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[ithamore]

First, a couple of relevant threads on Japanese indie games:

How do you find Japanese indie games?
http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=9468.0

Best Japanese games/devs?
http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=21533.0


I've been amassing a collection of Japanese indie games that were decent or enjoyable but I didn't feel like frontpaging. Some even have partial drafts I was reluctant to finish. Then there are all those I download while searching in hope of finding something I could help but post.

I've decided to my share favorites of this collection on the forums and to occasionally pick some to frontpage as a small group of recommendations (2 or 3 at a time).

I also would like to invite others to discuss they're opinions on Japanese indie games and to share finds of their own.


Here are a couple from my old drafts:




Colk-Cube (The 3rd link is to the games.)

Whitebox's Colk-Cube is an action match-3 with some twists. It requires the player to kick, push, and jump around cubes to make matches within a 7x7x2 matrix. The catch is that you start with only 60 seconds and must reach a quota of matches to receive time extensions. The quota increases at higher levels as does the number of colors with which to work. As the pace and music builds, it requires the right feel or rhythm to keep in the flow of the game, and it will all be over within 3 to 5 minutes. Normally, a puzzle game doesn't leave me feeling so tense and revved up after its over, but I think that's what I like about Colk-Cube.




Lico

In Lico, a mouse-controlled, action puzzle game by misi, you must drag a box with the LMB around you enemies and direct them with the RMB into a sun (the one enemy type that touches the sun eliminates all of its kind that are captured). Meanwhile, you mustn't lead them into the borders to maintain your grasp, and you're dodging for your life all the while. The enemies have different movement patterns and behaviors, and most become harmless once captured (other than the dark red ones with white stripes that look like classic peppermint candies, which become deadly to touch once captured). Overall, it is a polished game and the pace is good at the normal and hard difficulty settings, but it lacks in replay value. With the right revisions, however, it could turn into a good touchpad game.

[sublinimal]

The best shmups come from the east. Every Extend, everything Kenta Cho has touched, Touhous

[ithamore]

The best shmups come from the east. Every Extend, everything Kenta Cho has touched, Touhous

Try this out:

ほういち世界漫遊記 The link to the download.

You control a dog with a propeller on its head through a moderately difficult horizontal shmup. The drill pick-up reminds me of Air Zonk, and I like its visual style.

[Derek]

Aside from the shmups, I think ikiki's games are still my favorite Japanese indie games.

http://db.tigsource.com/developers/ikiki

Also:

Otherwise, they're are entirely too fan-gamey for my taste (in general).

Oh, I hear Jelly No Puzzle is quite good! http://qrostar.skr.jp/index.cgi?page=jelly&lang=en

[Eendhoorn]

Aside from the shmups, I think ikiki's games are still my favorite Japanese indie games.

http://db.tigsource.com/developers/ikiki

Also:

Otherwise, they're are entirely too fan-gamey for my taste (in general).

Oh, I hear Jelly No Puzzle is quite good! http://qrostar.skr.jp/index.cgi?page=jelly&lang=en

The games seem interesting, but I always seem to get the following page after pressing the download button:

This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it. The document tree is shown below.
<Error>
<Code>AllAccessDisabled</Code>
<Message>All access to this object has been disabled</Message>
<RequestId>681FDDA316383B8E</RequestId>
<HostId>
QJz1+Vs4Yj/O+2ANNgv+tYYsAVMqM1nVFlMbofA7F7USz8yi0LtVU2amWmeqsYve
</HostId>
</Error>

[ithamore]

Otherwise, they're are entirely too fan-gamey for my taste (in general).

Oh, I hear Jelly No Puzzle is quite good! http://qrostar.skr.jp/index.cgi?page=jelly&lang=en

I agree there is a big fan-game tendency, but there are nice nuances to be found in the ones done well.

I'd forgotten about that one, and Qrostar is one of my favorite. I had thought it was going to be more of an simple improvement on Hanano Puzzle, but the mechanics are quite different. Thanks for reminding of it.

[VDZ]

It surprises me how in neither of those posts anyone mentions Comiket. Comiket is a twice-per-year event for indie stuff (indie manga, indie music, indie games, etc), and a whole bunch of relatively notable indie games get released there every time. Just looking at a release list can point you to some interesting titles.

Also of note is that there used to be a Japanese indie contest called '3分ゲ' (three minute game), which resulted in some really interesting games like Crimsoness, Granspope Frial (one button racing game from the creator of Colk Cube) and The Demon Lord's End (which was a major inspiration for my LD25 game Conquering Oneself). Unfortunately, this highlights a common problem with doujin (Japanese indie) games - they tend to completely disappear from the internet. I haven't been able to find any listing of 3punge entries, and the 3punge games I know of have usually disappeared from the internet in a similar manner.

Regarding fan games, they can in fact be very, very good. One of my favorites is Eternal Fighter Zero; it's a fighting game starring characters from visual novels MOON., One, Kanon and Air, and it's simply a really damn good fighting game. There's also a Captain Tsubasa clone with Touhou characters named Touhou Soccer, and it's quite good as well.

A lot of the more notable doujin games are obvious (La-Mulana, Cave Story, etc), but the visual novel genre somehow gets the short end of the stick in recognition, even though there are a lot of very notable doujin VNs, some of which have even spawned anime, manga or novel adaptations, or have been rereleased comercially. Some very notable doujin VNs:
-Tsukihime (and its sequel)
-Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
-Umineko no Naku Koro ni
-Narcissu (and its prequel)
-A Profile
-Sono Hanabira ni Kuchizuke o (though it's pretty much only porn)
-Killer Queen
-Himawari
-True Remembrance
(Titles in bold have been translated, others have not. A Profile's upgrade/remake was translated, the original remains untranslated.)

[Aik]

花咲か妖精フリージア by Edelweiss is excellent. http://edelweiss.skr.jp/works/fbfreesia/ss.html

I have a big stack of games from Winter Comiket that I haven't gotten around to yet.

[ithamore]

It surprises me how in neither of those posts anyone mentions Comiket. Comiket is a twice-per-year event for indie stuff (indie manga, indie music, indie games, etc), and a whole bunch of relatively notable indie games get released there every time. Just looking at a release list can point you to some interesting titles.

Thanks for directing me to nyu. I usually focus on free games downloadable from the internet during my searches, but it's always nice to have a new site to checkout, and a commercial game that actually has a demo is always welcomed.

Also of note is that there used to be a Japanese indie contest called '3分ゲ' (three minute game), which resulted in some really interesting games like Crimsoness, Granspope Frial (one button racing game from the creator of Colk Cube) and The Demon Lord's End (which was a major inspiration for my LD25 game Conquering Oneself). Unfortunately, this highlights a common problem with doujin (Japanese indie) games - they tend to completely disappear from the internet. I haven't been able to find any listing of 3punge entries, and the 3punge games I know of have usually disappeared from the internet in a similar manner.

Yes, I know about 3分ゲ. You can still pull up the text of old 3punge pages on the Internet Archive's WayBackMachine to help with searching and researching. Also, Free Game Classic has helped to fill in for 3punge.

While I was update my old post, though, I came across a new game by Y.Abe:



Orca

From the developer:

"0rca is 3D shump game inpired by Space Harrier or Star Fox. It is under development now, give me your comments and opinions to make better game."

I like its virtual world style, and the marine theme works well with it. It makes me think of the dolphin from "Johnny Mneumonic" surfing the web.

One nice feature is that it's bilingual. A choice of English or Japanese are available on the first start, and the language can be changed in the options. I wish their were more bilingual and multilingual games.

Also, it requires Unity Player 4.0. Older versions will crash.

[GhostBomb]

http://www.hojamaka.com/game/mamono_sweeper/en.html

Very cool version of minesweeper.

[ithamore]

I hadn't played that one in a while. Thanks.

[VDZ]

Actually, just to make sure, everyone knows about Warning Forever, right? If not, go play it, it's awesome.

[ithamore]

Another old one from the drafts:



Monolith Sphere

Monolith Sphere should have had a post of it's own, since it uses a fairly unique movement method within a platformer setting by using only mouse controlled flying, it has pretty good production values in most areas, and there are enough levels to offer hours of play. Dragging the LMB back in a slingshot-like motion lets you fling the player through the air in search for the scattered pieces of the sphere. The RMB is for special abilities, cancel, and talking; and the space bar slows down time (which is both a crutch and a necessary balance, since 90% of the game can be played without the easiness it provides). I suggest to at least play the game until the first boss/mini-boss encounter to get a good sense of the game.

Also,I should add that the flying mechanic can be annoying at times. You can't just walk to something, and the horizontal friction is too high.

[flowerthief]

The best shmups come from the east.

The best action games come from the East period. They always have been better than us at that, imho. (Probably a result of their history of developing games for the arcade while we were developing games for the PC)

[ithamore]

The best shmups come from the east.

The best action games come from the East period. They always have been better than us at that, imho. (Probably a result of their history of developing games for the arcade while we were developing games for the PC)

This certainly wasn't the best action platformer, but I thought it was good.



Dangerous World

Dangerous World starts with the familiar scenario of crash-landing on an alien planet and trying to survive while traveling across it. As you double jump your way through this platformer, your attacks will automatically switch between long range blasts and short range slashes. Although death can come suddenly at times, your progress is saved automatically at the beginning of each scene but only temporarily. There is no permanent save, so the game can only be completed in a single sitting.

[Derek]

The best shmups come from the east.

The best action games come from the East period. They always have been better than us at that, imho. (Probably a result of their history of developing games for the arcade while we were developing games for the PC)

It seems like Japanese developers are generally better at thinking creatively about mechanics... they take that extra step when thinking about what will make an action game enjoyable. Whereas Western developers seem to develop mechanics that are grounded more in "reality" and end up being more simple as a result. Most Western developers are fairly casual game players, anyway. I think the Western idea of "hardcore" is playing Borderlands for a week straight.

In my mind, that's why realistic FPS's, RPGs, RTS's, and sims are so much more popular in the West, while 2d shmups, fighting games, and turn-based strategy games have progressed in Japan to the point where they're almost unintelligible to most people.

I enjoy both Western and Japanese games, but with Western games I tend to marvel more at the graphics and technology behind the game versus the systems design.

(Sorry for the "white people drive like THIS, but black people drive like THIS" style generalizations. It seems like there is a significant difference in how the two groups develop/design games, though.)

[Derek]

http://www.animenation.net/forums/blog.php?b=330

I think this guy put it better than I did.

[s0]

and turn-based strategy games have progressed in Japan to the point where they're almost unintelligible to most people

don't agree with this. "western" tbs games are more complex.

i think youre onto something with this tho

It seems like Japanese developers are generally better at thinking creatively about mechanics... they take that extra step when thinking about what will make an action game enjoyable.

a lot of japanese games have complicated mechanics that are are almost completely abstracted from the game's "world." (what does the combo counter represent in devil may cry for instance?). i think its rooted in arcade games and their highscore mechanics which are also completely abstract and sort of bleeds into things like jrpgs and tactics games and etc as well.

[Schoq]

The best shmups come from the east.

The best action games come from the East period. They always have been better than us at that, imho.

Show me a Japanese developed FPS worth anyone's time though.

[HöllenKobold]

shadow tower abyss

they havent really tread on fpses much, but his statement was really general anyway. on tpses tho, there's re4 and vanquish