A narrative driven RPG deeply inspired by the Final Fantasy series. Wield legendary weapons, build bonds with unlikely allies, and learn to harness the power of the Nephilim to stop the world from destroying itself.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Rising Spire Devlog #1 – The Journey So Far
about 1 year ago
– Mon, Mar 17, 2025 at 02:33:39 PM
Three years ago, I set out to create the JRPG of my dreams. A story-driven, turn-based adventure inspired by the classics - but with a few fresh twists. What I didn’t expect was just how much the journey would test me. From scope creep to burnout, from moving across the country to balancing a full-time job - all of it challenged Rising Spire’s development heavily. But today, I can confidently say: We’re almost there.
Hey everyone! Frank here. 🖐
Welcome to the first official devlog for Rising Spire! With the game’s full release on the horizon, I’ll be sharing regular updates covering development progress, behind-the-scenes insights, and sneak peeks at upcoming content. I want to start by recapping our journey so far, the challenges we overcame, and what’s coming next.
The Original Vision & How It Evolved
When Rising Spire first began, the goal was simple: create an old-school JRPG with the feel of classic Final Fantasy games, but with modern twists.
Originally, I planned mechanics like a day-night cycle and camping, but as development progressed, these became secondary to the core gameplay - combat,progression, and storytelling. One thing that never changed was the influence of Atlus games like Persona, particularly their approach to making all characters feel important, not just the protagonist.
This led to the Side Arc system, allowing deeper character-driven moments. However, as the scope grew to exponential heights, we had to shift focus to ensure the core game was polished and complete first.
🔹 What’s stayed: The engaging combat, meaningful character progression, and story-driven gameplay. 🔹 What’s changed: We streamlined mechanics that were overcomplicating the experience to focus on delivering a strong, well-paced adventure.
Development Struggles & Regaining Momentum
Kickstarter gave us the funding to push forward, but scope creep hit hard. We wanted to make something truly worth backing, but that also extended development another 2-3 years. 💀
At the same time, I personally funded the project for two years before Kickstarter. Now that the timeline had increased, I had to return to full-time work to keep everything afloat. Moving across cities, changing jobs, and personal struggles all slowed development down.
To be completely honest, for a while, progress felt stuck. The game was still moving forward, but without a clear guiding force. That all changed when I moved to Los Angeles. The shift in environment reignited my creativity and focus. I was able to reel in the scope, refocus the team, and push forward with a clear vision.
Welcome to Frank's suffering dome.
Where We Stand Today
As of now, Rising Spire is feature-complete for 80% of the game (Acts 1 & 2).
Shops, side arcs, and boss fights
Alchemy, weapon upgrades, and character progression
The full story, cutscenes, and worldbuilding
What’s Left?
The biggest missing piece is Act 3 - the game’s finale.
Act 3 Hub Town & The Spire (final location)
Final enemies, bosses, and cutscenes
Closing out all major story beats
After Act 3 is done, we move into polishing and final features, including:
Bug fixes & system balance tweaks
Cloud saves, multiple save slots & controller support
Achievements, error tracking & final UI cleanup
Act 3 on the way!
The Road Ahead
We’re approaching the finish line, but game dev is unpredictable. Here’s a rough timeline of what’s next:
It’s all in the air in terms of exact dates, but this is the final stretch.
Sneak Peek: What’s Coming in the Next Devlogs? 👀
This past month has been a huge step forward, and the next few devlogs will dive into specific features we’ve been working on:
🔹The Hunting Board System – a combat-driven way to earn rewards and challenge yourself! 🔹Fast Travel & Exploration Refinements – making world traversal more seamless. 🔹The (painful) UI Overhaul – small but impactful changes to make menus smoother.
There’s a lot to show off, and I’m excited to share more details soon!
Stay Involved & Support the Game! ✨
The best way to help right now? Wishlisting and spreadingthe word!
✔ Wishlist Rising Spire on Steam (every wishlist boosts visibility!) ✔ Join our Discord to chat, give feedback, and follow development ✔ Tell a friend - indie games thrive on community support!
This has been a long journey, but we’re finally closing in on the finish line. Thanks for sticking with us - see you in the next devlog! 💙
- Frank
Rising Spire 2024 in review + a special invitation
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Dec 24, 2024 at 12:25:21 PM
Happy holidays, everyone!
As 2024 is about to be nicely wrapped in a pretty bow and thrown into the void of the past, we wanted to take a look at what it meant for Rising Spire. 2024 as a whole had its ups and downs for sure, but we continued to work on the game all throughout and, dare I say, managed to make some solid progress.
Biggest milestone reached - we released the first part of Act 2!
We have initially planned to have Act 2 released in its base form and then follow up with a content patch that will wrap it up. Unfortunately (but not unexpectedly), we had to pivot and plan for a partial release, as we broadened the scope.
Of course, continuing the story means that the world of Rising Spire is getting richer and more alive.
We added more maps, more characters, party members, enemies, boss fights, overworld abilities, side quests, new weapons, combat abilities, and so on. Some of this are not even released yet, so here's a sneak peek! ✨
Some very important and powerful people.
Spot the newest party member!
Someone's getting all rizzed up with new gear!
There's a Blacksmith in town, and an Alchemy Store as well. There are people walking around ready to tell you a bit more about what is going on. There's stuff to gather, gear to upgrade, a world to save!
I know that Kickstarter not only drops the image quality below sea level, but it also makes the post load insaaaanely slow, so I'm trying my best not to upload too many of them. But showing things is just so exciting! 😍
Such as this guy right here. We don't have favorites amongst the enemies we create, but if there was a list...
Okay, look. Another thing worth mentioning because it took an unexpected amount of time and effort is the whole UI revamp. This was the bit that we received the most initial feedback on and, by the gods, we went ahead and changed it!
To be fair, the whole game received a glow up this year. New overworld assets, we reworked Atlas' entire suite of combat animations, new battle backgrounds, and, of course, plenty of amazing new tracks courtesy of our favorite bard, Richi. We even added an easter egg to honor his musical skills, let us know if you find it. ;)
Before I conclude this post, there's one last thing I want to mention.
Saturday, December 28th, 3pm EST, we're hosting a very Rising Spire End of Year Party over on Discord! We'll talk about the game and the development process, we have some party games planned, and, of course, The LFB Community Awards! We'd be delighted to have you there! ❤️
Thank you for your support in 2024, and for your continued interest and excitement for Rising Spire! We'll keep working hard in the next year to bring the game to completion and put it in your hands.
All the best wishes and lots of love from (the) Lonely Final Boss! May 2025 prove to be your best year yet!
Happy Holidays! ✨
Rising Spire Act 2 available now on Steam! 🎉
over 1 year ago
– Mon, Sep 30, 2024 at 10:33:11 AM
Hello again, friends!
The time has come, and Act 2 of Rising Spire is now available on Steam!
Here is what you can expect to find in this update:
The story continues
Atlas and the party keep on keeping on. They’re leaving the Dohan area and find their way towards more danger.
New characters
Naturally, the evolving plot includes new characters and fresh faces. Let’s see whom we can trust. The party gets another member as well.
New maps and locations
As the party leaves the forest they’ve gotten to know so well, the vast plains of Paelondia open for them. And the city of Zendalia. And the coastline. And more forest. And farmlands. Make sure to take your time exploring, and find all the chests sprinkled in the world. They have helpful goodies!
New enemies
Get ready to face new creatures in battle and make sure you’re prepared. These enemies are definitely stronger than the wolves and cute jackalopes encountered so far.
Boss battles
Yes, that’s a plural. This update will see Atlas and his friends face off against some powerful enemies looking to stop the party from uncovering the dark secrets of the Corruption.
New weapon upgrades and abilities
The Blacksmith is in town, and so are weapon upgrades. Gain enough experience and resources and you will be able to upgrade the party members’ weapons. As each character levels up, they will also gain new combat abilities to help them decimate their enemies.
Combat balancing
Numbers and formulas - we have adjusted the overall combat balance, as well as individual enemies, and party members. With new mechanics introduced (healing abilities, overshield, status effects), we made sure we offer fair, but still challenging encounters.
Maps
We created maps for each individual area, and highlighted all exit points, to make things easier to follow and to help you not get so lost. We also have signposts in the overworld to help you out!
Journal
Reworked Atlas’ journey entries to be very clear on what the next goal is and where you have to go. The introspection and Atlas’ edginess are still there, though.
Soundtrack
Enjoy some new tracks to go with the new areas. Some more cheery, some more haunting, all of them absolute bangers!
__________
This is the bread and butter of the Act 2 start! The next big update will include more content and world population for the story so far, we'll be back with news as soon as possible. Before that though, we will make sure to release smaller bug fixing patches to address any issues currently present.
In the meantime, we Let us know what you think once you've played through the new content, we're looking forward to hearing from you! You can always find us here, on Steam or on Discord, the latter which also happens to be the best place to report any bugs you might encounter, or to let us know what you would like to see in the game. ;)
Enjoy! - The LFB Team
Rising Spire Early Access content patch set to release by the end of September!
over 1 year ago
– Sat, Sep 14, 2024 at 12:10:54 PM
Hi, friends!
It has been a while since we last posted a Kickstarter update, we must apologize for that. We have working hard on the next big content patch, and those of you who are part of our Discord community have already gotten some sneak peeks into what's coming.
We will be the first ones to admit that the past couple of months have not been optimal and that our time estimates for development on Act 2 of Rising Spire have been off. We have learned from it and are now better prepared than ever when it comes to adding content, developing new features and creating timelines.
All that to say, we are beyond thrilled to announce that the next big content patch for Rising Spire is going to be released by the end of the month! As we mentioned in a previous update, each big content patch is to be followed by a smaller content patch, as well as bug fixing ones. And, while we will be back here with a full list of new content and features once the update is live, here is a sneak peek into what to expect.
The story continues
The party is leaving the nest
Act 2 sees the party move forward in their quest to eradicate the corruption threatening the land of Malus and trying to push the forces of evil away from their homes.
Combat updates and changes
Wretched groblins
This part took the longest development time, as we set to rebuild and improve the combat system in the game. Expect to find new enemies, use new abilities (ultimates are in!), see new battle backgrounds. Underneath all that we also have better code to give us more creative space and a more solid ground to do cool stuff with enemy and party behavior.
New boss fights
No, the twitching is not because of the coffee
There is no proper RPG story without the chance to fight some more...gods? Demons? Daemons? Act 2 will introduce some new and exciting boss encounters that will rattle Atlas and his party, and maybe even start shining some light on what exactly is going on in Malus.
New maps, areas, characters, and space to explore
We have already showcased some of the new maps and we do want to keep some things secret until the update is live. Act 2 will introduce plenty of new areas to explore, characters to meet, and secrets to uncover. Keep an eye out!
As mentioned earlier, we will be back here with a full list of features and content bits for Act 2, once it is live on Steam. Until then, thank you once again for your patience and support and we will see you soon!
All the love,
The LFB Studios team
New enemies showcase
almost 2 years ago
– Mon, May 13, 2024 at 07:03:45 AM
Hey, everyone!
Hope you're all well and at least dandy! The weather is getting warmer and warmer, allergy season is almost gone, the game development industry is all over the place aaand we're knees deep into developing Act 2 and getting it ready for a solid user playtest.
We've recently showcased some of the new regions of Act 2. New regions come with new enemies, which is what's going to be the focus today.
Once all the groundwork for Act 2 is together, we'll jump right back in here and talk about all the new features implemented, the story, battle mechanics, and all other miscellaneous pieces of work we've done during the past few months.
For now, though, we just want to share some key visuals for some of the latest battle encounters, to keep you in the loop with them ✨pixels✨.
Human enemies. Real humans. Real enemies. The power of friendship is over.
A smol corrupted cat...
...to go with the smol corrupted rodent.
It's more than C+!
Fun fact: we call this guy FunGator and we're still not sure if it's the best of most horrible thing we've done.
The gargoyle your parents warned you about.
And, dare I say, we stepped up our boss designs even more as well. No context to avoid spoilers, but let's just say we loooove our twitchy boy, though they'll be a pain to fight.
The twitchiness is a direct symptom of its allergy to Nephilims.
That's going to be it for today! We'll keep you updated with more pleasing-to-look-at things and that Act deep dive we mentioned earlier. In the meantime, don't forget that we're always on Discord, where we share impromptu dev updates and you can ask us specific questions.👀
