RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

Back in November I reviewed Atelier Annie, a strange game that purported to be an RPG but was in fact a commerce simulation with some monsters popping up from time to time. I enjoyed it thoroughly, but felt there were a couple aspects missing… aspects which would’ve made the game even better. Chief among these were a more robust RPG element (as the stripped-down turn-based system felt chalky and unfulfilling) and the ability to actually micromanage this storefront attached to your workshop.

Recettear is an indie game about micromanaging an item shop combined with a healthy dose of dungeon-crawling. Does it fill the void in my soul left by Annie and her handwaving economics? Before this game, I’d never even heard of the word “Affirmifications.” But it seems so fitting.

Recette is a cute little girl. Her father, some adventuring lunkhead, not only managed to get himself killed, but did so beneath a huge debt to the Terme Finance Company. One morning, Recette is awakened by Tear, a debt collector fairy who looks for all the world like a chibi Luise Meyrink. Tear explains the long and short of the situation (that she’s foreclosing on the house if Recette can’t pay up), and suggests using the downstairs as an item shop in order to pay off the debt.

Mouse with a grudge… and a big ol’ crowbar!

Now, look at this from Recette’s side. Her father’s gone missing, she’s sleeping, not doing that well her own self, when she’s startled by a fairy infiltrating her home and telling her that if she can’t come up with a huge pile of money, she’ll be living in a box. So what does Recette do?

She makes a sign. Every good shop has a sign, right? (Insert “D’AWWW” here.)

Before I dig into the meat and potatoes of the gameplay, let’s discuss how exactly this game came about. Recettear debuted in Japan in 2007, as a doujin (read: “indie”) game at a comics convention. It attracted a following, both for its interesting take on RPG economics (for example, why a ham sandwich costs as much as a basic set of armor) and for its alarmingly cute graphical style (which, after three more years of moé saturation, aren’t really “alarming” so much as “yeah, more moé”). A band of goons from the ever-acerbic SomethingAwful forums came together and tried their hand at localizing the game, infusing just a taste of classic RPG references and modern-day internet hyperconsciousness.

im in ur doujin rpg makin ff6 references

A lot’s been made about this last point, and… well, it’s very much a litmus test. Some bristle at the mere thought of changing one word, or meaning, or reference… while others recognize that sometimes, the trick to a good localization is to make the whole thing feel comfortable and enjoyable, even if it means deviating a bit or throwing in a “SON OF A SUBMARINER!” line. This game tends toward the latter and feels quite comfortable in its own skin, much like a Paper Mario or a Phoenix Wright would. Sometimes it’s about knowing when to take matters into your own hands, if only to grab an extra bit of attention or clarify a point. Carpe Fulgur have turned in an impressive freshman effort in that regard.

Enough backstory. Let’s get to the gameplay. As can be expected, the main challenge of the game is in turning your small starting capital (a mere 1000 pix) into enough to pay off your father’s seven-figure debt. The Merchant’s Guild and Market are at your disposal, selling you most goods at a 30% discount, which you can then flog off in your own shop at a 15-30% markup, depending on your customer. As the game goes on, concepts such as market trends and item fusion are introduced, allowing the savvy entrepreneur more money-making options.

The other primary lucre-acquisition method is good ol’-fashioned dungeon crawling, made possible by hiring friendly adventurers. You can equip said adventurers with gear and restoratives from your own stock and send them into floor after floor of randomly-generated deathtrap action. The gameplay itself is realtime sword-swingin’, spell-castin’ fun from a 3/4 overhead view, making it feel like an homage to Secret of Mana. There’s treasure to be had, for sure, but also swift death at the hands of bomb traps, slime traps, fish traps (!), and hordes of angry mushrooms, slimes, tentacle-things, bees (which you can, indeed, punch in the face), and other stock RPG hostiles. Survive through 5 floors (including a boss fight), and you may proceed further or beat a hasty retreat with whatever spoils you can pack into your 20-item inventory. Die, and you lose all but one item… including any gear you lent to your adventurer. The price of failure is steep, but success is a fantastic way to stock your store at little-to-no overhead cost, while gathering materials for item fusion.

The cardinal rule of moé: Protect the cuteness.

The music is a pleasing but not really outstanding melange of cheerful midi tunes over the occasional 2A03 backbeat. There are occasional vocal clips, mostly as mid-combat banter or spicing up a text conversation. The vocal work is pretty good, especially for such a low-budget game; there’s even a full song under the end credits, which was surprising and welcome. If anything, the “transaction completed” sound and the sound of gaining EXP might be a little too loud by default, especially given how commonly they’re heard. (A quick trip to the options menu, though, is enough to fix that.)

Once the debt is paid (five in-game weeks, with each required payment more than doubling the last), a number of options open up. The main challenge of the game is over, but there are still a few dungeons to explore, adventurers to recruit, and items to be discovered. Completionists may take up the task of completing the Item Encyclopedia, while the die-hard economists may opt for Survival Mode, where the debts just keep on coming. Are you a bad enough dude to maintain fiscal solvency? (If so, run for public office. We’re begging you.)

This is where I should be wrapping things up in preparation for the usual scoring breakdown. However… I don’t know if I’m comfortable judging Recettear by the same metric we’d use to evaluate a Final Fantasy XIII or Mass Effect 2. It’s simply unfair to this game, with a production staff and budget just a tiny fraction of those titles. I’ll say this: Recettear is a good execution of a good idea. It’s an example of an indie voice in the RPG realm, a voice which is most often limited to puzzle titles (at least on these shores). Perhaps we’ll see more examples of small US localization firms picking up these underground hits. Perhaps we’ll see Higurashi no Naku Koro ni or the venerable Touhou series.

When Namco released Katamari Damacy in the states, it had little fanfare and a $20 price point. You see how successful that worked out, despite being limited to brick-and-mortar stores. Recettear is available from a number of online sources – GamersGate, Impulse, or Steam – for the same $20. Hopefully, the same adventurous folks who took a leap on “that weird game where you roll things into a ball” will, similarly, pony up the Jackson for “that weird game where you run an item shop.” It’s certainly worth it.