Fountainhead RPGs
This was written on June 18, 2024 and published on June 26, 2024. It was updated with a new paragraph on July 13, 2024. Look for the interjection below.
As I've written elsewhere I don't usually use game genres conventionally. To spare you the arguments again let's just write that I have just reached a point I just make up my own terms for similar-feeling video games. These 'genres' usually comprise 5+ games that I feel are similar enough that if you leave any one of those wanting more you could just load up another one in the 'genre'. I've already covered two of them already. So far we've had
Lozgbc and
SpryoGBA games. Now let's introduce another category I use: Fountainhead RPGs.
Named after the company, Fountainhead Entertainment, the company that made most of the games below, Fountainhead RPGs are a form of dungeon crawlers. They feature turn-based gameplay, a first-person view and UI directly inspired by Build Engine/iD Tech-era FPS', feature grid-based movement, a simple levelling/RPG system, areas split up into levels and a pseudo-linear system (basically given a list of levels and you pick and choose what do you in no specific order). There is no battle system like in other first-person dungeon crawlers, rather you always have your weapon out and can attack anything that is in your line of sight. Graphics wise while some the maps are 3D the enemies, UI, and weapons are all 2D, either as sprites or hand-drawn graphics. Most of the games discussed here don't come with music or voice-acting so I'll leave that part ambiguous.
This only sort of narrows it down but to summarize the genre in a sentence: "games that are like the DOOM RPG and Orcs & Elves" or "a BUILD engine game if it was a turn-based RPG".
First-person, grid-based dungeon crawling isn't a new concept. What is unique is single-party, always-in-combat and the large influence from FPS games. Hell just off the top of my head you have Arcana (1992, SNES), Shining in the Darkness (1991, MD/GEN), Megami Tensei (1987, NES) and even Oubliette (1983, PLATO). None of those are Fountainhead RPGs and none even vaguely fit the concept outlined above.
In my opinion the Fountainhead RPGs consist of the following games.
Doom RPG (2006, J2ME and BREW)
Orcs & Elves (2006/7, J2ME, BREW and NDS)
Orcs & Elves 2 (2007, J2ME and BREW)
Wolfenstein RPG (2008, J2ME, BREW and iOS [32-Bit])
Doom 2 RPG (2010, J2ME, BREW and iOS [32-Bit])
There's also four games that I believe evoke the same kinds of feelings and
gameplay the Fountainhead RPGs have. I'll elaborate more on those later. There are the following.
Wolf Moon (2006, J2ME)
King's Field: Additional I (2006, PSP)
King's Filed: Additional II (2006, PSP)
DRL (2016, Modern PC)
The Fountainhead RPGs are primarily mobile games made for the early cell phone era (J2ME/BREW) and early smartphone era (iOS). Aside from a single NDS port, and until 2022 this port was the only way to emulate the games. And being that iOS and BREW were not emulated well until 2023 most players were stuck with the shoddy J2ME versions.
The J2ME and BREW-hell that whole era of early mobile gaming is very underrated. You didn't have games with injected ads, microtransactions, gacha or spyware built in. J2ME phones were simply not that powerful to have. J2ME/BREW caused innovation, forcing developers to once again work within the limits of tech like they had done in the NES days. The platform even birthed entire media franchises like Angry Birds. Course you had plenty of crap on the platform but every system has its duds. Plus, unlike many consoles you didn't need an expensive SDK and work out distribution you could just make a J2ME game and stick it on one of many storefronts.
The only slight I have against J2ME is that most games don't have music due to storage limitation. Of course there's nothing stopping you from popping in a CD and playing your own. That's what I have done a few times.
Until 2022, the only Fountainhead game I actually played was Orcs & Elves for the NDS, released in 2007. Back then it blew me away, and even after now having completed DRPG1 and 2, Orcs & Elves is in my opinion the best one. Hell, even among dungeon crawlers in general, Orcs & Elves is one of my favourites.
There's just something indescribable about how depressive it feels. Take King's Field. That's a depressing game though not the same kind of atmosphere Orcs & Elves has. King's Field is full of desperation. The land is dying and things are bleak. Orcs & Elves is Runescape, level one, stepping right into the wilderness. You will die but if by the skin of your teeth you might just be able to grab someone's diamond sword and try to defend yourself, a last-ditch attempt at survival. You are on your own and there are few safe places if any. Hell even King's Field didn't make me feel that lonely. Orcs & Elves feels hostile the entire time. You never feel safe, always having to plan the next move and determine who can hit you and where they can. The only saving grace you have is the turn-based system though that's just delaying the inevitable.
I remember hitting the dragon and running away, feeling genuinely in danger for 'breaking the rules', that as soon as I made myself visible I would be screwed. It was exhilarating! Similar to in Dungeons of Dredmor if you attack Brax. This actually felt like I had a chance at escaping though.
I last played Orcs & Elves in the late 2000s and even now I still love that game.
After beating it I remember trying to find games similar to it on the NDS but didn't have any luck then. I wasn't that good at finding games then anyways and wasn't even aware at the time these RPGs existed. Now that I know a lot more about what was on the NDS I can say that if you want a game like Orcs & Elves on the NDS to go play Mazes of Fate. It's not turn-based but definitely has a similar sense of dread.
I didn't know at the time either than an Orcs & Elves 2 existed. As far as I was concerned at the time this was just a one-off game by some random company. It wouldn't be until much later that I discovered the rest of the series.
In the early 2020s I immersed myself into a J2ME/BREW/dumphone community wherein I learned all the specific terms and effectively kindled a love for those kinds of games. Hell, J2ME-Loader is one of the few emulators I actually keep on my phone. While looking through this completely forgotten system I learned that not only was there a sequel to Orcs & Elves but several other games in this style!
However with tiny resolutions, lack of music, minimal sound effects and, well J2ME and BREW being much more limited systems compared to the NDS I was saddened. I was spoiled by that insanely good port to the NDS. I wanted the others like that. The closest I was able to find to an adequate version was a BREW port of DRPG with slightly higher quality graphics. Unfortunately, at the time BREW emulation was still in its infancy. There was no way to play it.
Also at the time were people working on remaking DRPG (as DRRP) and a BREW emulator (Infuse) I figured I should just wait. Unfortunately no such better version existed for Orcs & Elves 2, stuck in the J2ME ecosystem.
I don't have any issues with the J2ME platform but when compared to platforms like the NDS and iOS the games feel cheap. Ultimately what I wanted was higher-res textures, a resolution higher than 240x320 (or least a better aspect ratio than 3:4), some upscaling capabilities (for the 3D environments) and music. I could pass on the music since I never really played those games for the music anyways though better graphics was a must.
This is why to this date I have not played Orcs & Elves 2. It's such a step down from 1, I would rather wait for someone to remake it or DIY it.
I also learned of DRPG2 and the Wolfenstein RPG though at the time iOS emulation was practically non-existent and there weren't enough iOS games out there to justify me going out and purchasing an old device (hell, at the time of writing there's only 3 iOS games I am actually interested in playing).
So I waited. And then in 2022, programming collective [GEC] (led by Erick194) announced they had reverse engineered DRPG and ported it to PC. And it was the BREW version nonetheless! Soon as that came out I finally got to playing it.
And I'm glad I did. The same collective would then go onto reverse engineer and port DRPG2 from iOS to PC in 2023 which I also played and completed. I would say both PC versions are now by far the most definitive versions of DRPG1 and 2.
If you eschew turn-based combat and want the DRPG story to play as a traditional DOOM there's a fan remake of the game in development(?) called DRRP that I will link below. Personally it's not for me but I welcome it nonetheless. Several of the weapons and enemies from DRPG also appear in Metadoom which I think is a great throwback to this often forgotten game too.
Of both DOOM RPG's the first one was the best. It had the same type of dread, "chess-like planning" and movement I loved in Orcs & Elves. It required patience, wasn't too hard and managed to translate the DOOM's running and gunning into a turn-based RPG perfectly. It was an amazing game. Not as good as Orcs & Elves but really good nonetheless. It ended up being a top 3 game for me last year.
I loved the replayability it had too. There was a game-long puzzle to unlock a door in one of the levels that required you to take notes as to each piece of the unlock code. You could also run through any previous level in case you wanted some more EXP or wanted a better rank.
The game featured a great variety of weapons starting off with a fire axe and later getting into hellhounds and of course, the BFG. Though there were points that I was low on ammo and stuff I never felt in soft-locked state. Finding secrets in DRPG was also way easier than in the actual DOOM games. I was always able to keep an emergency amount of ammo for any situation. Not to mention the store was always nearby. And if I really wanted to I could've always re-done a level.
The final boss was pulled off excellently. It was the perfect reveal even though any seasoned DOOM player would've seen it coming from a mile way. I won't spoil it though it's incredibly obvious who/what it is.
The only downside I have for it was that there was no music. However, it was completely normal for that era of games to have no music. There wasn't enough space for more than a single MIDI in most instances. Of course I just supplied my own music, something I already do for most of my DOOM runs. I guess the graphics could be improved just slightly but the game still worked very well with its current quality. It was a massive step up from J2ME/BREW.
After enjoying DRPG a lot and Erick194 releasing DRPG2 I knew I had to try that instantly. It had 3D maps, way better graphics and a story featuring new and unique characters to the series.
Unfortunately, while DRPG2 started off good around the mid-way point I started to get frustrated with it. It started off strong. Gorgeous graphics, use of higher quality 3D assets, more animations, and better sound effects. It kept the same 'chess-like' movement the others have. Plenty of new weapons too from a drone you can remote control to the classic DOOM chainsaw. You can even pick different characters at the start, changing the dialogue of the whole game. There were also minigames scattered across the game that could boost your stats such as aiming practice and treadmills to boost speed.
Now I picked the scientist instead of 'not-doomguy' or the woman. In retrospect maybe that's why I had such a horrible time but if that were the case they shouldn't have even allowed you to pick other characters. I don't know if picking either character gives you a more 'usual' experience or not.
After a certain point enemies just became damage sponges. Even at max stats for the protagonist every enemy was a slog. And the game loved abusing the 'enter a room and you're surrounded' trope CONSTANTLY meaning I would step in, get hit 4 times, (maybe) hit 1 enemy, get hit 4 times, heal, get hit 4 times and then (maybe) hit 1 enemy, repeat until all enemies are dead. That's tedious. And I thought that you could use the drone, lure them out and funnel them to win. Nope. That only worked once. The devs planned for that.
It was a cool event when they did it with the Cacodemon nest. But after the 3rd time it got really tiring. Not to mention that's practically all the final boss does. It's lazy and bad game design. Part of what made DRPG1 and Orcs & Elves so cool was the massive exploration and huge battle maps you had to traverse. Take the level in DRPG when the lab explodes. You're left with this huge area covered in fire and enemies lurking all over the place. It requires you to look around and determine who you should focus on and look across the area for any powerups. A room like that in DRPG2 would be a 3x3 room with you in the middle and enemies occupying all the remaining 8 squares. Ugh.
Sure, in a twisted way this is actually MORE accurate to the original DOOM games but that does not translate well into this engine. You can do rooms full of enemies and pull it off well. Dungeons of Dredmor's monster zoo is the coolest thing but DPRG2 did it way too much and forced you each time to go through it.
While most DOOM games work by throwing hordes of enemies at you, when it comes to DRPG2 it just doesn't work. The developers of the first game must have understood that.
Enemies are also way faster (or maybe because I picked the scientist) but I was constantly missing. I even maxed out the accuracy stat (to what the game would let me get) and it wasn't even close to enough. Never had that issue in Orcs or DRPG.
While I was fascinated by the story and VIOS after a point I just played on autopilot. The story was great and had it not been so interesting I would have just given up on the game. VIOS is one of the best DOOM villains ever.
The only saving grace was that secrets were easy to find and I was never low on money or items. Just didn't enjoy having to heal every 2 steps. And I didn't enjoy having to go each store and by tons and tons of healing items after every encounter.
DRPG also had replayability. You could go back and grab some additional EXP. Not in DRPG2. Enemies don't respawn and there's literally no reason to head back unless you're low on items and haven't found the store in that level. The game is also completely linear unlike DRPG's pick 1-2 levels at a time.
Erick194 has stated he would be working on the Wolfenstein RPG next. I'm a bit more optimistic about that. Wolfenstein should translate really well to the Fountainhead formula. No safe areas, enemies lurking around every corner and a lack of items throughout. My only worry is that the DRPG2 devs worked on this and made it the same (ambushes everywhere, weak AF character, etc). We'll see. No idea if he's planned Orcs & Elves but I will be floored if remakes of those ever come out.
With Wolfenstein still in development I still hunger for games similar to play. Just give me a first-person turn-based dungeon crawler with that sense of dread, simple graphics and easy gameplay. Of course writing that one could suggest me anything from the SMT to the Wizardry games. It's hard to describe but the Fountainhead RPGs all feel very different from your usual first-person dungeon crawler. This is again part of the reason I don't use game genres much (as an aside I would even separate the first-person dungeon crawlers on MS-DOS vs. the late 80s-90s era. Completely different feelings and graphical styles. MS-DOS has way more pillow-shading on sprites for example).
Hell, let me liken it to the MacVenture games. Plenty of point-n-click games out there but few like MacVenture. In my 'journey into gaming' I have only found a handful of games that I would consider as "Fountainhead RPGs". If anyone has any games they feel would fit then please get in contact with me. I would love to add some more games to this list.
Wolf Moon (2006) - This game, while not an RPG reminded me heavily of Orcs & Elves. The game sees you playing as Janet Cain, a detective sent to the small community of Wade Creek to investigate a serial killer. While there she discovers there is no serial killer, but a werewolf killing people. In a confrontation Janet gets scratched and infected by the werewolf. With the sheriff turning on her (doesn't want a female werewolf running around) she flees into the wilderness. Injured and on the run it's up to here to find a cure, avoid hostile wildlife and hunters and discover a cure.
While the map stays the same each time, the enemies and items all over the place are randomized. That's really impressive, especially for a J2ME game. It started off hard as hell but as you progressed the game would only get slightly easier. Of course any wrong move and running into a bear would end the run so you never really were safe. I loved Wolf Moon. If anyone knows any games (on any system) similar to that let me know. Wolf Moon is among one of the best J2ME games I have ever played.
King's Field Additional 1 & 2 (2006) - As I wrote above King's Field features a similar loneliness and hostile environment that the Fountainhead games provide. The 'Additional' ones on the PSP should then by default fit here. They also feature turn-based, grid-based and one-person party gameplay. All things that the Fountainhead games have. I briefly played the first one and after dying as soon as I stepped into the dungeon I could safely write that it fits here. No English translations of the game do exist but one is being worked on at the time of writing. Will definitely give it a shot and expand upon here once released.
DoomRL / DRL (2002 / 2013) - Yeah, this isn't that much like the Fountainhead games but I wish to include it anyways. DRL (formally called DoomRL) is a top-down grid-based roguelike that sees you playing as the Doomguy running around demon-infested rooms of UAC. Graphically and gameplay-wise it's close to DRPG. However unlike the Fountainhead games DRL is arcadey and doesn't have much of a plot compared to those. The creator of this went onto make Jupiter Hell, which while a cool game, fits even less here than DRL. Either way if you really like DRPG you will probably enjoy this game too.
Interjection: Thanks to some Reddit users I added 2 games.
The Elder Scrolls Travels: Stormhold and Dawnstar (2003/04) - Thanks to Reddit user EnviromnetalAngle11 for suggesting this one. Didn't have any idea these existed. I'm sure I'm going to give these a shot however. If you think the Fountainhead games look low quality then you're gonna think these are garbage. For me anyways they're a little to low-quality for me to play. I assume the BREW version is probably better though I can't seem to find any footage of it. I may watch a LP of them though. Youtuber Yahweasel appears to have done one.
The Quest (2009?) - This is one I bought on the Google Play Store forever ago and completely forgot about it until Reddit user pleasebecarefulguys suggested it. Hell it was only after watching some gameplay did it click, 'oh yeah I think I own this'. I originally bought it off the assumption it would be like King's Field then promptly forgot about it. Either way this game is probably the closest we'll get to an Orcs & Elves 3. It features absolutely gorgeous graphics (while not going too into realism and boring 3D-related stuff), wide, open-world gameplay and plenty of side-quests. There's also a lot of Quest games, so many in fact, they I could probably do an article disambiguating them all. And since I do actually own it I'm going to give it another try. Compared to what mobile gaming is these days this game is a gem amongst the rough.
There is also the Legend of Grimrock which uses a similar grid-based though (at least on my first impressions) looks too professional and 'blobber-like' to fit. Maybe if it were sprites and more primitive gameplay I would be more interested (also the term blobber puts me off but I digress). I might play it at some point.
In summary, Orcs & Elves [NDS] and the reverse-engineered DOOM RPG are incredibly good first-person dungeon crawlers, very unique in their respective genres. DRPG2 is not as good but depending on how you enjoyed the first one you may enjoy it. If you want something similar to these RPGs then look into King's Field Additional and Wolf Moon. A huge thanks to the team at [GEC] and Erick194. Their work has brought these obscure RPGs to a new generation of players.
And if anyone knows any games like the "Fountainhead RPGs" let me know! I'd love to add them here.
Further Reading...
