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Post by mistermuncher on Jun 25, 2009 3:36:14 GMT -5
Simple thread, really.
There are many genres and types of entertainment a given person is not really into. Just in case one of them happens to be something they've missed out on, rather than something they actually have any reason to dislike. lets have fans of said genres to suggest a suitable starting point for a newcomer. Give us a shovel, so we may also dig it...
I'll start. JRPGs. Never played one I found compelling. What's a good, representative example of what's great about the form, that's not too offputting for beginners, or steeped in genre tropes that only veterans really understand?
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Post by HarleyThomas1002 on Jun 25, 2009 3:38:20 GMT -5
Final Fantasy VII. Doesn't matter if you played RPGs all the time or almost never. It's fucking amazing.
Amazing like the new Transformers movie.
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Post by Admiral Lithp on Jun 25, 2009 3:51:48 GMT -5
If we still had karma, I would exalt Harley. I agree with him.
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Post by wmdkitty on Jun 25, 2009 17:46:22 GMT -5
Hell, the entire FF series.
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Post by mistermuncher on Jun 25, 2009 17:51:14 GMT -5
Y'see, I played VIII, I think, some years ago, and it made me want to drink until the front of my brain died. I was given to understand it was less than a highlight.
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Post by Dr. Waldorf X on Jun 25, 2009 20:01:23 GMT -5
Y'see, I played VIII, I think, some years ago, and it made me want to drink until the front of my brain died. I was given to understand it was less than a highlight. VIII is considered a weak point in the series by many fans, though it does have its fans. I personally am fond of FFIX as mixed the best of the 2-D titles with the best of the 3-D titles. Anywho, other JRPGs: Wild ARMs (PS1, PS2 and PSN) Lost Odyssey (360) Valkyria Chronicals (PS3) Golden Sun (GBA) |
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Post by szaleniec on Jun 25, 2009 20:37:44 GMT -5
VIII is considered a weak point in the series by many fans, though it does have its fans. *raises hand* VIII looks and sounds a hell of a lot better than VII, has an equally good story and more relatable characters. I'd still rank it just behind VII, though, because the gameplay is nowhere near as good. |
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Post by Mantorok on Jun 25, 2009 21:16:52 GMT -5
Final Fantasy VII. Doesn't matter if you played RPGs all the time or almost never. It's fucking amazing. Amazing like the new Transformers movie. "Amazing like the new Transformers movie." isn't glowing praise. I'd recommend Tales of Vesperia for Xbox 360. |
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Post by HarleyThomas1002 on Jun 25, 2009 21:23:02 GMT -5
I'd recommend Tales of Vesperia for Xbox 360. I'd reccomend the entire Tales series in general. |
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Post by Mantorok on Jun 25, 2009 21:43:48 GMT -5
I'd reccomend the entire Tales series in general. If I recall correctly, mistermuncher is in Ireland. Not many games in the Tales series have been released in PAL territories. Symphonia, Phantasia (GBA remake), Eternia (PSP remake), and Vesperia are pretty much it for PAL releases. Vesperia is probably the best of the bunch and the easiest to find. |
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Post by Patches on Jun 25, 2009 21:49:00 GMT -5
The problem with most modern JRPGs is that they seem to be done in a "story by committee" fashion, where all the various threads of plot never seem to be able to weave together into anything that makes any sense. Not to mention almost all of them have obligatory existential mindfuckery thrown in for good measure, to the point that by the end of the game, you have no idea what's going on or why.
Which is why I'm going to recommend Chrono Trigger. And oldie, but a classic for a reason. Just got re-released on the DS, too, so it should be easy to find in a modern format, though it was originally for SNES (and then got a re-release on the Playstation bundled with FF4). And even though the core theme is time travel and actively changing the events of the plot, it's refreshingly easy to follow. And the New Game + feature allows you to carry over your stats and items from the end of a completed game to allow you to use your time-travelling ability to go immediately to the endboss whenever you want, giving you at least a dozen different endings depending on how much of the main plot you'd already progressed through.
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Post by cagnazzo on Jun 25, 2009 21:52:43 GMT -5
Er, if he hasn't played JRPGs yet, I'd recommend the Tales series before the Final Fantasies. Mostly because getting used to number based turn based fighting is a bit weird and might be unfairly off-putting to the genre. I feel it's a little weird to ask for a "representative of the genre", as RPGs tend to be heavily story based and thus pretty different from each other. What I mean is in an FPS you're in first person, and shooting things. It can be different in other ways, but the "battle system", as it were, is going to be very similar. "RPG" is such a broad genre, even "JRPG", that it's hard to find a representative. There are turn-based ones, real-time ones, ones where you're a single person, ones where you have a party, tactics ones, ones that play like movies, ones that are extremely deep, ones that are superficial and ones that are full of action. It's a bit weird to classify Persona and Tales of Phantasia as in the same genre, really. The only common things are that they tend to follow protagonists through stories and are long. That said, I'll suggest some things to check out in further detail.
I thoroughly enjoyed Tales of Symphonia, and liked Tales of the Abyss, though not as much. Their real-time battles were nice. I'll be picking up Vesperia when it comes out on Ps3. I think they'd be an okay intro to JRPGs. Their real-time battles aren't as off-putting as turn based ones are to newer players, although some of the storylines do seem a little strange, looking at them from a Western lens.
Final Fantasies tend to have battle systems that are, to me, pretty boring. I like the games, but they sometimes feel like they turn into min/max fests, and the nature of the system tends to frustrate me when I've managed to get somewhere underleveled and can't win against the boss because of numbers (in Tales games, the numbers are less important due to the real-time battles-quick thinking, movement, and skills can compensate for low-level, so it's less likely you'd run into a boss you have to grind for). That said, the final fantasies are probably the best-known representatives of the genre, though it's important to realize that others are out there.
I'm playing (and thoroughly enjoying) Persona 4 right now. It's complicated and has many aspects that are very rarely used in RPGs, but comes out very well. It's a bit niche though. I love it, and everyone I know that's played it loved it, but "everyone that plays it" is a very self-selecting crowd, so take that for what it's worth. It's a spin-off of the Shin Megami Tensei games, which I've not played, but plan to. They're similar in that they're excellent niche games that are generally underappreciated.
It occurs to me now that JRPG wasn't well defined. Are you including tactical games? There are many tactics games that also have strong RPG elements. The Fire Emblem series is, in general, excellent. Though it can be very difficult at times, especially if you hate having units die. Because they never come back. Characters tend to have individual stories, and it is sad when they die, but I find that to be a pretty nice element.
If you have a Ps3, download the Valkyria Chronicles demo. Then buy a few copies, because even people that didn't like the demo seem to like the game a lot. I don't know if I want to categorize it as a JRPG though. It's a tactical game, which mixes turn-based and real-time combat. It takes place in alternate world war two, and follows the story of a squad of people. It's kind of like Fire Emblem in that there are a few main characters and a bunch of side characters who you want to keep alive and.... you know what, just youtube it. It's hard to explain. But just about the best thing ever.
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Post by Admiral Lithp on Jun 26, 2009 3:35:12 GMT -5
Hell, the entire FF series. The problem is if you pick the wrong one. The reason I agree with VII is not just because I like it. He asked for something indicative of the genre. I was thinking X might be a better start, as it has an easier story, but the battle system in VII is more common. Plus, I feel that the story in X was too simplistic & straightforward. Even predictable, in a lot of areas. |
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Post by Patches on Jun 26, 2009 8:04:17 GMT -5
Hell, the entire FF series. The problem is if you pick the wrong one. The reason I agree with VII is not just because I like it. He asked for something indicative of the genre. I was thinking X might be a better start, as it has an easier story, but the battle system in VII is more common. Plus, I feel that the story in X was too simplistic & straightforward. Even predictable, in a lot of areas. There's nothing wrong with a plot that's easy to follow. I'm much more likely to be engrossed in a game if I can actually understand the characters' motivations and what effect my actions are supposed to be having, rather than constantly being thrown off-course by a billion plot twists and existential stuff that just doesn't make any sense. Heck, I hated FFVII when I first played it, so I sat on the game for a few years, then finally earlier this year pulled it out again to give it a second chance. And I was actually thoroughly enjoying it all the way through disc 1. Yeah, the characters were still as petty and unlikeable as I remembered, but I could follow the plot and all was good. And then... I got to disc 2. And the Sephiroth clones showed up. And I could physically feel my grasp on the plot in my head fall away, and I actually yelled at the screen, "No.... noooo, I was actually understanding it until now, and then you had to go pull this on me!" And then the plot just made no sense from there on out and I had no idea who I was fighting or why. |
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Post by Old Viking on Jun 26, 2009 17:25:49 GMT -5
Midget Bowling
[1] Find bowling pins.
[2] Find long, smooth area.
[3] Find cooperative midget.
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