RPG Thread IV is the worst in the series

Personally I'm both scared and excited for FFXIII. On the one hand it sounds like some of the new design decisions might take out some of the elements that I enjoy about games and I completely hated FFXII (for a number of reasons mainly centered around the design and a plot that I couldn't get into); but on the other hand what I've heard of the game kind of makes it sound similar in structure to FFX with an extremely linear structure but a strong emphasis on plot, and while FFX by no means was my favorite in the series I did really enjoy it and felt like the plot was well delivered.

I'm getting it when it comes out for the PS3, and I'll probably play it fairly soon after even though I have a bunch of other games that I need to beat as well. I'm hoping it is fairly well segmented, since with work I really only have an hour or two to game each night if I'm lucky... if it doesn't I'll just have to focus on it during the weekends.
 
[quote name='Rodimus']Wild Arms 5 also did the
regenerate your health completly after each battle. I actually liked it.
[/QUOTE]
I completely forgot about that!

Didn't really notice it after awhile. Liked the battle system in that game, too.
 
Yeah, after a few more hours of play, I can say it was enjoyable, but I'm not sure why it was a Final Fantasy game other than name recognition. So far, there are crystals, a chocobo in Sazh's hair, and a behemoth that looks sorta behomothy, but coulda really been called anything. Other than that, nothing really making it feel Final Fantasy.

Also, regarding the sorta-but-not-really-spoiler thing about the changes to the battles:
Potions restore 150 hp for the whole party in battle and there is no MP. Skills and magic just take different amounts of time to queue up. That, coupled with only having direct control of one character, took some getting used to, but it did make the battles go by faster and the game flow better with the story.
So really, I think the hardcore SMT-preferring RPG players might be put off by how much simpler/easier some aspects seem, but overall it's still enjoyable, just a bit different.

Also, the lack of Nobuo Uematsu is insanely apparent, at least for me. No main theme, no take on the battle music :cry:
 
[quote name='Zmonkay']Also, regarding the sorta-but-not-really-spoiler thing about the changes to the battles:
Potions restore 150 hp for the whole party in battle and there is no MP. Skills and magic just take different amounts of time to queue up. That, coupled with only having direct control of one character, took some getting used to, but it did make the battles go by faster and the game flow better with the story.
So really, I think the hardcore SMT-preferring RPG players might be put off by how much simpler/easier some aspects seem, but overall it's still enjoyable, just a bit different.

Also, the lack of Nobuo Uematsu is insanely apparent, at least for me. No main theme, no take on the battle music :cry:[/QUOTE]
Wat on the potions thing. As for the MP thing, FFVIII didn't have any either, so that's okay, I guess. Are spells/skills "spendable" like they are in that game, or is it a different system? About the skills and magic queueing: is there ATB at all? If so, I can see how that might make things interesting.

As for the music, huh. Thought I read somewhere that tthere was going to be a Nobuo-composed main theme, a la FFX, but maybe I'm misremembering. Some of Masashi Hamauzu's stuff is okay, but I've never thought of him as main-series Final Fantasy material, so I was surprised to hear he was the main composer on FFXIII.

Speaking of Square Enix and music, that reminds me... I saw this bit of news yesterday: Square Enix Cuts Sound Team. Not completely surprising if you follow game music at all, but still interesting.
 
[quote name='Rodimus']Might wait a few weeks and see if RoF is any better, then go from there.[/QUOTE]
It's a Tri-Ace game... so probably not.
 
[quote name='blueshinra']
Wat on the potions thing. As for the MP thing, FFVIII didn't have any either, so that's okay, I guess. Are spells/skills "spendable" like they are in that game, or is it a different system? About the skills and magic queueing: is there ATB at all? If so, I can see how that might make things interesting.

As for the music, huh. Thought I read somewhere that tthere was going to be a Nobuo-composed main theme, a la FFX, but maybe I'm misremembering. Some of Masashi Hamauzu's stuff is okay, but I've never thought of him as main-series Final Fantasy material, so I was surprised to hear he was the main composer on FFXIII.

Speaking of Square Enix and music, that reminds me... I saw this bit of news yesterday: Square Enix Cuts Sound Team. Not completely surprising if you follow game music at all, but still interesting.[/QUOTE]

Magic is handled as a skill, the same as "attack" is, or other attack skills such as Blitz or Rush. Each skill uses up X amount of spots on the ATB guage. Instead of one solid bar like in bast FFs, the guage is borken into parts that fill up. You start out with 2 guages, but as far as we got last night had 3. So, Blitz takes 2, attack takes 1, so you can queue up blitz then attack, and then need to wait for the ATB to refill. You can also use skills early, provided you have enough ATB, without the guage being all the way full (say 2/3 for Blitz's 2 cost). So essentially, if you have 3 guages and just want to use the generic attack, you can attack once, twice, or a three hit combo depending on if the ATB is 1 bar, 2 bars, or all the way full. Magic's the same, so cure uses X ATBs, and can be used at any time provided your ATB is full enough.

Also, even for the "leader" that you control directly, the default command is auto battle, which selects the "best combination" of your known skills. You can also manually pick skills and set up your combo that way, but auto is much faster. I kind of like it, as it reminds me a bit of the auto battle command in Enchanted Arms, which was one of that games only redeaming qualities imho. Come to think of it, your HP was refilled in that game too. huh.
Like I said, it's not bad, but certainly different.

If Nobuo is in there, it isn't obvious. Main theme (start menu theme) sounds almost Kingdom Heartsish? Definitely not the usual main theme or rendition thereof, and if it is Nobuo, one of his weaker compositions imho.
 
[quote name='Zmonkay']Also, the lack of Nobuo Uematsu is insanely apparent, at least for me. No main theme, no take on the battle music :cry:[/QUOTE]
I'm glad Nobuo is gone. Hamauzu composes circles around him, and always did.

I'm looking forward to FFXIII and I'm not a fan of the series. I'm looking forward to it because it seems to have gutted all the crap I hated about the games.

Also just because you get refilled after every fight doesn't make it easier. Other games have done this, and it's used as a reason to make fights harder since there's no between fight healing needed.
 
[quote name='kainzero']No one ever said that Unlimited SaGa was easy because your HP refilled after each battle. =)[/QUOTE]


We do not speak the devils name in here.
 
[quote name='Rei no Otaku']I'm glad Nobuo is gone. Hamauzu composes circles around him, and always did.[/QUOTE]
Oh wow... I just...

If you were talking about, say, Yoko Shimomura, I might've been inclined to agree, but Hamauzu? Yeah, totally can't share that opinion :rofl:
 
[quote name='Chibi_Kaji']I wish FF9 was never made.[/QUOTE]

Wow... I know everyone has different taste but considering what came after IX I can't understand anyone saying that.
 
Nope, I really hate the game that much. Honestly the only thing I liked about the game was Beatrix. If I was trying to troll I would have said something like "OMG!!111 FF9 SUCKS! FF7 4life."
 
[quote name='blueshinra']Oh wow... I just...

If you were talking about, say, Yoko Shimomura, I might've been inclined to agree, but Hamauzu? Yeah, totally can't share that opinion :rofl:[/QUOTE]

I say they need to give sakimoto more final fantasy soundtracks to compose. PS1 tactics had one of the best soundtracks ever.



I also wonder sometimes what would happen if SE stole a composer or two from konami, more specifically the castlevania guys.
 
[quote name='Chibi_Kaji']Nope, I really hate the game that much. Honestly the only thing I liked about the game was Beatrix. If I was trying to troll I would have said something like "OMG!!111 FF9 SUCKS! FF7 4life."[/QUOTE]

I think FF IX is my favorite in the entire series thus far. It had a lot of references to past games, a fun set of characters, a simple and easy-to-customize ability system, good controls, no "x" button mashing to find items, great graphics, cool environments, great music and smooth gameplay.
 
I am thinking I should have invested my gaming fund into a PS2. It seems like the PS3 has way too many shooters/wargames, a genre I could totally live without. It is really making me nostalgic for all the non-shooting games. There were several jrpgs that came out for the PS2 that I never even got a chance to play. If only I had bought a PS3 while they had bc.
 
[quote name='heavyd853'] say they need to give sakimoto more final fantasy soundtracks to compose. PS1 tactics had one of the best soundtracks ever.



I also wonder sometimes what would happen if SE stole a composer or two from konami, more specifically the castlevania guys.[/QUOTE]
I love Sakimoto, but his style would feel really out of place in any Final Fantasy not set in Ivalice...

As for the stealing composers thing, if it's true that Square Enix's internal sound team's been disbanded, that's not happening any time soon ;) It is an interesting thought, however.
 
I think the SNES, PS1 and PS2 all had amazing RPGs, however PS2 satisfied a broader spectrum of niche RPGs. Square-Enix really didn't shine on the PS2 though, even though they had some good titles.
 
[quote name='leeloo1977']I am thinking I should have invested my gaming fund into a PS2. It seems like the PS3 has way too many shooters/wargames, a genre I could totally live without. It is really making me nostalgic for all the non-shooting games. There were several jrpgs that came out for the PS2 that I never even got a chance to play. If only I had bought a PS3 while they had bc.[/QUOTE]

What's stopping you? Screw bc, if you sold your PS3 you could buy two PS2s. A few games might be hard to get, but for the most part you can build an RPG library pretty cheap, unless you absolutely must have your games sealed. If I could only own one, I would much rather own a PS2 than PS3.
 
Yeah same here, I would rather have a PS2 than most any other system. It would be hard for me to chose between a PS2 along with PS1 games or a Super Nintendo.
 
[quote name='willardhaven']no "x" button mashing to find items[/QUOTE]

Chocobo Hot and Cold? fuck the hell outta that noise. It's actually why I stopped my replay over summer. I'll prolly pick it up and finish it soon, just not 100%. Already kicked Ozma's ass years ago, fuck him, not worth puttin up with the damned X mashing. Otherwise love me some IX as well.
 
[quote name='Zmonkay']Chocobo Hot and Cold? fuck the hell outta that noise. It's actually why I stopped my replay over summer. I'll prolly pick it up and finish it soon, just not 100%. Already kicked Ozma's ass years ago, fuck him, not worth puttin up with the damned X mashing. Otherwise love me some IX as well.[/QUOTE]

I was referring to field exploration. Zidane would get an exclamation point over his head if an item or interactive environment was in front of him. In most RPG's you run around mashing the "x" button to find items and the like.

I think Chocobo Hot & Cold is awesome.
 
Kain ~ The PS2 would play PS1 games so I would be covered with both.

I want to give the PS3 more time to offer more PS1 and (hopefully, fingers crossed) PS2 RPG's for download on the PSN... some of those older games are selling for a small fortune. Being able to download them for $10 or less would be idea. Getting rid of the PS3 isn't really an option since the reason I was able to convince my husband to let me get it in the first place was the Blu Ray player and the Netflix streaming.

I also must admit that when I posted my vent I was a bit depressed about yet another announcement for yet another wargame. I am happy for people who are into those kinds of games but would love to have a larger variety if you know what I mean. Oh well, I am still looking forward to FFXIII... I really, really, really hope I enjoy it.
 
[quote name='leeloo1977']I want to give the PS3 more time to offer more PS1 and (hopefully, fingers crossed) PS2 RPG's for download on the PSN... some of those older games are selling for a small fortune.[/QUOTE]

I predict that Sony will make an announcement at this year's E3, stating that PS2 games will be coming to the PSN. Immediately following the announcement, the original Ratchet & Clank, Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper and other PS2 notables will be added to the store.

Anyway tonight I brushed the dust off my copy of Fallout 3 and threw it in my 360. I just felt the urge to revisit Capital Wasteland before New Vegas is released later this year. This also gives me the opportunity to check out all the DLC that I have not yet bothered with.
 
[quote name='blueshinra']Oh wow... I just...

If you were talking about, say, Yoko Shimomura, I might've been inclined to agree, but Hamauzu? Yeah, totally can't share that opinion :rofl:[/QUOTE]
I guess we'll have to agree you're wrong then XD

All joking aside, I've never liked Uematsu. The only good work he did was FFVIII and Lost Odyssey. Everything else was mediocre at best. On the otherhand Hamauzu I've loved since Unlimited Saga. Hated the game, but I loved his use of strings.

Also Shimomura? Really? Ugh. Then again I don't think Square's sound team was ever up there with the greats. Namco sound team all the way!
 
No reason you can't find a cheap PS2 at a garage sale. This spring will be perfect since many new PS3 owners will probably be looking to dump PS2 bundles for cheap so they can by the new shooter of the month.
 
[quote name='Rei no Otaku']I guess we'll have to agree you're wrong then XD

All joking aside, I've never liked Uematsu. The only good work he did was FFVIII and Lost Odyssey. Everything else was mediocre at best. On the otherhand Hamauzu I've loved since Unlimited Saga. Hated the game, but I loved his use of strings.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, the Unlimited SaGa OST was okay.

The thing is about Hamauzu is that I believe his greatest talent lies in arrangement ("use of strings", etc.), not composition (the nuts and bolts - melody, tempo, etc.). He typically does good arrangements. However, as a composer, a lot of his work tends toward the bland and/or generic.

That said, with FFXIII, his compositions will really be put to the test when the inevitable Piano Collections arrange album is released. If it's as good as anything on Piano Collections: Final Fantasy IX, then I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe ;)
 
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[quote name='depascal22']No reason you can't find a cheap PS2 at a garage sale. This spring will be perfect since many new PS3 owners will probably be looking to dump PS2 bundles for cheap so they can by the new shooter of the month.[/QUOTE]


That's what I am going to be keeping my eyes open for. There was a deal around the holidays at Game Crazy, a used PS2 with two used games for $49.99. I am hoping something similar pops up.
 
Man I can't believe all the hate on Uematsu, I love his work. Though his more recent work (Mistwalker stuff) I haven't enjoyed as much as most of the tracks from the FF series (FFVI being my favorite).

Also if you like the guitar track from Blue Dragon you might want to check out the Lord of Vermilion soundtrack which Uematsu did, most of that soundtrack is all synth and guitar, no vocals though, but I really enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRBaSnCw-gw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mWKWm-cgiw&feature=related
 
Well, I can't speak for others but I certainly don't hate him; I just always thought he was average/overrated.

Anyway, it's time to go home and play games all weekend. Tales of Symphonia 2 is actually the worst level of suckiness. It sucks, but it's just barely good enough that I won't quit until I beat it, draining many hours of my time in the process.
 
[quote name='leeloo1977']That's what I am going to be keeping my eyes open for. There was a deal around the holidays at Game Crazy, a used PS2 with two used games for $49.99. I am hoping something similar pops up.[/QUOTE]

Go garage sailing and pick up an entire collection for even less.

As for Uematsu, I don't get the hate either but I've become accustomed to irrational internet hate. Listening to that Blue Dragon boss VGM right now. Even though I just put 80+ hours in BD, I'd still go back to face a couple minor bosses.
 
how about your face!!

neither yours, nor facial... talk amongst yourselves.

btw... I beat all the Hero 30 missions in half minute hero.

100%, so I got all the branching stages.

omg the last 2 stages are super epic!!! seriously, if u like RPGs and have a PSP then get this game!!

there are still other modes in the game too!! definitely gotta get on those.
 
[quote name='dr_illingsworth']Well, I can't speak for others but I certainly don't hate him; I just always thought he was average/overrated.[/QUOTE]
Exactly. He's not terrible, he's just overrated.
[quote name='depascal22']Go garage sailing and pick up an entire collection for even less.

As for Uematsu, I don't get the hate either but I've become accustomed to irrational internet hate. Listening to that Blue Dragon boss VGM right now. Even though I just put 80+ hours in BD, I'd still go back to face a couple minor bosses.[/QUOTE]
You put 80 hours into Blue Dragon. Your opinion is quite tainted...
 
So, as this week draws closer and closer, I find myself anticipating the release of HeartGold and SoulSilver more than Final Fantasy 13. Don't get me wrong, I'm still uber excited for FF in two days, but for some reason Im much more interested in the remakes of my two favorite pokemon games.
 
For some reason I had the urge to play Illusion of Gaia the other day. I had it when it first came out, got most of the way through it, but to be honest, I didn't remember any of it.

I'm about 3 hours in so far and really loving it. The level up system is simplified and there isn't tons of exposition/grinding/walking around, things that I've come to dislike in an RPG in my old age.

The game is part of a triolgy right? Are the other two as good?
 
What I like about Blue Dragon the most is it doesn't try to be anything but a traditional JRPG. I know we talk about "JRPGs need to change" but honestly it's nice to play something like this. It's not gimmicky or forced. However Blue Dragon's biggest problems are characters and story.
 
[quote name='Rodimus']What I like about Blue Dragon the most is it doesn't try to be anything but a traditional JRPG. I know we talk about "JRPGs need to change" but honestly it's nice to play something like this. It's not gimmicky or forced. However Blue Dragon's biggest problems are characters and story.[/QUOTE]

I WON'T GIVE UP! I agree though, as simple as the game was, that's what drew me to it. Plus I liked the job system enough to put up with the story and characters.
 
Blue Dragon is really just Mystic Quest. Looking for to much outta it will hurt your enjoyment out of the game, better to just take it as it is and keep punching poos.
 
whooo! I beat Miles Edgeworth!!

now here's the gameplan... the RPG gameplan!!

Ima start playing Devil Survivor in conjunction with more Half Minute Hero... I wont start Persona until I beat both of those.

console wise... fukk FF13.

Im getting it day 1, but Ima play Yakuza 3 first mostly coz it's prolly like 1/5 the length of FF.

I also have Strange Journey and Infinite Space preordered,

so Ima hafta find a way to justify future purchases of Sakura Wars, Resonance of Fate, and Fragile,

Im gonna turn RPG playing into work!! -_-
 
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