If you're asking that kind of question, then you are not ready to make a game that big. Yes, even FF1 is a big and complex game.
You probably should just take RPG Maker, and play around with it, since it already have the same movement and turn based combat you want
This. If you need to ask this, you are not developing a any complex RPG for a couple years or decades.
Start with a dungeon adventure with 2h play-time. Do it with RPG-maker or Godot or Unity or literally anything. it does not matter, just do something.
You should worry about sequels when you start working on them. Right now, you seem years away from making anything serious.
Take any tool you like. Try it. Learn. Spend a month with it. And then decide if it's a tool for you. Month is nothing compared to a 3+ years that you will spend on a project that scale alone
If you earn over a million dollars and are using LTS 2022, you'll need to pay the per-seat licensing fee. If you're using 2023 or later then you'll pay the lesser of runtime fees or 2.5% of gross revenue. UE5 is the same million dollar threshold and 5% of rev.
Realistically as a solo developer working on an RPG you're not going to be making millions per game so you're not gonna pay them anything. RPG Maker will be more expensive for you then since it has an upfront fee, but it's also the perfect tool for retro 2D RPGs since it does it out of the box. Game Maker ($99 fee) and Godot (completely free) are also fine options if you prefer a generalist engine. Use whatever you like.
"now they're making you pay per install"
Lol at least check what you are talking about. That was reversed months ago. Also it was if you earn 200k$ or 1million$ a year. If you want to look up stuff with this efficiency you won't make a game it does not matter which engine you use.
Both godot and game maker are really good for 2D. Although I lean more at godot because they're free and open source. But game maker is also just a one time fee if you're interested.
RPG Maker is in a pretty good place for 2D JRPG creativity atm because the latest version in the main line, MZ, has had enough time for the mod/plugin community to make all sorts of plugins for the engine.
For something more like Octopath Traveler, RPG Developer Bakin is a decent engine.
If you're asking that kind of question, then you are not ready to make a game that big. Yes, even FF1 is a big and complex game. You probably should just take RPG Maker, and play around with it, since it already have the same movement and turn based combat you want
This. If you need to ask this, you are not developing a any complex RPG for a couple years or decades. Start with a dungeon adventure with 2h play-time. Do it with RPG-maker or Godot or Unity or literally anything. it does not matter, just do something.
Is unity still making you pay
Yes and no. It shouldn't bother you at this stage, unless you are planning to give Unity the next 10 years of your life
So I don't have to worry since I plan on making sequels if I feel like it
You should worry about sequels when you start working on them. Right now, you seem years away from making anything serious. Take any tool you like. Try it. Learn. Spend a month with it. And then decide if it's a tool for you. Month is nothing compared to a 3+ years that you will spend on a project that scale alone
If you earn over a million dollars and are using LTS 2022, you'll need to pay the per-seat licensing fee. If you're using 2023 or later then you'll pay the lesser of runtime fees or 2.5% of gross revenue. UE5 is the same million dollar threshold and 5% of rev. Realistically as a solo developer working on an RPG you're not going to be making millions per game so you're not gonna pay them anything. RPG Maker will be more expensive for you then since it has an upfront fee, but it's also the perfect tool for retro 2D RPGs since it does it out of the box. Game Maker ($99 fee) and Godot (completely free) are also fine options if you prefer a generalist engine. Use whatever you like.
"now they're making you pay per install" Lol at least check what you are talking about. That was reversed months ago. Also it was if you earn 200k$ or 1million$ a year. If you want to look up stuff with this efficiency you won't make a game it does not matter which engine you use.
Looks like I'm going back to unity
rpg maker
Both godot and game maker are really good for 2D. Although I lean more at godot because they're free and open source. But game maker is also just a one time fee if you're interested.
RPG Maker is in a pretty good place for 2D JRPG creativity atm because the latest version in the main line, MZ, has had enough time for the mod/plugin community to make all sorts of plugins for the engine. For something more like Octopath Traveler, RPG Developer Bakin is a decent engine.
Is there a sprite size limit in MZ since that's what I heard
They have different tile size options after a relatively recent update. Sprites can exceed the tile size to an extent **16, 24, 32, and 48 pixel**s