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[RevenantKioku]

Is so good SMT 3 to the level of importing it ? I mean better than Xenosaga and Suikoden 3.

Well in my book those are all 3 quality games!
But you're not in the States I guess?

 

[ourumov]

You guessed right...Just wanted to hear how much do RPG freaks appreciate the game. IMO SMT3 is the coolest of the ones that were named here, just for Kazuma Kaneko but I really don't know what kind of gameplay does it offer.

 

[RevenantKioku]

If you imported the other ones (and even hated them) you still can't go wrong with SMT3.

 

[dark10x]

Well...

SMT is a very difficult game with tons of random battles that are all fairly challenging (with NO safe zones), an interesting and unique world to explore, and great art direction.

Shadow Hearts II is EXTREMELY story driven and presents its story better than the vast majority of RPGs on the market. Good sense of humor, enjoyable battle system, and great music.

Star Ocean III was an absolute blast to play. I found the dungeons to be way more enjoyable to explore than the other two games, the battles were super fun and fast (and not random), the music was godly, and the story was interesting enough to keep you going (though poorly presented).

Really, they are all very different games...

 

[radios shipping overview]

SMT is a very difficult game with tons of random battles that are all fairly challenging (with NO safe zones), an interesting and unique world to explore, and great art direction.

There are safe zones; they're just not that common. When the color in the radar display is blue, you're in an encounter-free area.

 

[Dragona Akehi]

I don't know what people are talking about when they say "high encounter rate". It's actually quite reasonable. Plus the radar tells you when you're about to hit a fight.

 

[duckroll]

If you want a long, deep, non-generic RPG with many options and a very original artstyle. Go with SMT3. But the journey will be hard and long, and you might lose your way more than once.

+fast battles
+all enemies are recruitable
+long game
+tons of stats management and spells
+excellent original worldview and artstyle
+great dungeons
+great music
-hard, very hard
-some battles can be cheap
-not for those who like FF style stories, because this is more like a satanic adult DQ
-random encounters
-some dungeons can be long and maze-like


If you want to go with a dungeon crawler with some very interesting systems and challenging gameplay, and you don't mind mediocre graphics in exchange for a pretty awesome party based Vagrant-Story-ish experience, go with BoFDQ.

+strategic battle system
+items can be used to distract/destroy enemies before the encounter
+no random encounters
+great music
+tons of replay value
+great dungeon crawling experience
-great dungeon crawling experience (heheh)
-can be a little too fustrating for some people
-lack of save points
-requirement of save tokens
-possible requirement to restart the game from the bottom if you mess up
-not so good graphics


Now on the other hand if you want to experience the worst game tri-ace has ever put out, and want to see how even with good graphics, good music, and a previously respected franchise you can see have a complete mess of a game, by all means pick up SO3.

+no loading
+large areas
+solid graphics
+no random encounters
+good dungeon design
+good music (not excellent though)
-terrible cutscene directing
-unbalanced battle system
-weak plot
-dumbed down systems from the rest of the series
-poor item creation
-boring enemy designs
-generic characters
-long but unfruitful adventure
-retarded plot twist

Hope that helps.

 

[quin]

I just bought shin megami tensei nocturne!! Its going to be my christmas weekened entertainment

 

[Shard]

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is the one you should choose.

 

[Bobety]

Is so good SMT 3 to the level of importing it ? I mean better than Xenosaga and Suikoden 3.

Go for it man, I'm in Australia and i imported my copy. It was sooo worth it, one of my favourite games this gen....Now i can't wait for digital devil saga

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Of those, Star Ocean 3 is the one I've beaten, and I will say know that the battle director of that game is an idiot; it ruined alot of fun from an otherwise damn fine RPG. Unless you were enamored with SO2 like I was, I'd suggest holding off on this title until the price drops to $30 or so, (which shouldn't be long with all the sales it got).

 

[xsarien]

And the winner is:
Marisa Tom---wait, wrong envelope.

I've scanned the additions to the thread that were made while I was out. For the record, game length means nothing to me. SMT3 is long? Awesome, that won't be a problem as long as the pacing is right. My biggest issue with FFX - really - was that for all the usual, predictable plot twists that I didn't really mind (but kind of sighed and squeezed my sinus region at), it was still about 5 hours too long because the story was moving in a very jerky, come and go manner. You could tell where the train of thought was "Add some battles here to make the game go longer."

As for the difficulty level? I consider Viewtiful Joe "really hard." Anything below that as gravy, and something tells me that a turn-based RPG can't possibly reach those levels. (Somehow, I think I just jinxed the whole thing.)

Anyway, thanks for the advice. I wasn't expecting this thread to get nearly this far, or, alternatively, I wasn't expecting it to get this far without blood being spilled. Mods/admins, feel free to keep it open for as long as things remain civil. Or lock it down, I don't care. There's nothing wrong with a good, old-fashioned RPG recommendation thread around this time of year anyway, especially with how popular gift cards-as-presents seem to be during the holidays.

 

[Bobety]

You made the right choice

 

[Tsubaki]

I'm a Capcom whore, but fuck DQ. Fuck it up its stupid ass.

Boohoo, so a big company decides to make an RPG that's less mindless then pressing the X-button to constantly choose the attack command.

To the OP, I recommend Growlanser Generations... if 2 + 3 are even 1/2 as good as Growlanser 1, then that's a good place indeed.

 

[duckroll]

Awesome choice, you did the right thing.

Oh and Tsubaki, come back to you-know-where, we miss you. ^^;;

 

[Do The Mario]

This thread is a japophilic orgy, go buy Baldur's gate 1 and 2 for the PC

 

[Ironclad]

This thread is a japophilic orgy, go buy Baldur's gate 1 and 2 for the PC

How did I know you were going to post that.

 

[Do The Mario]

How did I know you were going to post that.

I will prove I am not one dimensional

This thread is a japophilic orgy, go buy Icewind dale 1 and 2 for the PC or Planescaple

 

[sureshooting]

I will prove I am not one dimensional

This thread is a japophilic orgy, go buy Icewind dale gate 1 and 2 for the PC or Planescaple

Those games all came out 4+ years ago. I think you'll notice most suggestions in this thread are for games released this year or last.

Are you suggesting he play Fable? or Sudeki? :lol

 

[duckroll]

I will prove I am not one dimensional

This thread is a japophilic orgy, go buy Icewind dale gate 1 and 2 for the PC or Planescaple

Man, if you're going to just paste your previous post and edit it, at least edit the sentence properly. :lol

 

[Kanbee-san]

Those games all came out 4+ years ago. I think you'll notice most suggestions in this thread are for games released this year or last.

Are you suggesting he play Fable? or Sudeki? :lol

The guy wants to have fun right ?

 

[Do The Mario]

Man, if you're going to just paste your previous post and edit it, at least edit the sentence properly. :lol

Fuckin noob don’t you know what icewind gate is??


Playing Icewind dale with the baldur's gate 2 upgrades.

 

[duckroll]

Fuckin noob don’t you know what icewind gate is??


Playing Icewind dale with the baldur's gate 2 upgrades.

So..... it's either Icewind Gate or Icewind Dale Gate! Either you made a mistake then or you just made one now! HAHA! GOTCHA! :lol

 

[Do The Mario]

So..... it's either Icewind Gate or Icewind Dale Gate! Either you made a mistake then or you just made one now! HAHA! GOTCHA! :lol

There are two versions of the game, it is too complex for noobs to understand.

 

[Alex]

I dig me some BG2, but I don't blame anyone for avoiding anything based on D&D.

 

[duckroll]

There are two versions of the game, it is too complex for noobs to understand.

Oh.... I see. Sorry then, my mistake.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Boohoo, so a big company decides to make an RPG that's less mindless then pressing the X-button to constantly choose the attack command.

Hey, whatever. Love your BoF: DQ all you want. The game bored me to fucking tears.

 

[Odnetnin]

I'm Playing FFX-2 right now and I"m enjoying it way more than FFX - the cheesiness in part helps as does the kick ass battle system; That starting FMV? Hahaha. This game is like one huge chunk of cheese. I like it. I also believe the freedom to do whatever makes this less linear than FFX so that's always good. Way impressed with the ingame facial animation of the leads (when they do animate their faces). Can't wait to see what SE does for FF XII.

 

[Dead]

At least you saved yourself from playing the criminally awful Shadow Hearts 2. SMT3 is a fantastic game.

 

[dark10x]

I don't know what people are talking about when they say "high encounter rate". It's actually quite reasonable. Plus the radar tells you when you're about to hit a fight.

Reasonable? Hmmm...

Now I'm curious as to which RPGs you are thinking of when you say that. Honestly, I enjoy challenging RPGs, but random battles have become something that I simply cannot enjoy any longer. SMT is kind enough to give you an idea as to when you will fight, but I still found myself bothered by the fact that I'd often step out of battle and enter another fight after just a few steps. I recall someone mentioned that DQ7 was much worse than that, though. I'm sure there are others as well...

I've finished quite a few RPGs this year, and only SMTIII and SH2 feature random battles. In SH2's case, they are quite rare indeed. So, as a result, the encounter rate in SMT seemed VERY high to me.

Hey, whatever. Love your BoF: DQ all you want. The game bored me to fucking tears.

It almost seems as if you are insulting yourself. "I can't stand games that require something more than slamming the X button, DQ was above my head!!!11"

It IS a very different game, but it's so unique and rewarding to play. I just can't understand the hate.

 

[sureshooting]

BOF5Q is one of the most amazing games ever made. Its the best RPG since Final Fantasy Tactics. Its worth playing for the music, story, and atmosphere alone. The innovative and fun battle system is just a bonus.

Once you understand the SOL system, it isn't very hard--and if you decide to use the ant colony's stock market system, its easy.

The only thing is the limited saving. If you are careless and die, or if your PS2 powers down for some reason, it can be pretty punishing. Just don't play it during any thunderstorms. Frankly, it gives you enough save tokens to save in between each segment. I think the most you could lose in the case of a power outage is 1 or 2 hours of gameplay.

 

[Dujour]

earat :lol

 

[djtiesto]

I've seen BOFQ go from anywhere from $10-20... gonna eventually pick it up, but at that price, I'd suggest you try that... I've heard a surprising amount of good about that game on this board so I'm tempted to try it.

 

[RevenantKioku]

It almost seems as if you are insulting yourself. "I can't stand games that require something more than slamming the X button, DQ was above my head!!!11"

It IS a very different game, but it's so unique and rewarding to play. I just can't understand the hate.

I'm sorry, say that again? DQ was more than slamming X? Okay, lets press the analog a while and then slam X. Once I got Lyn, the battles required almost no thought, I was always getting the advantages because of her shots, and thanks to the uninteresting story, what interest I had in the game just dwindled.
In battle I never used skills, I never used items. I didn't need to. After a few hours of this, I just put it aside. Its not a terrible game, but its not the beacon of saving grace for the RPG genre that people like to call it.
But I thought we weren't doing this in this thread? Haha.

 

[Dragona Akehi]

Reasonable? Hmmm...

Now I'm curious as to which RPGs you are thinking of when you say that. Honestly, I enjoy challenging RPGs, but random battles have become something that I simply cannot enjoy any longer. SMT is kind enough to give you an idea as to when you will fight, but I still found myself bothered by the fact that I'd often step out of battle and enter another fight after just a few steps. I recall someone mentioned that DQ7 was much worse than that, though. I'm sure there are others as well...

I've finished quite a few RPGs this year, and only SMTIII and SH2 feature random battles. In SH2's case, they are quite rare indeed. So, as a result, the encounter rate in SMT seemed VERY high to me.

Pretty much any other RPG other than SMTIII that has random battles. You see, I hate random battles too. When I first played Lufia II way back when, I thought all RPGs would follow suit. Boy was I wrong.

The other thing that makes SMTIII's random encounter rate much easier to bear is how quickly battle goes. No loading, no stupid animations that take forever, much like all Dragon Quest games. Simple touch of the X button (going by SFC controller) and you're good to go for most battles.

It's like how I don't mind random encounters in a Dragon Quest game. Yes, the battle system is "simple" (though for boss battles you do need some strategy) and encounters are frequent, but battles take less than 30 seconds in most cases so it isn't a real bother unlike some series (see: any Final Fantasy).

I haven't gotten into a fight just a few steps after getting out of one though. Maybe I'm just luckier than you when it comes to that?

 

[isamu]

Welcome back Dragona

I have done a search but have not found your impressions on Dragon Quest VIII. What are your opnions of the game and has it lived up to the hype? Is it your favorite DQ so far?

 

[Dragona Akehi]

I haven't played it yet. It's called being broke.

 

[isamu]

I haven't played it yet. It's called being broke.

I'm sorry to hear that.

Make that money girl