Crimson Core
Kenji, a normal every day college student, was supposed to be meeting a very lovely acquaintance in the hopes of sparking a new and fruitful relationship. However, Kenji has the worst of luck. Stood up again and looking into the night sky, he hears the cries of someone calling out for help. Not the type of person to abandon someone in desperate need, Kenji rushes to the rescue only to find himself being the one that needs rescuing.
All Hell Breaks Loose.
Featuring:
-A Deep Original Story
Read More: Best Retro Strategy RPG Games.
Okinawa Rush
Yeah, sure, whatever.
Patch 1.3 Please, pick it up on patch 3.1, however right now it’s a great game to gift to someone you wanna piss off;)
1. When building your dojo Items will disappear, only to never again reappear. This will also happen outside of the dojo building BS like when running thru level’s.
2. Requesting special items from the vendor, forget about it those get stuck somewhere between Okinawa & the North Pole.
3. Sometimes you jump thru walls like about 9&3/4 of the time, which would be great if this was a Harry Potter game, however not trying to get to Hogwarts here.
– Real player with 61.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Retro Combat Games.
If you like Metal Slug & Martial Arts this game is a ton of fun, beautiful and varied levels, awesome music, cheesy voice acting and impactful combat that lets you do piledrivers on samurai into announcer tables and giant swings on ogres, as well as use your accumulated score to buy alternate colors from the shop, decorations for your dojo shelf and stat boosting amulets.
Tons of difficulty range for both accessibility (it uses a traditional belt system, going from white belt to black belt, then 1-8th dan, then Grandmaster and one special difficulty beyond that) and replayability through the higher difficulties that add more and more enemies. as well as 3 endings for all 3 characters, two brothers who are quite similar but have different key moves, and one girl who has a cool kung fu moveset that’s entirely different from the other two (you can do wing chun chain punch in this game).
– Real player with 15.8 hrs in game
Ultimate ADOM - Caverns of Chaos
Update 8/26/2021: The game has reached version 1.0, and it’s still not fun.
Overall performance and stability have improved somewhat. There tends to be less lag when moving around, and autoexplore is quite fast. On the other hand, inventory performance has gotten worse. Opening the inventory screen can take a few seconds and switching equipment a second.
With the introduction of continuous buff spells, this is possibly the easiest version yet. Most buff spells now last forever at the cost of reducing maximum PP by a percentage. For casters this doesn’t matter too much since PP growth seems to have gone through the roof. For non-casters this doesn’t matter too much since they are killing things without spells.
– Real player with 92.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Retro Character Customization Games.
Update: 04/23/21
Updated the Video showing off the current state of the game, as of Version 0.8.0.
Updated Gameplay! In-Progress Let’s Play video here: https://youtu.be/VRrMxf8hV-0
I record my playthroughs with Ultimate ADOM if you prefer a more visual format; take a look if you like.
I like Ultimate ADOM. I liked it during the Alpha, and I like it even more now. Much progress has been made, as more and more options are opening up, options like Limb Grafting! I shall be a Grafting God!
– Real player with 48.2 hrs in game
Soulbringer
Finished the game and I think was good. Of course is very old school. Graphics are dated and controls are clumsy. Nevertheless, there are several mechanics that were pretty unique. There’re plenty spells to learn and many are quite nice. Combat is… interesting… Efficient way to fight, but not the most easy way to solve it, but guess by the time the game was released the whole techy stuff was just fine.
The story is good, a little hard to follow, but good enough.
Now, I do recommend the game, but I must suggest it for very patient, hardcore retro-gamers. This game absolutely challenge your will. Run and run, round and round, back and forward, get lost and struggle to find your way… over and over again. The game doesn’t hold your hand, many times you are left wondering: what did I miss this time? Why this thing is not working? Then you do realize you indeed missed something long ago or the stuff will work but much later. Yup, likely you gonna need to use a guide several times.
– Real player with 56.6 hrs in game
This game is one of the more addictive games that I have played in recent days. It will provide sufficient quantities of medieval fun. If you’re very persistent and don’t lay off it for days, ‘cause it’s not that short, you will finish the game. Again you need a lot of patience to see it through coz it’s really long. Really, really long.
Overall Soulbringer delivers very well on all fronts of the RPG genre. It has a unique approach to combat and magic, very interesting storyline, and the usual RPG joy of gaining some newer, tougher weapon or level up.
– Real player with 32.6 hrs in game
The Final Battle
Genre - Retro Text and Picture based RPG
Used to love this game on my Atari ST (with higher quality images) as a kid.
It’s nice to be able to play it again, for the nostalgia factor. I was never able to complete it without a full guide. Luckily I can’t remember much about the puzzles though.
The controls were confusing at first, but think I get them now (use single/double/right click and drag and drop). If you lose a party member you will need to reload or restart, and it is easy to lose them (including not saving them quick enough at the start).
– Real player with 1.4 hrs in game
Astonia Resurgence
Astonia Resurgence is a great version of the old school Astonia 3 MMORPG.
For new players: it is an older game, so visually it might not be as appealing as some 4k games you can play. Howver it has unique leveling and stat systems that make it pretty enjoyable if given the chance. Stick around a few hours and you’ll find it’s quite fun. I still hop on old runescape for the sheer fun, not for the visual perfections.
As an old school player there are Some Nice Quality of life updates from the original such as su/gu and most things you pick up going directly into inventory, all the orbs( 10-RD99) now being located in an area in Aston. (Running orb alts used to be a pain).
– Real player with 1142.1 hrs in game
First of all I must preface that this game is a revamped version of a 30 year old game and through the decades there have been several attempts from other servers to bring it back to life.
Personally this is hands down the best version released to date. OW Astonia was a grind, and is not for most people since fighting and movement aren’t in 3D and there’s not really button mashing like some of the newer RPGs. That being said there are a lot of improvements to quality of life that have already been implemented since release and surpass other servers by leaps and bounds. I really appreciate the community and it does seem to be growing, a mix of knowledgeable OW players with new ones coming on. Developers are constantly adding Quality Of Life/New updates on a timely and consistent manner and any issues are quickly resolved. Suggestions are taken into consideration and implemented. I’d highly recommend joining the discord server as well as there is a lot of useful information for new players already pinned.
– Real player with 509.5 hrs in game
Dragon Fantasy: The Volumes of Westeria
This is yet another retro-pixel 8 bit game with a few notable differences. It doesn’t seem to have been made with the terrible RPG-Maker engine which does make the game slightly more appealing. It’s written slightly better (but not that great) than most retro JRPGs trying to cash in on the success of Final Fantasy.
Regardless, this is still just a cash grab driven by nostalgia, the graphics are very lazy retro-pixel (it’s 2018 now, let pixel graphics die).
I would give this 5/10 for not being a rubber stamp RPG-Maker game, but it’s still completely derivative. Go play Final Fantasy if you want this kind of retro experience.
– Real player with 38.0 hrs in game
Dragon Warrior (NES) meets EarthBound (SNES), in a great meshing of gameplay that will have you hooked for hours.
I myself prefer the 8bit mode to enjoy this game, as being in my 30s I’ve been raised on the 8bit genre - but you can enjoy this hidden gem in 8 or 16 bits (music and gfx toggleable seperately in the config screen).
This game is addictive if you liked the old dragon warrior games on the NES, you’ll love this. I won’t spoil the fun, but I’ve gotten through the 1st two caves and found the 3rd one (and died…). Luckily, I had my progress recorded on the imperial scrolls of… well, you get the point. It’s just like Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest series (with a splash of EarthBound’s humor on the monsters/battles and hidden stuffs). Secrets items abound so do look around. Should be a fun play-through for anyone with a hankering for some more 8 (or 16) bit games.
– Real player with 21.9 hrs in game
Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan
For lack of a better words to describe what this is, this is a JRPG. It also draws on Shonen genre of manga. It has a structure similar to many of the older japanese RPG games. This is a very vague term to use though, because there are a diverse set of games under that category. Regardless, if you have played that sort of game the gameplay outside combat will be immediately familiar. It even has overworld bits where you walk a tiny sprite between towns.
Finally, I say it is Shonen because it is reminiscent of a certain kind of manga and anime for young males. You pretty much play African Goku. You do not pilot increasingly larger robots but you do sorta gain Stands. Whether that appeals to you or not is a matter of personal preference. If you like badarsery, this game has you covered. Very powerful people perform superhuman feats and have very flashy duels after frankly talking about why they have to fight. A young man discovers himself and his place in the world. Lessons are learned. It is that kind of tale.
– Real player with 83.6 hrs in game
The story follows young prince Enzo Kori-Odan who is to become king of a peaceful little country Zama, although he is doubting his skills in the first place. On his coronation day he is also marrying his beloved Erine. Future looks bright and full of happiness, what could go wrong? Everything.
Zama finds itself under attack in an attempt of coup d’état and despite great effort from Enzo in defending his people he is defeated. Nama, teacher and master of Enzo, saves the newlywed young couple from the worst case scenario. The king and his queen, who stood by his side, are then exiled. Both of them are for the first time away from Zama and are confronted with harsh unforgiving reality. The difference between Zama and other countries surprised them. World and people around them are full of misery, cruelty, hate and so on. They have to become more powerful to be able to come back home victorious. Their travels across the land will test them, put them on the edge of their strength, to see if they can become the truthful King and Queen of Zama.
– Real player with 36.1 hrs in game
Belle Boomerang
Face off against an army of ever-changing foes and turn their own powers against them in Belle Boomerang!
Belle Boomerang is a classic action-platformer focused on unique powerups within each new environment. The aesthetics and gameplay draw inspiration from the shining stars of the 8-bit era. With authentically styled graphics and music on top of rich, fast-paced platforming, Belle Boomerang is the perfect love letter to the golden age. (But not without maintaining a unique charm of its own!)
Play as Belle, the destined heroine, and master her legendary boomerang! Through the effects of a mysterious spell, the beloved monarchs have been transformed into hostile beasts! Defeat them in battle, lift their curse, and infiltrate the corrupted tower to raise the curtain on this evil scheme! But no boomerang alone can save this kingdom… Belle Boomerang will be tossing cherries, soaring through flame-filled skies, possessing ancient statues, and more!
Key Features:
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A vibrant and authentic artistic style that cherishes its 8-bit roots!
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8 unique power-ups used to enhance combat, broaden Belle’s mobility, and allow for all-new environmental interactions!
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Detailed and full boss battles that test your pattern recognition, skill, and mastery of Belle’s many powers!
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Adorable foes! (But I don’t want to hurt them…)
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Fast-paced platforming that will keep players on their toes, new and old alike!
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Diverse environments, coated in a beautiful pixel-shaped frosting.
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An authentic OST that adjusts to the workings of a level’s aesthetics and design.
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And more!
By Any Means Necessary
All in all a very good game, especially for its price.
You basically play a big campaign within a world that seems to be far bigger than what you see. And even if there aren‘t a lot of areas, there‘s much to see and you are getting rewarded for exploring.
You play 6 different characters, which you can interchange within battle. Every characters has a unique set of skills, while there‘s still room for customization by using scrolls, that give them additional skills or attributes. You find the scrolls by exploring or doing side-quests.
– Real player with 20.9 hrs in game
great game, if you like 2D rpgs like final fantasy you are gonna love this game.
– Real player with 15.2 hrs in game