The best RPGs post-FFX

The Core Video Games Forum
1

I feel a little wierd, I’m not sure if this belongs here or in the “Video Games” forum, if RPGs are worthy for the main forum. Here’s the point:

I need some guidance in finding out what the best Japanese/console-style RPGs made in the last few years, for I have been away from the world of RPGs for very long and I want to recapture the same kinds of experiences I used to have playing the 16 and 32-bit era Canon.

I’ve ground out those games for almost a decade, and now I’m willing to spend time on some of their modern sucessors. Which are the games that I MUST play, the best of the best produced since my RPG career died after FFX?

2

For a nice action-oriented game, Tales of Symphonia (GCN) and Kingdom Hearts (PS2) are good picks. If you’re into traditional ones, then Xenosaga (PS2) may interest you. I’ve never played any of the Suikoden games, but I hear they’re pretty good too. To be honest, there haven’t been too many amazingly good RPGs out for PS2, GCN produces even fewer, and Xbox doesn’t produce any.

3

Xbox has KotoR 1. KotoR 2 has all the potential of KotoR 1 with bad music, a more tedious feel and no ending (no seriously, there is no ending). It was really frustrating because 1 was really good and 2 had it going.

PS2: FFXII is coming soon. I loved X personally. DQ8 is excellent. Xenosaga is not for anyone that want any decent gameplay or good use of the music. XS1 had little use of its score. XS2 had a bizarre score when put into the context of the series. You’re better off watching XS movies than playing the games imo. ToS is fun, albeit stereotypical. If you feel nostalgic, there are a few good games on GBA/DS. Some castlevanias, FFI+2, IV remade. III on DS coming soon. Most likely V and VI are somewhere in the future.

4

Seconding Tales of Symphonia. That game is absolutely awesome.

I’d also like to give a shout-out to Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana. Damn good traditional RPG.

5

PS2 has Growlanser II and III packaged as Growlanser Generations and Suikoden V. In fact, many Suiko nuts have said that V is just as good as II; it’s definitely the best of the three PS2 Suikos (lightyears ahead of IV and noticeably better than III). I’d say those three games are actually my favorite RPGs for the PS2 (although I do <3 Suiko III).

FM4 is also a good tactical RPG.

I actually like X-2 more than X, but that’s probably because I was rather “meh” while playing X, so I didn’t have any preconceived notions going into X-2. I think it’s a good, carefree game if you want to play something without taking it seriously. I know I’m in the minority on that opinion though.

And yeah, Sin’s right about XS1. I like it when my games actually use their soundtrack. However, I didn’t like its story really. Just didn’t appeal to me. As a result, I’ve refused to get XS2 and refuse to get XS3. Ultimately, I found it to be alot like the Matrix sequels: a rather shallow story with a bunch of religious and philisophical terms used to make it seem deeper than it is.

6

I completely second Dragon Quest VIII. It’s so much traditional goodness with beautiful new features as well.

7

I say ToS and ToL. they’re both good rpgs albeit a bit sterotypical with their characters.

8

Best non-FF RPGs I’ve seen on Next-Gen systems in no order (obviously, I would reccomend them):

  1. Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter (PS2) - If you hated every other Breath of Fire game with an outrageous passion…Good. This game plays nothing like the previous BoF games. Though, I think strangely enough, it’s got a good enough appeal if you liked any previous BoF games (I personally think BoF3 was the only other good one).

Dragon Quarter plays like a turn-based Vagrant Story, only much harder. The game sort of expects you to lose and start over again (though, despite what ANYONE tells you, it’s possible to never start over - I didn’t), and as your reward, you keep equipment, progress on sidequests, Party EXP (special experience that you can distribute any way you like, or horde for later), and even unlock more storyline sequences.

That being said, you’ll wanna play it twice, cos the story is actually pretty good. It’s not ‘epic’, but as long as you can enjoy a story in an RPG without wanting an Epic journey, it’s easy to appreciate - it’s one of the first games I’ve seen make real use of the camera direction and panning for dramatic effect in its story sequences, and like a good script should, they convey a lot by saying a little (I’ve always hated the “You mean you’re doing ____ ____ _________ ________ ________ _____ ____ __ ___ so you can _____ _______ _____ ______ ________ ____ ______ ____!!!” “Mmmyes, that’s right…” sorts of scripts they have in most RPGs). Great music, decent graphics.

And, here’s the best part - The price range at EB and Gamestop goes from $12.99 to $19.99. It’d be hard to NOT be able to afford buying it, and it’s safe to buy cos it’s just so damn cheap. Just go for it.

Growlanser Generations (PS2) - This is actually a box set of two games - Growlanser 2 and 3. GL2 is probably one of the best and most original Tactics RPGs I’ve seen in years. There’s not much to say about it storywise, but it’s passable. Growlanser 3 uses a TRPG system, but it plays like a traditional RPG (it’s hard to explain…I’ll let someone else do it :P). Dialogue and story take the front seat in GL3, with the game being significantly easier than GL2, but a bit longer. As most Working Designs scripts are, it’s very well-written and manages to invoke a lot of emotion. I don’t know how expensive this game is nowadays.

Shadow Hearts (PS2) - Okay…so this isn’t Post-FFX (Actually, I’m quite sure that this was a LAUNCH title for PS2, which would explain the PSX style of the graphics), but it’s quite the gem. It’s a pretty edgy story with a dark tone to it. Though the game’s story and setting is kind of dark and creepy, the game manages to add a lot of flavor by being very original, and having a very funny main character (It’s not out of place, either; Yuri, the main character, just happens to be funny. It comes off a lot more realistic, and not just like some random comic relief). It’s a pretty short RPG, but a fun, old-school style experience. Unfortunately, this game carries a 50 dollar price tag on Ebay now, since the other two games in the series are really popular (I think they kind of suck, personally…but if you didn’t like the first one, you’ll probably like the second two a lot!)., but if you can afford it, I can’t stress enough how great of a game this is; you’ll probably never find another one like it.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GCN) - This game is just…funny. If you’ve played Paper Mario and you enjoyed it, this one is ten times better. If you played Paper Mario and you didn’t like it that much…this one is ten times better. :stuck_out_tongue: It’s a pretty long RPG with standard Mario RPG gameplay (timed hits system), and it’s very, VERY funny. If you like lighthearted humor, this game will SLAY you, it’s just so damn funny. I don’t know what else I should say…It’s funny! Play it! :stuck_out_tongue: I hear they’ve recently re-released it for cheap, too…

9

Star Ocean: The Second Story is a classic

Lunar: Silver Star Story has a great plot and excellent music

Wild Arms is a personal favorite of mine

But the best RPG ever, without a shadow of a doubt is FF7, if you haven’t played that, then you can’t talk RPG’s with anyone

10

I second Star Ocean.

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I do believe you mean that it’s a crime not to buy this game, it’s so cheap! I’m just watching out for you here.

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Thanks, babe :wink:

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Hehe so I did a search for Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter on Froogle. Everyone was selling it for $13-20 except for some eBay guy who has it listed for $65. The best part is the title: NEW SEALED RARE RPG! Give me a break…

14

Lots of great recommendations on here.

I agree with all of these that were mentioned and in my order of preference:

KOTOR 1, Dragon Quest 8, Suikoden 5, Star Ocean, Growlanser

KOTOR 2 is better than 1 for the first 20 hours, then that is where the developers stopped caring and just rushed to meet the deadline. Like Sinistral alluded to there are parts of the game that literally aren’t finished and it seriously pissed me off.

I liked Radiata Stories. It is similar to suikoden in that it concentrates on a TON of playable characters so if you like that kind of thing it is worth it. The story isn’t as good as a suikoden though. It follows a strict time scale (as in time never stops and you can miss events if you wait too many days) which is kind of good, but can get frusterating.

The others I haven’t tried so can’t comment.

15

For unconventional RPGs, I really, really do suggest Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean. That, to me, was an unexpectedly awesome game.

16

I highly suggest Shadow Hearts and its sequel. It is my favorite “series” next to Final Fantasy. I also suggest Suikoden IV, V, and Suikoden Tactics as well.

17

How can anyone suggest Suikoden IV with a straight face? :expressionless:

18

Does any one know Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne ?
I think its one of the best for PS2, and Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga.

19

Dragon Quest 8 is easily the most polished game of the next generation systems, graphically, gameplay, and story-wise. Whether you like that type of RPG will be the determining factor to your own opinion of it.

Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts 2 are both excellent action RPGs, through in the original you get caught up in long strings of fights and in the second the actions too often broken up by story scenes, in my opinion.

There’s a number of strategy RPGs brought over by Atlus, Disgaea being the one that made the biggest impression a few years ago. It’s a light-hearted, funny game, but if you get too caught up in the fighting it turns into nothing but a level-grinding fest.

20

Thanks for your suggestions, they should keep me occupied for the summer.

Also, didn’t they come out with a Fire Emblem game for GC recently? Was it any good? I remember the graphics looking like absolute garbage from the screenshots, which turns me off, but I also thought that about Civ 4, which ended up looking ok.

One more thing: do they still make RPGs that take a physical toll on you?

I remember in my childhood playing Phantasy Star IV, every battle felt like a boss fight and I’d have to use half my inventory and TP to recover after the end of them.