The GWJ JRPG Club Version 2.5 HD Remaster: Announcing our Q2 2024 Game!

And after I wrote all that, I saw that Ogre Battle was ported to the PS1 also. So, if you want to track down a (probably very expensive) disk ...

LastSurprise wrote:

Ogre Battle (SNES) and Ogre Battle: Person of Lordly Caliber (N64) are much more like each other than Tactics Ogre. And it's hard to find a game that either of them compare to. They're kind of real time strategy games, kind of tactical turn-based games, and very few other games do what they do. The only thing I've seen that looks like them is the new indie Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga (released this year).

For fans of Ogre Battle I HIGHLY recommend Symphony of War. I played it through just recently and am already itching to play it again. It isn't a perfect game but it really scratched the Ogre Battle itch for me.

bobbywatson wrote:
LastSurprise wrote:

They are, unfortunately, not ported. So for either one, we'd have to play it on an emulator.

They are both on the Wii U eShop if I remember correctly, for the 2 of us with a Wii U :)

Yup. I got my WiiU looking reeeeaaaal pretty now. Bet all those who sneered at it way back when are regretting it now. Maybe. I dunno.

I seriously love the console. Haven't regretted it one second.

For the longest time the Wii U was the only way to play Mario Maker. Some games are enough to justify a system entirely on their own, and that's one of them.

The fact that it also gave me a way to play Breath of the Wild during a time when Switches were very hard to come by was a bonus.

Make that at least 4 of us with a Wii U. It's still plugged in, and I sometimes still fire up Wii Sports Resort on it with the family. But if we're going to play anything there, we'd probably better get to it before they shut down the eshop next year.

I've been systematically purchasing games I want from the shop on both my WiiU and 3DS; at this point, I'm just missing a handful of items on my wishlist. I have to say, however, that the announcement of the eShop's closing did light a bit of a fire under my seat and I increased the frequency of acquisition.

I wanted a Wii U. It never had a price drop. Almost bought used from Nintendo store. Actually bought a couple games when I had birthday money and they were on sale in anticipation of a system. Then my PC died in 2014. Emergency redirection of funds and returned games.

At least most of it came to Switch eventually.

My Wii U is sitting in its box in a closet on top of the Wii in its box. I own a total of five physical games for both systems, and probably a single digit number of digital games, there just was not a whole lot on those systems that enticed me that was not available elsewhere. The Virtual Console stuff is probably the biggest draw, but that should all really be available on Switch at this point.

It's a pity they didn't get remakes like Tactics Ogre. Still, I'd be interested in investigating them further. The other game that caught my eye is:
Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis (GBA)

Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis[a] is a tactical role-playing game developed by Quest Corporation for the Game Boy Advance (GBA). It was published in Japan by Nintendo in 2001, and in North America by Atlus USA in 2002. It is a spin-off of Tactics Ogre (1995), acting as a prequel to the rest of the Ogre Battle series. It was the last video game developed by Quest before their acquisition by Square.

The storyline follows Lodis soldier Alphonse Loeher as he learns of his country's oppression of the neighbouring land of Ovis and eventually turns against his former comrades. As with Tactics Ogre, the game is mission based, with combat taking place on grid-based battlefields and revolving around character classes and character statistics.

Production began at Quest after the company heard about the GBA hardware, envisioning a portable successor to Tactics Ogre. The aim was to replicate the gameplay and graphic style of Tactics Ogre on the platform while also making a more approachable storyline. Composers Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata returned from earlier entries. Releasing to strong sales in Japan, the title saw generally positive reviews, with praising going to its graphics, gameplay and storyline. After Quest was absorbed into and rechristened as Square Product Development Division 4, the development team created Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

The Virtual Console stuff is probably the biggest draw, but that should all really be available on Switch at

None of the GBA, DS, or TurboGrafx stuff is on Switch. And some of the NES, SNES and N64 stuff is not there yet or not coming because it's sold in other collections.

I had a lot of fun with Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis back in the day. I managed to finish it, so that means it's probably on the easy side.

Thinking back on Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen, I can't help but think how awesome a 2.5 HD remake with touch controls could be.

Stele wrote:
The Virtual Console stuff is probably the biggest draw, but that should all really be available on Switch at

None of the GBA, DS, or TurboGrafx stuff is on Switch. And some of the NES, SNES and N64 stuff is not there yet or not coming because it's sold in other collections.

I was about to say, the word "should" is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence.

hbi2k wrote:
Stele wrote:
The Virtual Console stuff is probably the biggest draw, but that should all really be available on Switch at

None of the GBA, DS, or TurboGrafx stuff is on Switch. And some of the NES, SNES and N64 stuff is not there yet or not coming because it's sold in other collections.

I was about to say, the word "should" is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence.

It is, but that is based on my assumption that Nintendo created an emulator to run these games in the Virtual Console, and I don't see a reason that emulator couldn't be ported to the Switch and the games made for it made available. Maybe I am mistaken and there was no emulator, or the emulator only ran on the Wii U hardware for some reason, but that is my reasoning behind "should", and "should" based on this definition "used in auxiliary function to express what is probable or expected", not that they were obligated, but that based on my assumptions there is a small effort possibility for those VC items to be made available on Switch.

So I guess it is about that time again.

I'm tossing up between Ys 9, Yakuza LAD and a replay of FFX for my next big JRPG. Any interest from the club in any of those?

I'm only just getting into Fell Seal, slacking. However YS IX is included in ps+ so I'd +1 that for sure.

I’d be down for Ys9, although I’d have to find it in a sale for switch most likely. And I’ve never played FFX before so I’d probably be game for that; and I had to check the first page of the thread, but we’ve never played FFX, just X-2.

ComfortZone wrote:

So I guess it is about that time again.

I'm tossing up between Ys 9, Yakuza LAD and a replay of FFX for my next big JRPG. Any interest from the club in any of those?

Oh, jeez! Look at the time!

I'll be on the look-out for voting in the coming week (that's the right timing, isn't it?) while I try to cram all the hours I can this weekend to finish Fell Seal.

I just finished FFX and was thinking of starting X2 hah.

Stele wrote:

I just finished FFX and was thinking of starting X2 hah.

We did X-2 a long while ago

Ys IX seems like an easy pick given it's available in the PS+ collection.

Also, Ys rules. So +1 for meeee

Atelier Ryza, Soul Hackers, Romancing Saga (3? Idk), Infinite Space. are also on my list, but Ys very much seems like the easy please all game.

I'm a couple hours into a replay of Final Fantasy IV (2 US), but I could put that on pause if it looks like there's interest in it for the club.

I would 100% vote for FFX. 100%. Ys 9, as well. I had a blast with Ys 8.

Would definitely not do LAD again -- just did it earlier this ear -- but maybe if the club voted for LAD I would finally have the motivation to tackle the Final and True Final Millenium Towers.

I think I'm going to kick back our voting by a couple of days because, more and more, it doesn't seem like we really need the intermediate "Pick" round. And, most votes come in within the first day, or first 36 hours, after we open voting. So I think we can do this in 2 rounds, running from about the 19th to 26th.

Also, apologies in advance if I'm slow posting, or responding, to anything. Work has been quite busy and I've got a trial coming up in about 2 weeks so it's only going to get worse. (I don't expect "I have a trial" to mean anything to most people here, but trust me, they are pretty much all-consuming events.)

I think that's a good idea. The last couple of votes I'm thinking "didn't we already decide this?"

One less round makes sense

So for those with a Switch, Ys 9 is on sale right now for half off, the lowest price it's been for the platform. But the sale only lasts until 9/19. I'm thinking I might spring for it since it looks like there may be momentum that way, but normally I don't like getting a game unless we've already voted on it.

Stele wrote:

I just finished FFX and was thinking of starting X2 hah.

Ha, it may be that's why I'm thinking about it! Plus the Normandy FM crew just did a playthrough of it, and I like playing along with them.

Sundown wrote:

So for those with a Switch, Ys 9 is on sale right now for half off, the lowest price it's been for the platform. But the sale only lasts until 9/19. I'm thinking I might spring for it since it looks like there may be momentum that way, but normally I don't like getting a game unless we've already voted on it.

Good news, everyone! Ys IX is also on sale in the Playstation store for 50% off, but there, the sale lasts until 9/29.

And, congratulations to Stele, our most recent finisher of Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark! I did a double take when I saw that Stele didn't yet have any levels within the JRPG club or the CRPG club. I was especially surprised because Stele had Makoto Niijima (the consensus choice for best wifu in Persona 5, even if I don't agree*) as their avatar for quite a while.

Spoiler:

People paying attention to my takes -- which may be no one -- may remember that I'm especially partial to Queen Hifumi of the Togo Kingdom. Makoto's great, but she's definitely Joker's work-wife. In contrast, Hifumi is a beautiful gamer with an extremely nerdy sense of humor -- exactly my type! ... alright, enough of this nonsense.

Anyway, Stele, I thought about giving you the original -- but Makoto's much more of a badass in Royal's new overture. Enjoy!

Yes thank you. Often a voter but rarely a participant. Either something I already played or didn't own yet won so I'd do something else from the pile. And Fell Seal I had already started before club or I might not have made it through in time hehe.

Excellent music choice. And yes Makoto is best girl. Not having her theme on PS5 makes me miss my PS4 some days. I kept the avatar for a couple years but eventually my name and tag might get confusing to new goodjers so I reverted. Maybe I'll bring her back for limited times.

I do have Royal on the pile. Not sure I think could realistically finish it in 3 months so probably not going to nominate it, but I've been thinking about trying to play it all year.

That would be a toughie. I think very few people actually completed our P5 nomination and I barely squeaked a NG+ run in 3 months (rereading all the dialogue).

Looking forward to nominations opening tomorrow to see what people want for the last quarter of the year.

All right, it’s time! Nominations are now open for Q4 2022! Here’s our rough schedule:

Nominations: now through Friday, Sept. 23, 9 a.m. US EDT (-4 hrs UTC)
Ranked choice voting: until about 9 p.m US EDT on Monday, Sept 26 (so, about 2.5 days for ranked choice voting)
Winner announced Monday night or Tuesday morning

I’ll kick things off by nominating Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen (SNES, PS1)

I will second Ogre Battle.

I'm going to nominate Final Fantasy XIII, I've been meaning to replay it to see if it's really that bad.