RPG Recommendations/Discussion

[quote name='MSI Magus']But its like shining a turd....its still a turd. I mean seriously even with the gameplay updates its still a turn based RPG that plays pretty much the exact same. Switching out part members and combos were big features and as a result id deffintly give BoFIV the edge by a whole point....but its hardly updated to the point of giving it an ovrall all win. Especially when you factor in the game play is like a point off from each other but the story IMO is several point difference.

Yes IV has field controls that are much improved....but again its a pretty none issue. As I said its like Mario having a great story....its a nice feature but its not really what you bought the game for or what would make it awsome. A turn based RPG with a crap story is a crap game unless it was targeting something else(like Wizardry)and a platformer witha good story but bad gameplay would be a bad platformer.[/quote]

Thus, you are emphasizing story over gameplay in RPGs just as I had stated.

I am agreeing with your major point III's story is better than IV's. IV has better gameplay, audio and visuals so I like it more.

If you weigh story equally against gameplay, visuals and auio as a whole, the games are even.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
[quote name='willardhaven']Thus, you are emphasizing story over gameplay in RPGs just as I had stated.

I am agreeing with your major point III's story is better than IV's. IV has better gameplay, audio and visuals so I like it more.

If you way story equally against gameplay, visuals and auio as a whole, the games are even.[/QUOTE]

I dont think that story is over gameplay in RPGs. However I do feel its a major major factor and if an RPG is turn based it is even more so a factor. BoF III had a solid story and solid gameplay. Meanwhile BoFIV had gameplay that was solid(better then III's too)but wasn't anything absolutely amazing or mind blowing.....while its story on the other hand and charcter developer was very weak. And im pretty sure there were no side quests in the later half of the game too which I wouldnt say an RPG has to be marked down for....but it was a standard of the industry so id say it was fair to.
 
I'm not a Breath of Fire expert like you two (sadly, I've never played one). That being said, I have to have story with my RPGs. Something has to compel to drop 40+ hours into a game. Action RPGs without story are just brawlers with way too much crap to take care of. Give me something simple and sweet or something epic. I don't like the in between.

Check that, Xenosaga was a little too epic if you catch my drift. I don't mind 100 hours of gameplay when it's 90% gameplay instead of watching movies. I tried to get into it but I played it after Final Fantasy X so I had enough cutscenes to last me a year or two.
 
[quote name='depascal22']I'm not a Breath of Fire expert like you two (sadly, I've never played one). That being said, I have to have story with my RPGs. Something has to compel to drop 40+ hours into a game. Action RPGs without story are just brawlers with way too much crap to take care of. Give me something simple and sweet or something epic. I don't like the in between.

Check that, Xenosaga was a little too epic if you catch my drift. I don't mind 100 hours of gameplay when it's 90% gameplay instead of watching movies. I tried to get into it but I played it after Final Fantasy X so I had enough cutscenes to last me a year or two.[/QUOTE]

I can do RPGs wtihout stories but they have to be focused around that then. For instance I mentioned Wizardry which was an old school dungeon crawler. The whole point of the game was advancing as far into the deep dungeon as possible. The game was built around that aspect and so a story wasnt needed nearly as much. Action RPGs if heavily focused around gameplay can be light on story(not without story but at least light)and again a game like Diablo works great with or without story.

A game like BoF MUST have story though....well except V which gets a small break because its largly a dungeon crawl.
 
I'm coming from the other side of the coin. To me, dungeon crawlers are only fun with another player. I loved playing Baldur's Gate with a friend but I was mighty bored playing solo. I like my single player games to have a story instead of just being a grinder.
 
Change of plans what's a game I can get that is good but cheap =P?
Going to buy a 360 soon, so I'm going to be low on cash so ican't buy FES just yet (sit on the shelves just a little longer, I'll be back)
 
[quote name='LeafPanda']Change of plans what's a game I can get that is good but cheap =P?
Going to buy a 360 soon, so I'm going to be low on cash so ican't buy FES just yet (sit on the shelves just a little longer, I'll be back)[/QUOTE]

Just get FES like the other guy said. Its hella cheap and if you like it you can sink 100s of hours into it. And skip the 360, seriously less you have to have one there are still so many great games you havnt played.
 
The 360 is mainly for Tales of Vesperia, but I might have enough dough to get both FES and 360. Got lots of money from relatives and some haven't gave me money yet, so i think I'm set. I'm going to wait for the 60gb because I have a feeling it will have the Jasper chipset.
Edit: This is money for my birthday if you were wondering why they were giving me money.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I've been playing Xenosaga lately, and I noticed in the "How long..." thread it states roughly 30 to 50 hours for completion. I'm just over nine hours in, and it's appearing like it's going to take twice that. Is around 50 hours correct?
 
[quote name='defiance_17']I've been playing Xenosaga lately, and I noticed in the "How long..." thread it states roughly 30 to 50 hours for completion. I'm just over nine hours in, and it's appearing like it's going to take twice that. Is around 50 hours correct?[/quote]

The first Xenosaga? I'd say under 20 hours of actual gameplay.
 
[quote name='thelonepig']The first Xenosaga? I'd say under 20 hours of actual gameplay.[/quote]
Well, actual gameplay has been about 30 minutes in my 9+ game clock hours.
 
[quote name='defiance_17']Well, actual gameplay has been about 30 minutes in my 9+ game clock hours.[/quote]

Ouch. Would you like some RPG with your movie?
 
[quote name='LeafPanda']So no more good RPGs that haven't been mentioned?[/QUOTE]

Well you should have more then enough to play at this point, but since you dont seem to there is always Summoner 2. You can grab that game for probably like $10 now and its a very solid title. Summoner 1 was pretty meh but 2 added a better story and kinda crossed what was great with PC RPGs with what was great with console RPGS. It's gameplay is action based(though dont expect a great DC2 or even KH battle system)and very in line with console titles as is the main plot. But then its got alot of depth and offers stuff more in line with PC titles like all the optional quests and lore. There are sooooo many charcters to talk to and books to read that give back story on the world and its history/inhabitants. I thought Summoner 2 was one of the most overlooked games last gen. When it came out it was easily a mid 8/B+ worthy title. I dont think its aged well but its still a solid B.
 
That's a good price, Tales of the Abyss is great. It has bad load times before battles and scene changes. I didn't mind them, but they are definitely noticeable.
 
[quote name='willardhaven']That's a good price, Tales of the Abyss is great. It has bad load times before battles and scene changes. I didn't mind them, but they are definitely noticeable.[/QUOTE]

I quit playing because of the damn load times. It freaking killed the game for me even though I was loving it.
 
[quote name='LeafPanda']So no more good RPGs that haven't been mentioned?[/quote]
How about Suikoden V or III? I'm currently playing through Suikoden V, and it has a nice political storyline, with some decent characters, and strategic battle system. You just have to get past the awfully boring beginning(Didn't mind me much), and you'll have a pretty good RPG to playthorugh.
 
[quote name='defiance_17']Well, actual gameplay has been about 30 minutes in my 9+ game clock hours.[/quote]

Enjoy the game, enjoy the story! Its the best of the series by far. Ziggy's boss battle alone was worth the price of admission for me.

Episode II was a cluster-fuck of epic proportions. They fucked over the game's creators in an effort to sell out and ended up making a mediocre, ultimately somewhat crappy game

Just reading about some of the cool battles planned for Ep II makes me pissed
As a matter of trivia, Jr.'s adult form was originally meant to appear in Episode II. In the original script written by Soraya Saga, part-way through the game Jr. unpauses his growth and rapidly ages to adulthood. This new adult Jr. would still be a playable character in the game and be part of several key sequences in the later sections of the game, such as a reunion with U.R.T.V. #668 Citrine and a three-way battle between KOS-MOS, U-DO and himself and Albedo
As little sense as Ep I may make to you now, Ep II and Ep III make no sense, which sucks IMO. Better to just end an esoteric series abruptly, Carnivale-style, then sell out the artistic ambition and just commercially fail anyway.

There will never be another series like Xeno, but y'all have fun with spinoff games like FFVII Stories:Saga of the second cousin to that kooky merchant guy in Chocobo city (feat a cameo by Cloud's barber)
 
[quote name='camoor']Enjoy the game, enjoy the story! Its the best of the series by far. Ziggy's boss battle alone was worth the price of admission for me.

Episode II was a cluster-fuck of epic proportions. They fucked over the game's creators in an effort to sell out and ended up making a mediocre, ultimately somewhat crappy game

Just reading about some of the cool battles planned for Ep II makes me pissed
As a matter of trivia, Jr.'s adult form was originally meant to appear in Episode II. In the original script written by Soraya Saga, part-way through the game Jr. unpauses his growth and rapidly ages to adulthood. This new adult Jr. would still be a playable character in the game and be part of several key sequences in the later sections of the game, such as a reunion with U.R.T.V. #668 Citrine and a three-way battle between KOS-MOS, U-DO and himself and Albedo
As little sense as Ep I may make to you now, Ep II and Ep III make no sense, which sucks IMO. Better to just end an esoteric series abruptly, Carnivale-style, then sell out the artistic ambition and just commercially fail anyway.

There will never be another series like Xeno, but y'all have fun with spinoff games like FFVII Stories:Saga of the second cousin to that kooky merchant guy in Chocobo city (feat a cameo by Cloud's barber)[/QUOTE]

*thought xeno started meh anyways*
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']*thought xeno started meh anyways*[/quote]

Fair enough, I was actually kinda surprised when I played it because I figured most people wouldn't get/enjoy the esoteric convoluded plot.

My favorite part was the characters, I can't stand cliched small-town boy, cutesy girly-girl healer, cliche badass vilain, etc in a fantasy/sci-fi game - the point is to exercise some imagination! It was cool to have weird chars with strange powers, the robocop character, gorgeous badass robot girls, and a kid gunslinger.
 
No doubt about it. Xenosaga has a great set of characters. It's just a little unrealistic to sink the amount of hours it will take to finish the trilogy. Just imagine if they had made it a six or eight part "epic saga" like they planned on. I'd be finishing that up in the old folk's home.
 
[quote name='camoor']Fair enough, I was actually kinda surprised when I played it because I figured most people wouldn't get/enjoy the esoteric convoluded plot.

My favorite part was the characters, I can't stand cliched small-town boy, cutesy girly-girl healer, cliche badass vilain, etc in a fantasy/sci-fi game - the point is to exercise some imagination! It was cool to have weird chars with strange powers, the robocop character, gorgeous badass robot girls, and a kid gunslinger.[/QUOTE]

Im ok with deep and crazy plots, but they damn sure better come together in the end and have great pacing. Xeno seemed to drag in many places, the plot never really came together and to boot the skill system and gameplay of the game was pretty average. Namco did the same thing IMO that Square did wrong with Xenogears, they focused so much on the plot they forgot about the gameplay.

The characters were great though. Ill admit that, I LOVED the cast and they did a great job making them lifelike and unique.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']Im ok with deep and crazy plots, but they damn sure better come together in the end and have great pacing. Xeno seemed to drag in many places, the plot never really came together and to boot the skill system and gameplay of the game was pretty average. Namco did the same thing IMO that Square did wrong with Xenogears, they focused so much on the plot they forgot about the gameplay.

The characters were great though. Ill admit that, I LOVED the cast and they did a great job making them lifelike and unique.[/quote]

All good points - I think I identified with the characters so much that I didn't really mind the kooky plot (IMO great RPG plots are few and far between anyway). I did like the battles as well - they always rewarded you with lots of eyecandy. I don't think I could stand playing another DQ game where all you get is a comic-book style "pow" "wap" or "BAM" when you hit the enemy.
 
So xenogears focuses on the plot/characters more than gameplay?
My friend is going to give me a game for my birthday, but I'm having a hard time deciding.(He's willing to spend a max of 20 dollars and most likely buying from gamestop) So Persona 3 FES, Tales of the Abyss, disgaea are out of the question. Someone help me.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
[quote name='62t']tell him to get you a $20 gamestop gift card[/QUOTE]

EXACTLY! If this wont work for some odd reason get Dark Cloud 2.
 
I got a great idea he could just give me the money to buy FES or TOTA and I'll just pay off the rest. His mom will be there so it gives me the chance to buy FES because otherwise I'll have to ask my parents to be there with me which they aren't really enthusiastic about.
 
so i finally played FFXII.. funnest FF game i've ever played. i'm not sure about best, but w/o a doubt the most entertaining.

i've played IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X and X-2.. and this one is my new favorite.

the only thing is that i was a little let down by end-game. it could have been a litttle more "epic" leading up to the final battle. i thought it was a little abrupt.

can't wait for XIII :)
 
Yeah, XII really grew on me as I played it. I was always about five minutes from giving it up but I stuck with it and it really surprised me. The combat system was more fun than I anticipated.
 
[quote name='LeafPanda']Guys, I got FES and now I'm really excited, opened it, but haven't played yet.[/quote]

Make sure you wait for when you have some free time to start or the rest of your life may suffer...
 
[quote name='happy']Make sure you wait for when you have some free time to start or the rest of your life may suffer...[/quote]
You don't know how much your right, I'm so into this game. Why didn't you guys tell me to buy it earlier.
 
[quote name='LeafPanda']You don't know how much your right, I'm so into this game. Why didn't you guys tell me to buy it earlier.[/quote]

/Points to post 15
 
[quote name='LeafPanda']You don't know how much your right, I'm so into this game. Why didn't you guys tell me to buy it earlier.[/quote]

I seem to recall that we did. But you got it, so no harm done. :D
 
You guys were so relaxed on doing so, oh well. I can't believe I skipped over lone pigs one helpful post, whatever at least now I know.
I wonder why most of the SMT games are so strongly rated compared to other rating systems both Nocturne and Persona 3 FES are M while Japan gave Nocturne and A(All) and P3 a B(12+) and Europe rated both 12+. When reading the reasons why P3 FES was M they all seem to lead to Teen more than Mature. The main thing might've been the evokers,but I thought this might be a good discussion. What do you think about the ratings for the SMT games? If I was older I wouldn't care, but I hate when there are barriers to keep me from buying awesome games.
 
But Europe also, this reminds me about the cover differences for Japan and North America. In all Kirby and Ratchet and Clank games in NA they are pissed but in Japan they are all happy and cartoony.
 
I think the whole shooting yourself in the head with a gun justifies an M rating. Especially that cutscene when they do it for the first time (one of the best cutscenes of all time I think).

I'm playing Nocturne now and it doesn't seem so bad except for perhaps the language.
 
[quote name='happy']I think the whole shooting yourself in the head with a gun justifies an M rating. Especially that cutscene when they do it for the first time (one of the best cutscenes of all time I think).

I'm playing Nocturne now and it doesn't seem so bad except for perhaps the language.[/QUOTE]

I dont think it justified an M rating....but I do think its why it got one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top