PC Indie Games

[ChryZ]

Title: Arvoesine
Link: http://alastairjohnjack.com/index.html
Genre: 8bit platformer
Price: free / standalone PC
Description: short game with 5 levels, great pad support and input options, very retro, the game could be straight from a NES or C64

[EagleEye]

Title: BlastZone 2
Link: http://www.BlastZone2.com
Genre: Side scrolling 2D/3D shooter
Price: Free Demo / $10 retail
Description: A really cool fast paced shmup with lots of weapons, games modes, and levels with great graphics and online multiplayer support

[Trickman]

Chryz, I think we need another set of PC indie / Doujin games education, starting with Koumajou Densetsu: Scarlet Symphony.

[ChryZ]

Chryz, I think we need another set of PC indie / Doujin games education, starting with Koumajou Densetsu: Scarlet Symphony.

I've only seen "Koumajou Densetsu: Scarlet Symphony" in videos ^_^;

[Trickman]

I've only seen "Koumajou Densetsu: Scarlet Symphony" in videos ^_^;

Isn't it a free PC game, though?

[Mister_Nep]

Chryz, I think we need another set of PC indie / Doujin games education, starting with Koumajou Densetsu: Scarlet Symphony.

I can try to briefly explain.

Koumajou Densetsu: Scarlet Symphony and the sequel Koumajou Densetsu 2: Stranger's Requiem are not free. They're both doujin games released by Frontier Aja. Both got physical releases, and both got patches from fan feedback. Frontier Aja actually went to English speaking forums to get some feedback for their game.

Anyway, about the games. About half the enemies fight like Castlevania enemies and the other half fight like Touhou enemies. They apply danmaku logic in the game by giving the main character the ability to fly on top of the regular Castlevania abilities. Also, when you fly your hitbox shrinks to danmaku size.

All the bosses fight like a danmaku boss, so using flying to your advantage is key. In Touhouvania 1 the main character's, Reimu's, main method of attack is the whip, and she has two subweapons. In Touhouvania 2 the main character's, Sakuya's, main method of attack is the knife, and she has several subweapons she gets along the way.

The stages in Touhouvania 1 aren't the best levels ever. The Castlevania nods are there, but not as much as the sequel. Touhouvania 1 is more of a Touhou nod than Castlevania. Touhouvania 2 is the exact opposite. Touhouvania 2 even goes as far as to add the "I'll take you to a good place" boatman from one of the Castlevanias (never played the one he's in).

Touhouvania 2 is more refined, and much more enjoyable of a game. Touhouvania 1 plays more like something like Castlevania 1 and 3 in terms of controls and feel. Touhouvania 2 plays more like Aria of Sorrow or Symphony of the Night.

Out of both games Touhouvania 2 is totally worth playing. They put much more effort in the game, and even went so far as to hire professional VAs. They hired talent like Sawashiro Miyuki, Kitamura Eri, and Kobayashi Yuu. How they pulled that off we'll never know.

They released a demo of both games, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. It was on their website, but the site got redone within the past month. All it does now is host the patches, and advertize the twin pack of Touhovania 1 and 2 in one package. Here's a video of each game instead.

Here's an example of Touhouvania 1:



Here's an example of Touhouvania 2:

[chusik7]

Title: Darwinia
Link:http://www.introversion.co.uk/darwinia/ (Also on steam)
Price: 9.99$ and A free demo.
Genre: RTS
Description: A basic rts where you are trying to save a race :darwinians who where created by a programmer from a virus.

[ChryZ]

I can try to briefly explain.

Yeah ... no, hehe. Thanks for the insights

Man, you guys are messing up my threads. All the doujin game talk belongs here: http://retroids.com/site/showthread....C-Doujin-Games

On the subject of being free, the game is still hobbyist software and their print runs are pretty limited and only sold at Japanese comic conventions and specialty shops.

Hard copy of the game in question goes for around 80-90 bucks on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/270886858895

The prices and the fact that I'm not the biggest Castlevania fan made me happily ignore it.

I did a quick search for the trial/demo. Pretty sad, it's easier to find links for the pirated full version than for the demo

[Mister_Nep]

I said try to

Kinda started nerding out halfway.

[Trickman]

Thanks for the insight, Chryz and Mister_Nep. It was hard to find information on these games, as most of the info was in Japanese.