Favorite and Recommendations for RPGs

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Adrake

Well-Known Member
#1
#1
I've been out of the gaming world for awhile - the last RPG i remember obsessing over is Diablo 2....yeah, somewhat pitiful.

So, I'm interested in what other people think are good RPGs.

I just picked up Shin Megami Tensei - haven't played it yet, but i heard it was good. Also, i've heard good things about Call Of Cthulhu, but haven't seen it around.

Would appreciate feedback on some worthwhile and addicting RPGs.

Thanks.
 
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sigfried27

Well-Known Member
#2
#2
The Suikoden series is a good bet, though finding any of the early ones outside of an emulator is not likely.

Tales of the Abyss is fairly good as well, as are earlier Grandia games, 2 probably being your best bet. Shadow Hearts is also a good series, with Covenant probably being the best, though it is a sequel to the original, though it can work as a stand alone to an extent. There is also the early Wild Arms games (ie 1 &2) and Ar Tonelico is not bad from what I have played before I always end up with memory card problems...and Growlanser 2 & 3 is also not that bad

none of those are really the same style as Diablo though, so if you are looking for something more along those lines, then none of these really apply. They are all more traditional RPG's. All are for Playstation systems as well.
 
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Cornuthaum

Well-Known Member
#3
#3
Baldur's Gate II.

The best of the best, utterly totally and c ompletely decimating it's opposition. RPGs are my most favoured genre, and I have not yet played a better game.

Suikoden II - It would have beaten BGII, had the story not been so frustratingly rail-roading linear ("plot trigger, hoo! half of the game areas are not accessible any more!"). A great game though, and worth any trouble to get to playing it, whether by emulation or on the PS1.
 
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Scygnus Darkhawk

Well-Known Member
#4
#4
The Disgaea games are tactical RPGs, if you like those, and they are extremely good, in my opinion. Since the first one is moderately rare, you can buy it, as well as the second here.

I suggest getting the guide with 2, that thing is ridiculously detailed to a point where you will LOVE having it. The guide for 1 is less than necessary, however.

Also, if you're as far back as Diablo 2, you might check out the Kingdom Hearts series. Though I still think they should've replaced Sephiroth with Kefka. But then they'd fall under their quota for emobisihies, so... *shrug*

And yeah, Grandia 2 is definitely the definition of an awesome RPG. 3 isn't bad either, and Miranda's existence is just plain hilarious. I still say that her socking the pirate is one of the greatest scenes of all time.

Oh! And don't forget the .hack series.

And if you really feel like torturing yourself slowly by lying on a bed of nails while someone's using your chest to hold coals for a barbecue that goes on for eternity, find Ephemeral Phantasia. It's like that. But be warned: after the first week, you'll soon be addicted to the story and will never want to let go of it until you've finished the game. Trust me, I know :headbanger:
 
coconutED

coconutED

some guy
#6
#6
Ditto on Ephemeral Phantasia; for some reason I loved that game. Curiously, of the three endings, my favorite is the one that is the easiest to get.

My opinions on Grandia differ somewhat from the norm: I consider the first to be the best, the second is very good, and the third is garbage (it has its moments though). A word of caution: If you are a person of faith, steer clear of Grandia 2. Most RPGs are somewhat anti-religious, but G2 takes it to a whole new level.

Check out the Lunar games. Both of the main games (Silver Star and Eternal Blue) are pretty good. Gotta love the outtakes at the end. Stay away from the others, especially Dragon Song.

For something a little different, try Magna Carta. How is it different? Well for starters the main character is 23. The youngest major character is 16. It's refreshing to see that most of the playable characters are in their mid to late twenties; all but one are legal adults. The music is great, the graphics are really good, even the voice acting is OK, if a little bland. The battle system is certainly an acquired taste, but it's one of the most fair and consistent out there. As for the story...well if it were not for one particular plot development that occurs after a certain story event, I would say that MC is the perfect RPG...

Have you played any of the "modern" Castlevanias? Not RPGs in the classical sense, but the RPG elements are definitely there. Besides, Symphony of the Night is just too good a game for anyone to pass up.
 
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GenocideHeart

Well-Known Member
#7
#7
You might want to give Atelier Iris 2: Azoth of Destiny a spin. It's sorta easy, at least until the lategame where you ight two major bosses, but I liked it. Amd I wasted hours on the item creation part...

Also, buy ANY AND ALL Shin Megami Tensei games. That would be, to date and off the top of my head:

-Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
-Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga
-Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2
-Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner - Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army
-Revelations: Persona (PSX)
-Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (PSX)

Besides those, my favorites are the Suikoden series, Mega Man X: Command Mission (both PS2 and Gamecube, IIRC), .hack//INFECTION and its sequels, .hack//G.U. and its sequels, Shadow Hearts and SH: Covenant, and especially the little-known tactical RPG gem known as Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity.
 
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OniGanon

Well-Known Member
#8
#8
Personally, even though it does feature the exp/lvl thing that RPGs are known for, I'd place the modern Castlevania games into the Adventure category, along with the likes of Metroid, Zelda, and the modern Prince of Persia games. Also, I'd call the Diablo games a Hack n Slash rather than an RPG, simply because there really isn't anything more to it than killing enemies to get better items and develop your character, so as to better kill more enemies... Not that that is a bad formula, I just think an RPG needs more of a story to it, and maybe quests that involve something more than 'go forth and kill stuff.'

Anyway, these I've played and can recommend:

Grandia II
Golden Sun II: The Lost Age
Tales of Symphonia
Baten Kaitos- I quite liked the battle system (card based), but no doubt it's not for everybody.
Skies of Arcadia
Baldur's Gate 2- Character build options and development is very much inferior to NWN in my opinion (and graphics, obviously), but it has superior party management and far, far superior dialogue.
Neverwinter Nights Platinum/Diamond- If you get it, you must get either of these versions because you will definitely want the content the two expansions provide.
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Knights of the Old Republic- it's an RPG with Lightsabers. How can you resist?
Pokemon Pearl/Diamond- of course, if you've played pokemon games before and didn't like it, this generation of the series won't change your mind.
 
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lord geryon

Well-Known Member
#9
#9
If your machine can handle it, Oblivion is a better game than Morrowind.
 
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kingdark

Well-Known Member
#10
#10
why would you choose the original neverwinter nights above the most recent version?
 
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Mereo Flere

Well-Known Member
#11
#11
Metal Saga.

Your characters fight in TANKS. That alone is worth it.

Other than that...what hasn't been listed here?

1. Rogue Galaxy
2. Romance of the 3 Kingdoms X (it's sorta RPGish, but it has no real storyline aside from you conquering China)
3. Phantom Brave
4. Makai Kingdom
5. Dragon Quest

Ah. By the way, I was surprised to see Grandia II on the PS2; I had thought it was soley for the Dreamcast, honestly.
 
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GenocideHeart

Well-Known Member
#12
#12
Mereo Flere said:
Metal Saga.

Your characters fight in TANKS. That alone is worth it.
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GAH. How could I forget Metal Saga? Not only do you fight in tanks, but your pets (dogs, specifically) can mount a fricking CANNON on their backs... Awesomeness.

Forgive me, Father, for by forgetting Metal Saga I have sinned greatly. :blue:
 
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toraneko

Well-Known Member
#13
#13
Skies of Arcadia is an oldie but a goodie.

Rogue Galaxy I'm currently thinking of as a sort of spiritual successor to it. And I'm having a blast between the story, characters, battle system, and the factory/item creation, weapon leveling/combining, and monster hunting.

If only there were a way to kill MIO.

Seriously, hasn't anyone ever heard of a sniper rifle out there in space?


edit: SUPER fucking ROBOT TAISEN. Shame on you for not mentioning it first, GH!
 
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GenocideHeart

Well-Known Member
#14
#14
Dude, Super Robot Taisen should be an automatic shoo-in in any collection. It's so obvious it shouldn't even need mentioning.

But I'll admit that I should have mentioned it, just in case some godless individual out there has been denied the joy of playing it... :snigger:

As for MIO, I motion for letting her and Lilika share a room for a few hours. I'm sure there won't be much of her left by the time all's said and done. :snigger:
 
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Ura Mamoru

Well-Known Member
#15
#15
GenocideHeart said:
As for MIO, I motion for letting her and Lilika share a room for a few hours. I'm sure there won't be much of her left by the time all's said and done. :snigger:
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Now I have the freak image of Jaster walking in on MIO and Lilika sleeping with each other (damn your ambiguous wordings)!

But seriously, if they were left alone for fifteen... no wait... five minutes, we're going to be burying/cremating a pink-haired loli. And then MIO's fanboy (and probably some fangirls) parade would try to kill Lilika.
 
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Cornuthaum

Well-Known Member
#16
#16
kingdark said:
why would you choose the original neverwinter nights above the most recent version?
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Because the only thing NWN II offers is GOOD GRAPHICS.

No real story (the plot is so lame it OOZES lameness like a slug does with slime), no real innovations, no nothing.

SUCK-SUCK.
 
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lord geryon

Well-Known Member
#17
#17
A good RPG for the PC that I rarely see anyone ever mention is Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura.

It ranks right up there with Fallout in awesome. Made by Troika before they were bought out, and 'some' of the developers in Troika also worked on Fallout.
 
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Cornuthaum

Well-Known Member
#18
#18
I, for one, didn't like Arcanum as much as Fallout I .... much less Fallout II. Dunno why, but the setting, eh... not mine. And nothing beats Sulik in terms of craziness (except for Minsc. But the big guy is a class of his own :D)
 
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lord geryon

Well-Known Member
#19
#19
Cornuthaum said:
I, for one, didn't like Arcanum as much as Fallout I .... much less Fallout II. Dunno why, but the setting, eh... not mine. And nothing beats Sulik in terms of craziness (except for Minsc. But the big guy is a class of his own :D)
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Really?

I thought the game was awesomeness. Throw some magic into Fallout, and I could see Arcanum being in the same world... just way the hell down the timeline.
 
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Cornuthaum

Well-Known Member
#20
#20
I think it took away the grit and grime from Fallout and added too much sparklity (no, that ain't a word, it is a feeling, the one I got when playing Arcanum)... in my not-so-humble opinion, it added too much stuff to choose from.
 
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lord geryon

Well-Known Member
#21
#21
Cornuthaum said:
I think it took away the grit and grime from Fallout and added too much sparklity (no, that ain't a word, it is a feeling, the one I got when playing Arcanum)... in my not-so-humble opinion, it added too much stuff to choose from.
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Too... much... stuff?

I'm sorry, you've lost me. I don't understand how having a higher degree of choice is bad.
 
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Lumias

Well-Known Member
#22
#22
You know, I've heard it mentioned on this board several times, but I've never played nor even seen someone play Super Robot Taisen, from GH's response to it i'm guessing it's a good game.
 
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Cornuthaum

Well-Known Member
#23
#23
lord geryon said:
Cornuthaum said:
I think it took away the grit and grime from Fallout and added too much sparklity (no, that ain't a word, it is a feeling, the one I got when playing Arcanum)... in my not-so-humble opinion, it added too much stuff to choose from.
Click to expand...
Too... much... stuff?

I'm sorry, you've lost me. I don't understand how having a higher degree of choice is bad.
Click to expand...
The game, unlike Fallout, never held the immense re-play appeal that marked one of the cornerstones of our favourite Post-Nuclear RPG.

And given the insane amount of choices - both in character building AND in developing the environment ... that is not good.
 
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lord geryon

Well-Known Member
#24
#24
Cornuthaum said:
lord geryon said:
Cornuthaum said:
I think it took away the grit and grime from Fallout and added too much sparklity (no, that ain't a word, it is a feeling, the one I got when playing Arcanum)... in my not-so-humble opinion, it added too much stuff to choose from.
Click to expand...
Too... much... stuff?

I'm sorry, you've lost me. I don't understand how having a higher degree of choice is bad.
Click to expand...
The game, unlike Fallout, never held the immense re-play appeal that marked one of the cornerstones of our favourite Post-Nuclear RPG.

And given the insane amount of choices - both in character building AND in developing the environment ... that is not good.
Click to expand...
The game held a lot of replay value, to me.

Using a magical character, a technological character, a mix, a thief...

There is replay value to the game.
 
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Adrake

Well-Known Member
#25
#25
I remember buying Suikoden 1 for 5 bucks at a KB-Toys Clearance bin maybe 6 years ago, great game although i dont think i ever finished it.

I managed to procure Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne.

Speaking of, I should buy a new computer - preferably one that can run a little faster.

Has anyone heard anything about Call Of Cthulhu or Guild Wars?
 
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