The RPG trend continues!
In the heyday of the RPG, the big names were vastly different from today. While Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Mass Effect are the releases that get everyone talking about now, that wasn't the case previously. With the JRPG threatening to go the way of the dodo in lieu of western developed RPGs, there still quite a few franchises that could jump start the beloved JRPGs rebirth.
Getting it's start on the Super Nintendo with it's first two entries before hopping to the Playstation line of consoles for it's following three, Breath of Fire was Capcom's "flagship" RPG series.
The last proper BoF game was Dragon Quarter on the PS2, which took the series in a more Sci-Fi direction, in contrast of the typical fantasy setting of the previous four games. While underrated on the Super Nintendo, BoF III and IV on the PSone are two of the finest RPGs I've played.
Sure, 6 was recently announced. However, the online, web-based, mobile nature of the game just doesn't seem to be doing the series justice. Seeing Ryu and Nina in all their high definition glory on the Playstation 4 and Xbox One would be something to get people talking about with Capcom.
Lunar is probably one of the most under the radar RPG franchises. Getting it's start on the Sega CD with The Silver Star and Eternal Blue, it was eventually remade and brought over to the Playstation in the form of Silver Star Story Complete and Eternal Blue Complete.
When it was brought over to the much large audience on the Playstation, it's 2D sprite based graphics (which were still detailed and nice to look at) seemed quite dated. But for those who didn't get caught up on graphics, found terrifically written characters backed by a solid story and gameplay that was the definition of RPG gameplay. Seriously, the characters that made up the world of Lunar endure as some of the best written in the industry and just overflowed with character. That goes for the NPCs as well as the party members.
More recently, the first game has been remade and redeveloped over the years, but none of them has matched the quality of Silver Star Story Complete. Rumors have come and gone over the years about a Lunar 3, which was originally "in development" for the Playstation 2. While no one has held their breath over a Lunar 3, chances of a third game in the series ever surfacing took an even larger hit when the series publisher, Working Designs, closed up shop in 2005.
Ask most RPG fans who grew up with a Super Nintendo to name their top games, and no doubt the majority of them will talk about Chrono Trigger. Brought to us by the same people who created the fabled Final Fantasy series, Chrono Trigger came out of no where and became a fan favorite.
Melding a fantastic, unique story, detailed sprite based graphics, and a fun quasi-real time battle system, Chrono Trigger was something different in the world of 16-bit RPGs. It's influence is undeniable, and has seen multiple releases over the years.
It's sole sequel came in 2000 on the Playstation with Chrono Cross. Despite being a very solid RPG, it was held under the microscope since it was part of the beloved Chrono series. It kept the time traveling theme of the first, but didn't have what fans were clamoring for in a sequel to trigger. If you played it though, you found a battle system that is still something new to this day, and arguably one of the BEST soundtracks in the history of video games. Seriously, go search for Chrono Cross Soundtrack on Youtube this very second if you've never heard it.
Ever since the release of Cross, nothing has come from the series. Chrono Break was at one point trademarked, and then dropped. The only hope that was given to fans of the series was a comment made by Shinji Hashimoto: "If people want a sequel, they should buy more!".
Debuting on the Playstation in 1996, Suikoden brought a sweeping, epic story with 108 recruitable characters to players. It laid the groundwork for five sequels and a Tactics spinoff. While the stories could come off as cliche at times, Suikoden did a lot of things right. With so many characters, there were endless combinations of party members, some of which had unique duo\triple attacks. There was also an upgradable headquarters in each game, that housed shops and inns, which grew as you recruited more characters.
As the series went on, nearly every sequel was a hit aside from four. Two is regarded as one of the finest Playstation RPGs, which solid for a pretty penny online for quite a long time. Three brought the series to the third dimension, and five brought a fantastic, politically fueled story line to the series. Four is considered a rare miss in the series, but still has it's fans.
Since Suikoden V was released, an off shoot was released on the Nintendo DS to mixed fan fare, and changed the series' formula. It just didn't feel like a Suikoden game. That was followed by a Japanese only Playstation Portable game, that also received mix reviews. Sadly, Konami has said that the Suikoden team has been broken up and split across multiple teams putting the series' future in question.
While we may never see a next generation Suikoden, many fans would love to journey across a war torn land, recruiting 108 "stars of destiny", and building their castle up to retake the land in name of justice.
Before Mass Effect and Dragon Age, Bioware took up a huge project in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Laying the blueprint for everything they did in Mass Effect, but with the Star Wars franchise. It was a nice exclusive for Microsoft and the Xbox at the time.
Not many games let you truly feel like you were in control of a Star Wars movie like Knights of the Old Republic did. Not only were you visiting planets from the movies, drinking in cantinas, but you did it with your very own version of the Millennium Falcon. The stories felt ripped right out of George Lucas' notebooks, and had some fantastic plot twists.
One equally well received sequel was released, along with a partially-related MMORPG, but the series has been quiet since. With the experience Bioware has garnered since Knights of the Old Republic II with the Mass Effect series, a proper follow up in the Knights of the Old Republic could be a slam dunk. Chances are slim we'll see anything outside of updates to the MMORPG The Old Republic.
This may not be a franchise exactly, it's definitely a game worth noting. Radiata Stories is a game that feels at times like a love letter to RPG fanatics at times. Released by Square and Tri-Ace in 2005, Radiata Stories combined the recruiting aspects of a Suikoden title, with a day/night schedule where the NPCs all had full day to day schedules, and a real time battle system.
The story followed a young, up and coming solider in Jack Russell, fellow cadet Ridley Silverlake, and their squad captain Ganz Rothschild as they deal with an on going conflict between the humans and non-humans. During the course of the story, you chose to back the humans or the non-humans. Each branch changed the story as well as the characters you could recruit. If you wanted to gather every character in the game, you'd have to play twice for both branches.
Speaking of characters you could recruit. If you thought Suikoden's 108 was massive, 175 of Radiata Stories's unique 300 NPCs were potential party members. Every single character was interesting in their own way, and brought something fun to the party.
Sadly, despite being well received, Radiata Stories never received a sequel. Going on a decade since it's release, a sequel will most likely never happen. But I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd love to revisit the world Jack and Ridley journeyed across.
Another game that's not a franchise, but without a doubt deserves to be. Another RPG gem that released in 2000 for the Playstation, Legend of Dragoon was a huge cult hit for Sony and the Playstation.
Taking place in a war torn land, Dart of his friends became entrenched in an ongoing war waged by the country of Sandora. The truly unique aspect came in it's battle system. Even though it was a traditional turn based game, it was more than just hitting X and forgetting about it. Each character (sans one) had unique "additions" that they would use in battle, that made you hit a button when a gauge hit it's sweet spot. Time it correctly, and the addition continued through it's required amount of button presses. If you missed, the addition ended early for decreased damage. Along side the addition system was the Dragoon system. There was no real magic per se, except for when your characters transformed into their Dragoon form. While in Dragoon form, your additions changed, dealt increased damage, and were able to cast "Dragoon Magic".
Legend of Dragoon was a fantastic, new IP in the RPG world of the Playstation, and a first party game for Sony to boot. Fans have been calling for a sequel for years, but to no avail. It was truly a shame Sony never let us call upon our inner Dragoons again.
Shadow Hearts is a series that truly defied the odds at times. The first game sadly fell in the mammoth shadow of Final Fantasy X when it released. Greatly criticized at times for it's subpar graphics upon release, it was bolstered by a wonderfully dark, macabre story line with one of the most entertaining main characters, and fun, fast battle system.
Two sequels were released, with Shadow Hearts Covenant being the smash hit in the series. The graphics got a massive overhaul, the battle system was tightened up, and the storyline continued in the footsteps of the first game. A third game followed, however the story line of Yuri Hyuga from the first two was finished, and the protagonist of Johnny Garland just didn't click like Yuri did. Despite that, it was still a solid game.
The series is hands down one of my favorite RPG series. From the opening moments of the first game, it grabbed your attention and didn't let go. If you weren't bothered by graphics that seemed dated, it's alternative, fictionalized take on actual historical figures and events, paired with twisted, horror based portions would pull you in as well.
The third game, From the New World, was released in 2006 and no news has surfaced on a continuation of the franchise. It's truly a shame, as Shadow Hearts is one of the most unique franchises in the at times, drenched in cliche nature of the typical JRPG.
Despite launching on the short lived Sega Dreamcast console, Skies of Arcadia is one of the major reasons people still look back on the console as one of their favorites.
Branching out into uncharted territories, Skies of Arcadia let you join a pirate brigade. But not just any pirate brigade, but a brigade of AIR pirates. The turn based battle system not only allowed hand to hand combat, but battles between air ships. Some of the ship battles were the high points of the game. Not only could you outfit your party members, but you could do the same with your various ships. During the course of the story, you founded your own pirate hideout, and then recruited new members to your pirate crew. These crew members would open shops at your hideout, or alter abilities for your pirate ship in battles.
Memorable characters, a fantastic, fun story, and stellar graphics all helped make Skies of Arcadia a huge hit. Few games gave you such a feeling of true freedom and exploration as Skies of Arcadia did.
Even though the game was re-released with additional content on the Gamecube, a real sequel was never created. There were rumors of a Skies of Arcadia 2 for the Playstation 2, but nothing ever came of it. It seems the only remaining glimpses of Vyse and company we'll get will be Vyse and Aika's cameos in Valkyria Chronicles.
Grandia is a series that not many may have heard of or played, but they should have. The first game was released on the Sega Saturn, and then brought to the Playstation. It's fun story was backed by a fast, unique take on the turn based battle system.
While the game was well received, the series hit it's stride with Grandia II on the Dreamcast. The increased graphical capabilities of the Dreamcast brought the world of Ryudo to life as he went from grumpy mercenary to someone defending the world from evil. The battle system was perfected from the first game as well. Grandia II was later ported to the Playstation 2, but the Dreamcast original was the definitive version and one of the big two RPGs from the Dreamcast.
Two further sequels were released: Grandia Xtreme, a more dungeon crawler type game, and Grandia III, which was a more traditional Grandia game. While Xtreme was met with negative reception, but III was a return to form for the series. Focusing more on story than Xtreme did, III brought the series to the Playstation 2 proper, and showed that the series still had plenty of gas left in the tank.
After Grandia III, the series was put on the back burner, the only game since was a failed free-to-play, Japanese only MMORPG, Grandia Online, that was shut down in 2012. It's truly a shame. Grandia was one of those series that while every entry is related, none are explicitly, directly continued from the previous entry. There are so many routes and open roads the series could take.
