Hey guys,
I've been hungry for a JRPG for quite some time. I know Final Fantasy 13 just came out, but I simply can't get past the fact that I have ZERO interest in that game. Maybe it is the lack of towns and linearity, but I just don't think I would dig it.
The two JRPG's I've been looking at are Lost Odyssey for the 360 and Resonance of Fate. I would love to get Resonance, but it sounds like the story is not really engaging and the combat simply gets old. I'm not trying to make assumptions based on reading someone else experience, but those seem to be two big complaints with the title. Can any give me their personal opinion on the two?
Thanks.
Which JRPG should I get?
I've heard Resonance of Fate isn't to shabby. I'll be the odd man out and recommend Blue Dragon if you haven't played it yet.
Star Ocean i quite liked, made by Tri-Ace, same guys who made Resonance of Fate. Another one by them is Infinite Undiscovery? Which seems to have a more classic JRPG system. Then there's Last Remnant.
And that should be all the well known JRPGS of the current gen, that were released in English anyway.
I gave up on Lost Odyssey after disc 3 when after a system crashed during a QTE. I found it boring, cliche (god I hate having 8 year old PCs) and the main story to be rather crappy. The unlockable side text stories are great and made me wish I was playing that game instead of the game that I was. The worst bit was one part where I get a cutscene, I'm put in command of the afore mentioned 8 years olds, push up through the screen for like 15 secs (its one of those annoying for no reason windy parts that some JRPGs have that make controls sluggish) and then I go to another cutscene.
Lost Odyssey is good. I played up to disc 4 but that's when my 360 broke down. It's made by the same guy that did Final Fantasy 1-10. He owns a new company called Mistwalker. You have the usual turn based action. Every character has their own unique abilities. There are towns and shops. You do get a ship way later in the game so you can travel the world. The story is pretty crazy too. I don't want to spoil anything but I can say that the main character is 1000 years old. They literally talk about that in the beginning.
Lost Odyssey is probably the best JRPG I played this generation. I was surprised because I really didn't like Blue Dragon and didn't even make it past the first disc.
Well if you want a classic rpg experience id go with vesperian. ITs got good writing and nice graphics. Star ocean 4 looks pretty good but all the characters have creepy dead eyes and the writing gety pretty terrible. Lost odyssey is kind of weird and dont know much about resonance of Fate. I heard that while the combat is fun, that the areas are kind of boring and samey.
Resonance of Fate might have a weak story but the combat feels challenging throughout.
Eh, most JRPG stories aren't all that impressive, I like the very light episodic story elements in RoF because I can just relax.
Tales of Vesperia is standard fare for the series, with a better protagonist; whether that's a good or bad thing depends on how you feel about how Tales does things. Lost Odyssey, gameplay-wise at least, is basically a SNES Final Fantasy with better graphics. Again, whether that's good or bad depends on what you want out of your JRPGs these days. I can't really recommend any other JRPG this generation, apart from Resonance of Fate, which I haven't played.
From my own experience with Lost Odyssey it's actually a solid RPG. It's pretty linear in a way, but It has the feel of what I liked about JRPGs in the first place. I would totally tell anyone to pick it up.
JRPGs are still pretty much the bread and butter of the PS2, so if you have one, you're in luck (if you don't, well, you can get a used one for peanuts at Gamestop). Some I quite liked were Odin Sphere and the Shadow Hearts games.
Also remember that the PS2 is host to many of the Shin Megami Tensei games (my personal favorite being Digital Devil Summoner) as well as Persona 4 of Giant Bomb's Endurance Run fame. Persona 3 is pretty neato too, but as a caveat, if you don't already know it yet, this game will teach you that the Japanese have more of a propensity for buillshit hard encounters than western RPG developers.
I give Final Fantasy XII a hell of a lot more props than a lot of other people out there do, but then again, that's just me.
First and foremost, if you're looking for the penultimate JRPG of this generation look no further than Lost Odyssey. Some hate it (I personally have no idea why*), some love it, but there is no denying that it is a SNES style RPG through and through with gorgeous graphics, and it's a long game too. Combat is addicting and you'r constantly learning skills for your characters.
Lost Odyssey - The game is based around 4 Immortals and 5 mortals. The mortals serve as basically backup for the Immortals in every way - to the point where you assign a skill from a mortal to an Immortal and through fighting and gaining SP the Immortal will learn that skill permanently, so long as you're fighting with that mortal in your party. Also, every accessory you find has a skill attached to it that the Immortals can learn - and there are a lot of skills to learn. So basically, your Immortals start the game out as a dry sponge and by the end of it they're so full to bursting with skills and powers learned from accessories and others in your party that you feel like gods. It really is an amazing game and is the definitive JRPG of this generation. To be honest I felt like a kid playing this game, sitting in front of my SDTV holding my SNES controller. By the way... this game also has some of the best music I've ever heard in a video game. Seth and Kaim are my favorite RPG duo, even moreso than Terra and Locke.
Blue Dragon - I fucking love this game. It's old school in the same style as Lost Odyssey, but it has a funner, lighter tone that doesn't detract from the insanely tight gameplay mechanics. All the art is done by Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball) and it's a very pretty looking little game with it's own unique style.
Tales of Vesperia - I'm actually amazed how they fit a game this epic and long onto one disc... the combat is great, characters are pretty awesome, story is pretty good. Pretty much an all around awesome experience.
Star Ocean 4 - The only thing I can recommend about this game is the combat - the characters, story, and item synthesizing is atrocious.
I'm basically telling you to get Lost Odyssey, NAO. Listen to this song to get you in the mood for it. ( *Please don't reply and tell me why, I really don't care after hearing some truly bad reasons )
" Get Tales of Vesperia. Avoid Resonance of Fate unless you can put up with the usual Tri-Ace crap. "Pretty much that. Also, look up Rogue Galaxy if you are love to grind only. Unless either Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams or the Yakuza series could be considered RJPGs, then I don't have much for you. This is actually a big question for me, as well. I usually play WRPGs, so I haven't really considered thinking about any current-gen JRPGs. If anyone can point me to any, I'd much appreciate it. I already know about the following: Vesperia; Res of Fate; FFXIII; Blue Dragon; Lost Galaxy; Star Ocean 4 (god that was horrible)
Anyway, try anything from the SMT series on the PS2 (except Devil Summoner). They're great!
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