felipepepe
Codex Refugee
So, since RPG Watch doesn't enforce a jRPG apartheid and has a smaller and (reportedly) tigher community than the Codex, I decided to create a thread for jRPG/japanese PC games recommendations. The idea here is to avoid obvious games, like Chrono Trigger, and focus on hidden gems.
Since most people here seem to be Lawfull Master Race citizens, I'll try to keep this to legaly adquirable PC games, ok? But feel free to post anything you find worthy of attention.
Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale
A very unique game, you're the owner of a item shop in a typical RPG city, and must not only price and sell items for the adventurers, but also finance their expeditions inside dungeos in search of loot to be sold. When inside dungeons, you controll the adventurers in a top-down real-time dungeon-crawler. Very fun game, available on Steam.
Fortune Summoners: Secret of the Elemental Stone
A real-time side-scrolling action-rpg, where you control a group of girls, each with its speciality, like Water Magic or Mellee combat, and can freely switch between then to solve puzzles and defeat monsters. Don't let the visuals fool you, it's a very hard game. Also available on Steam.
Labyrinth of Touhou
Fan-made game derived from that ah… thing that is the Touhou project, this one is a turn-based party-based dungeon-crawler, with insane dungeon maps and difficulty. Only for those able to handle extreme challenges and DESU-levels. Available (and already patched to english) here.
Ys: Origin
Prequel to the entire Ys series, it's a convoluted action-rpg, with 2 protagonists (actually 3), nice graphics and great & challenging boss battles. Also on Steam.
Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden
Not really a jRPG, but a parody of them, staring the adventures of Mr. Charles Barkley, the basketball player that threw the world into a post-apocalyptic chaos after performing a "chaos dunk". Short, sweet and free, I highly recommend this one. Download it here.
NON-RPG GAMES:
Kara no Shoujo
A great detective visual-novel. You're a policemen in 50's Tokyo, trying to solve a series of murders. Tons of text and little gameplay, but you're offered many choices thru the game and have to choose place you'll visit and things you'll ask people. It features fantastic artwork, good story and multiple endings, most of them extremely grim… Sadly it also features some hentai scenes, that doesn't fit the game or the story much, but are a minor downpoint in a great game. Available here.
Since most people here seem to be Lawfull Master Race citizens, I'll try to keep this to legaly adquirable PC games, ok? But feel free to post anything you find worthy of attention.
Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale
A very unique game, you're the owner of a item shop in a typical RPG city, and must not only price and sell items for the adventurers, but also finance their expeditions inside dungeos in search of loot to be sold. When inside dungeons, you controll the adventurers in a top-down real-time dungeon-crawler. Very fun game, available on Steam.
Fortune Summoners: Secret of the Elemental Stone
A real-time side-scrolling action-rpg, where you control a group of girls, each with its speciality, like Water Magic or Mellee combat, and can freely switch between then to solve puzzles and defeat monsters. Don't let the visuals fool you, it's a very hard game. Also available on Steam.
Labyrinth of Touhou
Fan-made game derived from that ah… thing that is the Touhou project, this one is a turn-based party-based dungeon-crawler, with insane dungeon maps and difficulty. Only for those able to handle extreme challenges and DESU-levels. Available (and already patched to english) here.
Ys: Origin
Prequel to the entire Ys series, it's a convoluted action-rpg, with 2 protagonists (actually 3), nice graphics and great & challenging boss battles. Also on Steam.
Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden
Not really a jRPG, but a parody of them, staring the adventures of Mr. Charles Barkley, the basketball player that threw the world into a post-apocalyptic chaos after performing a "chaos dunk". Short, sweet and free, I highly recommend this one. Download it here.
NON-RPG GAMES:
Kara no Shoujo
A great detective visual-novel. You're a policemen in 50's Tokyo, trying to solve a series of murders. Tons of text and little gameplay, but you're offered many choices thru the game and have to choose place you'll visit and things you'll ask people. It features fantastic artwork, good story and multiple endings, most of them extremely grim… Sadly it also features some hentai scenes, that doesn't fit the game or the story much, but are a minor downpoint in a great game. Available here.