The Official PS2 RPG Thread

[quote name='Krymner']Are the Shadow Hearts series of RPGs really that good? The third one can still be found new for cheap, but 1 and 2 seem to be holding some value, even used.[/QUOTE]
The first, and especially the second ones are good. The third is garbage though.
 
Shadow Hearts 2 was fine in terms of graphics and story, but man did its dungeon crawl suck. It's one thing to have a timed button press a la Mario RPG or Mario & Luigi, it's another to have the game come to a screeching halt every time you want to do something.
 
I'm trying to decide if I should finish Wild Arms 5. Spoiler I guess

I'm at the part where I have to start traveling to a couple different towers, it's like right after the part where you go into Avrils mind. It's been a couple months since I played so I don't exactly remember to much. How far away from finishing am I? Is it really worth it to finish up the game, does it have a good ending. I was having fun with it but it seemed to just kind of drag on beating me to death with the same themes over and over again.
 
[quote name='exileinoblivion']I'm trying to decide if I should finish Wild Arms 5. Spoiler I guess

I'm at the part where I have to start traveling to a couple different towers, it's like right after the part where you go into Avrils mind. It's been a couple months since I played so I don't exactly remember to much. How far away from finishing am I? Is it really worth it to finish up the game, does it have a good ending. I was having fun with it but it seemed to just kind of drag on beating me to death with the same themes over and over again.
[/QUOTE]
You aren't too far from the end. The dungeons in that part are still kind of samey, but are also generally more interesting than the earlier ones. Also, the ending is pretty good. If you have some time to kill, it may be worth it to wrap things up.
 
I bought Shadow Hearts 2 after everyone saying it's awesome... still haven't played it though. I just can't find the motivation to play through it. Hrmmm....

whatever. Persona 4 is awesome.
 
Shadow Hearts 2 is one of the most amazing game this generation. SH1 isnt bad either. You can avoid SH3
 
[quote name='Krymner']So I'm on the fence about Ar Tonelico 2. Anyone think it could become hard to find in six months?[/quote]
I would guess it will play out similarly to the first Ar tonelico and Mana Khemia. The initial release with bonus stuff may become somewhat rare and pricey, but NISA is likely to reissue a cheap, game-only edition a few months down the line. So if you care about the extras, better safe than sorry, but if you only want to play the game, you might want to wait it out.
 
So I picked FF XII back up. It's been so long since I played it I have no idea what was happening in terms of the story, but I'm just grinding around to get better equipment and licenses. It's really not as bad as I remember it though.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']Magna Carta[/quote]

why would you want a crappy game.. at least from the reviews ive seen thats what it is..
 
[quote name='Krymner']Are the Shadow Hearts series of RPGs really that good? The third one can still be found new for cheap, but 1 and 2 seem to be holding some value, even used.[/quote]

The first Shadow Hearts game is absolutely amazing. The second one got a bit more quirky (but was still good) and frankly, I didn't like the third game much at all. But the first is the darkest and most serious of the 3 and I definitely loved it.
 
[quote name='Katra']The first Shadow Hearts game is absolutely amazing. The second one got a bit more quirky (but was still good) and frankly, I didn't like the third game much at all. But the first is the darkest and most serious of the 3 and I definitely loved it.[/quote]


I think the SH series is merely okay, not bad but not great. The first plays better, the second looks better.
 
The second shadow hearts was amazing. The third wasn't too bad, I enjoyed it; I don't understand why it gets so much hate.
 
The reason it gets so much hate is because the previous game was so good. SH3 is a completely mediocre game, and just plain garbage compared to SH2.
 
[quote name='Rei no Otaku']The reason it gets so much hate is because the previous game was so good. SH3 is a completely mediocre game, and just plain garbage compared to SH2.[/quote]
Shadow Hearts 3 was a very good game, and although not as good as 2, was very fun for me to play.
 
I did manage to find a used copy of SH 1 the other day for $20 and I was extremely tempted to pick it up, but it didn't come with instructions. :cry:

But Shadow Hearts 1 & 2 are about the only PS2 RPGs I still want for my collection.

Oh and I just started Xenosaga Ep III. It is leagues above the first two so far.

My PS2 RPG backlog is shrinking!! :applause:
 
[quote name='Krymner']I did manage to find a used copy of SH 1 the other day for $20 and I was extremely tempted to pick it up, but it didn't come with instructions. :cry:

But Shadow Hearts 1 & 2 are about the only PS2 RPGs I still want for my collection.

Oh and I just started Xenosaga Ep III. It is leagues above the first two so far.

My PS2 RPG backlog is shrinking!! :applause:[/quote]

Ugh, I've been too busy with a bunch of crap lately to play any of my PS2 RPGs. I've got a MASSIVE backlog, including, among many others, the last two Xenosagas and all 3 Shadow Hearts. Of course, it's been so long since I played Xenosaga 1 (beat it when it first came out) that I barely remember anything, so I might need to play through again. Or just spend 10 hours watching the cutscenes. I swear, one of these days I'll finish my PS2 RPG backlog. I just won't buy one of the current systems for at least another year.
 
Help please!

I just got a PS2 and I need some help in RPGs.

Do we have a list of must plays?

I do want to pick up a few, but which ones are rare? or expect to pay alot for?

Eventually I will want to go back to PS1 and pick up all of those too.
 
[quote name='Rave Child']I swear, one of these days I'll finish my PS2 RPG backlog. I just won't buy one of the current systems for at least another year.[/quote]
That's my plan too. My completed JRPG list for PS2 consists of Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XII, and Shadow Hearts Covenant. My backlog is... almost every other JRPG on the system.

I tend to put a few hours into a game at a time and then switch to something else-- not very conducive to crossing titles off of the backlog.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']That's my plan too. My completed JRPG list for PS2 consists of Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XII, and Shadow Hearts Covenant. My backlog is... almost every other JRPG on the system.

I tend to put a few hours into a game at a time and then switch to something else-- not very conducive to crossing titles off of the backlog.[/quote]

Haha, yeah, I've beated FFX, Xenosaga Episode 1, Dark Cloud, .hack//Part 1: Infection, Suikoden III, and Kingdom Hearts. I think that's it. I'm almost done with FFXII (prepping to fight Yiazmat and getting to Order of Ambrosia, with about 4 hours of storyline gameplay left). Other than that, I own most JRPGs out there. Probably at least half. And I even get excited about things like Ar Tonelico II, even though I haven't played the first or Mana Khemia. I know I'll pick that up one day.

What's even worse (or better, if you've got the time on your hands) is that I've recently been doing a ton of trading to beef up my PS1 RPG collection. I think in the past week I've received 8 or so, and some more are on the way.

I really can't switch between titles at all. If I play something new, I usually get engrossed in it for at least 5-10 hours. Then I barely remember what's going on in games I haven't played for a while, and that can be a hinderance. I've adopted a policy of one game per genre per system at a time and it works pretty nicely most of the time. Of course, lately I've been putting in lots of hours into my DS playing DQIV and almost none into my PS2.
 
I was actually there for the PSX era, so pretty much everything that looked good to me, I played when it came out (with the exception of Legend of Dragoon, which I just picked up recently). I missed out on the PS2 for various reasons-- I only ended up picking up a Dreamcast and GameCube at the time, and I wasn't playing many games for a few years anyway. I finally got around to getting a PS2 at the end of 2007 and I've been building my library since then. I have around 70 games at this point, mostly JRPGs. Turns out I just overestimated the amount of time I would have to actually play them. :)

As for playing one game at a time, I try to do that but it never seems to stick... Most recently, I suspended my 18-hour Dragon Quest IV game to start on Chrono Trigger DS instead, but now I'm kind of stuck at the Golem Sisters boss battle so I may go back to DQ for a while. :) I probably have a dozen PS2 games with 10, 20, 30 hours on the clock that I just rotate between.
 
Yeah, I never had a PSX, I had an N64 instead, so now I've got to catch up on that front. I got the PS2 around 2002 maybe, but never had a lot of games, and definitely didn't have many RPGs besides FFX and Suikoden III. Instead, I had a lot of things like Tony Hawk and Gran Turismo and the GTAs. Then in 2004 I went to college, and with so many roommates and just one TV, plus a social life, I barely had the time to play RPGs, and only really got a good chance during summer and winter breaks.

Now that I just graduated and I live in a studio by myself, I've finally got some time away from my friends where I can really get into the games I've accumulated all this time. Unfortunately, I've probably also got 70 or more JRPGs on my plate. One of these days, though, I know I can beat them all. I'll just have to do it before I get a wife or family or something. At least I know that won't happen any time soon.
 
[quote name='xycury']Help please!

I just got a PS2 and I need some help in RPGs.

Do we have a list of must plays?

I do want to pick up a few, but which ones are rare? or expect to pay alot for?

Eventually I will want to go back to PS1 and pick up all of those too.[/quote]
Dragon Quest VIII. You can pick it up used for under $15, and it is the greatest game I have ever played.
 
Final Fantasy XII seems to be a love/hate kind of thing for most people, but personally it grabbed me more than any other JRPG since the SNES days.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']That's my plan too. My completed JRPG list for PS2 consists of Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XII, and Shadow Hearts Covenant. My backlog is... almost every other JRPG on the system.

I tend to put a few hours into a game at a time and then switch to something else-- not very conducive to crossing titles off of the backlog.[/QUOTE]

:lol: Sound like my situation. The PS2 rpg's I finished were FFX, Shadow Hearts 1&2, Xenosaga I. That's all I can remember off the top of my head, I have started but have not finished Oden Sphere, Okami and numerous others.
I was playing the shit out of fallout 3(going for the platinum) until my PS3 quit reading disks:cry:.

I just have to open the system back up and check and see exactly what type of laser I need, and do the replacement. Until that happens, I have been trying to work on finishing my huge ps2 backlog.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']Final Fantasy XII seems to be a love/hate kind of thing for most people, but personally it grabbed me more than any other JRPG since the SNES days.[/QUOTE]

Why do people hate on it so much? The characters might not be the strongest in the series but the gameplay is great IMO. But I also loved FFXI and most people hate that one, sooo....and I've got SH 1 and 2 in my backlog. I played a bit of 1 and it didn't grab me, but I'll give it another go sometime.
 
Voice acting in XII is worse than in X.

The battle system plays itself (it's more of an RTS than a JRPG).

Graphics are ok but I think they lack the clarity of X and XI (decreased polygons w/ more textures is not my cup of tea).

Keep in mind I really wasn't thrilled with X or XI.
 
[quote name='willardhaven']Voice acting in XII is worse than in X.[/QUOTE]
I must have lower standards because I like the voice acting in both games. Anyway, people who play video games can't afford to be voice-acting snobs.

The battle system plays itself ...
Click to expand...
That was the whole point of the battle system. You set up your commands ahead of time and then watch to see how things play out (and take a more active role if you want). I can certainly understand if people don't like that system, but I had a lot of fun with it.
 
[quote name='willardhaven']

The battle system plays itself (it's more of an RTS than a JRPG).
[/QUOTE]

How can this possibly be a detraction? You can set the gambits however you want or, and this might be revolutionary, don't use them at all if you don't want to!! (Gasp!) Just because an option is there doesn't mean you have to do it.

The voice acting I don't find any worse than X, but I haven't played X in a long time.
 
[quote name='keithp']How can this possibly be a detraction? You can set the gambits however you want or, and this might be revolutionary, don't use them at all if you don't want to!! (Gasp!) Just because an option is there doesn't mean you have to do it.

The voice acting I don't find any worse than X, but I haven't played X in a long time.[/quote]

It's far more a pain in the ass to play it as a turn-based game than the demo had originally shown. They changed the mechanics of that way of fighting completely and ruined me from liking the battle system what so ever since my only other option was to basically let the game play for me which I find boring as hell.

It was the main reason I didn't like the game and couldn't get more than 20 hours or so into it. Tried picking it up several times since, but never had any luck because I hate the battle system so much.
 
I thought it was really fun to set up my Gambits and then watch them play out. The whole "massively singleplayer" atmosphere, and the amazingly realized world, really appealed to me. And I thought the voice work was the best I've heard in a video game, certainly on a different level above FFX's.
 
I still haven't touched FFXII yet, but I do plan on tackling it after Xenosaga 3.

And speaking of Xeno 3, anyone know approx. how long it should take to finish (not 100% completion)? I'm guessing a bit longer than Ep 2, so about 40 hours?

But so far I'm liking 3 more than the previous ones, mostly thanks to the less-confusing battle system.
 
[quote name='keithp']How can this possibly be a detraction? You can set the gambits however you want or, and this might be revolutionary, don't use them at all if you don't want to!! (Gasp!) Just because an option is there doesn't mean you have to do it.

The voice acting I don't find any worse than X, but I haven't played X in a long time.[/quote]

Well the frequency of enemy encounters makes it difficult to play traditionally. Gambits were intended by the creators to be a focal point of game play.

It's a detraction because it's a major part of the game and I don't like it. I'm just giving my opinion, I've played with and without the gambit system.

The voice acting sounded like it was recorded inside a giant toilet bowl, and the dialogue itself was unnatural and boring (to me).

Listen to Persona 3's voice work and then play back FF XII's and you'll really see how low-budget FF's is.
 
[quote name='willardhaven']The voice acting sounded like it was recorded inside a giant toilet bowl, and the dialogue itself was unnatural and boring (to me).[/quote]
That's definitely true, the recording quality was not up to snuff. I don't know why they didn't just spread the game over two discs so they wouldn't have to compress the voice files so much.
 
Yeah, no doubt. It was weird how the overall game was so artistically accomplished, but that one texture was so odd looking. Especially since it was the main character's torso. It really stuck out. You'd think that at some point in development someone would have done something about it.
 
I think the visuals would have been stronger with less textures and larger character models.

The art direction and CG sequences were very good though.
 
[quote name='willardhaven']I think the visuals would have been stronger with less textures and larger character models.[/quote]
You mean higher poly count? Maybe... Personally I think it's a stellar example of doing more with less. The increased power for textures and lighting effects more than made up for the lower poly models. To me, the overall aesthetic effect is a lot stronger than FFX.

All this FF12 talk is making me wish they could have done an FFX-2 style follow-up game with the same engine but a new scenario. I would totally play FF12 "expansions."
 
You could play FF XI, it's similar in a lot of ways.

Also FF XI would be an example of less textures and more polygons. Scenes in XII would look good, but messy by comparison.
 
[quote name='willardhaven']Well the frequency of enemy encounters makes it difficult to play traditionally. Gambits were intended by the creators to be a focal point of game play.

It's a detraction because it's a major part of the game and I don't like it. I'm just giving my opinion, I've played with and without the gambit system.

The voice acting sounded like it was recorded inside a giant toilet bowl, and the dialogue itself was unnatural and boring (to me).

Listen to Persona 3's voice work and then play back FF XII's and you'll really see how low-budget FF's is.[/QUOTE]

Persona 3 was actually the last game I finished before getting back to FFXII, so I definitely agree with you there. And I wasn't meaning YOU specifically, I thought they were all points you had heard or read. Fair enough.
 
[quote name='Krymner']And speaking of Xeno 3, anyone know approx. how long it should take to finish (not 100% completion)? I'm guessing a bit longer than Ep 2, so about 40 hours?
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, 40 is about right.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']All this FF12 talk is making me wish they could have done an FFX-2 style follow-up game with the same engine but a new scenario. I would totally play FF12 "expansions."[/quote]

Haha, I would have guessed as much from your avator. ;)

I, for one, really enjoy the battle system. It's nice having it play out when you're lazy or grinding or going through an area with weaker enemies, but you've also got the individual control aspect whenever you want. I know I personally control a large amount of my characters moves during tougher boss fights or tighter situations in the Henne Mines or something. It's a nice change of pace from your traditional turn based combat and random battles from the other FF games. I like the voice acting well enough, too. It's not perfect, but it's not really really corny, so I'm not complaining.
 
Finally got into FFXII (bought it at launch, played for five hours, let some people convince me I didn't like it, sold it, bought it a week ago, am 14 hours into it, LOVE LOVE LOVE it).


I love the flow of battles. I just sit there and smile while my dudes take out mobs, every now and then entering a few commands to help them along their way. Also LOVE the voice acting in this game. It really helps that they used a lot of theatrically trained people. Great stuff.

Also just got FFX-2 (having still not played FFX, which is lame, I know, sorry) and must say that battles system is equally awesome. It's so quick!
 
[quote name='Dissolve']Finally got into FFXII (bought it at launch, played for five hours, let some people convince me I didn't like it, sold it, bought it a week ago, am 14 hours into it, LOVE LOVE LOVE it).


I love the flow of battles. I just sit there and smile while my dudes take out mobs, every now and then entering a few commands to help them along their way. Also LOVE the voice acting in this game. It really helps that they used a lot of theatrically trained people. Great stuff.

Also just got FFX-2 (having still not played FFX, which is lame, I know, sorry) and must say that battles system is equally awesome. It's so quick![/quote]

Haha, I got back into a few weeks ago, but have since fallen away from it. I hope to get back to it this weekend though and finish it up within a week. I'm around 185 hours into, and I still love it, haha. You should definitely play X when you get a chance, it's my second favorite behind VIII (not a typo). I still haven't played IV-VI, though, or IX. I tried to go through all of them in order once, but I only made it to II before I quit. That would have been pretty epic, but I needed a little more variety after the first two.
 
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