Sword of Vermillion another great RPG on Genesis from Yu Suzuki
Sword of Vermillion another great RPG on Genesis from Yu Suzuki
Life!? ... What console is that on?
Avoid Final Fantasy 4 Advance like the plague. The game is an extremely poor port. US version features a ton of lag, bugs that have characters taking multiple turns, etc. The PAL version fixed the lag towards the visuals, but instead has some extremely bad button lag during battle(although this could be based on playing the PAL version on emulator.)Originally Posted by JustRob
If you're going to play FF4, the PSX version is the best one if you're going for the original 16bit graphics, SNES after. The DS version is pretty good and allows you to customzie the characters with new abilities and skills. The PSP version is the best altogether, has all the GBA content, and includes The After Years which is a crappy game except for the final chapter, which makes the game worth playing.
As others have said, Final Fantasy 6 is worth playing, it's also my favorite in the series as well. Like burn_654 mentioned, FF6 requires no grinding unless you want to. The game is of decent length and includes a lot of sidequests, especially the second half of the game where pretty much everything outside of going to the final area is a side quest.
For FF6, if you play the game, the SNES or the GBA version are the way to go. SNES is the best, as GBA has slight lag when Autocrossbow is used with more than two enemies on screen and worse audio. However the GBA does add some bonus features, so if you own the game but still play it on emulator, get the sound fix patch and you should be fine. PSX version has some bad load times(you always hear complaining about load times of Chrono Trigger on PSX but FF6 is worse.)
Amazing game, but not an RPG.
Also Lufia 2, among others.
Last edited by kupomogli; 11-04-2011 at 06:47 PM.
Everything in the above post is opinion unless stated otherwise.
For SNES (the king system of all rpgs) I'd recommend: Earthboud, Final Fantasy VI (III in the US), Paladin's Quest and Chrono Trigger.
For Sega Genesis I'd go with Phantasy Star IV (possibly one of the best rpgs ever) and Pier Solar which is a brand new game that was just released last year, it's sold out right now, but more will be in stock soon. Check it out here:
http://www.piersolar.com/
Ready to print game covers and cart labels: http://www.mediafire.com/?5gm45wyxr3xvv
At the risk of getting shelled.... Have you played Zelda, A link to the past? If we're classing secret of mana as an rpg then so is alttp...
The above. Also Landstalker. More action oriented and may ease you into the other RPG's.
Heh, Paladin's Quest sticks out like a sore thumb listed next to those greats. What was it about PQ that you liked so much? (without spoiling it for other people). It's often called average at best or even below average. Just curious what you liked so much about it to lump it in there with those classics.
I wouldn't recommend Lufia to an RPG newbie trying to get into the genre. It's a bit repetitive and had some annoyances that will likely drive away someone trying to find his place in the genre.
Best to go with Chrono Trigger or Super Mario RPG first.
Lufia is one of those games you trek through after you become a big fan of the genre.
The Lunar games are great 16-bit RPG's if you have access to a SegaCD.
That really depends on how you define "grinding". If your normal way to play is to run away from or avoid every battle you possibly can, then, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if you have to stop at some point in order to make up for all of the lost experience, but I'd say most 16-bit RPGs are easy enough that you can get by with simply fighting what you encounter naturally and never having to stop and purposely grind.
Anyway, to answer the topic question, in terms of US releases, I'd say the cream of the crop for SNES are Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, and Lufia II. For Genesis, skip the traditional RPGs and go straight for Shining Force I and II.
Even though they're getting thrown around a lot in here, I'd advise against Phantasy Star II and Final Fantasy II/IV. The former is just plain lousy, and FF4 is pretty dull and unremarkable. If someone has nostalgia for them, that's fine and dandy, but I can't picture many people loving them if they're introduced to them now.
I first played FFII/IV in 2007, and loved every second of it. I wouldn't lump it in with Phantasy Star II myself.
I've played maybe the first hour or so worth of LTTP, and loved every second, but that was years ago at a friend's house.
I guess I should clarify, when I said RPG, I meant the entire realm of RPGs, tradition, j, action, etc.
I have lttp and illusion of gaia sitting here, so I was thinking of starting with those. Definitely lttp, just because it's so goddamn awesome.
The next question I have is, what are the RPG families here? Some franchises are pretty easy to know what comes next, FF and such. Most of the others have unique names and if you weren't in the know, you wouldn't know what order to play them in.
Most of what Square put out back in the day are regarded as the best 16 bit RPG's going. The pick of the bucnh from Square is Final Fantasy 6 or Chrono Trigger. Neither of them has aged as well as some here would have you believe but they are worth a look if only to see what all the fuss is about.
I played FF6 a couple of years back and found it a really linear and too teenage angsty for my tastes these days, back in the day though it was my favourite game ever.
Off topic: Is there a way to change this poo brown forum theme? It's annoying.
For US-released SNES RPGs, at least, I don't know if there's anything that's crucial to play in order. I mean, all of the Final Fantasy games are completely independent. With Lufia, you'd probably be better off playing Lufia II first anyway because the first is a pretty meh game and its intro completely spoils the ending of Lufia II and lessens its impact (Lufia II is a prequel). I don't think the Breath of Fire games have much of a connection. Most SNES RPGs are standalone, at least in the US.
How do you feel Chrono Trigger has aged? The graphics still look fantastic, the music is still amazing, the gameplay is still extremely fun and polished, and the story is still engaging. I think it shines just as well today as it did in 1995.
Graphics still look great. Excellent example of that era
Music, again excellent for that time.
Gameplay perfect.
Story.... hmmm.... Im pushing 30 now and it just doesnt have the same appeal to me that it did when I was 14. Same with all the RPG's from that time that have these contrived love stories going on, theres a just a little bit too much 15-year-old-I-hate-my-life syndrome going on that I just can't get into these days. I just out grew the whole thing. From a Nostalgia and gaming evolution perspective they are great but when you really look at it the stories in these games was really geared towards teenagers.
Let's face it, RPG's more than anything is all about the story behind the characters, if you think that story is crap it effects the whole experience. I can happily play something like Super Mario World from back in the day because it's not a story centric game, the RPG's from back then are a struggle though.
Last edited by theMot; 11-04-2011 at 04:57 PM.
Definitely check out the Tactical RPG stuff, that's my favorite genre of classic RPGs! Especially Fire Emblem and Shining Force! Here's the chronological order of the "Shining" games, though the relations are pretty slim overall, and you'll find that to be the case with most RPG series really from back in the day.:
Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention
Shining Force CD
Shining Force Gaiden: Final Conflict
Shining Force II
Shining Wisdom
Shining in the Darkness
Shining the Holy Ark
Shining Force III
But...that doesn't describe Chrono Trigger's story at all.
One of the defining characteristics of Chrono Trigger is that it didn't have an angst filled main character like many of the 16 and 32 bit RPGs had. It also really didn't have a contrived love story and was really just a big adventure to defeat the "bad guy"..or at least thats how I took it. Granted I first beat Chrono Trigger about 3 years ago so maybe I am not looking into it as hard as someone younger playing it but the lack of all of those elements (which are often done badly) was one of the reasons why I love Chrono Trigger for what it is.
It was a great game back in the day but the story is just purile shit to me now. Sorry but it is.
Ya know, that's actually the main reason I can't fucking stand Final Fantasy these days. I picked up X a couple of years ago just to give it a try and see what the deal was. That was an eye opening experience. I gave it a good 12 hours or so and all I did was stare at some whiney fuck with spikey hair and press the X button over and over. I didn't feel like I had any control over the game outside of continuous "Hit A till the next cutscene" bullshit that the games have become.
That's really the one shining moment that put me off of anything jrpg. This thread is my olive branch to the other side of rpgs that I've completely ignored over the years.
Some of these games you've all recommended seem to have really awesome storylines, and that's the reason I want to play them. The part I need to come to terms with is the specific gameplay that I always saw as a common identifier with in the genre. I played the first few hours of FFII on snes and was ok with it until this overwhelming feeling of what the fuck was I supposed to do again kicked in.I've played 7th Saga and actually liked it from what I played (I think that was the one, something about a robot?) I've played through the first few time jumps in Chrono Trigger years ago and the game was amazing. I even tried some 32-bit games. I remember playing the beginning of Legend of Dragoon and kinda liked it, but I was drunk as hell and don't remember too much of it. I even tried that Lunar Dragon something or other on the DS, but that made me a bit homicidal after an hour or so and gave it back to the wife and told her to never let me see it again.
Basically, aside from a few good memories, my experience with the genre has been marred by gameplay that I just couldn't stomach. I really do want to give it another honest, unbiased try. I'm sure some of you have similar stories with other genres.
I guess I was just too indoctrinated by western style rpgs to really give these a chance. I really appreciate all the responses, please, keep them coming.
That's fine, I'm not going to be raging about your opinion but I still don't see how any of your specific crititisms apply to Chrono Trigger. It seemed more like to were just applying typical bitch points about the genera to the game.
First off, not everybody values the same things in RPGs. You can't say for a fact that RPGs are for their stories more than anything else. I personally put gameplay first, whether it's an action game or an RPG, it doesn't matter. If the game is boring to play, I don't care how great the story supposedly is. I'd rather save myself the tedium and read a book or watch a movie if all I'm getting out of it is a story.
As for Chrono Trigger, like substantial_snake said, you're not describing Chrono Trigger much at all. There are no whiny, angsty characters. The closest the game gets is Marle's rebellion about being a princess, but it all ties together nicely given the history and the manipulation going on in the castle. And when she finally reconciles with her father, I think that's one of the most touching scenes in the game. The love story is also pretty touching too, I think. But, in the end, you're talking about small pieces in the overall plot. There are so many different little stories to follow, like Robo's struggle with his intended purpose, Frog's aim for revenge, etc., and the overall goal to ensure a positive future for mankind, by addressing misdeeds all throughout time. It's not just some "BAWWWing" teenager plot.
Age really doesn't play into it. I'm closing in on 30 myself. There are plenty of people here 30+ that still love Chrono Trigger. There are many Japanese RPGs with childish, immature nonsense that makes me roll my eyes, but Chrono Trigger isn't among them. It may star teenagers and it may be friendly for teenager consumption, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything that can resonate with an adult.
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