What JRPG are you currently playing?

Darkglasses · 20-11-2012 4:30am

Thanks a lot for your suggestions. Honestly, I don't think I'm tech-savvy or committed enough to get into putting CFW onto a PSP. For now, I'm looking into getting a s-h PS2 and will look to pick up all the old FF games somewhere.

jaxdasher · 23-11-2012 9:25pm

Playing Final fantasy tactics on my xperia play. Found that there's a mod for it with higher difficulty and more content. Its amazing! Can't put it down. The mod is FFT 1.3 check it out.

Retr0gamer · 27-11-2012 5:19pm

Playing Phantasy Star 3 and I'm on the last generation. I'm really enjoying it and don't understand the flak it gets. The towns are boring and all the same but overall the game is less grindy than PS2 and the dungeons aren't a complete mess. It seems quite short, although there are 4 paths through the game. The storyline has finally started to get interesting although it's hardly amazing, I doubt it will have an amazing ending like PS2.

_Godot_ · 28-11-2012 2:34am

You're making me want to play Phantasy Star 3.

I've been playing Star Ocean: Second Evolution the last few days. I did the four fields and now I'm off to Minae Cave.

Retr0gamer · 28-11-2012 2:41am

To be honest it might be an improvement on Phantasy Star 2 in ways but it's still a little archaic. Phantasy Star 4 on the other hand is the real masterpiece. Far and away the best 16-bit RPG that isn't Earthbound.

Retr0gamer · 03-12-2012 10:15pm

Finished Phantasy Star 3 last night.

It's got some very interesting mechanics spoiled by disappointing execution and an interesting story also spoiled by lack of exposition. There's some real untapped potential in this game. I did enjoy the game and the dungeons were thankfully a whole lot less confusing than the ones in Phantasy Star 2. Battle system was quite week as well but at least it had the auto battle option so it was always fast paced.

rlsniper789 · 04-12-2012 6:15pm

In between playing WWE '13 and watching stuff, I tend to play Chrono Trigger quite a bit on my Wii, and I have to say, I'm loving it so far

(about halfway through it atm)

Retr0gamer · 05-12-2012 12:01pm

Started Phantasy Star IV and wow, is it a massive improvement compared to the sequels. It's much faster, random encounters are less frequent and the battle system is brilliant, particularly the macros system that lets you define AI for battles, a bit like the gambit system in FFXII but far less annoying to use. Previous games in the series lacked exposition but not this one. There's cutscenes in this game told in comic book style anime panels and they look absolutely gorgeous. In fact the whole games looks amazing, the in battle pixel art is some of the best I've ever seen. It's got a wonderful soundtrack as well.

The localisation is great, some of the characters thus far have been very enjoyable, particularly Alys. She has gotten a fair few laughs out of me already and she takes no nonsense from anyone.

It's been a long while since I played this game but I'm totally blown away by it even more now. Also people that have played the previous games will get a kick with how well it ties in with the others in the series.

At the moment I'm traveling in the footsteps of bad guy Zio and seeing the wave of destruction he has left behind. I get the feeling FFVII cribbed an awful lot from this game.

noodler · 05-12-2012 12:03pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I get the feeling FFVII cribbed an awful lot from this game.

You are relentless!

Retr0gamer · 05-12-2012 12:34pm

Play it, you'll see. There's stuff that happens later on in the game that FFVII quite clearly rips off wholesale and it's not just me, I've been having this discussion with someone else who started the game over on the arcade and retro forum.

Gunmonkey · 05-12-2012 10:33pm

Since I finally got me a PSP I'm getting stuck into Valkyria Chronicles 2, the school setting is a bit meh but gameplay is still great. Liking the changes they made to classes and skilling up to more focused roles.

On a side note, i know you have to delete the account when switching from a EU to USA PSN account, but what about stuff saved to the memory card? Can I download stuff from both accounts and then switch accounts and play the relevant games or is formatting involved?

Retr0gamer · 07-12-2012 5:31pm

Apparently it formats the whole card so you'll need a PAL card, US card and if you are even more unfortunate, a JP card.

megaten · 07-12-2012 11:11pm

That's only for vita. I think you can have content for different regions on the one card for psp but I've never tried it.

Retr0gamer · 08-12-2012 8:50am

Yeah you can but you have to activate a US account on the PSP to access US content and vice versa fir EU and JP stuff.

snausages · 08-12-2012 12:17pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Play it, you'll see. There's stuff that happens later on in the game that FFVII quite clearly rips off wholesale and it's not just me, I've been having this discussion with someone else who started the game over on the arcade and retro forum.

Even so I don't see why it's such a problem. There's a broad enough distinction to be made between imitative and inspired design.

Retr0gamer · 08-12-2012 6:30pm

snausages wrote: »

Even so I don't see why it's such a problem. There's a broad enough distinction to be made between imitative and inspired design.

Never said it was a problem. Phantasy Star 4 itself is quite clearly inspired the likes of FFIV in how it plays a lot more like a modern JRPG rather than the previous games that were more in line with wizardry. FFVII is a bit more blatant though when it comes to storyline cues. At the moment I'm following an evil guy through the world who wear black and leaving behind a wave of destruction, he might as well be Sephiroth. A few other scenes seem to be ripped wholesale from it as well.

I find it interesting seeing how these games evolve and think it's very interesting that Square were so influenced by a game on a console that made so little impact in Japan. If you want though you can think that I find it a problem and cover your head in the sand and pretend that it isn't true.

snausages · 08-12-2012 7:00pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Never said it was a problem.

[...]

If you want though you can think that I find it a problem and cover your head in the sand and pretend that it isn't true.

Saying that FFVII "ripped off wholesale" suggests to me that you're trying to find evidence of how derivative it is. Which, and I'm genuinely not trying to be smart here, is a common enough theme with your posts so I don't appreciate your tone. I haven't played Phantasy Star so who knows, maybe VII does borrow a lot of ideas from it. But even if it does that does anything to lessen how memorable and effective Sephiroth was as an antagonist.

But in any case I'm not going to derail this into an FFVII argument especially if we agree with each other. I might check out PSIV at some point.

Retr0gamer · 08-12-2012 7:59pm

You should, it's absolutely superb. I'd put it ahead of any 16-bit RPG that isn't Earthbound. And if you do you'll agree with me. I had the same conversation with some one else on the arcade and retro forum with me and he was saying as well how it's obvious how much FFVII is influenced by it.

Darkglasses · 12-12-2012 4:14am

Well, I got a S-H slimline PS2 a couple of weeks back, and this week I got my copy of FFVIII, and a couple of days off work. Sorted!

Started it up yesterday, all excited.

What am I forgetting?

Playstation 1 memory card. No point playing it til I get one. Ugggh...

Retr0gamer · 12-12-2012 1:52pm

Well Phantasy Star IV really knows how to do nostalgia well. I walked into a dungeon last night and was greeted with an awesome remix of the first games dungeon theme, got a character who was a reference to Nei in PS2 and found an optional dungeon which seemed pointless until you get to the end and realise it's a throwback to PS3. It makes MGS4's fan pandering seem as bad as it really is.

ahnowbrowncow · 12-12-2012 2:21pm

Bought dragon quest viii for my ps2 but it was honestly so slow with loading battles and running about it was becoming tedious so I copied the game onto my pc and played it on an emulator at 2x times the speed, haven't given it too much time but I'm still not that bothered about playing it.

I thought I'd get back into playing a jrpg seeing as the last one I played was probably ff xii but I'm just not feeling it, not sure if it's because the combat isn't that interesting or I just don't care about the story or characters.

When I was younger I'd get lost in the rpg world and really care about the characters but I don't know if I am capable of doing that anymore? I read and love a good story so don't know if it's that. Maybe I've just gotten more impatient with games? Because it's not just dragon quest that this has happened with, got deus ex hr recently and got bored of it and haven't finished it, same with mass effect 3.

Retr0gamer · 12-12-2012 2:44pm

Dragon Quest VIII is a slow burner, it takes a while to get into and it's not until later when you start unlocking abilities for your weapons that the battle system really shines. Also I hope you are focusing your skill points on one weapon type because there's only enough skill points to max one weapon and have another secondary.

If you want something more modern then check out Persona 3 or 4. Far better than any western RPG released in the last 10 years.

Cunning Alias · 14-12-2012 1:42pm

Im thinking of trying to grab Rogue Galaxy to play while I am off work over the holidays. Anyone know of somewhere I can get a copy online? I can see a few on ebay but seem a bit pricey.

Also, anyone have any experience with it?

Sephiroth_dude · 14-12-2012 2:42pm

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_9?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=rogue+galaxy+ps2&sprefix=rogue+gal%2Caps%2C258

17.50 sterling here

Its a great game,I really enjoyed until I got stuck on a certain boss that kills me in a couple of go's definitely get it

megaten · 14-12-2012 8:27pm

Rouge Galaxy is depressingly average. I'm not saying you won't have fun but just know that going in. Dark Chronicle is a much better Level-5 game.

Sephiroth_dude · 17-12-2012 8:05am

Playing persona 4 on vita atm

Retr0gamer · 19-12-2012 3:41am

Gotten to the 5th Stratum of Etrian Odyssey and the story has taken quite an excellent little twist.

manicmonoliths · 19-12-2012 8:58pm

I recently finished playing Persona 4 in the last week and I was very impressed. I'd initially tried to launch straight into it after playing Persona 3 FES earlier in the year and I guess I was burned out on the series a bit. Playing 2 60 hour games back to back was never a good idea in retrospect. In general I find RPGs suffer when played back to back, I guess the slow burning, plot heavy nature of most of them doesn't lend itself well to this kind of play. It's why I've never been able to play through a number Final Fantasy games at once.

I'm really glad I returned to Persona 4 though, for those who have played 3, it makes a number of slight adjustments that really improve the experience (notably complete control over your party as opposed to the AI controlled characters in 3 and 3 FES). The battle system is solid, if not particularly interesting. P4 has a number of addictive elements such as fusing Personas and building social links with a number of interesting characters. The music is great, in particularly the battle themes (a big improvement on 3's main battle theme which I found very annoying!) and the tunes which play when you're wandering around the town.

The story is pretty unique for an RPG in my opinion, quite different from 3's in that it's a lot more character focused as opposed to typical 'save the world' type stuff. The main party of characters are great and by the end you really care for them, more so than the main cast of P3. I'd rank P4 as one of my favourite games now. I wouldn't put it at Xenoblade levels but it's certainly up there in terms of JRPGs of recent years.

I'd highly recommend Persona 4 to anyone. I'll admit I'm tempted by the Vita remake, but I'm not willing to buy a new handheld just for one game!

Glad to have cleared another meaty JRPG from my backlog and to have had such a great experience doing it. Not quite sure what I'll tackle next, I've a few DS RPGs to get through, The World Ends With You has been staring at me from my shelf for a while, as has Etrian Oddessy which I tried once and was turned off by the first person perspective. Also have Infinite Space which I've heard is worth a look.

penev10 · 19-12-2012 10:59pm

manicmonoliths wrote: »

The World Ends With You has been staring at me from my shelf for a while, as has Etrian Oddessy which I tried once and was turned off by the first person perspective. Also have Infinite Space which I've heard is worth a look.

TWEWI is very different and a real must play game. Combat system is mental!

Infinite Space is interesting but I found it required a lot of grinding and the battle system gets annoying on the harder bosses. I got to a stage where I needed to update my whole fleet and was facing another massive grind so gave up. Worth a try though.

Retr0gamer · 20-12-2012 12:52am

Etrian Odyssey is so god damn good, you should try it. It basically totally modernises first person dungeon crawlers.

What JRPG are you currently playing?

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