Damn. We’d gone more than a year without having a (real) game obituary. Naturally, I’m a little sad to buck that trend with the news that the recently announced jRPG Worlds Beyond has gone under due to unspecified “recent events” in the life of one of the creators.

Josiah, the artsy half of the two-man team that comprised developer Bridge Unit Orzo, explained in a Kickstarter update Saturday morning:

There’s some big news I have to deliver to you guys, and it’s not entirely pleasant. Due to some recent events in my life that I’m not comfortable discussing, I’ve realized that I can’t commit myself to this project in a way that’s fair to you guys or Ruben. I know it’s hard to get across in a way that doesn’t sound like I’m taking the easy way out or being lazy, but what this project demanded from me I am not able to provide. The stress became too much for me, personally, to handle and it’s become clear now that the only option is to quietly back away from this project and go our own separate ways.

The game’s engine and editor will continue to be developed by Ruben as his own project (He can elaborate more on that if he chooses), and there is a good chance that I’ll continue to develop Worlds Beyond by myself on my own time, but I will definitely be taking a break for a while.

I’d just like to make it clear that this decision is my responsibility. I’m not good at dealing with pressure, and it’s clear that I wasn’t able to keep up with what was expected of me. That wasn’t fair at all to Ruben, who is a brilliant programmer and has shown me understanding and patience through this — but ultimately, it’s best for both of us if it ends this way.

The Kickstarter project will be cancelled and all pledges returned.

It’s a shame to see this happen, as Worlds Beyond looked like a promising attempt at a straightforward Chrono-Trigger-style game. That said, I am glad to see that they didn’t wait for the Kickstarter campaign to wrap up before making this decision. We wish the developers good luck going forward.

When I first created this site, I envisioned it as both a way for (1) people to find out about indie RPGs they might never have heard of, and (2) indie RPG developers to get attention they might never have received otherwise. Recently, Valve created a way for people to not only get attention for their games, but to actually get a foot in the door of the most popular gateway for PC games in existence.

Today, I present to you a list of games that I’ve previously covered here on the site which are now on Steam Greenlight, waiting for intrepid indie RPG fans to upvote them and make Valve take notice.

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Ruari O’Sullivan, one of the two developers who worked on the well-received graphical roguelike Cardinal Quest, writes in to announce a sequel. Cardinal Quest 2, like the original, is (and I quote)

a streamlined roguelike; a top-down 2D game with permadeath about fighting your way through varied procedurally-generated environments and eventually challenging the minotaur tyrant Asterion to free the land from his oppression.

Beyond that, O’Sullivan states that “Cardinal Quest 2 has a huge emphasis on customising and upgrading your character, with improved item variety and brand new talent trees for each class.” In addition to class-specific skill trees, CQ2 reportedly features a major interface overhaul and “a sense of plot and geography…with your adventure taking place across several distinct and procedurally-generated environments – each with their own unique flavour.”

A trailer for this game evidently came out last month; it should give you a pretty good idea of what to expect:

O’Sullivan reports that Cardinal Quest 2 is already mostly done–and I believe him, considering that there are already public demos available (Windows / Mac / Linux).

However, Cardinal Quest 2 currently has an Indiegogo funding campaign running with the goal of financing an expansion of the game from one chapter to three, overhauling the game’s graphics, producing a new soundtrack, and doing all sorts of extra refurbishing. As the developer puts it: “If the funding goal’s met on Indiegogo, I’ll be expanding the game to three chapters, commissioning new art and music, and generally making it kick all kinds of extra ass.” So there you go; if that sounds good to you, pitch in right here.

Cardinal Quest 2 will be seeing a Windows, Mac and Linux release in the first quarter of 2013 at an $8 price point.

• Title: Dark War Strategy Chapter 1: Rise of the Dark Kingdom and Dark War Strategy Chapter 2: The Fifth Element
• Developer: Belugerin Games
• Platforms: Browser
• Price: Free

Dark War Strategy Chapter 1: Rise of the Dark Kingdom and Dark War Strategy Chapter 2: The Fifth Element comprise a two-part isometric fantasy tactical RPG created in Flash by by Belugerin Games. Both chapters of Dark War came out back in 2008 on the internet’s Flash portals, and has clung tenaciously to the underside of the world wide web ever since.

Free tactical RPGs are pretty rare, and as those go, Dark War is a fairly well-developed one. It does have its share of problems, though, which keep it from attaining classic status.

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Czech game studio Cinemax, s.r.o. (not to be confused with this Cinemax) has just released Inquisitor, a title described in the gaming press as a Baldur’s Gate clone with Diablo-style combat. (You have a party, but only control the main character.)

Here is the premise of Inquisitor:

The game brings you, a medieval inquisitor, to a gloomy world full of heresy, betrayal and devilish plots. You will hunt for perpetrators of the most atrocious crimes and you will meet a lot of cunning enemies. You will find yourself in the midst of a powerful conspiracy striving to destroy even the foundations of the thousand-year old Empire. As one of the three main characters you will explore all the mysteries of this depressing world and gain reputation of a fearless inquisitor and a witch hunter. Carry out dozens of secondary quests and develop your potential in order to face the more powerful and dangerous enemies and challenges. And remember—everything you do depends just on your own choice!

Funny–everything you do in this article also depends just on your own choice! Will you click the trailer below to play it? Or will you pass it by in favor of the text and screenshots below? Only you can decide.

GOG provides the following feature list for Inquisitor:

• Three character classes–Paladin, Priest, and Thief–each with his own unique and independent story.
• Wield the power of the Inquisition as you arrest heretics; use a variety of tools-such as the iron maiden, suspension, and the rack-to extract confessions and burn the heretics!
• A wide, open-ended world for you to explore and exploit as you see fit.
• More than 200 weapons, 80 spells, and 7 schools of forbidden and allowed magic!

Oh, and speaking of GOG: Inquisitor is available for $14.99 on GOG and on Desura. It is Windows-only. Inquisitor has already amassed a reputation for being brutally difficult and opaque; there is a review up at Gameranx that may help you decide whether Inquisitor is for you.

Life is funny sometimes. I posted about the upcoming Zelda-alike Anodyne on Friday; on Saturday, I randomly met Anodyne developer Sean Hogan at Indie City Games, where he showed off Anodyne for everyone; and the day after that, Hogan released a public demo.

Speaking of which: Anodyne now has a demo! It comes in two flavors: via a Windows .exe installer (available here), and via a Mac-and-Linux friendly AIR installer, available here. Grab it while it’s hot.

(Note for folks using the AIR installer: if you download the .air file and can’t open it, it means you need AIR on your system. Get that here, or here if you use Linux.)

There’s another Zelda-alike on the horizon, folks: Anodyne, in development by Sean Hogan and Jonathan Kittaka.

Here’s the gist:

Anodyne is a 2D adventure with Zelda-style dungeons, and aesthetics influenced by Yume Nikki. You explore multiple dungeons and passive locales, located in the surreal, and occasionally even disturbing, dream world of a human named Young.

Simple enough. Here’s a trailer showing off a recent build of the game:

Anodyne is being developed in AIR, and is therefore going to see a simultaneous Windows, Mac and Linux release (AIR 2.6 works on nearly all Linux distros). Release is planned for late fall this year; no word yet on pricing.

Dear reader, I know what you’re thinking: “Craig, Foo Fighters released that song, like, a billion years ago. Also, that’s a song, not an RPG.” How wrong you are! Everlong is also a jRPG, thanks to Doug Carpenter (and a small army of other folks). You are right about it being released a while ago, though. What can I say: it’s new to me.

Here’s the premise:

You are a Blackguard, a knight sworn to serve the Cirigoth Empire and trained in the dark arts, yet hunted by your imperial masters after turning renegade. Only through enlisting the aid of friends and allies can you escape pursuit and defeat the oppressive Cirigoth regime. Journey across the world’s continents to forge a confederacy and fight for freedom in global war. Yet a more insidious plot looms in the shadows. A fallen god seeks to exploit civilization’s folly and reclaim the dreams and nightmares of humanity.

Check it out: there’s even gameplay footage!

Everlong is free, but Windows-only; download it here.

If you’ve been enjoying the wealth of first-person dungeon crawlers bursting out of the indie scene this past year, then you’re going to appreciate this: Arakion is a new RPG “reminiscent of old school Might and Magic” in development by Chris Taylor.

Here is the premise:

You’re put in control of three heroes  trying to survive a world devastated by war. Adventuring in Arakion will take you across open land, into deep dungeons and even put you in control of rebuilding a desolated town.

A great evil, nearly destroying Arakion in ages past, has returned. It is up to you to create a band of heroes to fight this darkness. The game takes place on two continents floating in the sky, as well as hundreds of minor islands. Arakion has been marred by war and strife for thousands of years and the landscape is a reflection of that.

The Arakion website provides more details on the world’s history and on a fairly unique stable of races.

Taylor is an artist and animator, and this fact shines through in screenshots bearing a visual fidelity comparable to Legend of Grimrock. Speaking of which:

Arakion is planned for release on Windows, Mac and Linux, and is set to receive localization in French. There is also a possibility of tablet support and localization to additional languages.

Geoff Dunbar of Merry Prankster Games writes in to announce the release of 10 Fantasy Fights, a short (but free) fantasy tactics game featuring combat of the real-time-with-pause variety and a rules system reminiscent of D&D’s.

The premise is a bit flimsy, and by the author’s own admission, is there primarily to justify him stress-testing the game’s engine:

You will rapidly advance from a simple battle of a single inexperienced warrior against lowly minions, all the way to controlling a mighty band of legendary heroes against a near-invincible demon lord.

Yeah, that’s it. In short, it’s just a linear romp through (you guessed it) 10 fantasy fights in the Baldur’s Gate style. That said, it’s free, so there’s no good reason to avoid trying it if this sort of combat is your cup of tea. 10 Fantasy Fights is Windows-only; get it here. Additionally, Dunbar has said that he’s looking for feedback. Once you’ve given the game for a spin, weigh in with your thoughts right here.