Current RPGs

[MechDeus]

Dragon Quarter is the most interesting and different console RPG in years. If you're looking for something new this is your game, but it can be really hard and battle progression is much slower than every single other RPG you listed.

Xenosaga is merely the beginning of something more, so it is a bit unsatisfying. Otherwise I easily recommend it.

Originally posted by StriderKyo
Xenosaga...I was so pumped for this, but like I said in the pile o' shame thread, I just feel no motivation to keep playing it. It's not quite the sum of its parts, and the cast of characters isn't as cool as Xenogears' was.

Out of curiousity, how far did you get? It does take quite a while before it picks up speed, and while I was mildly bored at first I couldn't put it down after things got interesting.

Final Fantasy X is a good game, and I really believe any bashing it recieves is Square backlash. Even if you don't like the story or characters, it's visually, aurally and structurally solid.

I can definately say that my personal hatred of that... thing has nothing to do with Squaresoft backlash. I'd also argue the visual, aural, and structure, but I've got a recent post in Headlines where I briefly went over that.

[MonsterMash]

I really like Grandia 2 on Dreamcast. I've played Xenosaga, Skies of Arcadia, and FFX out of those mentioned so far, and a quick ranking goes:

1 Grandia 2 (most fun combat system, decent story/setting)
2 Skies of Arcadia (worst of the lot in fighting, best in everything else)
3 Xenosaga (decent battle system is hampered by boring baddies, and the story moves too slow)
4 FFX (some of the best RPG combat around, but I hated the characters and story)

Although I wouldn't rank any of them above an 8/10. I don't know, I think I'm just not into RPGs anymore. I still might check out BoF though, since it sounds so unique.

[soundwave]

I remember those halcyon days of 2000 when I played Chrono Cross, FF9, Skies of Arcadia, Shenmue, Grandia II all within the same 2 month period and for me Skies came out on top. I don't know how far you got into it but after you get your own airship the game reaches new heights. It had the likable characters, the feeling of vastness and it kept surprising you.

Right now I am still entrenched in Dark Cloud 2. I'm 50 hours in and I'm at chapter 7 (of 8). It really isn't a game that you play to beat--if you do you miss out on a lot of other things. I won't pick up Xenosaga until I'm through with this one.

[OmegaFlareX]

Originally posted by Frogacuda
Of those, I'd reccommend Grandia II most strongly. Except for the weak dungeon design and horribly low difficulty it's a really excellent game.

I definitely agree. Just don't get the PS2 version. It was designed for Dreamcast... the PS2 one is just a port with a lot of unresolved technical bugs.

Millenia is one of my favorite RPG characters, ever. Plus, the battle system is unique and well-executed. I paid $20 for it, but it's worth $40, IMHO.

Originally posted by MechDeus
It does take quite a while before it picks up speed, and while I was mildly bored at first I couldn't put it down after things got interesting.

I haven't played XSaga, but this sounds EXACTLY like how Xenogears played out (and we all know how kick ass that game was). If the first is any indication, XS players are in for a wild ride. I'd say give this one a shot.

[MechDeus]

Originally posted by OmegaFlareX
I haven't played XSaga, but this sounds EXACTLY like how Xenogears played out (and we all know how kick ass that game was).

Ah, but there's a couple differences here. The initial hooks Xenogears gave were more interesting and subtle (especially regarding Citan, although something similar could be said of chaos), and Xenogears was complete (in a manner of speaking). If all of Xenosaga were there in a single package, I doubt any other RPG could even begin to compare, but it's not.

It is a must-play, but since the story is going to take years to tell you can get to it at any time. It's like reading a series of books, and you have no choice but to wait at least a year for the author to finish the next part. A few months of waiting to get started won't hurt.

[taloony]

Originally posted by Despair
I dont know about Tsugunai, but Shadow Hearts had misfortune to be release right before FFX hit the scene, and most of the reviewer started comparing it to FFX, instead judging it as its own game. Plus the whole horror/alternative reality subject is somwhat unusual for an rpg, and might have turned off some of the reviewers.

I've played quite a bit of SH.. I think I was 3/4 finished when I finally decided to quit. It just ended up not working for me. I did like the character designs (sort of) and I loved the setting. However, the characters, story, monsters, etc. just didn't work, I thought.


I would say, Neo, the finest three listed are FFX, Xenosaga and Suik. III, though not necessarily in that order.

FFX is my favorite PS(?) Final Fantasy, take that for what you will.

Suikoden III didn't have half the problems that several said it did, and I really enjoyed my playtime with it. The music could've been better though. >_<

Xenosaga was a bit of a disappointment.. though still well done. Some of the characters were very stereotypical though, and some of them, such as Momo, I hated with a passion.

Breath of Fire: DQ is a great choice, actually. The SoL thing is a bit annoying in thought, but seems to work well in the game itself. The music's great, and the grainy look to the graphics works well, I think. Difficult or not, this is one of my fav's of the past few years.


I agree with Strider about SoA... it just needs to disappear, as does .hack... a very mediocre game.

[Green]

Dark Cloud 2 is the first rpg I've played since Skies of Arcadia (which I thought was great) and I really dig it. I stay away from dungeon crawler games but DC2 has so much going for it that I don't mind the random dungeons one bit. Before Skies I played Grandia 2 which I highly enjoyed. I have so many rpgs to play this year, I got FF2, FF9, Kingdom Hearts, and Morrowind lined up to play soon.

[Shine]

Shadow Hearts is way too underrated, it deserves a place in everyones collection.

Tsuguni is a quirky little game that's atleast worth a rental. I had fun with it and will buy if it hits the $20-30 range.

[Opaque]

Originally posted by rummy
Play Dragon Quarter. The rest suck.

how dare you sir...

[Kinopio]

Out of the ones mentioned in this thread, I've played Skies, FFX, and Grandia 2. I didn't get more than an a couple hours through either FFX or Grandia 2, although I liked what I played of Grandia 2. Skies of Arcadia, however, was a game I liked enough to play through.

My favorite recent RPG, however, is Paper Mario.

Although its an action/rpg, I think Kingdom Hearts is worth playing, and I dislike Disney. I'd play it over FFX any day.