RPG Progress Report

[Sarge]

I guess I'm just in the minority, because as good as I thought Trails in the Sky was, it really wasn't any better than any of the PSX-era RPGs I played, outside of the excellent localization. And there's something about the newer Persona games that has never clicked for me. I just feel, overall, that the aforementioned eras had games that catered to my tastes quite a bit more than today. Not that there aren't good ones today! It's just not nearly as many as before. If you love the modern stuff, that's great! (And to be honest, it's the WRPG front that's really come a long way, I find myself enjoying them quite a bit more than most JRPGs at this point. Sacrilege, I know.)

Except Nep-Nep, of course. Clearly the greatest RPG series of all time.

[laurenhiya21]

I thought about making a top favourite RPG list but apparently I've only beaten 19 RPGs Plus that includes a few that I don't like so much, so a list from me wouldn't be that interesting lol

As for what I'm playing right now, I've started up Atelier Totori and Odin Sphere. Haven't gotten far in either but I'm liking them so far. Little weird going back to Totori though since I've already beaten Ayesha (which us two games after Totori).

[Daria]

1. Breath of Fire 3, Shining Force, Lunar 2, Dragon Warrior 7, Alundra, Shadowrun
2. Magic of Sherherazade
3. Sweet Home
4. Paper Mario
9. Chrono Trigger
10. Rhapsody?


...really liked Suikoden 2...

I suck at lists. They're all my babies. Crap I didn't even touch western games.

1. Arcanum
2. Arcanum
3. Arcanum
4...

[Exhuminator]

Except Nep-Nep, of course. Clearly the greatest RPG series of all time.

Greatest RPG series of all time you say? That'd be either Phantasy Star or King's Field.

[noiseredux]

Phantasy Star rules.

[darsparx]

Kingdom hearts 1 final mix - finally up to the final world(s) (it looks like worlds since it's several different layers of weirdness) and up to another what were they thinking moment. Up against the cernabog and it's another giant monster battle. Sorry Square but flying/swimming against a monster at least 3-4x my size is not my idea of what i want to see again after facing Ursula a few worlds back(which i skipped at first and came back to then) . At least this guy doesn't move his head to face me when he attacks...but that volcanic attack is a pain in the rear. Gotta give them credit on the design of this though, it's definitely something to see even if Terminus is a little repeative. Kinda glad it's almost over but apparently at lvl 55 I still need to find somewhere to grind just to get past him...

[Betagam7]

I'm about 9 hours into Tales of Phantasia now. The story, which started out quite strong seems to have degraded into a series of dungeon quests for various rings and boss battles that rely on some weird trick to beat that I'm not sure how I was ever meant to come to logically from anything the game teaches you in regular combat.

Does it pick up again or is the rest of the game like this?

[ElkinFencer10]

Except Nep-Nep, of course. Clearly the greatest RPG series of all time.

Greatest RPG series of all time you say? That'd be either Phantasy Star or King's Field.

Senpai, you disappoint me. Phantasy Star is amazing, and I'm sure King's Field is great if you're into masochism, but NEP IS LOVE. NEP IS LIFE.

Nep nep nep, nep nep, nep nep nep nep...

[Ack]

It's easier to just nail down the best time for RPGs in general. I think that was the SNES-PSX-PS2 era. There was so much good stuff then that it's hard to complain even now, when we're getting comparatively less quality stuff overall.

Speaking of RPGs, I put down Paper Jam for a bit and booted Brandish: Dark Revenant back up. I hit the tower last night.

I think the quality of stuff now is high, perhaps higher than then, but I also have higher expectations now. Those are the games I grew up playing, and got me hooked on the genre. I am not sure how well they would hold up in a lot of aspects had I first played them recently.

Stuff like the Persona series and Trails games are representing JRPGs well, and we have had a renaissance of classic style WRPGs as well as more modern takes. 2016 is packed with RPGs that look promising.

Actually this is part of why I'm enjoying playing through so many RPGs from that era now. I can find out what I really like as an adult who has a lot of experience versus the nostalgia that I have. For instance, Arcana? The Shadowrun games? 7th Saga? I only played through these in the last few years, and I've found them immensely interesting and entertaining. Impressively so for games that I just didn't hear folks talking about. And even the big names of the genre, while I don't put them in my personal top 10, I can see why folks like them so much. Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana...these are some pretty great games.

That's not to say this always works out. I took serious issue with some of the foibles of the early Breath of Fire games. And some games were considered middle road with good reason, like Secret of Evermore. And the ports of WRPGs to the SNES are...lackluster, we'll say. But overall, the quality has been pretty high, even if mechanics are sometimes rudimentary and experimental. There's a vibrancy in the relative youth of the genre that I don't see as much nowadays, particularly on the JRPG side.

Now WRPGs... I'd say they're having a Renaissance, but that would imply there was a generation of them that was bad, and frankly I just can't think of one. They've been impressive from the get go, though they're a lot more accessible than they used to be.

[Exhuminator]

Yo Elkin-chan, I would play a King's Field/Neptunia hybrid.

Speaking of King's Field, I beat King's Field III last night. So yeah, I am now the only person I know who has beaten every mainline King's Field, including Pilot Style. I don't know if that's something to brag about, or if it just says something deeply disturbing about my own character.


Anyway, here's one final big ol' batch of screenshots from my time in King's Field III, for my own reminiscent really:

An Ice Harpy which you find in the Forlorn Ice Fields. Nice translucent wings.


A Blood Demon. Very creepy giant bastard that mopes around casting darkness and fondling you inappropriately with its many grabby hands.


Traveling through a dead forest near a graveyard, I found these ruins.


Here's a charming seen from the Passage of Death. A hellish trial of a dungeon that lives up to its name.


Attempt to decapitate a Possessed Mannequin.


Just a friendly ghost somewhere within the Passage of Death.


A Frost Giant about to bash me with earth spells and his hammer.


One of the many unusual keys you will need in this game.


What the Magic Mirror had to say about the Passage of Death.


Clearly From Software are Satanists.


A welcoming party deep in the Royal Graveyard.


Axe wielding Snake Vixens is all.


One of the hardest bosses in the game.


This is a character named Light who is from the original King's Field 1. Except now he's dead. And yet, he's not dead. I won't spoil it.


King's Field games are chock full of secrets. For example, I found this Morguline Axe and wanted to know what it did. In four different King's Field III walkthroughs not one of them had it listed. Which means none of those writers even found it.


The most dangerous normal enemy in the game. It constantly casts explosive magic that will deplete half your life in one hit.


If you don't bother to manually map out your surroundings using the Pixy Map, forgot having any idea where you are.


Lots of awesome equipment to find in this game. And usually there's a catch. This armor for example makes casting your magic take twice as long, but it offers superior protection against blunt weapon attacks.


Attempting to sneak up on Statue Guards. I failed.


King's Field III has all kinds of awesome high level spells. In this picture I was blasting Light Bombs at dragons.


If you're not good at navigating tricky situations in first person view, you'll likely end up skewered on spikes, melted in lava, drowned in rivers, etc.


It's Final Form!


Spider Women are real jerks, notice that their actual eyes are the red dots on their chest. That matters.


Using the Magic Mirror will tell you all sorts of things about well, anything.


Another map of another crazy maze dungeon. No shortage of those in KF3.


Sometimes you're just exploring an old castle and BAM freaky ghost popping out the wall all moanin' and shit.


I found this guy lost in the basement of an old fortress. He'd resulted to cannibalism to survive, hence all the bones. I left him alone.


An example of the stat screen.


You can drill deeper into your stats if you wish. Yes this is an RPG for nerds.


If you've played the Souls games you've probably come across the Moonlight Sword from time to time. If you didn't know it, now you do, the Moonlight Sword comes from the King's Field series. And it was required in KF3 if you wanted the good ending. I got the good ending. Not because I cared about having a good ending, but because the Moonlight Sword kicks all forms of ass, no way I'd pass it up.

It's been 25 hours of fantastic fun, amazing moments, sweet memories, and pure hellish challenge. But King's Field III is done. The whole mainline franchise for me, is done.


King's Field series; to beat you has been an honor and a privilege.
A bittersweet victory. I salute you.

Now, what's this Shadow Tower stuff all about then?