Final Profit: A Shop RPG

This game exceeded my expectations in every way. I admittedly didn't expect much of this gem of a game which has been egregiously underappreciated. I saw some criticisms I was concerned with and waited a long time before picking it up. Every time I thought I had found the end of this game, it gave me more. One of the biggest criticisms that worried me before going into the game was people griping about the lack of a map. I would counter by saying the lack of a map is in its own way compelling. I became familiar with the map by my ability to take control of it, in various ways that I don't want to spoil. As I began to feel comfortable with the map, its borders grew. Each border growth was interesting and made me want to continue playing. Both because of the newly introduced game mechanics and the story itself. Other people have complained about the upkeep system. Quite simply, that's part of running a business. And the ways in which the story gets you to take on debt is often entertaining. Another aspect in which I underestimated this game was in the capacity to run your business empire. I thought it was just going to be me restocking a storefront over and over again. It is much more than that. Again, I don't necessarily want to spoil it, because part of what made this game so memorable for me was the process of discovering it. I can't speak much to the newer roguelike type gamemode that was added. I completed my first playthrough of this game over a year ago; I still think about this game and its creator on a weekly basis. I am eagerly anticipating Oil Town, the creator's follow-up game. Before I had even finished the game I convinced two of my friends to get it and play through it with me. All of that said, if this review convinces you to get the game and you see my favorite boy, Tinto, treat him well for me :)

A game made in RPG Maker that’s more of an incremental game than an RPG. Run a shop, find products and customers to buy those products, gradually find tools to automate production and sales, etc. Eventually you gravitate towards trading stocks, property, and commodities to scale up your earnings. The story is fun and compelling, but the conceit of it as a game where you’re participating in capitalism to undermine capitalism doesn’t entirely work. The relationship with the labor producing the goods you’re selling is almost entirely abstracted, making its criticisms of capitalism a little unanchored and toothless. Regardless, it’s a pleasant power fantasy to be able to grind your way to nationalizing the power company and providing free public transit. My, but it does get grindy sometimes though – particularly when escorting an artist on field trips to get inspired to produce more hotel art for the shop.

My brain is unable to make a review that is equally as good as the game is. I'll just say that I am probably gonna be force gifting this game to my friends to enjoy

i got this game because a review compared it to reccatier which it absolutely is not anything like, nor moonlighter. its absolutely not an RPG in the sense most would consider RPG there is no combat, stats are based on sales etc and probably some thing that changes the ending which... its one of those games like fallout 4 where you think youre answering one way but oops the dev decided what you thought was the better way of saying something is changed entirely because of their poor explanation of what your character is saying. there is no combat in this game at all the whole game is just running around and solving puzzles in the world, which are poorly explained. you get customers by talking to npcs but legit one of them is " hes drinking before work" so you run all over the city because there are 5 places npcs might drink, look it up online, find out the guy youre looking for runs one of the resturants so reasonably he cant be anywhere else. only to find hes in an annoying spot that you can barely see most of the time because of the UI the rest of the game is literally just you standing infront of the counter and pressing A. look if you like, just wandering around and talking to npcs. this game is for you, outside of that... its just not great.

an enjoyably weird ~business~ themed rpg maker game. recettear is the closest comparison i'm aware of but even for all the goofiness in that game, it didn't have you selling lootboxes to children within the first 20 minutes (in a quest to dismantle capitalism, so its fine) very ambitious & all over the place, mostly in a good way. the writing and assets are a mixed bag but the human touch comes through in a big way & the dev certainly has their heart in the right place.

Loved the game, perfect to chill and kill time with, very entertaining - I couldn't put it down until I completed it.

So if you haven't checked out CrystalCow's review of the game, I highly suggest you do so. I am one of those friends mentioned. I went into this game with very little expectations. A fairy shopkeeping sim. It sounded right up my alley. I also know a lot of intricacies about running a business. But this is a game so I did not expect all that much. WOW. Full stop. WOW. This game absolutely blew me away. I just recently learned about the upcoming game Oil Town and it will be wishlisted after I am done with this review. This game consumed me for a solid two weeks. I got off work, I wanted to play. I got home from the gym, it was time to play. The story was intriguing and gave me real Brennan Lee Mulligan "Capitalism is bad" vibes and I am 1000% here for that. The graphics were nostalgic but beautifully done. The area's grew as you grew and it felt very manageable. I abhor games that do not give you a map, but this was presented in a such a way that honestly, I wouldn't have wanted a map. The struggle was just enough to make me want to learn the layout as I progressed. The mini games that were presented to you to help you level up and grow your business was creative and insightful. The NPC's were quirky and fun. (Shout out to the bestest boy Tinto). If you've made it this far in the review... just buy the damn game. And have fun :)

Very well designed game that slowly builds out a compelling web of interconnected systems and mechanics, all feeding into one another to create an experience greater than the sum of its parts. Story is nice too and I found the writing quite charming. Very interested to see what comes next from this dev :)

It is just an RPG Maker game at its core, with all its pros and cons.

This was a really pleasant experience for me. The story is surprisingly deep, the game mechanics well thought out. In addition this game has just so many hidden secrets, gimmics and mechanics that it puts triple a productions to shame. Looking forward to new game+ and the next game by the developer!