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[ToxicAdam]

I finally finished up Tales of Symphonia and Star Ocean 3 this past week, and started into Baten Kaitos. Pretty underwhelming for me, considering some of the hype for these games. RPG's are all subjective, but it has been a pretty bad generation for them considering the previous two (generations) were so great.

The only thing that gives me hope is looking at all the RPG's we have to look forward to next year, it has the potential to be one of the greatest years in recent history:

FFXII
Tales of Legendia
Wild Arms 4
Kingdom Hearts II
Rogue Galaxy (from the makers of Dark Cloud 2)
Xenosage Ep III
Code Age Commandos (Square/Enix)
Shadow Hearts
.Hack//G.U.


Not a bad lineup. But is it enough to save this generation?

 

[callous]

Ok, second RPG thread in a row with no mention of Phantasy Star Universe. Wtf?

To answer your question, I think PSU, FFXII and DQVIII will go a long way towards repairing this generation's RPG image, but I still don't see it reaching PSX levels of goodness.

 

[commish]

I'm waiting for some uber psp rpg's.

 

[Kurosaki Ichigo]

Suikoden V
Ar Tonelico
Seiken Densetsu 4
Devil Summoner

Time will tell...

PD: Oh yeah PSU....Monster Hunter 2...Kingdom Hearts 2....Baten Kaitos 2....

 

[SolidSnakex]

No mention of Devil Summoner 2 either.

 

[hahahax]

and Grandia III

 

[radios shipping overview]

Tales of Legendia
Wild Arms 4
Xenosaga Ep III
Code Age Commandos (Square/Enix)
.Hack//G.U.

If this generation needed saving as far as RPGs go, these would not be the games to do it.

Please play SMT3, DDS1-2, Romancing SaGa, DQ8, etc., and get back to us.

 

[Pellham]

Huh I thought this generation was better than the previous one.

But anyway next gen RPGs are looking to be even better than anything before them. But then again i'm looking forward to Oblivion so..

I am hoping for more immersive RPGs content/gameplay-wise this gen, as opposed to more cinematic ones.

 

[Duck of Death]

Dragon Quest VIII has saved the genre for me.

 

[Diseased Yak]

Dragon Quest VIII has saved the genre for me.

Totally agree. I actually was thinking that I'd lost my love of rpgs. DDS didn't hold my attention past 15 hours or so, ToS I got to the 2nd disc but never finished, etc. etc. But then along comes DQ8 and suddenly I realize it wasn't me, but the bland rpgs I'd been playing.

I'll never buy an rpg again until I read impressions/reviews that say it is at least as fun as DQ8...

 

[CompositeMolar]

Dragon Quest VIII is THE rpg of this generation and I don't expect any games to top it next year.

 

[djtiesto]

Totally agree about DQ8 saving the generation for me, although I also readily admit to loving Radiata Stories and Shadow Hearts. I've heard mixed reviews for many of the above in the Japanese version impressions thread... But what I'm really hoping turns out good is Rogue Galaxy. The Skies of Arcadia/Phantasy Star style of travelling through the sky/space really appeals to me, although the plot right now seems extremely cliche. Level 5 has done a great job with Dark Cloud 2 and DQ8 so hopefully they're only improving their talents. I'm also crossing my fingers for PS Universe because as you may or may not know I'm a major fan of the PS games of old.

 

[gblues]

DQ8 FTW. Although I'm expecting TES4: Oblivion to be top shelf too.

Nathan

 

[Ark-AMN]

DQ8 and Paper Mario 2 were the RPG's for me!

 

[ziran]

I finally finished up Tales of Symphonia and Star Ocean 3 this past week, and started into Baten Kaitos. Pretty underwhelming for me, considering some of the hype for these games. RPG's are all subjective, but it has been a pretty bad generation for them considering the previous two (generations) were so great.

The only thing that gives me hope is looking at all the RPG's we have to look forward to next year, it has the potential to be one of the greatest years in recent history:

FFXII
Tales of Legendia
Wild Arms 4
Kingdom Hearts II
Rogue Galaxy (from the makers of Dark Cloud 2)
Xenosage Ep III
Code Age Commandos (Square/Enix)
Shadow Hearts
.Hack//G.U.


Not a bad lineup. But is it enough to save this generation?

not for me. i'm fed up of rpgs, most of the ones i've played this gen have been underwhelming and they're too time consuming. imo, they've become interactive teen soap operas, which i don't like.

i enjoyed the snes/megadrive, ps1/saturn and gba rpgs much more.

 

[Ranger X]

I don't know what's wrong with devellopers about traditional RPG genre.
This gen it seems to be all about "hey look, we invented a new battle system and we named this system because it's cool". But it also comes to "oh fuck we didn't had time/money to make the rest of the game interesting". lol

Traditional RPGs doesn't seem to know where they are going. They try to evolve the genre or change it but it's like they try to convince themselves that stuff in wrong in those games. Changing stuff for changing stuff isn't good.

One of the best example i can give, Dragon Quest 8 seems to be receiving so much love right now and it's one of those rare RPGs this gen that used the "if it ain't broke why fix it" approach.
Long live DQ8, it rules imo.

 

[Rei_Toei]

My interest for RPG's faded somewhat this gen, but I'm not sure wether to blame it on uninspired game design or an overdose of fun RPG's last gen. If Handheld RPG's count - I've had mad fun with FFTA, FE, GS and Riviera on the GBA. Perhaps I'll get 'back into' RPG's with next gen, right now I'm only interested in the main titles (DQVIII, FFXII, RG, MC)

 

[Tarazet]

Well, the best RPGs this gen for my taste were:

An easy, linear hand-holding game with an appeal too broad for my tastes (FFX)
An FFX clone with some Pokemon elements and a very dark storyline (SMT: Nocturne)
An FFX clone with a deep and complex storyline and tons of characters (Suikoden III)
A strong SRPG with a gimpy storyline and poor voice acting (Suikoden Tactics)
A pair of awesome SRPGs with great VA, rich art direction and intuitive battles (Growlanser Generations)
A less-inspired sequel to a great N64 game (Paper Mario 2)

...But for my tastes, only a couple of these games stand up to Grandia, Breath of Fire III, FFVII, FFT, Valkyrie Profile, Vagrant Story, or Chrono Cross...

 

[Rahul]

This gen was already saved when Capcom released Dragon Quarter and Square Enix gave us FFX-2.

 

[Bebpo]

Best rpgs are already out this gen. Besides FFXII, I really don't think any of the coming rpgs will top what's already been released (well, FM5 could be better than FM4).

If you think that this generation hasn't had good rpgs, you just haven't been looking in the right places.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Best rpgs are already out this gen. Besides FFXII, I really don't think any of the coming rpgs will top what's already been released (well, FM5 could be better than FM4).

If you think that this generation hasn't had good rpgs, you just haven't been looking in the right places.

Exactly. Two of the best RPGs I've ever played (SMT3 and DQVIII) came from this generation.

 

[Razoric]

Best rpgs are already out this gen. Besides FFXII, I really don't think any of the coming rpgs will top what's already been released (well, FM5 could be better than FM4).

If you think that this generation hasn't had good rpgs, you just haven't been looking in the right places.

I'm inclined to agree with this. Suikoden 5 and FFXII will most likely secure it as one of the best generations of RPG gaming for me.

 

[birdchili]

The transition to 3d in the last couple of generations really hurt gameplay for rpgs. More linearity, less exploration, narrow paths between locations. Also, the focus on cinematics was a hit on the amount of dev cash that got spent on making the actual *game* good.

Now that the novelty of 3d has worn off a bit and the tech issues have been more-or-less resolved, I'm hoping for a return to some of the old gameplay styles (in 3d worlds). Dragon Quest is sitting on the coffee table in shrink wrap at home and by all accounts is going to be a big, magic, time sink for me.

Also third (fourth?) Nocturne as a must-try from this generation. I could complain about it a bit (it's overly long, and there are some annoying dungeon design decisions), but I could harp on every ps1 rpg I like too. A finely crafted game all considered. (Play on "hard"

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

A finely crafted game all considered. (Play on "hard"

Good Lord, that's just cruel. I can't even imagine what the

Spoiler

fight against Lucifer

is like on hard.

 

[Lionheart]

I think (hope) that four of the RPG's that will be released next year (FF XII, DQ VIII (PAL), Rogue Galaxy and KH II) will be in my top 7-8 RPG's of this generation. From what I've heard and seen about FF XII and from what I've played of Matsuno's previous games (completed FFT and played a bit of Vagrant Story), I've got a feeling that FF XII will be the best RPG of this generation. I also think Rogue Galaxy will deliver as I really liked Dark Chronicle and RG seems to be more epic while still having as much content as DC and a good battle system in addition to great graphics and music. The latest trailer is awesome.

I also seem to be one of the few people who really liked Kingdom Hearts and the sequel seems to use the same formula, with a darker story and improvements here and there. Square has taken its time with the sequel, so I expect a lot of this one as well.

I'm still a bit doubtful about DQ VIII though. I've read good things about it, but I've never played a DQ and I kinda learned this gen that I don't like many (console) RPG's outside the FF series. I haven't tried many of the recent 'niche' RPG's like SMT / Disgaea and sequels (not really interested in them tbh) yet, but games like ToS, SoA: L, Fire Emblem and Grandia II have not lived up to the reviews and impressions I had read. Some of them were OK, but not close to a game like FF X. I'll definitely try DQ VIII though, I hope it's worth it.

 

[Musashi Wins!]

If I just finished Tales of Symphonia and Star Ocean 3 I'd be bemoaning the death of a genre and intelligence as well. Ugh. Brain mush.

Tales of Symphonia could have been great if the goddamned story wasn't written like a fan fiction for a generic child hentai. It's a shame because the fighting was pretty fun.

Exactly.

 

[Duck of Death]

Tales of Symphonia could have been great if the goddamned story wasn't written like a fan fiction for a generic child hentai. It's a shame because the fighting was pretty fun.

 

[birdchili]

Good Lord, that's just cruel. I can't even imagine what the

Spoiler

fight against Lucifer

is like on hard.

I'll concede that the aforementioned game-length caused me to rush the final hours of the game and end up avoiding this specific confrontation (I was sooo close too)... I shall perhaps take another run at this at some future time, but my clock is somewhere around 80 hours, so I'm ready for a break.

I only played for a few hours on "normal" and then re-started on "hard". There were a few times where I was savaged unfairly, but the combat system seemed pretty-balanced on the whole. While the strategy wasn't really "deep" per-se, I felt that I was often one "mistake" away from death. No "press X" over and over - which is fine by me. The "game over" screen was almost always preceeded by me saying "whoops!", which is the way turn-based combat needs to be set up.

...and the character art is just fantastic.

 

[Kurosaki Ichigo]

Tales of Symphonia could have been great if the goddamned story wasn't written like a fan fiction for a generic child hentai. It's a shame because the fighting was pretty fun.

Yeah, I felt the same in Star Ocean 3. Superb gameplay, lame very lame story and characters development...

Anyway, Tales of Legendia is more about the characters and story than battles...just don't play character quests, they are very repetitive :/
I wonder where all the good guionist are when Namco Tales Studio needs one...

PD: gameplay-wise...Tales of Rebirth > every rpg I have played this gen. Its marvellous, 2D graphics too.....but the story and characters are SO boring and cliche T_T

 

[MetatronM]

An FFX clone with some Pokemon elements and a very dark storyline (SMT: Nocturne)

In what way was SMT: Nocturne an FFX clone? The battle system was nothing like FFX. The world and level design was nothing like FFX. The skills progression and experience system was nothing like FFX. The party system was nothing like FFX. The storyline was certainly nothing like FFX. The presentation was nothing like FFX.

I just don't see what you're getting at. At all.

 

[Error]

SMT:N saved this gen RPGs for me.

 

[Pellham]

Exactly. Two of the best RPGs I've ever played (SMT3 and DQVIII) came from this generation.

Hell i'll be honest. I played almost every PS1 RPG that came out stateside and a few japanese ones, and the only ones that were really good in my opinion were Vagrant Story, DQ7 and DQ4 remake (no surprise there). If we're counting SRPGs then there's a few more super awesome hits, but none of them came out stateside.

This generation kicked all amounts of ass in terms of quality RPGs. More in the lines of quantity then quality as in the superfami/pc engine era, but whatever.

 

[MetatronM]

I'm still a bit doubtful about DQ VIII though. I've read good things about it, but I've never played a DQ and I kinda learned this gen that I don't like many (console) RPG's outside the FF series. I haven't tried many of the recent 'niche' RPG's like SMT / Disgaea and sequels (not really interested in them tbh) yet, but games like ToS, SoA: L, Fire Emblem and Grandia II have not lived up to the reviews and impressions I had read. Some of them were OK, but not close to a game like FF X. I'll definitely try DQ VIII though, I hope it's worth it.

DQVIII is like a breath of fresh air right now. Sometimes it's best just to get back to basics.

I have to say the world design is incredible in DQ VIII, too. The sheer wonderment of running around the countryside and climbing up great hills and mountains to take in the world unfolding before you is just flat out awesome. The full orchestra soundtrack ought to be mandatory for epic quest style RPGs from now on, too.

 

[Takuan]

Dragon Quest VIII has saved the genre for me.

Same here. The excellent voice work adds a great deal of personality and charm to the otherwise generic DBZ cast (save Yangus - YAY YANGUS) with equally cliched backgrounds. The monster design is a hoot, too.

COR BLIMEY!

 

[Duck of Death]

Yeah, Dragon Quest VIII is one of those games where its fun to simply run around and explore the world. I wish the game had a camera feature of some sort; catching the sunset on certain hills or in certain little patches of woods is beautiful.

 

[Javaman]

The view distance adds a lot of immersiveness for me. It's amazing being able to see your next destination far across the landscape as soon as you leave town.

 

[MoxManiac]

This generation has been amazing for RPGs to me. You've just been playing the wrong ones, methinks. I thought ToS was painfully average and nowhere near worthy of the hype it gets. Haven't dug into SO3 yet.

Off the top of my head, my favorites this gen have been SMT: Nocturne, SMT: Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2, DQ8, Romancing Saga, BOF: Dragon Quarter, Radiata Stories and Grandia Xtreme. If SRPGs count, there's the N1 games, Suikoden Tactics, and Fire Emblem: PoR.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

I do notice alot of titles on that list that I hope "save" their series in my mind, at least: FFXII, Suikoden V, and Front Mission 5.

And save the generation? Big shoes to fill for any game, (besides, the Megaten offerings done this already. )

 

[Carm]

Did they fix the stuttering in DQ8 that was present in the demo when enemies and your party were loading onto the battlefield, in the retail version?

 

[Catchpenny]

I agree with everyone on the weak points of ToS. However, the fighting system is top-notch, and the game sports impressive dungeons along with a lot of optional content. Plus it has a world map! Nothing near as impressive as DQ8 of course, but still a lot better than the point-to-point travelling in a lot of modern JRPGs. So I enjoyed the game despite the brain-dead anime stereotypes, and would probably put it in my Top 5 RPG list for this gen.

As for the upcoming games, most of the stuff already released in Japan seems to be disappointing. I still plan to pick up Legendia, WA4 and SH3, but expectations have been dialed down. Hopefully Rogue Galaxy and Suikoden V won't suffer the same fate.