RPG Thread IV is the worst in the series

IMO it's one of the best turn-based battle systems ever. It's fast, addictive but simple. No random battles, all enemies are are visible on screen. Cutscenes are for the most part in-game with a few animated ones. Story driven scenes have spoken dialog.

The story is quite nice. It's lighthearted and a bit childish at times. I will admit it takes a few hours for the story to pick up. The main character, Justin, is a little annoying at first (he's way to happy) but through the course of game grows into adulthood. The story only gets better through the course of the game. Grandia is very linear with a point/click world map. Once the story progresses past a certian point it will be impossible to visit previous towns or dungeons. Towns and dungeons are vast with a buttload of nooks and crannys to explore.

For $10 it's a steal considering it goes for 3x-4x that on eBay. If I had a PS3 I would buy this in a heartbeat. I always wanted to play through this again.
 
Grandia 1 is as traditional as it will get. the only problem is the SCEA localization is not going to age well.
 
[quote name='ChibiJosh']Really? I always thought Grandia's battle system was Star Ocean-like.[/QUOTE]

Nope, it's turnbased, but the characters roam around the battlefield instead of going back to an assigned postition.
 
[quote name='momouchi']Having the enemies visible on the screen is my favorite way to enact battles in RPGs.[/QUOTE]
This drove me nuts, actually. The enemies always ran faster than you, and some dungeons had pathways so thin that you couldn't actually get around them if you wanted to. So battles felt like a punishment for not escaping well enough, and on top of that you were put at a disadvantage because the enemy started the fight.
 
I really wish more JRPGs would take a cue from Earthbound, as far as encounters go. All the enemies are visible on screen, but when your party gets strong enough, said enemies can be beaten instantly, merely by running into them - no going into a battle screen or anything. Get even stronger and enemies will start running away from you.

Another neat encounter system is the one in TWEWY: normally, the regular enemies are totally invisible and you can't interact with them. Press the Player Pin, and voila, a whole bunch of enemies to choose from. There is absolutely no pressure to fight if you don't want to.
 
As far as modern RPGs encounters go, I think FFXII has to be my favorite. You could generally avoid encounters if you wanted to.

Of course how interesting the battles can be also play a factor. The amount of versatility in TWEWY of all the possible pins allowed for the fighting to never get stale. Even if TWEWY had random encounters, I don't think I would've minded as much due to how entertaining the battle system was.
 
Even if they're not visible, it's very nice if you can clear an area. Atelier Iris 2 had this, where there was just a gauge that showed how many more encounters were left in the area. So if you were having a hard time figuring out how to get that one chest you weren't punished by never-ending random encounters. If you don't have the budget to place enemies on the screen, every game should be able to do this.
 
[quote name='pete5883']This drove me nuts, actually. The enemies always ran faster than you, and some dungeons had pathways so thin that you couldn't actually get around them if you wanted to. So battles felt like a punishment for not escaping well enough, and on top of that you were put at a disadvantage because the enemy started the fight.[/QUOTE]

Just fight everyone on screen then explore. What's the big deal?
 
[quote name='Rodimus']Just fight everyone on screen then explore. What's the big deal?[/QUOTE]

That's fine the first time through an area, but in a lot of games where you have to go back to earlier areas, it's a complete waste of time to have to fight a battle that isn't netting you worthwhile exp/gold/loot. Yeah, you can plow through the enemies, but it just adds that much more tedium.

Like in Chrono Trigger, outside the gate into midevil ages there's some forced encounters, even though you can see the enemies. That's fine the first time, but then the next 4-5 times you have to go through the area (before getting the Epoch) it's just stupid you can't avoid em.
 
[quote name='dr_illingsworth']Even if they're not visible, it's very nice if you can clear an area. Atelier Iris 2 had this, where there was just a gauge that showed how many more encounters were left in the area. So if you were having a hard time figuring out how to get that one chest you weren't punished by never-ending random encounters. If you don't have the budget to place enemies on the screen, every game should be able to do this.[/QUOTE]

This times a million. So much time is wasted from having a ton of encounters when you just want to get to one spot, especially if you already grinded somewhere else and just want to get some of the story done.
 
[quote name='Zmonkay']Like in Chrono Trigger, outside the gate into midevil ages there's some forced encounters, even though you can see the enemies. That's fine the first time, but then the next 4-5 times you have to go through the area (before getting the Epoch) it's just stupid you can't avoid em.[/QUOTE]

Personally I prefer seeing enemies to random encounters just because in most of those games you can avoid many random encounters if you choose to.

And Zmonkay you reminded me of why I hated one of the major additions to Chrono Trigger DS, the Lost Sanctum had forced random encounters everywhere, and you backtrack like 30 times through those zones; that side quest added like another 4 hours to the game simply because you had to run back and forth so many times and had to go through fights each time. Like I will seriously never do that side quest again because it was so long and pointless even though I'll probably beat Chrono Trigger again since I seem to play through it like once every year.
 
wow icebeast, now I really don't want to do Lost Sanctum (and I just beat my first playthrough of CT:DS!). It's bad enough that it's relegated to NG+ (I mean, how many times have I already beaten this damned game, and now I've gotta do it again to see the bonus material?) but that sounds awful. Ah well, now to see if I can find a way to rip my PSX Chrono Cross discs for my PSP...
 
You don't have to have NG+ to access Lost Sanctum; I stumbled upon it during the initial playthrough. Only did the first one or two quests before giving up, since it was dull as hell.
 
[quote name='blueshinra']You don't have to have NG+ to access Lost Sanctum; I stumbled upon it during the initial playthrough. Only did the first one or two quests before giving up, since it was dull as hell.[/QUOTE]

Really? What's the one that opens up after you beat the game (like 3 portals open after he credits roll). I thought that was it? Ah well, maybe later.
 
[quote name='Zmonkay']Really? What's the one that opens up after you beat the game (like 3 portals open after he credits roll). I thought that was it? Ah well, maybe later.[/QUOTE]

The one that opens on NG+ is the Dimensional Vortex quest and involves a bunch of dungeons pieced together from parts of other dungeons plus a couple new areas with enemies that are about right for NG+ characters and you fight some extra bosses plus a new final boss and story sequence that hints at a link between Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. Basically it was the only good thing that was added to Chrono Trigger DS.

The Lost Sanctum as previously mentioned is a horribly long and boring 4+ hour fetch quest which involves a set of portals that open up a ways into the game that are located in 600AD and 65,000,000BC and you constantly have to go back and forth for a few hours to finish it, and talking about this game reminded me of the other major addition to Chrono Trigger DS which was the Monster training which was equally boring and pointless as the Lost Sanctum mainly because you had to keep going back periodically to check on your monster's training and send them out again which just seemed silly to me so I didn't even bother.
 
[quote name='blueshinra']Another neat encounter system is the one in TWEWY: normally, the regular enemies are totally invisible and you can't interact with them. Press the Player Pin, and voila, a whole bunch of enemies to choose from. There is absolutely no pressure to fight if you don't want to.[/QUOTE]
God, TWEWY did so much right. We need more.

[quote name='Rodimus']Just fight everyone on screen then explore. What's the big deal?[/QUOTE]
I remember one specific mountain dungeon that was much longer than it should've been, and had a lot more fights than were needed to beat the boss.
 
[quote name='pete5883']God, TWEWY did so much right. We need more.[/QUOTE]
Oh yeah. But again, if there is one encounter system I would like to see emulated in more RPGs, it's Earthbound's. It's far from my favorite game, but the encounter system is ingenious.
 
TWEWY had some of the worst music ever. In fact it was so bad I could not stand more then 20 mins of it.

Also getting RoF one week after FF13. Im gonna have to blaze through FF13.
 
[quote name='TomJones4']TWEWY had some of the worst music ever. In fact it was so bad I could not stand more then 20 mins of it.

Also getting RoF one week after FF13. Im gonna have to blaze through FF13.[/QUOTE]

WUT?! I loved that soundtrack! There were a couple of duds, but overall I loved it. Reminded me a bit of the jet grind radio games' soundtracks.

Also found out that since Chrono Cross doesn't let you save between disk changes, my PSP ripping plans fell flat :( Gonna have to play it on the PS3 once I finish FFXIII I guess. Was really hoping to play it on the train, but at least this way I can use my old NG+ file from all those years ago.
 
Oh snap, my buddy just told me he's "procuring" FFXIII for his 360. Totally heading to his place after class to check it out :D
 
[quote name='TomJones4']pff 360 you should know ps3 is massively superior.[/QUOTE]

I don't know about massively, but it looks like PS3 will have slightly better graphics. I don't see it as night and day as most people (read fanboys) tend too, but the screens I've seen do make the PS3 look smoother.

I'll prolly pick up the PS3 version, but it'll be nice to check it out this afternoon and see if the 360 version is as bad as all the PS3 fanboys make it out to be.
 
[quote name='TomJones4']From those shots ive seen the FMVs aren't even 720p.
The entire game on 360 is sub 720p.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, just read that too. Rest of the game is 1080p though, I think. Ah well, I should see just how "bad" it is in a few hours (prolly ~3:00 or 4ish).
 
yeah I really don't care. I just love feeding the console wars.
I'm getting two copies one for myself and one for my GF.
 
Anyone else getting FFXIII not at all hyped? Seriously, this game could get pushed back till next year and I wouldn't give a fuck.
 
I'm curious about FFXIII. I'll probably get it. I'm guessing I'll be really tired of it soon.

I am looking forward more to Resonance of Fate, though.
 
I wasn't as hyped up for FFXIII for a while there, but as the release date gets closer I'm getting more and more jiterry. I'm buying three copies total, one for myself and one for each of my brothers for their birthday. Plus I ordered both the LE guide and regular guide from Amazon as well. Hope we don't all get dissapointed when its finally out.

I am however getting RoF too, so we will see which one occupies my time more. March is going to be so crazy.
 
I don't know when FFXIII comes out and I don't care. Is XIII supposed to be better than the others? I don't remember this much hype for the previous games, but I probably wasn't paying attention.
 
I wouldn't say its supposed to be better, although some who have already played it say it's the best one they played. I think the reason the hype is so big is because its taken so long for us to get it, I mean I remember when the release date was two years ago. So all the anticipating has built up, and now that were less than a week away, its really hitting everyone that were finally getting the game.
 
[quote name='Rodimus']Anyone else getting FFXIII not at all hyped? Seriously, this game could get pushed back till next year and I wouldn't give a fuck.[/QUOTE]
I preordered it awhile back due to that $10 off $50 when using a Discover card deal, but I'm probably not even going to touch it for awhile after I get it.
 
I am pretty excited about FFXIII, the FF games that I have loved I really enjoyed. I know it may be a miss, I couldn't stand FFVIII and actually had no interest in FFXII after a really bad experience with FFXI. But imo when FF games are good, they are really good. Besides this will be the first true jrpg that I have played since I got back into gaming after taking a break. If it is a miss, I will get over it, but until I have a chance to determine that for myself, I am pretty excited.
 
[quote name='Rodimus']Anyone else getting FFXIII not at all hyped? Seriously, this game could get pushed back till next year and I wouldn't give a fuck.[/QUOTE]

Not even a little bit. I'll get it at some point but for me if this one is another pos like they put out last gen I'm done with the series. From what little I have read about it is looking that way.
 
ok, so after what little we've played so far, it's decent. Doesn't really feel like a FF game so far, but we've only played for about 45 minutes. Damned purty, but some of the cutscenes have a bit of graininess to them, and I wonder if that's the compression for the 360 version, or if it's intended (assuming compression). Gameplay looks fine. Control's aren't as tight as I expected, with the camera and character movement feeling slightly disconnected. I'll probably play this one like I did all the other FF's: about a year from now when it's ~20 bucks. Nothing I've seen so far is ZOMG, I NEED MOAR! I'd be much more hyped for a Lost Odyssey 2!

Also really surprised that
your health refills after each fight. So if you win by the skin of your teeth, you're back to full the next encounter
(not really much of a spoiler, but whatevs). I wonder if this was done to make it "easier" and "more newcomer friendly"?
 
[quote name='Zmonkay']Also really surprised that
your health refills after each fight. So if you win by the skin of your teeth, you're back to full the next encounter
(not really much of a spoiler, but whatevs). I wonder if this was done to make it "easier" and "more newcomer friendly"?[/QUOTE]
I remember hearing about that somewhere. I also remember reading that, with FFXIII, the creators set out to make the "toughest" Final Fantasy game yet, but that was before I found out about the former.

Is it optional, or does it always happen automatically?
 
[quote name='Zmonkay']ok, so after what little we've played so far, it's decent. Doesn't really feel like a FF game so far, but we've only played for about 45 minutes. Damned purty, but some of the cutscenes have a bit of graininess to them, and I wonder if that's the compression for the 360 version, or if it's intended (assuming compression). Gameplay looks fine. Control's aren't as tight as I expected, with the camera and character movement feeling slightly disconnected. I'll probably play this one like I did all the other FF's: about a year from now when it's ~20 bucks. Nothing I've seen so far is ZOMG, I NEED MOAR! I'd be much more hyped for a Lost Odyssey 2!

Also really surprised that
your health refills after each fight. So if you win by the skin of your teeth, you're back to full the next encounter
(not really much of a spoiler, but whatevs). I wonder if this was done to make it "easier" and "more newcomer friendly"?[/QUOTE]

This is pretty much what I'm expecting, an adove average experience. I'm starting to reconsider my preorder. Might wait a few weeks and see if RoF is any better, then go from there.

Wild Arms 5 also did the
regenerate your health completly after each battle. I actually liked it.
 
Spoilering because everyone else feels the need to:
I'm fine with being healed after every battle. So often I play RPGs, trying to never use magic or skills until I get to a boss because MP recover items are rare or expensive. Not having to worry about that makes things much more fun.
 
when all the land is peaceful and there is no real threat to us at last...

there comes a time for love!! two heart colliding into one great hymn~!!

but there are winds foreboding and there is a dark storm that soon will pass...

kiss me my love then go!! the time for battle has return again~!!

aaaalll thruuuu theee niiiiiiiiiiiite~!!!

keeeeep maaaaaar chiiiiin oooooooon~~!!!

FIGHTING!

thru the DARKNESS!!

all is EVIL!! so we must press on

the FRIENDSHIP!!

forged in BATTLE!!

watch your BACK NOW!!

take heeeeeeeeed~~

HEY! HEY!

*wop wop wop*

HEY! HEY!

*wop wop*

:guitar solo: nyeeeeaaaaaaaarrrrr naa naa nhhhaaaaaa da da danananana naaaaooooo~~~

cooome baaack to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~~!!!!

FIGHTING!

thru the DARKNESS!!

all is EVIL!! so we must press on

FLYING!

to the POWER!!

that ENSLAVE US!! but we are not done

RACING!

the the CLIMAX!!

of the BATTLE!! to return to life

FLYING!

to the POWER!!

evil FORCES!!

take heeeeeeeeed~~

DAH DAH!
 
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