The Glorious RPG Appreciation Thread

[beni 2149]

This thread is aimed at both western RPGs and JRPGs. This can be from classics, to old hidden gems to the modern lot we either love or hate. Seeing as this has recently been voted as Japan's favourite genre, surely we've got some RPG lovers in the house too. Please note anything Western and Japanese is fine, including sub-genres like SRPG/TRPG.

 

I'm personally super interested in Persona 5. I've only got Persona Arena and I didn't do my research before purchasing it since I, quite frankly, find arcade games to be a bore. Persona 5 looks more up my alley, and I'm planning to play Persona 4 whenever I have the chance. Kingdom Hearts 3 and Final Fantasy XV are the other two expected shout outs in this thread, I'm sure. With the recently announced Ni No Kuni 2, that's definitely on my watch list. Now I just need to get my own PS4...

 

 

Moving on to games I've enjoyed playing that aren't upcoming, I hold Bravely Default close to my heart for its pretty art and simple yet addicting battle style. I'm very much a fan of the Nintendo for its classy RPG titles, and that certainly goes for Fire Emblem too. Adore Awakening (and totally pumped for Fates ofc!). I recently got Golden Sun and Heroes of Mana (probably the worst game of the franchise knowing me..) that are both for the DS and sounded promising so I'm excited seeing how they play out.

 

 

I've been trying out more titles on the PSP and Xbox too (getting onto the Wii in due time), and I'm excited when I can get my hands on Half Minute Hero and many more other PSP titles I've heard are worth a go with. I'm loving how Lost Odyssey and Infinite Undiscovery are getting on, but I've only recently started them and are the only Xbox ones I got with my RPG Xbox bundle I think are worth mentioning at the moment. 

 

 

For some oldies (to an extent), Luminous Arc is my selection for the hidden gem franchise, and Avalon Code for my obscure pick. I was lucky enough to have gotten both LA games as a kid and still love them to this day. I still find it surprising I can handle the graphics, and while I'd love to get to classics like Final Fantasy's earlier works (in which I have tried a few for a few weeks at a time), this is still a barrier for me. Anyone else feel me? AC looked pretty to me, and it's got one of the best looking systems I've ever had the pleasure to play. I can't leave out Rune Factory Frontier either, since that is so addicting. Forget about Harvest Moon, the Rune Factory series wins it for appeal all round. 

 

 

So what are you favourite titles in the RPG genre? Any you're looking forward to? Any obscure ones you care to share?

[yakihiko 1480]

Fabulous thread @beni!

I'm looking forward to Kingdom Hearts 3, Final Fantasy XV and Persona 5 too.

I'm waiting for FFXV(ex.VersusXIII) since their first trailer, YEARS HAS PASSED and finally looks like it's coming!

If you are interested in playing old Persona's games, try first Persona 3 FES and after Persona 4, both are for PS2 only.

Now I just need to get my own PS4... [2]

[Mihenno 4195]

I just found out that the PSN store put up Dark Cloud for download. That game was a crucial part of my childhood. 

 

 

It's a great dungeon crawler RPG where you build-up weapons and they have this Georama system thing where you have to rebuild towns. It's a really great game and everyone should play it, although I feel like nobody has. xD

[pinkmakona 1810]

Any Koudelka fans? 

 

I also like Dragon Quest, Breath of Fire, Lunar and Chrono Trigger.

 

For Final Fantasy - It would have to be tactics/5/6/9/12 (yes really... i LIKE 12). X-2 is also a guilty pleasure of mine.

 

Current game i'm into is Fire Emblem Awakening for the 3DS.

 

Now I just need to get my own PS4... [3] 

 

This hasn't happened yet and i don't know why. 

[Kaye 296]

If you are interested in playing old Persona's games, try first Persona 3 FES and after Persona 4, both are for PS2 only.

 

P3 has a version for PS3 on the PSN. That's how I was finally able to play as it was never officially released here for PS2. It has P4 too but I think that's just a stadium game? I'm not sure. Maybe it differs for me because I'm in Europe.

 

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I've been waiting for FFXV since the first teaser in 2006 and I'm glad it's finally coming this year. I got Type-0's remaster with the XV demo when it came out last year (despite not having a PS4 at the time) and I've finally been able to play it in the past few weeks. Both are pretty fun though completely different games.

 

You don't know how much I love being able to hear the Japanese voices instead of the English ones though. (Partly because it's fun recognizing the VAs, partly because it's just done better).

 

Also waiting for P5, and KH3, among others. (I'm a pretty big Square-Enix games fan, I can't stop)

 

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I pretty much own every main FF game starting with 6. Used to have a few on DS but I left them with a friend and never got them back. Same with the whole KH collection though I gave up on actually playing them on their original platforms. Just gimme the remasters for PS3. I'll be good.

 

Still waiting for a sequel of some sorts to TWEWY. Loved that game a lot. I'm kind of sad there's no playstation port or something, but I know that wouldn't ever work. I still need to play Dream Drop Distance so at least I'll get a somewhat decent quality Neku on my TV sometime soon.

[plastic_rainbow 2162]

Yessss, thanks for this topic beni!!
I'm also looking forward to Persona 5! I love the Persona series, but I haven't played the first two yet...I tried playing the first one on the original PS1 but all the typos in the dialogue irked me so I think I might have to play the PSP version, haha.
 
I haven't played the first Dark Cloud yet, but I've played the second one! I agree that the gameplay is very fun if you like customizing and synthesizing!
 
I've played Koudelka once too! But not the sequels yet. I've played it a while ago so I might think about replaying it sometime soon and hopefully get to the sequels too.
 
I have a lot of favorites, but I don't think many people know about Breath of Fire. I absolutely adore the series and their characters. It's too bad that Capcom had to ruin it with the 6th installment.
Anyway, my favorite from the series is Breath of Fire IV and I absolutely love the graphics!

Couldn't find a good video that showed some of the gameplay so it's in Japanese with low quality...

[yakihiko 1480]

@@Kaye, The original P4 is in the same style as P3, later ATLUS released that P4 ARENA GAME. I had no idea P3 were on PSN for PS3.

I currently playing KH Re:Chain of Memories for PS2, I also have that one for GBA, KH1 and KH2 for PS2.

i'm a KH and Persona fanboy

[pinkmakona 1810]

I have a lot of favorites, but I don't think many people know about Breath of Fire. I absolutely adore the series and their characters. It's too bad that Capcom had to ruin it with the 6th installment.

Anyway, my favorite from the series is Breath of Fire IV and I absolutely love the graphics!

Couldn't find a good video that showed some of the gameplay so it's in Japanese with low quality...

I suddenly find you alright!

[Original Saku 1593]

My three favorite RPGs from last console generation are;

 

 

 

 

and then if you count Dark Souls then I would put it on the top of that list xD

 

[enyx 903]

Are we including SRPGs in here too? If so then I'd love to mention the original Valkyria Chronicles (PS3, PC, and soon PS4). Despite it's anime-ish aesthetic and occasional cheesiness it's probably one of the most mature games you'll play in a lot of respects. It's a lot like games such as Final Fantasy IX and Metal Gear Solid 3 in the sense that, since it doesn't always take itself too seriously, it's able to disarm you and leave you unprepared or its more serious moments. It somehow manages to sneak in themes of racism, ambiguous political morality, and genocide/ethnic cleansing at the same time that it presents you with a flying pig mascot character who's only role in the game is to act cute and say "moink!" (seriously). On the gameplay front it's one of the few SRPGs in a long time to actually try to push the genre forward; getting rid of the grid system and adding in real-time elements (i.e. interception fire), while also featuring some really brilliant level design. It also has a brilliant Hitoshi Sakimoto soundtrack, which is always a plus. Unfortunately its two sequels on the PSP are just lazy cashgrabs, but the original is really worth playing IMO. Play either the PC or upcoming PS4 version if you can.

 

 

For Final Fantasy - It would have to be tactics/5/6/9/12 (yes really... i LIKE 12). 

Hallelujah! It's so rare to see a XII fan these days, it makes me sad. I feel like the game gets a bad rep almost entirely because it didn't follow the storyline conventions of previous titles in the franchise, but if you're willing to look past the fact that the character that you control in towns isn't the central pillar of the story (or indeed, that there isn't a main character at all), or that it places more emphasis on political intrigue and ambiguous morality, then it's honestly one of the best video game stories out there IMO. As much as I love a lot of them, I find most Final Fantasy games tend to dumb down a lot of storyline aspects in order to place the emphasis on the emotional development of one or two central characters. Final Fantasy XII did basically the opposite and as such I think a lot of people didn't really know how to approach it or went in with misguided expectations. Also cool to see you giving Tactics a mention.

[pinkmakona 1810]

I agree with Pho. FF12 is so good. It's much more about the story/events taking place than the actual characters. I honestly think that a lot of people didn't take to the whole political intrigue in the story like Pho said. The main complaints i seem to see is Vaan being the "main protagonist" (Balthier is the "leading man" to meeeee though) and the other characters being one-dimensional/adding little to the plot. The battle system seems to be a love/hate aspect. It displays active time battles, no more random encounters and the gambit system/license board is implemented. I personally liked both of these as there are so many combinations to set up for a battle and work with (tank, mage, dps).

 

Quickenings, esper choices and personal stats (e.g - Penelo has a slightly higher magic stat) exist for character individuality. You can still actually enter manual commands and control all of your characters if desired. Positive notes include a good soundtrack, graphics and a shit load of side quests/extra content to do. 

 

Did anyone ever complete all of those monster hunt quests and rare games? I can't believe how much time and effort i put into those back in the day lol. 

 

Isn't 12 getting a HD remaster btw?

[yakihiko 1480]

I like FFXII too, I still like to play it but there is a boss who don't let me defeat him, Vinuskar.

[pinkmakona 1810]

I like FFXII too, I still like to play it but there is a boss who don't let me defeat him, Vinuskar.

I still never got Zodiark...

 

Just getting to it was a huge pain and when i finally did i lost. ;(

 

Recently started playing on it again.

 

I did beat Ultima though! 

[Lestat 2167]

I prefer Western RPGs because they are not limited by turn-based mechanics and more cutscenes than actual gameplay, which is mostly the case for JRPGs — also, a lot of JRPGs claim to be of an open-world environment, but are still often limited to specific routes and areas depending on the current quest. I have played several installments of the Final Fantasy franchise, but I simply could not get into them. 

 

Bethesda is perhaps my greatest love of all time. I have put thousands of hours in The Elder Scrolls and the Fallout series, with Skyrim and Fallout 3 being my favourite games out of a countless selection of others. These games can still provide new material even after a decade or so, and I am currently still exploring their worlds and uncovering new storylines and places that I have never seen before. Quite honestly, I tend to stall on the main quests for as long as possible and prefer to simply wander around, doing side-quests for less popular NPCs while admiring the atmosphere of these games. I'd sell my soul before I'd sell these games. 

 

Also, you can do this.

 

[yakihiko 1480]

I still never got Zodiark...

Just getting to it was a huge pain and when i finally did i lost. ;(

Recently started playing on it again.

I did beat Ultima though!

I play it time to time, I kind of waste a lot of Quickenings on Fran, and she is the lowest I have. My main team are Vaan, Balthier, Ash and Basch. Vaan and Balthier own a quickening each.

[enyx 903]

and the other characters being one-dimensional/adding little to the plot. 

I never fully understood this argument. I thought most of the characters were surprisingly well characterised considering the fact that they weren't the main focus of the story. For example:

 

Watch these three cut-scenes concerning the subplot regarding Vayne usurping power in Archades and notice how well each of the characters are developed.

 

 

From these three cutscenes alone you're able to get a pretty good grasp of each character's personalities & motivations and how different they are from each other despite all occupying similar roles in the story. For example:

 

Vayne: Ruthless, cold, calculating. He places ends above means and isn't afraid to bloody his hands to achieve his goals. When he identifies a problem (the senate, Drace) he immediately seeks to eliminate them via whatever means possible. Yet despite that he's also compassionate towards his younger brother and seems to have a strange sort of respect for his father (I always took that middle scene to be Gramis tacitly consenting to his murder rather than Vayne backstabbing him).

Bergan: Values power above all else. Essentially realpolitik personified. Idolizes Vayne and others that he found to be powerful warriors (Zecht). But despite his ruthlessness he's also extremely loyal to Archadia and largely seems to base his beliefs on the idea that power and strength are what's most important for the empire to prosper, so there's a sort of honourable and loyal aspect to him too.

Zargabaath: Pragmatic and rational. He seems to be more loyal to the empire itself than to Vayne, but doesn't believe that challenging Vayne is in the empire's best interests. He tries to stop Drace from speaking out against Vayne but also begs Vayne to spare her, which makes it seem like he values order and stability above ideological irrationality.

Drace: Kind of the opposite of both Bergan and Zargabaath. The former in the sense that she supports Larsa and opposes Vayne, and the latter in that she's extremely ideological and seems like the least rational of the bunch. She's honourable to a fault, and when she loses faith in the Empire she's willing to die at Gabranth's hands rather than fight what she considers a lost cause.

Gabranth: Conflicted and confused regarding his loyalties. Closest to Drace due to their preference for Larsa, and formerly close to Gramis. Seems to constantly be trying to get the approval of his superiors but feels disrespected. Obviously his backstory and later character development expands more on most of this.

 

Considering how some of those characters aren't even all that important overall (i.e. Drace and Zargabaath), it's cool to see how distinct and unique they are. Most writers would have written the Judges in particular as effectively the same character with just a different name and armour set, but here they all have there own personalities that I wouldn't exactly call one-dimensional.

 

Anyway, the only thing I never beat in FFXII was Omega Mark XII.

 

Bethesda is perhaps my greatest love of all time. I have put thousands of hours in The Elder Scrolls and the Fallout series, with Skyrim and Fallout 3 being my favourite games out of a countless selection of others. These games can still provide new material even after a decade or so, and I am currently still exploring their worlds and uncovering new storylines and places that I have never seen before. Quite honestly, I tend to stall on the main quests for as long as possible and prefer to simply wander around, doing side-quests for less popular NPCs while admiring the atmosphere of these games. I'd sell my soul before I'd sell these games. 

Have you played The Witcher 3? That's very quickly become my favourite WRPGs and honestly one of my favourite games of any genre. The previous two games are pretty good too, but the third takes the WRPG 'genre' to a whole new level in my honest opinion. It's not quite as sandboxy as Bethesda's games tend to be, but the quality of the writing, the scale and density of the world, and pretty much every aspect aside from the combat (which is passable, at least) is absolutely stellar.

[Lestat 2167]

Have you played The Witcher 3? That's very quickly become my favourite WRPGs and honestly one of my favourite games of any genre. The previous two games are pretty good too, but the third takes the WRPG 'genre' to a whole new level in my honest opinion. It's not quite as sandboxy as Bethesda's games tend to be, but the quality of the writing, the scale and density of the world, and pretty much every aspect aside from the combat (which is passable, at least) is absolutely stellar.

 

I have finished the first Witcher game (much to my own surprise, as I own this on my computer while I am generally no PC-gamer) and have started on both the second and third installments. They haven't received too much of my attention so far considering that I am too caught up in other games currently, but the general storylines are incredibly complicated and extensive, and especially Wild Hunt is fantastic from what I have played of it so far. 

[beni 2149]

If you are interested in playing old Persona's games, try first Persona 3 FES and after Persona 4, both are for PS2 only.

 

Thanks very much for the recommendations. I might just give into try emulators for the PS2 games so that I can get them out of the way before getting to 5. There's so many games to get to!

 

 

 

and then if you count Dark Souls then I would put it on the top of that list xD

 

 

I have gotten hold of the 3DS installment of Xenoblade Chronicles but... but I have no new 3DS. : > Hopefully will be able to experience possibly the most well received RPG game on the Wii. There's only two games for the new 3DS, right? I can't believe I didn't think before paying so much for that. X'D

'd love to be able to get to Pandora's Tower and The Last Story too. The other Wii exclusive JRPGs. Anyone tried these? I wish I could get to Nier too but the price on PS3 for it has just skyrocketed! Might have to just give in to the Xbox game for it...

I'd say anything with RPG elements in them counts, so Dark Souls for sure. 

 

Are we including SRPGs in here too?

 

Feel free to discuss anything revolving around RPGs, that means SRPGs, yep.

FF12 really reminds me of The Last Remnant on Xbox. The whole open world is done almost exactly like FF12, if not totally, so I'd suggest this Xbox game just for that factor. I haven't gotten that far into FF12, but I adore the characters in it, and had no idea it wasn't so popular with others. I have started both and wish to complete both games at some point. This is the case for every FF title for me apart from the XIII trilogy, lol. Valkyria Chronicles is such a classic, I really need to get to the second, PSP game of it even if I'm taking years to finish the first one. Was there ever an Europe release for the third one? Hopefully we get that latest installment!

 

Isn't 12 getting a HD remaster btw?

 

This is news to me, I'm so going to cave in and end up buying that instead of continuing the play through on the PS2 like I did with FF10, urg.

 

Also, wanted to post about Child Of Light, which is another stand out of recent years. So beautiful and addicting, I really can't think of any faults for it other than it feeling like a free game but even that gives it a special charm to it. 

[Original Saku 1593]

12 getting a remaster is just a rumor, some performer from the final fantasy distant worlds orchestra said something about it on stage apparently but it has not been confirmed nor brought up again since. Although I personally think it is very likely that this will be the case and they are working on it.

 

Btw I love 12... it's my Favorite FF from the last decade and the one with my favorite combat system in the entire series. The only FF game that has even came close since has been Type-0 for me. Also the International Zodiac version of the game is seriously so good, you can only play that version in English on emulator atm, so if there really is a HD remaster I'm really hoping it at least includes that version of the game as an option.

[peffy 3568]

Yay RPGs! Especially JRPGs!!!

 

The very first game I ever laid eyes on, and played, was the original Dragon Warrior on the NES. I was reaaaaally young at this time. Anyway, I have remained a fan of Dragon Warrior/Quest and I'm really looking forward to XI (though the latest rumour is that it's been delayed to 2017..)

 

I am also a big fan of Final Fantasy.. my favourites are 4, 6, 8, 10, 12.  (10's anti-religion story kind of changed my life)

I kind of hated the 13 series, though I still forced myself to play them. 

I haven't played 2, 3, 14, Type-0. (I played 11 for a few hours and decided I hated it)

I hope 15 and the 7 remake end up being good.

 

I've also played a whole bunch of Tales games, those are always good for fun character interactions. I've also played some games in the Breath of Fire & Star Ocean series. Probably a bunch of other stuff I'm forgetting. 

 

As for WRPGs, I really enjoyed D&D style games like Baldur's Gate & Neverwinter Nights. I'm not really into the tactical aspect, so I just turned on god mode and went through them for story/dialogue. Also quite enjoyed the Dragon Age series and Witcher 2. Just started playing Witcher 3. 

 

I do want to mention stuff I don't like.. Ni no Kuni was too slow-paced and grindy but I managed to finish it, gonna skip the sequel. I don't really like stories about children. Persona 3, I gave up after a few hours cuz I didn't like the dungeon crawling aspect and the time limit. Then I forced myself to play Persona 4 Golden cuz so many people say it's amazing.. but I got the bad ending (I think it's like 3/4 into the game?) and then just quit playing. Too bad, I wish I could share in the Persona 5 hype. I also don't really like "tactical" or "strategy" RPGs. 

[The Reverend 3566]

*old guy coming through*

 

(Blasphemy?) I liked Lufia II more than Chrono Trigger on SNES.

 

I mean, Chrono Trigger is great of course... but Lufia is a ton of fun and I felt like the people who knew about it/loved it were part of an exclusive club whereas everybody was playing CT.

[peffy 3568]

*old guy coming through*

 

(Blasphemy?) I liked Lufia II more than Chrono Trigger on SNES.

 

I mean, Chrono Trigger is great of course... but Lufia is a ton of fun and I felt like the people who knew about it/loved it were part of an exclusive club whereas everybody was playing CT.

 

I'm older than you, sir. You calling me an old woman? HOW DARE YOU.

 

I think Chrono Trigger is overhyped. It's a good game but people worship it a bit too much. (then again, I pretty much think that everything is overhyped..)

 

I never played the Lufia games, mostly because I never heard of them.

 

More games I liked... I barely remember them now, but I remember being enamored with Super Mario RPG, Earthbound, and Terranigma. Hey, what about Pokemon? I only played Red/Blue and Gold/Silver, those were good games.

 

South Park: The Stick of Truth was the best RPG based on a TV show.

 

Also I'm not sure if you would call the Yakuza series "RPGs"... hmm.. random-ish encounters, long convoluted story, tons of side quests and mini games... I guess they are RPGs after all. Yes, Yakuza is definitely one of my all-time favourite RPG series.

[Original Saku 1593]

Here's another one of my all time favorites from last generation;

 

Dragon Age: Origins

 

probably the single greatest western RPG of the last decade, with only a few others able to come close to what I consider perfection. It's such a shame that Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition wasn't able to live up to Origins... I had such high hopes for both as well.

 

Origins was just good in everything it did and was almost like a perfect combination of micromanaging party combat system, superb and interesting characters, really strong world building and lore, and RPG stat/class and equipment building.

[YuyoDrift 1540]

I still never got Zodiark...

 

Just getting to it was a huge pain and when i finally did i lost. ;(

 

Recently started playing on it again.

 

I did beat Ultima though! 

Zodiark was the BIGGEST PAIN IN THE ASS.......ever. I Hated the fact you needed to collect all the other Espers before him.

 

 

Ultima.......god damn ultima was a true test of my patience. Spent 5 hours traversing the Great Crystal just to get to her.

 

All this done the legit too. Glitchers can fuck off.

 

 

Did everyone main Vaan/Balthier/Ashe? I kinda thought Fran was just the most useful for every scenario. Penelo and  Basch were just.......fml.

[Champ213 1858]

Here's another one of my all time favorites from last generation;

 

Dragon Age: Origins

 

probably the single greatest western RPG of the last decade, with only a few others able to come close to what I consider perfection. It's such a shame that Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition wasn't able to live up to Origins... I had such high hopes for both as well.

 

Origins was just good in everything it did and was almost like a perfect combination of micromanaging party combat system, superb and interesting characters, really strong world building and lore, and RPG stat/class and equipment building.

 

 

Dragon Age: Origins is great, but I guess I'm one of the rare kind that always liked the other two parts a lot as well. (As my sig probably shows.)

 

I will admit that the 2nd part was definetely the weakest, it felt very rushed, the writing wasn't nearly as good as in Origins and the story was all over the place, especially in the first half of the game. I still had a lot of fun playing it, and the gameplay felt a lot smoother than the clunky combat of Origins. I also really, really liked Inquisition (played it like 3 times already...) My only critcism would be that they tried a bit too hard to be skyrim-ish. They could have scrapped some of the open-world-regions in favor for more story content. Or heck, just more stuff with your companions, because that was probably the strongest part of the game.