2008-02-14 22:13:56 The Obscenely Huge jRPG Thread: Dream of (at least) a Thousand Pages

*GRIPPING MUSIC*

SO YES. I've ventured into jRPGs for the billionth time, and after years (okay, about a year) of trying like a bleeding muppet I've pried FUN from their grubby mits. Right now I'm enjoying Lost Odyssey and Luminous Arc, and I plan to get right back into FF12 which I played for about 15ish hours then got sidetracked right out of. But that barely counts because its combat system is much better at fooling old Simon into thinking he wasn't playing something turn based.

Aaaanyyhooo. There's like a big world of stuff opening up to me now, and it's a little bit scary. I have this LEGION of anime guys running at me yelling "PLAY ME! SAVE THE WORLD WITH MEEEEEEEE!!" and some are like "..." but that STILL MEANS THEY'RE SAYING STUFF LIKE THAT WHICH THOSE OTHER GUYS ARE... ALSO SAYING! This is something I've learned happens a lot in jRPGs too!

So yes! Right! I'm a bit of a virgin lying here on my back biting a bit of.. pillowy.. fabric.. and semi expect the right.. er... kind of.. experience to.. climb on top of me. This I wager is best accomplished by starting a thread where people are all like "Hi!" "Hello!" "Yes." "You got it!"

And also, speak a bit about RPGs new and old that are cool. I'd appreciate if nice, useful analogies are made often for some kind of reference in terms of battle systems and whatnot.

I'm just gonna kick things off here with a specific series - but feel free to just throw whatever you feel is worth mentioning right at this thread. It'll stick, I promise. I've covered it in sticky stuff.. like.. glue.. and.. honey.. and orange juice. And jam.

YES! Specific series, right. Man I keep forgetting where I'm going. Shin Megami Tensei. I've read stuff about it and it seems quite interesting. Has anyone got any experience with any of those? Digital Devil Saga? Nocturne? Persona? Devil Summoner? I just ADORE Atlus art style and I'm really intrigued by the themes.

2008-02-14 22:45:24

What, you want tips on good j-rpgs? Is that it?

In that case I'd strongly recommend Chrono Cross (PSX), Suikoden 2 (PSX) and Phantasy Star IV (GEN). Okay, so while that last one there is one of my alltime favorites it might not be such an awesome game for you...but i like it a lot. Check it out :)

Chrono Cross has freaking great music, a combat system that makes you stop and think about wtf you are doing and a slew of characters to recruit along the way. Also it's clearly one of the prettiest games ever made for the PSX.

Suikoden 2 is just the best JRPG EVER. 108 playable characters, a story that's rather interesting (okay so there are many typical rpg-clichés in there, but it has this little political edge making it interesting) and some of the best music and art ever. It's just a fan-f**ing-tastic game that any gamer should have played.

Phantasy Star IV: The End Of The Millenium is just a classic. It has a fast and simple combat system, some sweet chip-tuneish music and it has these sweet cutscenes every now and then, with anime styled still pictures and text, that just makes the game come alive in a cool way. Very nice for it's time and system i must say. But it's probably a big load of nostalgia on my part too. Anyways, it's worth checking out, you might like it!

Oh yeah, i almost forgot to mention Final Fantasy Tactics. Clearly a great game. If you have a PSP, pick it up NOW :)

That's it for now. If i misunderstood what you wanted out of this thread then some mod can go ahead and delete my post :P

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By Crom!

2008-02-14 23:01:21

Oh Great Idea for a Topic Simon! I am dying to find out what good JRPGs for the DS are there!

Anyhow, If we were to go the PS2 library, teh best JRPG I could pick there has got to be Final Fantasy X. That game has simply THE BEST combat system in a JRPG ever! Lost odyssey comes close but it never achieves the depth of FFX ... from the Sphere grid of customizing your characters, the different Summons and the way you can upgrade them ... the overdrives of each character not to mention the brilliant story, the great art and the Awesome CG work and the AWESOME AWESOME final Bosses!

Do I need to say more ? you should be running to get this game RIGHT now! :D

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NARUTO/AVATAR are the best anime EVER!!!
Bring on LOST ODYSSEY & CRY ON!

2008-02-14 23:01:53 In reply to Megido (2008-02-14 22:45:24)

I think if you didn't follow my post that's just a sign of sanity. People usually bear with me though. :D

But yes! That's exactly what I wanted. Well I sort of think it'd be nice if there was a general atmosphere of mentioning what RPGs are worthwhile and stuff, from whatever era - not necessarily obsessively answering questions.

I'm interested in ANY RPG from ANY time, as long as it's humanly possible to get hold of them still. I'm not a huge fan of emulators on PC and stuff, but VC on Wii and re-issues on whatever new platform are A-OK. FFT I've actually bought already, sitting there waiting for me to finish Luminous Arc. I reckon I can keep one "stationary" RPG and one handheld RPG going simultaniously without one getting too much in the way of the other. Lost Odyssey would be a hassle to play while on the loo. There'd have to be mirrors and.. keeping doors open. Semi public pooping.

I keep hearing how amazing Suikoden 1 and 2 are, so I really should prolly just play them. I have this attitude right now of not being overly ambitious and mostly going for things that appeal to me a lot on the surface to ensure I don't get frustrated/bored before I can get thoroughly into it, and Suikoden doesn't really grab me stylistically. With the amount of praise it's getting though, I should prolly just grit my teeth and dig into it, trusting it'll absorb me eventually.

People talk about Chrono Cross alot too, but usually in the context of it almost being as good as Chrono Trigger. Have you played that? If so, how do you reckon they compare?

2008-02-14 23:04:31

Digital Devil Saga, I have not played yet Simon but it's on my to do list for sure!

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NARUTO/AVATAR are the best anime EVER!!!
Bring on LOST ODYSSEY & CRY ON!

2008-02-14 23:05:54 In reply to alimokrane (2008-02-14 23:01:21)

Yeah I've had FFX in my basket on and off because I keep hearing conflicting things about it. Some say Tidus is a complete twat and Yuna is blandness on two legs and that it all feels like Final Fantasy Sunshine, whereas others point to the actual story and what most consider the sweet spot of the Final Fantasy combat system.

The most promising thing I've heard that I can relate to personally is that it is fairly similar in feel to Lost Odyssey's combat system, and I'm really enjoying that a lot so.

Shadow Hearts: Covenant is another recommendation I get a lot, but that'll supposedly kick my balls until I fall over and explode. So I best hold that off a bit until I've.. well, levelled up my balls really.

2008-02-14 23:17:48

Regarding FFX, Yes, I can see why some people have problems with Tidus and Yuna ... the do come uo a little bland sometimes but it's totally forgiveable.

Anyway, Here is a list of my To-Buy-And then To-Play JRPGs if you're interested. I have compiled this list a while a go:

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 (PS2)
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (PS2) [ALSO KNOWN AS Lucifer's Call (Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne )]
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga (PS2)
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 (PS2)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner - Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army (PS2)
Odin Sphere PS2
Wild Arms PS2
Final Fantas VII Dirge of Cerberus [not exactly a JRPG]
Suikoden Series
Rogue Galaxy
Kingdom Hearts 2
Valkyrie Profile 2 - Silmeria
Shadow Hearts (PS2)
Shadow Hearts: From the New World (PS2)
Shadow Hearts: Covenant (PS2)

The Ones I aleady have and I have yet to either play or finish

Star Ocean Till The End of Time
Final Fantasy XII
Drakengard
Drakengard II
Dragon Quest The journey of the Cursed King
Final Fantasy X-2 [Dont think I'll ever play this one ... I just couldnt]
Kingdom Hearts

The above are all for PS2

For the Xbox 360 I have

- Blue Dragon
- Lost Odyssey

And I will get

- The Last Remnant
- Cry On
- Infitinite Undiscovery

and

Star Ocean 4 [PS3 or Xbox 360 if it comes to both]

For the PS3 I will get hopefully

Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy XIII Versus
White knight Story


Pheeeeew ... That took ages to compile :D

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NARUTO/AVATAR are the best anime EVER!!!
Bring on LOST ODYSSEY & CRY ON!

2008-02-14 23:25:52

I'm sorry alimo but that list is WRONG!

Uh, I got nothin.

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Hey, I'm just like you. I put my pants on one leg at a - dammit, I knew I forgot something today.

2008-02-14 23:35:25

I've played both Chrono Triger and Chrono Cross and well... it's hard to compare them, they are both really good games. The combat system in Cross is a bit better, but i feel a slight bit more compelled by the story in Trigger. Alas, i can't decide. Cross is at any rate clearly on par with Trigger.

Also about Suikoden...unless you played Suikoden 1 when it was new i doubt that you'll enjoy it all that much. I love it, but then i did play it in 97 when it arrived. Suikoden 2 is however a universally good game. Great characters, good story, fantastic music and well...in you're case not so nice art, but well...hopefully you'll either learn to love it or learn to look past it. Don't miss out though, it's really a great game.

And about FFX, i don't know...it's not the worst game out there but the characters are lame on an epic scale, the story is the usual FF blend of weird, stupid and mega cliché (in my opinion, but hey...whatever floats your boat) and the combat system is just...a combat system, it doesn't really stand out much in my opinion. What's cool about FFX is how you level your characters though. That part i like.

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By Crom!

2008-02-14 23:41:19

@ alimokrane

lol, well yeah that pretty much sums up why I'm frozen in.. some kind of excitement/fear induced catatonic state. There are so many awesome sounding things to play.

I'll stress that Digital Devil Saga 1 is incredibly difficult to find - at least off online retailers - if you want the borderless full speed US version. I'd hurry and buy it off Ebay while it's still possible to get it in decent condition. There's also a PAL version which I can't imagine is *loads* worse, but you get the typical PAL PS2 RPG treatment of course.

You said earlier that you wanted tips on DS RPGs. I haven't really played anything besides Luminous Arc yet. I can tell you about that that it feels really basic and linear, but the characters really grow on you, the art is really good, and while the story hasn't really become overly exciting in 10 hours the character development is still appealing enough to continue. It has sort of an old school feel to it, reminicent of the early Shining Force games, but not quite as challenging. Not yet anyhow.

If you wanna check out strategy RPGs and feel that Disgaea or Final Fantasy Tactics are a bit too daunting an undertaking, then this is prolly a nice introduction. I got it for about a tenner, and for that price it doesn't really have to do anything amazing.

As for almost-DS games, there are the Fire Emblem games for GBA and those are fantastic. They may not look it, but they're VERY good. They really feel a lot like the reason Sega don't even bother with their original version of Shining Force anymore. If you're not bothered by the cart sticking out a little bit and one screen being unused - in short; playing GBA games on your DS - then FE is a sure fire bet.

Of course, if you wait around for a yearish or so there's apparently going to be a remake of the very first FE game for DS, and that might be all kinds of awesome.

I'm sure someone familiar with the buckets of Lunar and Lost Magic and Magical Starshine and Contact and.. etc etc can fill you in on other DS RPGs though. I'm a bit wet behind the ears yet.

Man, so many games to play! :O

So happy I managed to get into the genre finally. :D

2008-02-15 00:32:08

OH Great advice for Ds man. Thanks! :D

you're absolutely ... just looking at that list, I feel overwhelmed .. there is so much to play yet so little time to cram everything in and then you're faced with the fact that PS2 games will disappear pretty soon from the market ... I will try and fish some of those titles before they go extinct! :D

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NARUTO/AVATAR are the best anime EVER!!!
Bring on LOST ODYSSEY & CRY ON!

2008-02-15 15:09:48

How do people feel about Grandia 3 around these parts? A friend of mine said yesterday that he doesn't really give much thought about review scores in regards to RPGs because they say ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. It's so rare for RPGs to be truly borked after the years of refinement they've gone through (similar to my overall theory about games in general really) and he said that it's pretty seldom that something truly puts him off.

So I liked my limited time with Grandia, and while that's universally recognized as an amazing game, I'm sort of curious how people got on with 3 - subject of more lukewarm critical reception.

2008-02-15 15:24:52 In reply to SimonM7 (2008-02-15 15:09:48)

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By Crom!

2008-02-15 15:31:01

Yeah that's what I mean, by "borked" I mean broken or proper useless.

They're all so above competent that if you just like the themes and can lose yourself in the story, you can't go *really* wrong.

I love the sense of adventure and discovery in Grandia 1. The "coming of age" story is done to death but in Grandia it's done with such attention to subtleties that it becomes really moving. The harbour letter scene still makes me sad when I think about it. This is why I didn't feel drawn to Grandia 2 quite as much, because Ryudo was much harder to relate to, and I didn't find the supporting cast quite as engaging and likeable.

EDIT: for replies to editedness

Tales of Phantasia is a TYPICAL example of the sort of game that barely registered for me because I hated jRPG conventions up until my recent transformation. A mate showed it here and the lack of widescreen and my annoyances with it gave birth to Tales of Lobsterboy. The red body armour when stretched to 16:9 resembled just that. :D

I made a pic to illustrate even.



But yes! I'm told it's very good so I shall put it in my list for sure. I just have to find it.. it's very rare.

2008-02-15 15:46:22

Lets seeeeeee, games I would recommend.

Well firstly FF7, even now it still holds up in terms of story and gameplay.

Star Ocean 3 seriously bad voice acting but a great game if not somewhat weird, but i like weird shit like that.

Final Fantasy 10, a really great game, nice graphics even now and a good story.

I would recommend Digital Devil Saga because everyone else likes it, however I found it to be quite boring :P

Grandia 3 was fairly ok, has a brilliant battle engine , never did finish it though, quite a hard game too.

A must play is Tale of Symphonia one of my favourite JRPGs ever.

Rogue Galaxy was ok, great use of Cel shading although I wasn't a fan of the battle engine in that.

If you like building your own JRPG world Dark Cloud 1 and 2 are great games also.

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Marumaro for the WIN !!

2008-02-15 15:52:33

Simon: that's tales of Symphonia featuring Lobster boy, which sucks nuts. Only Phantasia (snes) and Destiny(PSX) are any good imo.

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By Crom!

2008-02-15 16:17:25

OK, so, here's my list:

Chrono Trigger (snes): Modified JRPG format, but you'll like it. Good gameplay, fun story

Legend of Dragoon (PSX) great story, decent graph, fun to play. Traditinal JRPG with timing challeng on striking
FFVI:(snes FFIII, or FFanthology PSX) Great story, fun gameplay, typical turnbase
FFVII: LEGENDARY, you MUST own this game to be considered a decent human being
FFVIII: Beatiful, great, but mushy, story. Complicated junction system, pm for details, normal turnbase, but with some timing on hit for main char
FFX: beautiful graphics, great story, blast to play. Typical turnbase, with unique lvl up system
FFX-2: way fun to play, great graphics...story good...BE WARNED fun as this game is, its embarassing to be caught playing. main chars are chicks, and there's a lot of "girl power" cutscenes.

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.::Chill::.

2008-02-15 17:23:59 In reply to Megido (2008-02-15 15:52:33)

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Marumaro for the WIN !!

2008-02-15 17:25:27

Jolli: See, that's why i put "imo" at the end, since i know it's not a universal truth :)

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By Crom!

2008-02-15 17:27:40

:P

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Marumaro for the WIN !!

2008-02-15 19:08:00

oh yeah, forgot a few
FF: Tactics, really fun, great story. map grid, job classes, corrupt churches.
Super Mario RPG was shot too nabby, cliché to the max story, but fun.

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.::Chill::.

2008-02-15 20:34:14 In reply to Xeviant (2008-02-15 19:08:00)

Where's the love for FFIV? That game is like the mother of all modern jRPGs. Introduced active time battle, had an engaging story, and great characters. It was a comedy, a tragedy. Oh, and the music is still unforgettable.

If you haven't played it, do yourself a favor and play it now.

2008-02-15 21:08:39

well, FFIV was good...but, your end-boss and ultimate villian is X-Death...it was still quaint, but lacked polish

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.::Chill::.

2008-02-15 21:46:10

Need to wait for the DS version of FFIV.

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Marumaro for the WIN !!

2008-02-15 22:10:24 In reply to Xeviant (2008-02-15 21:08:39)