Recettear: A Surprisingly Fresh and Enjoyable Indie JRPG
Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale is a Japanese indie RPG developed by EasyGameStation for Windows in 2007 and localized into English by Carpe Fulgur LLC in 2010. The game is an anime-style JRPG with a twist – instead of playing the role of the hero, you play the role of the proprietor of the ubiquitous “item shop” that appears in 99% of RPGs (western and Japanese). While this may sound tedious, it is actually a lot of fun.
Recettear is reminiscent of Torneko’s quest line in Dragon Quest 4, in that you are a merchant who can enter dungeons to find rare items to sell in your store. However, unlike in Dragon Quest 4, in which Torneko himself entered the dungeons, in Recettear you hire a variety of adventurers to do the dirty dungeon crawling work for you (although as the player, you control the adventurer – see more details after the jump). As the game progresses, your adventurers-for-hire level up.
You take on the role of Recette Lemongrass, a new item shop owner who is advised by the friendliest loan shark known to man, the midriff-bearing fairy Tear (hence the name of the game and the shop, Recettear). The story is … actually, never mind – you won’t be playing this game for the story.
Let’s get this out of the way first – the graphics are bad. They were bad back in 2007. They look like they belong in a Playstation 1 game, or on the Nintendo DS. (In fact, this game would probably find a wider, more appreciative audience on a portable platform.) The controls also leave something to be desired. There is no mouse input, not even in the menus – a jarring omission for a PC game. The keyboard and gamepad controls are acceptable, but mouse support should have been included.
There is also the anime art style to consider, which will be either welcome or off-putting, depending on your tastes. Personally, I am not a huge fan of big-eyed, pre-pubescent girls with a high-pitched voices (the text has been localized, by the voice samples are in the original Japanese) that are prone to use expressions such as “Yayifications!” Moreover, the dialogue is rife with in-jokes that break your immersion in the game world (see the screenshot below for an example). That said, the game is so compelling that after a few minutes of play, the anime tropes and anachronisms stopped annoying me. (Also, the game’s lightness is arguably a good thing. The game is about a child forced to work to pay off her absentee father’s debt to a supernatural loan shark – potentially grim subject matter to say the least!)
Recettear's humor has a tendency to break the fourth wall....
Despite its light tone, Recettear is surprisingly deep, detailed, and fun. The item shop is customizable. The simulated economy feels flexible and real. There is a fusion (crafting) system. The dungeon crawling is a full-fledged action RPG in its own right that plays similarly to a 2D Legend of Zelda, but with leveling, loot, and random dungeons that look similar to those in Chunsoft’s Mystery Dungeon games. There are even boss battles.
Dungeon Crawling in Recettear is surprisingly well done
The game is unquestionable addictive and creates that “one more turn” compulsion present in every great strategy title. It is also challenging. Make no mistake – despite the childlike visuals, the economic simulation is unforgiving, the dungeons are monster-filled deathtraps (especially for low-level adventurers), and a strict loan repayment schedule keeps the pressure on. Fail to make your payments, and the game will end (and Recette will find herself living out of a cardboard box – literally).
Bottom line? The game is good. Really good. Unless you absolutely can’t stand its dated graphics or anime trappings, you should play this game. (It should run on just about any PC, and there is a free demo available on Steam, so you really have no excuse.)
Full disclosure: At the time of this post, I have played about six hours. I have not completed the game. A Google search indicates that the game is about 30 hours long. If my opinion of the game changes as I continue my adventure, I will update this post.
I would love to hear from other people who are playing the game. Please share your experiences in the Comments below!