quietsoul

I have an itching for a good RPG. I finished Xenogears about a week ago; it took me about 8 or 9 months? I can't remember when I picked it up. I am a fan -- no, fan is too strong a word -- of Japanese RPGs. I have not played an American RPG in a long time (Ultima VI, VII, and Eye of the Beholder -- not really console RPGs, I know). However, I'll certainly keep an open mind about them.

For the most part, I enjoyed Xenogears. The cutscenes were overbearing at times, but I thought they did a decent job of advancing the story. I certainly enjoyed it more than the no-where-near-complete Suikoden 3 that is sitting on my shelf. I'll probably be listing it on eBay soon. I couldn't get into the story probably because there was way too much reading. I know, shoot me for complaining, but I spend enough of my time reading as is. And, I should mention that I have VERY LITTLE time to play, a couple of hours a month at most.

Let's see, I also enjoyed FFVII, FFVIII, and FFX. I have a PS2 and XBox at my disposal. Suggest away!

illennium

How about FFX-2 or Kingdom Hearts?

dcswirl

One of my favorites is Breath of Fire 3 on Playstation. I really got into the story and it had a little fishing game in there that was really addictive. If you've played that already, I saw on your above post you didn't include FF9. That one is very, very good also.

I enjoyed Suikoden 3, but I agree about all the reading. I liked how the 3 paths were connected and it gave you the choice of which way to go with it. Definitely not for everyone though.

sararekuforever

If you liked Xenogears, why not play Xenosaga? The gameplay is similar, the story is just as good, and the presentation is quite nice.

Maybe you should look into some older games? Phantasy Star IV? Lunar Silver Star? Grandia? Shining Force 2? Final Fantasy IV or V?

FFX2 isn't that bad either.

jrobinson

I suggest,

Keep in mind these are strat-RPG's... but very good
PS1 Arc the Lad Trilogy
PS2 Disgaea: Hour of Darkness

again to boast Xenosaga EP1, very good game, cheap now too. Running around 20 to 30 new? Anyways, a lot of people didn't like it very much, because there is a lot of video... it felt more like a movie...

Suikoden 3 is an okay game... not my favorite, but entertaining if you can get it cheaply...

someone suggested Breath of Fire 3, well, these games take a lot to like. I own the original Breath of Fire 1, 2 for SNES (and then I bought them again for the GBA), but I can't stand them. Moving along in the future, 3, 4, and Dragon Quarter in my opinion got really old fast.

I suggest checking out a hard to obtain PS1 game, Atlus's Thousand Arms. There's also Tales of Destiny, Star Ocean: The Second Story.... all good games.

quietsoul

I finished Kingdom Hearts and was thinking about X-2. I was looking for some other suggestions and wanted to branch out from the FF line. Again, Xenogears was good; but, PS1 3D graphics are a severe eyesore. 2D sprites are do-able and a plus at times.

(I almost finished FFVIII when the save was deleted from the mem. card; and I have not finished FFVIII because it just looks so bad).

I've messed around with the Breath of Fire series and was not impressed. What about the Y RPGs? Star Ocean? Valkerie Profile?

William Wallace

PS1 RPGs:

Final Fantasy Anthology(has ff5 and 6)
Final Fantasy Chronicles(ff4 and chrono trigger)
Suikoden I and II(they are very different from III. II is by far the best in the series)

PS2 RPGs:

Xenosaga...umm thats it...

William Wallace

if the ps1 rpgs are an eyesore, play them on the PS1 lcd screen...it helps a lot.

karnblack

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was the best RPG I played last year.

Setzer

Well some of the ones I would recommend have already been listed but here's another....

Final Fantasy Tactics(PS1)

You can pick it up for around $14.95 at Wal-Mart, Target etc. Great game and will provide you with hours of entertainment.

TOPDAWG

Star Wars Knights of the old whatever RPG for xbox.

TOPDAWG

I loved Xenogears but think Xenosega just sucks they want nuts with 30 min long movies. I got so damn bored wacthing movie after movie. I want to play a game not a movie. I just got sick of it and stoped playing. I think I had what like 5 hours into it and played like a whole 30 mins worth of gameplay.

sararekuforever

Well, of course, that's what the first 5 hours are like.

After that, there are some very LONG dungeons [Encephalon, Inside the Gnosis, Song of Nephelim Tower, Final Dungeon, Attack on Second Miltia, etc]

By the end, I had about 50 hours. And I think the people at Gamefaqs counted that it's only 13 hours of movies...and considering that there are no text scenes..it's really less than in a standard Final Fantasy [considering they have movies,and text scenes..]

Galanthas

Looks like Xenogears was released in 1998. I purchase it on release day and still haven't gotten around to finishing it heh. I have quite a few PS1 RPG's to finish still.

I have a recommendation but it's not a turn-based RPG, It's called Alundra 1 for the PS1. Best damn Zelda clone you'll ever play with a great Working Designs translation.

Outlaw

If you didn't like the long scenes in Xenogears, you'll hate Xenosaga because it generally feels like much more noninteractive movie than game and not too much gameplay. I beat it in 38 hours and I was taking my time, but the movies do have an overbearing effect looking back on the game, one of them is like 2 hours long.

I liked FFX but I was really disappointed in FFX-2, the story isn't good, and music is irritating and forgetable, and the game is incredibly easy. I never saw the game over screen once.

Disgea: Hour of Darkness is a great game but it is a strategy game (like FFTA).

The best RPG I played recently was Mario and Luigi: The Superstar Saga but its a GBA game, but I'd say its worth getting a GBA just for that game. It is better than the PS2 games mentioned in almost every way IMO.

I haven't played Breath of Fire V but I have heard its pretty good.

Skies of Arcadia is another good one if you have not played it yet, great game!

A hidden gem on the PSOne is Brave Fencer Musashi, a decent hack and slash rpg game.

quietsoul

Oops. I made a HUGE mistake. I finished Xenosaga not Xenogears. I've heard great things about Xenogears; however, it is a PSOne game. It's just hard for me to switch back to rough textures and block models. Sure, I thought the graphics were great back then, but being so accustomed to the modeling and textures of this current gen, the "bad" graphics on the PS1 might be a big enough reason not to go back. 2D sprite-RPGs are another matter.

I'll look in KOTOR. I'm not a big fan of Star Wars though. As far as role-playing strategy games, the pacing is a little slow for me. I played Ogre Tactics on a GBA emulator. It was a lot of fun at 200% speed, but it didn't hold my attention at normal speed.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

Josh H

Star Wars: KOTOR is hit or miss if you don't like Star Wars.

It's an american style RPG, so it's a lot more open ended, and has a much different combat system, than Japanese RPGs like Xenogears, Final Fantasy etc.

I don't generally like these type of games, but loved this one. But it was mainly because I'm a big Star Wars fan so the story and atmosphere kept me enthralled.

quietsoul

How about Valkyrie Profile? It's a 2D sprite RPG that didn't see much of daylight. I saw my friend playing it once or twice, and it looked really good. Unfortunately, it's selling on eBay upwards of $60.

My question to you guys is, is it worth it?

Noonan

If you have an XBOX, one word.....Morrowind. That is the only game you need. You can get the GOTY version for $30. I have well over 200 hours in that game. Completely open-ended. If you don't have much time, you can just turn it on, and kill off a whole town for fun. Just don't save.

William Wallace

If PS1 graphics are an eyesore, forget it. Valkyrie Profile is one of the most pixelated RPGs out there.

Xenogears played on PS2 in higher resolution actually looks noticeably smoother. And it has arguably the best story in any RPG. It's definitely better than Xenosaga in every aspect besides visuals.

Ginwen

For PS2, Wild Arms 3 (although I've barely started, it seems ok so far).

On PC, Fallout 2 is one of the best games ever. It's not Japanese style, but it's more plot driven than most PC RPGs (Fallout 1 is good too, but I hate time limits).

Kingdom Hearts was ok, but much more of an Action game than an RPG, IMHO.

I bought Morrowind GOTY for Xbox, but haven't really gotten into it so far.

~~ PAL ~~

Fallout 1 AND 2 are simply some of the best RPGs ever made, and cannot be excluded by any PC gamer.

BTW, the time limit for Fallout 1 is only for finding the water chip for your tribe, and is quite liberal. Once you got your vault squared away, there are no more time limits for the rest of the game.

Marker

If you apply the last patch for Fallout, the time limit for finding the water chip is removed.

V-ism

Chrono Cross

jrutz

You are lucky you have access to PS1 games, because I found the PS1 to be the best system ever for RPGs. Yes, even better than the SNES...

There's just too many games to mention that are worth playing for the PS1. The next-gen systems don't have nearly as much to choose from. Here's just a few worth mentioning (* means recommended choices):

PS2:
Okage: Shadow King
* Shadow Hearts
* Xenosaga
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
* FF X
* Dark Cloud 2
Grandia II
Grandia Xtreme
Wild Arms 3

Xbox:
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Arx Fatalis
* Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
* Deus Ex: Invisible War

The PS1, however, has too many good RPGs to mention. Here's the cream of the crop:

* Chrono Cross
* Final Fantasy Chronicles
* Final Fantasy Anthology
Final Fantasy Origins
FF IX
Grandia
Lunar: Silver Star Story
* Persona
* Persona II: Eternal Punishment
Saiyuki
Star Ocean: The Second Story
Tales of Destiny
Tales of Destiny II
* Thousand Arms
* Vagrant Story
* Valkyrie Profile (I don't care what they say, this is BEAUTIFUL 2D artwork!)

Now, I didn't just come up with these off the top of my head, I had help from a little site called RPGFan - http://www.rpgfan.com. Check it out next time you get stuck looking for the next great RPG to play!

Jeremy