Old/obscure/underrated JRPGs

[Phinx]

I've always wanted to try this Sega Saturn cyberpunk JRPG called Cyber Doll. A turn based JPRG where you can target body parts like Fallout/Front Mission. Just like Front Mission, you can get body parts and upgrades off of enemies also.

Although the menu can be in English, the dialogue hasn't been translated to English sadly. The soundtrack from what little I've check of it seems pretty solid also.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Blame 680x0 for introducing me to Quester. Finished it on my Switch and had a good time.

It's simple but deep enough to keep things interesting until the end.

I want to try NG+ later this year.

 

[Kuruwin]

Blame 680x0 for introducing me to Quester. Finished it on my Switch and had a good time.

It's simple but complex and deep enough to keep things interesting until the end.

I want to try NG+ later this year.

How many area's does this game have. I made it to third but the game started to feel tiresome even before second area's boss.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Blame 680x0 for introducing me to Quester. Finished it on my Switch and had a good time.

It's simple but complex and deep enough to keep things interesting until the end.

I want to try NG+ later this year.

How many area's does this game have. I made it to third but the game started to feel tiresome even before second area's boss.

Four. I found that it got tiresome when I didn't bother to modify my equipment or search for event battles to raise the level cap.

 

[680x0]

Nobody in the English speaking world has found monster #33 yet.

I have 130 hours in and can't find it.

The Dev. only gives cryptic and contradictory hints in Engrish.

He is shocked at the popularity of the English translation and even tho he was thinking about quitting game development after the initial Japanese launch, we are now getting a 2nd game.

My (last) NG+5 loop was completed using nothing but a party of feeble PhD nerds. You can win with any party if you put in the work :D

 

[Kuruwin]

Well if it isn't longer than that, then I might finish it. I do like that the different equipment come's with different skills, but there's too much battling and I hate level caps. The battle's don't exactly last long, but I would have liked to just instantly skip the text because buff's make thing's drag a bit. Also It would have been nice to be able to save differen't attack set up's because If you need to save healing resource's (the game doesn't have conventional mana system) then you have to keep switching back your healer's skills. Being able to load set up 1, set up 2 and so on would have been convinient.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

That adventure screen reminds me of an old old early Japanese game. Such nostalgia there alone.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Blame 680x0 for introducing me to Quester. Finished it on my Switch and had a good time.

It's simple but complex and deep enough to keep things interesting until the end.

I want to try NG+ later this year.

Great little game. Thanks

 

[abnaxus]

Played Oerstedia (1993)

It’s a Brandish style dungeon crawler with four playable characters (also co-op available).

It takes some effort to make it run not sluggishly (dropped it in the past because of it) but it’s good enough to consider a replay with a different character to see the difference in dialogue and the ending. I guess the human male marries the p’incess.

Spoiler

 

[Frank Capicoli]

Baroque. But not any of the later ports they sucked.

 

[abnaxus]

Played Dragon Pink (1992)

It’s a game based on a semi-obscure manga with the following plot:

Pink has a sorry lot in life. After putting on the Cursed Panties of Torijima, she's been turned into a sex-slave catgirl. Her friends aren't much help either, from the sex-crazed Santa, to the sexy elf mage Pias, to big-in-all-ways barbarian Bobo, poor Pink just can't catch a break as they travel around seeking new adventures and all sorts of new booty...

Didn’t look into it too deeply but it seems Santa and Pink share a relationship similar to Rance and Sill, and Bobo is shagging Pias...

So it’s a naughty version of Slayers which has its own game on the platform. The comparison with Slayers game is almost automatic as both games start with a bandit encounter. Slayers is party based but there’s no leveling: all characters are on the peak of their power. It is also a pure dungeon crawler.

In this game there’s overworld travel and leveling (until all stats are maxed at 255) but the game is not party based: you control one character who then takes care of combat alone (you never meet more than one enemy at a time). So if you want to cast magic, you need to control the sorceress though beating an enemy with magic gives no experience but doubles the amount of acquired gold.

However since characters don’t have individual stats (there’s one attack and defense stat for the entire party) the sorceress and Pink do the same amount of melee damage as the two fighters anyway. I always controlled the sorceress otherwise combat gets really boring. Very high encounter rate makes it a slog to finish.

The best part of the game is the extensive and creative bestiary (majority of enemies are derived of gurls, which is part of the story), there are very few instances of differently coloured enemies. The music is p. neat as well.

A PC98 based on Bastard!! would’ve been the bees knees but never happened. Otoh the two Lodoss games are the best rpg games on the platform.

Spoiler

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Talk about crazy dick monsters. Imagine a sentient bow like that bow monster. You’d get some stares at the archery range. And the BBEG just needed some ninny because he was super fussy.

 

[kaisergeddon]

Nobody in the English speaking world has found monster #33 yet.

I have 130 hours in and can't find it.

The Dev. only gives cryptic and contradictory hints in Engrish.

He is shocked at the popularity of the English translation and even tho he was thinking about quitting game development after the initial Japanese launch, we are now getting a 2nd game.

My (last) NG+5 loop was completed using nothing but a party of feeble PhD nerds. You can win with any party if you put in the work :D

I'm on NG+2 now and still loving it. I'm excited to see he's staying on top of this game and turning it into a series.

Btw, would you happen to know how to find the blue-haired girl in the official art? That and the old man scientist are the only questers I haven't recruited yet.

 

[MurkrLurkr]

Played Dragon Pink (1992)

It’s a game based on a semi-obscure manga with the following plot:

Pink has a sorry lot in life. After putting on the Cursed Panties of Torijima, she's been turned into a sex-slave catgirl. Her friends aren't much help either, from the sex-crazed Santa, to the sexy elf mage Pias, to big-in-all-ways barbarian Bobo, poor Pink just can't catch a break as they travel around seeking new adventures and all sorts of new booty...

I remember watching Pink Pineapple's tripartite OVA based on the manga... I don't remember much about it, but I've always loved the 90s ecchi anime, not because of sexy times but comedic fantasy and goofy adventures of its characters, my favorite being Dragon Knight 4-ever. For those interested in the game's story I'm sure you can find it on teh usual hentai streaming sites.. For us not versed in moon rune deciphering, watching the thing based on the thing which is based on the original thing is the next best thing

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

That's a lot of things.

 

[Don Peste]

How bad was Time Stalkers?

 

[dukeLess]

How bad was Time Stalkers?

I played time stalkers like a year ago, from my memory its not a terrible game, it was really janky at times. I found the dialogue funny at certain point, but the overall story is just meh. Gameplay wise its alright, its a turn based rouge-like. The reviews for it are probably because you can tell its not the most polished game, it can be an enjoyable times.

 

[I eat frozen vegetables]

Lunatic Dawn: Passage of the Book is probably the most obscure JRPG that I have played. The only other place that talks about it is the nuclear shitpile known as ResetERA.

 

[abnaxus]

Played Wolfish Gallop for PC98 (1994)

This game is a mix of Suikoden, Shining Force and Final Fantasy.

There are eight main characters who each lead their own party. Each of these main characters has their own introductory story chapter. Aside from the main eight, there are scores of recruitable party members. What struck me is that two characters are extremely similar to Hix and Tengaar from Suikoden, however after a certain very early choice there’s no good end for them.

It is a long and highly story driven game, with many events and cutscenes similar to Final Fantasy 6 which was released a couple of months before this game. Eventually every battle is fought with 8 parties of 4 people (an auto resolve option for trivial encounters is sorely lacking since it’s not possible to avoid combat).

The story deals with a demon invasion. Since the game epithet is “Legacy of Solomon”, King Solomon’s 72 summoned demon lords are an integral part of the story. And I guess by the end of the game you’ve clobbered pretty much all of them.

Spoiler

 

[grundo1561]

I picked up a copy of Progenitor cuz of this thread. It's interesting how Koei just abandoned the IP.
Here's a hi-res scan of the covers
There's also a fairly thick booklet and a galaxy map

Spoiler

 

[abnaxus]

Played Volfoss for PSX (2001).

Probably sharing the title for weirdest game on the platform with Nemu Lu Mayu. Though it’s weird mainly because of the art style and setting, the gameplay is p. traditional. Character and creature design is by Nirasawa Yasushi (the adventure game Salammbo uses art from Philippe Druillet, which is a bit similar but a lot less weird).

Spoiler

The setting got Bastard!! vibes, and suitably the soundtrack is p. metal. Also feels similar to Neo Metal Fantasy on PC Engine.

The main characters are two remaining “troopers” of a mercenary company that gets wiped out at the beginning of the game. There’s a trooper ranking, and they fall from 19 to last place at the beginning. As the game progresses, you climb the ranks again but it doesn’t affect much.

There are some minor strategy elements in the game as you manage the mercenary company. Depending on which side missions you choose, there are five different scenarios and endings.

Spoiler

 

[I eat frozen vegetables]

Played Volfoss for PSX (2001).

Probably sharing the title for weirdest game on the platform with Nemu Lu Mayu. Though it’s weird mainly because of the art style and setting, the gameplay is p. traditional. Character and creature design is by Nirasawa Yasushi (the adventure game Salammbo uses art from Philippe Druillet, which is a bit similar but a lot less weird).

Spoiler

The setting got Bastard!! vibes, and suitably the soundtrack is p. metal. Also feels similar to Neo Metal Engine on PC Engine.

The main characters are two remaining “troopers” of a mercenary company that gets wiped out at the beginning of the game. There’s a trooper ranking, and they fall from 19 to last place at the beginning. As the game progresses, you climb the ranks again but it doesn’t affect much.

There are some minor strategy elements in the game as you manage the mercenary company. Depending on which side missions you choose, there are five different scenarios and endings.

Spoiler

I'm down with playing this game. The artwork reminds me of early Kazuma Kaneko.

 

[abnaxus]

Played Proserpia for PC88 (1988)

It’s a CYOA rpg/adventure game hybrid with a female protagonist, which is exceedingly rare on the platform and for the time period in general.

The game takes place in a version of Ancient Greece during the period when Demeter’s daughter is kidnapped by Hades and there’s draught everywhere due to the goddess no longer doing her job (Demeter’s daughter is of course Persephone but called Proserpia in the game). The main character must save her sister and the world.

The main character's beginning stats can be upgraded at times by certain decisions or solving puzzles. There are many skill checks but few (including the very first) are game ending.

Only in the underworld there are combat encounters but they can be avoided easily depending on which stats are highest.

Before meeting Hades you need to go through a series of doors in the sequence of the entire Greek alphabet. Easy for any educated westerner but must’ve been less trivial for a Japanese.

Spoiler

 

[spookyheart]

Ar Tonelico, like if that game came out today on next gen all 3 games in one disc/cartridge with all the bonus stuff it woulda been an instant hit if you ask me.

 

[abnaxus]

Played Miraculum on PC-FX (1996)

RayForce made a bunch of above average rpg games “Startling Odyssey” with blue-haired protagonist for PC Engine (there’s even one remake for PSX). This is basically the same game on another platform (but looks exactly like a PC Engine game, PC-FX is a p. sad platform).

The main character in this game is supposed to be fantasy-Akira. Since it’s no longer on PC Engine, it’s not lewd anymore but only a bit suggestive at times. All in engine cutscenes are replaced by animu sequences.

There’s a lot to like about the game. It must be the best RayForce game. The dungeons are really, really big. The leveling is slow. There’s some content to find unique weapons and angel summons. You can upgrade unique weapons so main character starts to do huge damage and make random encounters not a drag. There's some weirdly creative enemy design at times.

The final boss is a huge pain in the ass to defeat, as it should be.

Spoiler