PS2 RPGs. Help me wile away my time.

Esh

So, for the next six months I'm hermiting away to save up some cash and move back to Portland, OR from Rhode Island. What better way to do that than with some RPGs? Here's a small list of what I'm going to pick up tomorrow. If anyone has any more suggestions, PLEASE let me know.

Final Fantasy XII
Dragon Quest VIII
Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2
Persona 3
Rogue Galaxy
Dark Cloud 2

Thoughts? I like the idea of Persona 3, so others like that would be great. Fantasy and Sci-Fi are more than welcome as well. The longer, the better. Thanks!

Chance

Actually that's... a pretty darned good list.

Anything in the Shin Megami Tensei series is considered rather good stuff (Digital Devil Saga, SMT: Nocturne if the heavens part and a ray of light actually lands on a copy), and I spent over 100 hours with my first playthrough of Persona 3 (it's brilliant).

I never did actually finish FFXII, as it seemed to be more about grinding the further I got, but I did think it an above-average RPG and I'll likely get back to it at some point.

And that's the extent of my PS2 RPG knowledge - apart from knowing that you really couldn't have picked a better console to go-all-RPG on.

Oh, and Kingdom Hearts games are good fun with excellent production values, but you need to like pressing the attack button a billion times in a row. It's the most button-mashingest RPG there ever was, and I'm totally including Diablo in that.

Xano

Damn fine list you've got constructed there already, heh.

Now i know these aren't RPG, but... please consider...

Shadow of the Colossus

Ico

Okami

may be a step out of your genre zone, but worth it imo.

Also, Persona 4 is coming out kinda soon.

Esh

Chance wrote: »

Actually that's... a pretty darned good list.

Anything in the Shin Megami Tensei series is considered rather good stuff (Digital Devil Saga, SMT: Nocturne if the heavens part and a ray of light actually lands on a copy), and I spent over 100 hours with my first playthrough of Persona 3 (it's brilliant).

I never did actually finish FFXII, as it seemed to be more about grinding the further I got, but I did think it an above-average RPG and I'll likely get back to it at some point.

And that's the extent of my PS2 RPG knowledge - apart from knowing that you really couldn't have picked a better console to go-all-RPG on.

Oh, and Kingdom Hearts games are good fun with excellent production values, but you need to like pressing the attack button a billion times in a row. It's the most button-mashingest RPG there ever was, and I'm totally including Diablo in that.

Yeah, I played the first one almost all the way through when it came out. I did love it though. I'm definitely going to try and pick up as much of the Persona/Shin Megami series as I can. Are they related somehow?

Ah_Pook

youve got a good list going. i would add these.

Disgaea (then Disgaea 2, if you want more after the 100+ hours you pump into this one. then the other N1 srpgs if you want even more)
Shadow Hearts: Covenant
Wizardry: Tales Of The Forsaken Land

Esh

Xano wrote: »

Damn fine list you've got constructed there already, heh.

Now i know these aren't RPG, but... please consider...

Shadow of the Colossus

Ico

Okami

may be a step out of your genre zone, but worth it imo.

Also, Persona 4 is coming out kinda soon.

Yeah, those along with the Metal Gear series (which I've never played) are on my list.

Esh

Ah_Pook wrote: »

youve got a good list going. i would add these.

Disgaea (then Disgaea 2, if you want more after the 100+ hours you pump into this one. then the other N1 srpgs if you want even more)
Shadow Hearts: Covenant
Wizardry: Tales Of The Forsaken Land

I tried to get Wizardry off Amazon but the seller never sent it and I had to make a claim against them. Shadow Hearts is another I was looking at. I'm not a big Strategy-RPG fan so I don't know about the Disgaea series.

Xano

ah man...Ico and SOTC.....ABSOLUTE must plays....

especially if you're looking for something artful and abstract in a game...

Gilder

My suggestion to you if you get Rouge Galaxy is don't pay any attention to the story near the end of the game. Just start pressing X to skip text and mute the cutscenes. It's just...... it's just REALLY bad. I'm not a person who even notices bad stories but my god, Rouge Galaxy gets absolutely dreadful at the end. I still enjoyed the combat system though.

Chance

Esh wrote: »

I'm definitely going to try and pick up as much of the Persona/Shin Megami series as I can. Are they related somehow?

Persona's full name is Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3. Most will note P3 for its inclusion of a rudimentary 'social simulator', which no other SMT title has ever had. It's also pointed out to be relatively easy compared to other entries in the series. Digital Devil Saga and SMT: Nocturne are known to have vicious spikes of difficulty.

SMT: Nocturne was one of the most-impossible games to find, up until a little while ago, when it got a re-release.



I also throw my support behind Ico (dreamlike brilliance), SoTC (brilliant brilliance) and Okami (beautiful action-adventure Zelda-style brilliance). Only Okami will take up a large chunk of your time, however, clocking in at around 30 hours. But seriously, if you don't have SoTC? Get SoTC (see: sig).

Aroduc

Silmeria and Ar Tonelico. The soundtrack alone is worth snagging both, and Silmeria is seriously the best looking RPG of that generation.

And for what it's worth, I thought FFXII was an absolutely horrendous game, especially if you like JRPGs. It's designed for the MMO crowd and it really pretty painfully shows. Hell, I read books as I 'played' the game.

Ah_Pook

oh oh i forgot: Atelier Iris

Xano

I've never played these but...i heard the Xenosaga series is something to refrain from...
Xenogears was good, but i heard the saga series..drones on...and on...and yawn..

lostwords

Steambot Chronicles is fun times. You drive around in a steam-powered mech fighting in arenas! You learn to play musical instruments! You decorate a house!

Also, try to find Odin Sphere or Shadow Hearts: Covenant, two stupendously awesome games

cheez

Xano wrote: »

I've never played these but...i heard the Xenosaga series is something to refrain from...
Xenogears was good, but i heard the saga series..drones on...and on...and yawn..

That's funny, I came in here to recommend Xenosaga. And I've actually played them.

Also, Tales of the Abyss.

DisruptorX2

Oh hi, you must have been looking for this title.


Very poor camera, as well as poor draw distance. But otherwise, one of my favourites.

taliosfalcon

lostwords wrote: »

Steambot Chronicles is fun times. You drive around in a steam-powered mech fighting in arenas! You learn to play musical instruments! You decorate a house!

Also, try to find Odin Sphere or Shadow Hearts: Covenant, two stupendously awesome games

I have it on good authority that every time someone buys a ps2 game that isn't steambot chronicles, god kills a kitten.

Xano

makes me want to play Chrono Cross again

tarnok

I loved Persona 3 and greatly enjoyed Ar Tonelico and Mana Khemia.

edit: Ooooh, yeah. Steambot Chronicles is nice.

Dashui

cheez wrote: »

Xano wrote: »

I've never played these but...i heard the Xenosaga series is something to refrain from...
Xenogears was good, but i heard the saga series..drones on...and on...and yawn..

That's funny, I came in here to recommend Xenosaga. And I've actually played them.

Also, Tales of the Abyss.

Yessir! Tales of the Abyss is great. In fact, I just finished playing some of it now.

I like that this thread popped up, because I just bought five used PS2 RPGs - Dawn of Mana, Wild Arms 3, Wild Arms 4, Xenosaga I and II. I know Dawn of Mana isn't received all that wildly, for but five bucks it seemed like a good buy. As far as the Wild Arms games go, any recommendation for which one I should start first, or should I start up Xenosaga instead?

Ah_Pook

man that reminded me that ive been meaning to pick up Wild Arms 5 since it came out. i dont know if i need to throw another game on the ps2 backlog at this point though, its already pretty out of control.

Chance

lostwords wrote: »

*snip* Also, try to find Odin Sphere *snip*

Pfft! Odin Sphere? Yeah, go waste your money on Odin Sphere, if you're some freak who likes huge, gorgeous and lovingly animated 2D sprites brawling their way through beautiful, hand-painted stages, a deceptively deep item creation process, phenomenal localization with excellent voice work, music and an epic story all wrapped up in a 40-hour action-RPG.

I mean, honestly? Odin Sphere?


(Get Odin Sphere.)

Ah_Pook

odin sphere looks really good, i couldnt get into the gameplay at all though i dunno. worth a look anyway though, since a lot of people that arent me loved it. and i mean it looks really good in italics even.

cjeris

Same discussion from seven months ago

My list of RPGs from that thread

Not that much has come out for PS2 in the last seven months. Persona 3 FES (which you should certainly buy instead of base Persona 3), Mana Khemia, what else?

Chance

Ah_Pook wrote: »

odin sphere looks really good, i couldnt get into the gameplay at all though i dunno. worth a look anyway though, since a lot of people that arent me loved it. and i mean it looks really good in italics even.

Yeah I can see Odin Sphere not being for everyone. But neither's P3, come to think of it.

Dashui

cjeris wrote: »

Same discussion from seven months ago

My list of RPGs from that thread

Not that much has come out for PS2 in the last seven months. Persona 3 FES (which you should certainly buy instead of base Persona 3), Mana Khemia, what else?

"Ar tonelico (NIS/Gust) : An interesting battle system and glorious music, paired with a plot and character-interaction system that makes me feel one part guilty pleasure and three parts just guilty. I liked it, but I can't admit that to anyone I know in person."

Heh. I felt weird buying that game. You described it perfectly, though, especially in regards to my feelings during the "diving." It is a great game, but I just never managed to beat it because one part in the game you were required to have a certain ingredient which I didn't have. I sold or threw it away when I got it early game, as I had no use for it, and that section didn't let me go back. So if you ever play Ar Tonelico, don't throw your ingredients out!

urahonky

Xenosaga Ep 1 was good. People complained it was like watching a movie, but it's got a really good story. Plus the battle music was awesome. :^:

Schide

Suikoden 3 & 5 haven't been mentioned yet.

Grandia 3 is pretty fun.

I dunno, there's like all these opinions and stuff and who know whose opinions are gonna mesh with your own. I mean tons of people will recommend Odin Sphere, and while I found it to be quite pretty, it was one of the most repetitively boring games I've ever played. Then I'll say whee, go play Radiatia Stories, and someone will come and say no, don't get that, I hated it. Or something.

I mean I could list a ton of RPGs that I've had fun with on the PS2, but wouldn't recommend them all. I mean like...muffins.

Chance

Schide wrote: »

I mean like...muffins.

Deceptively delicious.

Ah_Pook

muffins, ive never heard such nonsense! now scones, theres a delicious baked good.

hoodie13

For the love of god get Persona 3: FES and not the regular Persona 3. FES has an extra 30-40 hours of content, more things to get and do, is cheaper, and is just generally way better.

And while you're at your local game store, reserve Persona 4. It's bound to come with some sexcellent bonus stuff (the first P3 release came with a GREAT bound art book AND a P3 soundtrack with about 90 percent of the songs on it).

Esh

DisruptorX2 wrote: »

Oh hi, you must have been looking for this title.


Very poor camera, as well as poor draw distance. But otherwise, one of my favourites.

Played and beat on the PC. Fun one.

hoodie13

urahonky wrote: »

Xenosaga Ep 1 was good. People complained it was like watching a movie, but it's got a really good story. Plus the battle music was awesome. :^:

This guy speaks truth.

And hey, if it turns out you play through all of 1 but hate that there aren't giant robots, just play 2! More giant robots! And if you just HAVE to have even MORE giant robots, check out 3!

Dashui

hoodie13 wrote: »

urahonky wrote: »

Xenosaga Ep 1 was good. People complained it was like watching a movie, but it's got a really good story. Plus the battle music was awesome. :^:

This guy speaks truth.

And hey, if it turns out you play through all of 1 but hate that there aren't giant robots, just play 2! More giant robots! And if you just HAVE to have even MORE giant robots, check out 3!

So, I take it I should play Xenosaga next, hmm? I'm working through Tales of the Abyss, and once I'm done I need to move onto one of the dozen other JRPGs I have left on my shelf. I should just beat one before buying five more, for fucks sake.

hoodie13

Just... just look into the whole damn Shin Megami Tensei series, ok? Digital Devil Saga is great and it was just re-released, the Persona series was just reinvigorated with P3, and Nocturne and Devil Summoner are pretty good too.

hoodie13

Dashui wrote: »

hoodie13 wrote: »

urahonky wrote: »

Xenosaga Ep 1 was good. People complained it was like watching a movie, but it's got a really good story. Plus the battle music was awesome. :^:

This guy speaks truth.

And hey, if it turns out you play through all of 1 but hate that there aren't giant robots, just play 2! More giant robots! And if you just HAVE to have even MORE giant robots, check out 3!

So, I take it I should play Xenosaga next, hmm? I'm working through Tales of the Abyss, and once I'm done I need to move onto one of the dozen other JRPGs I have left on my shelf. I should just beat one before buying five more, for fucks sake.

Well hold on, because i just realized that I made it sound like Xenosaga 1 has no giant robots. It does. Just not as much as 2, and 2 doesn't have as much as 3. But they all have robots.

And yes, play Xenosaga. It's less than 10 bucks at Gamestop and is more than worth it.

Schide

For whatever reason I write down each RPG I beat in a book and then give it a stupid little rating. I wonder what my top ten for the PS2 are.

Disgaea
Shadow Hearts Covenant
Dragon Quest VIII
Rogue Galaxy
Final Fantasy X
Dark Cloud II
Suikoden III
Suikoden V
Atelier Iris
Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne
Shadow Hearts
Shadow Hearts From the New World
Grandia III
Radiatia Stories
Phantom Brave
Atelier Iris II
BoF Dragon Quarter
Star Ocean III
Final Fantasy XII
Legaia Duel Saga
Wild Arms III
Suikoden IV
Grandia II
Final Fantasy X-II
Kingdom Hearts II
Jade Cocoon II

Huh. Well that doesn't include some games I haven't beat or haven't started yet, of course. Like Odin Sphere and Xenosaga.

Wait, that's all of them I have there, not just ten. Whatever I just woke up.

Ah_Pook

oh you could check out that Baroque game, i heard really good things about it. havent played it myself yet but still, if youre interested in a roguelike check it out.

how was that Devil Summoner game? i was looking at a used copy the other day but passed it up.

Dashui

You know, I loved what I played of Suikoden V, but I ended up missing some characters because I didn't have my face looking at a strategy guide every five minutes during the time I spent with it. If you don't get all 108 characters, you don't get the good ending. I don't like that kind of punishment, and I don't like spending time looking at strategy guides constantly for my JRPGs. I want to get it again and beat it, but that mechanic pushes me away.

Aroduc

Dashui wrote: »

You know, I loved what I played of Suikoden V, but I ended up missing some characters because I didn't have my face looking at a strategy guide every five minutes during the time I spent with it. If you don't get all 108 characters, you don't get the good ending. I don't like that kind of punishment, and I don't like spending time looking at strategy guides constantly for my JRPGs. I want to get it again and beat it, but that mechanic pushes me away.

I got as far as the hide and seek bullshit in the arena. FIND A RANDOM CHARACTER ACROSS THESE 12 SCREENS TO ADVANCE THE STORY AND THEN FIND THE NEXT ONE.

Thanks, but no. I think I'll go back to delimbing dragons and watching them flop on the ground helplessly.

jclast

- Xenosaga I (the only one I've played) is really good. One of the best turn-based battle systems I've ever played.
- Disgaea 1 for story / Disgaea 2 for improved battle mechanics