Take one part Final Fantasy and two parts economist, mix them together and you might get Final Profit: A Shop RPG, an Aussie developed indie title by Brent Arnold, that forgoes traditional turn-based systems in favour of a fantasy life that throws the spotlight upon capitalism. Dragons and magic be damned, this is all about running a store, building an income, and investing in the world around you, and you’ll be happy to hear that isn’t all about statistics either.
You play as Queen Mab who, having been ignored by her own people of Faeona, sets out to prove them wrong with her plans to take down the Bureau of Business at its own game. Starting from scratch, you’ll slowly unravel the story as you work up the food-chain of wealth to take down the most powerful people of the land. To do that, you’ll need connections, items of worth, and a whole lot of exploration to discover new ways to encourage the people to partake in your wares.
Final Profit cleverly blurs the line between traditional leveling and world-travelling you’ll be used to within a top-down RPG. There’s still a few familiar mechanics at play, puzzles to solve and magic to make use of, but the primary goal is to continually keep your inventory stocked and ready to sell instantly. Within a few hours, Queen Mab’s cunning will attract a whole host of unusual characters willing to both help and hinder her cause, as the news of your venture finds its way back home to a family torn over her plans.
If you’re expecting any kind of combat, you won’t find it in Final Profit, which is as much a parody of our own economic problems as it is a clever subversion of the role-playing and adventure genres. You could argue it has a little Stardew Valley in it, though a better comparison would be Potion Permit or Moonlighter, which both dealt with the other side of fantasy life rather than simply fighting monsters.
The first few hours set the scene, allowing you to slowly get to grips with the systems at play. Find a few potential customers who are keen for specific items, uncover where you can source said items from, and reap the rewards of selling them the exact thing they demanded, even repeatedly. . Surely they don’t need that many hats? But who am I to look profit in the mouth. The further you delve into the mystery of the Bureau of Business, the more opportunities to profit become available for Queen Mab and her growing customer base, to the point where you’ll be investing in stocks and, perhaps, twisting the system in your favour for higher profit margins.
One thing that stands out is Final Profit’s presentation. As much as it remains a familiar sight for role-playing fans, its humour allows it to strike its own profile in the genre.. Before you even begin, you’re given a choice to use the in-game audio for every character that provides Banjo-Kazooie-ish tones to the dialogue. I happily went along for the ride and I have to tell you, it adds to the unusual nature of the experience further. You can always turn it off if you feel so inclined, but I would recommend leaning into the absurdity of it all.
Time to ring up the tills
There’s plenty of strange narrative interactions too (take a closer look at the well, if you dare), with various side quests to keep you on your toes as the money comes rolling in. For a game that’s almost entirely a one man developed show, Arnold has managed to create something truly unique and worthy of exploring. You can find Final Profit: A Shop RPG on Steam now, and this player certainly hopes to see it on a Switch or console in the future.
