As the holiday season begins, we at RPGamer recognize that money has become tighter over the last few years, and that keeping on top of the latest releases is ever more challenging. With inflation and the world in a strange place at the moment, many people haven't been able to afford the hefty price tags that many games are fetching at. We decided to look at "budget" titles, wherein the staff were tasked with picking a small selection of great RPGs for less than $20 USD as the base price. We hope we've put some interesting titles on your radar that you'll consider giving a try or gifting to someone who may need a little gaming pick-me-up. Of course, we also invite our readers to share any additional suggestions. ---   8-Bit Adventures 2 Price: $19.99 Nostalgia is a powerful drug; fortunately, indie RPGs that harken back to the classics of the '90s can be found quite readily. Critical Games’ 8-Bit Adventures 2 stands out among this pack for having a truly emotional and exciting story that grips players easily and never lets go. The combat is enjoyable and not too complicated, and the cast of characters is so endearing that you’ll never want the game to end. A quality passion project that oozes charm is something that is easily worth $20. While big-name developers have more resources, in 8-Bit Adventures 2 — and even more recently with Quartet — Something Classic Games demonstrates that with the right timing, planning, and execution, standing up against the heavyweights in the industry can be achieved at any level. Underdogs typically start with less, but playing through this classic turn-based indie gem goes to show just how many are capable of shining just as brightly as past powerhouses. — Ryan Costa   --- House of Necrosis Price: $11.99 "Roguelike" encompasses a wide swarth of games these days, but the roots of the genre are most closely displayed in titles like Mystery Dungeon. House of Necrosis unifies the play style of Mystery Dungeon with the themes of Resident Evil and gives you a low-poly, retro mansion to explore filled with four dungeons, three of which are post-game. The game can be quite punishing, having you lose all your gear on death (at least before the endgame), but once you figure out what enemies are capable of and display a certain level of care, a game over should be a rare occurrence. The biggest strength of the game lies in weapons and consumable effects, allowing for all kinds of surprises.  The game has a lot to offer: explosive throwing weapons, consumables that level up enemies to more dangerous versions, and allows all effects in the game to be used against its four bosses. — Benedikt Geierhofer   --- The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Price: $19.99 USD The game that started it all, The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is still an incredible introduction to Nihon Falcom's long-running Trails series, which sits at over a dozen games. While it did receive an excellent remake earlier this year, the original still holds up surprisingly well 26 years later. The visuals are a bit dated at times, with character sprites having extremely limited animations, but the art direction holds up surprisingly well even when played on higher resolutions. Being the first game in a long running franchise, the combat system is unrefined and easily exploited, but it still manages to be a fun time and does the job well. Narratively, while the first Trails in the Sky game is a bit of a slow burn at first, the game’s world and characters are some of the best in the whole franchise. It takes a bit of time to get going, but the final two chapters of the game are some of the most nail-biting of the whole franchise, accompanied by a series-defining soundtrack. — Ezra Kinnell   --- Low Magic Age Price: $14.99 Who says that RPGs need a point or anything important to them beyond fun combat and loot? While many players typically would, sometimes it’s just as important to unwind and sink hours into an enjoyable turn-based battle simulator. That’s what Low Magic Studios’ Low Magic Age brings to the table. Based on the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop game, specifically the 3.5 edition rules, it is a consistently updating combat simulator where players can take a created party and just go questing for loot. It basically just amounts to a combat generator for a tabletop game, but who hasn’t lost themselves for hours dreaming about being a hero and taking out the generated villains of a dungeon? Now expand that singular dungeon into a never-ending quest to get the best gear and just have fun. For under $20, I’ll easily take the hundred-plus hours I put into Low Magic Age and gladly do it again for another hundred. — Ryan Costa   --- Monster Sanctuary Price: $19.99 There aren’t many who would so boldly mix turn-based RPGs with Metroidvania-style exploration, but Monster Sanctuary does so quite successfully. Choosing your monsters based on their abilities in battles and in exploration makes team building more tactical than the typical RPG monster collector, and it’s a genuine joy to watch your progress both going forward as well as backtracking to areas newly opened to you. A worthy buy for its price, for both monster collectors and platform explorers. — Robert Sinclair   --- Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth Price: $19.99 Knowledge of the Record of Lodoss War franchise is not a prerequisite to enjoy this excellent Metroidvania RPG codeveloped by Team Ladybug and WSS Playground. Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth plays quite a bit like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night but sets itself apart with gameplay twists unique to its elven protagonist. Despite a short run time, this game is easy to become immersed in thanks to its fluid pixel art, buttery-smooth controls, and catchy soundtrack. Likewise, the minimalist story leaves an impact in its own quiet way. Those seeking a refreshing palate cleanser game would do well to consider Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth. — Casey Pritt   --- Weird and Unfortunate Things Are Happening Price: Free Free games often receive a bad rap, either for being full of microtransactions or having content gated behind a paywall. Sapphire Dream Games' Weird and Unfortunate Things Are Happening is a fantastic example of a free RPG that offers intense and memorable storytelling, with a loveable cast of characters, and some intense moments of pure horror. It also sports a simple but effective turn-based combat system where status effects play a huge role in success and failure. This is one of those games where the story does a phenomenal job of building on itself to keep the player wanting to investigate more. Also, the heroine clubs everything with a baseball bat and has quite the potty mouth. She's my kinda gal! In all fairness, despite it being made in RPGMaker, Weird and Unfortunate Things Are Happening is truly a wonderful experience, especially for any RPGamer who appreciates narrative and complex characters, and for the price of free, how could you possibly go wrong?  — Sam Wachter      --- Ys Origin Price: $19.99 Although its visuals are looking a touch long in the tooth, Ys Origin is a timeless master class in action RPG design. Players climb the Devil's Tower as one of three combatants, mowing down demonic hordes and vanquishing tough bosses to the sweet sounds of heavy metal music. Each playable character's move set is as unique as their personality, with all routes offering further exploration into the nature of the fabled land of Ys and its fall from grace. This game serves as a distant prequel to Adol Christin's adventures, which kick off in Ys I & II, and it can be played either before or after those two entries. Once the true final boss has been conquered, players can enjoy extra time attack, boss rush, and arena modes, adding all the more value to this affordable adventure. — Casey Pritt      --- We hope you enjoyed our selections for this feature. Please tell us in the comments your favourite budget RPGs! The post RPGs on a Budget appeared first on RPGamer.