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flyingjohn

Arcane
Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
3,180
For Pete's sake, how many legends of heroes have been made? Is it possible to play just one of them, like the best one, or one has to start from the beginning?
The series started in 1989 under the name dragon slayer,so it is pretty old.

As for the best one,well they are all somewhat different.You can play from the first to the last if you want,but it will take you quite some time.

The early dragon slayer titles are somewhat capable old jrpgs with no amazing features that stand out.

The Gagharv trilogy after that are mostly psps exclusives that are beginning to form the basis of the trails series in terms of features and gameplay. The localization of the first title is quite terrible unfortunately.
The series focuses on story elements with decent turn based combat.

The legend of heroes is the most beloved series.
Writing(and the translation) is top notch and the combat has been given plenty of customization with he arts system and you can actually move your characters on the battle screen.
The first and second title are your typical heroes titles while the third one is more focuses on filing the plot gaps and focus on dungeons instead of towns.(not wizardry type dungeons)
This is the one i would recommend and it is only second to cold steel series.

After that you get the crosbell arc which are just small refinements of the previous games.But they are not translated so you are out of luck if you can't read moon runes.And they are also not easily available to get.(no steam or gog)

After that comes the cols stel series.It is a cross between persona social elements and the previous gameplay of the series.
There are also mechs.

One thing you are gonna love regardless of console/series is the music.
 

Tehdagah

Arcane
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
10,156
You will probably like Final Fantasy 5. It's more gameplay-based than the other ones and considerably more challenging. Lots of classes and dungeons and bosses and shit. Play the GBA version for added content.

Final Fantasy 6 is also nice. If you don't mind worse graphics/sounds then play the GBA version (or even the PC/Mobile version), it has more content and fixed bugs.

Final Fantasy 12 isn't good, not even the boss fights are engaging in this game, you can kill 99% of the foes using the same tactics.
 

Ysaye

Arbiter
Joined
May 27, 2018
Messages
790
Location
Australia
For Pete's sake, how many legends of heroes have been made? Is it possible to play just one of them, like the best one, or one has to start from the beginning?

There is a lot of debate over which is the best one; it's sort of like a best Star Trek versus best Captain of the Enterprise debate. Lots of people rate Estelle who is the main character of the Sky series as she is totally different to what you normally see. Also one of the most loved re-occuring side characters Oliver gets the most screentime in these ones and is totally hilarious but also his back story plays out in this (humor is a big part of the series, possibly linking into an examined theme of "What is a hero/heroine?").

The Cold Steel saga though on the otherhand has a more intriging plot, is more serious (the humor is still there though) tries to keep throwing you with the political games being played by the various factions and has arguably even more interesting side characters than Sky.

I joined the series at Trails of Cold Steel 1 which is the first of the most recent set (I have to admit thinking at the time I can't imagine this to be any good but people keep saying it is worth my while so I gave it a go).

Then after playing because I thought it was so good I went back to the Trails in the Sky games to pick up some of the earlier stories about key characters that show up (these are an older style isometric sprite based graphics) whilst I waited for Cold Steel 2 to be translated, then back to Cold Steel 2 and now waiting for the translation of Cold Steel 3 later this year. So that could be an option for you in terms of order.

The music in these games is insanely good.
 
Joined
Nov 22, 2018
Messages
289
I've been poopsocking my way through the Trails in the Sky games lately. Currently on Trails in the Sky the 3rd. The hype was real, but honestly not for the gameplay. Orbment reminds me of materia, and the battles remind me a ton of Lunar. The stories are great if you love JRPGs, and since I do I'm in hog heaven. The music is good, honestly mostly acceptable but very repetitive based on simple chord progressions. Some tracks are stellar, but I'm not buying the soundtrack like I did with the Xenoblade series. The tracks would become grating very shortly on their own. In the game they're fine. I'd recommend the Trails games, but be aware that they are very slow build. To get to the usual level of epic emos destroying/saving the world takes until the second game. Still, if you love JRPGs then Tales will satisfy.

I'm a bit of a graphics whore, like the OP seems to be. It's impossible for me to get into truly ancient games that I didn't play when I was younger, so I can get his hesitation in trying some of these old gems that others have recommended. Assuming you have a PC, the FF12 Zodiac Age remake on Steam looks amazing, and is a great game to boot. Vewrgy cool world, interesting plot, mostly compelling characters (other than the main and his GF), and really cool battle systems. It's the last, best Final Fantasy. Everything afterwards has been utter trash.

Slightly older and requiring emulation is Phantasy Star 4. I'd not recommend you play any previous game sin the series if you are new to it. Just start with PS4. If you love it, by all means go back and play the earlier ones. You don't need to because PS4 does a great job of reminding the player of the lore and history of the Algol system. It has very unique mechanics, and a graphical and sound style which while old, are charming. Having recently replayed this one due to some RPG Codex threads, I can say for the adult this game still satisfies. It leaves one wanting for more.

Isn't that really what makes any entertainment truly great? All three games/series I've mentioned should fill you with desire to have more. More of the same. More adventures in their world. I hope someone reads this thread and plays some of the games we've mentioned. They're all classics and worth sharing.
 

Ysaye

Arbiter
Joined
May 27, 2018
Messages
790
Location
Australia
Slightly older and requiring emulation is Phantasy Star 4. I'd not recommend you play any previous game sin the series if you are new to it. Just start with PS4. If you love it, by all means go back and play the earlier ones. You don't need to because PS4 does a great job of reminding the player of the lore and history of the Algol system. It has very unique mechanics, and a graphical and sound style which while old, are charming. Having recently replayed this one due to some RPG Codex threads, I can say for the adult this game still satisfies. It leaves one wanting for more.

Phantasy Star 4 is available on Steam (although did you mean emulation through Steam?)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/211205/Phantasy_Star_IV_The_End_of_the_Millennium/
 

Damned Registrations

Furry Weeaboo Nazi Nihilist
Joined
Feb 24, 2007
Messages
15,759
FFT had good story but any fun from combat was diminished by its character development system. There were easy ways to break the game. Like geting low Faith stat (resistance to magic), Or training monks on high levels (past level 30 monk deals more damage using fists than the best sword). Only way for me to enjoy FFT is to make a long list of builds that i cannot use... Bad design.
Sounds like you ruined the game for yourself by crawling though guides until there was nothing left to discover.

Anyways if you want something with good, difficult combat, the list is pretty short. The Labyrinth of Touhou games have excellent combat and character development, some decentish dungeon traps and lets not talk about the characters or story. Some other games have challenging sections here or there (generally boss fights) but often have pretty simplistic systems. SaGa Frontier has really awesome mechanics and good stories and characters and setting, but the combat doesn't put up much of a challenge aside from a few special encounters.

If you're not concerned about finding a good challenge, Lufia 2 is pretty much the peak of old SNES rpgs.
 

aweigh

Arcane
Joined
Aug 23, 2005
Messages
18,133
Location
Florida
lots of people here recommending to start with trails of cold steel. legit decision, or are you all frontin'? i always heard it was omagawh super important to play from the 1st trails !111
 

Grampy_Bone

Arcane
Joined
Jan 25, 2016
Messages
3,934
Location
Wandering the world randomly in search of maps
lots of people here recommending to start with trails of cold steel. legit decision, or are you all frontin'? i always heard it was omagawh super important to play from the 1st trails !111

Trails in the Sky legit put me to sleep. Combat is both unrewarding and difficult to avoid, with extremely tedious and repetitive animations.

Apparently there is a turbo mode in the Steam release that you can toggle from the launcher? I never got it to work. The dialogue was typical JRPG yammering with lots of words and very little actually being said.

I feel like if a game has VO it forces developers to at least try to economize on dialogue. Lord knows that doesn't stop most JRPGs from yammering endlessly but it has to help a little.
 
Joined
Nov 22, 2018
Messages
289
Trails in the Sky legit put me to sleep. Combat is both unrewarding and difficult to avoid, with extremely tedious and repetitive animations.

Apparently there is a turbo mode in the Steam release that you can toggle from the launcher? I never got it to work. The dialogue was typical JRPG yammering with lots of words and very little actually being said.

I feel like if a game has VO it forces developers to at least try to economize on dialogue. Lord knows that doesn't stop most JRPGs from yammering endlessly but it has to help a little.

There are like 3 good fights in the series between the first two games. And those are legit awesome fights. In general the combat is repetitive and boring.

I use turbo basically all the time. I play on an Xbox One controller on the PC. Super easy, no need to configure. I couldn't imagine playing these console ports without a gamepad. The controls are set up for one.

The verbal diarrhea had a purpose - to get you to bond with and empathize with somewhat realistic characters. I too found it tiresome at times, but maybe I've been institutionalized by it and I really love it now in Trails the 3rd. To my mind, if you don't love reading dialogue and want to just fight and loot then the Trails games are definitely not for you. The series got really good in the second game. The first game was just the price to pay to get the most out of the other two.

lots of people here recommending to start with trails of cold steel. legit decision, or are you all frontin'? i always heard it was omagawh super important to play from the 1st trails !111

Once I get done with Trails the 3rd I'll let you know. Cold Steel will be next up. I just wish it would go on sale soon.
 

Grampy_Bone

Arcane
Joined
Jan 25, 2016
Messages
3,934
Location
Wandering the world randomly in search of maps
The verbal diarrhea had a purpose - to get you to bond with and empathize with somewhat realistic characters. I too found it tiresome at times, but maybe I've been institutionalized by it and I really love it now in Trails the 3rd. To my mind, if you don't love reading dialogue and want to just fight and loot then the Trails games are definitely not for you. The series got really good in the second game. The first game was just the price to pay to get the most out of the other two.

The thing about this is I can (and have) played through Xenogears multiple times, and even though the dialogue in that game moves slow, it creates this interesting cadence to the lines. Perhaps along with the wonderful music, I could read the text in Xenogears over and over again without being bored.

Trails OTOH is the same old tired anime dialogue. Its "This girl is a poor cook lol" and "I like you" "you like me" "not like like you!" "omg I almost confessed?!?!" x 1 million
 
Joined
Nov 22, 2018
Messages
289
The thing about this is I can (and have) played through Xenogears multiple times, and even though the dialogue in that game moves slow, it creates this interesting cadence to the lines. Perhaps along with the wonderful music, I could read the text in Xenogears over and over again without being bored.

Trails OTOH is the same old tired anime dialogue. Its "This girl is a poor cook lol" and "I like you" "you like me" "not like like you!" "omg I almost confessed?!?!" x 1 million

Yeah, you are right. Xenogears has better dialogue than Trails. Part of it no doubt has to do with the themes being Nietzsche-esque and more high Sci-Fi in Xenogears vs. "the real treasure was the friends we made" in Trails. I guess I'm just becoming a 40 yr old girl from being an angsty teenager when Xenogears came out. I like Trails now, but probably would never replay it. I would replay Xenogears except I've done that about 5 times over my life. Now I just listen to some of the soundtrack. If I had to take one with me to the afterlife it would be Xenogears.
 

Lutte

Dumbfuck!
Dumbfuck
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Aug 24, 2017
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DU's mom
The thing about this is I can (and have) played through Xenogears multiple times, and even though the dialogue in that game moves slow, it creates this interesting cadence to the lines. Perhaps along with the wonderful music, I could read the text in Xenogears over and over again without being bored.

Until you reach DISC 2.
 

Silentstorm

Learned
Joined
Apr 29, 2019
Messages
885
Only one person mentioned the Ys series and that makes me sadder than it should, i find them to be quite fun action-rpg's, and they have rocking soundtracks, sure, the stories typically aren't the stuff of legends, but everything else is so much fun i end up not caring.
Hyperdimension Neptunia

And I loved every game in that series.
Ehhhh...i tried them, and honestly the games are really boring most of the time, the games are just too easy but grindy if you want the good endings, the main focus would be the story but even then i don't think they are all that great, still, i probably chuckled more than i should when playing those games.

It does have a cool setting and characters, just feel like the series never really got a good enough game to complement them, also, one of the characters is pratically female Adol from Ys and that is awesome.
 

Silentstorm

Learned
Joined
Apr 29, 2019
Messages
885
Katamari Damacy is the good kind of crazy in my mind.

Half-Minute Hero is pratically JRPG Wario Ware and it's great, though the main mode is by far the best and most fun.
If we're counting dungeon crawlers and Wiz-clones as "JRPGs" then the only classics released in recent years were japanese dungeon crawlers, which aren't really JRPGs at all.
And don't forget those, you have the Etrian Odyssey games, The Dark Spire and others, i think we even have an Elminage thread.
 

Silentstorm

Learned
Joined
Apr 29, 2019
Messages
885
Oh and there are some like Labyrinth Of Refrain(which i am playing but i haven't played enough to form an opinion yet but so far it's positive) and Mary Skelter that are on PC, much like Elminage, though i have to admit i haven't played Mary Skelter, i have heard there are some awkward and really fanservicey mechanics in that game which don't interest me at all, but maybe i was lied to.
 

AdolfSatan

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2017
Messages
2,023
Disclaimer: neither of these are turn-based.

Legend of Mana is as good as it gets. Best (or at least the most enjoyable) crafting system I've seen in any game.
Digimon World 1. I'm dead serious.

Both are PSX titles.
 

Silentstorm

Learned
Joined
Apr 29, 2019
Messages
885
i didn't mary skelter at all. not worth playing IMO.
Good to know, i remember at one time considering buying it, but then i read more about it and apparently there are some ways to heal female characters that are really...something and that apparently involve blood and i just said "Nope" and left.
 

laclongquan

Arcane
Joined
Jan 10, 2007
Messages
1,870,184
Location
Searching for my kidnapped sister
Disclaimer: neither of these are turn-based.

Legend of Mana is as good as it gets. Best (or at least the most enjoyable) crafting system I've seen in any game.
Digimon World 1. I'm dead serious.

Both are PSX titles.

Legend of Mana could have used some upgraded HD graphic. Think of that glorious weaboo anime old school on your bigass wall screen.

I dont know why they hadnt done so. Losing source code, I presume~
 

Silentstorm

Learned
Joined
Apr 29, 2019
Messages
885
Hmmm, i think it would be good to know if one wants completely serious games or if one also accepts crazy games, i mean, this is Japan, the country that made a series of Sports/RPG hybrid games where you can summon astronaut penguins to make a soccer ball more powerful or you can summon Gods and spirits to defend the goal, because if one has no problem with insane stuff, then you get to go for more weird games.

Anyways, the first Phoenix Wright trilogy is on PC now and that's great.
 

Reinhardt

Arcane
Joined
Sep 4, 2015
Messages
31,802
but then i read more about it and apparently there are some ways to heal female characters that are really...something and that apparently involve blood
Like it's something bad.
 

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