What RPG should I be playing?

[drboom]

I have finally decided to buy some current console besides my Wii, which is mostly for Netflix it seems. I'm open to either PS3 or 360, assuming the list of good RPG's is worth it.

I am a big fan of the Persona/Shin Megami Tensei series having played Persona 2, Persona 3, part of Persona 4, Nocturne and a fan sub of one of the Super Famicom games. I'm also a big fan of tactical RPG's like Disgaea, FF Tactics, Tactics Ogre and so on. Not a big Final Fantasy fan, but I do like the first four (yeah, I actually like 2) and Dragon Warrior I-V.

I'm hoping for a fun, deep game with great battle mechanics. Last good RPG I really. really enjoyed was Persona 3. Before that it was probably FF X-2 - but don't hold that against me.

I have been debating about picking up Catherine, but I don't know anyone who has played it.

[Zaarock]

I'm hoping for a fun, deep game with great battle mechanics. Last good RPG I really. really enjoyed was Persona 3.

I find this combination of sentences pretty weird Didn't enjoy the game myself.. I thought the battle system wasn't deep/good at all (would be interested in seeing arguments for it, heh) and the events in the game were stretched out unnecessarily far apart making it a really long game. And the enemies in the dungeons were mostly recycled harder versions of previous ones, along with the dungeon graphics of course. Never finished the last month of the game though, but I think I'll try out SMT: nocturne at some point.

I've almost played through Persona 2: innocent sin and thought it was a MUCH better game gameplay/story/pacing wise than Persona 3. Only original thing I felt P3 had going for it was the social links thing but I never enjoyed it much.

No idea about what are good current gen console RPGs but I'm a big fan of Valkyrie Profile for PS1 and some other tri-ace stuff (End of Eternity for 360/PS3 is pretty good, but the combat system is more action/timing based). Haven't played through many RPGs overall though.

[drboom]

Yeah, two seperate ideas - but I do want some good combination of both good story - which I thought P3 had - and great battle mechanics. I actually like to level grind, and would rather be playing a lot of random battles with a good battle system than sitting through 10-minute cinematics.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Digital Devil Saga 1&2.

[drboom]

I do have Digital Devil part 1 and have been thinking of giving that a spin. I was hoping there was some awesome hidden gem hiding on new consoles...

[Moniker]

Can't do much better than Dark Souls or Mass Effect 1&2. I haven't played any current-gen JRPGs save FFXIII, which I wouldn't necessarily recommend, but I like the battle system. AFAIK, Catherine is a puzzler/visual novel, not an RPG. Here's a more comprehensive list of difficult RPGs, difficulty being generally the best indicator of quality, at least in the current state of the genre.

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=39565

[MX7]

Something really made me hate Digital Devil Saga. I'm a big fan of SMT 1, 2 and 4 (never played 3), and Persona 3 and 4, but DDS really irked me in a way few RPGs have done since Final Fantasy X...

I too am interested in any suggestions along the criteria that Drboom has outlined. What I'd love to find is something approaching a current gen Grandia, with fast battles, interesting character interplay and design, and party chat. I haven't played a good RPG that wasn't on DS since Final fantasy XII. Dark Souls kind of doesn't count.

[drboom]

Ah yes - Grandia - good one too. I also didn't enjoy FF X - super easy, super linear, waaaaay too many story bits. I have been interested in checking out the Persona 1 remake for the PSP, but I really would rather playing on a big screen...

[shmuppyLove]

Why so quick to dismiss the Wii? There are some pretty decent RPGs, plus there are some very solid ones in the Gamecube library that have held up really well.

Gamecube:
- Baten Kaitos
- Baten Kaitos: Origins
- Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
- Skies of Arcadia: Legends
- Tales of Symphonia

Wii:
- Arc Rise Fantasia
- Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
- Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon
- Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
- Xenoblade Chronicles

That ought to keep you busy for a while

[professor ganson]

Why so quick to dismiss the Wii? There are some pretty decent RPGs, plus there are some very solid ones in the Gamecube library that have held up really well.

Gamecube:
- Baten Kaitos
- Baten Kaitos: Origins
- Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
- Skies of Arcadia: Legends
- Tales of Symphonia

Wii:
- Arc Rise Fantasia
- Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
- Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon
- Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
- Xenoblade Chronicles

That ought to keep you busy for a while

Good point. Nice lists. Good JRPGs these days are mainly on handhelds. If you want to get serious about JRPGs on current consoles, you can't afford to neglect the Wii.

[Estebang]

I can strongly recommend all four of the PSP Falcom games localized by XSeed:

- Ys I & II Chronicles (even if you've got another version, it's different and improved enough to warrant a playthrough)
- Ys: Oath In Felghana
- Ys Seven
- Trails In the Sky

Also, the PSP port of Persona 2: Innocent Sin. It has an excellent translation, some added content, a data install option, and is a much better game overall than Persona 3/4.

I'm currently playing through the first Digital Devil Saga. The games run on the same engine as Nocturne, though they're more linear and story-based. There's permanent party members and a skill-learning system like FFX's Sphere Grid. They're inferior to Nocturne, but still very much worth your time, and the storyline is arguably the best of the SMT franchise. I didn't even mind the lack of demon conversations, as it's made clear that the only reason the demons exist is to be your food.

[professor ganson]

I can strongly recommend all four of the PSP Falcom games localized by XSeed:

- Ys I & II Chronicles (even if you've got another version, it's different and improved enough to warrant a playthrough)
- Ys: Oath In Felghana
- Ys Seven
- Trails In the Sky

Same here. Don't have the first on this list, but the others are really, really nice.

[Estebang]

Looks like drboom already owns DDS1...I'd say to give it a spin as soon as possible.

Oddball recommendation: Brave Story - New Traveler. A rather generic PSP JRPG, based on the novel of the same name, that happens to do almost nothing wrong. The battles are easily as fun as Chrono Trigger's, sharing a similar combo system. It isn't hurt by the gorgeous graphics. If you like Dragon Quest and early Final Fantasy, it should be right up your alley. There's some kind of bird-raising side game for the Pokemon kids with a multiplayer component, but I never got into that.

[drboom]

Sounds like a lot of good suggestions - and I think I'm gonna fire up DDS1 tonight and give it a whirl.

Brave Story - that was on the radar - I may have to look into that.

Has anyone played SMT: Strange Journey for the DS?

[iconoclast]

If you want to consider DS games, then I recommend SMT: Devil Survivor (a strategy RPG). The battles are more tactical than the previous SMT games, it has the best demon fusion in the series (you can choose skills to carry over to your new demon), it has a good story with multiple outcomes, and overall it's just a great game.

The sequel just came out in NA as well, so that's what I've been playing. I'm only a couple hours into it, but so far it seems like an improvement in every way.

[Eaglet]

Has anyone played SMT: Strange Journey for the DS?

Best SMT since Nocturne.
The whole eco-jumbo can get a bit annoying, but aside from that and the fact that it's a bit on the easy side it should keep you very entertained and immersed.

SMT: Devil Survivor

Super angsty and whiny though.
lol JRPG

[Estebang]

Devil Survivor is definitely a lesser SMT. It was made with a younger audience in mind, and it shows. No Kazuma Kaneko either.

Strange Journey was originally intended to be SMT4, but I think they decided the numeral would be too alienating to Western players (the 3 was already dropped from Nocturne here). This is also why the game has the culturally neutral setting of Antarctica, and the protagonist's nationality differs between versions. I haven't played it myself yet, but I've read nothing but praise for it. However, it ditches the excellent Press Turn system of Nocturne/DDS, which seems a bit of a downer.

If you've got a Dreamcast, Maken X is an excellent FPS/beatemup/action RPG hybrid by Atlus' SMT and Persona team, based on an obscure manga. It never gets quite as hard as it feels like it should, but there's a huge number of branching paths through the game, leading to numerous endings. You can't upgrade your characters, though your experience level allows you to "brainjack" stronger ones. There's a PS2 port, but it unwisely switches to a typical third-person camera, and it was only released in Japan and Europe.

[MX7]

Strange Journey is like the sequel to SMT2 that I'd been clamouring for for years. The story is genuinely creepy and alienating, the fuzzy 1st person dungeon crawling rock solid, the locations bizzare, the music excellent. I'd love to see an official translation/re-jig of SMT1&2 turn up on a portable one of these days.

[Estebang]

An upgraded port of SMT1 was actually just released for iOS devices, but it's in Japanese only at the moment.

[sjewkestheloon]

I have played a lot of the JRPGs for the 360 and will happily give a rundown:

Star Ocean 4 - Terrible story and woefull voice acting, but I actually really enjoyed it. A lot. About 350 hours or so. It has a fun battle system and you can control every character in combat. There is also an excellent item crafting system which is stupidly sidelined until the end of the game and then suddenly opens up a lot of possibilities for the endgame. I would never recommend it to anyone due to the multitude of problems but I certainly had a lot of enjoyment from it.

Tales of Vesperia - Reasonable story with iffy pacing, but likable characters made up for it. I have played through this twice with my wife in co-op and we both enjoyed it thoroughly. Also has a ton of extra content to work at and a lot of replayability.

Dark Souls - see the thread here on the forum for an idea of the love.

Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey - Closest to traditional JRPG that you will get and great fun if you take them for what they are, ie throwbacks to older titles with nice graphics and a few tweaks. I have played them both a few times though and I will be revisiting them when I want a relaxing experience. Unfortunately both are a bit on the easy side.

Infinite Undiscovery - A bit of a mess. Seriously unfinished. Still enjoyed it for all of the obscure elements and item creation but hard to recommend to anyone.

Last Remnant - PLayed it a little bit a but I found it a tad confusing and barren. Will be going back to it this year.

Nier - Action RPG with a great story, good voice acting, good replayability but an unfortunate amount of revisiting the same locations in a rather small world over and over again. Avoid the item crafting and grinding and play for the story and you will not be disappointed.

Resonance of Fate - What I played of it was very interesting but I dropped it for some unknown reason. Very unusual style with oddball cutscenes, a very unique combat system and some ball hard encounters dotted around uninspiring dungeon setups. Definitely worth having a look at this one and I will be replaying it later on.

If you want to know about cRPGs let me know.

[MX7]

An upgraded port of SMT1 was actually just released for iOS devices, but it's in Japanese only at the moment.

Thanks for the heads up. Aside from the huge on screen buttons, language barrier and a price that would make Square blush, I'm still quite tempted... If for some amazing reason Atlus USA goes to the trouble of localising it, I'll be on this like a hot snot.

[iconoclast]

Devil Survivor's characters probably were made to appeal to a younger audience (ie. the Persona audience), but I don't see how it's one of the lesser SMT games at all. It takes what I like about the SMT series (the story, demon collecting, fusing) and puts it into a genre that offers more room for strategic gameplay. Win/win.

Last Remnant - PLayed it a little bit a but I found it a tad confusing and barren. Will be going back to it this year.

TLR is very obtuse (or at least the 360 version is); you're going to need to read a guide that thoroughly explains everything to really make sense of it. But it is an excellent game once you know how everything works. I'd put it up there with Valkyria Chronicles as my favorite RPG this gen.

[Casper<3]

seriously, the answer is Persona 4. If you enjoyed P3, then you'll enjoy P4. It's made some nice improvements and is better than pretty much anything on current gen system as far as RPGs.

In fact, I'm an RPG lover and the only RPG's I've truely enjoyed this round are FF13 and FF13-2. So since you've said you didnt care for FF, just save your money and buy Persona 4 instead.

[Estebang]

Might be a good idea to wait for the expanded Vita port of Persona 4.

But Drboom already owns it, anyway.

[drboom]

I do - and honestly, I just though ir was too much of the same after P3 and I fizzled out after 20 hours or so.

[Ruldra]

Valkyria Chronicles (PS3 exclusive) is a damn good strategy RPG. Should be really cheap nowadays.

[dunpeal2064]

I do - and honestly, I just though ir was too much of the same after P3 and I fizzled out after 20 hours or so.

Funny, I had a hard time getting through p3, but found the 4th game to be quite refreshing. I will say, the 90hr game time was a bit daunting, and it dragged many times. However, it really ties up nicely (depending on what you decide to do), and had a pretty interesting twist near the end.

Digital Devil Saga is a prety sweet game, feels much more like Nocturne than Persona, for obvious reasons. I liked that, for once, the games were focused around a predetermained party, so they were able to develop more characters than most SMT games do. The game is nice and challenging too. I think the first real dungeon had to have had at least 6 bosses in it. Either that or I went the wrong way