RPG Progress Report

[Xeogred]

Zelda games are the Zelda genre to me. I've never cared to label them as much. Never called them RPG's and never will. Is DK64 an RPG? It's probably even longer than Skyward Sword. lol...

Like I keep saying, Skyward Sword gets better and has some fantastic dungeons. But yeah it's not perfect and I agree the long ass beginnings of the 3D Zelda games has been pretty annoying, holds me off from replaying them sooner than I usually would.

[BoneSnapDeez]

From my experience, Japanese developers and publishers have a much looser definition of "RPG" compared to their Western counterparts.

In the US the term was initially used to describe games that essentially play out like computerized versions of a tabletop D&D session. Dice rolls, tons of stats, character customization, etc.

Of course now the "WRPG" genre has branched out quite a bit mechanically. And I've noticed that (Western) developers hesitate to tag games with a pure RPG label which is why we have "shooters with RPG elements" and whatnot.

In Japan the term seems to be used to describe games that are simply inspired by classic pen & paper RPGs, WRPGs, and earlier JRPGs - even if the games in question have little (to none) strict "RPG elements" themselves. Note that games like Ocarina in Time and even Crossed Swords were described as RPGs by their publishers.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Still playing Terranigma, but I've also become massively distracted by this. What a stupidly addicting game.

[Betagam7]

I'm still rolling around in the latter stages of Lufia 1. God this game badly needs an in game map. The world is too big and sprawling and the random battles even with sweet water are coming so frequently now that it's a real chore. I finally found all the Alumina or whatever it's called but dear gods this game is....sooo stretched out near the end. I'm determined to beat it though before I move onto something else.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Lufia is fun but kinda tedious, yeah....... The sequel is so much better.

I've been busy and thus my Terranigma progress is slow. Just entered the "Zue" dungeon. However, my wife and daughter will be away for the weekend so I'll probably get a good 8-10 hours in between Sat/Sun.

[Exhuminator]

Still playing Terranigma, but I've also become massively distracted by this. What a stupidly addicting game.

Holy balls of something holy, that site has Blue Burst available for download. Does it allow offline play of Episodes 1,2, and 4? That would give me the happy tingles.

And yes, Lufia 2 > Lufia 1. It's not even a contest.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Still playing Terranigma, but I've also become massively distracted by this. What a stupidly addicting game.

Holy balls of something holy, that site has Blue Burst available for download. Does it allow offline play of Episodes 1,2, and 4? That would give me the happy tingles.

You need to be online and logged in, even to play solo. Not ideal, but it's relatively easy to set up. Warning: anti-virus programs hate the game, you'll have to create an "exception" so the .exe file isn't continuously scanned/deleted.

[Exhuminator]

You need to be online and logged in, even to play solo.

Urgh, that stinks for me. My dork cave gaming PC is always offline, because I don't bother with online multiplayer. I guess I'll stick with the GameCube version then. Too bad it doesn't have Episode 4. I should play it anyway just because it was so freaking expensive.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Yeah I wasn't into PSO until somewhat recently so I missed out on the GameCube port. Which means I'll probably never own it. I do have the useless Xbox frisbee though!!!

[Exhuminator]

I do have the useless Xbox frisbee though!!!

Happened to me too. A few years ago I bought the Xbox version because it was so cheap compared to the GameCube one. Then I found out why it was so cheap. So I bought Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II for GameCube instead. I spent like $75 on it, but it is in mint condition. (I wanted Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Plus but it was like $130 in mint condition, so that was a real no go.) I also picked up Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution for GameCube as well. It was much cheaper. (You can still get that one brand new off Amazon for less than $20.)

So I originally wanted this game for local split-screen co-op, and yes that does work on the GameCube version. But the trouble is, in offline co-op mode, all NPC dialogue is absent, so all the story elements go out the window. Myself and my co-op partner didn't like that, so we moved on. I kind of forgot about the game after that, due to being disappointed with how much it cost versus how non-optimal the offline co-op mode was. But then sometime not too long ago you started talking about how fun the GameCube version is for single player (or maybe you were playing Dreamcast, I'm not 100% sure), and I felt better about having bought it. I definitely plan to give it a go sooner rather than later, for single player anyway.