The JRPG Thread • Page 4

It's the ending of Drakengard, think it's ending E, that ties in with Nier. The games are standalone but it's just a neat fact that they are set in parallel universes or something.

 

Where did people land on Ni No Kuni 2? I love the first one but for some reason did not pick up the sequel right away.

 

I didn't like it, but played all the way through it. It just wasn't great. Felt more like Kingdom Hearts. It was WAYYYYY too easy.

 

yeah, ending e and even then it's not even necessary to understand any of nier anyway. there are some occasional references to drakengard in the weapon stories.

 

it's okay. i HATED the battle system of the original and 2's is much better but the game is insanely easy and you don't really get to take full advantage of the variety of systems they throw at you. the game itself often feels low budget (lack of voices during important cutscenes, downgraded world map) and the world and story are a step below the original's. i'd probably put it on par, maybe a bit below, but i'm not an enormous fan of the first game to begin with.

 

NNK2 was a big disappointment to me. It felt like they run out of money to finish it up properly.

 

I just finished this a few months ago! I put a solid 40ish hours into it. Could have been so much more with all the item creating/recipes/skills.

Seconded. This one was super fun for a weekend playthrough with a friend.

Seconded again. I only played the original one but I loved the hell out of it. Never did finish it.

Valkyrie Profile is a beautiful series. I've only played the original and the DS spin-off. Much like Quest 64, Covenant of the Plume was poorly reviewed and is a deeply flawed game but I still got all 3 endings and played the hell out of it. The original on PS1 took me forever to find at a reasonable price, and yet I still didn't finish it. I suck at this.

Hell I might have to make a list of all the JRPGs I haven't finished just to see how bad it looks on paper...

 

CotP is good, I just don't like it as much as the masterpieces of the other two games. The story is fantastic, well translated, absolutely stands with and complements the other games and was worthy of the Valkyrie Profile name. The actual gameplay I find less interesting than the other two games - the move to a more standard SRPG gameplay while still trying to keep elements of the old battle system is good in theory but it's not nearly as fluid or fun as VP/VP2 and as a pure SRPG isn't particularly good. I'm still glad it exists!

 

It's weird because it adopted the isometric grid-based combat of a SRPG, but that point was made moot by the Sin system. Acquiring Sin was optional but in certain paths of the game, not getting the full allotment of Sin meant that you missed out on some amazing items that were practically necessary to beat the game. By basically giving you no choice except to surround every single enemy NPC and chain combos until you overkill them to run up the Sin meter, it removed all strategic play. Really clunky and weird.

But like you said, great story and atmosphere. Loved the attack animations.

 

Oh man this is a good thread.

I feel like I first got really hooked with one of the following games (although I forget which one exactly and I love them all):

Golden Sun, Skies of Arcadia, Tales of Symphonia, Shining Force, maybe Xenosaga?

I remember playing Quest 64 and really liking it but not really getting hooked into the genre by it, but I do remember eagerly waiting for the release of Tales of Symphonia. I think I even got a special edition art book or something lol

 

Great thread. Super hyped for Octopath Traveler in July.

 

im pretty excited for the upcoming Valkyria Chronicles game. I was really disappointed with the last release where they diverted from the original gameplay/style.

Right now I’m still trying to finish Xenoblade Chrinicles 2.

 

So many games that I own and haven't played - I've been on the "collecting rare JRPGs" train since I was old enough to have any sort of money at all and yet so many sit on my shelf untouched (hell, I don't even have some of my retro systems with me any more since moving to Chicago - gotta figure that out when my wife and I settle somewhere permanent.)

Not to play the "humble brag" game, but I've got Vagrant Story, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Shining Force III, and Tales of Destiny II all just staring me in the face waiting to be played. Been in the market for a copy of Ogre Battle 64 (or Ogre Battle/Tactics Ogre for PSX, for that matter) for some time, but really want to find a boxed copy instead of a loose cartridge. I don't have my N64 with me at all so I'm in no real rush and I could probably decently emulate it now, but it's a series I've always been intrigued by but spent next to no time with.

 

Find OB64 and play the hell out of it at all costs

 

I am still waiting to play Ni No Kuni II. I bought the collectors edition and haven't even opened everything.

I loved the first game and I still think it's the best JRPG collectors edition ever made.

 

Downloaded Vagrant Story last night and am just starting, super excited, I suggest y'all do the same.

 

Can't recall if I have this on my Vita, but I think I do. If so I may give it a whirl soon, too.

 

My Breath of Fire 4 file on the emulator keeps giving me the black screen. I tried a different emulator and it crashed once and the sound got all jacked up after another load. Finally bit the bullet and just ordered it. Here's to hoping that it doesn't freeze like it did when I bought it 6 years ago. I will play this game!

 

Absolutely fan-fucking-tastic game. Better than that Breath of Fire V piece of shit. I'll still hold a grudge to this day for that.

 

Breath of Fire II the GOAT

 

I remember hearing V is hard as all fuck. Not in a fun way.

 

Random but I love the enemy health gauge system in that game.

 

I love everything about that game. It's so dark and weird and creepy. The whole vibe of that world is very much my thing.

 

I'm only about an hour and a half into Vagrant Story but holy fuck is the gameplay refreshing, never played anything like it.

 

I played the first Breath of Fire waaaay back in the day haha. I remember enjoying it but not much else