JRPG general discussion

Sephiroth_dude · 05-01-2015 12:44am

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Protip: Play Etrian Odyssey instead.

It's a decent dungeon crawler but it's so old fashioned compared to Etrian Odyssey. Etrian Odyssey just completely reinvents that genre while keeping it authentic.

Ah I see, I was just wondering was it anygood because I saw it on the front page of vgp

Retr0gamer · 05-01-2015 1:20am

Hard to say really. While Etrian odyssey is for anyone that likes RPGs the older school variety isn't for everyone. Might be worth picking since it's got a limited print run. I'd be more inclined to say see how you get on with EO.

Xenji · 05-01-2015 4:27am

Well it has seemed to have slipped through the cracks, but Steins;Gate is getting a PS3 and Vita release at some point this year, although the game is a bit more Visual Novel than JRPG, it still has some strong RPG elements, it was a great game on the PC and will be a must buy on the Vita and you can easily sink about 50 hours into it.

Also is there any definite date for when Suikoden I & II will be released this month?

Gunmonkey · 08-01-2015 10:44am

Sony have added Tales of Xillia 1 and 2 and Graces F to the January sale, can get ToX and Graces for €15 in a bundle or €10 each separately or ToX 2 for €20. Also see the likes of Tears to Tiara 2, NAtURAL DOCtRINE, Akibas Trip and a few others in there.

https://store.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com/#!/en-gb/january-sale/cid=STORE-MSF75508-DEALSDECPS

gizmo · 08-01-2015 3:29pm

Argos have Dragon Quest VI and Dragon Quest IX for the DS available for peanuts so I was going to pick them up after work. Is this wise?

If so, how about finishing off the former "trilogy" by getting DQIV: Chapters of the Chosen and DQV: Hand of the Heavenly Bride for the same platform at a later date?

I'm probably not going to get to any of them for ages but I'd like to buy New or as close to it while I can.

Retr0gamer · 08-01-2015 4:01pm

Both definitely worth getting as well as the other two. DQ 4 and 5 are probably better, with DQ5 being a contender for best RPG of all time. % was hard to find but got a rerelease recently so I'd try snap it up before it might get rare again.

Sephiroth_dude · 08-01-2015 4:03pm

Gunmonkey wrote: »

Sony have added Tales of Xillia 1 and 2 and Graces F to the January sale, can get ToX and Graces for €15 in a bundle or €10 each separately or ToX 2 for €20. Also see the likes of Tears to Tiara 2, NAtURAL DOCtRINE, Akibas Trip and a few others in there.

https://store.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com/#!/en-gb/january-sale/cid=STORE-MSF75508-DEALSDECPS

That's great value for the tales games .

gizmo · 08-01-2015 4:41pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Both definitely worth getting as well as the other two. DQ 4 and 5 are probably better, with DQ5 being a contender for best RPG of all time. % was hard to find but got a rerelease recently so I'd try snap it up before it might get rare again.

Any problem with the DS as the platform of choice for those entries? I had a bit of a look around and some folk were saying the SNES/PS versions of some of them were better for various reasons.

Retr0gamer · 08-01-2015 5:33pm

Well the PS1 and SNES versions aren't in english although the SNES versions have fan translations. The DS translations are however superior. They are much better than the PS1 versions since there's no load times and the only reason you'd go for the SNES version is if you like pixel art but I think the DS version looks great.

gizmo · 08-01-2015 6:11pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Well the PS1 and SNES versions aren't in english although the SNES versions have fan translations. The DS translations are however superior. They are much better than the PS1 versions since there's no load times and the only reason you'd go for the SNES version is if you like pixel art but I think the DS version looks great.

Ah, well that settles that then. Cheers for all that!

Lahinchians · 08-01-2015 6:30pm

So now the ps3 is nearing the end of its life cycle, what are the de-facto best jrpgs to date? For me the ps3 has been completely devoid of them. I gave ff13 a go but stopped after about 5 mins. Really didn't enjoy it, in fact it just felt plain wrong. Ni no kuni is one I've enjoyed but I think so much more could have been done with it, still fun though! Has the ps3 been a good home to the genre? I personally don't think so. Completely open to all discussion on the subject.

Retr0gamer · 08-01-2015 6:36pm

Found Ni No Kuni to be one of the worst JRPGs in a very long time. Looked and sounded great but the battle system, gameplay and story were absolutely terrible, especially the battle system.

FFXIII was alright but the 20 hour slog before the game opens up is unforgivable. The sequels however are much better RPGs (the story somehow manages to be worse) though, in particular FFXIII-3.

The real stand outs have been the Atelier series. Atelier Rorona, Meruru and Totori make a great trilogy of games with great main characters that you watch grow form unsure teenagers to strong independent women. The second trilogy of Ayesha, Escehr and Logy and Shallie seems even better, although Shallie isn't out yet. Ayesha is the real standout in that group and probably the best RPG on PS3.

The Atelier really feel like persona games with the time limits meaning you can't really do everything in the time limit available so you have to prioritise but it's never frustrating. Also I love the stories. There's no world saving nonsense it's just simple stories about the characters growing up in the world and standing up for themselves which makes them far more relatable than any god killing emo kid.

Retr0gamer · 08-01-2015 6:55pm

Oh, how could I forget Dark Souls!

Valkyria Chronicles is also bloody fantastic.

Resonance of Fate is huge amounts of fun but only if you can put the time into learn the battle system.

Lahinchians · 08-01-2015 7:05pm

I have deamon souls and, as of 4 days ago, dark souls 2. I wouldn't concider either jrpgs though. Saying that, haven't had the time to play ds2 yet

Retr0gamer · 08-01-2015 7:08pm

Well they are RPGs made in Japan. There's nothing really that defines JRPGs other than that considering how diverse they are.

Lahinchians · 08-01-2015 7:29pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Well they are RPGs made in Japan. There's nothing really that defines JRPGs other than that considering how diverse they are.

Very true! However, there's a particular "feel" that the more classic jrpgs have and deamons souls didn't have it. But yeah not an easy genre to nail down.

So when I have some more time ill give dark souls 2 my full attention.

The atlier? Series looks interesting. Defo one ill have a closer look at.

Have the 2nd Valkyria Chronicles game on psp. Great game! So the first one is anothe added to the list

Is that really all the ps3 has to offer though.

Retr0gamer · 08-01-2015 7:42pm

Well everything else is harder to recommend since it's for weirder tastes. Stuff like Disgaea, Ar tonelico, Tears to Tiara 2, Battle Princess of Arcadia, Eternal Sonata you might love or not take to.

penev10 · 08-01-2015 8:33pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Well they are RPGs made in Japan. There's nothing really that defines JRPGs other than that considering how diverse they are.

The best definition I've heard of a JRPG, or at least the difference between them and western RPGs, is that they give you a defined character and you explore and expand on that character as the game progresses. Typical Western RPGs give you more of a blank canvas and you go from there.

Not perfect but I like it.

By that definition the Souls games are Western RPGs.

Lahinchians · 08-01-2015 8:48pm

penev10 wrote: »

By that definition the Souls games are Western RPGs.

I always saw deamons souls as the Japanese take on doing the western rpg. Very successfully I might add

Lahinchians · 08-01-2015 8:50pm

Is there an etrian oddessy type rpg for the ps3?

penev10 · 08-01-2015 8:56pm

Lahinchians wrote: »

Is there an etrian oddessy type rpg for the ps3?

Wizardry is the only one I can think of. Theres a demo for it.

Retr0gamer · 08-01-2015 9:06pm

penev10 wrote: »

The best definition I've heard of a JRPG, or at least the difference between them and western RPGs, is that they give you a defined character and you explore and expand on that character as the game progresses. Typical Western RPGs give you more of a blank canvas and you go from there.

Not perfect but I like it.

By that definition the Souls games are Western RPGs.

But by that definition you are only looking at the Final Fantasy type games. Shin Megami Tensei traditionally offers you a blank slate and choices that affect the games world and outcome just like a typical western RPG. There's tonnes of other JRPGs like that like Valkyrie Profile that do the same it's only mostly FF and Dragon Quest type RPGs got localised since FF was popular.

Lahinchians wrote: »

I always saw deamons souls as the Japanese take on doing the western rpg. Very successfully I might add

But there's also been lots of japanese RPGs like the Souls series. It's based on Kings Field which is a long running series in Japan and is itself influenced by japanese rogue likes which people see as western despite them only gaining popularity in the west while Japan kept them alive and popular.

You also have to remember that all RPGs be them western or japanese grew out of the same roots of Rogue, Wizardry and Ultima. Stuff like Final Fantasy are pretty much Wizardry when you break them down while Shin Megami Tensei is more like Ultima in its execution.

If you want something more like Baldur's Gate there's Sword World, pretty much japans D&D and games based around it. They only came out on Japanese home computers but then again WRPGs on consoles is only a new thing made popular by Morrowind and KotOR on the XBox which had enough ram to do them justice.

Lahinchians wrote: »

Is there an etrian oddessy type rpg for the ps3?

There's Wizardry and Class of Heroes 2. They are very old school and based on the old western wizardry games and no where near as good as Etrian Odyssey.

Sephiroth_dude · 08-01-2015 9:15pm

Gonna order Class hero's 2 tomorrow actually .

Lahinchians · 08-01-2015 11:41pm

Some pretty good info there guys! Gonna giive em all a crack over the next year for sure. Might have to go buy a 3ds for the next etrian odyssey tho. I miss my ds terribly, forgot to pack it in my old apartment and now im living in austria so its pretty much lost. Still though, I have my psp and there are some cracking jrpgs there. Still must get back to finish BoF3

Sephiroth_dude · 08-01-2015 11:48pm

Lahinchians wrote: »

Some pretty good info there guys! Gonna giive em all a crack over the next year for sure. Might have to go buy a 3ds for the next etrian odyssey tho. I miss my ds terribly, forgot to pack it in my old apartment and now im living in austria so its pretty much lost. Still though, I have my psp and there are some cracking jrpgs there. Still must get back to finish BoF3

Give the tales games a go too,in particular tales of symphonia which was released on ps3 early last year.

RobbingBandit · 08-01-2015 11:50pm

Just found a box with my until now lost Vita memory cards, found one 8gb with loads of PSP and PS One games on it, Lunar Silver Star Harmony here I come.

Pac1Man · 09-01-2015 2:43pm

I had almost completed The Last Story on the Wii until I hit a road block. Good game, interesting story but I fear I've prematurely reached the end.

That certain 3-stage boss.

Retr0gamer · 09-01-2015 7:26pm

Pac1Man wrote: »

I had almost completed The Last Story on the Wii until I hit a road block. Good game, interesting story but I fear I've prematurely reached the end.

That certain 3-stage boss.

The final boss then?

The game is perfectly manageable but you just have to understand the battle system, easier said and done though when there's so much to learn. Found the last boss the only one to be challenging but you could still manage to scrape through.

Pac1Man · 09-01-2015 8:12pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

The final boss then?

The game is perfectly manageable but you just have to understand the battle system, easier said and done though when there's so much to learn. Found the last boss the only one to be challenging but you could still manage to scrape through.

Yes, I wasn't aware it was the final one. That kind of makes me more determined. Stages 1 and 2 are fine. The gloves come off for stage 3 though!

Retr0gamer · 09-01-2015 11:45pm

Check a faq. Iirc there's a very specific move you have to perform to kill the 3rd stage... I think. Can't remember how I beat him, just know it was very tough but doable once you get into a pattern. Dissipating the circles that raise defence every time is pretty much essential, you need to keep your defense up to survive damage.

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