RPG Thread IX is a steaming pile of pointless monologue. Just Youtube the ending!

Status
Not open for further replies.
default_shepard

default_shepard

CAGiversary!
ZHP is really fun. In a game that's all about gaining levels, it never feels like grinding. Whether you beat a dungeon or die in it, the result is the same - your level resets to 1 and your "total level" increases. So your time is never really wasted.

I also started Pokemon White, my first Pokemon experience, and while it's a solid game, I was expecting more. DQM: Joker seems to have much better game mechanics, although I'm only about 4 hours into Pokemon.
 
Weeee for influencing the thread title :whee: I'm honored.

Also, just finished Pokemon Black. Easily the most enjoyable Pokemon main game I've played (didn't even finish Platinum or SoulSilver because they felt so redundant). However, I'm kinda disappointed in the post game. Maybe I'm still spoiled by Silver's ability to go back to the Kanto region. There's a few new areas to explore (mainly water based it seams, and you finally get a
fishing rod
, though idk why it's postgame). Ah well, time to track down a copy of Okamiden :D
 
I'm mostly segregating my genre's now. The DS is the home for RPGs and the :ps3: is the place for platformers and action games.

I'm not playing Pokemon. It just gives me too much of a creepy/pedophile feeling.
 
Finally played Mass Effect 2 and just finished it. I don't know why I waited so long, probably because of how much I'd heard about them stripping away a lot of the RPG elements. While that was true to an extent, I still loved every single minute of it. Better late than never.
 
Continued from previous thread:
[quote name='Hell Monkey']Dude I loved Lost Odyssey the characters in there were some of the best I've seen. The interactions between the immortals and their children and grandchildren I thought was very well done, and the Thousand Year bits were great.[/QUOTE]

Only time I've ever shed a tear in a game was during some of those. I cried like a little bitch during some of those Thousand Year bits. Some of them are just so beautifully presented. I would kill for more short stories presented like that (a combination of reading, music, sound effects, and minor visual cues).

On the ME2 note, I really need to get on that DLC, but I'm hoping once the last one comes out they'll come out with a GotY edition like DA:O or Fallout 3, with them all on one disc.
 
I noticed that not many who started Blue Dragon actually finish it. I know I would've fell into that statistic if I wasn't determined to beat it a few years after quitting. Any reason why the few who stopped playing never finished it?
 
[quote name='Rodimus']I noticed that not many who started Blue Dragon actually finish it. I know I would've fell into that statistic if I wasn't determined to beat it a few years after quitting. Any reason why the few who stopped playing never finished it?[/QUOTE]
because i never finish anything nowadays =)
 
[quote name='Rodimus']I noticed that not many who started Blue Dragon actually finish it. I know I would've fell into that statistic if I wasn't determined to beat it a few years after quitting. Any reason why the few who stopped playing never finished it?[/QUOTE]

It didn't really pull me in. I put a couple hours in, and just between the underage heroes and the flow of the story I had nothing that screamed "Play me!"

It actually feels like a grinder within 2 minutes of playing, that isnt' a good thing.
 
Man. I played through Final Fantasy XII again in early January and loved the whole thing... and ever since I've been trying to find something to play that could take its place.

I have been unsuccessful. :(
 
[quote name='Hell Monkey']It didn't really pull me in. I put a couple hours in, and just between the underage heroes and the flow of the story I had nothing that screamed "Play me!"

It actually feels like a grinder within 2 minutes of playing, that isnt' a good thing.[/QUOTE]

I played about the first disc, or maybe two. It's possible that it's an experience that just feels out of place on a modern console. It's ironic because many (including myself) always complain about the lack of quality JRPGs, especially those that are old-school, and yet Blue Dragon is without a doubt the most old school one and I couldn't get into it. I bet if it had been released on the Wii it'd be considered the best RPG on the system. :D
 
[quote name='bvharris']I played about the first disc, or maybe two. It's possible that it's an experience that just feels out of place on a modern console. It's ironic because many (including myself) always complain about the lack of quality JRPGs, especially those that are old-school, and yet Blue Dragon is without a doubt the most old school one and I couldn't get into it. I bet if it had been released on the Wii it'd be considered the best RPG on the system. :D[/QUOTE]

I dunno,there is something about it. I can go and play the original Final Fantasy or Dragon Warrior still with no issue, there is just something with Blue Dragon that didn't click.

I guess I just prefer my RPG heroes to have gone through puberty.
 
I really need to finally break down and get a PSP. I've put it off for so long because I don't know how much I'll get to actually use it. However, there are a bunch of RPGs on it that I would love to play. My 8 year old son has been bugging me to get one for a while now too. So I guess that he would use it, when I'm not.

I missed out on a 1000 for $40 on Craigslist the other day. I'm debating trading in some 360 games to Gamestop while they have the extra 50% and putting it towards the PSP. I just hate that you have to buy the memory stick then too.
 
I too only got roughly to the end of disc 1 in Blue Dragon. At first, I thought it was charming in it's old school simplicity and presentation (though I instantly despised Marumaru), the charm wore off quickly and it quickly became tedious.
 
[quote name='Hell Monkey']I dunno,there is something about it. I can go and play the original Final Fantasy or Dragon Warrior still with no issue, there is just something with Blue Dragon that didn't click.

I guess I just prefer my RPG heroes to have gone through puberty.[/QUOTE]

It's because the designs (both for characters and envvironments) are bland and unappealing and it takes too damn long to get anywhere or fight.
 
[quote name='Lokki']I finished Blue Dragon and enjoyed it, but I had no desire to grind out the achievements.[/QUOTE]
I've heard tell of people who finished the main story, skipped the sidequests, and ended up with 35/1000 gamerscore. :cold:
 
I thought Blue Dragon was unanimously considered to be a mediocre game?

--

PS1 FFs aren't aging incredibly well for me. Still refuse to finish FFVIII, and IX is started to bore me after 10 or so hours. I can tell they were wonderful for their time and even by today's standards, they are still quite impressive (IX's first hour was stunning) -- it's just the battles are so simple and tedious, and combined with some really archaic pacing it can be a chore sometimes.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']I've heard tell of people who finished the main story, skipped the sidequests, and ended up with 35/1000 gamerscore. :cold:[/QUOTE]

I made it to disc 3 and only had 20/1000... so ya that sounds very possible, that game had some fairly ridiculous achievements (i.e. stuff that you only have one chance a playthrough to get). I enjoyed the game and thought the job system they had was decent (although basic), I'll agree that the plot didn't really grip me at all though.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']I've heard tell of people who finished the main story, skipped the sidequests, and ended up with 35/1000 gamerscore. :cold:[/QUOTE]

I guess my 105/1000 isn't as bad as I thought then. :)
 
[quote name='panzerfaust']
PS1 FFs aren't aging incredibly well for me. Still refuse to finish FFVIII, and IX is started to bore me after 10 or so hours. I can tell they were wonderful for their time and even by today's standards, they are still quite impressive (IX's first hour was stunning) -- it's just the battles are so simple and tedious, and combined with some really archaic pacing it can be a chore sometimes.[/QUOTE]

I'd say that's a pretty common opinion. The SNES games have held up far better for me than the PS1 games. IX probably holds up the best, but I'd still rather play IV or VI again.

I don't hold it against those games though, as you said they were amazing for their time, I just prefer the look and feel of the 16-bit games over the polygonal hell of VII in particular.
 
VII is evergreen for me, despite how crappy the graphics look now, it's just one of those easygoing games that you can pick up at any time and have fun with.

VIII you need to be in the right mood for. I still love the art design of that game, despite the nonsensical story and sometimes annoying characters, it's always a joy to look at. The fiddly, complicated gameplay can be a turn-off or turn-on depending on what you're looking for in a game.

IX I thought was tedious and dumb even when it came out, and I haven't bothered to revisit it.

All three of the SNES games were amazing and perfect when they came out and will remain amazing and perfect until the end of time. :)
 
I liked FFVIII's combat a lot, it's just summoning made things very annoying since they were so effective yet you had to sit through a 2 minute cinematic just to use them.

And aside from the shitty secondary characters, Squall and Rinoa were amazing up until the melodramatic dive they took before the final disc. That's where I left off because I was so disappointed with the sudden shift -- and all this "lol mosnters from the moon come down to earth for no reason every year, didn't you know!?" :dunce:
 
[quote name='icebeast']I made it to disc 3 and only had 20/1000... so ya that sounds very possible, that game had some fairly ridiculous achievements (i.e. stuff that you only have one chance a playthrough to get). I enjoyed the game and thought the job system they had was decent (although basic), I'll agree that the plot didn't really grip me at all though.[/QUOTE]

I've always been under the general impression that the degree of difficulty for JRPG Achievements is leaps and bounds beyond their western brethren. I'm no Achievement whore by any means and having played pretty much every RPG on the system I don't think I have a single JRPG near Achievement completion, even among those games I've beaten. Whereas practically every WRPG is near completion, in many cases after only 1 playthrough. Of course this is purely anecdotal, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't true in general.
 
I'm one away from a platinum on XIII almost by accident, but I really don't care to spend my whole day selling and upgrading items. Not a fan of trophies, it'd be nice to get the final theme though.
 
[quote name='bvharris']I've always been under the general impression that the degree of difficulty for JRPG Achievements is leaps and bounds beyond their western brethren. I'm no Achievement whore by any means and having played pretty much every RPG on the system I don't think I have a single JRPG near Achievement completion, even among those games I've beaten. Whereas practically every WRPG is near completion, in many cases after only 1 playthrough. Of course this is purely anecdotal, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't true in general.[/QUOTE]

I'm not an achievement whore either, like if they or easy or sound fun I'll do them (i.e. I don't usually do that many), and I'll agree JRPGs do seem to have more difficult achievements. That said though Blue Dragon had some achievements that were just silly. Like, beat special bosses, sure; get everyone to 99 in every job, fine I can see it (but I would never personally do that); find and open every chest in the game, that is kind of pushing it but alright (again I'd never do that); have a perfect run of a mini-game that you only get one chance at unless you save right before it, ya that is silly and ridiculous (especially since some of those mini-game, like not having the wagon get hit in the wagon escort, didn't even seem possible the one time I played the mini-game to get through it (since like I said I wasn't going to keep reloading a save just to get something stupid like that)).
 
I think Japanese and Western devs definitely have different ideas about what is appropriate for achievements. In Japanese games there is an expectation that you will basically devote your life to mastery of that one game (I've heard of people spending 400 hours trying to complete the battle trophies in Star Ocean 4). You also see more of the idea that the "campaign" is just the beginning, and the lion's share of points is tied to postgame or optional content (Eternal Sonata, Final Fantasy XIII, Last Remnant, Infinite Undiscovery).
 
Yep, Blue Dragon had terrible achievements. I'll admit, I like achievements (to a degree) so playing Blue Dragoon for 40 hours with only 15 nerd points to my credit was disheartening.

I eventually finished it with 565/1000. Took a lot of grinding but I enjoyed it. I plan on returning someday when I feel like a mindless grind.
 
I havent' done to bad with my J (or K)-RPGs in achievements so far.

I'm in the 900's for Lost Odyssey, 700's for Tales of Vesperia, 600's for Infinite Undiscovery and 100% for Magna Carta 2.

Some of what was left for ToV and IU required a lot of grinding or being in the right place at the right time (and if you weren't, tough crap)

Blue Dragon I had about 10 points in though, 20 for Eternal Sonata and 200 or so for Enchanted Arms.
 
[quote name='Hell Monkey']I havent' done to bad with my J (or K)-RPGs in achievements so far.[/QUOTE]
I'm not so good with JRPG completion overall. I do have 1000 in Final Fantasy XIII, 720 in Vesperia, and 500 in Infinite Undiscovery, which is apparently somewhat respectable for that game.

Past those, it's a hall of shame:

Phantasy Star Universe 0/1250
Eternal Sonata 50/1000
Star Ocean TLH 20/1000
Lost Odyssey 235/1100
The Last Remnant 0/1000

Lost Odyssey and Eternal Sonata I do plan on returning to... someday.
 
I noticed that not many who started Blue Dragon actually finish it. I know I would've fell into that statistic if I wasn't determined to beat it a few years after quitting. Any reason why the few who stopped playing never finished it?
__________________
Click to expand...

I played it for like 2-3 hours and just didn't feel it, and sold it ebay. I might go back and play it again, but only if I'm really hard up for RPGs like I was at the end of last year.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']Past those, it's a hall of shame:

Phantasy Star Universe 0/1250
Eternal Sonata 50/1000
Star Ocean TLH 20/1000
Lost Odyssey 235/1100
The Last Remnant 0/1000

Lost Odyssey and Eternal Sonata I do plan on returning to... someday.[/QUOTE]

No shame there.

PSU 200/1000 (I don't count online only DLC)
Star Ocean: 0/1000 (haven't even started it)
Last REmnant 0/1000 (also havent' started it)

So rigth there with you for the rest
 
I'm working on Bioshock 2 atm as a break from RPGs. I'm also slowly working on Mass Effect. I've had it on my back log shelf since it came out. I also have ME2 there. :( I'm still waiting for it to grab me.

I still have Enchanted Arms, Lost Odyssey, Star Ocean TLH, & Tales of Vesperia sitting in my back logs. I'm partially through Spectral Force 3 as well. :( Plus various other games.

It's just hard to put the time into RPGs these days. I'm married and have 2 kids. I have all 3 systems and they are all hooked up to my 57" tv in the living room. There is always competition for the tv there, but I can't move the systems because we all enjoy using them and on that tv. Back in my younger and single days, I'd knock out a RPG in no time. It is still my favorite genre.
 
Anyone still play PSU? Me and a buddy were entertaining the idea of playing again but I have a question... Would our online characters still available or do they get erased after a some time? It's been about 3 years since we last played.

PSU remains the only MMO I ever played.
 
[quote name='Rodimus']I noticed that not many who started Blue Dragon actually finish it. I know I would've fell into that statistic if I wasn't determined to beat it a few years after quitting. Any reason why the few who stopped playing never finished it?[/QUOTE]

I got to the second disc...and it bored me. I felt like I was grinding more than anything, and plus the characters weren't doing it for me and the voice acting was pretty bad....and the boss battle theme was horrible
 
[quote name='Rodimus']Anyone still play PSU? Me and a buddy were entertaining the idea of playing again but I have a question... Would our online characters still available or do they get erased after a some time? It's been about 3 years since we last played.

PSU remains the only MMO I ever played.[/QUOTE]


I considered it but I'm against paying $$ to play a game I already paid for, so never did.
 
I must be the only one who loved the boss theme in Blue Dragon. It was awesome in a cheesy way.

As for PSU I only payed $8 for the game so I don't mind paying the subscription fee for one month. Also I heard the DLC is free now.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']I think Japanese and Western devs definitely have different ideas about what is appropriate for achievements. In Japanese games there is an expectation that you will basically devote your life to mastery of that one game (I've heard of people spending 400 hours trying to complete the battle trophies in Star Ocean 4). You also see more of the idea that the "campaign" is just the beginning, and the lion's share of points is tied to postgame or optional content (Eternal Sonata, Final Fantasy XIII, Last Remnant, Infinite Undiscovery).[/QUOTE]

One of my Xbox Live friends has every achievement for Star Ocean, like he was featured in Game Informer for it, and he mentioned that spending all that time to get the battle trophies for it wasn't worth it. Maybe that it is why I haven't picked it up yet...too much time for achievements
 
For Blue Dragon a lot of achievements are from mini games, and they are pretty hard to get on your first try. I finished the game and got 370, which is just from beating the game doing normal stuff and all the mini games.

For Lost Odyssey I got 730 from completing the game and beating a few optional bosses.

Eternal Sonata is the worst as I only got 170 after beating it. Most of the achievements can only be gotten in second and third though.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
[quote name='Cheddahz']One of my Xbox Live friends has every achievement for Star Ocean, like he was featured in Game Informer for it, and he mentioned that spending all that time to get the battle trophies for it wasn't worth it. Maybe that it is why I haven't picked it up yet...too much time for achievements[/QUOTE]

I think Star Ocean might be close to the pinnacle of ridiculous RPG achievements. I can't imagine devoting that much time to it, especially since it was a pretty mediocre game.
 
[quote name='bvharris']I think Star Ocean might be close to the pinnacle of ridiculous RPG achievements. I can't imagine devoting that much time to it, especially since it was a pretty mediocre game.[/QUOTE]

No Final Fantasy XI is worst
 
Star Ocean: TLH International > Star Ocean: TLH

......just because of the Japanese voice-overs, the English voice-overs for this game seem terrible (judging from YouTube videos I have watched)
 
[quote name='62t']No Final Fantasy XI is worst[/QUOTE]

Well I said "close to the pinnacle", but in any case I'm not sure FFXI should count.
 
I read somewhere that there is only one person in the world who has legitimately earned every achievement in Final Fantasy XI. And they had been playing the PC version for years before the 360 version came out-- I guess it automatically unlocks achievements if you've already met the criteria from playing on another platform.
 
Final Verdict: JRPGs on the 360 either have crazy-ass achievements or achievements that take a life time to gain
 
Just for grins, I checked FF11 and Star Ocean on TrueAchievements.com. Final Fantasy XI has been completed by 1 member (0.10% completion rate). 62 people have completed Star Ocean (0.71% completion rate).

By comparison, a difficult but reasonable game like Final Fantasy XIII has a completion rate of 6.49%.
 
[quote name='bvharris']On the flipside, what do you guys think is the easiest RPG completion? Discounting shovelware obviously.[/QUOTE]


For a J-RPG?

Enchanted Arms or Phantasy Star Universe. Beat the game and you have 100% (not counting DLC for PSU which is online only)
 
I'm including WRPGs in that. I would say most of the big WRPGs aren't difficult so much as time consuming. For example, Oblivion and Fallout 3 are both very easy completions in terms of degree of difficulty but both are still very time consuming.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
bread's done
Back
Top