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[Mejilan]

I particularly loved it when my AI-controlled party members "shut down" and did nothing but stand there, taking hits. Further, it was even more interesting playing a difficult fight whilst my main fighter decided to jump from one side of the battle screen to the other, and back, and forth, and doing nothing but.

Broken. Unfun.

 

[BobbyRobby]

Absolutely.

There's very few new RPGs, and every RPG series I can think of that continued onto the PS2 has gotten worse, except Shadow Hearts.

 

[Shabaz]

PS1 has much better rpg's then PS2. I haven't played a good rpg since FF7. I have bought FF8,9,10 and haven't finished any of them. Sick of the same queer main character. The few opther rpg's I have tried seem to be made for young kids.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Preach it! Less than a month!

The PS2's Japanese RPG lineup for this month and August is awesome. You've got Grandia 3, Shadow Hearts, Tales of Legendia, Summon Night, and Dragon Force.

 

[Shouta]

I particularly loved it when my AI-controlled party members "shut down" and did nothing but stand there, taking hits. Further, it was even more interesting playing a difficult fight whilst my main fighter decided to jump from one side of the battle screen to the other, and back, and forth, and doing nothing but.

Broken. Unfun.

I think it just hates you. My brother finished playing it recently (most of the time with me in the room) and the AI was with him the entire time. He basically was trapping all kinds regular enemies and bosses with the AI helping him every snigle step of the way. Unblockable combos are hilarious.

 

[Zeo]

It's not even a question, PSone was much better as far as RPGs go. Even though PS2 has amazing RPGs, I think for a good number of people, the ones on PSone were more memorable and "important" to them". KH2, Grandia 3, and FFXII will most likely be amazing (I hope), but it doesn't touch the list of much loved RPGs on PSone, in no particular order:

Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy Tactics
Vagrant Story
Suikoden
Suikoden II
Breath of Fire III
Breath of Fire IV
Legend of Dragoon
Parasite Eve
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete
Xenogears
Star Ocean: 2nd Story
Wild Arms
Final Fantasy Origins
Final Fantasy Anthology
Final Fantasy Chronicles
Legend of Legaia
Tales of Destiny
Alundra
Brave Fencer Musashi
Chrono Cross
Valkyrie Profile

And yes, I know you could argue a couple of those being "real" RPGs, but since people are mentioning stuff like Kingdom Hearts, I think it's fine. And I'm sure some people will say some of those suck, but that doesn't really matter as they are all generally loved and very well reviewed games.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

I see people complaining about the lack of characterization in SMT3. The main character functions more or less as a blank avatar that you take through the world. The main SMT games have never been about deep player narrative, but about exploring the world, encountering different ideologies and deciding which is the correct path to take. If you want characterization go play an off shoot like Persona or DDS.

 

[Finaika]

SO3's combat rocked, haters be damned.

Indeed.

I particularly loved it when my AI-controlled party members "shut down" and did nothing but stand there, taking hits. Further, it was even more interesting playing a difficult fight whilst my main fighter decided to jump from one side of the battle screen to the other, and back, and forth, and doing nothing but.

Broken. Unfun.

Your AI-controlled party members are low in HP/MP and thus waiting for u to heal them while they try to evade enemy attacks... just heal them up and they will fight like normal again.

 

[Tamanon]

SO3 has an amazingly fun combat system, but an absolutely atrocious and boring story.....So when I tended to get to a long story part, I put the game away, that's probabyl why I'll never finish it haha.

 

[dark10x]

SO3's combat rocked, haters be damned.

Yep. Totally agreed. Never had any problems with the AI either...

 

[Dead]

Yep. Totally agreed. Never had any problems with the AI either...

I'll fourth this mention. Loved the combat and had little to no problem with the AI. I'm currently going through the game after an extended break, I love synthesizing my weapons into uber-godly insanely powerful items. Too bad it costs millions to do so much

 

[Electrii]

I haven't played an RPG since skies of arcadia for the Dreamcast (which I loved), and I'm not too up to date with the PS2's RPG selection.

What's the absolute best of the bunch? might as well ask here.

 

[Amir0x]

This calls for a list of all RPGs!

PlayStation (PSX):

Alundra
Arc the Lad
Arc the Lad II
Arc the Lad III
Arc the Lad Collection
Atelier Marie
Azure Dreams
Bastard!!
Beyond the Beyond
Blaze & Blade: Eternal Quest
Bounty Hunter Sara
Brave Fencer Musashi
Brave Prove
Breath of Fire III
Breath of Fire IV
Chocobo's Dungeon
Chrono Cross
Darkstone
Deception
Diablo
Digimon World
Digimon World 2
Dragon Knight 4
Dragon Valor
Dragon Warrior VII
Eternal Eyes
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy Anthology
Final Fantasy Chronicles
Final Fantasy Origins
Final Fantasy Tactics
Grandia
Granstream Saga, The
Guardian's Crusade
GUNNM Martian Memory
Harvest Moon: Back To Nature
Jade Cocoon: Story of Tamamayu
King's Field
King's Field II
Koudelka
Legend of Dragoon, The
Legend of Legaia
Legend of Mana
Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
Monkey Hero
Parasite Eve
Parasite Eve 2
Persona
Persona 2: Innocent Sin
PoPoLoCrois
PoPoLoCrois II
Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure
RPG Maker
SaGa Frontier
SaGa Frontier II
Saiyuki: Journey West
Shadow Madness
Shadow Tower
Sonata
Star Ocean: The Second Story
Suikoden
Suikoden II
Summon Night
Tactics Ogre
Tales of Destiny
Tales of Destiny II
Thousand Arms
Threads of Fate
Torneko: The Last Hope
Vagrant Story
Valkyrie Profile
Vanguard Bandits
Wild Arms
Wild Arms: 2nd Ignition
Xenogears

PlayStation 2 (PS2):

Arc the Lad: End of Darkness
Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits
Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II
Bard's Tale, The
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
Champions of Norrath
Champions: Return to Arms
Code Age Commanders*
Culdcept
Dark Cloud
Dark Cloud 2
Digimon World 4
Disgaea
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Drakengard
Drakengard II*
Dual Hearts
Dynasty Tactics
Ephemeral Fantasia
Eternal Ring
Evergrace
EverQuest Online Adventures
EverQuest Online Adventures: Frontiers
Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X-2
Final Fantasy XI
Final Fantasy XI: Chains of Promathia (Expansion)
Final Fantasy XII*
Forever Kingdom
Fullmetal Alchemist 2: Curse of the Crimson
Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel
Future Tactics: The Uprising
Graffiti Kingdom
Growlanser Generations
Grandia II
Grandia III*
Grandia Xtreme
hack//GU
hack//Infection Part 1
hack//Mutation Part 2
hack//Outbreak Part 3
hack//Quarantine Part 4
Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland
Heroes of Might and Magic: Quest for the Dragon Bone Staff
Inuyasha: The Secret of the Cursed Mask
Jade Cocoon 2
King's Field: The Ancient City
Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts II*
Legaia 2: Duel Saga
Lord of the Rings, The Third Age, The
Legend of Alon D'ar, The
Magic Pengel: The Quest for Color
Magna Carta: Tears of Blood*
Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome
Mega Man X: Command Mission
Monster Hunter
Monster Hunter 2*
Musashi Samurai Legend
Nightmare of Druaga, The
Okage: Shadow King
Orphen: Scion of Sorcery
Phantasy Star Universe*
Phantom Brave
Radiata Stories*
Romancing SaGa*
RPG Maker 2
RPG Maker 3
Sega Ages: Phantasy Star Trilogy
Shadow Hearts
Shadow Hearts: Covenant
Shadow Hearts III*
Shining Force NEO
Shining Tears
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2*
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time
Stella Deus
Suikoden III
Suikoden IV
Summoner
Summoner 2
Tales of Legendia*
Tsugunai: Atonement
Unlimited SaGa
Virtua Quest
Wild Arms 3
Wild Arms Alter Code: F
Wizard of Funk
Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land
Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht
Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose
X-Men Legends
X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse*
Ys: The Ark of Napishtim


*These games have not been released in the US yet, or at all.



I'm sure I'm missing tons, or there's a mistake somewhere... or a misrepresented genre... but here it is! I definitely give PS2 the wide edge, but with PSX having one or two RPGs that are nearer to my heart.

 

[djtiesto]

I thought PS1 had much better RPGs personally - including Star Ocean 2 and Valkyrie Profile, 2 of my favorite games ever. You know something's gotta be wrong when people say KOTOR is the best RPG this generation. PS2 still has time to catch up, since many of PS1's best RPGs (Valkyrie Profile, Grandia, etc) came late in its lifecycle, and there's a lot of interesting stuff coming out for PS2 later this year and next year. Phantasy Star Collection, Phantasy Star Universe, DQ8, Radiata Stories, Grandia III, FFXII, and maybe some more surprises).

And yeah, voice acting is the *WORST* thing to happen to RPGs, since ever. Reading stilted and cliched RPG dialogue is fine by me, but when you get C grade Cartoon Network actors to act it out for 40 hours on end, ugh, it makes me want to rip my ears out!

 

[Zeo]

I thought PS1 had much better RPGs personally - including Star Ocean 2 and Valkyrie Profile, 2 of my favorite games ever. You know something's gotta be wrong when people say KOTOR is the best RPG this generation. PS2 still has time to catch up, since many of PS1's best RPGs (Valkyrie Profile, Grandia, etc) came late in its lifecycle, and there's a lot of interesting stuff coming out for PS2 later this year and next year. Phantasy Star Collection, Phantasy Star Universe, DQ8, Radiata Stories, Grandia III, FFXII, and maybe some more surprises).

And yeah, voice acting is the *WORST* thing to happen to RPGs, since ever. Reading stilted and cliched RPG dialogue is fine by me, but when you get C grade Cartoon Network actors to act it out for 40 hours on end, ugh, it makes me want to rip my ears out!

I argree.

If they all were as good as FFX (not that it didn't have its problems), I wouildn't care as much I guess.

But I miss text. Reading text in the PSone FFs or Mario RPG, etc.. it has a different feel to it. You get to imagine what the characters sound like. It's a more rewarding experience, to me.

 

[Drinky Crow]

For once, I agree with Zeo. Fuck VA work. Get that shit outta my games.

 

[SantaC]

For once, I agree with Zeo. Fuck VA work. Get that shit outta my games.

wtf I would never thought that you of all people prefer text to VA

I guess the lack of VA in upcoming Zelda wont bother you then.

 

[Drinky Crow]

No, and in fact I embrace it. The one thing I honestly -do- love about Nintendo is their reluctance to employ voice acting in their games.

Fuck hearing Cam Clarke as Generic Anime Fag #69 -again-.

 

[SantaC]

No, and in fact I embrace it. The one thing I honestly -do- love about Nintendo is their reluctance to employ voice acting in their games.

Fuck hearing Cam Clarke as Generic Anime Fag #69 -again-.

Someone should tell that to Matt Cassablanka and his stupid VA campaign for zelda.

 

[Red Scarlet]

They're about even for me..similar number of really good ones that I still will actually play, and similar number of crap on both.

 

[jiggle]

I'm sure I'm missing tons, or there's a mistake somewhere

You're counting SRPG right? Missing Disgaea, Phantom Brave and Stell Deus.



Just comparing the RPGs that I like from each, PS2 is slightly behind, but there's alot of upcoming releases that i'm really looking forwardd to. So, PS2 for the win.


PS1
Breath of Fire III
Chrono Cross
Dragon Warrior VII
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy Tactics
Harvest Moon: Back To Nature
Legend of Mana
Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
Parasite Eve
SaGa Frontier
SaGa Frontier II
Saiyuki: Journey West
Star Ocean: The Second Story
Suikoden
Tales of Destiny
Tales of Destiny II
Tales of Phantasia
Valkyrie Profile
Vandal Heart
Wild Arms
Xenogears



PlayStation 2 (PS2):
Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
Dark Cloud
Dark Cloud 2
Disgaea
Dragon Quest Vr
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X-2
Growlanser Generations
Houshin Engi 2
Kingdom Hearts
Phantom Brave
Shadow Hearts
Shadow Hearts: Covenant
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time
Suikoden III
Tales of Destiny 2
Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht
Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose

Upcoming:
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Code Age Commanders
Final Fantasy XII
Grandia III
Kingdom Hearts II
Magna Carta: Tears of Blood
Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome
Phantasy Star Universe
Radiata Stories
Romancing SaGa
Shadow Hearts III
Shining Force NEO
Tales of Legendia

 

[NexusEggy]

anyone wanna bet matt will deduct points from Zelda for not having VA?

 

[LittleTokyo]

My problem with a lot of PS2 RPGs, particularly coming from square, is that they are trying to mess with a formula that works, and coming up with mixed results. I long for the days of FFVI and Chrono Trigger, where the gameplay was simple and addictive, but there was also an interesting story being told. Final Fantasy VII was the last game that successfully achieved something similar to the old SNES classics, because the gameplay wasn't overly complex or gimmicky, and the tale was worthwhile.

Since then, it seems that RPGs have just become twists on the classic style. The results, as mentioned before, vary. FFVIII's junction system was awesome, FFXs skill grid was okay, and stuff like Xenosaga IIs skill list was awful.

Overall, I'd say that the PSOne still beats the PS2 in terms of quantity, but the quality remains pretty consistently inconsistent.

 

[soul.less]

IMO, the PSone had better RPGs than most systems (except for the SNES, of course).

 

[MoxManiac]

SMT generic? Haha. Hell, SMT makes all of Square's stuff look generic in comparision.

I've yet to play anything this gen that matches Valkyrie Profile, so i'm still waiting.

 

[iclash]

I have to agree, the PSX was the king of RPG's--Valkyrie Profile, the Lunar games, and Vagrant Story are some of my all time favorites, from any generation. The PS2 is no slouch though--Shadow Hearts 2 is easily one of my all time favorites as well, and I loved FFX. Magna Carta, FFXII, Romancing Saga, and DQ9 all look very promising. Too bad we never got a chrono game this generation...I guess there is still time. I'm sure the PS2 will be a viable platform for at least a year after the PS3 comes out. Maybe longer. Oh, for the record, I've played through light and dark side on KOTOR. Its not the best RPG from this generation...best on on the XBOX, but that's not saying much.

 

[Calidor]

about the voice acting... I dont mind about it, as long as it keeps the original japanese voices with english text, if you watch the FFXII trailer with the japanese voices you can see they are very good.

 

[bionic77]

Yes. Easily.

Nothing thus far tops Suikoden II, Valkyrie Profile, FFVII-IX, Final Fantasy Tactics, Xenogears, Vagrant Story, Tales of Destiny, Star Ocean II, Grandia, and so forth. I think it's pretty fucking ridiculous.

The only things even close to to matching the quality we had last gen rpg wise are the SMT games, FFX, and Suikoden III.

Yeah the PS2 hasn't really had any mindblowing rpgs yet. Kingdom Hearts and Disagea are probably the two closest, but neither one of them is that amazing. Kingdom Hearts had some flawed gameplay (that Tarzan level was horrible), but it is the only rpg to date with good voice acting. FFX had some of the worst voice acting ever and I can't get into a rpg where I despise the hero.

Definitely not in the same league as FFT, Xenogears, or Suikoden 1 or 2. Those games are all rpg classics for me and that is not even including some of my favs like FF9, Vagrant Story, or Star Ocean.

Like a lot of people said though, PS2 has time to make up for that. Who would have guessed that the best rpg this generation would come on the GBA (Fire Emblem bitches)?

 

[Scott]

I realize Amir0x posted lists already, but I've wanted to make myself an updated one anyhow. So, if anybody is interested, here are some links to the lists (jpg form):

PlayStation: http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/8483/psone6ae.jpg
PlayStation 2: http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/2299/pstwo9ez.jpg

The lists are entirely US-centric, so all of the titles that were Japan-only aren't listed. The "Coming Soon" section only applies to this side of the pond, as well, though there are a few titles listed that are likely to end up Japan-only.

As always, adventure titles are not included, and I did my best to leave off hybrids.


EDIT:
Have a couple mistakes on the lists:
• Missing a * after "Gundam True Odyssey: Legend of the Forgotten G."
• I forgot "Brigandine: The Legend of Forsena" on the PSOne list.
• I forgot "Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse" on the Available Now list for PS2.
• I forgot "Suikoden Tactics*" on the Coming Soon list for PS2.

Whoops. :\

 

[SolidSnakex]

Ahh you listed Zwei..Someone needs to pick that up

 

[Reilly]

Ahh you listed Zwei..Someone needs to pick that up

That game looks super cool

 

[Mejilan]

Isn't Zwei that Nihon Falcom Action RPG... for the PC? Or am I thinking of something else?

 

[Beezy]

I'm gonna have to say PS2 because it will have Grandia 3.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Isn't Zwei that Nihon Falcom Action RPG

Yep that's it. I've been interested in it since I saw the screens not too long ago. With it coming to the PS2 that raises the chances of someone picking it up. Someone like Nis seems likely.

...

You're kidding right?

It's going to be the best RPG of this gen, so why not?

 

[Mejilan]

I just hope that Grandia 3 doesn't turn out to be another SO3... G-d, I'm looking forward to DW8 and Grandia 3 so g-ddamn much.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

I need to remind myself to try find a copy of Shadow Hearts Covenant.

 

[Bebpo]

Man, Grandia III lovers are setting themselves up for a huge disappointment. RPG of this generation?

Like that picture SSX posted and someone asked if you could go into the background forest. The answer is no. The background is a 2d image after a certain point in the distance (you can tell where the grass cuts out) and going by the trailers the game is very on-rails (look at the map), more-so than SO3.

Grandia 3 could be really good, but I wouldn't be expecting a work of art. Not after Grandia 2.

 

[jett]

Man, Grandia III lovers are setting themselves up for a huge disappointment. RPG of this generation?

Like that picture SSX posted and someone asked if you could go into the background forest. The answer is no. The background is a 2d image after a certain point in the distance (you can tell where the grass cuts out) and going by the trailers the game is very on-rails (look at the map), more-so than SO3.

Grandia 3 could be really good, but I wouldn't be expecting a work of art. Not after Grandia 2.

It also has a bad case of TEH JAGGIEZ.

 

[Bebpo]

It also has a bad case of TEH JAGGIEZ.

Yeah, but besides KH2 what doesn't

 

[Zeenbor]

I'd have to say PSone, at this point and time. I don't know if much can touch FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX, Vagrant Story, FFT, Chrono Cross, Xenogears, and Valkyrie Profile.

The only PS2 RPG that I've really enjoyed is FFX, which was just barely better than FFVIII. I did enjoy FFXI, but it was too time consuming for my tastes. Hopefully, I'll be able to add Grandia 3, Radiata Stories, and FFXII to that list.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Grandia 3 could be really good, but I wouldn't be expecting a work of art. Not after Grandia 2.

Things are chaing up a bit though. It's more free roaming now (no more select location and you're instantly there), its gone from the "watch me rage" hero Ryudo back to the "I want to be an adventurer" hero which GameArts does better than any company. So I think it'll be the best RPG this gen if its really the old GA that I came to love with games like Lunar and the original Grandia.

 

[jett]

Yeah, but besides KH2 what doesn't

From what I can tell, FFX and Dark Cloud 2 don't.

 

[Sanjuro]

PS1. If you count the collections like the FF ones even more so.

 

[Ronok]

FFX is the only game I can think of with good English voice acting, and there it’s only, in my opinion passable.

*vomits*

That's what you call good voice acting? o.o I need a bucket. >.<

 

[Synbios459]

I don't mean to derail this thread, but seeing as how they're are alot of RPG buffs here, I was wondering if someone can tell me which version of the Lunar games are better, PSX or SEGA CD?

 

[demi]

They both have their fair share of RPGs that appease me, but I might just have to go with the PSOne on this matter.

Guardian's Crusade, cmon people. And Parasite Eve!

 

[jarrod]

PSone wins by a landslide... Alundra, Tactics Ogre, Final Fantasy Tactics, Valkyrie Profile, Vagrant Story, Dragon Warrior VII, Grandia... the only thing on PS2 that comes close to those is Dragon Quarter. Dragon Quest VIII, Grandia III and Final Fantasy XII might tip the scales back a bit, but even then PS2 won't have games in subgenres that can compare to the best on PSone (like Alundra or Tactics Ogre).

 

[Ranger X]

To me it's PS1.

FF7, FF9, FF Anthology, FF Chronicles, FF Origins, Suikoden, Suikoden2, Wild Arms, Alundra, Xenogears, Lunar Silver Star, Lunar Eternal Blue.

On the PS2 side...

Dark Cloud 2 and the upcoming Dragon Quest 8 and FF12.

 

[djtiesto]

I don't mean to derail this thread, but seeing as how they're are alot of RPG buffs here, I was wondering if someone can tell me which version of the Lunar games are better, PSX or SEGA CD?

My best friend swears by the SEGA CD versions... he says the music is much better in them.

 

[snaildog]

Someone should tell that to Matt Cassablanka and his stupid VA campaign for zelda.

Haha, yeah. VA would take away the charm from the Zelda games completely. Idiot goes on about it in every preview.