Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

What JRPG are you currently playing?

  • 26-07-2011 5:31pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 2,888 ✭✭✭


    I'm about to start Suikoden 1 and then import save over when I'm finished to Suikoden 2 and go for all characters recruited.


«13456718

Comments

  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 50,693 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    Currently I'm concentrating on Valkyria Chronicles 2 and Dragon Quest IX.

    VC2 is a fantastic game with loads of content but I'm on the second last month of the story and feel it's dragging out a little too long. Still great and I've sunk about 60 hours in already.

    Dragon Quest IX is just amazing. It's dragon quest so you can't really go wrong. Great gameplay if a little too easy by DQ standards and really progressive for a DQ game surprisingly.

    Also help my girlfriend finish off Earthbound and it has me in the mood to play through Mother 3 again. That game is for me the best RPG ever made.


  • Registered Users Posts: 877 ✭✭✭Mario007


    Just finished FF XIII again and on the second playthrough the game makes much more sense. Will have to finish the marks now to get the analects.

    I'm about halfway through FF IX, which is a great game and I have, shamefully, only finished it once so will have to change that.

    I'm also playing Dissidia 012, which is a nice combat game, if not strictly JRPG.

    And lastly Pokemon White...need I say more? :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,022 ✭✭✭Naphiel


    I'm playing Tales of Vesperia and Persona 3 Portable.

    I managed to pick up a copy of Vesperia at a reasonable price when Namco were trolling about releasing the PS3 version over here and only got the time to play it now because of the leaving cert. I love it but it's still not as good as Symphonia. :p

    Loving the FeMC in P3P. Better social links and full party control make me happy.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 50,693 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    Mario007 wrote: »
    Just finished FF XIII again and on the second playthrough the game makes much more sense.

    I pretty much understood it the first time and really thought the ending sucked, such a cop out :(


  • Registered Users Posts: 917 ✭✭✭carbonkid


    Im studing at the moment and nearing the peak of the course im doing...i have resonance of fate on my next to play list.

    Ive had a hankering to play FFIV since i seen ads for the psp version but wanna play the original first, think the game deserves it. I can enjoy all the remakes then looking fondly at the original (that and i like the old snes sprites). Need to wait till i have some monies to get hold of the PS1 port...unless it shows up on the PSN which would be even better.


  • Advertisement
  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 50,693 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    PS1 port has some annoying load times that ruin the game. Better off with the PSP port since it's identical to the original in gameplay terms. The english snes version is the easy type version with lots cut out. Also the DS version is well worth playing since the battle system has gotten a bit of an overhaul.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,985 ✭✭✭animaX


    Playing tactics ogre: let us cling together on psp at the moment. Handy for the train to work. Just about finished (80 hours)..

    Next up final fantasy tactics: war of the lions!

    (Are they considered JRPGs?)


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,022 ✭✭✭Naphiel


    The last dungeon in the DS version is incredibly difficult. Those Red Dragons. :mad:

    They're JSRPGs, so yes they are. My personal favourite is the Disgaea series.


  • Registered Users Posts: 917 ✭✭✭carbonkid


    Retr0gamer wrote: »
    PS1 port has some annoying load times that ruin the game. Better off with the PSP port since it's identical to the original in gameplay terms. The english snes version is the easy type version with lots cut out. Also the DS version is well worth playing since the battle system has gotten a bit of an overhaul.

    See i dont want to play it after its gotten an overhaul...and definitely not with the 3D graphics. Bring all the old school sprites!!! I know about the PS port loading times sucking but i didnt find it ruined FFV for me.

    Whats an easy type version? Dont like the sound of that :(


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,985 ✭✭✭animaX


    Naphiel wrote: »
    They're JSRPGs, so yes they are. My personal favourite is the Disgaea series.

    I really enjoyed the original disgaea on ps2 but couldn't get into any others. They're just too much effort, too much to do. Battling inside a weapon?

    Having to convince a jury to pass laws to get stuff? Ah here. :rolleyes:


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 1,022 ✭✭✭Naphiel


    animaX wrote: »
    I really enjoyed the original disgaea on ps2 but couldn't get into any others. They're just too much effort, too much to do. Battling inside a weapon?

    Having to convince a jury to pass laws to get stuff? Ah here. :rolleyes:

    Well, you don't have to do any of that. There's still a 30+ hour story in them that can be beaten by only passing very simple laws.

    Then there's an insane amount of post game for those interested who love a challenge.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,985 ✭✭✭animaX


    Naphiel wrote: »
    Then there's an insane amount of post game for those interested who love a challenge.

    And/or perfectionists :pac:

    I always have this nagging urge to see everything (or realistically - almost everything) the game has to offer. Which is why I avoid disgaea!


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,883 ✭✭✭megaten


    Chipping away at earthbound. Found 6 of the sanctuary locations so far.


  • Registered Users Posts: 551 ✭✭✭Monkeyto


    Just started Dragon Quest IX.

    So far I'm enjoying it. Similar to DQ8, but the only thing I don't like about it is the warm fuzzy feeling of picking up a new friend/party member along the way. No personality to these random party members!


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 50,693 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    carbonkid wrote: »
    Whats an easy type version? Dont like the sound of that :(

    Square didn't think US players would be ready for a JRPG so the lowered the difficulty of the game and took out many of the unique moves that characters had. If you want a purer experience you could always get a fan translation of the japanese version of FFIV on the SNES and play it through an emulator.


  • Registered Users Posts: 917 ✭✭✭carbonkid


    Retr0gamer wrote: »
    Square didn't think US players would be ready for a JRPG so the lowered the difficulty of the game and took out many of the unique moves that characters had. If you want a purer experience you could always get a fan translation of the japanese version of FFIV on the SNES and play it through an emulator.

    ...if only someone could guide me in the right direction so i could get hold of a decent fan translation...


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 50,693 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    Can't point you in the direction of the FFj rom but here's a link to the fan translation:

    http://www.romhacking.net/trans/352/

    You'll need to patch the rom which is easy.


  • Registered Users Posts: 877 ✭✭✭Mario007


    Retr0gamer wrote: »
    I pretty much understood it the first time and really thought the ending sucked, such a cop out :(

    well i got the story the first time too, it was just more engaging to play it again having watched this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUlt89pbMl8 (it kinda puts it all into perspective).

    with regards the ending, when i replayed the game I noticed that the vision they get 2 hours into the game incorporates the final cutscene, so kinda foreshadowing their real focus, or at least thats how i took it. But I agree that it was kinda rushed and should have been explained a bit better (especially Fang and Vannille's powers and history). Hopefully XIII-2 retcons it a little and explains it better.
    Monkeyto wrote: »
    Just started Dragon Quest IX.

    So far I'm enjoying it. Similar to DQ8, but the only thing I don't like about it is the warm fuzzy feeling of picking up a new friend/party member along the way. No personality to these random party members!

    I was wondering about too, that's the only reason why I haven't picked up DQ9 yet. I usually like games with a strong cast and that are character driven so having a bunch of random people doesn't seem to sit well with me.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 50,693 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    Anything with the deus ex machina of 'if we believe hard enough then everything will be ok' is a crap ending in my opinion.

    As for DQIX, it's a wonderful game, you should definitely pick it up. The game isn't about the characters you pick up and the overarching quest isn't much in way of story but each town you visit has a fnatastic story to tell that's more engaging than most RPG plots. Dragon Quest has always been like that where it's the individual towns stories that are the focus.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2 Liber


    Hi all, I am new to the forums. I've played JRPGs lovingly since I was a kid and am currently going back through some of the lesser-known ones that I missed on Psone and PS2.

    At the moment I'm playing Suikoden V and am about half-way through. I also recently re-played Star Ocean 2, briefly tried Star Ocean 3 which I found incredibly disappointing, and also another lesser-known tri-ace game on the 360, infinite undiscovery. I would have to say that none of them have been great, although Suikoden V is above-average.

    Star Ocean: The Second Story - this came out when I was about 13/14 and at the time, obsessed with final fantasy and suikoden, I loved it. Now that I've had a chance to play it a decade later it just feels like a second-rate FF clone. The cooking/item generation systems eventually just degenerate into button-mashing, backtracking across a world map and grinding for SP to get the best items. Unlike FF the graphics have not held up well at all and the battle system basically amounts to mashing the X button. That said, if you have to play a Star Ocean game, make it this one. The story has its moments of greatness, the protagonist is likeable enough, and there is a cast of interesting characters mixed in with the standard JRPG tropes (there is the loli, the sorceress, etc.). There is also a connect system which works mostly well and furnishes some interesting back-story moments relating to several of the characters. I've heard that the PSP remakes of this came and the 1st Star Ocean are not too bad.

    I wouldn't even bother with the 3rd Star Ocean (Til' the End of Time), which is on the PS2. I was hoping it would improve on the faults of the 2nd game but it really didn't at all. The voice acting is probably the worst I've ever encountered in a game. The battle system is laughable (attack, then wait 5 seconds with fatigue while the enemy repeatedly hits you back in every battle). The dungeon environments were also bland and maze-like.

    Infinite Undiscovery on the 360 was a bit of a mixed experience. While the game has many serious faults it's also easy to see that it has a lot of unrealised potential. I actually really enjoyed the first disc, for the most part, but the game totally fell apart shortly into the second disc. The background of the characters, their interaction with others and the ebb and flow of the story during the first disc was actually really well done. It was only about 30 hours in when the game started forcing you back into previous areas and fields that you'd already been to 3/4/5 times before that it became tedious. The battle system was tolerable if overly simplistic and it occasionally featured a system where you could have multiple parties fighting at once, similar to Last Remnant, although it was underused. I stopped playing it after about 40 hours because it appeared that the game had run out of steam, running around to random locations with no real plot involvement, backtracking to meet Kings and Queens etc. for no apparent reason.

    When it comes to Suikoden V I have to say that I recognise that this game is great in the eyes of many. I would agree that it is a good game, but I don't believe it's a "great" game. I played the first two suikodens many years ago and to this day they are probably my favourite games ever. Amazing characters, heartrending stories etc. and a wonderful panorama of political machination, intrigue and drama.

    With the 5th game I have felt that all of this is still present, although in a far more one-dimensional and barren form than it was in the first two. To begin with, the game is just so agonisingly slow-paced. I didn't mind so much the first 10 hours of gameplay but eventually it has you running back and forth between a handful of towns just in order to advance the story a little. The interface is really poor and feels like a NES game. The battles consist of little more than selecting auto-attack. The environments are also incredibly bland and unimaginative. As a whole it seems if the game lacks the imagination and inspiration that drove the first two in the series, and made them seem like such an epic adventure. Instead of little hamlets, vampire castles and beautiful forests, you encounter some strange village made of Kindergarten art, a city made entirely of a lame white/grey texture, and a "town" made of just boats. It all just seems a little out of place and uninspired. In my view the art direction in the 32-bit era looked far prettier. Maybe this is not such a big deal for some, but an important element for me in JRPGs is a sense of fantasy and adventure and Suikoden V just seems to lack it on the epic scale reminiscent of the first two. I also don't feel that any of the characters are anywhere near as interesting.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 1,883 ✭✭✭megaten


    I really liked Suikoden V from what I played of it. Never beat it though because I could never get past one of those strategy battles. I hate mini games that suddenly switch genre's.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,022 ✭✭✭Naphiel


    I strongly disagree with you in regards to Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. Once you get into the battle system you learn tons of ways of comboing moves together and cancelling others for more damage. Fury prevents them from going on forever and adds benefits for playing defensively and not mashing buttons.

    The game starts off pretty bland storywise and mapwise but it picks up. I'd really recommend giving it another shot.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2 Liber


    megaten wrote: »
    I really liked Suikoden V from what I played of it. Never beat it though because I could never get past one of those strategy battles. I hate mini games that suddenly switch genre's.

    Yeah, the strategy battles don't seem to be designed so well. The problem is that they're "real-time", and although you can pause it, I've found that a lot of the time once the units attack one another it just devolves into a huge mess with the AI running into my units every few seconds. Your "strategy" then consists of nothing more than trying to move your units against the enemy ones weak against them while hoping they don't get rammed by another enemy unit.

    I'll have to give the third Star Ocean another go. You are probably right that I didn't give it a real chance. I've heard that you can turn off the voice-acting which may help a lot.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,985 ✭✭✭animaX


    Just started playing FFT:War of the Lions on psp and boy is this painful. Serously. I know a lot of you have nostalgic feelings about the game but that aside its actually unplayable. Slow as hell. Tactics Ogre: Let us cling together (as remakes go) puts this to shame. I wouldn't even call war of the lions a remake, its just straight-up PS1 emulation!!

    I'm still gonna play it for a bit longer but I'm not enjoying it (nothing to do with difficulty now - just the sluggishness and ps1-era interfaces).

    Anyway, rant over. Might just play Jeanne D'arc for the second time instead


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 50,693 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    I think your mistake was playing Tactics Ogre first. It's been described as FFT on steroids and a whole lot better than FFT. It's a bit like people going from Persona 4 to Persona 3. FFT does get much better since the job system is as broken as the battle systems in FF5 and FF8 so half the fun is breaking the system.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,985 ✭✭✭animaX


    Retr0gamer wrote: »
    I think your mistake was playing Tactics Ogre first.

    Very true :pac:


  • Registered Users Posts: 877 ✭✭✭_Godot_


    I'm currently playing Star Ocean: Second Evolution and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World.


  • Registered Users Posts: 841 ✭✭✭BlandKitten


    Well, I started my 10th+ run of FFX there the other day. It started out as a bench test for PCSX2 to see how well I could run some graphically intense games, but after about three hours I forgot all about that and started getting into the story yet again :D

    At the same time I'm playing FFVIII for the first time. A friend of mine who has pretty much the same interests in gaming as me never stops praising it and it's been something I've meant to play for quite some time. So far so good.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 50,693 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    FFVIII isn't that great. The story is absolute gash and the battle system has major problems. However the battle system is so broken that it's great fun abusing it and for all it does wrong the game is still fun to play through.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 841 ✭✭✭BlandKitten


    Doesn't seem that bad to me, but I'm still fairy early on in the game right now. I'll be playing IX afterwards, better than VIII I've heard.


Advertisement