What the HELL happened to GBA RPG's?!

F

Ford Prefect

GAAAAAAAAY
So here we have a system that's equally capable (if not moreso) as the SNES, and yet where the hell are the effing RPG's? The sonuvabitching machine has only been out for for FOUR years, and only ONE game (GS1/2) even resembling a quality, classic RPG? Bullshit.

When Square announced that it would begin supporting Nintendo again, I was overjoyed. Finally, quality RPG's were on the way. Certainly Square would be not-retarded enough to notice their large backlog of quality RPG's from the SNES era, and make the connection that said games + quick port to GBA = loads of easy cash. Or, God forbid, they possibly make a new RPG!

Well, sorry kids, but no dice. We'll just make a plotless sequel to this one strategy-RPG we made a while ago for the PS, and hey, how about lend the license to a novice developer for them to make a crappy sequel to this one action-RPG we made a long time ago! Okay! But wait, I guess we have made some decent RPG's in the past that we could possibly port to the GBA and satisfy some gamers... but only near the end of the GBA's life-span, and only our two oldest games.

But even with Square-Enix hating money oh-so-much, is there a rule somewhere that other developers can't make a decent classic RPG? It really wouldn't be that hard... especially when you're job is to make entertaining video games. Maybe there's just absolutely no video game developer in existence that feels they're capable of creating a 16-bit RPG... Pathetic.
 
Ummm, Mario & Luigi, Fire Emblem, Golden Sun? Square aren't the only company that develop RPGs -_-

edit: and POKEMON! How could anyone ignore Pokemon, the best RPG ever?
 
Dunno. I want more RPGs as well. Atleast the DS has like 5-6 rpgs announced from the start.

These are imo the best rpgs on the GBA. No particular order:

Castlevania AoS
Castlevania HoD
Castlevania CotM
Golden Sun 1
Golden Sun 2
Fire Emblem
Sword of Mana
FF1 + FF2
Mario & Luigi
Kingdom Hearts
 
Lufia's good, too. There are actually quite a lot of GBA RPGs, just not many stellar ones. I would've liked to see more.

Edit: And "ugh" at calling Castlevania an RPG.
 
they're all in Japan, and it's much easier to produce Shrek's Wacky Wad-Blowing Speedway than bother localizing them all.
 
Black Black
Breath of Fire
Breath of Fire II
Cyber Drive Zoids: Kiju no Senshi Hyuu
Cyber Drive Zoids: Kiju no Senshi Hyuu Colorful Set
DemiKids: Dark Version
DemiKids: Light Version
Dokapon: Monster Hunter
Dragon Quest Characters: Toruneko no Daibouken 3 Advance: Fushigi no Dungeon
Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart
Dungeons & Dragons: Eye of the Beholder
Fullmetal Alchemist
Fullmetal Alchemist: Omoi De No Sonata
GetBackers Dakkanya: Jagan Fuuin!
GetBackers Dakkanya: Metropolis Dakkan Sakusen!
GetBackers: Jigoku no Scaramouche
Golden Sun
Golden Sun: The Lost Age
Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town
Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town For Girls
Legend of the River King Advance
Legendz: Island of Trial
Lufia: The Ruins of Lore
Lunar Legend
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Medabots G
Medabots Navi (Kuwagata)
Medabots: Metabee (Gold)
Medabots: Rokusho (Silver)
Mega Man Battle Network 4 Double Pack
Mega Man Battle Network 4: Blue Moon
Mega Man Battle Network 4: Red Sun
Mega Man Battle Network 5: Team of Blues
Mobile Angel Angelic Layer: Misaki and the Dream Angels
Monster Gate
Monster Gate II
Monster Guardians
Mother 1 & 2
Mother 3
Mythri
Napoleon
Naruto RPG: Uketsugareshi Hi no Ishi
New-type Medabots: Kabuto Version
New-type Medabots: Kuwagata Version
Onmyou Taisenki: Zeroshiki
Oriental Blue: Ao no Tengai
Pokemon Emerald
Pokemon FireRed
Pokemon LeafGreen
Pokemon Sapphire
Pyuu to Fuku! Jaguar: Byo to Deru! Megane Kun
Quest [Working Title]
Riviera: Yakusoku no Chi Riviera
Robopon 2: Cross Version
Robopon 2: Ring Version
Rockman EXE 4.5: Real Operation
Romance of the Three Kingdoms Advance
Sansara Naga
Shaman King: Chou Senjiryokketsu 3
Shin Megami Tensei II
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children 2 -- Scroll of Fire
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children 2 -- Scroll of Ice
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children Messiah Riser
Summon Night
Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2
Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3
Tales of the World: Summoner's Lineage
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Tomato Adventure
Vattroller X
Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Sacred Cards
Zero Tours: Unlimited Mysteries
Zoids Saga
Zoids: Legacy
Duel Masters: Sempai Legends
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Fire Emblem
SD Gundam G Generation Advance
Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon
Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls
Phantasy Star Collection
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
Cima: The Enemy
Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury
Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku
Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Klonoa Heroes: Legend of the Star Medal
Konjiki no Gashbell!! Makai no Bookmark
Mega Man Battle Network
Mega Man Battle Network 3 Blue Version
Mega Man Battle Network 3 White Version
Shining Soul
Shining Soul II
Summon Night 2
Sword of Mana
 
Ford Prefect said:
So here we have a system that's equally capable (if not moreso) as the SNES, and yet where the hell are the effing RPG's? The sonuvabitching machine has only been out for for FOUR years, and only ONE game (GS1/2) even resembling a quality, classic RPG? Bullshit.

When Square announced that it would begin supporting Nintendo again, I was overjoyed. Finally, quality RPG's were on the way. Certainly Square would be not-retarded enough to notice their large backlog of quality RPG's from the SNES era, and make the connection that said games + quick port to GBA = loads of easy cash. Or, God forbid, they possibly make a new RPG!

Well, sorry kids, but no dice. We'll just make a plotless sequel to this one strategy-RPG we made a while ago for the PS, and hey, how about lend the license to a novice developer for them to make a crappy sequel to this one action-RPG we made a long time ago! Okay! But wait, I guess we have made some decent RPG's in the past that we could possibly port to the GBA and satisfy some gamers... but only near the end of the GBA's life-span, and only our two oldest games.

But even with Square-Enix hating money oh-so-much, is there a rule somewhere that other developers can't make a decent classic RPG? It really wouldn't be that hard... especially when you're job is to make entertaining video games. Maybe there's just absolutely no video game developer in existence that feels they're capable of creating a 16-bit RPG... Pathetic.
Click to expand...

Ever heard of Pokemon?
 
callous said:
Lufia's good, too. There are actually quite a lot of GBA RPGs, just not many stellar ones. I would've liked to see more.

Edit: And "ugh" at calling Castlevania an RPG.
Click to expand...

It's an action-RPG wether you like it or not :P
 
I too wish there were more, but it's not like the GBA has none! I'll list below just those that I own:

Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance (ARPG - Pretty damn good!)
Boktai 2 Solar Boy Django (ARPG - Very fun. More RPG elements than the original.)
Breath of Fire (Competent port of a competent SNES RPG.)
Breath of Fire 2 (Competent port of the much improved SNES sequel.)
Cima: The Enemy (Strange hybrid of ARPG, Strategy, and Puzzle. Could have been better.)
Demikids Light/Dark Versions (Pokemon-esque. Competent.)
D&D Eye of the Beholder (3rd Generation rules. Nothing like the old EotB series. Not bad.)
FFI&II Dawn of Souls (Fun, updated, with loads of new and exclusive content. Too easy.)
FF Tactics Advance (Addictive time sink. Good lighthearted story, but V.E.R.Y. slow.)
Fire Emblem (Best Strat RPG I've ever played.)
Golden Sun (Not bad of a traditional RPG.)
Golden Sun The Lost Age (Favorite trad. RPG on the platform. Incredible improvements.)
Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories (VERY fun ARPG. Much better than the original, IMO.)
LotR Fellowship (Lame, horrible.)
LotR Two Towers (Fun Diablo clone hack n slash.)
LotR RotK (Refined from TT, well done Diablo clone.)
LotR Third Age (Pathetic Fire Emblem clone. Avoid.)
Lufia Ruins of Lore (Unfortunate step back for the series. Competent RPG.)
Lunar Legend (Lots of fun, but much worse than the console versions. Very buggy.)
Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga (Not as good as the Paper Marios, but awesome anyway.)
Phantasy Star Collection (Oldschool but awesome. Great "ports.")
Pokemon FR/LG (Fun remakes of the ones that started 'em all.)
Pokemon Ru/Sa (Pokemon 3. Much refined over its GBC predecessors.)
Shining Force (Awesome remake of the Genesis original. Not as good as FE, IMHO.)
Shining Soul (Crappy Diablo-clone in the Shining world.)
Shining Soul II (Much improved sequel. Not too shabby.)
Sword of Mana (Fun ARPG. Much better than Legend of Mana.)
Tactics Ogre Knight of Lodis (Awesome Strat RPG. More traditional than FFTA.)

Not including the Zeldas, The Hobbit, or the Castlevania games with RPG elements. Some might consider those applicable, but I'm leaving 'em out just in case. There's still quite a bit to love from that list, IMHO.
 
There are plenty of RPGs on the GBA... it's just none were bothered to be localized for America. :( 3 Tales games, one's a port, Riviera, one of the Fire Emblems, your anime tie-ins (Naruto, Gundam, DBZ, etc) even special spinoffs (Klonoa). Hell there's even a RPG Maker type thing for GBA. I'm not sure what exactly happened with the trend, it started out well right out of the gate, but fewer and fewer RPGs big names or not were localized. Hell, there are a good handful of Dragon Quest games that didn't even make the boat. But I agree, it's a sad thing that's the case over here.
 
OK, maybe I should have been more specific: Excellent RPG's. RPG's with excellent story, gameplay, and music. I will give you Pokemon, but everything else either isn't exactly what you'd call a classic RPG, or is merely decent. Feel free to point out any others I may have forgotten.
 
Ford Prefect said:
OK, maybe I should have been more specific: Excellent RPG's. RPG's with excellent story, gameplay, and music. I will give you Pokemon, but everything else either isn't exactly what you'd call a classic RPG, or is merely decent. Feel free to point out any others I may have forgotten.
Click to expand...

Golden Sun 1+2
FF 1+ 2
 
I guess that depends on how you define "classic" and "excellent". I've got plenty of games in my list I'd happily recommend.
 
iapetus said:
I notice that all these lists include SRPGs, but nobody mentioned Onimusha Tactics yet.

Congratulations.
Click to expand...

I just listed those games I own. Onimusha Tactics is a turd of a game. Easily the worst SRPG on the GBA, except for perhaps LotR Third Age.
 
Ford Prefect said:
Those are the games I mentioned in my original post.
Click to expand...

yeah sorry :/

so basicly you want turn based rpgs, and not action and strategy ones?

One action-rpg i would try is Sword of Mana (FF adventures)
 
SantaCruZer said:
yeah sorry :/

so basicly you want turn based rpgs, and not action and strategy ones?

One action-rpg i would try is Sword of Mana (FF adventures)
Click to expand...
Exactly. That's basically what the sub-genre "classic RPG" is, isn't it?
 
Ford Prefect said:
Let's hear them, and I'll tell you what I think.
Click to expand...

I provided my list above, with a short snippet on what I thought of the game by each name.

Are you only interested in traditional, turn based Japanese RPGs? I'm just not too sure what it is that you're looking for.
 
I still can't believe we haven't gotten Mother 1+2, Fire Emblem, Magical Vacation, Slime Mori Mori, and Caravan Hearts.

No excuse.
 
Okay, I realized I've been using the wrong term. Traditional RPG's are what I'm looking for. Golden Sun, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, etc. And very good ones, at that.

It's just unbelievable that we haven't seen more of them. All you really need is a good story (it can't be that impossibly hard), and to loosely copy the gameplay mechanics of any traditional Square RPG.
 
Concerning Castlevania:

SantaCruZer said:
It's an action-RPG wether you like it or not :P
Click to expand...

We might as well call Super Mario World an ARPG too, then. It has an overworld, more cutscenes, minigames and what have we.

Demikids is fairly interesting, btw.
 
Bacon said:
I'm I the only one that doesn't really classify Fire Emblem as an RPG...?
Click to expand...
It's a strategy RPG. A very damn good game, but I desperately crave traditional RPG's. I can only beat Golden Sun 1/2 so many times...
 
callous said:
Concerning Castlevania:



We might as well call Super Mario World an ARPG too, then. It has an overworld, more cutscenes, minigames and what have we.

Demikids is fairly interesting, btw.
Click to expand...

That's a poor example. Atleast those CV games I listed has a Level up syetem, and a (fairly) free roaming setting.
 
Ford Prefect said:
Okay, I realized I've been using the wrong term. Traditional RPG's are what I'm looking for. Golden Sun, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, etc. And very good ones, at that.
Click to expand...

That forces me to reiterate that you should really take a look at Lufia.
 
SantaCruZer said:
That's a poor example. Atleast those CV games I listed has a Level up syetem, and a (fairly) free roaming setting.
Click to expand...

So you're conceding that I can give an example that will make you cave in to the horrible truth? Excellent. I'll leave it at that and spare us from a dull and pointless debate :P
 
Ford Prefect said:
OK, maybe I should have been more specific: Excellent RPG's. RPG's with excellent story, gameplay, and music. I will give you Pokemon, but everything else either isn't exactly what you'd call a classic RPG, or is merely decent. Feel free to point out any others I may have forgotten.
Click to expand...

The Golden Sun's are argued as the best of 2d RPG's .... as far as gameplay goes, I'd have to say they go beyond most console RPG's...

don't be afraid to give something a try ... Mario & Luigi is better than any Paper Mario
 
Didn't Lufia get poor reviews, though? I hate to be chained to whatever some journalist is saying, but usually they're right. I bought Lunar Legend a while ago, despite the average reviews, and now I wished I would have heeded them.
 
Ford Prefect said:
Didn't Lufia get poor reviews, though? I hate to be chained to whatever some journalist is saying, but usually they're right. I bought Lunar Legend a while ago, despite the average reviews, and now I wished I would have heeded them.
Click to expand...

Lunar was crap, no doubt. Lufia is much, much better. I didn't read any reviews for it, I just played it. Refreshingly challenging, too.

Avg Ratio: 71% <-- Gamerankings, if you really must go by that sort of thing :P
 
The GBA Lufia is a decent, if short, game. It's nowhere near as good as its SNES counterparts, but is easily better than the GBC iteration. (Then again, what isn't?)

If you're looking for a good turnbased RPG to sink 20 hours into, look it up. Ruins of Lore, I believe, is the subtitle.
 
Maybe they are going in order? FFIII first, then FFIV.

Sorta OT, did the DQVI and DQV remakes for PSX and PS2 get canned?
 
sammy said:
The Golden Sun's are argued as the best of 2d RPG's .... as far as gameplay goes, I'd have to say they go beyond most console RPG's...
Click to expand...

Wow, I definitely have a different opinion from you then. It looks and sounds nice, but after that it's more or less downhill. Unless the second game is radically different from the first (never played it).
 
I've actually played through both Lunar Legends and Lufia Ruins of Lore twice. I like Lunar Legends, it brings back good memories, but it's got some pretty stupid flaws and gameplay changes.

Lufia of Lore has a certain addicting quality to it. It's bad by Lufia II standards, but then again, the only traditional RPG that actually does a good job of following in the footsteps of Lufia II is Golden Sun 2, imho. RoL has a certain appeal. The Ancient Dungeon is back, and fun, the music is pretty g-ddamn good, the job system (which resembles certain iterations of the Dragon Quest job system) had me fighting extra battles just for its sake, and the dungeons, despite paling before Lufia II's and GS2's, were still fun to explore.

And for those that hate random battles, RoL shows all enemies on the map, so you can avoid them. Besides the fact that it isn't ambitious or really all that good compared to earlier Lufias, my only real complaint with RoL is that some of the jobs take FOREVER to master, which makes creating very diverse characters more tedious than it should be.
 
I think that what these lists have shown is not that there aren't any...it's just that for the most part they absolutely blow. Can't wait to hear more about SMT on DS.
 
Fire Emblem is VERY much a Strat RPG, btw.

While FE might LOOK like Advance Wars, it plays much more like Shining Force, Tactics Ogre, and FF Tactics, than AW.

Golden Sun 2 is probably my favorite traditional RPG on the GBA, and one of my favorite RPGs ever. GS1 was decent fun, but severely lacking in many categories, most of which were completely fixed for the sequel. It's much larger, much more ambitious, features a better story (with very satisfying closure), better characters, better dialogue, and a MUCH more open ended structure. It's surprisingly non-linear (in its exploration) only a couple of hours in, has some of the most amazing special effects I've ever seen in an RPG, features some of the greatest optional content (items, boss fights, dungeons) I've ever experienced in a traditional RPG, and does an AWESOME job of adapting two aspects that made Lufia II the awesome RPG it was: (a) Out-of-combat magic to solve puzzles and expand exploration; and (b) Devious, ingenious, huge, and insanely fun puzzle-filled dungeons. It's a testament to traditional RPG game design, imho.

Edit - Not to mention carrying over loads of magic, weapons, and characters from the first game was just AWESOME.
 
Kiriku said:
Wow, I definitely have a different opinion from you then. It looks and sounds nice, but after that it's more or less downhill. Unless the second game is radically different from the first (never played it).
Click to expand...

gs2 is twice as good.
 
Ford Prefect said:
OK, maybe I should have been more specific: Excellent RPG's. RPG's with excellent story, gameplay, and music. I will give you Pokemon, but everything else either isn't exactly what you'd call a classic RPG, or is merely decent. Feel free to point out any others I may have forgotten.
Click to expand...

You consider Golden Sun 1 excellent so I am not even sure what to recommend.
 
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