dancrane212
Member
The game lives up to the art; it really is worth checking out if you are at all interested. Goes pretty cheap when sales roll around too.
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NeoGAF's Essential RPGs: 2017-2018 edition - Vote open until Oct 13th - Win Free RPGs
- Thread starter kswiston
- Start date
The game lives up to the art; it really is worth checking out if you are at all interested. Goes pretty cheap when sales roll around too.
The gameplay in Fates is one step forward, two steps backward imo.
I was also a bit bummed out by Awakening in the end, so I quit Fates early on and it's hard to motivate me to get back in haha.
Shadows of Valentia was great for me. They didn't cheap out on the presentation. Maps were horrible yes, but I was used to that after playing Gaiden for a bit. I wasn't expecting them to change that. While the game still has some flaws, I found it charming.
Yeah I have another post on that very page. I'd be willing if it came up.
Incendiary
Banned
First of all, thanks for the code for Cosmic Star Heroine - it's a game I always meant to get and play but never got around to, so maybe by next list it will be one of my essentials!
Secondly, yay I got quoted for Alpha Protocol - I'll take it as it's one of my favorite RPGs and one I'll gladly champion for if anybody asks.
Thirdly, the banners and organization look awesome! Thanks for doing this to kswiston and anyone else who helped out!
For me Fates was just literally too much. I didn't have it in me to grind out parents and kids three times and figure out their best ability sets and stats. It got exhausting and I wasn't invested in the story due to just the insane glut of characters. It's the first FE I played that I didn't finish (any version of it) and burnt me out on FE so bad I'm barely chugging my way through the new remake with Alm and Celica. Awakening was the perfect amount of content for an FE which is why I feel it's better overall.
Secondly, yay I got quoted for Alpha Protocol - I'll take it as it's one of my favorite RPGs and one I'll gladly champion for if anybody asks.
Thirdly, the banners and organization look awesome! Thanks for doing this to kswiston and anyone else who helped out!
For me Fates was just literally too much. I didn't have it in me to grind out parents and kids three times and figure out their best ability sets and stats. It got exhausting and I wasn't invested in the story due to just the insane glut of characters. It's the first FE I played that I didn't finish (any version of it) and burnt me out on FE so bad I'm barely chugging my way through the new remake with Alm and Celica. Awakening was the perfect amount of content for an FE which is why I feel it's better overall.
This is what I was thinking when I posted that gif earlier, with all the many discussions about these two games in comparison to each other, I just found it humorous that they ended up literally next to each other, with Zelda slightly above Horizon.
BotW would've been included on my list in some capacity if I considered Zelda an RPG. I don't overall, but I think BotW comes the closest yet (other than Zelda II which I possibly would classify as an action-RPG).
Then again, I'm of the opinion that people can consider whatever they want to be an RPG, I'm not a fan of strict genre labels, possibly a consequence of endless arguments about what specific subgenre various metal bands fall into...
I liked Fates Conquest a lot but I came into having conditioned myself not to give a rat's ass about the story. I learned that lesson from Awakening that with modern FE, if I do care, it'll ruin the game for me.
I can go off on the things I disliked about the storytelling, but in actual play I compartmentalized those concerns and they didn't really factor into my enjoyment.
What I did like about Conquest is that, unlike Awakening, it was actually a good strategy game. They reworked the new ideas Awakening had brought to the table to make them actually good. There was great creativity and execution of the maps in that version.
I've played some of Fates outside of Conquest and Conquest is definitely the cream of that crop, imo. I think Birthright is probably markedly better than Awakening and Revelations is just nuts but I didn't delve too much in either of those campaigns.
I just wish that Conquest could compete for me on a character/story/world level. It has a very interesting permutation to the starting premise, making you the "noble enemy" character and I think that could've been an interesting viewpoint if they had actually committed to it with any sincerity and had the world/characters/story to see it through.
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As to Zelda, I just can't vote for it. Even at its most RPG. My head would explode to start throwing Zelda games in this list. It would be difficult for me.
I can go off on the things I disliked about the storytelling, but in actual play I compartmentalized those concerns and they didn't really factor into my enjoyment.
What I did like about Conquest is that, unlike Awakening, it was actually a good strategy game. They reworked the new ideas Awakening had brought to the table to make them actually good. There was great creativity and execution of the maps in that version.
I've played some of Fates outside of Conquest and Conquest is definitely the cream of that crop, imo. I think Birthright is probably markedly better than Awakening and Revelations is just nuts but I didn't delve too much in either of those campaigns.
I just wish that Conquest could compete for me on a character/story/world level. It has a very interesting permutation to the starting premise, making you the "noble enemy" character and I think that could've been an interesting viewpoint if they had actually committed to it with any sincerity and had the world/characters/story to see it through.
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As to Zelda, I just can't vote for it. Even at its most RPG. My head would explode to start throwing Zelda games in this list. It would be difficult for me.
I agree, i find these discussions tiring myself.
One of the qualities of rpgs, that drew me to them, has always been that they mix in things frome other genres. It was for the longest time really the most ambitious genre in gaming. It still is in my opinion, but the distance certainly got shorter.
KuwabaraTheMan
Banned
It seems like the underrated votes helped Strange Journey out. It's still lower than it should be, but every vote counts.
As far as Zelda goes, Breath of the Wild is my game of the year right now, but I'd never consider voting for it in an RPG thread, because it isn't one.
As far as Zelda goes, Breath of the Wild is my game of the year right now, but I'd never consider voting for it in an RPG thread, because it isn't one.
FE was never about grinding. The player had to make the most out of the limited exp pool and breakable items to advance the game. It's why warp cheesing was a thing. It forces you to evaluate, plan and make decisions that affect your playthrough long term, which is why I always considered FE a Strategy RPG series rather than a Tactical RPG like Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre. If you want grinding, play those games.
That's the thing though. FE stories have always felt like an aftertought to me. They've never done anything that would make them stand out at all from game to game. They are competent, but I can't say they've ever left much of an impression.
And the one FE that does try a bit more with the story (RD, which I voted for because of that) is not very popular, so it seems weird to me that story is suddenly so important to FE fans.
Since we're talking about Fire Emblem, just out of curiosity - do you all actually abide by the permadeath features, or do you reset when a battle doesn't go well?
My perception of Awakening's story was always a lot more melancholy than the general consensus, because I stuck with the permadeaths, and by the end of the game there really was a sense of loss.
I still consider the "RPG" to be the beating heart of video-games as a whole. But the DNA for the classical RPG has disseminated so widely across various other genres, that it's become harder to make distinctions anyway.
I also never anticipated that Myst-style first-person exploration games would evolve into visionary games pushing the envelope for the medium as a whole, like the recent What Remains of Edith Finch.
Too bad we missed the Strange Journey remake. Though, apparently, if FFXII is anything to go by, that might not have necessarily helped it.
The FFXII position still just baffles me beyond belief. Particularly because people have now been exposed to the superior IZJS version.
My perception of Awakening's story was always a lot more melancholy than the general consensus, because I stuck with the permadeaths, and by the end of the game there really was a sense of loss.
I still consider the "RPG" to be the beating heart of video-games as a whole. But the DNA for the classical RPG has disseminated so widely across various other genres, that it's become harder to make distinctions anyway.
I also never anticipated that Myst-style first-person exploration games would evolve into visionary games pushing the envelope for the medium as a whole, like the recent What Remains of Edith Finch.
Too bad we missed the Strange Journey remake. Though, apparently, if FFXII is anything to go by, that might not have necessarily helped it.
The FFXII position still just baffles me beyond belief. Particularly because people have now been exposed to the superior IZJS version.
It depends on the mission and on who died for me. Losing an obviously strong character on an easy mission, which will make the rest of the game much harder to complete is a situation where I'd restart without much thought. Losing some worthless nobody to complete a really hard mission? Sure, that guy can stay dead - the games always give you enough characters to replace ones like that.
Path of Radiance does a lot of world-building work and is a major step up in main character characterization.
RD has huge ambitions in terms of gameplay and story, but it is very much on the back of PoR's world-building and, tbh, I don't personally think their ambitions completely panned out.
Genealogy of the Holy War has pretty grand story and war ambitions. I imagine 776 does too, being a midquel to FE4.
I'd also say the GBA games (particularly 6 and 8) all have a better story than the 3DS games. A lot of this is just that these games actually pay attention to details (of place and war) and use their characters in more staid ways.
3DS FE is very bombastic and episodic with no attention paid to grander ideas of world and story and war. It is just a collection of episodes to engage with your characters on with no narrative backbone. It avoids explaining its wars, by design. It avoids developing its world, by design. It is just trying to be fluff character work. and trying to avoid the "boring" stuff of traditional FE.
As to permadeath, I've always taken that as a game-over, personally.
RD has huge ambitions in terms of gameplay and story, but it is very much on the back of PoR's world-building and, tbh, I don't personally think their ambitions completely panned out.
Genealogy of the Holy War has pretty grand story and war ambitions. I imagine 776 does too, being a midquel to FE4.
I'd also say the GBA games (particularly 6 and 8) all have a better story than the 3DS games. A lot of this is just that these games actually pay attention to details (of place and war) and use their characters in more staid ways.
3DS FE is very bombastic and episodic with no attention paid to grander ideas of world and story and war. It is just a collection of episodes to engage with your characters on with no narrative backbone. It avoids explaining its wars, by design. It avoids developing its world, by design. It is just trying to be fluff character work. and trying to avoid the "boring" stuff of traditional FE.
As to permadeath, I've always taken that as a game-over, personally.
PensivePen
Member
I used to reset whenever I would lose a unit but these days I find that it's more fun to roll with the punches and let characters die, it means I have to accommodate my strategy and team building. And it gives the permadeath the kind of gravitas it feels like it was always meant to have.
I usually play the lost character = game over/reset way in Fire Emblem games, but I might start trying the lost character = that character's dead method in the future. It's getting harder to justify all of the extra time that resetting adds to a FE playthrough as I get older.
Aaronrules380 was our third raffle winner.
Aaronrules380 was our third raffle winner.
Older FE games, particularly the Radiance duology sound amazing, but the one reason I don't get in the series is that its future seems like more Awakening/Fates than those...
It's a shame, I fully expected SJ to be at least 10 spots higher, but it being so prevalent as an underrated vote warms my heart. Also it's pretty cool that it's close to DDS, another fantastic game.
It's a shame, I fully expected SJ to be at least 10 spots higher, but it being so prevalent as an underrated vote warms my heart. Also it's pretty cool that it's close to DDS, another fantastic game.
Basically, my opinion is that 3DS FE stories don't do the leg-work previous FEs did and it was in that leg-work that FE had potential to be something more than trite, cliche war stories and character romps.
I think the approach to character personality (and art) design has also changed and it exacerbates this, but I don't think it is central to the "problem."
For an example:
Just look at the child-producing mechanics of modern FE compared to those of FE4. In the latter, you have this grand tragedy and revenge of the righteous cycle, which contextualizes the child-producing system.
In FEA and FEF...you have skin-flint narrative rationales, and the main point is to service the expanded mating simulation. They don't even try in Fates in this regard.
I think the approach to character personality (and art) design has also changed and it exacerbates this, but I don't think it is central to the "problem."
For an example:
Just look at the child-producing mechanics of modern FE compared to those of FE4. In the latter, you have this grand tragedy and revenge of the righteous cycle, which contextualizes the child-producing system.
In FEA and FEF...you have skin-flint narrative rationales, and the main point is to service the expanded mating simulation. They don't even try in Fates in this regard.
I really can't say I agree with this. Pretty much everything interesting RD does story wise - the switching perspectives that actually impact gameplay, an interesting main character, the grander scope etc. is completely standalone. Path of Radiance's world-building just isn't really interesting enough to stand out as being particularly strong. The only somewhat interesting thing I remember it doing is the Laguz, but that by itself is a pretty insignificant part of what makes RD stand out from other FE games story wise. It's also not particularity interesting on it's own, since so many other games tackle similar themes. This is a particular problem with many FE games honestly - so much time is spent on building up such a simple, uninteresting world that isn't notably different from the past games that a lot of the story just feels like it's retreading the exact same thing past games in the series already did. A similar thing is present with the characters - way too much time is spend reintroducing characters following the same tropes as in the previous games (oh look, another red/green cavalier duo).
What makes me really disagree with this though, is that I played RD before PoR without really feeling like I lost much in the process. The world-building PoR does is so simple that you can get most of it just by playing RD by itself. You miss out on some character building obviously, but it being a FE game none of the characters really go very far outside their tropes, so you don't really lose much there either.
I wouldn't let that stop you, a new direction for a series doesn't cancel out the better entries from its past. For instance I would never recommend someone pass on trying Final Fantasy just because XV rubbed them the wrong way.
I agree. The bigger barrier to entry (if you are in North America anyhow) is the fact that the Tellius games are creeping into the $100 range...
EDIT: Actually, it looks like Radiant Dawn is back down into the $65-70 range. Did it get a limited reprint or something?
Also, sort of along those lines, I am always conflicted when recommending the great Saturn RPGs. I'm basically telling people to fork over hundreds of dollars, or steal games. If you were lucky enough to pick up the titles for somewhat sane prices 10-15 years ago, you wouldn't need the recommendation!
My Saturn collection is pretty tiny (about 10 titles), but last I checked, I could get close to $1000 for it. And that's with a couple of filler games like the Sonic collection. Saturn prices are insane now.
Dark_castle
Junior Member
Radiant Dawn is SRPG masterpiece that doesn't get enough love. It's one of few game in existence where you felt like taking part in war from various angle of nations.
PoR lays the groundwork for a mixed legacy in Daein with the story arc of Ashnard abandoning Daein and the time spent among the people of Daein.
It lays the groundwork for the corruption of the Begnion state and the historical racial problems in that country through the Begnion arc.
It lays the groundwork for the general Laguz vs. Beorc powder-keg that Tellius is.
It also has Ike's personal story culminating in the ambitious Black Knight duel. Ike and Soren in particular are used particularly well for a Fire Emblem game to comment on the world they live in through their personality. They also do break with FE's past. Ike is not the traditional lord, and FE is still living in his shadow: One of the various things they do with Awakening's avatar and Chrom is allow you to replay Ike/Soren.
Radiant Dawn's basic premise is to take hold of these factors in a cataclysmic conflict and to subvert suppositions about the nature of the medallion. Micaiah's arc is explicitly tied into Ike in Daein arc. Begnion is explicitly acting upon the worst impulses you saw first hand in PoR.
PoR went for a low-key story but an marked increase in character and world work for the series. RD took this world and gave you the biggest FE conflict yet.
My main problems with RD are:
-It has trouble balancing itself as a strategy game and an RPG. The Dawn Brigade is horribly disadvantaged by the structure of the game wrt leveling and being relevant to the end-game. They aren't killed off or anything, but they are mostly just baggage despite being your initial group.
-Micaiah fails to be interesting, imo. She is not characterized or used nearly as well as Ike in PoR despite being in a similarly interesting-for-the-series position.
-I just don't like how they tied up some stories from PoR, personally.
But, it is clearly a very good strategy game imo and also in so many ways what I wish FE was trying to be.
As to the thing about boring worlds--you're getting at the heart of it, imo. IS, in the 3DS games, tried to extricate the games from that stuff and provide a more fluffy, popular product. I just happen to like the low-key, boring, nerdy stuff of Fire Emblem and I also, again, think it is key to making anything note-worthy of the games (as stories). I do think something of value has been lost. You agree that it has been lost, but don't think it is of value.
It lays the groundwork for the corruption of the Begnion state and the historical racial problems in that country through the Begnion arc.
It lays the groundwork for the general Laguz vs. Beorc powder-keg that Tellius is.
It also has Ike's personal story culminating in the ambitious Black Knight duel. Ike and Soren in particular are used particularly well for a Fire Emblem game to comment on the world they live in through their personality. They also do break with FE's past. Ike is not the traditional lord, and FE is still living in his shadow: One of the various things they do with Awakening's avatar and Chrom is allow you to replay Ike/Soren.
Radiant Dawn's basic premise is to take hold of these factors in a cataclysmic conflict and to subvert suppositions about the nature of the medallion. Micaiah's arc is explicitly tied into Ike in Daein arc. Begnion is explicitly acting upon the worst impulses you saw first hand in PoR.
PoR went for a low-key story but an marked increase in character and world work for the series. RD took this world and gave you the biggest FE conflict yet.
My main problems with RD are:
-It has trouble balancing itself as a strategy game and an RPG. The Dawn Brigade is horribly disadvantaged by the structure of the game wrt leveling and being relevant to the end-game. They aren't killed off or anything, but they are mostly just baggage despite being your initial group.
-Micaiah fails to be interesting, imo. She is not characterized or used nearly as well as Ike in PoR despite being in a similarly interesting-for-the-series position.
-I just don't like how they tied up some stories from PoR, personally.
But, it is clearly a very good strategy game imo and also in so many ways what I wish FE was trying to be.
As to the thing about boring worlds--you're getting at the heart of it, imo. IS, in the 3DS games, tried to extricate the games from that stuff and provide a more fluffy, popular product. I just happen to like the low-key, boring, nerdy stuff of Fire Emblem and I also, again, think it is key to making anything note-worthy of the games (as stories). I do think something of value has been lost. You agree that it has been lost, but don't think it is of value.
The writing doesn't deserve an award if that is what you're implying.
However the story is an important stimulans between missions. In fates it's a detriment. Every piece that's added in or after a chapter is invalid in the next one.
Pick something like Fire Emblem (GBA) and you see how it changes from local bandits disputes to a problem of inheritance in the tutorial. Is it a simple story? Yes, but being complex does not equate better.
I would say the premise of Fates is interesting, but its excution is poor. Even the main character has little agency in the plot.
Characters aren't exciting after you know their sole character trait. Other fire emblem games have dealt with furries, lolis, thousand year dragons and tsunderes before but they weren't potential waifu material ingame. With Awakening the shipping became central.
Now Radiant Dawn is great game that had big shoes to fit in after Path of Radiance. At first I thought it would deliver on the things it sought out to do, but ultimately it failed. Aside from the fact that the price these games go for now is simply not worth it. Fire Emblem games have been lagging behind presentation for quite a while. PoR and RD both have horrible voice acting and poor graphics. Each year that goes by it ages more and more. The games need a remake, because the gameplay and maps are still excellent to this day.
My take on this (specifically with the Saturn, since it's one of my all-time favorite consoles, probably #2 behind the SNES) is that I have a...I don't know, "responsibility" I suppose, though that's kind of a strong word, to tell people about these great and insanely underrated games. How they choose to go about getting a hold of these games is then their business.
I'll admit that I've never owned a physical western copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga.
And it's not even like PDS, Shining Force III, Dragon Force etc. have ports that can be played elsewhere. At least as far as I know.
Parmadillo Marshmallow
Member
Guys, didn't want to make a new thread, but I need recommendations. Please delete if this is the wrong thread.
Looking for the deepest RPG in terms of game mechanics, on PS4 or Switch ONLY, without heavily anime influenced art style. I tried Disgaea 5, and could have liked it, but the art style massively turned me off and I ended up putting it down. Thanks!
Looking for the deepest RPG in terms of game mechanics, on PS4 or Switch ONLY, without heavily anime influenced art style. I tried Disgaea 5, and could have liked it, but the art style massively turned me off and I ended up putting it down. Thanks!
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
RPG GAF is hardcore enough that even has stats on their numbered lists
SEGA is mostly a complete black hole in my gaming experience. Outside of Atlus and Creative Assembly games, I've pretty much just played Shenmue 1&2, Sonic Advance, and now Yakuza 0 and Kiwami.
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As to FE, I'll stop ranting
. Probably the series I'm most touchy about (at least now that Metroid Prime 4 and SR exist.)
With DQ I'm just like "why is it so underplayed and misunderstood? *slurp*." I'm wholly serious about it but the series puts me in a playful mood when I think about it.
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As to FE, I'll stop ranting
. Probably the series I'm most touchy about (at least now that Metroid Prime 4 and SR exist.)With DQ I'm just like "why is it so underplayed and misunderstood
? *slurp*." I'm wholly serious about it but the series puts me in a playful mood when I think about it.Can it be a western game? Pillars of Eternity just launched on PS4 recently.
Parmadillo Marshmallow
Member
Totally, western preferred honestly, although J is ok too as long as it's not too anime. I'll check out Pillars. Thanks.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Can you define "deepest RPG mechanics"? Is it stats/number crunching, party customization, or choices-and-consequences kind of thing? Can combat be fully action?
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen has some pretty intricate RPG mechanics, party customization (including two characters you design and customize from scratch), looting and crafting etc. but its combat is 100% real time/action too. It's Japanese without being anime.
Final Fantasy XV and Nier Automata both lack an anime artstyle.
I think both aren't mechanical showcases, though. Nier has fun battles, I think. FFXV, not so much. I do think Nier peters out in terms of gameplay though. B route additions get old and C route isn't the return to form I wanted.
Nier is narratively interesting. FFXV is a mess, imo.
I mean...I did enjoy XV but that was with expectations on the floor and I kind of liked the goofy road-trip FF premise.
Horizon, Zelda, and the Yakuza games have RPG elements too. But those wouldn't deliver deep RPG mechanics.
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Oh haven't played it much but there's FFXII too. People like the gameplay there.
I think both aren't mechanical showcases, though. Nier has fun battles, I think. FFXV, not so much. I do think Nier peters out in terms of gameplay though. B route additions get old and C route isn't the return to form I wanted.
Nier is narratively interesting. FFXV is a mess, imo.
I mean...I did enjoy XV but that was with expectations on the floor and I kind of liked the goofy road-trip FF premise.
Horizon, Zelda, and the Yakuza games have RPG elements too. But those wouldn't deliver deep RPG mechanics.
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Oh haven't played it much but there's FFXII too. People like the gameplay there.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
They both look anime as hell tho. Just not cell-shaded.
Nier Automata is a fantastic game with great gameplay but shit balancing.
TBH I don't think that's particularly specific, as to the second thing. And I also noted they might not fit the bill. As I did for the first two too.
I intended it not as a recommendation but to float options and put some things on the landscape if he/she were to respond.
It's interesting that you mention FF because I never thought about it... I definitely moved on years ago, but I think it's due to the games becoming largely different between entries starting from X, so I don't really feel like I'm missing out.
With FE it'd be difficult because as an outsider, gameplay wise they look similar, but it's the rest that has changed, and I'd hate to get obsessed over a franchise whose future is filled with games that don't appeal to me.
Pretty much the only thing I can think of is Persona 5 (and that's definitely anime looking) but that's kind of a stretch depending on the person.
I'm super ignorant when it comes to non japanese RPGs though, but yeah PS4 and Switch only limit your choices a lot.
Edit: Hold on, there's Darkest Dungeon on PS4, now that's a good time, and it's getting a Switch port as well.
You might also want to check out Divinity: Original Sin EE (and Original Sin 2 when it hits consoles)
Aaronrules380
Member
Awesome. Wasn't expecting to win the raffle honestly, so it's a nice surprise
themagicalkitsune
Member
Congratulations y'all, you made it to the first page and never bothered coming back!
Fuck this reserved crap.
Incendiary
Banned
Divinity Original Sin on PS4 is probably the best straight RPG without anime/Japanese influence. Let's you customize two characters and role play with both, sometimes against each other. Lots of classes and many different ways to progress, usually just limited by your imagination. The Essential RPG thread of 2015 was what made me get it for PS4 and I didn't regret it.
Yes, this are all things PoR does. It's just that I don't feel like any of them are all that interesting. The Laguz vs. Beorc thing for instance - plenty of games do the whole fantasy racism/racial tension thing, and PoR doesn't really do anything interesting with it. Or the Ike vs Black Knight duel - it's cool, but it also just felt like going through the motions a little bit - it was pretty obvious what was going to happen there I think. The RD Black Knight mission was much more interesting for me.
This is a bit unfair I think. Both of these could absolutely exist together, and I think there's value in the old style Fire Emblem stories. Well, potential rather than value I guess. If they moved away from the standard tropes a bit (which the 3DS games don't really) and made the world they spent so much time building up a bit more memorable (all the different FE settings really blend together for me) there was potential for something there. Kind of like Radiant Dawn I guess.
What I'm saying is that the overall reaction seems a bit overblown to me. People acting like Fates is obviously a garbage game seems weird. Fire Emblem stories were always just something that kept the game moving along for me (RD excluded), so Fates being terrible at it never really seemed like it was a big deal - certainly not enough to automatically make the game complete garbage.
For me it's because of the presentation. I never thought Toriyama's designs would lend itself well to fantasy. Maybe it's because I associate him too much to Dragon Ball. A half decent RPG in the Dragon Ball universe, now that would be a treat! They also have a dopey slime as their mascot. At least moogles are somewhat adorable!With DQ I'm just like "why is it so underplayed and misunderstood
decoyplatypus
Member
I'll echo the Pillars of Eternity recommendation. It's a throwback to the old Infinity Engine games with a six-person party and RTwP combat, so you can spend all day theorycrafting character builds and party construction. There are interesting choices to make on each level-up.
You might also check out XCOM2. It's on the strategy side of the family tree, so there's plenty of mechanical depth. I don't know if it's possible to get the Long War 2 mod on your PS4, but that adds even more depth to the game and will keep you occupied for many, many months (if not years).
The list is actually pretty good so far but I will say the two rankings I'm disappointed by are DQ VIII and Fire Emblem POR. Both of these titles deserve to be at least within in the 20's.
Final Fantasy XII's ranking is perfect IMO. I think XII has a lot of fantastic aspects but ends up falling apart in the second half. The soundtrack is wonderful but within the game it's quite muted and the gameplay has it's own issues. I think another big problem for me is I absolutely adore Yoshida's character designs in games like Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics but in XII I find the main cast outside Balthier and Basch lacking.
Now, Zodiac fixed a lot of these issues(haven't played it yet but I've tried the demo) but I'm assuming XII's ranking is mostly because of the original and not Zodiac. Anyway top 50 is an extremely great position to be in so XII's ranking is not bad.
Also games like WoW and FF XIV are amazing but time consuming since they're MMO's so I didn't vote for either in an essential list and not surprised at their spots.
Final Fantasy XII's ranking is perfect IMO. I think XII has a lot of fantastic aspects but ends up falling apart in the second half. The soundtrack is wonderful but within the game it's quite muted and the gameplay has it's own issues. I think another big problem for me is I absolutely adore Yoshida's character designs in games like Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics but in XII I find the main cast outside Balthier and Basch lacking.
Now, Zodiac fixed a lot of these issues(haven't played it yet but I've tried the demo) but I'm assuming XII's ranking is mostly because of the original and not Zodiac. Anyway top 50 is an extremely great position to be in so XII's ranking is not bad.
Also games like WoW and FF XIV are amazing but time consuming since they're MMO's so I didn't vote for either in an essential list and not surprised at their spots.
Pillars of Eternity and Divinity: Original Sin were already mentioned, and are good choices. Apart from that there's ELEX that just came out. I haven't played it yet, but from all accounts it's supposed to be Piranha Bytes going back to the style of the first Risen game, which means it's almost surely going to have a good amount of depth. The PS4 version will probably be really janky though, given Piranha Bytes' reputation.
There's also Natural Doctrine, which is a very unique SRPG with some really unique mechanics and a lot of depth. It's the kind of game where a single bad move instantly gets your entire party wiped. And if you're looking for depth, well:
Let's just say there's a lot going on in the game mechanically. The game didn't review very well, and it has a lot of rather obvious issues, but I feel like it does some cool things.
As a bit more off beat suggestion, there's also Blood Bowl 2, which is a very deep RPG/TBS boardgame adaptation. More of a TBS game really, but with a lot of really prominent RPG mechanics. I guess it could sort of count as a SRPG. It's very multiplayer focused, but it's the kind of game you could spend years playing without mastering it.
Parmadillo Marshmallow
Member
Awesome thanks for the replies guys. I have already played through FFXV and Nier:Automata, which are about as anime as I can handle. I thought they were just so so.
I played Dragon's Dogma on PS3 when it first came out and liked it a lot. Not sure if I want to replay it though.
I'll definitely check out Pillars and Divinity on PS4, they look like they might be a good fit.
I played Dragon's Dogma on PS3 when it first came out and liked it a lot. Not sure if I want to replay it though.
I'll definitely check out Pillars and Divinity on PS4, they look like they might be a good fit.