The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
Please vote in the Forum Structure Poll. Polling will close at 2PM EST on January 21, 2025.
I need an RPG that will grab me and never let me go
Zombiemambo
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I've been on a huge nostalgia kick today, listening to the FFVII OST, and remembered how drawn into it I became. I was completely attached to the characters and I had to see what happened next. I hadn't felt that way before or since, and I'm hoping that, with the help of G&T, I can find a new RPG that engrossing. It's a tall order, I know, especially since FFVII was the first RPG I ever played for more than a few minutes. And the RPGs I've been playing lately feel totally empty, devoid of the passion of older AAA titles. Is there anything, JRPG or WRPG, that I should be playing? I'll give you a quick rundown of stuff I've enjoyed and things I didn't:
Things I'm not looking for: tactical RPGs, and RPGs with a plot surrounding two or more countries at war with one another (FFXII, for example). Things I am looking for: anything with good characters, a fun plot (doesn't have to be great, FFVII wasn't the epitome of writing, but I liked the drama) and passable gameplay.
-
FFVIII - Didn't get into this one, but if I can find a PC version on the cheap, I'm all for it. I'd love to give it another try.
Mass Effect - I enjoyed it quite a bit, but the plot wasn't anything to write home about.
Dragon Quest VIII - Liked it, but too hardcore for my tastes.
FFXII - Not a lot of plot in this one. It's fun, but feels very detached.
Enchanted Arms - I tried to like it, but it's a mediocre RPG at best. Characters were incredibly lame.
Chrono Trigger - 'Tis a fine 16bit (32bit?) RPG, but not a lot of staying power. I quit at the Black Omen and haven't looked back.
Things I'm not looking for: tactical RPGs, and RPGs with a plot surrounding two or more countries at war with one another (FFXII, for example). Things I am looking for: anything with good characters, a fun plot (doesn't have to be great, FFVII wasn't the epitome of writing, but I liked the drama) and passable gameplay.
Zombiemambo on
0
Posts
Just got burned out.
Or if you haven't played them, BGI and II.
But DAO has this nice nostalgia feel and awareness, as well as just being awesomely fun and super long.
Also, if you haven't played it and want the second best writing but first best in a completed game, Planescape: "Motherfucking" Torment
In fact, fuck 1 and just go straight to 2. Baldur's Gate 2 is one of my favorite games of all time ever. Plus, after you beat it, there are a shitton of mods available to go back and replay. Over. And over. And over. It is one of the best things ever. It's making me want to play it again right now.
Also in my top 5 games ever ever list, is Fallout 2. Two, not three is the best game in the series by a long, long shot. If you haven't played Fallout 2, you are seriously depriving yourself of pretty much the best RPG experience I can think of off the top of my head (or BGate 2. It's neck and neck).
Granted, I haven't played DA:O yet (poor) so it might be that good. But I doubt it. Mass Effect 2 though...we'll see when it comes out. Mass Effect was one of the best rpgs I've played in a long while.
I liked Mass Effect a lot, but the plot was somewhat forgettable. Chrono Trigger I really liked, too, probably the best SNES RPG I've ever played, but I just hit this wall where I didn't want to play anymore at all. FFVIII I would give another try if I could find the PC version for cheap (Playstation is alright, too, but I'd have to find a memory card). I loved BoF III and IV, even though I got totally stuck in the latter (I can't remember where I stopped in III, or why). I liked Arc The Lad, but it's not a great game by any measure. Gosh...this question is harder to answer than it should be. I just got burned so many times that it's been a long time since I played true JRPG, and WRPGs were never my thing, though I like some of them (BG is pretty good, Planescape is awesome).
but DAO is aware of BGI and II and makes reference to it, as well as just being a really solid game that totally fits in the modern lexicon. I mean, with BGI, II, and PS:T, you still have to get around the fact that they do look dated. Not too dated and I don't care because they are fucking incredible, but still dated.
Demon's Soul would be one of my top pick, it's probably my best sleeper release of this year too.
I'm only a few hours into Dragon Age: Origins but I'm digging it. It's definitely got a BG flair to it.
Maybe Knights of the Old Republic? The first one is amazing.
edit re: BG1/2 and Planescape: Torment... the writing in those games was perhaps the best ever, the gameplay was terrible. Going back and playing P:T now is like reading a great book for half an hour, then being forced to play through a level of Cheetahmen, repeat. Same goes for Fallout 1/2. You play those games for the dialogue and story, not the combat.
so it will have orgasmic writing.
PS1, PS2, XBOX, XBOX 360, PC, Wii (but I don't play it, not available all that often), DS, PSP
Of this generation's RPGs I'd have to recommend Lost Odyssey. It's pretty fun, and has some decent characters. Its problem though is that the 4th disc kind of falls apart a bit, and the villain really isn't that great.
Edit: Since you have the DS, the Final Fantasy IV remake might be a good choice, too. Though as a warning it gets kind of difficult near the end so you may want to look up how to get some good augments before you play through it.
Characters are probably the most important to me. If they're likable (I loved IX's, another game I should try to finish) and the plot isn't so horrible it'll make me cry, I'm willing to try it.
Fallout 1/2/3
Oblivion
Baldurs Gate 2
DA:O
Diablow 2 (blow because it's addictive like cocaine)
Borderlands
etc
Yeah, you should finish IX. It's one of my favorites in the series.
Lost Odyssey has all of the Final Fantasy feeling, except it's this generation graphics. The characters are pretty decent for the most part. I liked most of them (it actually manages to have kid characters you don't want to absolutely strangle). The plot isn't the greatest. You want to keep going with it for the first 3 discs, but the 4th one doesn't really cap things off as epicly as you'd expect, so it doesn't hold up well altogether. The villain is also kind of laughable. Other than that, though, it's pretty solid. The battle system is a bit slower and more strategic. It has some new ideas, but it's also firmly planted in the old school.
Another PS2 RPG that I'd recommend would be Shadow Hearts: Covenant. That had a really fun battle system, and a really unique setting. (The first one's also decent, too, but the 2nd beats it in almost every aspect)
It is about as close as possible as you can get to a perfect game. It is so massive and high quality across it all.
tales of vesperia would be pretty good for you i think
it's got a fair amount of typical anime-ish stuff, but the battle system is great, the plot is competent and most importantly it's got the most likable cast i've seen since chrono trigger's
everyone has chemistry, which doesn't happen a lot in big rpg's
and yeah if you literally want an rpg that will not let you stop playing it you go for diablo 2, it does everything to keep you hooked short of delivering electrical shocks through your keyboard when you press quit
There are a number of mods for BG1 and 2 that improve the gameplay correct? Could someone more knowledgeable about those provide a list of must have mods for BG?
He hasn't played Baldur's Gate II yet.
BGII
then Dragon Age
But BGII first. Always BGII
Where are my BGII discs...
I'm resisting installing BG2 again so hard. I can't play DA until I build my new CPU
I'd recomend Persona 4 too.
I love Demon's Souls and recommend it whenever possible but it unfortunately doesn't sound like what this dude wants. The combat is hard and extremely fun, but it has almost no plot which seems to be a dealbreaker in this case.
That and he doesn't appear to have a PS3.
oh yeah, the persona games run off good characterization and have some of the best plots in JRPG's
they're a little more unforgiving than most but i'd say that DQVIII is harder by a long shot
Is BGII legally downloadable anywhere?
The story is pretty simple. The graphics are a bit dated at this point, and the random encounter rate is probably too high. That said, it is probably my favorite console RPG ever. The protagonists aren't brooding emos with secret pasts, the enemy is not some douchebag who decided to turn evil because the entire world has wronged him, and the world is not a shit sandwich where nothing good ever happens.
It's honestly just a bright, cheerful RPG with a lot of spirit and a sense of adventure. The characters are endearing, and if you let it get a hold of you it is simply a joy to play.
i don't think so, it's one of those games that are getting phased out by modern OS's so it's about as hard to find as, say, planescape
and overall the whole SMT series is superlative save for the early-run games like SMT1 and 2 (and the godawful spinoffs that came around in the 16 and 32-bit eras), it's just that some of the series focus more on the gameplay than the characterization
digital devil saga had fairly minimalist characterization but it was still quality, and the plot was great even though it went a little pear-shaped towards the end
the main SMT series hasn't even seen an entry since nocturne but definitely favors gameplay over all else, and is also the most balls-to-the-wall hard of the three
i'd also recommend persona 2 but thanks to the innocent sin debacle it's almost impossible to get and play through legal means, so you probably shouldn't bother
Agreed.
Was just talking about it earlier today. It's difficult to find because it's good and it's old, plus it's really expensive AFAIK.
xenogears is really not that good in retrospect
i played it for the first time four or five years back and it was just so goddamned tiresome in every respect
i think it was a big hit at the time because it was one of the first rpg's to really go all-out with the epic gnostic-bullshit plot a la evangelion, but that doesn't excuse the thin characters, bland translation or glacial pacing
So, advice on mods I should get?
Never the romance mods.
Otherwise, people have nailed it with the Baldur's Gates, Fallouts, and Planescape.