Is Enchanted Arms worth $20?

Ichinisan

I just noticed the price drop at Best Buy and Circuit City. I still don't own a single PS3 game (worth it as an upscaling DVD player, Blu-Ray player, and my first PS2 for me), but I have rented. None have approached a price I'd consider "worth it" for any particular game. With that in mind, should I start it off with Enchanted Arms? I usually buy to own, but I'm willing to "pump and dump" if this game is worth a play-through at $20 - trade in value.

Tycho wrote:

Japanese role-playing games tend to be fairly linear in terms of narrative and feature a ton of strategic combat. These are genre staples. If you don't like those things, or if you wish they were something else, that isn't really the genre's fault. If you told me that you weren't fond of turf or kicking, I would hope that you'd have the wisdom to avoid soccer.

I "tolerate" turn-based JRPGs, though I consider the formula flawed and the fans (Ash_Ketchum ) a little close-minded (that forumla is not what makes a game "good," so stop harshly judging the RPGs that deviate from it). I hate Golden Sun because it's an obligatory JRPG with an infantile presentation, but I played through the series. I absolutely LOVE most SRPGs (Fire Emblem, I'm looking at you).

Dashui

No.

Honestly, no. I would avoid it and play other games that'll take up 40 hours of your time instead. This one will bore you to death. Combat gets stale so fast you'll be letting the AI make your turns for you so you don't have to deal with the combat yourself.

Tw4win

I have it for the 360 and I've played it a bit but not that much yet. I think it has a decent battle system but the plot seems a bit generic. I bought it more for my collection than to play as it was really the first JRPG released this generation.

I agree with you about the current crop of PS3 games. I also agree with you about JRPGs for the most part. I'm a HUGE fan of most JRPGs but I've recently found myself more interested in playing JRPGS with an action battle system like the Tales Series or Rogue Galaxy...

Of course, Persona 3 comes out next week...Just save the money you were going to spend on Enchanted Arms and buy P3. It's a PS2 game but it's looking like a damn find RPG.

Jelloblimp

Dashui wrote: »

No.

Honestly, no. I would avoid it and play other games that'll take up 40 hours of your time instead. This one will bore you to death. Combat gets stale so fast you'll be letting the AI make your turns for you so you don't have to deal with the combat yourself.

Actually its not "AI", it just uses random orders .(Think the command on top gets priority, if it cant be executed it goes to the next command below & so on, at least it was such on the 360). Multiple times one of my guys was healed when just a single attack from the healer would kill the last enemy (& end battle) for example.

Depending on trade in value it can be worth it as a time waster until Persona 3.

domite

No, not worth it.

-SPI-

I have it on 360, and while it's not the greatest game ever it's still pretty good. It has a nice enough battle system, VERY generic storyline and characters though, like a throwaway Snes action rpg plot, slightly above a "Collect the crystals". Also has an odd lack of side quests, it's pretty much just the main one and finding golems and the final weapons and secret shrines. That said it was fun enough for me, well until I got stuck on the end boss and realised I suddenly had to grind, that sucked.

It's probably one of those games that's better to play with the english VA, because the game has such a weak plot and characters it's better to have the Hammy english voice acting so the game becomes even sillier. You'd miss a lot of the dumb humour with japanese voices, which I think is where a lot of people went wrong with the game.

That said there's a whole lot of better games more worth your money out there, I mostly got it during a dry patch in the 360 releases when I needed something to play.

AJR

Ichinisan wrote: »

I "tolerate" turn-based JRPGs, though I consider the formula flawed and the fans (Ash_Ketchum ) a little close-minded (that forumla is not what makes a game "good," so stop harshly judging the RPGs that deviate from it). I hate Golden Sun because it's an obligatory JRPG with an infantile presentation, but I played through the series. I absolutely LOVE most SRPGs (Fire Emblem, I'm looking at you).

As a fan of turn-based JRPGs, I can safely say I’m not close-minded at all. I’ll easily pick up an action RPG, or a game from any genre if it looks like something that will appeal to me.

Honestly, the best I’ve heard about Enchanted Arms is that it’s okay. There are better RPGs on the PS2 right now, and since you’ve never had one before, I’d recommend seeking them out first.

Off the top of my head, I’d recommend the following (this is just in regards to turn-based RPGs):

The Shadow Hearts series: It’s a mixture of horror and humour. Fighting is pretty straightforward, with the defining feature being the judgement ring.

Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2: Has a very long name, it’s also a very good game. Really Macabre plot, things get really bizarre in the sequel.

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne: It’s essentially Pokémon, but in a post-apocalyptic world where demons are fighting over what’s left. Rather than capturing little monsters, you spend your time convincing demons to join your cause, and splicing them together to create new and bizarre creatures. It’s fun, but hard, and it’s very unique.

Evangir

To be honest, I really enjoyed Enchanted Arms. The game has some flaws, but it serves as a nice taste of "next-gen" RPGs. There's a ton of customization of your main characters and the hundred or so capturable monsters that you can use in battle. The story is fairly slow and standard (and you'll see the plot twist(s) coming miles away), but in the end I was quite satisfied with it. The battle system is also quite enjoyable, requiring a fair amount of strategic thinking for many of the tougher encounters.

It's not any higher than a 7 or 8 out of 10 game, but for $20 i'd consider it worthwhile.

RainbowDespair

Double Post

RainbowDespair

I'd say skip it. I love JRPGs and Strategy/RPGs and Enchanted Arms only got a few hours out of me before I got bored and shelved it. Visuals are pretty good, everything else is pretty mediocre.

And I must say that I hate that comic. It implies that Enchanted Arms is a good by-the-book RPG when it's not; it's a mediocre by-the-book RPG. There are plenty of ways that you could better spend your $20 (purchase one of the many quality and cheap PS2 RPGs, spend it on downloadable games, put it towards one of the big hitters coming this holiday season, etc.)

Oh and since you've never had a PS2 before, the following are some great PS2 RPGs you can pick up for $20 or less:

Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter (a love it or hate it game, has some SRPG elements; can be found for under $10, I think it's a work of art)
any of the Shadow Hearts games (Shadow Hearts: Covenant is generally considered the best, though I preferred the 3rd game)
Wild Arms 4 (has a very cool simplified SRPG battle system that works very well; throw away story)
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X-2
the Atelier Iris games
Suikoden 3 or 5 (I think 5 is much better, but some people disagree)

And if you're willing to spend more than $20, anything by Atlus with Shin Megami Tensei in the title is RPG gold.

Katchem_ash

I like all JRPG's/SRPG's and this one has been on my list for a long time. I would say go for it without listening to all these critics and decide for yourself. From all these games that have been lambased as "bad" or "medicore" I loved them.

Buy it, decide for yourself.

Strato

Does the PS3 play most PS2 games, or only some?

I guess this doesn't matter being that I already have a PS2, but I'm wondering if I could shelve it owning the third system.

Houk the Namebringer

Katchem_ash wrote: »

I like all JRPG's/SRPG's and this one has been on my list for a long time. I would say go for it without listening to all these critics and decide for yourself. From all these games that have been lambased as "bad" or "medicore" I loved them.

Buy it, decide for yourself.

yeah but, you love all jrpgs by their very nature. you're more than a little bit biased. like, a lot more.

to the OP - you can take that $20 and buy any number of very awesome PS2 rpgs. sure, they wont be in OMGHIDEF, but they're very, very good anyway.

Zephyr_Fate

It's a decent title. I like some of the character designs and despite the stereotyping, its nice to have a gay main character.

I'd recommend it over Persona 3, though, because despite the better art style and the SMT brand name, it's full of an insane amount of repetition. I'm clueless as to why it wasn't fixed after P2.

Katchem_ash

Houk wrote: »

Katchem_ash wrote: »

I like all JRPG's/SRPG's and this one has been on my list for a long time. I would say go for it without listening to all these critics and decide for yourself. From all these games that have been lambased as "bad" or "medicore" I loved them.

Buy it, decide for yourself.

yeah but, you love all jrpgs by their very nature. you're more than a little bit biased. like, a lot more.

to the OP - you can take that $20 and buy any number of very awesome PS2 rpgs. sure, they wont be in OMGHIDEF, but they're very, very good anyway.

I gave advice. I never said it was good or bad, because I haven't played it. My nature doesn't come into play by me suggesting that he play it and decide for himself/herself.

urahonky

I played it on the 360 for about.... 4 hours.

I turned it off, and commenced the fetal position.

If you enjoy going in that position, then by all means pick it up. I'm still punching myself for paying $60 for that damn game.

Houk the Namebringer

Katchem_ash wrote: »

Houk wrote: »

Katchem_ash wrote: »

I like all JRPG's/SRPG's and this one has been on my list for a long time. I would say go for it without listening to all these critics and decide for yourself. From all these games that have been lambased as "bad" or "medicore" I loved them.

Buy it, decide for yourself.

yeah but, you love all jrpgs by their very nature. you're more than a little bit biased. like, a lot more.

to the OP - you can take that $20 and buy any number of very awesome PS2 rpgs. sure, they wont be in OMGHIDEF, but they're very, very good anyway.

I gave advice. I never said it was good or bad, because I haven't played it. My nature doesn't come into play by me suggesting that he play it and decide for himself/herself.

sure, but...that's not what the thread is asking. he isnt asking 'should i just buy it and try it for myself?" he's telling us what he likes and dislikes about JRPGs, then trying to get an informed opinion through our advice.

if someone was looking for a racing game, and they said 'i tolerate simulation-style games, but don't really want to micromanage my car and spend time worrying about tires or chasses. i really love smash-em-ups though. what can you tell me about gran turismo?' do you really think he should 'ignore all the critics' and 'see for himself' even when it's pretty clear that's probably not what he's looking for?

Cokomon

Yeah, I would suggest listening to the guy who works at Nippon Ichi Software over Katchem_Ash when it comes to JRPGs. I think he has an infinitely better opinion on the subject.

Houk the Namebringer

oh and i guess i should say, since you love srpgs, NIS America does have some pretty sweet ones on PS2. you cant go wrong picking up disgaea 1 (pretty awesome story, if you dont have a problem with anime-style stuff) and disgaea 2 (story's not as good but game mechanics are much improved).

Strifer

^^^ Disgaea 2 is completely worth it just to hear Etna being a total you-know-what. I have to congratulate NIS for having great VAs all around in this game - give those people a bonus!

Just get Persona 3. If you like fiddling with stats and mechanics, Shin Megami Tensei games are made for you.

I only saw some trailers for the game and, while I am very open-minded about games, I had serious doubts about it. You'd better be off with Disgaea.

Cokomon

Houk wrote: »

oh and i guess i should say, since you love srpgs, NIS America does have some pretty sweet ones on PS2. you cant go wrong picking up disgaea 1 (pretty awesome story, if you dont have a problem with anime-style stuff) and disgaea 2 (story's not as good but game mechanics are much improved).

Hey now, no company-whoring. ;-)

cj iwakura

And if you're going to sell someone on an NIS RPG, at least use a traditional one. :P I enjoyed Ar Tonelico. Short, ridiculously easy, but fun.
(Well, NIS-published, rather.)

Then again, Disgaea does seem to be on the way to the PS3...

Roshin

No, it's not really worth it. Despite the odd vaguely interesting detail (the gay guy), it's as generic and bland as you can possibly make it. The graphics are pretty, but they're let down by the linear gameplay. It's like a pretty postcard with only one way to move through it. You can't go exploring the world or head off for those mountains you see in the distance. It's all just scenery and usually there literally is only one path through any given scene.

It's JRPG filler. The kind of game you play while waiting for a proper one.

IreneDAdler

I think the $20 would be better invested in Shadow Hearts: From the New World. I don't really have the patience to play through RPGs myself but I like to watch the story while my boyfriend plays, and this game has really interesting characters and plotlines, and overall great humor. The battle system is very different from the classic menu-driven RPGs. After you select an attack from the character's ability menu, a ring pops up with target sectors that you have to hit as a cursor rotates through the ring. The success of your attack depends on how accurately you hit those areas. You also have the ability to set up some pretty complicated assist chains. As if that's not enough layers, you also can modify the combat rings, like make the target areas wider so they're easier to hit, or slow down the rotational speed of the cursor so you can time your hits more easily.

As someone else said, it's an older game so it won't look as purty as Enchanted Arms, but I believe the enjoyment you'll get out of playing the game would be much much greater.

Namrok

I like the game. I bought it for $60 and didn't feel I'd wasted my money at all.

Granted, this was before I played FFXII, which has likely ruined merely "ok" rpgs for me for all time.

But at the time, I enjoyed the combat system. Was sort of a strategy-lite system, which was good. Battles wouldn't take as long as in a full on strategic rpg, but weren't as hopelessly dull as a normal turn based rpg. The story was alright. Nothing especially amazing, but alright. The characters were fun. I sort of wish I played through with the japanese dubs (maybe next time, if there is a next time) because most of the voice actors for the women basically just sound like bitches through 3/4th of the game. Raging, nothing is ever good enough for them, bitches.

But still, end of the day, I can easily see how the game wouldn't meet someone's standards if they played a lot of rpgs. There is better out there.

Samphis

Here's something to color your purchase. This isn't a big spoiler for the story, but it does end with

a same-sex male kiss.

This pretty much stripped the game of any redeeming values at that point.

Vincent Grayson

I got a good 75% or so through the game, and as others have said, it's merely OK. I only played as far as I did because it was (and still is) the only Xbox360 rpg, and I was craving an RPG at the time.

A lot of the golem designs are cool, and it's hard not to get addicted to catching them all, but combat really is boring as fuck, and aside from boss fights, I pretty always had it on auto.

Mr_Grinch

I thought it was a fucking terrible game. No word of a lie. I bought it as I fancied a JRPG as I hadn't given one a fair chance since Final Fantasy VII.

It was a tremendously slow moving, dismal excuse for a game. Combat was dull and boring with a slightly inventive system, the "tutorial" for the game lasted for about 2 or more hours and...in general... it was utterly dreadful.

Avoid, avoid, AVOID!

Artoria

Roshin wrote: »

It's JRPG filler. The kind of game you play while waiting for a proper one.

I could not have summed this up better myself. While it's not a bad game it's not great either. I love me some JRPGs but this one actually gave me little motivation to keep going at all. the story was not very good and somewhat uninteresting and, the battle system was pretty pretty dull and poorly implemented.

There are much better RPGs you could get that came out on the PS2 or PS1 over this one. you could pick up Final Fantasy XII for about the same price now and that game is worth it. However if you are jonesing for a Next gen JRPG then.. well.. I guess this one wins by default since there are no other ones out there. Honestly I wouldn't pay more than $20 for it and I've seen it used for a bit less. I would say go to gamestop buy a used copy play it and if you hate it return it before your 7 day return period is over.

Daybreak

To jump on the pile, don't buy this game. It's boring and generic, with awful dialog (OMG "A" BUTTON!)

There are many better things you could do with that $20, like buying one of the dozens of stellar RPGs for the PS2.

corin7

It is a very average jrpg. I really did enjoy the combat system and it had some interesting ideas. the graphics are pretty decent as well. Honestly it is probably worth $20 if you enjoy turn based jrpgs. It is not one of my favorite games but I don't regret having it in my collection.

apotheos

Tw4win wrote: »

I have it for the 360 and I've played it a bit but not that much yet. I think it has a decent battle system but the plot seems a bit generic. I bought it more for my collection than to play as it was really the first JRPG released this generation.

So...please clarify...you bought it not to play it? I mean, its not like its rare or collectible in any form.

Zephyr_Fate

Samphis wrote: »

Here's something to color your purchase. This isn't a big spoiler for the story, but it does end with

a same-sex male kiss.

This pretty much stripped the game of any redeeming values at that point.

Yeah, unless you're supremely homophobic, two homosexuals kissing is not a fault nor "strips the game of any redeeming values."

This is 2007, accept them for who they are, and grow up.

apotheos

Zephyr_Fate wrote: »

Samphis wrote: »

Here's something to color your purchase. This isn't a big spoiler for the story, but it does end with

a same-sex male kiss.

This pretty much stripped the game of any redeeming values at that point.

Yeah, unless you're supremely homophobic, two homosexuals kissing is not a fault nor "strips the game of any redeeming values."

This is 2007, accept them for who they are, and grow up.

But how can you possibly expect me to tolerate the existence of something I cannot directly relate with?!

domite

Yeah, you say that until your little brother gets the AIDS through the TV screen.

PingPong

I paid 16.99 for it used. I still feel KINDA ripped off. But it was mint and had that "limited edition" comic, so it made it a little better. I still played it though. Hahahaha..hahah.....haha.....ha.

Mr_Grinch

There's being homophobic and then there's just flat out hating the gay character in this game. I don't hate him because he's gay, I hate him because he's a cunt.

Evangir

Mr_Grinch wrote: »

There's being homophobic and then there's just flat out hating the gay character in this game. I don't hate him because he's gay, I hate him because he's a cunt.

Lucky for you...

Makoto is only in your party for the very beginning and very end of the game.

Samphis

apotheos wrote: »

Zephyr_Fate wrote: »

Samphis wrote: »

Here's something to color your purchase. This isn't a big spoiler for the story, but it does end with

a same-sex male kiss.

This pretty much stripped the game of any redeeming values at that point.

Yeah, unless you're supremely homophobic, two homosexuals kissing is not a fault nor "strips the game of any redeeming values."

This is 2007, accept them for who they are, and grow up.

But how can you possibly expect me to tolerate the existence of something I cannot directly relate with?!

Oh yeah, not enjoying seeing an extremely stereotypical character having other men hold down the object of his affections so that he can forcibly kiss someone who doesn't want it makes me totally homophobic and therefore "not grown up."

I don't enjoy seeing men kiss each other, therefore I'm bad and not "PC" enough for you?

Daybreak

I'd say theres a difference between "I didn't enjoy watching that" and "that stripped the game of any redeeming value"

jclast

If you never had a PS2 and love SRPGs I'd look for a copy of Disgaea or Disgaea 2. It'll keep you busy for a good long time. It's more expensive, but the Item World will consume you. And the extra stuff you can obtain in either game - especially for a fan of SRPGs - will be worth the extra price.

I think 2 is still going for $40.