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Recettear - An Item Shop's Tale

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CBanana Tall, Dark and Bishoujo Since: Jan, 2001
#1: Sep 4th 2010 at 4:06:49 PM

Courtesy Link: Recettear

I'm a huge fan of indie/doujin games and this one's a pretty good one. In Recettear from Easy Game Station you play as a little girl with her fairy companion together running an item shop from an Eastern RPG kind of like the third chapter in Dragon Quest IV. The game's got a bit of a sense of humour and the Action RPG parts where you control an adventurer you hired are also pretty fun.

It's not often that we get a Japanese indie/doujin game translated into English but some folks at Carpe Fulgar have taken it upon themselves to release an international English version. The demo can be downloaded here. Steam is currently accepting 10% off pre-orders for when the game's English version is released on September 10.

The demo by itself is a few hours and a bunch of fun to play through.

edited 4th Sep '10 4:14:34 PM by CBanana

and that's how Equestria was made!
WillyFourEyes from [Hyperlink blocked] (Troper Sage) Relationship Status: Abstaining
#2: Sep 4th 2010 at 4:42:09 PM

Already put my preorder in. grin (Impulse and Gamersgate have the same 10% off deal; I did mine through Impulse because I'd purchased a few other games through the service at the time).

"It ain't about whether you win or lose, unless you got money on the game, because...damn. That's your money, son."
Recon5 Avvie-free for life! from Southeast Asia Since: Jan, 2001
Avvie-free for life!
#3: Sep 4th 2010 at 5:04:27 PM

This game piqued my interest a long time ago (along with Chantelise). I just wish they'd do a physical release because I've never been able to bring myself to trust online payment.

Yes, not even Steam.

CBanana Tall, Dark and Bishoujo Since: Jan, 2001
#4: Sep 4th 2010 at 5:36:15 PM

Unfortunately, retail stores are increasingly making the shelf space for PC games smaller and smaller. Considering Recettear is an indie PC game, it would face even more hurdles to get into retail stores.

and that's how Equestria was made!
Meophist from Toronto, Canada Since: May, 2010
#5: Sep 4th 2010 at 5:37:50 PM

If there's any physical release of a game like this, it'll be at Comiket or something.

Helpful Scripts and Stylesheets here.
feotakahari Fuzzy Orange Doomsayer from Looking out at the city Since: Sep, 2009
Fuzzy Orange Doomsayer
#6: Sep 4th 2010 at 7:04:30 PM

I hesitate to say this, but isn't this just indie Atelier?

That's Feo . . . He's a disgusting, mysoginistic, paedophilic asshat who moonlights as a shitty writer—Something Awful
CBanana Tall, Dark and Bishoujo Since: Jan, 2001
#7: Sep 4th 2010 at 7:09:25 PM

I couldn't tell you. I never played any of the Atelier series.

and that's how Equestria was made!
Meophist from Toronto, Canada Since: May, 2010
#8: Sep 4th 2010 at 7:16:13 PM

I've only played seen somebody play through Atelier Iris 2, but from what I can tell, that series focuses mostly on the Item Creation systems, while this game is more about the buy/sell systems from what I can tell so far.

Helpful Scripts and Stylesheets here.
Desertopa Not Actually Indie Since: Jan, 2001
Not Actually Indie
#9: Sep 4th 2010 at 8:58:23 PM

And while I don't know how this compares to the others, the first Atelier Iris game has another character doing all the item crafting for you; you just collect the items. Strictly speaking, it's not even necessary to the plot, although the plot seemed kind of half assed, like it was really there to have something to stick sidequests and item crafting onto.

...eventually, we will reach a maximum entropy state where nobody has their own socks or underwear, or knows who to ask to get them back.
Meophist from Toronto, Canada Since: May, 2010
#10: Sep 4th 2010 at 9:37:25 PM

I played through a part of the demo. So far, it's a game about selling items at the shop, haggling to get more from your items if you want. You get your stock by buying items from other places or by playing through a real-time rogue-like through dungeons.

It's pretty fun, I think I'll buy it.

Also, if you've played other doujin games, this follows a good number of the conventions. This seems like quite a quality game, however, with a variety of enemies and with a decent amount of polish.

Helpful Scripts and Stylesheets here.
SuperDimensionman "Justice!" from the future. Since: Nov, 2009
"Justice!"
#11: Sep 4th 2010 at 9:57:07 PM

I played through a part of the demo. So far, it's a game about selling items at the shop, haggling to get more from your items if you want. You get your stock by buying items from other places or by playing through a real-time rogue-like through dungeons.

What would you say makes it a roguelike? It seems like a straight-up dungeon-crawling action-RPG to me.

Meophist from Toronto, Canada Since: May, 2010
#12: Sep 4th 2010 at 10:00:33 PM

...I actually mean Mystery Dungeon, but that's close, right?

Anyways, just the design of the floors, the fact that even forests have "floors", the randomness. It just feels like a real-time, simplified, Mystery Dungeon game.

edited 4th Sep '10 10:00:58 PM by Meophist

Helpful Scripts and Stylesheets here.
blakyoshi7 I'm a secret character! from the Bone Dragon Pit Since: Jan, 2001
I'm a secret character!
#13: Sep 4th 2010 at 11:32:59 PM

Mystery Dungeon IS a Roguelike. And so is this game.

Which I have already pre-ordered on Steam waii

Grabbing is where you must begin Shaking for treasure from within Throwing far is how to win!
Meophist from Toronto, Canada Since: May, 2010
Ana Since: Jan, 2001
#15: Sep 5th 2010 at 4:12:39 AM

Preordered it as well. It's a really fun game and absolutely worth the few bucks they want for it. And I really hope it'll be a successful venture so other No Export for You games might follow.

SuperDimensionman "Justice!" from the future. Since: Nov, 2009
"Justice!"
#16: Sep 5th 2010 at 5:03:06 AM

[...]And I really hope it'll be a successful venture so other No Export For You games might follow.

It managed to hold its own on the Steam "Top Sellers" list for a day or two, so it must have sold a fair few units already, and the localization team is all of three people on Carpe Fulgur's side, so I can't imagine the production costs were very high; I think the real question is where Carpe Fulgur is going to go from here.

Meophist from Toronto, Canada Since: May, 2010
#17: Sep 5th 2010 at 11:22:58 AM

I hope this becomes successful and encourage more doujin game makers to get their games translated and released on these platforms. I hope Insani finds a way to release some of the games they translated on here too.

Helpful Scripts and Stylesheets here.
daltar (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#18: Sep 8th 2010 at 3:38:13 PM

Alright I haven't had this much fun in a good while. Love this little cutesy game. And I got to say damn Old Men! They're the clients I get the most and they always demand a really low price.

And I thought Little Girls would be easy to trick into buying stuff at greater prices... it's even harder to sell something to them than to the Old Men.

edited 8th Sep '10 3:38:29 PM by daltar

Meophist from Toronto, Canada Since: May, 2010
#19: Sep 8th 2010 at 5:29:22 PM

I think the point is that the little girls don't have as much money as the others.

Anyways, since I already bought the game, I'm not playing until I get the full version.

Helpful Scripts and Stylesheets here.
stevebat Since: Nov, 2009
#20: Sep 8th 2010 at 5:51:04 PM

  • thinks about the potential doujin games that could be localized....*

5 minutes later

  • Face melts head explodes*

Apocalypse: Dirge Of Swans.
TheGunheart Some nights I rule the world (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Some nights I rule the world
#21: Sep 8th 2010 at 6:08:42 PM

And, of course, it's definitely worth it to sell equipment to adventurers at a low price. Sure, you won't make a profit, but in return they can kick more ass in the dungeons without taking up inventory space and without you having to worry about losing all the gear should you fail.

daltar (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#22: Sep 8th 2010 at 6:23:04 PM

Oh... that does make sense.

It's weird though, people never buy the most expensive stuff that I have.... I guess that as you progress in the game beyond the demo people either get more money or you get wealthier costumers.

ShirowShirow Dinosaur Hunter from Land of Maple Syrup (Old as dirt)
Dinosaur Hunter
#23: Sep 8th 2010 at 9:01:48 PM

I ahve it pre-ordered on steam. Bit of an impulse buy-i never played the demo-but i think it's worth my twenty bucks just to encourage more JRP Gs to get released over here. On the computer.

Plus i always wondered what the item shop's life was like.

You are not alone.
Shlapintogan Since: Dec, 1969
#24: Sep 8th 2010 at 9:11:13 PM

So I was playing the demo a while ago because I didn't have anything else to do...

Oh. My. GOD. Everyone is so friggin' stingy in this run. It's like people have become incredibly and terrifyingly aware of my price gouging shenanigans.

I'm definitely going to try to pick it up before it comes out, but I'll have to see how my finances are doing.

edited 8th Sep '10 9:11:55 PM by Shlapintogan

WartysNeryon Since: Mar, 2010
#25: Sep 9th 2010 at 9:08:45 AM

I played the demo and put it on my wish list as soon as possible. I don't know if I'll purchase it before the discount ends. If not, it'll be next month's investment.

@ Daltar: I too believe that the little girls are the hardest customers to please. Gonna be hard to sell things to them for anything more than 110% of the price, and I had a couple of them walk out on me after attempting to haggle in my playthrough. Understandable though, since they are after all little kids.

edited 9th Sep '10 10:32:29 AM by WartysNeryon


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