J/S/RPGs

[Shonumi]

Talk about Japanese, Strategy, or any other kind of RPGs here. Anything goes, as long as it's about a role playing game. What are you playing? What's you all-time favorite? Got a review? Post it here!

Currently thinking about getting back into Valkyria Chronicles 2. It's been almost 2 years since I started, not even halfway through. As some of you may know, I'm working on my own GBA emulator. Riviera: The Promised Land is definitely on my "must replay" list.

[NKF98]

To continue the Star Ocean 2 discussion--What characters did you recruit and how many Private Actions did you do? You might be surprised by the depth of the story in SO2. If you do certain Private actions at the beginning of the game you unlock a SUPER BOSS(!!) and get a lot of insight on the main late-game antagonist. Also, if you recruit Ashton, you get more insight on the lore of Expel. Alternatively, if you recruit Opera and Ernest, you get more insight on the lore of the rest of the universe. Cool stuff. Furthermore, the Cave of Trials (extra dungeon) is incredibly hard, lots of fun and hours. Playing on Galaxy/Universe mode also adds a huge challenge as not only do the enemies have way more health and do more damage, they block, like, everything. My favorite RPG.

As for SO3, I thought the whole M Night Shyamalan thing at the end was a cheap trick plot-wise. I REALLY did not like SO4.

[Garteal]

@Shonumi whenever I play a game and I don't play it for a certain period of time I tend to restart it since I forget most of the stuff that happened etc and I prefer to have my progression constructive. You fine with coming back to a game later and simply finish it?

Not playing a singleplayer RPG at the moment due to time. But I do play some Phantasy Star Online 2 (yes, still) occasionally when I do get some time. Fun game.
I got quite a bunch of singleplayer games I have to play through on my backlog, like Valkyria Chronicles on PC. Not too far in it yet, but I really like it from what I've played.

Uhm... all-time favorite? Let's see... probably still Tales of Symphonia at the moment. Runner-ups are Tales of the Abyss and Xenoblade in no particular order. I really have to play them again to get my favorite up to date.

[NKF98]

Well, my favorite RPG lies in Final Fantasy X, probably. Runner ups are FFVII, FFXIII (yes I liked 13) and FFXII. IX is an honorable mention. Wait, holy crap, I play way too much Final Fantasy.

[KHg8m3r]

Kingdom Hearts series is my favorite of all time

[Shonumi]

@NKF98 - I recruited Precis, what's his face with the snakes, and the catboy in one play through. I forget who else I did later. I did no PAs because I hated the PA system from the first game + I had already looked up most of backstory online already. The story still didn't click with me. But then, when I look at all the other SO games, the story is always the weakest element in any of them. My biggest gripe with all of them is that they always give you some goal or main enemy to focus on, then that changes and you're fighting someone or something else. But then it changes once more and you fight The Real Big Bad. Pick a big bad and stick with it; it just feels like you're jumping from crisis to crisis rather than enjoying a good plot twist. SO1-3 are all guilty, SO4 to a lesser extent, but it suffers from its own issues.

Tri-Ace games are notorious for their post game content and bosses. That's where SO4 beats out SO2 for me. Try tackling the Ethereal Queen (even on normal difficulty) on her 3rd form (all wings present). Not only does getting through all 20 levels take like 2 hours (no saving, die and you start over) but she's absolutely cheap and can knock out your entire party multiple times in as many hits. It's crazy Nintendo-hard. Each run takes me 3 hours on average; maybe I suck but it's always a thrill.

For me though, SO3 had the best customization options and item creation. There were literally hundreds of strategies you could come up with to tackle bosses with crazy amounts of HP. Really pushed me to think creatively, since you absolutely can't reasonably beat some post game bosses without item creation. I wish more games would have systems like that.

@Garteal - TotA is A+ material It's the only game I ever bought twice (PS2 + 3DS). I know a lot of people complain about Luke's attitude in the beginning, but he's pretty funny actually. Wish he'd have kept some of the snark in the later arc, but that's Jade's job.

@KHg8m3r - Wut? No way. I had no idea. I mean, it's not like your usename says it all /s

[NKF98]

Hm...you do make a lot of sense. I still like the game though. Innovative leveling system and cool killer moves. SO4 was really...weird imo. SO3 was OK, I could do it, but the SO4 storyline got me completely disengaged (also I could not stand listening to monkey-face for another minute). Never finished the game, maybe I should try. SO3 was actually fun now that I think about it, it's been a long time since I played it. The whole thing where everyone could use "Symbology" (why not just stick with Heldary guys, come on) was cool. Did not like that 0MP killed you, but not really a big issue.

Ever played Final Fantasy X, Shonumi? Excellent game. Would definitely recommend to anyone. Main story takes ~50 hours and completionist takes 170 hours (!!). Good replay value too.

[Shonumi]

SO4 story and character development sucks. Ignore it to enjoy it. Just focus on killing things and it's not so bad

I've been meaning to play FF VII through X. Welcome to my ridiculous gaming backlog. I still have Valkyria Chronicles II, Disgaea 2, and Rune Factory 4 to finish

[IceStrike256]

I am going through FFX again so fun. Also Lost Odyssey!!!!!!!!

[NKF98]

VII has great story and character development, VIII has shitty battle imo, IX has incredible artwork, and X has an innovative leveling system+cool summoning system. Have you played XII or XIII?