The GWJ JRPG Club Version 2.5 HD Remaster: Now Voting for our Q2 2024 game!

Ted wrote:

Sorry for interrupting the voting, but all Atlus titles for 3DS are at a really deep discount on the eShop (at least in USA).

There's a lot of JRPG goodness there, so it seems relevant to the club.

And I just went on a shopping spree. Much appreciated for the little advert there hehehe. Knocked a few out of my wishlist.

I'm a bit late, but it's time to announce our winner! Our club's first game for 2022 will be: Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch.

Spoilers for voting details:

Spoiler:

Round 1:
18 people voting, 10 votes needed for a majority

No no Kuni - 7 votes (0 second-place votes)
Rune Factory 4 - 4 votes (4 second-place votes)
Xenoblade Chronicles - 4 votes (1 second-place vote)
Phantasy star IV - 3 votes (4 second-place votes)
Monster Hunter World - 0 votes (7 second-place votes)

Eliminated this round: Monster Hunter World, Phantasy Star IV. We eliminate two here because MHW's elimination -- with zero votes -- can't procure any additional first-place votes for any other games.

Round 2:
16 people voting (2 dropped out), 9 votes needed for a majority

No no Kuni - 7 votes (2 second-place votes)
Rune Factory 4 - 5 votes (4 second-place votes)
Xenoblade Chronicles - 4 votes (4 second-place votes)

Eliminated this round: Xenoblade Chronicles.

Round 3:
15 people voting (1 more dropped out), 8 votes needed for a majority

No no Kuni - 9 votes (2 second-place votes)
Rune Factory 4 - 6 votes (5 second-place votes)

Ni no Kuni wins!

Monster Hunter world was many people's second choice, but nobody's first, and for its first appearance in our voting, Rune Factory 4 had a strong showing. We'll have some interesting choices ahead as we get deeper into 2022!

The new thread is up here. Happy gaming and happy holidays, everyone!

Good luck guys... it is a very good game. I loved it but wont play it again.. Too much of a backlog

I’ll give it a red hot go but, as always, being non portable makes it harder to find time. Also I have to decide whether to NG+ or not.
Edit: No NG+ apparently, that makes the decision easy!

Do you have a Switch? I believe it’s available there.

No, PS3 only.

Ahh, got it. That does make it trickier, if you typically rely on your commute for gaming time!

Mr GT Chris wrote:

No, PS3 only.

That was the original. The remaster IS on switch!

Ive been wanting anoter game like this..

Seems monster hunter stories 2 might be it?

KozmoOchez wrote:
Mr GT Chris wrote:

No, PS3 only.

That was the original. The remaster IS on switch!

Er, no Switch here :p.

Darkhaund wrote:

Ive been wanting anoter game like this..

Seems monster hunter stories 2 might be it?

Did you play MHS1 for game club? Probably my most disliked GC game so far (need to do a ranking at some point). And MHS2 is meant to be worse in some ways.

LastSurprise wrote:

Ahh, got it. That does make it trickier, if you typically rely on your commute for gaming time!

Yep! I can get in 1-2 hours a day if I play during commute.

MHS1 worse? wow.. why... ?

It's not necessarily everyone's favorite thing to do, and def depends on connection strength, but Ni No Kuni is also on Playstation Now, therefore streamable to mobile.

I'd also like to see what people disliked about MHS2 (other than the story). I didn't play the first but the second one is on my top 10 list. Depending on how Deathloop pans out (and if I finish it this week) it will make top 5.

Based on reviews, if you loved the first, the second was still good but disappointing in some ways. As someone who disliked the first…

The second one is a different type of game. More action RPG and no monster collection unless you count the higgledies, which just enhance your skills and I never strategized around actually using them until after i finished the game. The city builder thing was super addicting though.

Ni No Kuni def has some AI issues that makes testing builds a bit more difficult since your teammates arent so efficient. With that said, i'm ready for a second playthrough with the extra knowledge I lacked the first time!

I thought you guys were talking about Monster Hunter Stories?

LastSurprise wrote:

I thought you guys were talking about Monster Hunter Stories?

Oh...lol, might have been discussing MHStories and I was thinking NNK.

Downloading 21GB on PS3 Wifi is not pretty! Shaping up to take about 2 days. Also, as far as I can tell, it's no longer listed in the PS3 PSN store so I had to browse my 600 item download list to find it. Fun times!

I was always talking about MS stories hehehe

Congratulations Wembley, for beating Ys VIII and reaching level 5. Our theme for this quarter is "normal" battle music, and here's the battle music that's been inspiring me lately*:

*"Lately" defined as "over the last 4 days"

I've been thinking of doing a ranking of games played for the club but I decided first it would be better to summarize where the club is at in terms of games played and participation.

First up, the games played in chronological order:

  1. Final Fantasy XII
  2. Shin Megami Tensei IV
  3. Kingdom Hearts Final Mix
  4. Dragon Quest VII
  5. Persona 5
  6. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
  7. Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
  8. Nier: Automata
  9. Dragon's Crown
  10. Ys Origin
  11. Bravely Second
  12. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II
  13. Chrono Trigger
  14. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
  15. The Alliance Alive
  16. Monster Hunter Stories
  17. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
  18. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

A good mix of games across various sub genres, old games, new games, turn-based, action.

The oldest game by original release date, Chrono Trigger (SNES), released in the US on March 11, 1995, 5 years prior to Dragon Quest VII. The newest game, Dragon Quest XI, released on July 29, 2017, just after Monster Hunter Stories in June, 2017.

The most prolific publisher, Square Enix, with 8 titles, although some were pre-merger. Nihon Falcom with a solid showing of 4, thanks to Ys and Trails franchises.

Next, based on player completion:

  1. Chrono Trigger - 11 players
  2. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age - 10 players
  3. Dragon's Crown - 9 players
  4. Ys Origin - 9 players
  5. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II - 8 players
  6. Final Fantasy XII - 7 players
  7. Nier: Automata - 7 players
  8. Persona 5 - 6 players
  9. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel - 6 players
  10. Monster Hunter Stories - 6 players
  11. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana* - 6 players
  12. Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together - 5 players
  13. Bravely Second - 5 players
  14. Kingdom Hearts Final Mix - 4 players
  15. Dragon Quest VII - 4 players
  16. The Alliance Alive - 4 players
  17. Shin Megami Tensei IV - 3 players
  18. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch** - 0 players

Okay, every game was completed by at least a handful of players, SMTIV bringing up the rear. Good job us! This ranking reflects the popularity of a game but is also influenced by its length and difficulty. Our winner, Chrono Trigger, was beaten by 11 players but takes an average of just 23 hours according to HowLongtoBeat. Meanwhile, our second ranked game, Dragon Quest XI, was beaten by 10 players but has an average of 57 hours to beat the main story. So, I think we can say that DQXI really stands out here. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II also had a strong showing with 8 players completing at least the main story, at an average of 48 hours. Ys: Origin was beaten by 9 players, but also has the shortest completion time of any game at 11.5 hours (I'm sure it took me longer!).

* - 3 months remaining
** - 6 months remaining

And, finally, based on the number of posts in each game's thread:

  1. Persona 5 - 445 posts
  2. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II - 391 posts
  3. Bravely Second - 355 posts
  4. Dragon Quest VII - 336 posts
  5. Final Fantasy XII - 304 posts
  6. Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together - 302 posts
  7. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel - 286 posts
  8. Shin Megami Tensei IV - 282 posts
  9. Ys Origin - 220 posts
  10. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age - 215 posts
  11. Chrono Trigger - 197 posts
  12. The Alliance Alive - 155 posts
  13. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana* - 144 posts
  14. Nier: Automata - 134 posts
  15. Kingdom Hearts Final Mix - 119 posts
  16. Monster Hunter Stories - 117 posts
  17. Dragon's Crown - 84 posts
  18. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch** - 0 posts

This shakes up the order quite a bit. Games that performed well here tended to have both a deep story and interesting mechanics. Persona 5 wins out with 445 posts, but The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II has another strong showing coming in at second place with 391 posts. Bringing up the rear is Dragon's Crown, with only 84 posts despite 9 players rolling credits. What is there to really say about that game? Perhaps the most surprising result is DQ VII beating out DQ XI, 336 posts to 215. This is despite more than twice as many players rolling credits on XI.

Here's to another great (GWJ JRPG Club) year in 2022!

* - 3 months remaining
** - 6 months remaining

I see Bravely Second and Tactics Ogre LUCT as interesting in this review , with relatively small completion numbers but punching above their weight in posts. Bravely Second in particular. I was in both of those, and I remember there was a bunch of good talk around character builds that people were coming up with. That probably helped a lot with discussion.

Nice writeup, Mr GT Chris! Thanks for doing that.

Tactics Ogre is also an interesting example because we were playing it alongside Nier. Nier had more finishers (by 2) but fewer posts. Sundown, I think your observation about Bravely Second applies here too: there was probably a lot more to discuss mechanically, and with the diverging story paths, in Tactics Ogre.

Tactics Ogre is hard as hell. I feel like at the end of the day, length + difficulty wins out. Based on what I've played, those games at the top are much easier to complete (despite the length of DQ games) and the ones on the second half are more difficult, despite some of them being shorter on average. This is just based on completions.

Me personally, I already build a list of games that I want to buy/play for the year so it's hard for me to add something into that space. I am trying with Ni No Kuni this time though despite how depressing this game is going to be from what I remember. I also forgot how bad the beginning is with the traveling back and forth - which reminded me just how much I loved the game and being in that world because it didn't even matter to me at the time.

No probs! And here's a look back at the second-place finishers in past votes:

The games that weren't meant to be...?
Suikoden II - Two time runner-up, losing to Final Fantasy XII and Shin Megami Tensei IV
Xenoblade Chronicles - Two time runner-up, losing to Dragon Quest VII and Kingdom Hearts
Octopath Traveller - Two time runner-up, losing to Dragon Quest XI and Alliance Alive
Odin Sphere - One time runner-up, losing to Persona 5
The World Ends With You - One time runner-up, losing to Dragon's Crown
Vagrant Story - One time runner-up, losing to Bravely Second: End Layer
Final Fantasy VI - One time runner-up, losing to Trails fo Cold Steel 2
Final Fantasy V - One time runner-up, losing to Monster Hunter Stories
Phantom Brave - One time runner-up, losing to Ys VIII
Rune Factory 4 - One time runner-up, losing to No no Kuni

Looking at the list, Suikoden II is perhaps a surprise game club omission as a game that is in many best JRPGs of all time lists. Suikoden was previously quite accessible as a PSOne Classic on PS3, Vita, and PSP consoles. Sadly, it might have missed its window. Xenoblade Chronicles and Rune Factory 4, with the recent Switch remasters, should continue to poll strongly. Octopath Chronicle, now available on more platforms than ever before, also has a good shot in future polls. And will the Final Fantasy pixel remasters see them back in the mix?

Now for games that previously were runners-up but eventually made it into the JRPG Club pantheon:

Games of destiny
Ni No Kuni - Two time runner-up, losing to Shin Megami Tensei IV and Ys: Origin
Ys VIII - Two time runner-up, losing to Ys: Origin and Chrono Trigger
Monster Hunter Stories - One time runner-up, losing to Trails of Cold Steel 1
Ys: Origin - One time runner up, losing to Nier: Automata & Tactics Ogre

Ys VIII in particular, displayed continued support through nominations and votes across almost the entire history of the current iteration of the club. I guess we were never going to let that one get away!

I'm playing the NNK remaster on ps5 and i think it looks better than NNK2

Warning for firs timers or folks who forgot how to play, this game is a struggle in the beginning until you can actually start building your team. I forgot that and died on my way to the Al Mamoon. You need to stock up on stuff to keep your health topped off since only Oliver's level restores health/mp. I was holding out for a level up and didn't notice how low I was until it was too late. Not many opportunities for free hp/mp early on. Easier once you can fast travel.

I got my PlayStation year in review thing yesterday and found the stats pretty interesting. Of my 201 hours played on the PS4 last year, 155 hours of that was for JRPG club games.
IMAGE(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/892914841772240926/935941123883532348/unknown.png)

Surprisingly Alliance Alive and Ys VIII came in around the same total length played, and the only game I actually put time into on the PS4 outside of club games was FFVII Remake (not sure why it says INTERGRADE, I don't have a PS5 to play that on).

Checked mine. Apparently I spend 126 hours playing games on my PS4 last year. 116 of these were Monster Hunter World. Not really that surprising.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/wMR8KiW.png)