|
Merry Gotymas everyone!
|
#
¿
Dec 4, 2023 00:23
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 10, 2024 22:50 |
|
|
Hmm kinda wish I played Forspoken this year
|
|
#
¿
Dec 4, 2023 08:21
|
|
|
Veeg managed to set all this up and write a very stellar OP all by himself but I'm afraid without Rarity at the helm to bring the smackdown all we have is absolute chaos 
|
|
#
¿
Dec 4, 2023 15:21
|
|
|
BeanpolePeckerwood posted:There's still time to add one more RPG from Japan to your 2023 roster. 
|
|
#
¿
Dec 4, 2023 15:30
|
|
|
Escobarbarian posted:BP like “I just moved fridge….with my freaking posts!” BP always moves me with his posts 
|
|
#
¿
Dec 4, 2023 16:44
|
|
|
See Aipsh, somebody put FFXVI on their list!!! ....at number 14???!?  Nice list Ineffiable!! 
|
|
#
¿
Dec 4, 2023 16:46
|
|
|
DMCrimson posted:Wake up, get up, get out there. This was a really cool review of Persona 5. When art can inspire you in real life and get your brain juices flowing and making new neural connections it is a truly beautiful thing. Sounds like you guys had a fab time in Japan! What did you get up to outside of Tokyo?
|
|
#
¿
Dec 4, 2023 19:22
|
|
|
Nice list! I've never even heard of half these games lol!
|
|
#
¿
Dec 5, 2023 09:08
|
|
|
ChocNitty posted:Thanks for the replies on my thoughts about BG3 deserving goty more than TOTK. loving hell talk about an explosion of nostalgia the moment I clicked that link 
|
|
#
¿
Dec 9, 2023 20:37
|
|
|
Lisztless posted:4. Valkyrie Profile 
|
|
#
¿
Dec 11, 2023 20:54
|
|
|
Escobarbarian posted:Lmao that ending loving ruled Stay physical folks
|
|
#
¿
Dec 22, 2023 07:54
|
|
|
Arist posted:Finally finished writing my list Nice work buddy. Really enjoyed reading your list
|
|
#
¿
Dec 22, 2023 19:58
|
|
|
ImpAtom posted:A) Has Patches Yet sekiro is not a souls game
|
|
#
¿
Dec 22, 2023 23:09
|
|
|
I feel a post coming on...
|
|
#
¿
Dec 22, 2023 23:46
|
|
|
Game of the Year 2023 At a certain point toward the end of 2022, perhaps around the time that the Suikoden I & II Remasters were announced, I got it into my head that 2023 was going to be The Year of the RPG from Japan. There were a lot of things planned for release including the aforementioned Suikoden remasters (sigh, lol) but also Final Fantasy XVI and the Pixel Remasters for console, among others for sure. I honestly don’t know or remember how the idea formed in my mind, I certainly wasn’t coerced or persuaded into it, but I decided early on that for 2023 I would play nothing but RPGs from Japan. For the entire year. As a gimmick. … … Yep. All told, I played 30 RPGs from Japan over the course of this year and I will now rank all of them for you. I will be brief for the bottom entries don’t worry. My relationship with this genre of video games goes far back and in my childhood years it was the most prevalent type of game I played. In recent years that’s been less and less the case. But this year has allowed me to reexamine my feelings toward the RPG from Japan and coalesce in my mind what exactly it is about these games that draws me to them. The list of games I am about to present is fairly normie for those familiar with the genre. My selection process for what to play was entirely limited to what was available on PS5 and contains a smattering of older titles that I had played previously, but perhaps had not given a proper playthrough, a few from well-regarded franchises that I had completely overlooked for one reason or another, and a few new releases thrown in for good measure. Many of these titles were included in the higher tiers of PS+ subscription. So, without further ado I present to you:  30. Oninaki – 2019, Tokyo RPG Factory. Composers: Shunsuke Tsuchiya, Miriam Abounnasr Time played: 5 hours Completed: no This certainly is a game that exists. 29. Tales of Berseria – 2016, Bandai Namco Studios. Composer: Matoi Sakuraba Time played: 45 hours Completed: no This game really wants you to like its characters. They were alright; the skits a bit contrived and good god there are so many of them. 28. Chrono Cross – 1999, 2022, Square/Square Enix. Composer: Yasunori Mitsuda Time played: 36 hours Completed: no Played this game at release and never made much progress in it. Really hoping to give it a fair shake with this Radical Dreamer Edition re-release but wasn’t able to finish it. I have a lot of issues with this game but in the spirit of the thread I won’t get into it here. Let’s just say my problems with it have nothing to do with the game’s relation to Chrono Trigger and leave it at that. 27. Scarlet Nexus – 2021, Bandai Namco Studios/Tose. Composer: Hayata Takeda Time played: 24 hours Completed: no This game felt like it wanted to be both an action RPG and a visual novel. Would have been better served being one or the other. 26. Rogue Galaxy – 2005, Level-5. Composer: Tomohito Nishiura Time played: 30 hours Completed: no Level-5 and PS2 jank and charm in spades – for better and for worse. 25. Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song – 1992, 2005, 2022, Square/Square Enix. Composer: Kenji Ito Time played: 18 hours Completed: no Last year the SaGa Frontier remaster taught me to love SaGa game mechanics. This year Minstrel Song taught me that it pairs better with a little bit of narrative. Great battle and progression systems, just needed a little bit more of a story to keep me interested. 24. Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster – 1987, 2023, Square/Square Enix. Composer: Nobuo Uematsu Time played: 15 hours Completed: platinum The OG. Played this game in several of its iterations over the years but this was the first time I actually completed it. The orchestrations are excellent. A remaster that leaves nothing to be desired. 23. Star Ocean: First Departure R – 1996, 2007, 2019 – tri-Ace/Tose. Composer: Matoi Sakuraba Time played: 26 hours Completed: yes Very ambitious and ahead-of-its-time for a SNES game. A simple narrative and battle system but crafting and skill points and party relationship mechanics; all very early examples of what would soon become staples of the genre. 22. Grandia – 1997, Game Arts. Composer: Noriyuki Iwadare Time played: 48 hours Completed: no Had this game at release but don’t think I ever got to disc 2. This time made it all the way to the point-of-no-return final dungeon gauntlet before taking a break to avoid burn-out. I don’t think I ever realised that this game was by the same developer as the Lunar series but it’s very obvious in hindsight. Colourful, energetic characters and a janky but engaging battle system, this game celebrates the spirit of adventure and it really does feel like one. Enjoyed revisiting this one after so many years. 21. Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits – 2003, Cattle Call. Composer: Koji Sakurai, Takayuki Hattori, Yuko Fukushima, Masahiro Andoh, Takashi Harada. Time played: 50 hours Completed: no I also played this game at release but had little to no recollection of it. With its tactical battle system and split protagonist narrative it feels this game was trying for something a little bit different and mostly succeeds with a charming devotion to its concept. Made it all the way to the final boss but died right at the end. Didn’t feel up for making a second attempt. I guess in the end the future refused to change… 20. Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster – 1988, 2023, Square/Square Enix. Composer: Nobuo Uematsu Time played: 19 hours Completed: platinum My first serious attempt at playing this game. Its quite incredible really how different the systems are in this game compared to the first Final Fantasy and only releasing a year later. I understand this original version has a bit of a reputation but the improvements in the Pixel Remaster version made enjoying what this game has to offer easy and accessible. 19. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel – 2013, Nihon Falcom. Composers: Hayato Sonoda, Takahiro Unisuga, Saki Momiyama, Tomokatsu Hagiuda, Yukihiro Jindo. Time played: 69 hours (nice) Completed: yes First time playing a Trails game but figured I’d give it a go since there are so many of them and they are increasingly becoming available on PS5, and if I liked it, there’d be plenty more to play. I did like it. A few quibbles here and there but very excusable ones. The thing that draws me most about this series is the continuous and persistent world between instalments and a focus on the political machinations of that world, a bit like one of my favourite RPG series of all time Suikoden. Shout-out to Machias Regnitz for winning the Gooniest Character of the Year Award. 18. I am Setsuna. – 2016, Tokyo RPG Factory. Composer: Tomoki Miyoshi Time played: 23 hours Completed: yes I really liked this game. I think most people didn’t. There are complaints about the battle system: an inferior rip-off of Chrono Trigger. There are complaints about the narrative: an inferior rip-off of Final Fantasy X. Accurate observations but none of that bothered me. I am Setsuna is firstly a vibes-based game, and deliberate design choices such as the singular and inescapable snowy biome and the subdued and sombre piano soundtrack are all in service of a quiet and meditative vibe which I don’t often come across in the games that I play. This was an experience that I very much appreciated. 17. Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster – 1990, 2023, Square/Square Enix. Composer: Nobuo Uematsu. Time played: 17 hours Completed: platinum My first attempt at playing Final Fantasy III was with the DS version, which I bought a DS specifically for. I liked it well enough and put it down when I died to a boss in the final dungeon and got booted all the way back to the beginning of that dungeon. Thanks game. FFIIIDS is notorious. FFIIIPR is glorious. As with the other two NES Pixel Remasters I feel that this is now the definitive version of the game. Lovingly touched up both graphically and mechanically to bring what could be considered a more true representation of what was intended in the first place, but with the added benefit of 30+ years of technological and design innovation. Video games as art and as museum pieces. 16. Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster – 1994, 2023, Square/Square Enix. Composer: Nobuo Uematsu. Time played: 43 hours Completed: platinum There was a time when I would have easily considered this game the GOAT. And its still great. I think in terms of impact on both gamers and game developers Final Fantasy VI should typically place much higher on most lists, ahead of many of the games to follow on this list. However, playing FFVI again in 2023 it becomes easier to see where this game is flawed. Perhaps the narrative and mechanics were stretched over too many characters and then squeezed too tightly to fit it all in a SNES cartridge. The release of the Pixel Remaster gives the game a fresh coat of paint and a way to install it on my PS5’s hard drive but this is a game I feel could really benefit from a full remake. Arguably Nobuo Uematsu’s best work. 15. Legend of Mana – 1999, 2021, Square/Square Enix. Composer: Yoko Shimomura. Time played: 22 hours (at time of writing) Completed: not yet The last RPG from Japan I will be playing this year and am currently still playing it at time of writing this list. Another game on the seemingly impossibly long list of late 90s RPGs that I owned yet never played very much of. The non-linearity of this game would have been what killed it for me back then, but is something today I find easy to appreciate. A game that presents its narrative vibes first and text second will always find a place in my heart. While it doesn’t replicate the grand adventure-journey of Secret of Mana, this is very much a Mana game. Clunky combat, colourful characters and locations and whimsy pouring out over everywhere. The remaster is a great way to play this game. 14. The Legend of Dragoon – 1999, Japan Studio. Composers: Denis Martin, Takeo Miratsu. Time played: 67 hours Completed: platinum The Final Fantasy VII we have at home. The most accurate description this game will ever have. Weird, quirky and full of questionable design decisions, the game continually tickled me throughout my playthrough of it with just how much of an oddball it is. The soundtrack, narrative, graphics, combat system all leave many things to be desired but combined into the whole that is The Legend of Dragoon you get something truly wonderful. Japan Studio have always been able to inject a little bit of indescribable magic into every title they’ve made and this game is no different. The main theme If You Still Believe playing over the ending credits had me simultaneously laughing and crying. 13. Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster – 1991, 2023, Square/Square Enix. Composer: Nobuo Uematsu. Time played: 25 hours Completed: platinum This is my OG. My ultimate nostalgia. I had to go over to friend’s houses to play SMB3, or Punch Out, or Paperboy, but the SNES was the first console we had at home. I was delighted and I wanted to play everything. My dad would take me to the local video rental shop (Called “A to Z Video” which he loved to call “A to B Video”, a joke on its poor selection of titles) and every week I’d pick a new game to play. I started at the beginning alphabetically: ActRaiser. The next week would select the next game along, whatever it was even if it was Bubsy. This stopped however when I got to “F”. After taking home Final Fantasy II, I never wanted to rent another game. Final Fantasy IV as we all know it as today was the first RPG from Japan I ever played and ignited my love for the genre. Here was a game with interesting characters, and an exciting story, and my god the music. I had never heard such an incredibly varied and vivid score to anything before so full of depth and emotion. I knew at that instant that this is what I wanted to play and that I needed to find more of it. Final Fantasy IV will always have a special place in my heart and playing through it again this year with the Pixel Remaster was pure joy. 12. Wild Arms 2 – 1999, Media.Vision, Contrail. Composer: Michiko Naruke Time played: 52 hours Completed: platinum I wrote about the first Wild Arms game last year where I placed it at number 9. Its sequel comes in just outside of the top 10 this year, though perhaps not due to being an inferior game. Yet another game I owned an original copy of but had little to say about until this year (this was clearly a difficult time for me and console RPGs. 2000 saw the release of Diablo 2 and then not long after I discovered EverQuest which kept me preoccupied for several years). Wild Arms 2 expands upon the successful formula of the first game but with a bit more of everything. The combat system is expanded with a full roster of 6 characters which injects much improved agency into the combat system. Wild Arms 2 does one of the things I appreciate the most in an RPG which is to have characters whose roles in battle are clearly defined, and switching out characters for others is encouraged as the situation demands. I’m one of those RPG players who likes to use every character at their disposal so I appreciate when a game makes this mechanically relevant. Contrast this to games like FFVII where the characters are just vehicles for their materia set ups and are largely interchangeable. All in all, Wild Arms 2 is an excellent sequel to an already excellent game and a perfect excuse to listen to more of Michiko Naruke’s amazing compositions. 11. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana – 2016, Nihon Falcom. Composers: Hayato Sonoda, Takahiro Unisuga, Yukihiro Jindo, Mitsuo Singa. Time played: 60 hours Completed: yes One of the year’s biggest surprises for me. The other of Falcom’s big franchises that I had previously no experience with, Ys VIII is proof that I’d been missing out. This game hits you with a broadside of bombastic synthy pop music and hardly ever lets up. Add in a breezy action combat system and luxurious environments and you’ve got yourself the perfect summer getaway adventure! This game really does lean into its premise of Anime Gilligan’s Island and as a result feels fresh and unique compared to typical RPG offerings. The cast of characters and mystery-adventure narrative are well thought out and presented but again, it’s the pacey combat and driving soundtrack that puts you in the mood for adventure and discovery and this game has tons of things just waiting to be explored. 10. Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising – 2022, Rabbit & Bear Studios/Natsume Atari. Composer: Hiroyuki Iwatsuki ♫https://youtu.be/mwkyAESuCyQ?si=E_utk4aHbvxAC1x- ♫ Time played: 16 hours Completed: yes  I have been eagerly following the development of Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes since I first came to hear of it but when this little title came out, I didn’t give it much thought. I’m not sure what I expected from it but it didn’t seem worth the £15 or whatever to find out. However, when the game went up on PS+ last month well, that’s a completely different value proposition entirely! Suikoden is one of my all-time favourite RPG series and its absence has been sorely missed. I have been cautiously optimistic about Eiyuden Chronicle filling that gap. It’s got all the right people working on it and the project appears to be well-backed and funded, but you know how these things can go. Playing Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising has not only allayed my fears but removed the caution from my optimism and turned it into full blown hype! Let’s get the nitty gritty out of the way, speaking strictly about the gameyness of Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising admittedly there isn’t much there. Gameplay is action 2d platformer metroidvania style and combat flows pretty nicely if mechanically on the simple side. Most sidequests involve delving into one of the 4 dungeons to collect materials or defeat a specific monster. Graphically the HD-2D backgrounds are gorgeous but character animations are stiff. I’m not gonna beat around the bush here: this is essentially mobile game level. But, it’s a good mobile game and besides, the gameplay and graphics are not what puts it at number 10 on this list. What got me excited about Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising was the writing and the design and what it means for the main game when it releases next year. It’s all there, folks. Suikoden is back! Within Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is contained all the things that made the original Suikoden games great. The characters, the town building, rune(lenses??!?), weapon upgrading, unite (combo) attacks???? A bit cheeky to be honest. There’s more Suikoden in here than feels legal and proper for a legally-distinct Suikoden game. The character writing is on point. The story in Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is a simple affair but the moment-to-moment character interactions are charming and genuinely funny. CJ, Garoo, and Isha are enjoyable folk to be around and I’m looking forward to spending much more time with them and other friends when Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes releases in April and if Rising is anything to go by, it’s gonna be a banger! 9. Persona 4 Golden – 2008, 2012, Atlus. Composer: Shoji Meguro ♫https://youtu.be/Q7enj9U_lGk?si=7cFouv16loZQZ0Ox ♫ Time played: 64 hours Completed: yes  Persona and SMT are a giant among RPG franchises however my exposure to them is minimal. My only previous experience with the series was playing through Persona 5 while on furlough from work for 6 weeks in February 2021. I enjoyed it, but not quite enough for it to make my top 10 list that year. Fast forward two years and suddenly Persona 4 Golden has a PS5 port and it’s the so-called Year of the RPG from Japan. Seems about right to me. I’ll start this one off by saying I enjoyed this game more than Persona 5. Everything from Persona 5 is already here in Persona 4 albeit a bit less so. The style had not quite ramped up to the levels hovering around 11 in P5, but its there. The structure of the gameplay is the same, although the dungeons feel a bit bare. The soundtrack though is definitely swinging, and for my money is the biggest draw of the entire Persona franchise as we now no it. This is a game that you can’t help enjoy playing cuz it’s just got that groove. That jam. That swagger. But what about it puts it above its bigger brother? For my money, it’s the characters. Persona is nothing without its characters and while I feel the side characters were somewhat less developed than their P5 counterparts, the main playable cast were far and away more interesting and intriguing than the Phantom Thieves. The main cast of P4G felt to me more grounded and actualised. They felt like normal teenagers struggling with normal teenage things. Perhaps the setting had a lot to do as well, as someone who grew up in a somewhat Nowhereville rural town myself, I felt I could relate. Even some of the more problematic characters like Yosuke I felt were well-realised. Obviously, you can debate the authorial intent behind Yosuke, but playing Persona 4 Golden in 2023 as a late 30 something and reflecting back on my own high school years, I can say I already knew Yosuke very well for better or for worse, the insecure, egotistical, homophobic person that he is. I’ve sure as hell met plenty of people exactly like that in real life, growing up and still to this day. But what really puts Persona 4 Golden on this list is its music. It’s a game you switch on so you can switch off, just like you would with a favourite album or playlist. 8. Final Fantasy XVI – 2023, Square Enix Creative Business Unit III. Composer: Masayoshi Soken ♫https://youtu.be/CeqyEzK87z4?si=mEQ-KcVn3td5qQ8x ♫ Time played: 90 hours Completed: yes  The release of a brand new mainline Final Fantasy title is a cause for celebration. Ever since I could afford to buy games for myself I always bought them on release day. Reception of these games is always mixed as the series continually changes and innovates sometimes successfully, sometime less so. Players’ perceptions of the series has varied greatly as well as more and more titles are released its more and more likely that this or that title might have been one’s first entry. And its quite a common saying that your first Final Fantasy will often be your favourite. At any rate, that change and innovation is as much a part of Final Fantasy’s identity as its moogles and chocobos and in my mind is very much worth celebrating. Final Fantasy XVI changes things up yet again, this time completely stripping away traditional RPG trappings leaving only a vestigial nub. The combat system designed by Capcom veteran Ryota Suzuki is fast, frenetic, and fluid, both visually stunning and responsive to control. The sheer spectacle of the set pieces is like none other. Playing Final Fantasy XVI, you immediately get the impression that the team knew exactly what kind of game they wanted to create and for the first time in a long time for a mainline single player Final Fantasy it looks like they managed it. Of course, the game is polarising to some fans. I myself have a few quibbles with it and a few design choices which I find questionable but overall, this was an excellent game and competently made. As another entry into the storied Final Fantasy pantheon becomes etched into our collective consciousness, I can’t help but think how firmly Final Fantasy XVI deserves its place in it. This is a game that represents a new era of Final Fantasy single player titles, born out of the hard work and lessons learned with Final Fantasies XIV and XV to turn the franchise around and give it much needed direction, and I can’t wait to see where it goes next. 7. Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line – 2023, indeszero. Composers: all ♫https://youtu.be/5ZCg-eR8xOs?si=MFzupvDvio6dFEtR ♫ Time played: 38 hours Completed: yes  Never played a Theatrhythm game before since I never had a 3DS, but I’ve always been Theatrhythm-curious so to speak. As I might have alluded to earlier in this post how the main driver in playing RPGs and the way that I most strongly connect emotionally with them has been through the music, as well as being a casual fan of casual rhythm games in the past, the concept of Theatrhythm almost feels tailor-made just for me. As it turns out its tailor-made for just about anyone. This is such a great game to just pick up and play and there are a ridiculous number of tracks and several different modes and difficulty levels that it would be nearly impossible to exhaust all the content available. Being so easy to play and boasting an excellent co-op mode meant that Theatrhythm Final Bar Line became the Fridge and Fridgelina game of choice. Previously only vaguely aware of the Final Fantasy franchise, we had Fridgelina humming the chocobo theme absent-mindedly to herself in a matter of hours. Furthmore, the game releasing a few months before the pixel remasters hit consoles meant I had her primed and ready to listen out for all her favourite tracks while I played through those. There is another more sombre reason for Theatrhythm Final Bar Line leaving a lasting impression on us this year as it gave us our beloved cat Penelope her final nickname. Fridgelina had long associated the moogles in the Final Fantasy franchise with the feline members of our family, particularly Penelope, and whenever you fail a quest in the game the moogle companion announces this with a “wubblewubblewubble” sound and so we took to calling Penelope “Wubbles” (along with her other nicknames Neen, Sneen, Nene, Panini, etc.). Sadly, Wubbles succumbed to her kidney disease in September of this year after putting up a brave fight for a long time. Rest in peace sweet moogle.  Penelope “Wubbles” Corn (2015-2023), pictured with her favourite scratching post, the Moogle Post. 6. Live A Live – 1994, 2022, Square/Square Enix. Composer: Yoko Shimomura ♫https://youtu.be/c5cv9nHlw1k?si=3G8GJE2g1XZkXOpS ♫ Time played: 30 hours Completed: yes  Its very easy to appreciate this game. It’s experimental style in both narrative structure and gameplay harkens back to era of game design that at times feels long behind us. We live in a time of yearly CoD releases, seemingly endless streams of rogue-likes, souls-likes, metroidvania-likes, the next open-world PvPvE extraction battle royale builder shooter… remasters and remakes…. Of course, being a remake itself is not lost on me, but considering that for many of us this is our first experience with this game, I think it can be excused for that (besides, I quite like remasters and remakes). Live A Live presents us with a variety of scenarios to play, transporting the player through time and space from prehistory to the distant future. Each scenario has an individual narrative and individual mechanics, which some scenarios hardly featuring any traditional battles at all, others without even any text in its narrative. The short vignettes deftly present their themes plainly, but do not go into much detail before closing the curtain, leaving us with much to ponder about before swiftly moving on to something entirely different. This is a game that is not afraid to leave the player wondering and wanting more, and for that I commend it. Too many facets of our media and entertainment are quick to lose faith in itself and its audience, too eager to explain its jokes and meanings. Live A Live presents itself simply and as-is, allowing our minds to breathe and make our own connections to the experience. Also featuring is a surprisingly robust tactical battle system. If I were to have one complaint about this game is that its battle system is under-utilised and only starts to come alive toward the very end of the game. I was often thinking to myself while playing that I would love to see a more traditional RPG with this battle system as I feel it leaves a lot of untapped potential on the table. Finally, what ties this entire package together like a great big golden bow is Yoko Shimomura’s fantastically sublime soundtrack. If Live A Live presents us with the option of travelling across time and space then Shimomura’s compositions are the vehicle that takes us there. 5. Star Ocean: The Second Story R – 1998, 2023, tri-Ace/Gemdrops. Composer: Matoi Sakuraba ♫https://youtu.be/0yGHTeckax4?si=3OMfaBW7fhSLBbgB ♫ Time played: 45 hours Completed: yes  This came completely out of nowhere. Was anyone aware this was even in development prior to being announced in the “oh by the way, this is out in 2 months here play this demo” manner in which it was? As a quick aside, I am absolutely loving this return of the demo to Square Enix’s marketing and publishing repertoire and honestly it just feels right with this retro-resurgence and proliferation of HD-2D titles we are currently seeing. Remember when you would buy a game just for the demo disc is came with (looking at you Brave Fencer Musashi..)? Also, where’s our Brave Fencer Musashi remake..?? It may sound like I’m going off on a tangent when I should be talking about the game Star Ocean: The Second Story R, but I’m not, honestly. I don’t actually have a whole lot to say about the game Star Ocean: The Second Story. It’s kind of a by the numbers RPG; expanding on the systems and narrative from the first game, it’s a perfectly cromulent title. I owned a copy for PS1 but don’t remember getting very far with it (where have I heard that before…?). It’s the R bit in the title that I want to talk about and it’s the difference between this game placing at 5 on my list and say Grandia wallowing down at 22. This game is an absolute joy to play. It looks fantastic, it sounds fantastic, it feels fantastic. The QoL improvements let you effortlessly glide through the game seeing all it has to offer without the typical friction you’d find in a PS1-era RPG. Someone upthread I think said of developers Gemdrops that they “understood the assignment perfectly” and I couldn’t agree more. Star Ocean: The Second Story R sets the bar for HD-2D remakes. Which makes me wonder why they went through the trouble of remaking this game in particular, as it’s always been a more niche cult hit and the rest of the Star Ocean franchise famously waffles in quality. But, I’m glad they did. I’m not of sales numbers but the quality of this title is plain to be. Gemdrops knocked it out the park and they showed that they clearly know what they’re doing. Perhaps this was a test run to spin up the studio and give them experience working on such a project, sort of like Bluepoint building their chops on the Shadow of the Colossus and Demon’s Souls remakes. I desperately want to know what Gemdrops are working on next. What games would you like to see given the Gemdrops treatment? Also, quick shout-out to Celine for inspiring Fridgelina to coin the phrase pixel bitch. 4. Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster – 1992, 2023, Square/Square Enix. Composer: Nobuo Uematsu ♫https://youtu.be/zJ5iAANU0fg?si=m2rs-nGRbdd8I8ez ♫ Time played: 38 hours Completed: platinum  This is it. It’s the best one. We all know that though, right? Final Fantasy V is a desert island game. Mechanically it is so robust that you can come back and play through it time and time again and it just never gets old. Hell, there’s an entire following of people who play it every year, for charity! I myself have partaken in the Fiesta many a time. And now that I’ve got a big fat glorious way to play Final Fantasy V on a big rear end telly, I will again. Having a definitive version of this game to play on modern consoles is something that had been sorely lacking for a long time. I say Final Fantasy V is the best one, but of course that is completely subjective and may or may not be true. We’ve all heard all the arguments about why any of the Final Fantasies are the best one. However, I’d like to posit that if not the best, then Final Fantasy V is the most important Final Fantasy game. I will certainly listen to arguments that no, the first game, or FF7 is the most important game, think of how it saved the company from bankruptcy, or the sales that catapulted the brand to the global phenomenon that we all know today. Sure, but those are reasons that are important to Square Enix the company, what I’m talking about it how Final Fantasy V is the most important Final Fantasy to the franchise aesthetically, spiritually. Final Fantasies are often grouped in eras, usually along console division lines, although another line of thought groups the first five games together before starting off with other eras beginning with VI. There is merit to this observation and it puts Final Fantasy V at a very crucial position in the timeline. The first five games are all very similar aesthetically and in design ethos, though the proceeding sequels all have their obvious differences, Final Fantasy V is a culmination of all of them. It is a perfection of everything that has come before it. A display of mastery over their systems. It has the alternate levelling of II with job points. It has the job system of III. It has the sweeping narrative focus of IV. Final Fantasy V is a literal marvel of game design and the fact that it remains so fresh and playable today is testament to that. After completing this magnum opus the game designers at Square knew they had to seek out even more fantastical ways to evolve the franchise and pushed them to explore and create the rest of the games we know and love today. Also, Final Fantasy V is the first appearance of moogles, and Gilgamesh, and blue mages and where the gently caress would Final Fantasy be without any of that, huh?? But none of that really matters, especially not to why I placed Final Fantasy V at number 4 on my list. Its just a really drat good game. 3. SaGa: Scarlet Grace - Ambitions – 2016, 2018, Square Enix/Studio Reel. Composer: Kenji Ito ♫https://youtu.be/yK_Smhk7Xx4?si=2kNnc64NINRYRv5B ♫ Time played: 55 hours Completed: yes  Here we are at the top three. I may have mentioned previously (and if not, I’m mentioning it now) that the most significant way I connect to a game is through it’s vibe, and that RPGs (especially those that come from Japan) can be particularly vibe heavy games, possibly more than any other type of game outside of the indie sphere. The three games at the top of my list all have supreme vibes, but interestingly enough communicate them in different ways. Of course, all three of these games use all facets of game design to great effect – art direction, narrative, music etc but each leans more heavily on one aspect than the other. I will now attempt to describe what the gently caress I’m talking about. SaGa: Scarlet Grace has a very striking visual design. At first, I found it a bit off-putting, especially the character design and I hesitated to pull the trigger on playing this title based on what I had seen in previews. But, having been a bit disappointed in Minstrel Song, and craving more SaGa in my life I decided to go for it in the end anyway. SaGa: Scarlet Grace is a significantly pared down title compared to a lot of other games, probably due to it originally being a Vita exclusive. Narrative sections are in the form of skits on static backgrounds with stiffly animated characters. The world map has a lovingly hand-drawn 2D watercolour aesthetic where points of interest – towns, dungeons, etc., pop up and out of the background as you approach them, like pieces placed in a board game or children’s story book. And that is exactly what sets the tone and vibe of the entire game. Playing SaGa: Scarlet Grace is like playing a board game, whimsical and irreverent, a bit of light-hearted fun. My playthrough of the game took me through Urpina’s story, and while the fate of the world did indeed hang upon the success of the protagonists, the main quest never imposed itself too heavily. More concerned we were with poking our noses under rocks and finding new events to trigger occurring almost random-like as if the result of a die roll or a card drawn off the top of a deck. The traditionally non-linear nature of the SaGa series lends itself perfectly to this sort of board game aesthetic – a perfect pairing that compliments both gaming traditions. However, no discussion of any SaGa game would be complete without mentioning it’s mechanics and battle system. Scarlet Grace retains the series’ famous stat growth and glimmering systems as well as introducing a delightfully tactical focus to its turn-based battles. Each turn in a battle of Scarlet Grace presents the player with a little puzzle to solve. Turn order and enemy attacks are all displayed in advance giving the player all the information they need to try and use their resources to the fullest. Turn order can be manipulated and setting up the right combinations or defeating certain enemies can result in powerful unite attacks. It is a deeply engaging and rewarding battle system that never becomes dull or rote. That battle system combined with Scarlet Grace’s striking and unique visual design make this game simply one of the best I’ve played in a long time. 2. Valkyrie Profile – 1999, tri-Ace. Composer: Matoi Sakuraba ♫https://youtu.be/cnDDTg_xqhs?si=H3TLLIdV8owzOQVT ♫ Time played: 40 hours Completed: yes  There isn’t anything quite like Valkyrie Profile, at least not that I’ve come across. It combines a rich narrative with a peculiar cross section of game mechanics that include a tactical battle system, 2d platforming, and menu futzing with character skill points and item crafting. Fans of the Star Ocean games will recognise tri-Ace’s predilection for a deep yet somewhat clumsily organised skill and crafting system making an appearance here. The battle system is fast paced and feels great in the hands with beautifully animated spritework, coming complete with battle barks that are a pure distillation of the 90’s VA scene, while the appreciation of which is entirely subjective it lends itself to the game perfectly. The 2d platforming is not the best, but something that adds a quintessentially “gamey” gamefeel. Sakuraba’s soundtrack here is the peak of this era of his career and the driving synths and beats would feel just at home pumping out into the arcades as it is into your living room. What I’m trying to say is that Valkyrie Profile is unapologetically a video game. It is not meant to be a subversive deconstruction of what a video game is or can be. It is just a video game meant to be played and enjoyed. And yet… It is absolutely oozing with vibes, and the way it chiefly communicates its vibe is through its narrative, though not through the text alone, but with its structure and presentation. Valkyrie Profile does not have a straightforward narrative. Yes, the plot is simple: you are Lenneth, a Valkyrie tasked with sending einherjar to Asgard to fight for the Æsir during Ragnarok. But that is not what Valkyrie Profile is about. For each einherjar you recruit to the cause you bear witness to the final moments of their mortal lives, emotionally charged scenes of regret, desire, longing, bitterness, and death. This sets the tone of the entire game. As Lenneth comes to witnesses these scenes time and time again her business-like detachment from the anguish of the recently deceased begins to falter and a meta-narrative begins to form. Valkyrie Profile is about searching for meaning in a world which has none. Rich with allusion and symbolism Valkyrie Profile is perhaps the most Literary video game I’ve ever played. It is a discussion of themes and concepts in a broad frame work that presents questions and challenges to the viewer. When trying to draw comparisons to Valkyrie Profile’s narrative what comes to mind are things like George Saunder’s Lincoln in the Bardo – in other words, literature, not other video games. And yet again… This is a video game! Some players may not even come across some of the game’s most pivotal scenes, especially not on a first playthrough or without using a guide. The true and complete nature of Valkyrie Profile only reveals itself after spending a significant amount of time with it and steeping yourself in its systems and mechanics. This is a game that wants you to play it like a video game. It doesn’t care about making sure you witness all the content it has to offer, this isn’t a curated guided tour of set pieces and plot points. It’s not a video game attempting to use the medium to ape the experience of other art forms like some games’ attempts at emulating film or prestige TV. It’s not even attempting to emulate literature despite how literary it is, it just the closest approximation I have to describe what its doing. Valkyrie Profile is the most artfully constructed video game I have ever played. A true representation of video games as art that will forever rank as one of the greatest of all time. 1. Octopath Traveler II – 2023, Square Enix/Acquire. Composer: Yasunori Nishiki ♫https://youtu.be/cuVV-_-HKzM?si=EpcIX5NDZhCZk5bA ♫ Time played: 120 hours Completed: platinum  And here we are. Presenting the fridge corn Year of RPGs from Japan number 1 RPG from Japan: Octopath Traveler II. This is a game that has it all – a complete package. Everything this game had to offer was on point. The visuals, the gameplay, the narrative, the music (especially the music) was spot on. 10 out of 10s across the board. The thing that struck me the most while playing Octopath Traveler II (having never played the first one, mind) was how much it felt like playing a Final Fantasy game, and by that I mean the sheer level of care and quality that went into the game’s design. Final Fantasy 6 blew me away with its presentation in 1994. Octopath Traveler II did the same in 2023. Octopath Traveler II is obviously an homage to the 16-bit era games, which is what the whole design philosophy behind HD-2D is all about, of course. But it nails that homage so well that you could almost mistake it for the real thing. An alternate timeline where Square waited a bit before committing the series fully to 3D graphics. Final Fantasy 6.5 as it were. Can you imagine what it would have been like playing Final Fantasy 6 with excellently directed voicework? Play Octopath Traveler II and you’ll get at least an idea. I love the voicework in this game. I started off playing it in Japanese but I switched to English early on just for a quick listen but I never switched back. The VAs do a tremendous job bringing these characters to life. Can you imagine Partitio without his infectious twang? Agnea without her unabashed drawl? Temenos without the sassiness of his dry wit? How about Castti without hearing her soothing and practised bedside manner slip into something a little more comfortable (THESE HANDS  )? The combat barks are also second to none and quite intricate. Characters will compliment each other by name when someone lands a breaking blow. There are unique spell incantations for every character in every class. Such a little touch but adds so much to the characters and combat.Speaking of combat, Octopath Traveler II boasts one of the punchiest turn-based battle systems I’ve had the chance to play. On PS5, the game makes good use of the DualSense haptics to give a real tactile feel to what is essentially just scrolling through menus – a subtle but welcome addition. Turn order manipulation is a thing here, as well as the weakness-based break system, giving combat a tactical bent. With a plethora of skills, spells, classes, and weapon loadouts, there is a lot of playing around that can be done, although the class system is perhaps not as in-depth at FF5’s is. All in all the combat is a lot of fun, and with the freeform manner of the scenario selection the difficulty can be pretty much adjusted to taste. The massive boss sprites are pure delight. But what I really want to talk about and what really stood out to me almost immediately as I booted up the game; the thing that communicates the vibe of Octopath Traveler II most vibrantly: the soundtrack. Yasunori Nishiki’s chops are on full display here and his score for this game is a perfect showcase for why he just may be the biggest up and coming talent in the industry at the moment. Nishiki’s soundtrack borrows from a wide variety of styles and influences to give character to not only each of the main cast with their own leitmotifs but also each and every location that the party visit – bustling cities, snow-capped peaks, dusty backwaters are all bursting with aural character. Some of the influences are typical of video game sountracks – celtic, country, jazz, etc., others are a bit more on the nose such as Temenos’ continually modulating detective noir theme, or Osvald’s theme which I swear is more than just a wink and a nod to Ramin Djawadi. But while any distinctive style from Nishiki is hard to pin down, his mastery of composition, orchestration, and instrumentation is clearly and immediately evident. I mean who on this godforsaken earth couldn’t listen to this all goddamn day? I expect to hear a lot more great work from Yasunori Nishiki in the future. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if he ends up scoring a mainline Final Fantasy title one day. Easily the best soundtrack all year and by default that makes Octopath Traveler II the best game I played all year. Thanks for reading. Here’s an easy list for Veeg (and you scroll-wheelers): 10. Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising 9. Persona 4 Golden 8. Final Fantasy XVI 7. Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line 6. Live A Live 5. Star Ocean: The Second Story R 4. Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster 3. SaGa: Scarlet Grace 2. Valkyrie Profile 1. Octopath Traveler II
|
|
#
¿
Dec 22, 2023 23:46
|
|
|
ToxicFrog posted:Someone just gifted this to me yesterday, and I'm only like an hour into it so far but I'm having a blast. I didn't back Hundred Heroes but I've definitely been keeping an eye on it. Yeah Suikoden was always a high concept series with a rather perfunctory execution especially the first one, but starting with the second game and again with the third, being real sequels despite not being directly related they still reference the events of the previous games in meaningful ways and build upon and expand the persistent world they all take place in. After the third one though Murayama left and the series took a bad turn and neither 4 nor 5 really managed to capture what made the first three games so good. I didn't back Hundred Heroes either but I have preordered it based on what I saw in Rising
|
|
#
¿
Dec 23, 2023 18:37
|
|
|
BeanpolePeckerwood posted:God, what a showdown. It shall be engraved upon your soul! The hardest thing was deciding where to place those two 
|
|
#
¿
Dec 24, 2023 07:54
|
|
|
buddychrist10 posted:Honestly next year might be even BETTER for JRPGs. FF7 Remake Part 2, Eiyuden Chronicles, Saga Emerald Beyond, Unicorn Overlord, Vision of Mana, the Suikoden 1+2 remaster, the Paper Mario Thousand Year Door Remake, Yakuza 8 and Metaphor Refantazio......I'm sure there will be some more that haven't even been announced yet! Yeah seriously. I think my astrological calculations were a bit off
|
|
#
¿
Dec 24, 2023 14:04
|
|
|
BeanpolePeckerwood posted:I mean, you chose wrong and I forgive you...but that's two hella great games in an epic face off and I really think your wonderful write-ups did them justice. Congrats on the year-long project, goon, you are legend. Thanks man. In all honesty I do think Valkyrie Profile is hands down the better game and but I'm a coward who had a stupid amount of fun with Octo2 and wanted to rep it hard. VP is an experience that will stay with me for much longer tho What a wild year its been
|
|
#
¿
Dec 24, 2023 19:33
|
|
|
Some prominent posters have yet to post lists... 
|
|
#
¿
Dec 28, 2023 15:07
|
|
|
BeanpolePeckerwood posted:i'm freakin out here Got a job for you 621
|
|
#
¿
Dec 28, 2023 15:32
|
|
|
Regy Rusty posted:Patience fridge. Mine will be up on Saturday. Alas,
|
|
#
¿
Dec 28, 2023 20:32
|
|
|
VideoGames posted:
Oh hell yeah
|
|
#
¿
Dec 28, 2023 21:53
|
|
|
BeanpolePeckerwood posted:That's way too much Nintendo music. The 90s edgelord in me is getting upset! Well veeg did play mostly Nintendo games this year. I did inform him that 2024 will be the Year of the RPG from Japan so I expect him to act accordingly
|
|
#
¿
Dec 28, 2023 22:52
|
|
|
Fucken hell BP I'm literally crying. What a post
|
|
#
¿
Dec 29, 2023 08:36
|
|
|
Aipsh posted:I don’t know if I’m gonna finish the last game before I make my list. Don’t know if I can legally put it in such a high spot if I haven’t finished it You don't even have to have played a game at all to rate it as highly as number 1, apparently, so just go nuts. No rules no masters only chaos this year 
|
|
#
¿
Dec 29, 2023 11:07
|
|
|
BeanpolePeckerwood posted:
Also I love how this photo is like a microcosm of BP lore. I don't recognise all of it but I recognise some of it. And I see you there VP jewel case.. 
|
|
#
¿
Dec 29, 2023 14:17
|
|
|
BeanpolePeckerwood posted:Awesome. Top 5 is all RPGs, Fridge would be proud. My baby's all growed up 🥲 Chrono Trigger at #3???  
|
|
#
¿
Dec 30, 2023 09:11
|
|
|
You wrote some lovely things about some lovely games! This was a joy to read 
|
|
#
¿
Dec 30, 2023 09:16
|
|
|
Unfortunately former forums poster Microcline has met with a freak Rarity-induced accident I'm sorry to report
|
|
#
¿
Dec 30, 2023 20:40
|
|
|
Rarity posted:HER EYES ON DEEZ NUTS 
|
|
#
¿
Dec 30, 2023 22:33
|
|
|
Regy Rusty posted:And they're making him start off next year with Gollum I am partly responsible for this and hell, I'm glad
|
|
#
¿
Dec 30, 2023 22:34
|
|
|
Kerrzhe posted:there are lots of games that are much better than elden ring It's not even the best fromsoft game
|
|
#
¿
Dec 31, 2023 10:10
|
|
|
Kerrzhe posted:correct, that's Armored Core 6 I'm playing it now kerrzhe!!! It's so good my word
|
|
#
¿
Dec 31, 2023 10:14
|
|
|
Party Boat posted:I'm 20 hours into elden ring and while it's very very good and will almost certainly be on my 2024 list, if I had to make room for it on this year's list based on what I've played so far it would bump DS3 to 3rd place with Sekiro remaining as champion 
|
|
#
¿
Dec 31, 2023 11:52
|
|
|
Well done everyone
|
|
#
¿
Jan 1, 2024 10:36
|
|
|
Snooze Cruise posted:same but also Why are both these games releasing within 2 days of each other 
|
|
#
¿
Jan 3, 2024 09:23
|
|
|
The REAL Goobusters posted:just gotta say, I'm reading the thread and I absolutely love this post. Thanks! I had a lot of fun writing it, and a lot of fun playing games last year
|
|
#
¿
Jan 3, 2024 09:24
|
|
|
Terper posted:Top 3 Reasons to be Excited for Eiyuden Chronicle Hell yes friend can't wait to hear your lalala sounds
|
|
#
¿
Jan 4, 2024 21:42
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 10, 2024 22:50 |
|
|
VideoGames posted:Loving all these extra posts
|
|
#
¿
Jan 5, 2024 17:15
|
|