical releases in modern gaming. The first game has a normal and "Naughty" Collector's Edition on 360, the sequel/prequel Record of Agarest War Zero was the only title to feature a normal and Special Edition on both 360 and PS3, and then as a special kick in the pants to those 360 owners faithful to the series, Record of Agarest War 2, both normal and Special Editions, were exclusive to PS3. The first game was later downloadable over PSN, so technically the entire series can be acquired on the PS3, though not as physical copies, and as of this writing RoAW 2 is unavailable on 360.
And you thought the Final Fantasy series had release problems...
Anywho, fun article, and I wanted to toss up a few games that came to mind that seem to fit into the category of niche RPGs.
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As a longtime Atlus and NIS fan, I applaud the efforts of these companies to bring these titles over to the NA/EU region when no 'self-respecting' bigger publisher would even so much as glance over. We live in a FPS shooter generation unfortunately, and those titles are what sell to the masses. 30-50K in sales volume (which is what most of these niche titles will sell on a good day) simply won't cut it in the HD era. But smaller publishers like Atlus, which made a pretty decent profit off of a unique puzzle 'adventure' game like Catherine, and NIS, whose quirky Atelier and Hyperdimensional Neptunia series have earned them a devoted following among the anime fans, don't have the huge overhead and profit margins the bigger companies have, so they can take a chance on riskier titles that wouldn't otherwise see the light of day in the west (heck, even Square Enix still publishes many of NIS' titles in the EU region). Another company worth mentioning is XSEED, who localized many niche games like the Corpse Party games available digitally on PSN, and Aksys Games, who brought the interactive puzzle novel game 999: Nine Persons, Nine Hours, Nine Doors to NA (which interestingly enough, proved to be even more successful over here than it was in Japan, which convinced developer Chun Soft to make the sequel Virtue's Last Reward when they initially wouldn't have done so otherwise!).
Despite this, there are still a great many titles that never leave Japan, with most PC Visual Novels being the most glaring example, not to mention many PSP game releases in Japan that will never get localized simply because the PSP is considered dead in the west by Sony. And there are a growing legion of EU gamers who want Atlus to open up a European branch so that Atlus can release their titles in a more timely fashion there. As of right now, Atlus must depend on other publishers for their games in the EU, and more often than not, their games are delayed for weeks, months, and in some cases years after the NA/JP releases (just ask any EU gamer about Persona 4 Arena - that's a whole debate into itself). Still, having played shooters back in the early 2000s, I can honestly say I'm sick of the constant glut of shooter titles nowadays, so I play many niche games simply to unwind, and support the publishers behind these games so Japanese developers can see that there is still a market for the 'quirky niche title' in the west.
Heck, even as I type this, Sega is mulling the possibility of bringing over its popular music game franchise 'Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA' to the NA/EU region. I would never have even thought that possible 2 years ago.
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@Necrosaro: You really know your way around the niche game scene. I should have consulted you when writing this. These games certainly do deserve more attention from localization studios because there is demand, or at least interest in the quirkier games. I guess with fundraising avenues like Kick Starter there is hope for lesser known games to get translated and released in the west.
I wanted to explore a subgenre that was foreign to me and I had somewhat of a hard time doing research on the topic because of the lack of articles on niche RPGs. But it seems a good number of RF Geners are familiar with the subject. Regardless, I'm enjoying the discussion.
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As always, great writeup, Fleach. You should look into the strangeness of the niche WRPG. If niche JRPG games are for anime loving "otaku" in the West, then niche WRPGs are aimed at PC retro gamers. In fact, if you take a game from each style and compare, you can plainly see the game creation values of each culture stamped for all to see but taken to the extreme (which parallels your description of JRPG niche titles).
@Necrosaro: I would argue that we are in an age of blended genres rather than "FPS shooters." For example, if one uses the current CoD game as a scale, one could see that most so called "FPS" games are really the offspring of multiple genres. In some cases, such as the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games one could easily see why they are called RPGs as often as shooters (depending on the primary focus of the developers).
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Definitely my favorite genre to add to the old collection. There is something special about adding an Atlus/NIS/Working Designs/etc title to my pile of games.
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@bombatomba: I like how western RPGs are genre bending. The fusion of FPS with leveling and stats is great for RPGs' presence over here where shooters are king. Games like Dishonored and Borderlands are good for showing the average gamer there's more to a game than just shooting stuff.
If WRPGs are harkening back to old school PC gaming I'm afraid I'll need to ease myself into that scene considering I've never played a retro PC game. My gaming history is limited to consoles.
@Crabmaster2000: You and I are pretty much on the same page in terms of taste in games. Working Designs is responsible for localizing so many fantastic games. We here in the west owe them a lot. I wish I was aware on them when they brought over the Lunar series.
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@Fleach:Lunar 2 was my first experience with Working Designs and one of the earliest RPGs that I played. Love that game sooooooo much.
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@Fleach: Well, niche WRPGs are certainly calling back to the halcyon days of PC RPGs. I think the games are quite a bit more accessible than you think, Fleach. Dungeons of Dreadmor, for example, is able to show you where the Shiren games go their inspiration, but without the "yuck" value that most gamers experience when they see am original rogue-like. Legend of Grimlock features the kind of gameplay that has been lost since the lost days of Eye of the Beholder, Dungeon Master, and Dungeon Hack. And Shadowrun Returns... that is just going to be an awesome game, niche or not.
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@bombatomba: That all sounds awesome! Can you PM me a list of recommendations? Also what consoles are these games for?
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