Two JRPGs inspired by the classics are doing great on Kickstarter right now – one ended over 750% funded, and the other's fully funded in less than 48 hours
May. 18, 2024Runa and Alzara’s crowdfunding campaigns are booming
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Two Japanese-inspired RPGs that are borrowing from genre classics are absolutely booming on Kickstarter.
Runa is the’Xenoblade Chronicles meets Persona' gamewe’ve reported on before, on account of its lush fields and social systems that let you grow closer to characters in the world. Coming from the Madrid-based team, Runa has ended its crowdfundingcampaignhaving reached over $375,000 or £296,494 - 750% over its original goal.
Runa reached most of its stretch goals too, enabling a fishing mini-game, farming and cooking mini-games, English voice acting, extra quests, datable characters, and a secret goal unlocked after the campaign’s finish: more ultimate skills for use in combat.
The other majorKickstartersuccess story comes from Alzara: Radiant Echoes, which is inspired by Final Fantasy 9 and Nintendo’s dormant Golden Sun series. That game reached its crowdfunding goal in less than two days and has currently raised over $125,000/£100,000 so far.
Alzara backers have unlocked stretch goals promising English voice acting and the, err, funding of the game, of course. Should Alzara’s campaign reach its next stretch goal, which oddly doesn’t have a number attached, then Dark Souls' and Star Ocean’s composer Motoi Sakuraba will supposedly be on the entire soundtrack.
Japanese-developed RPGs have also had a killer year between the release of the sun-soaked and melancholyLike A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, the somber but completely remadePersona 3 Reload, the enormousFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and the long, long, long-awaited Dragon’s Dogma 2.
Check out thebest JRPGsto play while we wait?
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Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that’s vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he’ll soon forget.
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