Upcoming Tactical RPGs
Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006 - 1:09pm
If you're a TRPG whore like myself (and DSGamer), you might be interested in these. Just something for which to keep an eye out. Let me know if I missed any.
- PS2 -
Disgaea 2 - Sequel to the original Disgaea, a game with outstanding character, design and voice acting, yet suffered due to Atlus's habit of producing very limited runs of localizations. The sequel is very similar in terms of gameplay with character levels up to 9,999 (not including reincarnation/transmigration), New Game + mode, and tons of unlockable battles and character classes. Like all Nippon Ichi games, this one is going to be massive, with replay value through the roof. Comes out in just a week!
Super Robot Wars - Appears to be a pretty remake of the GBA one.
Front Mission 5 - TRPG with giant customizeable robots! You can also train your pilots with certain special skills as well.
- X360 -
Spectral Force 3 - Another Spectral Souls game, with the same setting as the PSP Spectral Souls game. It's already out in Japan and appears to be pretty solid. The gameplay looks similar to Disgaea.
- PS3 -
Makai Wars - Originally planned for the PSP, but bumped to the PS3. In a recent interview the president of N1 said he was interested in branching out to non-Sony consoles, so this might not be a PS3 exclusive forever.
- Wii -
Fire Emblem - Fire Emblem is a harsh TRPG, with only named, important characters, yet if one dies on the field they're out of action for the rest of the game. A bit heavier on the tactical side than the RPG side.
- GBA -
Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation - The first one is out and the second one is on deck for a release later this year. Although the graphics are fairly plain even for a GBA game (these guys took their time getting across the Pacific), they're still solid games.
Yggdra Union - I love the art design, but gameplay screenshots look like a fantasy version of Advance Wars. Makes me wonder if this is going to be another "RPG" by sole virtue of having swords and monsters.
- NDS -
Ys Strategy - The game's faded from the radar for about a year but the name sounds promising!
Vandal Hearts - Another old game making a reappearance. Not much known on this guy either.
- PSP -
Dungeons & Dragons Tactics - Some of you guys seem psyched but I'm still a bit skeptical. At least the storyline sounds cool.
Jeanne D'Arc - Based loosely on Joan of Arc, but with monsters and magic and the like. Looks like it's going to be pretty solid.
Spectral Souls - A remake of the PS2 game that never hit US shores. It looks good and is said to be a great game, but the Japanese version of this port was so crippled by loading problems its price (and review scores) hit rock bottom. N1 says they've been working with Level5 to correct some of these issues for the US release.
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
Is Front Mission 5 really going to see a release stateside? I haven't seen any press to that effect. A shame, really, since the concept for that series is so damn awesome.
XBL/PSN: zeroKFE | BHA: zeroKFE
A few of these might only hit Japan. I'm being optimistic.
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
Spore
I don't think Front Mission 4 was received so well over here. I'm not sure how it sold, but it seemed to hit the bargain bin pretty quickly and averaged toward the low end of the 7-9 scale, review-wise. I got about 10-15 missions in and put the controller down about a year ago. I've been thinking about picking it back up.
We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.
*rocking back in forth in my chair*
Just one more week... Just one more week...
"Screw the speed of light, fan-boy rage is my new gold standard for measuring velocity." - Dr. J
"Lupus with a crowbar is the meaning of life itself." - Certis
Hmm do you count HoMM like games as tactical RPG? There are actually a few open source tactical RPG for PC too, but I guess you are not looking for those.
Decisions are just decisions, there are neither "good" or "bad"
LobsterMobster wrote:
I'm in the exact same boat there. Not sure why exactly but I think I liked FM3 a bit better. Maybe it was the difficulty? Anyways I'm definitely waiting for Disgaea 2, even though I never finished the first one, or Phantom brave, or La Pucelle, or even started Makai Kingdom, or beat either FF Tactics, or... Oh this is getting embarassing.
Well, I don't like to toot my own horn, but I'm a pretty good amateur rectal photographer. Would you like to see my portfolio?
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I don't think HoMM is really an RPG. You certainly don't develop the units you actually use to fight very much.
The things I hated about Front Mission 4 were, in this order, the great difficulty in obtaining and maintaining enough money to keep even some of your mechs up to date, that fights took so goddamn long, and that the perspective was constantly switching back and forth, greatly muting the feeling of accomplishment (when I finish a mission I want to reap the rewards, dammit).
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
Spore
how about dragonshard then? In that game you only get to improve your troops.
*sorry for the questions, I am just trying to get a grip on what tactical RPG really entail, yes I looked it up but the wiki explanation got me more confused...*
Decisions are just decisions, there are neither "good" or "bad"
LobsterMobster wrote:
Never played Dragonshard. I think of tactical RPGs as turn-based games where you develop your characters and rely on synergies between them and positional strategy rather than simple character stats and equipment to defeat the enemy.
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
Spore
I am! Tell me your secrets, lethial!
Xbox Live: CrankyBaby
baggachipz: Who cares about Japan, let them have their silly pointless dog games and countless re-hashes of anime-based dragon princess super lucky crapitty crap.
almost free games:
Styrateg
Discord Times
free MMORPG Dofus
Kingdom Elemental not released yet, but this is very much life FF tactics.
X-com like games:
Already released:
UFO Aftershock (I recommend getting this actually over at gamersgate.net since I don't think they have starforce for the game)
I am waiting for this eagerly:
UFO extraterrestrials
JA spawns:
JA2 V1.13 this is the user made total conversion of the JA2 game, it is amazing as I mentioned in another thread. Higher resolution, lots of weapons and it is in constant refinement as we speak
New JA games:
Brigade E5 jagged union.
This game is released in Europe already, very hardcore tactic game
JA 3D
Prettier graphic JA that should come out this year.
There are 2 other games that I forgot the names for, one is a free tactical RPG that is like FF tactics and I have posted about it before and it is released already.
The other is the HoMM like game being made by the developer that made Space Rangers 2.
That should get you started Podunk
Edit: if you never tried Soldiers of Anarchy. I can vouch for it too. This is more of a post-apocalyptic team based tactic/rpg game. Be sure to get the latest patch though, since the patch adds the much needed pause feature.
Lobster, sorry to pollute the post with already released games, but I just want to help a fellow gamer out you know
Decisions are just decisions, there are neither "good" or "bad"
LobsterMobster wrote:
Thanks lethial, looks like some interesting stuff!
Xbox Live: CrankyBaby
baggachipz: Who cares about Japan, let them have their silly pointless dog games and countless re-hashes of anime-based dragon princess super lucky crapitty crap.
I think FM3 was faster paced - sure it was long as hell, 70+ missions in one storyline, 40+ missions in the other, but the battles were usually over in 15 to 20 minues. The FM4 battles seem to drag - the weapons don't do as much damage and the lack of random skill activitations kind of took some fun away. I think the fact that your skills would activitate randomly based on your equipment in FM3 added an almost Diablo-esque random loot factor to the game. Yes, purchasing upgrades with skill points in FM4 makes the process more transparent, but made the whole thing feel a little sterile too.
We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.
How long does it take to get to level 9,999?
"All that time you waste dating and having sex could be better spent scouring the web for new game developer press releases." - Quintin_Stone
Disgaea 2.... I can see the loss of a girlfriend in the near future.
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Quite a while. The speed of progression tends to pick up. In most N1 games, it takes longer to go from 1-50 than from 50-250. Not that that rate holds. To give you an idea, I've put about 400 hours into Disgaea and my highest level character's in the 3,000s. And you can always transmigrate, which switches the character to a new class and "banks" their levels, which makes their stats higher, but they start out at level 1 again.
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
Spore
And are you actually acquiring new and useful abilities as you level or are you already ungodly powerful at, say, level 1,000?
"All that time you waste dating and having sex could be better spent scouring the web for new game developer press releases." - Quintin_Stone
You're an amazing man. And by amazing, I mean scary.
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LobsterMobster wrote:
I look forward to Disgaea 2. I'm replaying FFT right now, and remembering my love for the TRPG.
There are ways to gain new abilities at level 1,000+, but they're unrelated to level. So at that point you're really just gaining stats.
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
Spore
When does this SFIII game come out for Xbox 360? I've heard nothing.
Yet even then we ran like the wind,
whilst our laughter echoed under cerulean skies...
It just came out in Japan. Although there hasn't been an official announcement of a localization, I can't imagine them bringing over Spectral Souls, which did terribly, and leave SF3.
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
Spore
After being asked "not so politely" to leave the Atlus booth at E3.. lets just say im REALLY excited to see Disgaea 2 come out. It's adorable, cute, fun, and has cross dressing half-plant men galore! What's not to love?
neither lesbian nor kitten!
Sexy pics.. unfortunately I do not think any game in this genre will capture the "Oh sh*t a sectoid with a heavy plasma rifle popped out of the darkness of the map and shot my captain." factor though. Play the original X-Com late at night with the lights out and you will know what I mean.
Playing WoW as: Vilius (70 NE Druid)
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Is it just me or was FFT's job system near perfect: Lots of classes with their own identity, massive item collecting (and it mattered since you had to get skills from items), and nice stategic thinking if you wanted to max your stats (speed being the one that comes to mind). I just loved it. If only the story was more like the original or Tactics Ogre. The cutsy "neverending story" crap just didn't do it for me. I just wanted to slap Mewt around.
p.s. thanks to lethial for the tip on the JA update. I have played some of the total conversions out there but had never heard of this.
I never even thought of tactical rpg's as a genre(yah I'm an idiot) until about a year ago, I just figured sometimes an RPG had a really good combat system.
Even after my realization I never pursued any tactical RPGs.
The only games I can for sure say I've played that were tactical is Fallout Tactics and Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced. I know I should have realized there was something going on with the subtle naming system.
Which tactical RPG should I play now?
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@podunk:
I found the game that the dev that made Space Rangers 2 is making now: Battle Lord
Definitely worth a look
Decisions are just decisions, there are neither "good" or "bad"
LobsterMobster wrote:
Disgaea, dood! And if you can't get your hands on it, Disgaea 2. The cast of main characters is mostly new so you shouldn't miss much.
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
Spore
Seconded. If you have a PS2, grab Disgaea 2 when it comes out next week. Plenair compels you.
"Screw the speed of light, fan-boy rage is my new gold standard for measuring velocity." - Dr. J
"Lupus with a crowbar is the meaning of life itself." - Certis
Disgaea really is the shining gem of the genre, Elliot, but if you are still on a giant mech kick, check out Front Mission. As has been said a few times here, of the two games in the series that have been released in the US, Front Mission 3 for the PS1 is probably the best, but FM4 isn't bad, and it is probably a lot easier to find. Short of Chromehounds, it is my favorite giant mech series (regardless of genre).
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