I'm not sure about indie games, but games of the Star Ocean or Valkyrie ~~Profile~~ franchise are not AAA games and they would never get a big buget for production because they most like doesn't sell that much. I would consider them small-scale games. Also World of Final Fantasy was a nice spinoff with a much lower buget that the big AAA games. I don't think SE have to do always big budget games and it's also nice for them to test things out. The indie jrpg market is not that big that a nice indie production wouldn't get any recognition anymore if it's done well.