Old/obscure/underrated JRPGs

[Vagiel]

Not sure if they've been mentioned yet, but Brigandine and Langrisser series are some of my all time favorites. Spent a huge part of my life on those games.

Brigandine offers a lot of replayability since you can play with 6 different kingdoms, offering 6 different playthroughs. Multiple campaigns with the same kingdom can also differ from each other because the game is quite open/non-linear on the way you progress through it and has a shitton of characters.

Spoiler

And some langrisser pics

Spoiler

In case you didn't know, there was a complete version of brigandine with an extra scenario plus a lot of other things that was actually fan translated, although there seems to be some controversy with the translation.

It reminds me a lot of dragon force and one of these days I should give it a fair chance.

 

[Jrpgfan]

Not sure if they've been mentioned yet, but Brigandine and Langrisser series are some of my all time favorites. Spent a huge part of my life on those games.

Brigandine offers a lot of replayability since you can play with 6 different kingdoms, offering 6 different playthroughs. Multiple campaigns with the same kingdom can also differ from each other because the game is quite open/non-linear on the way you progress through it and has a shitton of characters.

Spoiler

And some langrisser pics

Spoiler

In case you didn't know, there was a complete version of brigandine with an extra scenario plus a lot of other things that was actually fan translated, although there seems to be some controversy with the translation.

It reminds me a lot of dragon force and one of these days I should give it a fair chance.

You mean the Grand Edition? Yeah, i'm aware. I played the shit out of that version too.

 

[LJ40]

Can we all at least set a minimum requirement on having to be 2/3 on the old/obscure/underrated scale? I don't give a fuck how long the series have been around, Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest do not belong anywhere near this thread.

 

[Hyperion]

Does Ogre Battle qualify for obscure? God knows it's underrated as fuck. 23 years old and more complicated than 99% of the garbage churned out today.

Rogue Galaxy? I remember playing it and thanking Level 5 for listening to me and making Dark Cloud with party-based combat. Shame they didn't go further in depth with each world. The beginning sequence with the desert and sand worms had a great Dune vibe to it and would have been awesome to explore beyond just foreshadowing Jaster being the kwisatz haderach equivalent.

Quite shocked I haven't seen a Valkyrie Profile mention anywhere in this thread. I only played Silmeria, but that game was absolutely stunning.

I recall playing Eternal Sonata and enjoying its combat system, but getting sick of its baby shit soft plot and characters.

....Quest 64? Nobody ever said they had to be good....

 

[InD_ImaginE]

Valkyrie Profile

Because it is not underated nor it is obscure. Besides the mobile game SE just churned out to rape the franchise, VP series are well known.

 

[Jrpgfan]

Today for some reason I reminded of a psx rpg I played a long time ago called Racing Lagoon. I don't know if I'd enjoy it today and won't be able to give an in-depth review since it's been so long and I never replayed it, but I remember enjoying it quite a bit back in the day, and would probably have enjoyed even more if I understood anything that was written(it was in japanese and I don't know if it's ever been released outside Japan). It's basically a mix of FF-like jRPG and racing game. You roam around a city in a car on a 3D isometric camera and race against people on the streets or amateur/professional racers on legalized circuits. When the race starts it switches to a classic close back-view 3D camera like in a traditional racing game and you control a full 3D car model instead of a miniature like in the "roaming" mode. You gain xp and money by winning races and doing some other stuff and can use it to improve your car parts or to buy new cars. In street races you can pick parts from your opponent's car if you beat them IIRC.

Of what i recall, it has some "sandbox" feel to it since the world is open(although some regions are locked initially IIRC) and there's a few side quests. I can't really remember how linear is the game progress though so I won't comment on this.

I don't know if this game is underrated. Actually I don't even know how well received it was, but in case it got good reviews, I'd have to play it again to draw a definitive conclusion. However, since I rarely find anyone talking about it anywhere, I assumed it could be considered obscure and thus safe to be posted here.

Some screenshots:

Spoiler

 

[Hobo Elf]

That car model and its textures look pretty impressive for a PSX game.

 

[Vagiel]

Although not old, oreshika is certainly under appreciated and relatively unknown. It is the first time I have seen a combination of procedural dungeons, generational characters and simulation aspects that fit together so well. Excellent combat system, plenty of variety in character building and an actual chance to screw up your game file if you are too stupid is something I would not expect from a non indie game released in 2015.

Plus it looks gorgeous...

Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

 

[abnaxus]

finished Nana Eiyuu Monogatari

at the end you needed to choose which of the remaining heroes would die, p. unexpected

Spoiler

 

[abnaxus]

Is there a Wapanese equivalent of Replacementdocs? I'd like an actual pdf of a PC88 game, the best I can find are screencaps on blogs.

 

[Keldryn]

Hyperion - Rogue Galaxy was pretty damn good. I never quite finished it; I was partway through the last world when it came time to start renovating our townhouse, put it up for sale, shop for a new house, move, etc back in 2008.

Loved the short story re-caps that displayed when loading a saved game, but unfortunately I had too long a break for those to help.

 

[abnaxus]

Finished Dangel/Dengel

Very Rance-like protagonist (his yakuza speech patterns were annoying to read though), cool waifus, p. amazing enemy design, story full of twists and turns (you even lost the main character for 1/3 of the game), main character even sacrifices himself at the end for the sake of his waifus

final dungeon was also great with a p. cool maze

also nice detail, defeated enemies don't drop gold but fangs, pelts, ichor, etc. that need to be sold to shops to make gold

overall p. classic game, better than any Final Faggotry

Spoiler

 

[newtmonkey]

Is there a Wapanese equivalent of Replacementdocs? I'd like an actual pdf of a PC88 game, the best I can find are screencaps on blogs.

I'm not aware of any, but there are torrents of PC98 manual packs available out there (or there were at one time). I've downloaded a couple... which manual are you looking for?

 

[deuxhero]

While Metal Max Reloaded is decently known on here, the sequels are even better. Remake is 2 on DS is really great.

abnaxus
Do any of your early porn jRPGs (other than Raidy) have a female main character that fucks girls?

 

[abnaxus]

I'm not aware of any, but there are torrents of PC98 manual packs available out there (or there were at one time). I've downloaded a couple... which manual are you looking for?

ディガンの魔石 (Digan no Maseki)

Do any of your early porn jRPGs (other than Raidy) have a female main character that fucks girls?

Otome Senki from Alice Soft, I guess

 

[newtmonkey]

ディガンの魔石 (Digan no Maseki)

I've got that one!
https://ufile.io/0cd89

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Been playing Metal Saga. Open-world post-apocalypse RPG with tanks? Hell yeah.

Okay its pretty grindy, the inventory system sucks, graphics are plain, story is pretty nonexistent....

BUT HOLY HELL LISTEN TO THIS FUCKING SONG

 

[LJ40]

Been playing Metal Saga. Open-world post-apocalypse RPG with tanks? Hell yeah.

Okay its pretty grindy, the inventory system sucks, graphics are plain, story is pretty nonexistent....

BUT HOLY HELL LISTEN TO THIS FUCKING SONG

Agree 100% + For fucks sake could someone PLEASE translate the remaining games in this series?

 

[CryptRat]

story is pretty nonexistent

You're saying that like it's a bad thing...

 

[abnaxus]

Finished Kuro no Ken, it's the best PC98 game I played so far (and for better or worse, it's not an eroge*).

Very good story (with excellent ending) and characters, really fun combat with tons of tactikewl spells & special attacks, very reminiscent of an arcade game. Furthermore, to obtain the very best spells it is necessary to revisit certain ruins/dungeons and find the right treasure.

Bizarrely enough, there's even some optional child/womyn/elderly killing.

Only negative is that a particular Rance like anti-villain wasn't really developed. And maybe in the final dungeon the encounter rate is too high (likely to accomodate under leveled players).

All in all, very surprising that such a quality rpg was developed by a studio who otherwise made a couple of 2D hentai fighting and strip mahjong games.

Spoiler

*The game was ported to Playstation in 1997. This may be the reason for no eroge content although the game did keep some ecchi stuff.

 

[abnaxus]

Finished Continental, a PC98 port from an older game.

Quite primitive gameplay with some quirky mechanics - leveling up is not automatic, it's necessary to go to a bar and order a drink to level up; real great when you're in a long dungeon far away from a town (and no teleporting stones or spells). Also near the end of the game I was about level 200 but still would have needed 100 levels or more to comfortably get through the final dungeon. Random encounters every 1.5 seconds gets really tiring (gotta commend the autism patience and stamina of those 90s salarymen playing without speed up option).

Though what I liked (especially coming after Kuro no Ken) was the game's two protagonists (having to name them yourself) and the interplay between them. Game's mostly humorous but there are some dark & serious moments that feel oddly out of place.

Game also pulls off a great fake ending which actually managed to obfuscate a p. cool twist I had actually foreseen near the middle of the game. Basically male protagonist's childhood waifu turns out to be the main villain (of course though she still survives in the end after beating the true villain who possessed her).

All in all, not something I'd ever replay but I don't regret my time with it.

Spoiler

 

[abnaxus]

Finished Illumina, a MSX port from 1990.

Game is older than Continental but uses the exact same engine and mechanics (though Continental had totally redundant church service; in Illumina the church services were needed since I ran into quite a few cursed items).

Also Illumina uses leveled items while in Continental you could buy endgame weapon in the first village. Overall Illumina was more palatable to play since random encounter rate was far less excessive and the game is p. short. Plus three different waifus each with their own strengths and weaknesses was a good idea (e.g. cleric is the only one who can use healing spell, mage can't use healing but area of effect magic spells, warrior chick can't use magic at all).

Like Continental there's a male protagonist and one female partner but this time there were three waifus to choose from (you name them all yourself): a cleric, mage and fighter. I went through most of the game with the warrior chick.

What I didn't like was that ultimately the only thing that determines which waifu you end up with is taking her to a certain story related cave. She immediately gets captured upon leaving said cave and after rescuing her you fight the final boss alone. This kinda kills any replayability, then again the waifus do seem to have unique dialogue.

Story wise the protagonist has amnesia and a strange sigil on his hand; near the middle of the game he discovers he has an older sister and right at the end of the game the Big Bad turns out to be his father.

Spoiler

 

[abnaxus]

Finished Akatsuki no Byzantira. Thought it'd be a girly game but in fact it was p. fun and relaxing to play (music was very good). Quite feminist game (takes place in a world where originally there were only wymyn born); I wasn't surprised to find it was based on a fantasy novel written by womyn author Hiroe Suga.

The protagonist though was p. great (using male speech, which is common for stronk wymyn in Wapanese media) and in the end turned out to be

Spoiler

 

[Alkarl]

SaGa series, starting with the bastard child that was Final Fantasy 2j on NES (not that obscure).

Then you have the gameboy titles: Final Fantasy Legend 1 and 2 (and 3, bleh) originally titled SaGa back east (also not terribly obscure)

Then you hit Romancing SaGa series on Snes. The first game was remade and ported to ps2, and was the only official western release of the Romancing SaGa series specifically until Romancing SaGa 2 was translated and ported via mobile platforms. You can pick this up now, but from what I understand, its riddled with microtransactions but of-fucking-course it is, isn't it Square-Enix?! Romancing SaGa 2, I'm still holding out hope on a AGTP translation of the snes original. Then there is RS3 as has already been mentioned.

Then you've got SaGa Frontier, an esoteric gem in its own right, very very flawed but beautiful at the same time. By no means terribly obscure, but we're getting there. SaGa Frontier 2 was .. a game. It's good, I mean, I don't hate it, I just find it to be the weakest of the series which is saying something considering the next entry.

Unlimited SaGa. Holy fuck do people hate this game. I personally love it. I love the art work, the gameplay, everything. Probably my personal favorite next to SaGa Frontier.

Then you've got Romancing SaGa on ps2. A fun little game, basically the best, most well rounded and complete of the series. Not that this exactly makes it the most fun, but it is third on my personal list.

Those are all of the titles in the SaGa series, and anyone who says otherwise is a fucking liar.

 

[TigerKnee]

...Romancing SaGa 2 was translated and ported via mobile platforms. You can pick this up now, but from what I understand, its riddled with microtransactions but of-fucking-course it is, isn't it Square-Enix?!

It doesn't have micro transactions at all..

The worst things about that ports are
1) It has "Connect to Servers" DRM when you start it up (which kills the point of a Mobile game if you live in countries with shit reception)
2) Phone controls suck for out of battle movement.

That's it.

Well the translation is kinda shit too but you're not really playing this game for the prose