Random thoughts on whatever JRPG you're currently playing?

[DRAKKO]

i have being playing Super Robot Wars/Taisen og saga on the ds, its really fun, love the gameplay very similar to Namco x Capcom, its all about timing and combos in your attacks in party members assists, with the end goal of building meter to do you flashy super.
its also full of big titted waifus.

 

[n0wh3r3]

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is the Bitcoin of modern JRPGS.

 

[Reinhardt]

tried sword of convallaria. some weird ftp gybrid of gacha and rogue-lite tactics.

mc waking up in jail with amnesia when some people dressed as guards start murdering prisoners, then some other people breaking in to save some guy and we join with them to escape. there is chimpout outside, city is burning, blm, acab. 5 minutes later we all die trapped between rioters and city guards. that's our first bad ending.

here game diverges. one part is typical gacha with talking cat saves our wandering soul and brings to some weird place. rolling for characters, grinding daily quests - all that shit.
another - "what if". what if we didn't die in prologue, banded with other groups of refugees, managed to break out of the burning city, reached hometown of our new mercenary friends and now trying to survive incoming war.
parts are barely connected. you can gain some gacha currency in rl mode for achievements and you can chose 3 characters you own in gacha at the start of new run. but only character itself - levels and equip not carried. only learned skills, which is big enough. in rl mode learning skills is not that easy and very random so characters with full skill set is very convenient.
for finishing any rl run you get some special currency which you can then spend in skill tree unlocking bonuses for future runs.

combat is pretty easy so far, with battles being small scale - maximum 5 characters you field + some allies in some missions against comparable enemy numbers. but i admit - i'm very early in the game. only got my first bad ending, if you don't count dying in prologue(tho it's officially one of the bad ends) - decided to not be frens with any other faction and my town was buttraped in event by some apocalyptic cult horde led by undead(?) guy.

so our kangdom is very rich on some magic rock resources but our current ruler is kinda... weird. also, i don't know why yet, but we start in prison, so not much love for kangdom. that's one faction. technically, two - there is official kang army and then there are hanged men - secret police. both with their own sub set of characters.
after chimpout, union - the coalition of some knightly orders, sent expeditionary peacekeeping force. SURPRISINLY they bring with them another prince, brother of our current ruler, who fled after some family spat. that's second.
third one - papal states. dominant power of the continent. they are very honest people. simply declared that magic rock stuff is very sacred, so of course it belongs to them. and they have enough military might to back their claim.
also there are already mentioned apocalyptic cult hostile to everyone, beast tribes in the mountains, some arab slavers hunting said beasts, random bandits and so on.

 

[Reinhardt]

lol, you actually can use your doom squad in rl. into the trash it goes.

 

[Starner]

I'm playing Phantasy Star 1 with the intention of finishing the series. So far my main thought is, I miss 8-bit JRPGs that have this setup. Simple plotline, very open world that you are dropped into, and satisfying progression. The only games that capture this feeling for me are FF1, DQ 1+2+3, and Metal Max. It seems the technological restrictions actually improved these games because they focus their limited memory on exploration and combat.

 

[Polvo]

Currently playing a Japanese RPG Maker (VX edition) game by the name of New Little World (JP site/EN download). It's also known as Hat World: New Testament, apparently this is a sequel to some earlier Hat World game. Surprisingly, "New Hat World" or whatever the hell it's really called doesn't play much like the average RPG Maker game; instead it plays like Valkyrie Profile 1, with a lot of additional inspiration taken from the SaGa games (going off this page on the game it's specifically inspired by SaGa Frontier 1). Can only wonder how much hacking the dev(s) had to do to make a game like this in VX Ace.
I'm pretty early on in the game, but so far I like what I'm experiencing. Despite certain design decisions that make MP/item management a non-issue, there's still some challenge in every fight. The bosses are especially tough, every boss fight I've done so far has been a near total party wipe at best. Sidequests are also fairly plentiful, at least one or two being given in the main hub area after clearing (or even just visiting) any dungeon for the first time. All of them have been excuses to backtrack to this or that cleared area, though the backtracking itself seems to be rewarded with new enemy encounters, new extra-hard sections of previously cleared dungeons, and even some events tying into the main story.
The story itself is some odd thing based around gods/demons inhabiting hats inhabiting humans who are all conveniently teenage girls (I'm told this ties into the gameplay, dunno how yet) that I assume will segue to some kind of messed up horror thing. Not sure how the story will shake out beyond that much; to begin with the game doesn't appear to have one "main" story, but rather 6 different scenarios, each with their own MC.
There is one major downside, that I assume will turn most here off the game: the aesthetics are thoroughly moeshit. The writing is also a little off-putting here and there; I suspect whoever translated this (readme refers to four usernames, of whom I can't find any information on) may have taken liberties with the dialogue. All in all, very promising game, looking forward to see what else New Hat World has in store.

 

[Zero CHAR]

Currently playing a Japanese RPG Maker (VX edition) game by the name of New Little World (JP site/EN download). It's also known as Hat World: New Testament, apparently this is a sequel to some earlier Hat World game. Surprisingly, "New Hat World" or whatever the hell it's really called doesn't play much like the average RPG Maker game; instead it plays like Valkyrie Profile 1, with a lot of additional inspiration taken from the SaGa games (going off this page on the game it's specifically inspired by SaGa Frontier 1). Can only wonder how much hacking the dev(s) had to do to make a game like this in VX Ace.
I'm pretty early on in the game, but so far I like what I'm experiencing. Despite certain design decisions that make MP/item management a non-issue, there's still some challenge in every fight. The bosses are especially tough, every boss fight I've done so far has been a near total party wipe at best. Sidequests are also fairly plentiful, at least one or two being given in the main hub area after clearing (or even just visiting) any dungeon for the first time. All of them have been excuses to backtrack to this or that cleared area, though the backtracking itself seems to be rewarded with new enemy encounters, new extra-hard sections of previously cleared dungeons, and even some events tying into the main story.
The story itself is some odd thing based around gods/demons inhabiting hats inhabiting humans who are all conveniently teenage girls (I'm told this ties into the gameplay, dunno how yet) that I assume will segue to some kind of messed up horror thing. Not sure how the story will shake out beyond that much; to begin with the game doesn't appear to have one "main" story, but rather 6 different scenarios, each with their own MC.
There is one major downside, that I assume will turn most here off the game: the aesthetics are thoroughly moeshit. The writing is also a little off-putting here and there; I suspect whoever translated this (readme refers to four usernames, of whom I can't find any information on) may have taken liberties with the dialogue. All in all, very promising game, looking forward to see what else New Hat World has in store.

It's not a sequel, it's more like an improved version of the original.

 

[Inec0rn]

Final Fantasy used to be good. This FFX battle is so epic, the music, storyline to this point and Seymour is such as asshole character and this is side-character.. 6 or 7 realtime button masher releases later and nothing slightly comes close to this level, i can't even remember character names of the little i played of games after this.

 

[Reinhardt]

all i remember from x is squatting from lightning strikes for weapon...

 

[Late Bloomer]

Final Fantasy used to be good. This FFX battle is so epic, the music, storyline to this point and Seymour is such as asshole character and this is side-character.. 6 or 7 realtime button masher releases later and nothing slightly comes close to this level, i can't even remember character names of the little i played of games after this.

Final Fantasy used to be good. Shows FFX...

 

[Inec0rn]

10 was the last good game they published, maybe Dragon Quest 8 came out around the same time as well. After that meh..

edit: Last nu-FF I played (i didn't buy it) was that "remake" of FF7, here's that game in a nutshell -> x, x, x, x, horrible bike riding sequence, x, x, x, x, x, x , x cringe boss, x ,x, more horrible bike sequence, x, x ,x ,x ,x . the end.

 

[Puukko]

Dabbling in the PSX version of the OG Shin Megami Tensei. Of the SNES classics, I've played II and if... (well, parked my playthrough at the true final boss) but never got further than maybe an hour into this one. It's got a really cool atmosphere and setting even if the storytelling has about as much meat on it as the many varieties of undead I'm fighting. There's an Expert mode which I am beginning to suspect does little else beyond boosting the encounter rate to silly levels. I'm talking three battles on three consecutive tiles not being uncommon. Couldn't imagine playing this without emulator turbo. The translation has funny quirks to it, the author didn't seem to care much for established naming and just translated everything quite literally so you get funny cases like Slime the Apostate and Lady Zombie the Corpse Ogre.

I do wish more of these alternative versions of the older games got translated, I'd be balls deep into PSX SMT II. The upscaled SNES look isn't a bad fit. Oh yeah, and the remixed soundtrack is pretty good. Not as wild as the Sega CD one though.

 

[Zlaja]

10 was the last good game they published

Personally, I think that FF10 only excels when in comes to combat. The combat system in the game might just be the best in the series. Unfortunately, the game suffers from poor world design (a total decline from previous games in the series), a messy story, and some horrible characters, including BOTH the main character (mega cringe) and the main antagonist (Seymour is just bland as fuck).

 

[Inec0rn]

From memory I barely used blue man and wakka in the campaign, wouldn't Sin and Yunalesca be the main antagonists? I thought it's combat system was good, I remember many bosses having unique patterns weaknesses and strategies which lacks in the modern x x x x x strategy of the new games. I liked the story, there are certainly some cringe scenes in the game like the laughing bit but outside that I thought the story was well fairly well done honestly (although the game has impeccable music and which helps enhance the story). It also has a decent endgame I've never progressed to far into with dark aeons and more hidden bosses, i remember my ass being handed to me by those arena bosses and I had no trouble with the main game.

fantastic boss design:

I also recently played through Parasite Eve 1 as well, fantastic game and they completely ruined it in the sequel in favour of pew pew action retard. Why doesn't Square Enix try make good games that people want to buy ffs..

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

For that matter, as much as he protests that "this is my story", Tidus isn't really the protagonist of FFX, instead being along for the ride on Yuna's pilgrimage, and eventually

Spoiler

it is revealed that FFX is really the story of Auron, the survivor of Braska's pilgrimage, who confronted Yunalesca alone and was killed by her, but who nonetheless persisted in a state of undeath for a decade in order to bring about the events of the game that finally result in the deaths of Yunalesca and Sin/Yu-Yevon, and is granted final peace having accomplished his goals.

There is a fair bit of mess in the story and setting background, though, with a number of points requiring further explication, assuming they aren't simply contradictory or nonsensical. But FFX isn't the first FF with this problem.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

It's just as much Tidus' story. It is the story of himself and his people, as he realizes that his civilization has been destroyed, the aftermath of its fall on the rest of his world, his quest to save his father from destroying the world, and him tying up all lose ends between himself, his father, his civilization, and the rest of the world. With the end of Sin/Jecht/Tidus comes the end of Zanarkand and their place in the setting.

 

[Damned Registrations]

I honestly never gave the story in FFX much consideration. I played through it twice and it made little sense even then. It does have some cool twists here and there, like Auron. But it's got even more stuff that goes unexplained, often because it realistically can't be. Having hand wavey magic is fine in and of itself, but when it's a core element of the plot, that doesn't really work. Nothing about Tidus, Sin, the church or the Aeons makes any sense at all. It's like they were each ripped off from other stories where they fit.

 

[Twizman]

I'm playing Phantasy Star 1 with the intention of finishing the series. So far my main thought is, I miss 8-bit JRPGs that have this setup. Simple plotline, very open world that you are dropped into, and satisfying progression. The only games that capture this feeling for me are FF1, DQ 1+2+3, and Metal Max. It seems the technological restrictions actually improved these games because they focus their limited memory on exploration and combat.

Are there any other games in this style? I feel the same way! Non-linear open world, heavy dungeon crawling, resource management, and good challenge. My favourites are: Dragon Quest II and III (NES), FF1, and Phantasy Star II and IV.

 

[Starner]

I'm playing Phantasy Star 1 with the intention of finishing the series. So far my main thought is, I miss 8-bit JRPGs that have this setup. Simple plotline, very open world that you are dropped into, and satisfying progression. The only games that capture this feeling for me are FF1, DQ 1+2+3, and Metal Max. It seems the technological restrictions actually improved these games because they focus their limited memory on exploration and combat.

Are there any other games in this style? I feel the same way! Non-linear open world, heavy dungeon crawling, resource management, and good challenge. My favourites are: Dragon Quest II and III (NES), FF1, and Phantasy Star II and IV.

There are only a few games that come to mind. Metal Max 1 and 2 have a similar feeling, but there is no defined end to them per se.

Megami Tensei 2 for the Famicom is a good shout. You have top down exploration combined with 3D dungeon crawl similar to Ultima. The dungeons are well defined and the party building is executed well. You can find it for NES emulators translated in English as of the last few years for free. There is also an SNES remake that has been translated for a long time that some prefer. I love NES era graphics though so it's an easy decision for me.

Artifact Adventure is an indie game that was trying to be similar to FF1. You pick a party at the start and are stuck with those classes. There are lots of varied outcomes for the story segments and it has secret discovery points. At the start you are given a choice immediately to take an artifact (full mystery what it does), an airship, or some other option. They lead to very different games depending on your choice.

 

[newtmonkey]

Non-linear open world, heavy dungeon crawling, resource management, and good challenge.

This describes Romancing SaGa on the Super Famicom exactly (though the challenge drops off toward the end once you figure everything out). The "modern" remake (Minstrel SaGa) is actually really good, but in some ways it's even harder to figure out than the SFC original, imo.
BTW, DQ2/3, FF1, and PS1/2 are some of my favorite games of all time, also.

 

[n0wh3r3]

Playing FF Pixel remaster. So good.

 

[Starner]

Playing FF Pixel remaster. So good.

Are you playing the first game? I found it to be pretty good. I'll still never get over how they changed the Flying Fortress from a Satellite to a boring sky castle, what were they thinking?

 

[Machocruz]

Was just thinking about how FF has fallen off, then I come to this thread. The presentation of battles was always on point, even in the games I didn't much care for like 10 and 13. I'm not much into JRPGs in general these days, but one of the things I miss about them are the battles that seemed so monumental, in a way that real-time, third person action doesn't replicate - something about having your party in the foreground and a big boss looming over them in the "background", clearly displayed without the player moving the camera around constantly, with everyone's weapon fx going off at the same time creating a bunch of visual chaos.

And when was the last time they introduced iconic and memorable characters into the video game canon?

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

And when was the last time they introduced iconic and memorable characters into the video game canon?

I remember Ardyn and Emet-Selch being pretty well liked and winning franchise character popularity polls, but the circumstances to create household name super massive mainstream stuff like Star Wars or Final Fantasy 7 or Harry Potter or Pokemon is long over.

 

[Damned Registrations]

something about having your party in the foreground and a big boss looming over them in the "background", clearly displayed without the player moving the camera around constantly, with everyone's weapon fx going off at the same time creating a bunch of visual chaos.

I'd never thought of it that way before but what you said here rings so true. FF12 was the first mainline FF game I didn't bother finishing after I started playing, and consequently the last one I ever bought. I don't think it's a coincidence that it was also the first time they gave up on the turn based aspect and let everyone spaz around at once, making their actions feel vague and unimportant. There's definitely something about turn based combat that resonates with me; the idea of being one turn away from death and winning, killing an enemy in a single turn, being wiped out in a single turn, etc.

the circumstances to create household name super massive mainstream stuff like Star Wars or Final Fantasy 7 or Harry Potter or Pokemon is long over

Not sure I agree with that. Minecraft certainly did it, and I don't think anyone could have seen that coming. Fads are weird and unpredictable at the end of the day. Dark Souls was also on par with FF7 I'd say. If the main character had been given an identity he'd probably be well referenced. Game of Thrones would be another example. None of those were something that couldn't be done and reach insane popularity today- it's just that media in general is in a huge slump right now of idealogical pandering and obsession with remakes. It's not going to last forever, even if it might feel that way. I think that's a higher bar than he meant anyways though. I think he just meant JRPGs in particular have really bland and forgettable characters. I played through FF Stranger of Paradise and despite thinking it had pretty good gameplay and even liking the storyline, I can only remember the name of the literal main character and if you asked me to describe him in a way that would let someone know who I was talking about, I don't think I could. If I said 'that gigantic guy that rides the tiny gimped horse' anyone who played Elden Ring and plenty who hadn't would immediately know who the fuck I was talking about. Every proper jrpg I've played after FFX feels the same way to me- the characters are just kind of vague and lack anything that really defines them well, presumably to make it easier for people to think 'this guy is just like me!' in that shitty way that horoscopes work.