JRPG Catch-All

Are those games any good? Their Metacritic isn't especially high but they seem like they might be entertaining.

Mr GT Chris wrote:

Are those games any good? Their Metacritic isn't especially high but they seem like they might be entertaining.

I unfortunately got distracted by other things, but I wrote up some words on a 10-hour impression. Long story short: I like it, I appreciate what they're doing, but it's probably not for everyone.

Add me to the list of people who want to love Kingdom Hearts but the controls on the first game made me put it down and never return. I still look at each new game wistfully, though.

garion333 wrote:

Minarchist might be the only one who cares about this, but Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory (known as Neptunia V in Japan) is confirmed for NA and Europe.

Lies! Minarchist isn't the only one who cares! :p

Mantid wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Minarchist might be the only one who cares about this, but Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory (known as Neptunia V in Japan) is confirmed for NA and Europe.

Lies! Minarchist isn't the only one who cares! :p

I also care!!.... What is it??

Minarchist wrote:
Mr GT Chris wrote:

Are those games any good? Their Metacritic isn't especially high but they seem like they might be entertaining.

I unfortunately got distracted by other things, but I wrote up some words on a 10-hour impression. Long story short: I like it, I appreciate what they're doing, but it's probably not for everyone.

That's an interesting write up thanks. I've noticed that the second game, MK2, seems to generally review better so I was always thinking that was the best one to get. But now I'm wondering if that is the best choice. Anyway, I'll keep an eye out for deals on either of them.

KidDork wrote:

Add me to the list of people who want to love Kingdom Hearts but the controls on the first game made me put it down and never return. I still look at each new game wistfully, though.

The two most recent games (ignoring Recoded as is proper) have greatly improved the combat system and rarely have the camera troubles of the first game.

Just sayin'!

Demyx wrote:

The two most recent games (ignoring Recoded as is proper) have greatly improved the combat system and rarely have the camera troubles of the first game.

Just sayin'!

I'll trust you. I just ordered Birth By Sleep, so we'll see.

I just learned on Playstation Blog that Persona 4 Golden is set to release on November 20. I guess that's okay but for some reason I'd thought it was early October.

grobstein wrote:

I just learned on Playstation Blog that Persona 4 Golden is set to release on November 20. I guess that's okay but for some reason I'd thought it was early October. :P

Nice, out of the way of big game releases and right before Black Friday.

grobstein wrote:

I just learned on Playstation Blog that Persona 4 Golden is set to release on November 20. I guess that's okay but for some reason I'd thought it was early October. :P

That was the original release month, but it was pushed back around July. The November 20 date has been unofficially known since then.

Has anyone else played Final Fantasy Dimensions? I've put about 45 minutes into the prologue (finished the first boss) and I can't decide what I think about it yet. It's definitely classic FF, possibly even more so than is necessary. Given how many FF tropes (wrong word?) I've seen already I'm surprised that I haven't run into Cid yet. The classic nature is why I am torn though. Given how many awesome JRPGs have innovated on the system since the 16-bit FF days I'm not sure if I'm really ready to spend $30 on what amounts to a nostalgia trip.

SixteenBlue wrote:

Has anyone else played Final Fantasy Dimensions? I've put about 45 minutes into the prologue (finished the first boss) and I can't decide what I think about it yet. It's definitely classic FF, possibly even more so than is necessary. Given how many FF tropes (wrong word?) I've seen already I'm surprised that I haven't run into Cid yet. The classic nature is why I am torn though. Given how many awesome JRPGs have innovated on the system since the 16-bit FF days I'm not sure if I'm really ready to spend $30 on what amounts to a nostalgia trip.

I'm curious, what innovations? I've been working on a project that is basically a homage to the 16 bit era of JRPGs, and I'm genuinely curious.

A little background, I basically quit playing JRPGS after FFVI. I played through VII (just because) didn't play VIII or IX, played (and enjoyed) X but nothing after that. I played just about every JRPG in the SNES (still have my Super Famicom in a box) era. I've played and beaten Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Advance, Ogre Battle, Tactics Ogre, Illusion of Gaia, Chrono Trigger, Vanguard Story, Fire Emblem, every FF up to VII and X. I've watched Legend of Dragoon, and Persona I, II, and III

At least in the Playstation Ea, I didn't see much innovation, just refinement. I dropped them completely after FFX in the PS2 era and stopped looking for them.

I'm contemplating Lunar and FF:Dimensions is downloading as I type.

Well take your pick of any modern JRPG, honestly. But take a series like Persona or SMT in general that make trash mobs still interesting. Auto mode in FF Dimensions is really helpful but the fact that it exists is a sign of a big problem.

You don't see innovation in Persona 3?

P3 and 4 both have auto-battle commands <,<

I think modern Final Fantasy games are far more innovative in terms of combat, for better or worse. There was nothing quite like XII or XIII at the times of their release. There's a lot of Persona 2 in the PS2 games. The latter-day Persona games' main innovations, IMO, are the dungeon structures (I don't like 'em) and the social links (I like 'em lots).

Harder fights aren't what I'd call innovation either, just a deviation from what's been most popular. 7th Saga and Vagrant Story are violent reminders that wickedly difficult JRPGs aren't a new thing. Even Final Fantasy V and Tactics also have some bottlenecks that can trip up the unprepared.

Anyway, if you want to talk about a JRPG with a focus on innovation... Seriously, it brings as many new ideas to the genre as FFXII and XIII combined, but actually does everything well.

I agree with you overall, SixteenBlue, just not on the example. JRPGs are wildly diverse as an entire genre. To answer your question, the few reviews I've seen for Dimensions have been positive, but the Android version still hasn't released.

Blind_Evil wrote:

P3 and 4 both have auto-battle commands <,<

I think modern Final Fantasy games are far more innovative in terms of combat, for better or worse. There was nothing quite like XII or XIII at the times of their release. There's a lot of Persona 2 in the PS2 games. The latter-day Persona games' main innovations, IMO, are the dungeon structures (I don't like 'em) and the social links (I like 'em lots).

Harder fights aren't what I'd call innovation either, just a deviation from what's been most popular. 7th Saga and Vagrant Story are violent reminders that wickedly difficult JRPGs aren't a new thing. Even Final Fantasy V and Tactics also have some bottlenecks that can trip up the unprepared.

Anyway, if you want to talk about a JRPG with a focus on innovation... Seriously, it brings as many new ideas to the genre as FFXII and XIII combined, but actually does everything well.

I agree with you overall, SixteenBlue, just not on the example. JRPGs are wildly diverse as an entire genre. To answer your question, the few reviews I've seen for Dimensions have been positive, but the Android version still hasn't released.

That's a good point, I totally forgot about the auto modes in P3/P4 since I rarely use them. I found after the first few levels that's risking death more often than not. Maybe that applies for Dimensions as well.

I wasn't saying FF games don't innovate, I'm saying Dimensions goes back to before those days.

Unfortunately the prologue doesn't open the job system or give me much of an indicator of what the rest of the game will be like. I could buy the cheap first chapter but by doing so I give up the ability to buy the bundle. So it might cost 3 bucks but it costs another 5 if you play the whole game.

How are the controls?

Blind_Evil wrote:

How are the controls?

Great and meh at the same time. The menus are mostly great. Buttons would often be faster but it's still very intuitive and easy. Movement is ok, it's a virtual d-pad anywhere on the screen that you press. Since movement is essentially grid based you don't really need fine control so it does get the job done. I hate virtual controls so the fact that it doesn't stop me from playing is a good sign.

For anyone who missed Final Fantasy III on the DS, Android, or iOS, it's coming out on PSN tomorrow for the PSP. Since this is only out in Japan on UMD, maybe there's still hope for Type-0?

They're really making up for lost time with the number of times they've released FF III on various platforms. Is it really seminal enough to warrant all this attention or are they just cashing in on North American confusion with the beloved FF6?

psoplayer wrote:

They're really making up for lost time with the number of times they've released FF III on various platforms. Is it really seminal enough to warrant all this attention or are they just cashing in on North American confusion with the beloved FF6?

It was probably easy to do the port. We'll probably see iOS and PSP/Vita ports of IV DS soon enough.

shoptroll wrote:
psoplayer wrote:

They're really making up for lost time with the number of times they've released FF III on various platforms. Is it really seminal enough to warrant all this attention or are they just cashing in on North American confusion with the beloved FF6?

It was probably easy to do the port. We'll probably see iOS and PSP/Vita ports of IV DS soon enough.

$20 on PSP? Dang... think I'll wait for a sale.

I wonder if Trails in the Sky HD (PS3) will get a stateside release?

http://www.rpgsite.net/news/2034-fir...

Since I can't remember where most of the Kingdom Hearts 3D chatter was happening, I'm going to put some thoughts down here now that I've actually finished it, and these seems like the most appropriate spot.

Overall, it's good. However, I'm not sure if I'd put it above Birth By Sleep. But that might be due to the overall frustration I had due to playing 3D on Proud Mode (aka Hard Mode) while BBS was on Normal Mode. Both, however are the strongest of the "spinoffs" and I highly recommend them as must-haves for anyone who enjoyed the console games.

In some ways though, I feel like 3D is a case of one step forward, 1.5 steps back.

The story pacing is much improved over BBS primarily because there's only two characters to control and you're effectively ping-ponging between two different storylines. BBS fell apart in my book because Terra's story lays the entire plot bare and there's really not much more insight coming from viewing the same events through the eyes of Ventus and Aqua. Plus, Riku and Sora tend to explore different zones of each world (especially in the later half of the game) while BBS had much less variety in the zones you saw with each character.

The plot is still your standard Kingdom Hearts HEARTS! LIGHT! FRIENDSHIP!

Spoiler:

However, I would like to punch the writer who thought introducing time travel to this series was a great idea.

Combat mechanics are largely unchanged from BBS. However, and this might be due to Proud Mode, they increased the "cheese" dial on the enemy/boss maneuvers which made this a bit more frustrating than past games. Several trash mobs have rage counters where they turn red and receive a noticeable boost to their damage output. Most, if not all, of the end-game bosses rely on a couple of really cheap moves which makes them hard to kill. In addition, the spirits you recruit aren't exactly the best replacements for Donald & Goofy, instead they require a significant amount of investment in their "affinity" level in order to feel like they're attempting to pull their weight in combat. Lastly, I still feel like the camera is pulled in too close on the mobile games which often lead to dying from a shot to the back by an enemy or projectile I couldn't see.

Spirit system is a mixed bag. I liked unlocking abilities, but beyond that it felt like there was too much to do in the span of a 35 hour game. There's a New Game+ feature, but I don't see myself coming back for the story or even to finish creating the spirits I missed (about half of the roster). I also didn't like that passive abilities only applied as long as the spirit was in your party. Which is a disappointment after BBS let you max out your abilities (even passive ones) permanently on each character as long as you were willing to put in a little bit of grind to earn the AP. What's the point of playing if I can't have a badass by the end? The last downside is that if you want to efficiently grind affinity or ability points you're going to spend a good chunk of time playing mini-games (which means no EXP for Sora or Riku). I hope you like this song!

Despite the above issues/gripes I still had a good time overall and it's a lot of fun to see all the various systems tie together (and with the plot) as only a JRPG can do.

I never played FFIX. Worth a go?

garion333 wrote:

I never played FFIX. Worth a go?

I liked it. One of the few RPG games that allowed two people to play at the same time.

garion333 wrote:

I never played FFIX. Worth a go?

Absolutely, IMO. Likable characters, and the most interactive world the series has ever seen.

Blind_Evil wrote:
garion333 wrote:

I never played FFIX. Worth a go?

Absolutely, IMO. Likable characters, and the most interactive world the series has ever seen.

This, and there's a little bit of fan service things like references to past Squaresoft games if you've played their other games.

shoptroll wrote:
Blind_Evil wrote:
garion333 wrote:

I never played FFIX. Worth a go?

Absolutely, IMO. Likable characters, and the most interactive world the series has ever seen.

This, and there's a little bit of fan service things like references to past Squaresoft games if you've played their other games.

All this and it was generally more lighthearted than any of the others in the series that I'd played. It makes it a fun game to spend time in.

garion333 wrote:

I never played FFIX. Worth a go?

I thought it was terrible, my least favourite FF. Completely lacking in interesting characters or plot (I played through to the end and can barely remember a thing about it). Having said that, I'm in the minority on this one. Still, a rough rule of thumb seems to be that if you thought FF8 was a good or great entry in the series (I did) then you probably won't like FF9. And vice-versa.