can someone recommend a game thats like how final fantasy used to be

[Foolery]

Lost Odyssey. It's the best Final Fantasy that isn't Final Fantasy. Made by Mistwalker Studios, which is run by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Final Fantasy.

With current-gen, Lost Odyssey is a game you have to play if you're looking for something like old Final Fantasy. That game is fuckin' amazing.
Plus Hironobu Sakaguchi wrote the story and Nobuo Uematsu composed the soundtrack, too. That's the director and the composer for the old Final Fantasy games in case you don't know.
Do it.
So good.
So so good.

You know, every one says Lost Odyssey was such a great game. I don't agree. It was pretty ok. Maybe a 3 star? I don't know. The battle system was ok but a few bad decisions keep it from being actually good and a lot of the art direction was really weird and kind of stupid. It also had tons of technical issues (like several second loading times whenever you changed rooms, thus punishing you with load times when you explore) that really pulled down the experience.

The music was very good though, and the writing (not the story specifically, but the actual writing) was pretty darn good. My favorite parts of the game were the semi animated exposition dumps about the past of the main character. They were really cool. The rest of the game just wasn't up to that standard though.

I mean, it was ok, but everyone just freaks out about it. I think this is because it was a pretty decent JRPG in a generation that completely failed to deliver on the genre. It looks good because everything else around it is so much worse, but that doesn't mean it is actually great.

Maybe I was just too hyped up for it. I was one of the people who got it day 1 and I was really disappointed.

As far as the OT, another pretty decent JRPG for the Xbox 360 was Blue Dragon. It has a fun character progression system and very solid menu based combat, but unfortunately features a story that showcases all the most boring elements of anime and also features the most annoying character I have ever seen in any medium.

Xenoblade is really good, but it isn't really a standard menu based JRPG. I would certainly recommend it, but I don't know if it is what you are looking for.

The PS2 was the king of JRPG's. This generation is just sad in comparison. If you are not set on this generation I would recommend finding a PS2 and a bunch of JRPG's for it. I can name about a dozen good titles off the top of my head if you would like.

The battle system was great. Very old school. Much like Final Fantasy X, actually. It's slow at times, I'll admit. Art direction was solid. And the story was a bit wonky. Still loved it. As far as JRPGs on current gen home consoles go, it was well done. Hyped up? Yeah, a bit. I really didn't have any expectations when I picked it up though. Funnily enough, I did not like Blue Dragon.

 

[WeepingAngels]

Also i think you are quite wrong about final fantasy 12. It doesn't play itself even remotely, nor does it take control away from the player. Just turn the gambits off if you want to flick through a lot of little blue windows to get to the same result.

Have you done it? Have you played the whole game without using gambits?

The game was built and balanced around gambits.

 

[DrOswald]

The battle system was great. Very old school. Much like Final Fantasy X, actually. It's slow at times, I'll admit. Art direction was solid. And the story was a bit wonky. Still loved it. As far as JRPGs on current gen home consoles go, it was well done. Hyped up? Yeah, a bit. I really didn't have any expectations when I picked it up though. Funnily enough, I did not like Blue Dragon.

I would actually say that the battle system was Final Fantasy 10's system but worse in some very specific ways (if I remember correctly it doesn't tell you when your characters will act or in what order? I might be wrong on that, it has been a long time and I didn't take notes.) That doesn't make it bad, just not as good. And the art direction seemed mostly good but just weird for the hell of it. Like the opening cutscene. There was a lot to like there, but what the hell was up with those helmets? In any case, it was far above most games of its time and it still holds up favorably compared to end of generation games. It just dips down into moron territory every once in a while for no good reason.

The story concept was interesting enough and it was certainly ambitious. And that, for me, counts for a lot. It just didn't fully deliver. That said, I would rather see a story attempt something interesting and original and fail to pull it off perfectly than never try at all. And as I said several of the scenes, especially the ones that are just text, voice over, and minimal animation, are superbly executed. If you can find the game for cheap it might be worth picking it up just for those scenes.

Please forgive me that I cannot give many specifics. I played the game at launch nearly 6 years ago, I am a little hazy on the details.

In any case, tons of people liked Lost Odyssey and I am definitely in the minority in thinking it is merely pretty good, so it is probably worth a chance. Statistically speaking you are more likely to fall into the group of people that like it a lot I suppose. And I have never found someone who hated it.

Maybe I should try it again. It has been 6 years, maybe it will look better now.

Also, Blue Dragon was not a great game. And it certainly wasn't as good as Lost Odyssey. I recognize now that my post made it seem like I thought it was, but that was not intentional. However, it is, with the standard and frequency of JRPG's being so abysmally low this generation, a notable JRPG of the last 7 years, Jim help us all. Yeah, definitely pick up Lost Odyssey before you try Blue Dragon. Lets be clear about that.

 

[Rutabaga_swe]

Also i think you are quite wrong about final fantasy 12. It doesn't play itself even remotely, nor does it take control away from the player. Just turn the gambits off if you want to flick through a lot of little blue windows to get to the same result.

Have you done it? Have you played the whole game without using gambits?

The game was built and balanced around gambits.

No, why would i? I think the gambit system is brilliant. Keeps all the strategy, keep the combat flowing smoothly and you can still input commands whenever you want. I never understood why anyone would complain about the combat in 12. All i'm saying is that if you want to choose the attack command for the entire party over and over, the option is there. It's tedious bullshit, but that's basically what combat has traditionally been in jRPGs imo.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Well, Bravely default is coming out in less than a month.

Beat me to it...same with the people who mentioned Blue Dragon. Shin Megami Tenshi IV is similar enough to the older Final Fantasy titles but I would assume it's more like old school Phantasy Star games (old as in Mega Drive...or...pre-Genesis Sega console...)

I want to say Pokemon...but...I can't bring myself to do it. Turn-based combat and, elemental strengths and weaknesses in combat.

 

[Maximum Bert]

How FF used to be? well the series is all over the place its not used to be good and is now shit as seems the popular opinion. That said if you want some good JRPGs get a Wii and buy Xenoblade Chronicles and The Last Story they are both excellent games especially Xenoblade.

 

[DjinnFor]

since square enix doesn't want to make final fantasy games for final fantasy fans anymore can someone recommend a game that's similar to final fantasy before 12 (which i liked but for different reasons) ushered in the new style of do nothing and just watch your characters flip out.

Final Fantasy has always been about doing nothing and just watching your characters, the flipping out is just eye candy thats been possible thanks to larger budgets. I'm not sure what exactly you're asking for here.

For example:

You can beat every random battle in the game in Final Fantasy 5 through 9 by taping the circle button down so that you automatically select the basic attack command the moment a characters turn comes up. Then you sit and watch through some dialogue and cutscenes that explore the story, and then re-tape the circle button again when you get back into a segment involving lots of random battles. The only time you might have to do something different is a boss.

 

[heroicbob]

OP: So you're looking for turn based battles - do you want active time battle like FFIV to FFIX, or classic style like FFI to FFIII and FFX?

I think you're getting fixated on the wrong part of my post I just don't like the on-rails spectacle fests that the games have become

Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned final fantasy 12 since I like almost everything about it and as long as I keep the party leader on manual control I feel like I'm actually doing something

A lot of people on here are suggesting Lost Odyssey unfortunately I don't have an xbox i do have a 3ds though so I'm sure to check out bravely default

 

[Seracen]

Lost Odyssey has been mentioned. Also try the RPG's on the Wii (of all things!), like Xenoblade Chronicles, Pandora's Tower, and most importantly, THE LAST STORY.

As far as ongoing series, hit up the TALES series of games. I dunno if they were BETTER than FF in the heyday, but they've always been above average to excellent.

I am sure Atlus' various Shin Megami (Persona, Digital Devil Saga) series are obvious at this point.

Devil Summoner and Shen Megami Tensei 4 are almost a must, if you have a 3DS. I dunno if you like tacticals, but I've enjoyed the Fire Emblem series.

The evil Gamestop is having a blowout sale on most DS games, so it's worth checking out. I got 10 good/decent games (Secret of Mana, Lux Pain, Lufia, Valkyrie Profile, and more) for about 40 bucks, which isn't bad for an average of 30 hours per game.

 

[Crazy Zaul]

Lost Odyssey is the best Xbox JRPG. (Haven't played any Sony or Nintendo exclusives)

 

[2xDouble]

Might I suggest the humble(-ish) Penny Arcade: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness series, specifically the ones from Zeboyd: #3 and #4 (if you get both, play 3 first. Just trust me on this.).

...or pretty much any Zeboyd game on Steam, really, such as Cthulhu Saves the World, and Breath of Death VIII. They're very inexpensive and go on sale quite often. They have a distinct Final Fantasy feel to them, but with a humor that turns it on its head (there's only one Breath of Death game; that's part of the joke) and active battle systems that shake up the classic ATB systems, requiring both reflex and strategy, to a degree.

The short, but brilliant Evoland, also available on Steam, deconstructs classic adventure gaming by letting you play through an adventure that literally evolves as you play through. For example, you begin as a humble sidescrolling hero, unable to even move left, and eventually gain directional movements, graphics upgrades, cutscenes, transition into 3D, etc., etc... It's an ideal nostalgia trip for people who have been fans of Final Fantasy and Legend of Zelda (et al) over the years, and an introduction to classic adventure gaming for those who haven't.

For a REALLY old-school Final Fantasy feel, consider (yet another) Steam indie title: Knights of Pen and Paper. It attempts to recreate the feel of classic tabletop games and Final Fantasy/Dragon Warrior RPG's. You play as both a group of adventurers and their GM, within certain restrictions of course, and the game gets seriously "meta" as your players' game gets attacked "for real" by in-game "in-game" characters. The questing can certainly drag on a lot longer than it probably needs to (so what else is new? heh) and can get downright tedious at times, but overall it's a fun experience.

Speaking of Steam and classic Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy VII just re-released with a pseudo-HD paintjob and an "oh sod this" button, letting you cheat instead of "bypass" grinding out cash and levels to experience the story content more easily. Not the best use of $15 on Steam, in my opinion, but not the worst either... especially if you're missing classic JRPG's.

 

[wetfart]

It's more of a parody, but I bet you'd enjoy Cthulu saves the world. I'm a big fan of the old school Final Fantasy games and I really enjoyed that.

 

[FPLOON]

Any game from the Tales series... Since you don't have a 360, you can't try out Vesperia... But, you have a 3DS, so you can try out Tales of the Abyss for the 3DS...

Other than that, I would recommend the Hyperdimension Neptunia series for the PS3, but that's debatable depending on your overall taste on RPGs in general... (Plus, it's SUPER niche in the "moe" department...)

 

[Foolery]

Please forgive me that I cannot give many specifics. I played the game at launch nearly 6 years ago, I am a little hazy on the details.

It's all good. Your reasons and criticisms seem perfectly valid. If anything, you could say the game is traditional. Random encounters and other bits that some might feel are dated, but part of the classic jrpg formula. And it did have some slight issues due to the unreal 3 engine. Like the transition from the field to battle screen being slow.

Also, Blue Dragon was not a great game. And it certainly wasn't as good as Lost Odyssey. I recognize now that my post made it seem like I thought it was, but that was not intentional. However, it is, with the standard and frequency of JRPG's being so abysmally low this generation, a notable JRPG of the last 7 years, Jim help us all. Yeah, definitely pick up Lost Odyssey before you try Blue Dragon. Lets be clear about that.

That's actually kinda how I feel about it. When your choices are limited for quality JRPGs, it's easy for Lost Oydssey to stand out. Blue Dragon isn't bad either really.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I can recommend some on the PS2... Dragon Quest VIII, Rogue Galaxy, Wild Arms 3-5, Suikoden III... though I may be off because I've only played FF1 and rely mostly on pop culture osmosis to discuss Final Fantasy.