Looks good.

As ET3D stated, it looks good :)

Nostalgia for Playstation-era JRPGs. How else is their game supposed to look like a Playstation-era JRPG?

And adults aren't allowed to like bright colourful things now?

Compare and contrast:
exhibit 1
exhibit 2

Since when were Playstation-era JRPG's bright? I wouldn't categorize any of the Final Fantasy or Shin Megami Tensei games as "bright". If anything that Kickstarter game looks childish, like something that would be on Wii U

I decided to add Escape: Fighting for Freedom to the list.

Well, that depends what jRPGs you're thinking of. Cell-shading (which looks like this) was pretty big on the PS 2 with games like Dragon Quest 8, Wild Arms 3, etc...

"Cute" and bright character designs have been a large part of some jRPGs series, while some others have had more realistic designs coupled with a grimmer setting and story.
I'll admit that when people feel nostalgia towards PS-era jRPGs, they're probably thinking more of games like FF 7 and above, Xenogears, Suikoden, Valkyrie Profile, SMT none of which were "cute". At least I do.


Then again, stylistic choices don't mean much. The developer could perfectly well do a fairly grim jRPG with very colorful character designs, intentionally trying for dissonance between graphics and story.

Never played PS games, but googling Suikoden I can upon images like and [url=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w8gQcDvpvDw/TBkaSIokMrI/AAAAAAAAAXo/8ApM-M00QZs/s320/GSDII+2010-06-16+13-49-24-86.bmp]this, which I'd say lean towards the "bright" and "cute" side of the spectrum.

The open world exploration/RPG game Frontiers is now in KS too:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/railboy/frontiers-explore-discover-survive

And some comics projects:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/309827462/world-war-kaiju-graphic-novel
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/davewachter/the-guns-of-shadow-valley-complete-graphic-novel
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/philkahn/guilded-age-vol-2-and-animated-shorts
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1554093685/e-is-for-erfworld-the-erfabet-book-and-debut-of-da
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/577061553/the-survivors-zombinac-shelter-edition-comic-book
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/evandahm/vattu-the-name-and-the-mark

There's also games like Grandia and SaGa Frontier. Both brought up a lot whenever Playstation RPGs are on topic. Both hardly with a gritty artstyle. Hell, I'm pretty sure they both include gimmicky animal mascot characters to boot.

Edit: I will make this my last post on the subject so that we can get back to crowdfunded dealies.

I wouldn't really call Suikoden's graphics "cute", although they are pretty colorful. Still nowhere near the level of the KS project we were discussing anyway.
The reason I quoted Suikoden is that the story is pretty grim, unless you go for the best ending which is basically impossible to get without a guide.

Anyway, I agree that we shouldn't judge a game by its graphics, although I personally dislike cell-shading and would prefer a more realistic art style.

If adults don't like bright and colorful graphics in games, then Japanese games companies would have been gone a long while ago...

Another anthology, this time about cyborgs:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/clarkesworld/upgraded-a-cyborg-anthology-edited-by-neil-clarke

Thanks. Not really interested in the project, but I remember Neil fondly from his used books selling days, so sent a dollar his way.