So, any RPG fans here?

WhoopA · Post by **WhoopA** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 12:21 am

<a href='http://starmen.net'/>Funny how I'm finding a whole shitload of Earthbound fans on a Sonic fansite.</a>

Cuckooguy · Post by **Cuckooguy** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 1:30 am

Super Mario RPG is probably the most charming RPG I've ever played.

Two months ago I finished Lunar 1 and Lunar 2. I found Lunar I to be utterly boring. Maybe it was the dialogue, maybe it was the voice acting, maybe it was the story/pacing, maybe it was the characters (Alex is too quiet, Luna and Jessica were somewhat sexist and picked on the guys for a lot of dumb little things, I found Nash and Lemia uninteresting, and Kyle... well, I thought he was kinda cool, but I wish they changed his wardrobe), but all these things eventually add up and I found a rather unworthwhile experience...

... and then I played Lunar 2.

I really like Lunar 2. I could definitely see myself in love with Lunar 2 if I played it during it's time. The cast was charming. The story was engaging. A lot of elements were carried from Lunar 1 on to Lunar 2, which makes you go "Wow, I remember that", the characters were awesome, and it's got (two) really awesome endings. Not only that, everyone had a pretty substantial reason for being in your party. I love Leo's theme song. Mystere is like the awesomest character ever. I really have nothing to complain about Lunar 2.

My favorite quote from Lunar II was when I noticed this guy would say something different depending on how many bromides I had. He eventually calls you the Ultimate Bromider, and once you got every bromide, he said this:

"So, Ultimate Bromider, how does it feel to be the world's biggest pervert?"

He's the guy carrying a trident who hangs around the Vane springs that teleports you to Vane. For some reason, his sprite isn't used anywhere else in the game.

For the record, I played FFVII before FFVI. And well, I liked FFVI better and found FFVII to be really, really boring. I really don't know why people loved FFVII's souindtrack either. The only memorable tunes were the Overworld theme (which had a couple of variations throughout the game), Aeris' Theme, Yuffie's Theme, Sephiroth's Theme, and One Winged Angel. Everything else is completely forgettable.

I think FFVIII has a great art direction, but the story absolutely makes no sense at all, just a bunch of random events that just seem very out of place. I thought FFIX was neat, better than FFVII and FFVIII, but not enough for me to recommend to anyone wholeheartedly. Quina was my favorite character in that game.

Earlier this year I finished Breath of Fire III... I can't say I praise it very much. Maybe I just don't care much for "Why do we exist? Why did God create us? Why is God trying to suppress the Dragons? What is our purpose?" stories. They never had much appeal to me.

However, I can recommend Breath of Fire IV. It's the first Breath of Fire I've played that actually has a competent story. Gods are still involved, but they aren't the overwhelmingly main driving force of the story. The main driving force of the story is that the war (which is at a ceasefire) going on between two countries. There were quite a bit of plot twists that even surprised me in this day and age, even after playing a lot of RPGs. The battle system is pretty cool, because it's not choose-your-three-favorite characters, because you can change characters anytime you want during battle, and you almost use everyone in every battle too.

I've played Suikoden (I). Didn't think very much of it. I really want to play Suikoden II, though, I still have the save data from the first Suikoden and all.

I found Wild Arms to be okay. I didn't think it had any flaws, but I neither did I see any strengths, so Wild Arms doesn't stick out to me very much.

I've played and finished Xenogears, which was really "blah" to me. I found myself forcing to play it every now and then. What happened was I'd play it, then not play it for a couple of weeks, and then play it again, and then not play it for a couple of weeks, and then play it again, because there was nothing to hold my interest in Xenogears. The only reason I made myself finish it is because it's almost an unwritten rule of mine to finish any game I've purchased. I noticed there were a lot of story elements that could've been potentially interesting (like the whole humans couldn't produce more humans thing), but were never expanded on. It's like, we were told some story happened, but nothing really came out of listening to what little we heard of it. I do feel the creators really did try hard to create an engaging and cool game, but it just didn't click with me.

I played Shining Force 1 and 2 and I liked them. I really want to play Shining Force CD. Has anyone found an ISO of that yet? I'd really appreciate it.

I never finished Secret of Mana. I died to the second eyeball wall and never picked it up again. I also didn't get into Earthbound. First person battle systems turn me off for some reason, so Phantasy Star and Dragon Quest are also on my can't-get-into-games list.

Tales of Phantasia was cool. Although I really wish the battle system was tweaked a bit so you didn't mash buttons as much as you did. Chester is highly underrated. I kept dying with the two mages, thinking they'd be more useful than Chester, but Chester has a faster attacking speed and stuns enemies long enough so you don't have to wait long for your mages to cast a spell. He also costs no MP, and he'll attack an enemy while you're stunned by the enemy's attack, giving you time to recover and counterattack.

Valkyrie Profile is really cool and it's got a really cool battle system. The story is crap, but everything else was awesome.

Earlier this year (or last year) I played Mario and Luigi: The Superstar Saga. The story isn't anything new, but it's got a pretty competent battle system where timing is everything. It's literally possible to dodge every attack in the game, but you'd have to be really good. It kind of takes the whole "timed attacks" and "timed blocks" from the original Super Mario RPG to a whole new level, which is really cool. And there are a ton of previous Mario game references in the game, which is really cool. You also control Mario and Luigi at the same time while on the world map, each with their own unique set of abilities.

Oh yeah, I love Lufia II. Can't forget that.

The current game I'm playing is also an RPG, and it's the Arc the Lad Collection. I only got to the part where that little musician boy joined my party. So far, it doesn't look bad. I look forward to playing it more when I get around to it.

WhoopA · Post by **WhoopA** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 1:41 am

I wouldn't say Phantasy Star uses a first-person view; I actually think it's more over-the-shoulder.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 3:00 am

Everyone keeps saying how great Tales of Symphonia is, I guess I should get my claws in that one. The other Tales games are decent at best, is Symphonia that big of an improvement?

Guardian's Crusade: I doubt anyone has ever heard of this.

God, I remember that. It was called Knight and Baby in Japan. That was an excellent, overlooked little game. With all the little puppets and the pink dragon bean creature and the Peanuts-looking characters. I used to own it, and being the absolute fucking retard that I am, I sold it. That was a few years ago and I've been trying desperately to get it back since then, but it's extremely rare. Selling that is on my "top 10 stupidest things I've ever done" list, and there's some stupid stuff on that.

Tail Concerto, while not an RPG, was another neat little game that I unwisely got rid of. There were ads for a sequel in .hack, so I guess there was another one released in Japan.

I just picked up Okage today for the low price of 8 dollars, and I have to say, it's pretty decent.

That's one of those things I'd been really curious about, but somehow never had the volition to buy. I remember hearing that the Japanese version had some witty dialogue that was mostly lost in the translation, and since that was supposed to be the game's main appeal I lost interest.

Sony's early PS1 Beyond the Beyond is pure crap

I never played that... wasn't it made by Climax or something?

I found Lunar I to be utterly boring.

*pisses on Eggroll's foot* Do you know you're wearing one white sock and one yellow?

As far as Breath of Fire goes, I really enjoyed the third one. I thought the story was really unique, in that there isn't really a clear villain until the very end, and then it turns out to be some goddess with mother hen syndrome. Plus it was one of the few RPG's I've ever played that didn't (unsuccessfully) attempt some sort of romantic sub-plot. Romance is great, but very few people can pull it off believably (that's one of the great things about Game Arts' old school stuff). And the fishing mini-game was substantial enough to be stand-alone. I spent some 70 hours total on BoF3, and at least 20 of that was fishing.

BoF4, on the other hand, I lost interest in very quickly. I made it some 30 or 40 hours in and nothing at all was happening, so I just quit. Ershin was the only interesting character of the bunch.

I've played Suikoden (I). Didn't think very much of it.

*pisses on Eggroll's other foot* I've taken care of it for you, you fashion sinner.

As far as strat-RPG's go, I was always a big fan of the Shining Force games. It's one of the few in the genre that doesn't go overboard with unnecessary micro managing.

The Arc the Lad games are pretty good. I especially like the first one and the PS2 one. The second one is good until about halfway through the game... that's when the factions of your party come together to form one big group, and it just drags after that. The third one's good too, and sort of closes up the continuity that was started with the first one.

I picked up Saiyuki for the PSX a while back, and I didn't play much, but the little bit I did get through was surprisingly bad. A Koei strat-RPG based on Chinese legend couldn't possibly be anything weaker than "pretty good", so I keep meaning to give it another shot. I know there must be something I'm missing.

I respect Disgaea deeply, but it's too much. The micro management is insane, and apparently Nippon Ichi's other games such as La Pucelle Tactics are even worse. You need to be an unemployed 15-year old home school student to truly appreciate those monsters. I was such a thing at one time, it's too bad Nippon Ichi didn't exist then.

As far as bad RPG's... FFVIII, obviously. I don't care about the people who like it, it just plain sucks. The story sucks, the characters suck, the combat sucks, the fucking 20 minute summon sequences that you can't skip through suck, the art direction sucks... some of the music is alright, and that's the only good thing there is to say about it. And Quistis is hot, but it doesn't help. Parasite Eve is as boring as it gets, which was a huge disappointment for me because I'd really been looking forward to it before it happened. Vagrant Story is bullshit, that was the most overrated game of the entire PSX era. The cream of the crop, though, without a doubt, is the hellishly intolerable Saga Frontier. My God. That game had no sense of balance or coherency whatsoever. There isn't a single good thing to say about it, except that beating all 7 characters games apparently unlocked a group picture of the staff, so if you happened to see one on the street somewhere, you'd know to punch them in the mouth.

smiths32 · Post by **smiths32** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 5:16 am

Since everyone here likes FFVII so much, we can now do those crazy Game FAQs challenges! We can complete the game with the lowest average level; beat Emerald Weapon with Cloud at level 7; try a single character challenge; beat the game with initial equipment; or maybe complete the game in one sitting; how about no materia; or how about a combination of them all while balancing on our heads?

Those guys must have the most boring lives ever...

Owen Axel · Post by **Owen Axel** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 5:25 am

And how.

I liked FFVII more before I was introduced to the gargantuan festering cancerous growth that is its fanbase.

(No offense to that valuable minority who actually like the game for non-zelous reasons and are able to comprehend the fact that it has faults and flaws just like any other game)

It's funny how amongst those legions of Sephiroth fanboys, there are only a few who can actually spell his name correctly half the time.

Cuckooguy · Post by **Cuckooguy** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 5:43 am

Actually, I really liked BoFIV's cast of characters, and found the least interesting one Scias, but even his depth (which is still mildly shallow) lies in the fact that he was just a mercenary being told what to do, which is pretty pivotal for gathering information during a war, especially when keeping an eye on the characters that the government has been looking for for the longest time, even if his character wasn't really developed at all.

What I found cool was the whole country-wants-to-control-gods thing. While the concept is probably sounds cliche in itself, the cool thing is, well, you (Ryu) are the one they want to control, not to get their hands on an ancient artifact that will help conquer the world, not some information the mysterious leading lady that you will risk your life for has, but you (Ryu). Oh yeah, and your other half, Fou-Lu, who keeps finding himself owing some debts to humans that nursed him back to health twice after being hunted down by other humans. What was intereting about Fou-Lu was that he thinks "Humans are humans", but he's not totally anti-human, but, well, humans are what they are, and there's not much you can do about that. And as you learn about him on his journey, you know that maybe, just maybe he doesn't think that humans are a total lost cause, but he feels too high and mighty to do a 180. Or maybe his saying "We are higher than humans" is his way of saying that humans don't need Gods anymore, is all. He never expressed interest in controlling humans, it seems, but just to find his other half.

I liked the whole HEX cannon thing, the thing that plagued that whole city where you first meet Ershin. You eventually learn more about it, and how deeply it relates to the war, and most of all, Elina. I thought everything was pretty wrapped up in a nice and tidy package.

I found Cray to be the most interesting of the bunch, because he feels he's got a big responsibility in all this. I always felt he was the "leader" of the party, even though he, well, kinda wasn't. He's more like the bigger brother you can look up to. And man, that scene where you finally find Elina was pretty shocking. Exactly how far did you get, GG!? I guess what held my interest in BoFIV was in how was everything and this whole war and this Fou-Lu character gonna turn out in the end, whereas in BoFIII, nothing really is at stake except the drive of wanting to know "What are we here for?" There was also this town full of outcasts that I believed a dragon like Garr lived, and when Garr asked me if I wanted to know why I existed I answered "Don't care" and Garr was acting all surprised and like "You don't want to know why you were created?! Why I was created?!" But then the conversation led to me meeting the old geezer dragon that was related to Garr anyway.

When I said I didn't think much of Suikoden I, well, I didn't mean I hated it... it's not to say I thought little of it. But I always found personal conflicts more interesting than grand wars with little development on the people of the war. Like, why did so-and-so join my base? What's their motive? Do they really have any reason to be walking around my base other than making it look more populated? Is their position in my army really that important? While some of them do have pretty substantial reasons for joining your cause, others seem to be just... there. While it's true that, during a war, you want as many frickin' people on your side you can get, and while I realize that it's hard to fully flesh out over 108 characters in any given game, it's just, well, redundant. I mean, are you just going to put in some mythology about 108 stars just because you can, or is there possibly some kind of deeper meaning to all this? I felt Chrono Cross suffered a similar problem with having a redundant amount of characters and not enough fleshing out of characters.

It might help me if I actually read the Shui Hu Zhan or something.

Anyway, I know it's not like they're forcing me to recruit all 108 stars, but like a lot of RPG players, they're completests in trying to get as many of the characters as they can, which is why I went out of my way to find as many "stars" as I can, regardless if there's any meaning behind it or not.

I didn't have a problem with Suikoden I's story, that was pretty comprehensible.

I've also always wanted to figure out what happens when you choose "Off with his head" after the one war with Milich before you have a chance to let him join your cause. I'm always tempted to choose the funny responses. Unfortunately, those always seem to cause the consequence you don't want.

Man, I don't know why I didn't mention of Skies of Arcadia. Aika and Fina are in my frickin' avatar. I really liked Skies of Arcadia, it was very charming. I'm always a sucker for characters who have outrageous dreams and have the determination to carry it out. They're very uplifting, you know, and gives you a very happy feeling. While entirely off topic, I suggest checking out an anime called One Piece if you liked Skies of Arcadia.

j-man · Post by **j-man** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 5:44 am

I liked FFVII more before I was introduced to the gargantuan festering cancerous growth that it its fanbase.

On a related note, I wonder who'll win the GameFAQs Character Contest?

Tip of my tongue, starts with a C...damn it. Nevermind, I'm sure we'll be pleasantly surprised.

Dache · Post by **Dache** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 5:48 am

Green Gibbon! wrote: The original Grandia is also one of my all-time favorites, I think it's got a certain old-school Game Arts flair. It was the last really great game they made before being devoured by Enix.

... when the hell did that happen? What about a proper Grandia 3? What about the apology for Xtreme?

Neo Yi · Post by **Neo Yi** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 8:30 am

When you said "innovative gameplay", you really meant "stupid fetch quests", right?

I was talking about the concept of time used in MM. I don't give a furk what people say, Zelda: MM is a GREAT game...PERIOD.

God, I remember that. It was called Knight and Baby in Japan. That was an excellent, overlooked little game. With all the little puppets and the pink dragon bean creature and the Peanuts-looking characters. I used to own it, and being the absolute fucking retard that I am, I sold it. That was a few years ago and I've been trying desperately to get it back since then, but it's extremely rare. Selling that is on my "top 10 stupidest things I've ever done" list, and there's some stupid stuff on that.

Tail Concerto, while not an RPG, was another neat little game that I unwisely got rid of. There were ads for a sequel in .hack, so I guess there was another one released in Japan.

GG, you are forever my new best friend and I give you respect for not only remembering Guardian's Crusade, but enjoying that game and Tail Concerto as well.
~Neo

Post by Bo » Sat Aug 14, 2004 8:39 am

I've been playing Majora's Mask since May... on the last dungeon right now, and I probably won't finish it. Doing the sidequests are kind of cool, but the Losing Everything After Saving thing is too much like the Time Stalkers RPG on Dreamcast (which I actually liked, but still).

CE · Post by CE » Sat Aug 14, 2004 9:07 am

j-man wrote:On a related note, I wonder who'll win the GameFAQs Character Contest?

Tip of my tongue, starts with a C...damn it. Nevermind, I'm sure we'll be pleasantly surprised.

Carbuncle's going to win the GameFAQs contest?

Parn · Post by **Parn** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 10:08 am

Green Gibbon! wrote:Everyone keeps saying how great Tales of Symphonia is, I guess I should get my claws in that one. The other Tales games are decent at best, is Symphonia that big of an improvement?

Let's put it this way. A lot of self-proclaimed hardcore RPGers who played Tales of Phantasia and think they discovered a true treasure from ancient times and are quick to praise the greatness of it usually irritate me, because I happen to find nothing particularly exciting about the game's fighting engine, which is the very core of the gameplay. It's clunky as hell. I weigh gameplay more than any other factor since after all... we're playing video GAMES. Phantasia is the only other Tales game I've played, and I basically beat it, but didn't really care for it all that much. People make the excuse that it was "good for its time", but that doesn't change the fact that Secret of Mana wasn't clunky and came out a year before Phantasia.

With that said, Tales of Symphonia's combat engine is extremely refined, and I had a blast with it. It has a great cast of characters, pretty good voice acting overall, and while the story isn't mind-blowing and has "see-them-a-mile-away" plot twists (and even manages to feel like a Final Fantasy X ripoff up until about 10 hours into the 50-70 hours you'll be playing), it still manages to throw you for a loop here and there. The game also happens to have some immense replay value, which you'll take note of when you beat the game.

Your mileage may vary, but I rank it as the best RPG I've played to date, simply because the gameplay well exceeds that of what I enjoyed in Skies of Arcadia, or Panzer Dragoon Saga, all excellent RPGs. The hiring of professional voice talent for the game's localization is just another great thing about where RPGs are headed these days.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 12:34 pm

Exactly how far did you get, GG!?

Huh, it's been a while... the last thing I remember was running around some islands. We had to wait for the tide to lower before we could progress or something. I think I got through that part and maybe just a little afterward.

BoF4 wasn't bad, there was just never anything in it that grabbed me. I guess I should try it again, but I'd need to find it again.

But I always found personal conflicts more interesting than grand wars with little development on the people of the war. Like, why did so-and-so join my base? What's their motive? Do they really have any reason to be walking around my base other than making it look more populated? Is their position in my army really that important?

That's really only a problem in the first one. In 2 and 3, you don't have any more Qlons or five different versions of each blacksmith and chef. I liked the first one, but I didn't fall in love with the series until the second one, and I think that's true of most people. Keep your save data.

when the hell did that happen?

A few years ago, before Enix merged with Square. Grandia 2 was the last independent Game Arts title. I don't think there was much GA staff at all involved with Xtreme, that was purely Enix.

I don't consider Majora's Mask (or any Zelda game, for that matter) an RPG, but I did actually complete it. Like, really complete it, I unlocked absolutely everything there was to unlock. I didn't even think it was that great of a game, I'm not too sure what compelled me to do it. One way or another, it was the last time I ever did such a thing. I guess I'm not hardcore anymore.

Your mileage may vary, but I rank it as the best RPG I've played to date

I've got a $30 store credit, I guess I can steal the extra $20 from an unsuspecting family member and get me some Symphonia. But Phantom Brave and Star Ocean are supposed to come out at the end of the month, and I really want to pick those up also...

Zeta · Post by **Zeta** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 3:34 pm

I don't play RPGs for the battle system, really. I play them for immersive storytelling. I want to play a game that's like a movie - I want to be there, with characters I like, helping them through an epic conflict.

The only RPG games I play soley for the battle system are the Pokemon Franchise, and the Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics games.

Because RPG's gameplay only interests me when I can fully customize my characters.

Forcing someone to battle monsters with a character that acts just like someone else's on another game is boring. It's like gameplay on rails - you get to level 25 - you have all the skills such a character would learn at level 25 - so your adventure is going to play out exactly like your friend's or you fail.

The Pokemon, Tactics Ogre, and FF Tactics series don't work like that. You can customize your characters and fight the enemy on your terms.

I'm not saying that story should be eschewed for customizability ala Pokemon - but if Future Final Fantasy games would let you make your character whatever you wanted - but kept his personality and role in the story the same no matter what - I'd be a very happy bunny. I should've been able to make Tidus a thief, or a giant, or a penguin who shoots fire out of his ass. Well, maybe not THAT customizable - but somewhere along those lines.

In terms of story - the more mysterious, the better. I want cliffhangers and intriguing characters and interesting places. I want to constantly YEARN to know what's going to happen next.

Also, hot guys help keep my eyes on the screen. Tidus wouldn't have been so bad if he dressed better and didn't whine in every scene. It was like playing as the Whiny, Lisping version Luke Skywalker after he had been mauled by color-blind fashion moguls.

Vaan is a step in a better direction, clothes-wise. If only he didn't look like a 14-year old girl who went overboard on brest-reduction surgery.

Auron and Kimahri are the only decent ones.

Lulu was the best character in the game. Take no crap Black Mage in goth gear who attacked with adorable plush toys. They'll never be able to top that.

Aside from those, the Phantasy Star series (as you can probably guess from my avatar) is also one of my favourites, as well as Chrono Trigger, Mario RPG and (sadly enough) Pokemon, plus lots more I've probably missed.

Chrono Trigger is the BEST RPG EVER. Not only was the story interesting and completely alterable, but the combos in the battle system were pretty damn awesome. And the selection of characters was cool as hell. The typical spiky haired swordsman, and the princess - sure. Those are standard. But the frog knight, crappy robot, female supernerd, cavegirl, and the character who was the main villain for half the game? Excellent selection. And the story even gave a plausible reason for why you could only have three party members at once. How many RPGs actually go through the trouble of doing that?

I think everyone that owns a Pokemon game has some sort of complex.

No one ever just says, "I like Pokemon." It's "I like Pokemon - but I swear I'm not gay."

Hush. My love of both wang and Bulbasaur are completely unrelated.

One curious thing I've noticed about the FF series is that everyone's favorite is the first one they play, whichever one that may be. For most people (myself included), it's VII, which, of course, is the best selling one to date. I have actually met a few people who like VIII, and for all of them, it was the first one they played.

My first one was VII. I then went back and played VI, V, and III. And later went on to play X.

X remains my favorite. Because I think it had the most interesting story. Even if the main character was a douche, the others all made up for it.

Something about VII just rubs me the wrong way. It's a good game alright, it's just . . . kind of bland and unoriginal - storywise. It was like playing the most repeated parts of every anime I had ever watched all rolled up into a single game. The battle system was the worst I'd ever played in a while.

And I was incredibly frustrated and pissed that the best white mage in the party died halfway through the game. I didn't actually like Aeris, I just kept her in my party because she was useful. So it felt like being in a race and having the judge shoot out one of your front tires.

The story stops making any sense whatsoever about the time you escape from Midgar, but the first 10 hours or so are outstanding, and it's the only FF game to date with a cast of characters I sometimes give a fuck about.

Ah yes. I suddenly remembered what rubbed me the wrong way in VII.

Most of the complaints lodged against it (stupid story, weak characters) hold true of the entire series. X has one of my favorite RPG combat engines to date.

I was in love with Aerith hard. I've since accepted her death and have moved my affections over to Tifa, but now they're fucking her up in that new movie and I feel completely betrayed.

I liked Yuffie best. In retrospect, it was problably because she looked like a boy.

Most of the complaints lodged against it (stupid story, weak characters) hold true of the entire series. X has one of my favorite RPG combat engines to date.

I thought the story was pretty original. Usually it's "Evil Empire/Corporation is greedy and wants to upset the balance of nature for their own games".

Instead of that, we got "Crazy-Ass Wizard Went Insane and Created a Monster, and You Guys gotta Off Yerselves to Stop it". Fresh, if you ask me.

If there's one fault with FFX, it's that it was too Dragonball-esque with death. In Spira - Death is only a minor inconvience, and you can go right on living like normal even after you've gotten killed. Which made absolutely no sense, I mean - if a guy in my party is already dead - why the fuck can he die in battle?

EarthBound was awesome. The humor was just ridiculous. I loved every line of dialog in that game.

Indeed. But I stopped in Summers after being bored to death with the gameplay. I don't know how you can get bored while beating up hippies, but I managed.

When the fuck are we ever going to get a much-needed third Mother?

If you count it, Secret of Mana is one of my favorite RPGs of all time. The gameplay is the perfect combination of RPG elements and Zelda-esque action. Sadly, I didn't enjoy either Seiken Densetsu 3 or Legend of Mana nearly as much.

Seiken Densetsu 3 was awesome, because of how the story changed nearly everytime you played it.

But I like all of the Seiken Dentsetsu games - 'cept for the first one. Legend of Mana was great, if only because of the GORGEOUS and whimsical art and the insane cast of characters and situations you find yourself in.

Kingdom hearts: Words cannot express how much I LOVE this game. Even though the camera can be stupid a times and I did die a lot the firs time through, the game rocks. Music is good, Disney characters rule, and Sora is an awesome, awesome guy. I love that kid. I perfer him over the Riku fans. Voice acting is topnotch as well and I lurve them FF cameos. BRING ME VIVI ON OTHER KH GAMES, DAMN IT!

Kingdom Hearts is . . . WEIRD, yet good. It's kind of like a 3-D Seiken Dentsetsu, but the story, characters, and overall theme are so mature and well-developed, it feels like it's TOO good of an idea for Disney, really.

Who's idea was it to put Mickey Mouse in a game alongside soul-stealing demons, anyways?

I thought X's story, setting, and characters were quite interesting and different from previous FF's... And that ending is the most goddamn depressing thing I've ever seen, even trouncing Kingdom Hearts.

Tidus ceases to exist and the world is saved . . . what's depressing about it?

On a similar topic, how are the Fire Emblem games?

On a related note, I wonder who'll win the GameFAQs Character Contest?

Tip of my tongue, starts with a C...damn it. Nevermind, I'm sure we'll be pleasantly surprised.

The stupid thing is that Cloud is quite possibly the single most personality-less RPG hero in the FF series - excluding the ones who weren't supposed to have a personality in the first place (IE - Black Belt). I mean, he's basically a puppet who does what he's told to do. He's never really in charge, and his relevance to the story ends up being overshadowed by the rest of the cast.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 4:31 pm

Am I alone in my dislike of Kingdom Hearts? The whole Disney / Square characters thing is kind of novel in a skewed fanficcy sort of way, but the game is just plain fuck boring. The combat is shallow and repetitive, the level is design is just horrible, the control is clunky, and it's got the absolute worst space shooting game ever designed. I mean, y'know, it's cool to fight the giant demon from Fantasia and to hear Mandy Moore as Aerith, but novelty factor aside, it's one of the plainest, most repetitive action-RPG's I've ever played.

j-man · Post by **j-man** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 4:32 pm

Yeah, but he kinda freaks out a little bit at one point. And he, like, cuts some stuff up...and he's all moody and sexy and omglol :3 mew mew Jesus Christ, I fucking hate Cloud.

Zidane rocks. He's half guy, half monkey, and he's fuckin' happy about it. w00t.

Isambard · Post by **Isambard** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 6:30 pm

The last RPG I ever played was an MMO and it sucked away 4 years of my freetime. In November it will begin again with the release of World of Warcraft. Dwarven Hunter Bradmasi will be reporting for duty to get himself a pair of pistols to blow something's face off! RAWR!

Also, does travelling to all the malls in this area with an Initial D machine to seek out the fastest player then defeat him to earn the title of Metro-Area champion then retire count as an RPG? It's a quest and it has storyline in the form of trashtalking.

I guess I can include Suikoden, but when I was playing it one of my favorite fkin side characters that I actually built up died in one of those gay sim battles. Ever since that moment, Suikoden is a bittersweet memory for me.

Much like FFVI and Aeris' death. But then I think of the fight between the fortress and diamond weapon and it gets good again. However, I, like GG, am a freak in that the first FF game I ever played was not my favorite. The first game I ever played with FF on it was Mystic Quest when I was like 8. I was actually in love with Phoebe, and hated the other bitch that came along trying to steal my character with the gay axe move to cut down trees.

Then, once educated, I moved up to Final Fantasy 2, where you play a badass Black Knight on a quest for power. Who gets exiled. With his friend the Dragoon, then they kill some kid, fall into the earth, he becomes a Paladin (that wasn't so cool to me then, but now it fkin rawks cuz I have a love affair with white magic). And then you leave the center of the earth, fly around trying to find some obscure little island. Fall back into the earth. Go to a dungeon, find a wall monster, and die repeatedly while trying to kill it with every single attack you have. And then you quit because who wants to fight against a stupid wall anyway.

My favorite Final Fantasy game is kind of a toss up between VI and VII.

My favorite RPG of all time has to be Everquest because if you play something for like 4 years then it has to be good. Or you have to be very wrong in the head. And I am both.

Favorite Console based RPG: Skies of Arcadia just because of the airship battles. That was such a cool concept I can't believe Squaresoft didn't come up with it first.

Post by Bo » Sat Aug 14, 2004 6:36 pm

Airship battles were awesome. The random battles sucked. That was my only knock against Skies.

smiths32 · Post by **smiths32** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 6:36 pm

Nice to hear all the different opinions, but I'm wondering if anyone here likes FF4. I think it's a plain awesome game with a really smooth storyline, but I just can't beat Zeromus.

BTW I really liked Cloud, but I wouldn't say that he's my favourite all-time character, that vote goes to Red XIII, long live Nanaki!

Zeta · Post by **Zeta** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 9:41 pm

I would've liked Cait Sith better if he had actually been the ghost of a cat who brought a stuffed toy to life. The fact that he was a robot controlled by a fat businessman put me offa him. It's a fat man controlling a cat robot who controls a Moogle robot. That's one more stage of control that you don't need.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Barret the first black character in a Japanese RPG - EVER?!

I find Vincent fug-ugly and annoying. Tifa's OK, I actually kind of like her. Red XIII is awesome. Cid's OK, but I don't really think he deserved to be the main character while Cloud was out of comission.

Sephiroth is the stereotypical gay man who wants to destroy the earth. He's in the army, he hangs around with his mom, and he obviously spends a lot of time on his appearence. I find him grating, because - as I said before - Sephiroth is just the amalgamation of every pretty-boy villain ever showcased in any anime. He is the evil bishounen, you will be assimilated, resistance is futile. Yawn.

Post by **Delphine** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 10:05 pm

Zeta wrote:I find Vincent fug-ugly and annoying.

Fuck you, Vincent is my videogame boyfriend.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 10:08 pm

Hey, who was it who was controlling Cait Sith? It was someone in Shin-Ra, right? Or one of the Turks?

Cid Highwind kicks ass. I want to be just like him when I grow up.

Psxphile · Post by **Psxphile** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 10:16 pm

Green Gibbon! wrote:Tail Concerto, while not an RPG, was another neat little game that I unwisely got rid of. There were ads for a sequel in .hack, so I guess there was another one released in Japan.

No, there wasn't. In a dot.hack interview session, the heads of the CC Corp. dev team talked about the aforementioned ad, and how they'd drop everything to work on a sequel to Tail, but Bandai outright denied them on the grounds it wouldn't make any money.

WhoopA · Post by **WhoopA** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 10:27 pm

I usually rename Cait Sith Reeve, if that helps.