Need RPG game/franchise recommendation

Just finished Xenogears, and looking for other recommendation from RPG fans? (xenosaga will be on some other time I guess)

The only other RPG I've played is phantasy star 2 & 4, fallout new vegas and fable 1.

I really wanted to try similar games with great stories but please no long franchise such as final fantasy or tales series. I can't imagine starting to play from FF1. Looking from reviews, I might interested with koudelka or alundra

What does this bit mean?

Final Fantasy and the Tales Series are (mostly) made up of stand alone games. You don't have to start from the beginning of the series to enjoy the story of a game in the middle of the series.

Also, what are you going to be playing these RPGs on?

Oh, I was asking if the story of each games in the series are related just like phantasy star 1-4.

Right now I've got ps2 and gamecube, and my megadrive just collecting dust. Doesnt mind with emulation software too.

Try Golden Sun games on the GBA and DS, they're wordy but the gameplays solid.

Also I have no idea what sort of RPGs you enjoy, so I'll just reel off some of my favorites from the NGC/PS2. And assuming you now know Tales/Final Fantasy isn't one big series, they're back on the cards?

Final Fantasy IX/X/X-2

Persona 3/4

Any of the PS2 Wild Arms

Tales of Symphonia or The Abyss if you're from the US

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Skies of Arcadia Legends

Had a lot of fun with Devil Summoner too.

Never got on with Dragon Quest, and people seem to rave about .Hack.

Fire Emblem series

Golden Sun series

Mario & Luigi RPG's are like the only Mario stuff I really like anymore

Got a Ps2? If you can find the .Hack games for cheap I'd recommend them, but if they're over $20 then I'd pass on it. SINCE THE PS2 CAN PLAY PS1 GAMES THE WORLD IS YOUR OYSTER. One of the oysters you should shuck is Legend of Dragoon. Another shuckable oyster is Dragon Warrior VII (standalone game). If you like your RPGs a little weird, you could shuck the oyster that is Parasite Eve. There are a couple old PS1/PS2 games I can't remember the name of (but want to go back to myself), when I figure it out I'll be back!!!

I'm back. Tales of Destiny. That is all.

If you're willing to go back to the PS1 era then definitely Suikoden. If you're not interesting in playing the whole series just play up through Suikoden 2. Or even just play Suikoden 2.

Final Fantasy VII-X
Tales Of Vesperia.

@davidwitten22: The .Hack games are semi rare so if you find one for $20 or less you are one lucky bastard. I've seen them go for 80+ (On amazon which is overpriced most of the time but I know for a fact they are worth more than $20). I was lucky enough to find the original series for a decent price and I got the G.U series as they were being released. I'd still highly recommend them though because I'm biased and love the series to death.

You could try the Star Ocean series. I can't say much for the story because I barely remember it but gameplay is pretty addicting.

Final Fantasy games are not related to each other. You can jump into any one of the numbered entries and there will be a new world and characters. Wow, I feel like I've said this more times in the past few months than I have ever.

You can't go wrong with some of the classics. Chrono Trigger is still the best JRPG I've played so far (and has been re-translated and ported to the DS, that's the best version), but FF6 is pretty good and some people love Earthbound.

I suggest Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne on the PS2, probably the best game I've played this year. Be warned, it's freaking difficult. Fair (mostly), but it definitely asks a lot of the player.

You could also try Persona 3 and 4. These two games are pretty much the JRPG's at the moment, despite both being kinda old at this point. Both do have the Shin Megami Tensei name attached to them, but they belong to a spin off series and are very, very different from Nocturne.

@lala_nietzsche: Xenosaga is way better (and way more nietzsche) than Xenogears.

Final Fantasy doesn't have contiguous worlds so you could play one and it would be pretty different from any other one, Tactics has the best story, VI has the best first half, XIII has the best gameplay, II has the best memes, VII has the best overrated-ness, VIII has 2001 space music.

Vagrant Story crushes all opposition. Valkyrie Profile 2 crushes slightly less opposition but still a lot.

Well, that explains why I was never able to get more than the first one. If the other three in the series are like the first, then they're probably only a little over 12 hours long (which is long I guess compared to most modern day games, but hella short for a ps2 era jrpg). Looks like I won't be finishing the series until I've got a super sick computer that can handle decent Ps2 emulation :(

Persona 3/4 are good games to start with. Both are not terribly difficult and really well-written. SMT III: Nocturne's good, too, though I found it pants-shittingly difficult.

Dark Saga 2 is good if you like world-building.

My average for each game is around 25 hours so I wouldn't say they are that short. It's hard to say how long a game is because everyone plays games differently, if you like doing side quests and grinding you can really pad out the length.

I should probably replay the first one. It's been a while.

Like... 10+ years?

What an interesting collection of RPGs you've played...

I say check out Fallout 1 (will be cool for you since you started with Vegas but you're interested in older RPGs) and a random FF is hard to go wrong with. As others have said you definitely do not need to start at FF1. IV & VI are the best entry points for the pre-PS era.

@lala_nietzsche: Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday on the Megadrive, it's an awesome game :) Shadowrun on the SNES and megadrive (two different games). The very first Blood Omen game on the playstation was fuckin cool too.

Resonance of Fate. Possibly the most innovative and unique RPG in a long time. And Final Fantasy XIII.

Well the good news about Final Fantasy is that the games are not intterrelated so you just pick and choose a couple and still have a great time. The same is also more or less true for the Tales series, so don't just write the entire series off because there are a ton of games.

If you liked Xenogears I think Final Fantasy IX holds up the best of the FF games from PS1 era. Vii is probably the commercial height of the series and available on PC now. If you're cool with 16 bit era games Final Fantasy Vi remains my favorite RPG of all time.

Chrono Trigger is one of the all time greats. Pretty short and breezy but it never drags unlike many JRPGs.

Dragon Quest Viii I think is the prettiest/most fun of the Dragon Quest games. If your can't play that one DQ IV is pretty darn good too.

Skies of Aracadia is tons of fun. If you like Sega style RPGs, play that one

I would skip Koudelka, play Shadow Hearts: Covenant instead unless you plan to play them all (there are only 4, Koudelka is basically Shadow Hearts 1). It's the third game in the series, which is the same story. But it is the best. fwiw I played Sh:C first and was able to follow the story enough it didn't hurt my enjoyment of the game.

Vagrant Story is amazing, very unique PS1 classic.

Since you own a Gamecube, I'd recommend Fire Emblem Path of Radiance. For the Ps2, get Dragon Quest 8.