Runa —An Indie JRPG Too Good to be True?

Let me ask you a simple question. Ever heard of a game called Palworld? I’m sure you have.

It’s a game that caught everyone’s attention from its meme name of “Pokemon with Guns.” It isn’t entirely inaccurate, but merely calling it “pokemon with guns” is a disservice.

It doesn’t copy just pokemon. It takes inspiration from so many other games, bringing in so many elements from other popular games of the day to create a mash of ideas that actually works. Somehow, this massive mess of differing game aesthetics and ideas is one of my favorite games of 2024.

But, this video isn’t about Palworld (though video about that soon). It is a segue to get to my main point: mashing popular ideas together.

All sorts of game devs and studios are doing it. Studios will chase after the most popular and hottest thing on the market to try and capitalize on profits—but results will vary. Not everyone can just throw everything under the sun into their video game soup and call it a day. 

So what is my point in all of this?

Going live on Kickstarter on April 16th, there’s an upcoming indie JRPG that mashes together a lot of aspects I like about the genre and singleplayer games to create a title that sounds WAY too good to be true—at least to someone like me.

That ambitious game is none other than Runa, an indie JRPG being developed by Runa Felix.

Runa Gameplay Loop

From the get-go Runa doesn’t market itself as anything groundbreaking or revolutionary. In fact, it’s an incredibly iterative interpretation of the JRPG genre.

Perhaps the easiest way I can describe it is Persona meets Genshin Impact meets Honkai Star Rail.

It has turn-based combat that takes its cues from Persona 5 and HSR, targeting and exploiting enemy-specific weaknesses to emerge victorious. 

It straight up mirrors Persona’s social link system, allowing players to get closer with their allies while also gaining new abilities in combat for that said ally. A bit different from the Eidolon system in HSR but, hey, at least you don’t have to pull for your characters in Runa.

Runa is also an open-world game, taking a book from Genshin’s book. And yes, I know that Genshin isn’t the only JRPG to be open world. Xenoblade did it too. But Genshin is way more popular as an example, just take a look at this Google Trends comparison. 

There are definitely design parallels the developers took from Hoyoverse in crafting their world and the results are clear as day. Obviously Genshin wasn’t the first game to blend a fantastical setting with Eastern aesthetics but it IS the one that did it with the most widespread success. I’ve seen people who don’t even like gaming all that much at least try out Genshin.

From the way I’m wording things, it sounds like I am criticizing Runa for copying mechanics from more popular franchises and using them to elevate their own game instead of innovating and coming up with something unique.

Slightly, yeah. 

But, Runa Felix has somehow brought together a lot of the ingredients I like from those games and created a dream of a project. It’s like they know what buttons of mine to press to make me want to fork over my hard earned money for their game.

In all seriousness though, I wouldn’t go as far as accusing Runa of copying more popular games. There’s only so many ways to regurgitate turn-based combat and other JRPG mechanics before they become either mockingly simple or head-bashingly obtuse. I’m just glad Runa is treading familiar territory making it easy for fans of the genre and those games to jump into. Taking the strengths of the other games and using them as inspiration for your own game is a valid tactic just like Palword. 

When you imitate something well enough, it becomes uniquely distinguishable from its predecessor.

And I haven't even brought up the other confirmed gameplay mechanics Runa is advertising, which include puzzle-solving via elements, basebuilding with your allies, and JRPG classics like cooking, crafting, and fishing. If there ain’t any fishing, it ain’t a JRPG.

Sounds like a well-rounded package, but what good is a game if its premise isn’t interesting?

As of right now, we know fairly little about Runa’s unfolding story outside of the small blurb the developers have provided to us on their Kickstarter page.

According to the page, Runa’s premise is this:

Runa is set in a world in which runas symbolize the technological advancements of an ancient civilization. Whether for domestic use or combat, the use of runas is key. Only some people, known as adepts, are able to fully control them and unleash their true powers.

We play as Ivier, a runa apprentice living in the city of Enyth. We are chosen as one of these adepts and are then thrust into a world beyond our imagination.

There’s other character bios on the Kickstarter page if you’re curious about the waifus and husbandos in this game, and we recommend you check it out if you’re genuinely interested. There’s a lot of concept art, screenshots, and snippets of Runa coming straight from the developers. Seeing all these features was what got me interested in the project in the first place.

And it’s funny isn’t it? This project isn’t doing anything revolutionary. It’s not creating a redefining experience of the genre or reimagining it to something more unconventional. Instead, it’s remixing well-practiced and well-received ideas into one big soup of potential goodness.

There is always the potential of the game getting weighed down by its premise and scope. Expanding too laterally can create an untenable mess of a game broken by its own ambition. And it has happened to bigger games before. 

It is our hope that Runa Felix remain steadfast in their vision and take the time they need to allow the game and its features to marinate and cook in the kitchen. Especially with me investing my own money as well to support these devs. 

But with how unstable the video game industry and market are currently, I wish the Runa team all the best. Creating a video game is a daunting task and I pray they have the gumption to see this through. Hopefully Runa WILL become a project they can be proud of and I can be proud of playing one day. 

Hopefully, I can get a private demo and early access game key soon for my backing, so I will definitely get back to this game in the near future.

If you guys are interested in supporting this game on Kickstarter then quickly go and check their page out since there are only a few days left. The devs have promised an early access game key for anyone who backs them up even with the lowest tier costing about $27 USD, so definitely worth it in my opinion if you are interested in the game so far.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/runarpg/runa/description