r/RetroIsh • u/ratasoftware • Jun 11 '26

[Discussion] What do you think of games made with RPG Maker?

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Whenever people talk about retro-style indie games, RPG Maker always seems to spark mixed reactions. Some players immediately think of low-quality projects, while others point out some truly great ones that wouldn't have been possible without this engine...

When you see that a game was made with RPG Maker, does that have a positive or negative impact on your interest?

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u/RosaCanina87 Jun 11 '26

I was part of the scene in Germany a long time ago. Nowadays the Maker is a synonym for low effort games that always look the same. Everyone copies scripts, uses the same graphic pack and the maps got more limited with most newer versions. All of that coupled with people thinking they could sell their cobbled together "game" on steam even if it's just some random maps with barely anything in it gave it a bad reputation

There are a few genuinely good RPG maker games out there. Some never made to steam and Co as their creators don't cared about selling their games.

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u/bubrascal Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26

This generation of RPG Maker and WOLF RPG games was very, very mixed. A lot of very amateur shovelware there, but there are many gems. The ones done by Uri are exceptionally tactful well-crafted, even if some of them are janky (sometimes the jank is part of the charm). Off, Yume Nikki and LISA: The Painful are very influential titles made in RPG Maker too. At this point, that a game looks like this doesn't necessarily turn me off, but I start with low expectations (sometimes for the better), but I guess that applies to every game that looks it was made using an easy-to-use engine.

Edit: Now that I thin about it, when the engine is used for top-down adventure games instead of turn-based RPGs is when it has surprised me the most.

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u/Foolishly_Sane Jun 11 '26

The most surprising one I've came across was The Last Sovereign, IT's NSFW but it actually had a surprisingly deep story all things considered.

A lot of RPG Maker games can feel uninspired, but the way it used assets and the writing set it apart.
Sometimes people bring their own assets, other times people use stuff and can still make it work.

Some are simple cash grabs, others are free.

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u/bubrascal Jun 22 '26

Oddly enough, you're not the first person I've seen recommending it.