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[Musashi Wins!]

Which do you prefer? Why?

I'm not a super fan of RPGs. I rarely enjoy them. Normally I feel that the gameplay is too rote to be subjected to their (for the most part) awful narratives. I think it's why I have a real dislike for the FF series as they tend to combine the worst of both, IMO. However, like most regular gamers (I think) I can't help but get sucked in by the hype of many new RPG releases and buy and attempt to play many of them. Rarely to completion.

Usually I hit a wall with both genres. RPGs because I hate the feeling of diving again and again into their insipid little boy saves world mythologies without a real sense of gameplay to draw me, and SRPGs because for all their gameplay and obsessive features, it's hard to sustain that level of attention to every small aspect of a game for as long as they typically take to finish.

In the time I do play them though, I think SRPGs are a bit more fun. Usually they have fairly ornate stories surrounding them and I find a bad medival-political struggle more interesting than the emotional turmoil of a Jesus boy and his father. Great generalizations on both counts, of course.

SRPGs have a lot in common with the pen/paper strategy and rpgs of my younger days. Lots of cool stats, equipping, class management, etc. They remind of chess and other board games with their unit placement, etc. Basically, if you can combine one with a story that's not offensive it's a pretty good experience. I can get hooked on a Tactics Ogre or Fire Emblem for a long time. It's the rare RPG that I want to play longer than a week though those do exist too.

So I know one or the other is the favorite genre for a lot of people here...which do you like better?

 

[VALIS]

Just about everything you said, I agree with. The juvenile stories are a constant turn off, and there's barely a point playing most RPG's if you completely skip the story (if you even can).

I do prefer SRPG's but I really, realllly wish developers would adopt a "less is more" philosophy. Instead of appealing to just the hardcore SRPG'ers, find a middle ground. Advance Wars is such a great game because it's deep but isn't overwhelming. After all the gushing it received I tracked down a copy of Disgaea. Two hours of tutorials later my head was spinning, and then I find out I can/have to go "inside" the weapons and fight monsters to raise the levels of the weapons! Get the fuck outta here. I don't want to play a game for 100 hours. Or 50 hours. Or even 25 for most of them.

 

[Musashi Wins!]

Yea, that's a good point you make. It would be nicer if there was a better middle ground between the two. Advance Wars is all kinds of awesome for it.

 

[Do The Mario]

Yea, that's a good point you make. It would be nicer if there was a better middle ground between the two. Advance Wars is all kinds of awesome for it.

Baldur's Gate 1 & 2
Icewind Dale 1 &2

Would be that middle ground..

 

[PC Gaijin]

Are you limiting your discussion of RPGs to story-driven Japanese-style console RPGs? Because if it's that I'll take the typical Japanese strat RPG any day. Looking back over my favorite console RPGs of the 32-bit era, almost all of them were strat RPGs. Basically because there's usually more to the gameplay systems of SRPGs than the usual "regular" JRPG.

If you throw Western RPGs into the mix, I'll generally take a Western SRPG or "standard" RPG over a Japanese SRPG. So I guess my preference would be Western RPG (any) > Japanese SRPG > Japanese RPG.

 

[SolidSnakex]

RPG's. I find myself rarely being able to get into a SRPG, are though there are some exceptions. For the most part i'd much rather have a new RPG than a SRPG though.

 

[callous]

It's not a vs for me. I like both genres. I usually find that after a really good RPG (not easily found these days), the parts I enjoyed the most was the boss battles -- trying to figure out how to beat them. Then I realize that good SRPGs have that type of gameplay in most battles, so I start playing one.

 

[VALIS]

Check out Shin Megami Tensei.

Yep. I bought both SMT games because the story/concept sounds like it's several cuts above the standard fare. Both games are still in my backlog at the moment, but I'll give them a bump to the front of the line.

 

[Musashi Wins!]

Are you limiting your discussion of RPGs to story-driven Japanese-style console RPGs? Because if it's that I'll take the typical Japanese strat RPG any day. Looking back over my favorite console RPGs of the 32-bit era, almost all of them were strat RPGs. Basically because there's usually more to the gameplay systems of SRPGs than the usual "regular" JRPG.

If you throw Western RPGs into the mix, I'll generally take a Western SRPG or "standard" RPG over a Japanese SRPG. So I guess my preference would be Western RPG (any) > Japanese SRPG > Japanese RPG.

I'm not limiting it to that, though I know it's GAFs main interest. My personal preferece fall in line with your own. Though I don't play PC games as much anymore so it knocks out a lot of the Western SRPG options.

I have to agree with the above take on SMT. That seems accurate to me. My problem is I didn't find the gameplay mechanics as compelling as they are hard and somewhat tedious. The setting, art, mythological usage, etc. are all fantastic though. I haven't played DDS yet though I have it here.

 

[Do The Mario]

BG

BG2

IWD2

Thanks to http://www.planetbaldursgate.com for the images

 

[Do The Mario]

Those are WRPGS I should check out? I played Norrath's demo about 2 years ago, and I thought it was alright but not anything I would buy. People always tell me to play Fallout but I havne't checked that one out..

From Bioware the makers of Fallout, Baldur's gate and Baldur's gate 2 it's a good mix of SRPG and RPG.

 

[Teknopathetic]

Do not confuse the gameplay of Champions of Norrath and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance with Baldur's Gate I/II. Very, VERY different.

 

[Do The Mario]

Very Diffrent meaning

BG1 & 2 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> BG: DA

 

[callous]

Just seeing shots of Baldur's Gate makes me want to punch/spit at the screen.

 

[radios shipping overview]

I'm finding myself growing tired of the repetition and equipment-juggling in both and the relative lack of gameplay context for the battles in SRPGs.

I like Advance Wars because it focuses on unit tactics and doesn't involve rote unit management between battles.

I like the Icewind Dale games because they're excellent, streamlined dungeon crawlers with great tactical battles. They have character creation and customization and maintenance that don't feel overabstracted or tedious, and the game between the battles and the dungeons and the gameworld as a whole provides a nice, coherent whole.

I like Romance of the Three Kingdoms games because they provide a huge, overarching game structure as well as tactical battles. The battles in RTK make me feel just how much is riding on each attack because of all the preparation and planning I've done in the game up to the point of each battle and because of how much I need to win the battle to further my strategy. The game provides a context in which I have a personal interest and therefore makes the battles much more important to me than in any strict SRPG I've played.

 

[MrAngryFace]

Icewind Dale II will kick your ass, much harder than BG II

 

[Raytow]

Fallout is from Black Isle *sigh* poor BIS.

 

[speedpop]

Just seeing shots of Baldur's Gate makes me want to punch/spit at the screen.

Hahaha so fucking true.

I will not discredit Bioware for their artistic visions or what have you, but their games just plain suck arse in my eyes because I am not a big D&D fanatic. That includes the variations on their gameplay mechanics as well so don't start to single out the big hitters.

*watches DTM shed a tear*

 

[MoccaJava]

Give me a break. I have no interest in D&D, but the Balder's Gate games farking rock. Anyone who uses the D&D excuse to not play them is missing out on two of the best RPGs, ever.

 

[Korranator]

I like them both, but find there is more gameplay and replay value in SRPGs.

 

[MrAngryFace]

Icewind Dale I and II are two of the best tactical strat games on PC, missing out on those is even more of a crime.

I got a little long in certain parts *dragons eye*cough but the rest of it was great. II was fantastic but it was TOUGH pre-patched.

 

[slayn]

for me, my favorite games of all time are rpg's, but given a random rpg and a random srpg, I'd rather take the srpg.

 

[lexy]

I prefer SRPG's over RPG's but in my opinion it's far easier to find a good RPG than it is to find a good SRPG. A SRPG has to be perfectly balanced or the entire experience is ruined.

 

[Finaika]

I like RPGs better because I like the sense of exploration in RPGs. But I still very much like SRPGs, though the only SRPGs I played and enjoyed was Dragon Force and Shining Force III for the Saturn. Nippon Ichi games are too deep for me, so I really hope Stella Deus is good.

 

[Mejilan]

They both have their places in the world.

Right now, I'm at a quandary. Play FE8? Play SMT DDS?

*sighs*

 

[SantaC]

I prefer RPGs over SRPGs. Mostly because I started with traditional rpgs like FF and stuff.

 

[Pellham]

I was a big RPG fan back in the day, then I got tired of them (console RPGs anyway), and got into SRPGs. SRPGs are my favorite genre now.

I don't think it's fair to compare SRPGs and RPGs though, because they are different genres. If you want to compare all story-based genres, you'd have to include ARPG, Cinematic/RPG, and adventure games.

 

[Do The Mario]

Just seeing shots of Baldur's Gate makes me want to punch/spit at the screen.

Why?

Because you live in a trailer park and have no class?

 

[kevm3]

Computer style RPGs (Baldur's Gate, Morrowind, Fallout, Planescape Tormnet, etc. etc.), strategy rpgs and then console styled traditional rpgs. I can rarely play a traditional rpg more than 20 minutes, especially if it has random encounters.

 

[John Harker]

Tactics RPGs and FP-RPGs too.

 

[Sea-Dragon]

I've tried on numerous occasions to get into strategy RPGs, but always find myself daunted; for me, the most enjoyable part of an RPG is walking around the towns, talking with the NPCs, looking in the ponds for fish, exploring the peaceful nooks and crannies, developing the characters, etc... a lot of strategy RPGs seem to minimize that aspect with just a few clicks/button pushes to get to the next long battle.

That said, Fallout 2 remains my favorite RPG of all time, for its theme, execution, and tear-inducing beauty that is the battle system.

My dream RPG would probably be one that combines the "not afraid to show emotions besides anger" elements of a lot of Japanese RPGs with the "not afraid to have a protaganist that has hit puberty" mentality of a lot of Western RPGs.

Put Xenogears+Fallout2+Shadow Hearts in a blender and let me chug the sweet, sweet results.

And let's have more manuals like the Fallout series - spiral bound, dozens and dozens of pages, recipes in the back, obviously a labor of love and not a labor of "you need to buy the strategy guide."

 

[Teknopathetic]

"My dream RPG would probably be one that combines the "not afraid to show emotions besides anger" elements of a lot of Japanese RPGs with the "not afraid to have a protaganist that has hit puberty" mentality of a lot of Western RPGs."

Most Western RPGs tend to let you actually pick your response.

 

[Tabris]

I was loving SRPGs last generation and wanted more.

I mean we had great stuff like Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics and Ogre Battle 64.

Then this generation came around, and I got my wish in spades.

So I was happy for a while, but then it just started to become too much. Now there's more SRPGs being released than RPGs and they really don't differ that much.

I'm now kind of tired of SRPGs.

 

[Chrono]

I prefer RPGs.

I haven't put many hours in SRPGs though. I'm trying to play through the first few mission in Fire Emblem and maybe I'll change my mind but I had so much more fun in the first few mission in Advance Wars it's not even comparable. I just don't care for all the stats and there doesn't seem to be much 'strategy' involved.

The only other SRPG I played is FF Tactics and it took several tries to force myself through the tutorial and when I made it, it was like: move character A next to B, slash. Occasionally I used to heal. I figure as I go on in the game I'd get new attacks and stuff but really the whole thing is character A's stats vs. characters B's stats which doesn't interest me at all.

Like I said I'm only at the beginning of Fire Emblem (+ Phantom Brave in back log, might re-buy Tactics) but so far that's how I feel.

 

[Ash Housewares]

I love strategy games, my first 2 gba games were Fire Emblem & AW2
when I get an Xbox I'll have to grab Dai Senryaku and Kingdom Under Fire

 

[callous]

Why?

Because you live in a trailer park and have no class?

There there. Your opinion and enjoyment of the games is still valid. Dry your eyes. It's going to be ok. *hug*

 

[Do The Mario]

There there. Your opinion and enjoyment of the games is still valid. Dry your eyes. It's going to be ok. *hug*

I don’t want a hug from you; I might catch something from your monitor punching/spitting $2 Crack whore trailer.

 

[callous]

:lol

You're cute.

 

[Do The Mario]

:lol

You're cute.

How much??

 

[djtiesto]

My favorite SRPG series will always be the Shining Force series, I think. Each character has their own personality, instead of generic FIGHTER A and FIGHTER B, the games have slightly more interesting plots than the jumbled political nonsense most SRPGs seem afflicted with, and you can actually explore the towns!!! The Arc the Lad games were also games with a tactical based battle system but RPG style exploration, and I liked some of that series a lot. But, usually, I prefer RPGs. I'll play a good SRPG though if it comes my way, I've been playing Phantom Brave and it's enjoyable so far... my only problem is that lately, SRPGs have gotten so overwhelming, full of mandatory level grind, having the plot take a backseat to the battles.

 

[jarrod]

ARPGS >>>>>> both

 

[Musashi Wins!]

I played Growlanser II yesterday. It has sort of a novel approach to actions and movement that is sort of like a RTS-lite. Maybe part of what I like about SRPGs is that so many of them still use sprites in their art work.

As a side note, the sprites on screen are supplemented by the worst anime cut scenes designed characters I have ever seen in a game. To call the male characters effeminate would be a gross understatement.

 

[carbonbased]

The only other SRPG I played is FF Tactics and it took several tries to force myself through the tutorial and when I made it, it was like: move character A next to B, slash. Occasionally I used to heal. I figure as I go on in the game I'd get new attacks and stuff but really the whole thing is character A's stats vs. characters B's stats which doesn't interest me at all.

Maybe you should play an SRPG for more than an hour? Here's my opinion of most traditional RPGS: walk, fight random battle consisting of selecting the attack command for every character x50, heal at town, walk some more.

See? Every genre can be made to sound ridculous when using stupid generalizations.

 

[monchi-kun]

SRPG has more replayability than your standard (J)RPG

 

[Vieo]

Give me a break. I have no interest in D&D, but the Balder's Gate games farking rock. Anyone who uses the D&D excuse to not play them is missing out on two of the best RPGs, ever.

Not one of the best RPGs ever. The best RPG ever. The Baldur's Gate series is on the top pedestal of PC RPGs sitting next to the Ultima series.

They're currently working on BG3 but no one knows exactly who's developing it yet. I don't think the game is related to the storyline of the first two games though.

 

[Do The Mario]

Not one of the best RPGs ever. The best RPG ever. The Baldur's Gate series is on the top pedestal of PC RPGs sitting next to the Ultima series.

They're currently working on BG3 but no one knows exactly who's developing it yet. I don't think the game is related to the storyline of the first two games though.

Bioware was making BG3 a while ago before Atari got there hands on the D&D Rights.

It was going to deal with the aftermath of what happened in BG1 and BG2.

 

[John Harker]

The best RPG ever is........



.....
......
........
.........
..........
..........................
............................
...............................


... real life

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

The answer to this question is "yes", (...I'd like both of them, early and often; all kinds).

 

[Chrono]

Maybe you should play an SRPG for more than an hour?

I'm trying! :lol

I'll take another crack at Fire Emblem once I'm done with Tales of Symphonia...

Here's my opinion of most traditional RPGS: walk, fight random battle consisting of selecting the attack command for every character x50, heal at town, walk some more.

See? Every genre can be made to sound ridculous when using stupid generalizations.

I didn't mean to insult SRPGs. I like walking from town to town and how RPGs work. I'm not saying they're more complicated than SRPGs, I'm just saying they appeal to me more. That's it. Yeesh.

 

[Tabris]

I'm trying! :lol

I'll take another crack at Fire Emblem once I'm done with Tales of Symphonia...

Fire Emblem/Shining Force is a completly different ballpark from "Tactics" games.

Two different sub-sub-genres.