Help choose my next RPG!

[Corinthian]

Hello all,
After lurking on these forums for a month or so, I decided I'd make an account and seek some help in deciding my next game to play.

My free time is about to go by the wayside (my wife and I are expecting our first child in a few weeks) so I'm hoping to get one last hurrah out of my favorite genre-- RPGs. I don't have the largest game library but what few games I actually own aren't cutting it for me.

For me, RPGs (especially JRPGs) are relaxing. I love the grinding (it provides great moments of zen) and the party building/planning.

I have a PS2 and PS3 and cannot justify purchasing a new system this close to my wife's due date. I'd love to get a Vita one day, but I'm sticking to my two consoles at this time.

I figure a list of some of my favorites might help make this process easier:

Legend of Zelda: Windwaker (probably my all-time favorite game)
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Xenogears
Xenoblade Chronicles
Final Fantasy 6
Final Fantasy 7
Final Fantasy 9 (my favorite FF game)
KotoR I and II
Dragon Quest 8
Rogue Galaxy
Dragon Age Origins
Resident Evil 4
Metal Gear Solid 3
Metal Gear Solid 4
Fallout 3 (didn't care for New Vegas quite as much)
Ni No Kuni

I really don't know where to go from here. I purchased Persona 3 FES a few weeks ago and thought the idea was cool. But I quickly grew tired of the balancing act that was dungeon crawling, social life and school. It just felt like I had to meet arbitrary time limits, if that makes sense.

While I dug FO3, I couldn't stand Skyrim or Oblivion.

I realize this is a tall order, but I do appreciate any help my fellow Escapists can lend.

 

[bialy_gibson]

There are a lot of great JRPG's on PS2. If You liked some parts of Persona 3, try Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call (it's called Nocturne in US). It has interesting atmosphere, demon collecting/fusions and a lot of grinding. Plus, You won't spend that much time reading the dialogs.

 

[excalipoor]

I don't see Final Fantasy VIII on that list! Go play it!

And if that's not your cup of tea, but you enjoyed IX and VI, Final Fantasy I, II, IV and V are available for PS1 as well.

 

[Eric the Orange]

I have a PS2 and PS3 and cannot justify purchasing a new system this close to my wife's due date. I'd love to get a Vita one day, but I'm sticking to my two consoles at this time.

if you can look into getting a 3DS. not only can you get the massive library of JRPGs from the DS, but the 3DS is looking to be the best platform for JRPGs in the next generation.

 

[mohit9206]

First play Ni No Kuni . After you finish it play Xenoblade Chronicles.

 

[The_Echo]

Later this year, Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX will hit non-Japanese shelves.

So if you haven't played that series, you should pick that up.

 

[Guffe]

I don't see Final Fantasy VIII on that list! Go play it!

Dude, he said a few weeks! That game takes like... a long time to play.

On Topic:

Search up a Tales of Symphonia for the PS2, that game rocks!!!

 

[Fractral]

If you couldn't stand Persona 3 FES, then you could give Persona 4 a try. It's a lot easier to play. You could also try Persona 3 Portable, which has the improvements from P4 in Persona 3. Of course, if you didn't like the general idea of the game, you probably won't like any of the others.
You could try some of the other Shin Megami Tensei games. Devil Survivor and the sequel are good, if a teensy bit hard. Digital Devil Saga is also pretty good. It has a nice aesthetic (or at least so I thought), and the focus on hindu mythology made the game rather unique.

 

[excalipoor]

I don't see Final Fantasy VIII on that list! Go play it!

Dude, he said a few weeks! That game takes like... a long time to play.

Pfft. There's a Japanese dude who finished it in one sitting in under 10 hours! I'm sure Corinthian here can manage that.

 

[redmoretrout]

I don't see any old-school PC RPG's like Bladur's gate. I understand you probably don't have a gaming PC, but theres a good chance your PC can handle these games they are pretty ancient.

I highly recommend:

Planescape:Torment
Fallout 1 + 2
Baldur's Gate 2

 

[ItsNotRudy]

Based on your list, surprised you haven't tried FFX and X-2 for PS2. Both great titles for different reasons. Final Fantasy XII also.

You could emulate the following:

Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (Gameboy Color) - Action RPG
Link washes up on an island and needs to save the island's deity to find a way off. The most appealing in this game were the well designed dungeons. Really well designed.

Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals (SNES) - Turn-based
Tale of a troupe of young people looking for a sword that will eventually chooses who rules the world, gods or man.
This is actually my favorite jrpg ever, so definitely look into this one. The story is very good with an unexpected ending, the dialogue surprisingly witty. Great personalities. Very decent music, battle/boss themes very addictive. And the ending made me cry. The game mostly consists of traveling from town to town/castles and going to the nearest temple/tower/cave/maze to retrieve something and/or fight a threat. Dungeons have puzzles, hidden chests and the monsters aren't random, but sprites walking around when not travelling on the overworld map.
(you don't need to play the not so great Lufia:FoD, since 2 is the prequel to it)

 

[BrotherRool]

Do you not like Metal Gear Solid 2 or Peacewalker? (Or have you not played them?) Both are great Metal Gear games (although the boss fights in Peacewalker suck a little)

Alpha Protocol might interest you, the graphics aren't great, the gameplay is meh, there are bugs (but nothing that should set you back more than to the last checkpoint) and the story takes a while to get going, but out of 28 named characters in the game, it's possible to end the game with all but 6 dead or all but 3 alive. It takes the influence system from KotoR 2 and turns it into something that every person you encounter gets and unlike KotoR 2, both neg rep and positive rep have interesting consequences.

For example there was a very professional detached enemy agent and whenever we met I'd piss him off until in the heat of the battle I pissed him off so much that instead of running away and fighting me in another boss fight at the end of the game, he fought to the death right there and then.


I don't want to oversell it. Most of the review were okayish and there are lots of people who don't love the game. But there's be nothing I've encountered with the same responsiveness and flexibility of choice as Alpha Protocol. I've played characters who were scared but quite trusting, characters who were always suave and joking in every single situation etc.


On the KotoR 2 theme Planescape: Torment(PC) is very much like it with an incredibly deep story. Combat sucks though (the tip is to boost you constitution stat and it'll reach a point where you basically become invunerable. Wisdom stat is also required) and running past enemies is almost always possible



I also support the ideas of FFX and Valkyria Chronicles by other people

 

[j0frenzy]

Just a quick head's up, Resonance of Fate can be a great game, but it is not the most relaxing JRPG around. The turns are semi-turned based, so don't expect it to be just a standard JRPG fair.
Other than that, I think you hit most of my games from the past 2 generations that I liked. You may want to check out Fire Emblem Path of Radiance and/or Radiant Dawn for the Gamecube and Wii respectively. I never quit got into those two for a lot of reasons not related to the games. I don't know how understandable the plot of Radiant Dawn is without Path of Radiance though. :\

 

[Orange12345]

If you like to grind look no further then Disgaea, 1 and 2 are on the ps2 but might be hard to find 3 and 4 are on the ps3 and should be fairly easy

 

[Bad Jim]

There may still be time left to snap all the old bioware classics on GOG.

http://www.gog.com/news/weekend_promo_dd_dynamo

You can get:

Planescape Torment
Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 plus expansions
Icewind Dale 1 & 2 plus expansions
Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2 plus expansions
The Temple of Elemental Evil
Dungeons and Dragons : Dragonshard
Forgotten Realms : Demonstone

They're PC games, but they're around a decade and a half old so you can play them on virtually any PC these days, including cheap laptops purchased for net access.

Get Planescape Torment at least.

 

[ZombieMonkey7]

Other then the ME series I can't really say much that others haven't mentioned for PS3, although there are a ton of great PS2 options.

The Mass Effect Trilogy (buy them all in one)
Kingdom Hearts 1&2 (or just skip to 2)
Odin Sphere
Dark Cloud 2
Disgaea (not sure which to recommend)

 

[Not Lord Atkin]

all of these are great, Especially Planescape Torment, Baldur's Gate series and Icewind Dale series:
http://www.gog.com/promo/hasbro_stacking_weekend_promo_050413

And I'm fairly certain you can run them on just about any kind of PC. Long as you have Windows on it.

 

[Luca72]

Vampire the MAsquerade: Bloodlines. No contest for me. It's one of the most unique RPG's I've ever played, and gives you a ton of customization options. Plus, the setting is just cool as hell, and the characters are well-written and interesting. And the game really doesn't give a shit whether you're a good or bad guy.

And best of all, ten years of a fan-made patches have managed to make the game actually work!

 

[BrotherRool]

There may still be time left to snap all the old bioware classics on GOG.

http://www.gog.com/news/weekend_promo_dd_dynamo

You can get:

Planescape Torment
Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 plus expansions
Icewind Dale 1 & 2 plus expansions
Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2 plus expansions
The Temple of Elemental Evil
Dungeons and Dragons : Dragonshard
Forgotten Realms : Demonstone

They're PC games, but they're around a decade and a half old so you can play them on virtually any PC these days, including cheap laptops purchased for net access.

Get Planescape Torment at least.

The pedant in me really wants to correct you on the 'Bioware' portion of that =D