must have ps2 rpg's

I loved Xenosaga....but others will say avoid due to the lengthy cut scenes (they total close to 8 hours over the course of the 40-50 hour game). Great story as well as some solid visuals and very good music. Also, if you dig a strategy tilt in your RPG''s try Disgaea and LaPucelle. FFX is great too, as Punq has already mentioned, and games like Wild Arms 3 and Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter are solid and can be found under $20 as well.
 
dark cloud 2 was great...if you like action/rpgs! sort of off topic tho, i was really disappointed with suikoden 3, i just couldnt get into it
 
On the subject of action/rpg, I think Kingdom hearts. I know the storyline is childish and lame, but I couldn't put it down due to the fact of the FF characters and neat gameplay.
 
[quote name='punqsux']final fantasy x
arc the lad: tots

imo:
wizardry
unlimited saga[/quote]

isnt arc, really cheap somewhere right now?
 
[quote name='paz9x'][quote name='punqsux']final fantasy x
arc the lad: tots

imo:
wizardry
unlimited saga[/quote]

isnt arc, really cheap somewhere right now?[/quote]

yep 10$ at ebgames.com. I'm debating buying it, I have so many games to play though and Arc really doesn't like it's going to blow me away, it just looks like an average RPG, although I've never played it, just the impression I get from reviews.
 
Suikoden III, Shadow Hearts, Kingdom Hearts. FFX and FFX-2 are overrated, understand that much. That doesn't mean they're bad games, many enjoyed them. They possess high production values, terrible voice acting, and a multitude of clichés and unnecessary plot devices. The Final Fantasy series simply doesn't deserve the amount of success it enjoys today. There are better games that fail to sell nearly as well as the contrived games Square releases on a regular basis, Final Fantasy or otherwise. Kingdom Hearts is a rare exception; it has managed to renew my interest to an extent in the company I had written off as a commercial device.
 
[quote name='Firebrand']Suikoden III, Shadow Hearts, Kingdom Hearts. FFX and FFX-2 are overrated, understand that much. That doesn't mean they're bad games, many enjoyed them. They possess high production values, terrible voice acting, and a multitude of clichés and unnecessary plot devices. The Final Fantasy series simply doesn't deserve the amount of success it enjoys today. There are better games that fail to sell nearly as well as the contrived games Square releases on a regular basis, Final Fantasy or otherwise. Kingdom Hearts is a rare exception; it has managed to renew my interest to an extent in the company I had written off as a commercial device.[/quote]

halo EXCUSE you~? FF has terrible voice acting!?!?! you are probably talking about FFX, and if you are talking about the north american english dubbed, I will agree with you. But it is obviously not terrible but EXCELLENT if it is the original japanese FFX. you gotta make this clear as there are almost NONE bad voice acting for japanese games or anime's. don't make it sounds like that the original sucks too, it is very unfair and ridiculous and for the ones who play original japanese FF, no one will agree with you for sure
 
I've played a couple of RPGs for the PS2 and here's my opinion of them

FFX - 1st time I played it, couldn't get through 2 hours. 2nd time I played it, I forced myself to sit down for 5 hours before I lost interest. I'm gonna try playing it again soon since many say that it gets better after 8-10 hours. The thing that made me lose intereste was that the first few hours had too many cutscenes.

Kingdom Hearts - Played it for 6 hours. I like action RPGs, but the magic system was not as intuitive as other RPGs to work with (for me). Camera angles weren't that good. Might start this up again sometime soon.

Shadow Hearts - I liked this one a lot. Original storyline, set in pre-world war Asia and Europe. Though graphics aren't spectacular (I thought they were just fine, a lot of people disagree though), they did the job. I'm looking forward to SH II.

Baldur's Gate I, II and Champions of Norrath - Action RPGs set in the D&D and everquest world. I like the camera and of course, the battle system. Champions had a lot of bugs though.


Other PS2 RPGs I have:

Legaia 2 - Haven't played yet, but my friend raved about the combo system.

Wild Arms 3 - I have no idea how good this is, I bought it ($5) because I liked cel-shaded graphics and I will try it one of these days.

Disgaea, La Pucelle Tactics - Very good and deep strategy games. Quirky and memorable characters. I just didn't have the time to play either too much yet.


Conclusion - Shadow Hearts, Disgaea, La Pucelle are good games that will keep you in front of your PS2 for a while. I didn't like FFX and Kingdom Hearts that much, but that's just based on 4-5 hours of gameplay. I'll give them anotehr go soon enough.
 
[quote name='nachzeher']I've played a couple of RPGs for the PS2 and here's my opinion of them

FFX - 1st time I played it, couldn't get through 2 hours. 2nd time I played it, I forced myself to sit down for 5 hours before I lost interest. I'm gonna try playing it again soon since many say that it gets better after 8-10 hours. The thing that made me lose intereste was that the first few hours had too many cutscenes.[/quote]

It doesn't get much better, I forced myself through 10 hours when I first got it and put it down. I recently picked it up and I'm at 20 hours now and I feel your pain about the cutscenese, it seems like there is 5 min of cutscenese for every 10 min of gameplay. I also really don't like the storyline much, or the characters, Tidus is way too whiney. On the plus side though, the graphics are nice and the battle system isn't too bad.
 
Kingdom Hearts and Disgaea. I'm also going to assume La Pucelle, since I've heard great stuff from people on this board and from buddies of mine. I'd also recommend Xenosaga. I wasn't sure at first if i could stand the cutscenes, but i thought the epic story was great.
 
If you haven't played it yet, you have to pick up Grandia 2. The graphics aren't as good as other PS2 RPGs since it's a Dreamcast port, but the storyline, voice acting and battle system rock so hard.

Also, the biggest problems I had with FFX was I thought the game was far too linear. I mean it seemed like you had to complete a mission, view cut scene, boss battle, view cut scene and then the game would just start you off on the next part of your mission. Where's the sense of freedom and ability to explore?
Also, that damn Blitzball literally made me quit playing the game. I couldn't stand playing it for one second longer. I think I would rather play PSO soccer than mess around with that.
 
I'd highly recommend Wild Arms 3.. I've been a fan of the series, but 3 really has been highly under-rated IMO. With the excepetion of a few minor annoyances (having to search for towns/dungeons with the radar system, and the annoying single person episodes at the beginning).. its really a well put together rpg with an good combat structure, an interesting graphical style (cel-shaded) and a very solid story.

EDIT - I'm going to add Drakengard to the list too.. although more action than RPG, it does still have character growth, dragon growth and your weapons gain experience also. The story and gameplay are excellent, and it has Square's typical high production values.
 
[quote name='CarmenJubei']halo EXCUSE you~? FF has terrible voice acting!?!?! you are probably talking about FFX, and if you are talking about the north american english dubbed, I will agree with you. But it is obviously not terrible but EXCELLENT if it is the original japanese FFX. you gotta make this clear as there are almost NONE bad voice acting for japanese games or anime's. don't make it sounds like that the original sucks too, it is very unfair and ridiculous and for the ones who play original japanese FF, no one will agree with you for sure[/quote]

I don't think anyone, except maybe you, would think he was talking about the original Japanese game. Furthermore, I find it funny that most people think Japanese voice acting is so great...do you know Japanese so you can make a valid assessment? After watching some horrible instructional videos in a Japanese, class, I'd say that the average game voice acting (that I've heard) was as good as the horrible videos i've watched.
 
[quote name='OkeSmokey21']On the subject of action/rpg, I think Kingdom hearts. I know the storyline is childish and lame, but I couldn't put it down due to the fact of the FF characters and neat gameplay.[/quote]

The story was no more childish and lame than any other Square game. In fact, I believe that the addition of Disney allows it a bit of leeway, whereas the normal Square games have no excuse. They are all horribly melodramatic and for the most part terribly written. Kingdom Hearts on the other hand, had the professional touch of Disney, and the voice acting was just about the best I have heard in a game.
 
[quote name='alongx'][quote name='CarmenJubei']halo EXCUSE you~? FF has terrible voice acting!?!?! you are probably talking about FFX, and if you are talking about the north american english dubbed, I will agree with you. But it is obviously not terrible but EXCELLENT if it is the original japanese FFX. you gotta make this clear as there are almost NONE bad voice acting for japanese games or anime's. don't make it sounds like that the original sucks too, it is very unfair and ridiculous and for the ones who play original japanese FF, no one will agree with you for sure[/quote]

I don't think anyone, except maybe you, would think he was talking about the original Japanese game. Furthermore, I find it funny that most people think Japanese voice acting is so great...do you know Japanese so you can make a valid assessment?[/quote]

I don't understand wut u're talking about. I said he was talking about the english FF, and I am talking about the Japanese original~ sigh >.< and yes i know japanese fluently and it will be pointless to argue with you as you are only a biased person, yet without knowing much, who just yell out thoughts which are only ASSumptions :nottalking: u know wut, going to your stupid jap classes you won't be able to learn japanese at all~ ppls in japan won't understand you, anyway~
 
Xenosaga, Disgaea, Kingdom Hearts, Dark Cloud 2, Breath of Fire Dragoon Quarter, La Pucelle Tactics, Shadow Hearts, and Suikoden 3 were all very good games. The Final Fantasy x and x-2 were good, but there have been much better final fantasy games. If we are also talking ps1 games I must recommend Star Ocean. I don't know if you will have an easy time finding it or not, but it is quite possibly the best and freshest rpg I played on ps1 and can't wait for Star Ocean 3 later this year.
 
[quote name='desuaveone']Xenosaga, Disgaea, Kingdom Hearts, Dark Cloud 2, Breath of Fire Dragoon Quarter, La Pucelle Tactics, Shadow Hearts, and Suikoden 3 were all very good games. The Final Fantasy x and x-2 were good, but there have been much better final fantasy games. If we are also talking ps1 games I must recommend Star Ocean. I don't know if you will have an easy time finding it or not, but it is quite possibly the best and freshest rpg I played on ps1 and can't wait for Star Ocean 3 later this year.[/quote]

right, i would recommend Star Ocean - Till The End Of Time & Till The End Of Time Director's Cut as ARPG's, FFX-2 is not recommended. Front Mission is not a RPG game man
 
FFX and FFX-2 (Don't listen to people here. FFX is as good as or better than any FF since the 16-bit era and FFX-2 is hella fun, if a bit campy.)
Shadow Hearts
Disgaea
Dark Cloud 2 (if you like your RPGs actiony)

La Pucelle Tactics is alright, but if you're getting Disgaea (and you should) you should make sure to play it [LaPu] first, because it's not nearly as fun.

Suikoden III's battle system is assious and the game overall is pretty average. Don't pay more than 20-25 for it.
 
Yeah, I'd go with FFX. It is the best FF since VI. I loved the battle system and the sphere grid leveling up system, and it is hard to find prettier CG out there. And the game is cheap.
 
Woo boy. As soon as I saw this topic I knew it would quickly devolve into a Final Fantasy bash-fest. It seems as if over the last several years (ever since FF8?) it has become fashionable to dislike the FF series. I must make a few points in support of FFX at the least, a game I felt was far better than 8 or 9. First, it has a great battle system; being able to switch characters in and out at will (as well as being able to control summons) makes things feel far more dynamic than in previous editions. Also the sphere grid, which no one ever mentions, gives the player a great deal of flexiblity in customizing characters. Yeah, the linear quest sucks but sometimes its better to just get through a solid story in 50 hours than to wander around doing unrelated side quests for an additional 20-30. Also, I felt that the voices were actually pretty solid, with the exception of Tidus whose was horrid. Finally, no one matches the production values of Square and after playing more minimalist, though still great games (Disgaea, LaPucelle, Arc), I really appreciate the effort and money that Square puts into their games. FFX is not a game for everyone, but that doesn't mean its not a great game. This is one man's opinion, take it for what you will.
 
IMO, i have played a lot of PS2 rpgs, in fact its pretty much all i play now. I have played through Kingdom hearts twice, first time i did the 100 percent completion and saw the special ending, second time i beat it on the hard setting, not a bad game kept my interest. Arc the Lad TOS was not a great rpg, but it was playable. I got it from a friend so i was satisfied with it. My favorite PS2 game so far is Xenosaga, i never got tired of the cutscenes, i loved the game all the way through. Suikoden 3 i thought was good, i had fun fighting the treasure boisses over and over to get better equipment and get money to buy the rare items. A lot of people who are flaming S3 were fans of the old games, which i never played so i dont have that bias. Grandia 2 i beat on DC years and years ago, but i remember it being enjoyable. FFX didnt catch my interest, i played through it once, didnt really do any of the sidequests, it just wasnt my game. Baldurs gate dark alliance was an awesome hack and slash action game, i have played through it a bunch of times, by myself and with friends. Ps2 owners are lucky in that there are lots of Rpgs under 30 dollars, so take advantage.
 
thanks guys. I have a few of the games mentioned.
Im wicked poor and need to even more picky about what games im buying. Ive been eyeing xenosaga for a while now, I will probably finally pick that up along with dark cloud 2 and bf:dq in my next run.

and my opinion on the ff games (which where my basis for loving rpgs starting with the US 3) is that they are fun, I know when I buy an ff game I will have fun playing it.
 
The best part of the PS2 for RPG's is backwards compatibility. The PSone had the best string of RPG's released in North America. Yes, there were games for other systems that were argualbly better, Panzer Dragoon Saga comes immediately to mind, but the PSone had more high quality RPG's than any console in this country before and arguably since.

Vandal Hearts 1 & 2, Suikoden 1 & 2, more Square titles than I can mention, Wild Arms, Persona 1 & 2.... the list goes on. Personally the Suikoden's were my all time favorite RPG's but I didn't like or get into Suikoden III, I didn't like the jump into 3-D and the departure from the original characters.

If you really want to see some great RPG's for the PS2 grab the Sega Ages Phantasy Star collection when it comes out in August. Yes, they're dated but PS IV is one of the top 3 16 bit RPG's made.
 
On the ps2 side these are must haves in my opinion:

Kingdom Hearts: pretty good story fun to play, much better than a lot fo the FF games.

Baldur's gate 1 and 2 are fun if your into diable style hack'n'slash type RPGs


and on the ps1 side:

chrono Cross: greatest RPG I have ever played on the playstation. great battle system with a story that will keep you hypnotized through out the game, the mmultiple endings are nice, makes it feel like it is more open ended then some other RPGs, but a little short

Both Parasite eve games are great, wish they would make a sequel on the Ps2 other than just FF games

FF chronciles is nice, but only for the fact that Chrono Trigger comes with the package, but be fore warned loading times are horrendous.
 
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