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RadicalR posted:Alright, I'm in the USA. I need to preorder the collector's edition of Xenoblades. I've been thinking about doing this as well. Would I need both a
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U-DO Burger posted:I've been thinking about doing this as well. Would I need both a Just a modded Wii. Loaders can define the output mode, even if the game itself does not technically support it (most PAL games these days either have a 60hz/50hz option, or just let the system determine the frequency).
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Jul 22, 2011 22:08
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I've been a lifelong player of Western RPGs, but lately I've been curious to try their Eastern cousins. If somebody has the inclination to either let me know what the essentials of the genre are, or what a good introduction game would be, or a place to find a list with this info, I'd really appreciate it. I recently started playing ChronoTrigger, and I'm enjoying it a lot-although I don't quite see it as a stunning classic. Probably because I don't have nostalgia or childhood to influence my view, possibly because I'm so used to a different RPG framework. Final Fantasy VI is something I intend to play as well-are IV or V worthwhile as well? I played Suikoden I, and liked it well enough, for the political story and the castle building aspects, although I would have liked to see this developed more. Suikoden II is on my queue to play. I also really like the idea of star faring, science fiction rpgs(more starflight than Mass Effect) and was dissapointed to hear mixed reviews of Star Ocean. Are there any other games that adopt this theme and are better-either ME or Starflight style. Finally, Tactical RPGs seem interesting. To what extent do they merge strategy and RPG genres? What would be a good game that's most representative to try? I have Final Fantasy Tactics on my queue, and am interested in the Fire Emblem series. What would be the best game in that series to pick up and play? Thanks for any feedback!
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Jul 22, 2011 23:51
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prometheusbound2 posted:Finally, Tactical RPGs seem interesting. To what extent do they merge strategy and RPG genres? What would be a good game that's most representative to try? I have Final Fantasy Tactics on my queue, and am interested in the Fire Emblem series. What would be the best game in that series to pick up and play? Fire Emblem 7 (released as just Fire Emblem in the states), Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, and Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance are all good places to start. I think TSS may be the best place to start, as unlike the other games in the series you can grind if you want, and it's easier compared to some of the other games in the series. Cake Attack fucked around with this message at 00:05 on Jul 23, 2011 |
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Jul 23, 2011 00:03
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prometheusbound2 posted:I've been a lifelong player of Western RPGs, but lately I've been curious to try their Eastern cousins. Quite literally everything you picked out - except Star Ocean - is a solid choice that's fairly archetypal for their respective areas. You're angling more towards the older games than the new, so things will appear dated and that's probably where you're not quite feeling it. Star Ocean is cheerfully dumb and does very little in the way of spacefaring, but Star Oceans 1 and 2 serve as great examples as to the sheer amount of crap that can get tacked onto a JRPG in the name of crafting. Sci-fi RPGs are pretty few and far between. It's just not a plot thread that tends to be picked up much. Get a hold of Persona 4 or some Shin Megami Tensei games for a taste of their style. They're tougher than the average RPG and require some thought put into elemental and status weaknesses. For RPGs where you have to do something more than just hit attack, try to check out the Tales series or else the Shadow Hearts series or else Tales of Dragoon. The former is an action-heavy thing where you're moving around a battlefield stringing together combos, the latter two require timing in a minigame to affect how well you do. It would probably help if you listed what consoles you've got access to.
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Jul 23, 2011 00:08
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prometheusbound2 posted:I also really like the idea of star faring, science fiction rpgs(more starflight than Mass Effect) and was dissapointed to hear mixed reviews of Star Ocean. Are there any other games that adopt this theme and are better-either ME or Starflight style. If you have access to a DS you could do a lot worse than try out Infinite Space, it's basically a spaceship battle turn-based RPG influenced a great deal by classic 70's and 80's anime space opera. It has a few rough edges, but it's literally the only good space jRPG I can think of. (Star Ocean 2 is actually pretty good but doesn't really count since the 'space' part is basically non-existant.)
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Jul 23, 2011 00:13
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Stelas posted:Quite literally everything you picked out - except Star Ocean - is a solid choice that's fairly archetypal for their respective areas. You're angling more towards the older games than the new, so things will appear dated and that's probably where you're not quite feeling it. I recently got a few consoles from a friend clearing out their garage; hence the interest in older games. So I have an SNES, a GameCube, and a PS2. I also own an XBOX 360 and a PS3, so anything modern I'm good to go. Something I've found lackluster about the games I've played so far is the character and item progression; linear upgrades without much player input aren't that interesting to me. So Star Ocean sounds interesting for the crafting and I've heard good things about Persona's character system, so 3 and 4 are on my queue(how exactly does the character system in those games work?). I also found the battle systems to boring and simplistic, and this is something I understand isn't an issue with Persona. How exactly do tactical rpgs work? Do you build a base and gather resources, or just guide squads of troops around a map? Another thing I haven't loved is the writing. I've liked the plot and story of both games well enough, but the writing seems kind of poor. I suspect this is a function of translation, or having been spoiled by BIS, Troika, and Obsidian. Is this something that got better with time as companies had the resources to hire better translators, or is just part of the genre? prometheusbound2 fucked around with this message at 00:22 on Jul 23, 2011 |
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Jul 23, 2011 00:15
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If you like really simple battle systems, play the Dragon Quest games, EarthBound and Mother 3 (sequel to EarthBound) For Dragon Quest...I guess I would say start with the DS remakes of IV, V and/or IV, then play VIII for the PS2. I started with VIII though, and it didn't like much of a downgrade going to V. If you like cartoony graphics and characters, and funny dialogue, play EarthBound. The whole Mother series is basically a silly parody of Dragon Quest that takes place in modern times. Skies of Arcadia for the Dreamcast and GameCube is also easy to play.
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Jul 23, 2011 00:20
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All the good 'modern' jRPG's are pretty much DS/PSP games, the only ones really worth it on 360/PS3 are Tales of Vesperia, Resonance of Fate and Lost Odyssey. Maaaaybe Blue Dragon and Eternal Sonata if you're a big fan of the genre and can stand anime all over the place. And the PC version of Last Remnant is worth a look too. prometheusbound2 posted:Another thing I haven't loved is the writing. I've liked the plot and story of both games well enough, but the writing seems kind of poor. I suspect this is a function of translation, or having been spoiled by BIS, Troika, and Obsidian. Is this something that got better with time as companies had the resources to hire better translators, or is just part of the genre? All JRPG's have plot and writing straight out of Saturday morning cartoon, some are good Saturday morning cartoons, but still. Sakurazuka fucked around with this message at 00:25 on Jul 23, 2011 |
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Jul 23, 2011 00:23
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prometheusbound2 posted:
It's part translation, part having to cram the entire game in a no more than 4 megabyte cartridge with financial incentives to use less (in the case of snes era games). And a great big part that's just how games were written in the early 90s.
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Jul 23, 2011 00:26
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Sakurazuka posted:All the good 'modern' jRPG's are pretty much DS/PSP games, the only ones really worth it on 360/PS3 are Tales of Vesperia, Resonance of Fate and Lost Odyssey. Maaaaybe Blue Dragon and Eternal Sonata if you're a big fan of the genre and can stand anime all over the place. DS/PSPs are pretty cheap; what are the good games on those titles? One of the reasons I'm turning to jRPGs is that turn based tactical combat is dead in the west. Don't get me wrong; I loved both Mass Effects, 2 especially, and Fallout:New Vegas is a very serious contender for my favorite game of all time. But I miss the Wizardries and Gold Boxes a lot too.
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Jul 23, 2011 00:34
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prometheusbound2 posted:DS/PSPs are pretty cheap; what are the good games on those titles? Have you played Etrian Odyssey 3 yet? If you like Wizardry you'll probably like that. On that note, have you played Tales of the Forsaken Land on PS2?
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Jul 23, 2011 00:38
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Class of Heroes on the PSP is a pretty much a Wizardry game with most of the serial numbers filed off. Sadly, none of its sequels are in English. That's been a bit of a running theme for these kinds of games lately, only getting one of a series in English.
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Jul 23, 2011 00:43
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prometheusbound2 posted:DS/PSPs are pretty cheap; what are the good games on those titles? (The asterisks denote turn-based combat systems, as you said you liked those) DS: The World Ends With You Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey* Radiant Historia* Bowser's inside Story* Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Pokemon Black/White* Various Dragon Quests* (I believe the consensus is the V is the best) Final Fantasy IV* Infinite Space Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume Etrian Odyssey I-III* PSP: Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky* Valkyria Chronicles II Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together Yggdra Union Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions Jeanne d'Arc Persona 3 Portable* (I found it to be the best version of the game; it has much more content then all the other versions. However, it's a port of a ps2 game, so a lot of things that were originally conveyed with 3d models are just talking heads now, which takes something away from the game as a whole. Your call I suppose.) Ys 7 Ys: Oath in Felghana Cake Attack fucked around with this message at 02:27 on Jul 23, 2011 |
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Jul 23, 2011 00:44
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prometheusbound2 posted:I've been a lifelong player of Western RPGs, but lately I've been curious to try their Eastern cousins. If somebody has the inclination to either let me know what the essentials of the genre are, or what a good introduction game would be, or a place to find a list with this info, I'd really appreciate it. If you're up for playing another SNES era RPG, pick up Tales of Phantasia. It's one of my favorite RPG of that era. There's a fan translation for the SNES version and there is a GBA version of it as well, which, I believe, includes a bonus character. It blows all of the other Tales of games out of the water. The fan translation is pretty funny in for some parts, though I can't remember how some of the characters, mostly Arche and Klarth, were supposed to act.
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Jul 23, 2011 00:45
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Thanks so much for the quick and abundant responses guys. I really appreciate it. Two of the handheld games I've heard about the most that I find the most interesting are Infinite Space and Battle Ogre: Let us Cling Together. Of course, they're on different systems. What are people's thoughts on these?
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Jul 23, 2011 00:48
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The psp version is by no means the best version of Persona 3. Quite a lot of scenes just don't work when reduced down to talking heads to fit on the psp. Play the original first, then maybe think about the psp version for new story. Also, Ys: Oath in Felghana is on PSP now and owns hard. Great music, fun combat and is pretty much the best game Falcom ever made.
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Jul 23, 2011 00:54
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dis astranagant posted:The psp version is by no means the best version of Persona 3. Quite a lot of scenes just don't work when reduced down to talking heads to fit on the psp. Play the original first, then maybe think about the psp version for new story. I personally disagree, but I'll change my post to reflect that what I said was not necessarily the consensus.
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Jul 23, 2011 01:00
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Cake Attack posted:Various Dragon Quests* (I believe the consensus is the V is the best) DQ8 and DQ9 are the best; DQ5 is the best of the Zenithian Trilogy remakes. FF4 is not turn-based. It is, in fact, ridiculously speedy compared to the previous versions. That being said, FF4DS is my favorite version of the game because it's actually challenging and encourages strategy; buffs and debuffs aren't just worth using, they're drat near required at points. prometheusbound2, I would recommend you skew away from the SNES-era games to start, and try some of the more modern games. The SNES classics are imbued with a fair bit of nostalgia and, while some have aged well, are really products of their time. I think a lot are definitely worth playing, but don't judge the entire genre on some of those older entries.
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Jul 23, 2011 01:03
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So I guess after ChronoTrigger I'll move onto Suikoden II. I was fun enough, and I hear it's the best in the series. What's the best game in the Tales series?
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Jul 23, 2011 01:19
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prometheusbound2 posted:So I guess after ChronoTrigger I'll move onto Suikoden II. I was fun enough, and I hear it's the best in the series. I'm partial to Tales of Destiny 2 (AKA Tales of Eternia everywhere but the US) on the psx, but I haven't played many of the more recent games.
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Jul 23, 2011 01:24
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A great game you might not want to overlook is Valkyria Chronicles for the PS3 (with a PSP sequel). It bends genres and their battle mechanics to surprisingly great results. You choose what unit you want to use from a map of the battlefield, from which you're given third person control. You move in real time, and have a gauge for how far you can go. As you pass enemies they can shoot at you, but when you choose to attack, you're free to take as long as you want. It's a brilliant fusion of strategy, RPG and action that it's almost odd it took so long to invent. I also wouldn't mind if other developers "borrowed" some of the ideas. The story's linear and nothing to write home about, but it's fairly charming and still probably better than most Japanese RPGs (sadly it's a staple of the genre, and if you don't like the storytelling and tropes, there are very few exceptions. I'd recommend the new Persona games - in particular 4 - which though unarguably of the same mold, have some of the better and believable character interactions and reasonably interesting story to go with it). What's more, back to VC, you should be able to find a new copy for $20 without much trouble.
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Jul 23, 2011 01:51
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I was about to post this in the recommendation thread, but since this thread is here I figured it would be a better place for it, sorry if it's a poo poo post. I'm currently looking for a new RPG game to sink endless amounts of time into, but I'm having a hard time finding one. I want a fairly traditional fantasy RPG with thick atmosphere and a solid story (those are a dime a dozen, I know  ) but still with fairly deep combat. This is on PC.I've played and enjoyed (among others, can't remember all of them): All the infinity engine RPGs (Baldur's Gate/Icewind Dale etc.) Fable series Witcher 1&2 Dragon Age 1 Morrowind/Oblivion King's Bounty Outcast I've also played: Risen Gothic 4 Divinity 2 Dragon age 2 Dungeon Siege series Drakensang Two Worlds 2 Some help with picking a game would be sweet.
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Jul 23, 2011 01:52
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Oh, and if you're in this there and on a PS3 or 360, just loving play Nier already.
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Jul 23, 2011 01:56
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Foxhound posted:I was about to post this in the recommendation thread, but since this thread is here I figured it would be a better place for it, sorry if it's a poo poo post. Venture into the world of JRPGs - they aren't as bad as you think, as someone who prefers western RPGs by a mile, you should give them a fair shot. Final Fantasy 9 is a good start as far as slick presentation and a good skill/combat system. Tales of Vesperia is fun as well. Do you have any consoles?
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Jul 23, 2011 01:57
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prometheusbound2 posted:How exactly do tactical rpgs work? Do you build a base and gather resources, or just guide squads of troops around a map? Generally speaking, you'll have Final Fantasy Tactics where you move a bunch of guys who are taking individual turns around a grid-based map and performing actions. Fire Emblem is similar except you get to move all your guys, then the enemy gets to move theirs, and back and forth. Valkyria Chronicles your movement is analog and the enemies are reacting via overwatch, but it's still generally turn-based. RTS-style tactics don't really come into play that often. prometheusbound2 posted:Tales Given the consoles you have available I would suggest Tales of Vesperia as being the gold standard. prometheusbound2 posted:Persona The idea behind Persona 3 and 4 is that you're building up your social links with people outside of dungeons by spending time with them. Within a dungeon you're using a turn-based battle system, except that it's a whack harder than the average game. The primary problem with 3 is that it has slightly wonkier mechanics and you can't directly control your other party members in combat in the original PS2 version, which is pretty janky. 4 fixed that and then some. Cake Attack's list is also pretty great and mentioned something I'd totally forgotten - if you want spacefaring RPGs you can't beat Infinite Space. Dumb as hell plot but an engaging game with a lot of freedom to configure and mess with your stuff and a whole load of different ways to play it. It's sort of realtime? The combat system isn't very deep but the idea is to be a space pirate which is cool anyway. Foxhound posted:Some help with picking a game would be sweet. Get Neverwinter Nights 2. Play the base game. It's not very good, but battle through it as far as you can. Then throw your character into the Mask of the Betrayer expansion and enjoy some of the best writing and plot since Planescape Torment.
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Jul 23, 2011 02:03
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 The Carpe Fulgur site for EasyGameStation's earlier PC title, Chantelise, is now, well, under construction, but you can download the demo from there. EasyGameStation's the crew that made Recettear, the anime shop simulator, if you don't know them. quote:RELEASING JULY 29TH maketakunai fucked around with this message at 02:11 on Jul 23, 2011 |
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Jul 23, 2011 02:07
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Stelas posted:
Concurred. I thought the base game wasn't anything special-it had some really brilliant parts, some really terrible parts, but overall was just a solid, good game. I'd also recommend the original Divinity-oddly titled Divine Divinity. And get the original Neverwinter Nights. The original campaigns aren't great(lots of people like Hordes of the Underdark, I thought it had some really great ideas that were outweighed by annoying attempts to add depth through poorly designed puzzles that were more annoying than challenging). But what's really amazing are the user modules, some of which rival AAA mainstream releases in quality. Drakensang: The River of Time is cheap, and on Steam. It's substantially better than the original.
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Jul 23, 2011 02:15
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Foxhound posted:If you're up for a game in the vein of older cRPGs, you could try the Spiderweb software games. I personally have no experience with them, but apart from their antiquated graphics (which have been improved upon in the most recent releases) I have heard only good things about them, both in terms of story (well written and nonlinear) and battle systems.
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Jul 23, 2011 02:19
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Foxhound posted:I was about to post this in the recommendation thread, but since this thread is here I figured it would be a better place for it, sorry if it's a poo poo post. And how old school are you willing to go? If you're willing to go REALLY old school, to a game with graphics that detract from the experience, I'd recommend Betrayal at Kondor. Turn based combat that's fun but not great, exploration, superb story and writing, horrible, ugly early 3d graphics. More modern: the firt 3 gothics. I haven't played 4, but I hear it's awful. 2 is the highlight of the series. 1 is fun but unpolished, 3 is ambitious but horribly buggy. Apparently better with fan patches.
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Jul 23, 2011 02:21
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prometheusbound2 posted:So I guess after ChronoTrigger I'll move onto Suikoden II. I was fun enough, and I hear it's the best in the series. By far Vesperia. It's got the best cast and the best gameplay, and I would argue the best plot although that's not saying much because you shouldn't really be playing Tales games for the plot.
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Jul 23, 2011 02:26
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prometheusbound2 posted:I also really like the idea of star faring, science fiction rpgs(more starflight than Mass Effect) and was dissapointed to hear mixed reviews of Star Ocean. Are there any other games that adopt this theme and are better-either ME or Starflight style. No. Because the Star Ocean series is full of that anime pseudoexistentialist babble bullshit. And there are no sci-fi JRPGs. There are, in fact, not even steampunk JRPGs. They are all swords and magic, even if they're Star Ocean, in which you start on a starship and immediately get beamed to the most backwards medieval planet you can imagine. Also for the guy who says SO sounds interesting for the crafting system, I'll tell you this right now: the only game in that series with a remotely interesting crafting system is SO2, in which case it is awesome (if not fully catalogued). SO2 is the only Star Ocean game where crafting things actually means anything, because it the means through which you reach Level 100 before you're a third of the way through the game, it gives you infinite money, it helps you obtain the endings you want, and it is the only way that you can each character's unique ultimate weapon. SO1's crafting is terrible, you buy unusable component items and it spits out a usable item. SO3's crafting system is terrible, you save up a bunch of money and talk to some "ZANY WACKY ANIME!" batshit retcon main character and hope the RNG gives you something that costs hundreds of thousands of Fols to make. SO4, I have no idea, and you should never ever play it anyway. Fur20 fucked around with this message at 02:41 on Jul 23, 2011 |
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Jul 23, 2011 02:35
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So a friend of mine recently had his ps2 die on him. As a result I am now the proud owner of suikoden 3,4, tactics, and 5 among others. I've played suikoden 1 and 4 before so I know the basic mechanics of the games, but is there any good source for finding the 108 stars of destiny in each one? Also are there any other major side quests that I need to watch out for?
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Jul 23, 2011 02:44
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Drazko posted:So a friend of mine recently had his ps2 die on him. As a result I am now the proud owner of suikoden 3,4, tactics, and 5 among others. I've played suikoden 1 and 4 before so I know the basic mechanics of the games, but is there any good source for finding the 108 stars of destiny in each one? Also are there any other major side quests that I need to watch out for? Part of the fun of Suikoden is finding the Stars of Destiny yourself, you should at least give each one a try finding as many as possible first yourself. Except Suikoden 3, there's no time limit on that one and good thing, it takes like 100 hours to speedrun. Failing that, there's always that Suikosource website. I dunno about the people who post there, but they seem kinda douchey. Just visit for the info, I guess. They pretty much don't have any missable sidequests, just minigames and secrets for you to find. I'd think that recruiting everyone is a sidequest enough.
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Jul 23, 2011 02:46
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So it sounds like I should just play 3 without worrying about who I'm missing and then grab them at the endgame using a guide if necessary. I know 4 leads into tactics, is it important to play 4 first? I beat it once years ago and could probably beat it again quickly.
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Jul 23, 2011 02:53
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Random thought, does Front Mission count as a tactical JRPG or is it just grouped into the strategy genre with Super Robot Wars? It's been ages since I've actually touched that series, and I'm not planning on playing it again anytime soon, but it popped up into my head with all this talk on non-existent sci-fi RPGs. But yeah, other than Infinite Space, Rogue Galaxy, and Star Ocean, can't recall any actual hard sci-fi jrpgs. Technically there was the Space Chapter from Live a Live, but that was more a game hybrid of 2001 and Alien. Which reminds me that I freaking love Live a Live despite its little design flaws.
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Jul 23, 2011 04:24
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Drazko posted:So it sounds like I should just play 3 without worrying about who I'm missing and then grab them at the endgame using a guide if necessary. I know 4 leads into tactics, is it important to play 4 first? I beat it once years ago and could probably beat it again quickly. Suikoden 4 is awful, easily the worst in the series. I wouldn't ever recommend someone play it once, much less again. I highly doubt there's anything you'll miss if you go straight into Tactics (which, by the way, I haven't heard anything good about either, but you're really into the story, which I totally understand). I found a lot of the characters in Suikoden 5 extremely easy to miss. There are a lot of time-limited ones, ones waaaay back in dungeons you've already been (shades of Yuber in 1, I guess). Be sure to get the Detective. Use gamefaqs if you want more detailed help.
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Jul 23, 2011 05:05
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^^^ On Suikoden Tactics, I have heard nothing but good things. Such good things that it apparently all but redeems Suiko 4. I can not confirm, because slow/tedius "tactics" style gameplay just drives me bonkers, but for what its worth, Suiko Tactics is worth the time/effort if the gameplay doesn't turn you away.
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Jul 23, 2011 05:23
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Just use a guide for recruiting characters in Suikoden 5. Nobody stands a chance of doing it without a guide.
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Jul 23, 2011 05:24
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Doc Hawkins posted:I highly doubt there's anything you'll miss if you go straight into Tactics (which, by the way, I haven't heard anything good about either, but you're really into the story, which I totally understand). quote:I found a lot of the characters in Suikoden 5 extremely easy to miss. There are a lot of time-limited ones, ones waaaay back in dungeons you've already been (shades of Yuber in 1, I guess). Be sure to get the Detective. Use gamefaqs if you want more detailed help.
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Jul 23, 2011 05:25
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