That One Game You Have Never Played But Always Wanted To

I'm dancing around the idea of playing Suikoden. I keep wanting to make that jRPG push (currently orbiting Persona 5 and considering heavily as well), but I never quite manage to actually do it. Multiple people with taste similar to my own have told me I would love Suikoden.

TheHarpoMarxist wrote:

I'm dancing around the idea of playing Suikoden. I keep wanting to make that jRPG push (currently orbiting Persona 5 and considering heavily as well), but I never quite manage to actually do it. Multiple people with taste similar to my own have told me I would love Suikoden.

Rule of thumb for JRPGs: if you're not familiar with them, and someone tells you that The Best Intro JRPG Ever is their favorite NES/SNES/PSOne game... don't listen. Just like every other genre, the games from the '90s don't hold up nearly as well as people think they do.

Play Persona 5 or Shin Megami Tensei IV.

Don't listen to Clock, play Chrono Trigger

Honestly if you're considering Persona 5 then just play P5. It has enough tutorials to choke a horse so you won't be lost.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
TheHarpoMarxist wrote:

I'm dancing around the idea of playing Suikoden. I keep wanting to make that jRPG push (currently orbiting Persona 5 and considering heavily as well), but I never quite manage to actually do it. Multiple people with taste similar to my own have told me I would love Suikoden.

Rule of thumb for JRPGs: if you're not familiar with them, and someone tells you that The Best Intro JRPG Ever is their favorite NES/SNES/PSOne game... don't listen. Just like every other genre, the games from the '90s don't hold up nearly as well as people think they do.

Play Persona 5 or Shin Megami Tensei IV.

I am Nintendo-less, alas, so I probably can't try Shin Megami Tensei (though it looks great on first blush.) The podcast recently where everyone talked about jRPGs had me lining up P5 for my next PS4 purchase. I still have a lot of Horizon to get through first though... My doubt came in after I watched a stream and grew skeptical about the dialogue (though I was enjoying the construction of the narrative of the story) but I'm committing despite those reservations. I know it is supposed to take a few hours to build up, which I'm fine with and trying to bake into my impression of what I saw in the early going. But also - you just told me to do it, and after your excellent post over in the deals thread I feel like I can't say no to you!

It will happen, and I will report on it! And maybe I'll also pick up Suikoden. And if the Switch keeps fascinating me who knows what will happen!

Please do report on your experiences in the P5 thread -- I like to read impressions of new people to Persona

Chrono Trigger and the Suikoden games hold up just fine. Ignore that bad advice.

If anyone ever tells you to play FF VII for the first time then you can run screaming.

JeremyK wrote:

Chrono Trigger and the Suikoden games hold up just fine. Ignore that bad advice.

If anyone ever tells you to play FF VII for the first time then you can run screaming.

I mentioned last year in this thread that I wanted to play FFVII. I enjoyed what I've played so far but man it is pretty rough in a lot of ways. I wouldn't recommend that to a JRPG newcomer, ever.

Chrono Trigger on the other hand I played for the very first time in the PS2 era (when it was already considered retro) and immediately fell in love. The fact that it has very little filler, requires little grinding and has fairly streamlined mechanics helps a lot. And the soundtrack. Oh, the soundtrack.

My experiences trying to play Chrono Trigger in the last few years were quite different. It's a very-'90s JRPG, and I didn't find it to be very accessible as a new player, even though I am very comfortable with JRPGs. I haven't tried Suikoden yet, but if it plays well with a modern audience then it would be the first game of its generation to do so.

I remember reading your impressions and thinking that maybe Chrono Trigger just wasn't your thing as opposed to it being somehow inaccessible, but we'll have to agree to disagree :p

I won't defend basically any other JRPG from the 8-32bit eras as being particularly accessible (even my beloved Final Fantasy Tactics) but I'll go to bat for CT any day.

This reminds me that I always wanted to play FFV, back in high school when it was forbidden Famicom fruit and we 'only' got IV and VI. I guess I can do that now, or at least next time it goes on sale.

Chrono Trigger for life.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I haven't tried Suikoden yet, but if it plays well with a modern audience then it would be the first game of its generation to do so.

I played a chunk of it for the JRPG club and, yeah.. it isn't really one that would do well for modern audiences. If you're familiar with JRPG tropes, it's going to feel very familiar and comfortable, amidst systems that aren't quite fully realized yet.

You'd be better served playing a later game in the series, and ignoring the "later ones aren't as good" crowd, as they polished things fairly quickly. Helps nothing that it was a very early PS1 game that looks like it's more suited for the SNES.

Anecdotal experiences don't really convince me either way. I'm sure there are plenty of people that would appreciate these games for the first time and plenty that wouldn't. I'd rather people play them and decide for themselves than just dismiss older generations of games. Even better just watch a little bit of a let's play first and go from there.

Demyx wrote:

I won't defend basically any other JRPG from the 8-32bit eras as being particularly accessible (even my beloved Final Fantasy Tactics) but I'll go to bat for CT any day.

I'm taking this to the 12-month pile thread!

JeremyK wrote:

Even better just watch a little bit of a let's play first and go from there.

At that point, just a read an article about it. Let's Plays aren't any better of a way to experience a game than reading about it. Or you might as well just not bother at all.

I disagree. I find watching an hour of a let's play is far more helpful than any article I've ever read in determining if I'd like a game.

Aaron D. wrote:

Dwarf Fortress for me.

Have one of the latest builds installed. Even watched an intro tutorial or two on YouTube.

Alas, I think it's just a bridge too far for my puny brain. Maybe I'll get there one day.

Same on all those points.

To my graphic design eyes it looks like a work of art. So want to be able to get into it, but yeah noggin power might let me down.

Might have a go at Rimworld at some point or another DF lite. Not sure it'll be the same though.

JeremyK wrote:

I disagree. I find watching an hour of a let's play is far more helpful than any article I've ever read in determining if I'd like a game.

I have to agree. An article just expresses one person's opinion of a game, but a Let's Play actually lets me see it in action. Take SimCity 2013 for example. Based on everything I'd read, the game was 100% terrible and not even worth thinking about, so I didn't bother with it, but then over a year ago, I watched someone do a Let's Play for a few hours of the game and I ended up buying it (on sale) and still enjoy playing it on and off to this day. Would have completely missed out had I just stuck to reading an article.

I usually don't have problems deciding on games in the first place though.

Demyx wrote:

Don't listen to Clock, play Chrono Trigger

Honestly if you're considering Persona 5 then just play P5. It has enough tutorials to choke a horse so you won't be lost.

This is good advice. Chrono Trigger is basically the epitome of the Squaresoft house style from the late 90's. In a good way. Although that style is nothing like the Persona or Shin Megami Tensei series at all.

TheHarpoMarxist wrote:

I am Nintendo-less, alas, so I probably can't try Shin Megami Tensei (though it looks great on first blush.) The podcast recently where everyone talked about jRPGs had me lining up P5 for my next PS4 purchase. I still have a lot of Horizon to get through first though... My doubt came in after I watched a stream and grew skeptical about the dialogue (though I was enjoying the construction of the narrative of the story) but I'm committing despite those reservations. I know it is supposed to take a few hours to build up, which I'm fine with and trying to bake into my impression of what I saw in the early going. But also - you just told me to do it, and after your excellent post over in the deals thread I feel like I can't say no to you!

If Clock hadn't, by the sound of it, steered you to a PS4 I'd say a 3DS or 2DS is a really good intro point for dipping into JRPGs. Pretty much all the major franchises are represented on it in some form, plus there's some other good stuff that's come out of Japan that aren't RPGs.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
Demyx wrote:

I won't defend basically any other JRPG from the 8-32bit eras as being particularly accessible (even my beloved Final Fantasy Tactics) but I'll go to bat for CT any day.

I'm taking this to the 12-month pile thread!

Oh look what you've done now!

Tie Fighter for me which I think I own three copies of. I will get to it sooner or later though.

TheHarpoMarxist wrote:

I'm dancing around the idea of playing Suikoden. I keep wanting to make that jRPG push (currently orbiting Persona 5 and considering heavily as well), but I never quite manage to actually do it. Multiple people with taste similar to my own have told me I would love Suikoden.

If you're dancing around, I'd recommend jumping onto the floor itself with Suikoden II, actually. While there are some recurring characters, II is quite great, much more refined than the first.

I'll also throw down for Chrono Trigger.

Ultima IV. I didn't have a computer that could play it when it came out, and never really tried to get it to run later when I had the time to sink into something like that.

GoldenDog wrote:
CatPhoenix wrote:
GoldenDog wrote:

I would have liked to play the Half-Life series, but the graphics seem far too dated. There was a remake in the works but it seems tengo uniform.

You mean Black Mesa for HL1? (Which has everything except for the ending Xen area at the moment, which, well, was mostly 3d platforming and really didn't care for that back in the day.)

And the Cinematic Mod for HL2?

Yup, that one. Since I know nothing about the original and it has been "early access" for like several years I figured it would never be finished. You saying it's playable?

It is playable up to the last quarter of the game, which is still being worked on. At this point, you can wait for them to finish it though, since the last announcement on the forums say it will be completed Summer 2017.

Ultima VII. Don't think I need to elaborate further.

Related to this thread, my new GWJ article;

Redemption Lost

IMAGE(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/68/Bloodborne_Cover_Wallpaper.jpg)
Not gonna buy a playstation for that one game. I will never give up hope though, that it will go to pc one day.

I would love to play C.P.U. Bach, which Sid Meier created for the 3DO console.

Not having the console or disc makes this a I wish-dream

For a while, it was The Last of Us - and I wasn't disappointed. I ended up buying a used PS3 to play that, some Uncharted, MLB The Show, and a couple other games.

I don't think I have a strong desire to go back and play any really old games that I never got around to. I did play MOO and MOO2 a couple years ago and they stood up nicely.

My current game that I really want to play but can't is Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Maybe sometime down the road I'll be able to get a used Switch or something to play some of the exclusives on that console.

I bought a used PS3 and a copy of The Last of Us for the same reason. I have never even put the disc in the system. But I did replay the Mass Effect Trilogy for the umpteenth time this year.

Pondering on buying an old PS2 for Shadow of the Colossus

Peoj Snamreh wrote:

Pondering on buying an old PS2 for Shadow of the Colossus

The game is worth it but you may want to pick up a ps 3 or if available for digital download and you want a ps4 then look at that option. PS3 had a Ico & Shadow of the Colossus remaster. Fixes some bugs and clears up last gen and current HDTV fuzz.