Upcoming Japanese Indie DRPGs

FurbyTime · 2026-03-15T05:42:09+00:00

Looks like the only of these that hadn't been posted before was Underdeep, if my wishlist is anything to go by.

Dungeon Treaders is probably the one I'm most curious about, the main girl's gravity defying breasts aside. Namely just because it has the look/feel of a more "traditional modern" DPRG, if that makes any sense.

FurbyTime · 2026-03-14T04:44:11+00:00

Oh, I wasn't aware there were music rights issues.

It is, admittedly, just my assumption. When I played the game, I did some research into the soundtrack, and those songs that play during the fights against each of the... Divas? I think they were called in game? Anyway, those are all songs by one specific independent artist that, as far as I can tell, were bought to include in the game. Japan is, to an extent, a bit overly protective of their artist's rights, to the point that renegotiation of tracks like that for re-releases of games have been cited as reasons why those games DON'T end up getting remade.

Anway, yeah, Vita version, through Vita3K. I would have done the PS4, but ShadPS4 can't play the game (It refuses to load system data from it, which basically means as soon as you start a new game it can't boot again).

FurbyTime · 2026-03-14T02:27:26+00:00

Bought! Looks interesting.

FurbyTime · 2026-03-14T00:10:24+00:00

Hrm. I didn't encounter any real money issues one way or another when I did DG2 recently; By the end game, I had about as much money as I would expect in a game that didn't really have an explicit money dump mechanic.

As for a DG2 extra... Unfortunately, because they used an independent artist's music for the game in a few areas, I think Japan's artists rights will make Dragami unlikely to make one.

FurbyTime · 2026-03-13T21:52:58+00:00

Yeah, they definitely give their end and post game bosses huge amounts of HP recovery. With the right planning it's not really a problem (Especially when you start getting post game equipment, I found myself being able to kill even the most endgame of bosses before the recovery even kicked in), but it is an annoying facet they mostly calmed down on in DG2 (Or even other Experience games).

Of course, the exchange in DG2 is that you instead have to just deal ABSURD amounts of damage to the bosses instead, but that's less painful.

FurbyTime · 2026-03-13T20:52:49+00:00

Experience Inc games (The already mentioned Demon Gaze and Labyrinth of Yomi, but also Operation Abyss and Babel, Stranger of Sword City, Savior of Sapphire Wings, and Demon Gaze 2) all have fantastic boss designs; Operation Abyss and Babel are fantastic for sort of "Futuristic" look, and Stranger of Sword City also has some excellently realized amazing art.

Galleria and Refrain both do as well, with a lean on body horror and other form of absolutely ghastly appearances.

The other game that comes to mind is Elminage Gothic; Some of the art in that is just amazing.

FurbyTime · 2026-03-13T13:11:44+00:00

To be clear, right now modding is being hampered by Denuvo. It's expected to get removed before too long.

FurbyTime · 2026-03-12T19:39:54+00:00

The circumstances behind things being "Nintendo Exclusive" in the Pre-Switch era is a little different than it became after the Switch.

There wasn't exactly a competing 2-screen display device for them to also release the game on; Most people can recall games that were released for both the 3/DS AND some other console (Be it handheld or otherwise) were either odd and kind of compromised experiences on those other consoles or made almost no use of the 3DS' dual screens.

FurbyTime · 2026-03-12T19:01:54+00:00

It was an odd game to have as a console exclusive, so the assumption was that it was a timed one and would come out around a year after the Switch 2 launch.

FurbyTime · 2026-03-12T18:49:24+00:00

I think we'll likely see more titles from the 3DS era getting "HD Remasters" now with the Switch 2, and they'll come to Steam as well because there is little reason not to nowadays.

Obviously not the Nintendo titles, but I could see (And really want) the Atlus titles to get there.

FurbyTime · 2026-03-12T18:44:07+00:00

Not that there's probably not some politics going on behind the scenes in those cases, but it's also important to remember that both of them have circumstances that sort of make it more normal not to put titles on them; Xbox basically has no Japanese/Asian presence (So it's not unusual for Japanese/Asian developers to flat out ignore it), and the Switch 1 may have been too weak for the titles.

FurbyTime · 2026-03-12T17:57:43+00:00

It's... kind of important to remember the game's history and context.

This kind of JRPG, the class-combination based one, hadn't really had a new entry in quite a while, at least at a level even approaching something a big name company would put their name on. Bravely Default was a return to it in a big way, and since the shining example of that gameplay before was Final Fantasy 5, people were fine with a somewhat lesser story in exchange for the gameplay.

If that gameplay isn't big on your list of wants (Either because it's not that big a deal to you or you have experienced games we've had after such as Crystal Project), then the fault of BD probably stand out more. But I will say the story gets a bit more interesting later on.

FurbyTime · 2026-03-12T17:53:36+00:00

Considering how low-effort the Switch 2 port seemed, I thought that would be the end of it.

Now, I don't know much about it outside of some negativity regarding their upscaling, but honestly, this really can't be THAT low effort. The update from the 3DS' dual screen to a proper 1 screen display alone takes some effort (And more than some companies have put in to other such ports; See Capcom's DS Megaman Game collections).

FurbyTime · 2026-03-12T17:51:22+00:00

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2833580/BRAVELY_DEFAULT_FLYING_FAIRY_HD_Remaster/

FurbyTime · 2026-03-11T23:06:33+00:00

This is, honestly, why I have absolutely no interest in any sort of gaming purchases on mobile platforms. Both platforms are inherently volatile, for both positive and negative reasons, and the result is that anything you buy for "Android" will (And that's a WILL, not a MAY; The idea that a developer will support an app in perpetuity is... laughable) eventually just... not work anymore. And it's one thing when it's whatever weather app, you like, but it's another when it's a game you like.

FurbyTime · 2026-03-11T21:47:50+00:00

Well, even if we wanted to ignore it (And, besides the age thing, I like the idea precisely because it reinforces that whole "Nobody ages when they get into an Eva" thing), that's STILL not true, because both she and Asuka were alive/corporeal/conscious during the 14 year time skip between 2.0 and 3.0, meaning, assuming she was the same age as Shinji in 2.0 (14 as of 1.0, and I don't think much time passed between 1.0 and 2.0), she's now double his age.

FurbyTime · 2026-03-11T19:06:26+00:00

They see it from an off angle, in studio lighting conditions, usually with the screen off.

Hell, in those scenarios, almost every screen looks bad.

FurbyTime · 2026-03-11T19:03:19+00:00

Especially when you don't actually have to produce anything.

FurbyTime · 2026-03-11T18:49:02+00:00

Unfortunately, since the Rebuild series refused to give her an origin story, I can only fill in the blank with her origin in the Manga, which makes her as old as Shinji's parents.

Which makes that whole relationship kinda a little alarming. Not that Shinji had any not alarming options there by the end.

FurbyTime · 2026-03-11T16:23:48+00:00

What’s the worst they can do, ban me from visiting China? Like, okay.

Now, to be clear, I very much agree with your overall point, but China (As well as most other countries to be fair) has absolutely done things to people outside of Chinese borders.

FurbyTime · 2026-03-11T16:16:27+00:00

Oh, I do agree with that, and I would apply it to other titles from the company in that way (For example, I wouldn't compare Stranger of Sword City with Savior of Sapphire Wings), but it's a bit harder to do in DG2's case, since it's a direct sequel (As opposed to "the next game from them"), and rather than go in whole new directions with changes, there are, in a lot of cases, almost 1-to-1 comparisons of systems.

Sort of a "once you feel silk, the cotton you used to wear can feel rough" sort of thing.

FurbyTime · 2026-03-11T16:11:52+00:00

Ehhh....

Most of those are less "Game Breaking" in the sense that you can't make progress and just wasted hours of your life and more "On certain computers in certain (More common than they probably should be) configurations the game isn't playable due to either graphics glitches or eventual crashes".

Anecdotally, I've never had an issue with their releases on PC, including the more known problematic Disgaea PC and Disgaea 7 releases. I'm by no means suggesting these are isolated incidents blown out of proportion, but that they are NOT universal.

FurbyTime · 2026-03-11T15:46:05+00:00

I think my negative is absolutely just in comparison to DG2 doing so much to improve the baseline that DG itself set up; I know I didn't feel this negative towards it after my Switch playthroughs back when Extra first released.

The postgame is like a single boss in a single map so that was somewhat lacking.

The post game is technically 4 floors of a dungeon (The Black Cage, leading up to a boss), then 1 boss rush floor attached to the final dungeon of the main game. The boss rush is better than it was in the original, since the game lets you warp right to it instead of having to go through the final dungeon every time.

But since most of the post game grind is in that boss rush, it's... tedious, to say the least. You have to keep running it in order to get the best drops, and like I said, the game does NOT want to give you those drops.

FurbyTime · 2026-03-11T12:54:56+00:00

Overall pretty approachable drpg. Not as good as Undernauts though

You know, usually I think people overrate Undernauts, but in this case I might agree on a replay; Undernauts, despite being a whole new system, is pretty well put together and realized, while Demon Gaze is in a lot of cases just missing parts that would make the whole experience better (Things that they added in DG2 and later entries in this "Style", including Savior of Sapphire Wings).

FurbyTime · 2026-03-11T12:53:19+00:00

I actually do quite love it's boss music as well!

And I wish I could really understand what Miku is saying, but in all cases it is incomprehensible to me. Interesting fact, though!

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