Operation Backlog Completion 2026
Mar 262018
 

We’ve talked about The Good Life a couple of times now, first when it appeared on Fig and again when they announced the upcoming Kickstarter plans.

Now the project is live on Kickstarter, so let’s take a look.

The Good Life is being co-developed by White Owls (led by Swery) and a team led by Yukio Futatsugi (Panzer Dragoon, Phantom Dust).

It is a “debt repayment daily life RPG” (although it’s later described as a “debt repayment daily life action adventure” game) about a journalist named Naomi who goes to the town of Rainy Woods to take photos in order to pay off a massive debt. Your main goals are to pay off the debt and solve a murder.

(As a big RPG fan, I’d like to hear more about that aspect, but it sounds pretty interesting just as a mystery game, too.)

Once a month, everyone in town turns into a cat or dog.

In the original announcement, everyone turned into cats, and then later there was going to be both a cat version and dog version of the game, but now the system sounds much better. According to the Kickstarter page, you will choose at the start of the game which you want to turn into, but you might be able to switch later on.

Photography and part-time jobs will help you earn money, the in-game time and seasons will change, and your interactions with the townspeople will affect the story.

The Good Life is planned for the PC and PS4. If it sounds interesting to you, head over to the Kickstarter page and take a look.

Feb 092018
 

Remember The Good Life, a strange mystery RPG from the developer of Deadly Premonition that we discussed back in August?

The Good Life definitely sounded interesting, although a bit confusing. (It’s an RPG, but also a life sim? Plus there’s photography? And all the characters turn into cats at night? Except then they announced a dog edition?)

Swery (Hidetaka Suehiro) and his new studio tried to crowd-fund it through Fig, which might not have been a good idea. Fig’s investment model could be worthwhile, but it doesn’t have strong name recognition yet.

In the end, The Good Life raised $682,864 of its $1,500,000 goal (wow!), which meant the campaign was unsuccessful and the game was left unfunded.

This week, Swery announced that a new crowdfunding campaign for The Good Life will be launched through Kickstarter on March 26.

According to his announcement, they have made changes and are much more prepared for the campaign this time than they were the first time. It should be interesting to see what parts have changed.

So if you were interested in The Good Life and wished it met its goal, don’t lose hope yet. It’s coming back next month for another try!

Feb 072018
 

February 5 was the 17th anniversary of the original Paper Mario’s North American release.

I’ve been disappointed in the changes they’ve made to the Paper Mario series (although I will eventually give Color Splash a try), but as I was reading comments about Paper Mario’s anniversary, someone mentioned an indie game inspired by Paper Mario called Bug Fables.

I was skeptical at first. I’ve seen other Paper Mario spiritual successors that either just took the paper aesthetic or looked like a complete clone. However, Bug Fables looks like it’s successfully captured the Paper Mario aesthetic while still having an identity of its own.

Bug Fables, which is currently seeking funds through Indiegogo, follows three bug characters (Bee, Beetle, and Moth) on a quest to find a legendary treasure.

It is filled with gameplay mechanics reminiscent of Paper Mario, including turn-based combat with action commands (which are different for each of the three characters), a cooking system, skills each character can use on the field, and a “tattle” system where you can learn more about each location and NPC.

The story will take place across 6 chapters and several locations

If the trailer isn’t enough to convince you, don’t worry. There’s also a demo you can download. The demo covers the game’s prologue, as well as a section after the prologue that lets you check out how cooking, shops, side quests, etc. will work in the full game.

You can even participate in a play, with humorous results. One of the things I liked most about this demo was that the characters’ personalities had a chance to shine, especially since Paper Mario has veered away from that. If the same charm and humor are present throughout the game, Bug Fables should be quite entertaining.

I had a lot of fun with the demo, and I can’t wait to see what the full game will be like. It really captures that Paper Mario style while standing on its own beyond nostalgia.

If you’re interested in supporting an indie RPG inspired by Paper Mario, head over to the Bug Fables Indiegogo page to help them out.