Is any RPG truly Bad?

[Valkyrie-Favor]

Yeah. Some RPGs are just truly bad. Check out Hydlide for PC-88.



I rest my case

[harper]

I didn't read all of the pages here so I don't know if this was mentioned but I think Quest 64 could easily be considered "bad". It is probably one of the most generic rpgs ever in existence. But I personally still managed to play into it quite a bit. You don't get any new weapons throughout the game, armor or anything. You just have a wooden staff and you're like a 10 year old boy. haha
But there is still the element of exploration (even though there's not really much to explore). And I would still like to beat the game one day. It has been so long since I've played it though that I don't know if I'd be able to pick it back up. I'd be lost as hell (not many memorable landmarks either). haha

[harper]

I enjoyed Mystic Quest when I was younger.

this, i loved that game.

I have a funny story about my experience with MQ lost in post somewhere here on RB.lol

But i have great affection towards this one Im proud some come foward to stand behind our beloved Mystic Quest!

By the way I also loved this game. It was the first rpg I ever played and it has awesome music. haha

[corn619]

Unlimited SaGa and Romancing SaGa for the PS2. Both games were panned by just about every reviewer out there. I agree there were issues with the game and they were tough as hell, but I loved the art direction in both games. I thought the enemies and special attacks were awesome looking and I wanted to see them all. I also wanted to see if these games got any better later in the game.

Unlimited SaGa was game I would like to call a failed experiment. There were some really cool aspects of the game that I liked, but there was also lots of overly punishing flaws that plagued the game. For example, every treasure chest had a trap you had to disarm. The only way to disarm it was timed button presses on a reel.

This game had some really cool looking characters and backgrounds in the battle scenes, so why they went with a static looking board game with blah looking game pieces in the game is confusing. In the end though I still did enjoy the game because it tried to do something different.

Romancing SaGa for the PS2 was another game I enjoyed pretty much for the same reasons, regardless of the flaws. I loved the art direction, enemies and the characters. It was wicked hard to find out where to go or what to do, but I still do plan on finishing this one real soon.

[deathsled]

Yeah. Some RPGs are just truly bad. Check out Hydlide for PC-88.



I rest my case

or Virtual Hydlide for Saturn lol

[Nemoide]

The worst game I've ever played was also an RPG. Lunar: Dragon Song for the Nintendo DS.
There are a few things going for that game: music, character design, and a connection to the classic Lunar games for Sega CD/PS1. But frankly, it could use some more songs, the quality character designs doesn't include monsters, and the connection to the previous Lunar games is pretty weak.
Everything else is a complete and utter mess.

AND NOW I'M GOING TO RANT ABOUT IT!

The story is incredibly cliche and contains a few nonsense plot-points that drag out the game, but it's unfair to judge a game just on a poor story. The system of powering-up similarly just drags out the game; you can choose between gaining XP from battle or gaining items from battle. If you just get XP and level up too much, the enemies "catch up" and the game actually becomes much harder. If you choose items, it's not quite the same as getting money - you have to go to a town, take an available job delivering those items, walk to another town and find the person you're supposed to deliver them to, then you get some money. Sometimes it's hard to find the person because the translation wasn't uniform and sometimes the name of the person you're supposed to deliver to is different from the name the character actually has. Repeat this and eventually you can buy better equipment.
To make everything worse, the combat is turn based and provides three options: attack (the computer decides), magic/special attack (you have VERY limited MP throughout the game), or use an item (you're rarely able to afford enough items in average combat). So basically the only option is attack, and you can't even select an efficient order to defeat the enemies. When you are attacking, it's done through drawn-out animations. You know it's bad because the developers were kind enough to include a "fast-forward button" and I can't imagine anyone getting far in that game without holding down that button for almost every battle. Even fast-forwarding, the battles are painfully slow.

Because I have a high tolerance for pain, took many breaks, and am devoted to the Lunar series, I did manage to beat the game. But I cannot recommend it to anyone. Nobody should play it. I feel a little ashamed that I actually sunk hours of my life into such an unpleasant experience.

Lunar: Dragon Song. A truly bad RPG.

[MrEco]

After thinking about it for a bit I determined that this is pretty much true for me. Under one condition.

There needs to be some experience progress. If there is none, or if the experience growth is hidden then I could very easily lose interest.

But as long as there is a number or a bar representing the time from this level to the next then I think I could keep interest in just about any RPG.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Oh God..... Lunar: Dragon Song...... I think I had blocked that game from my memory somehow. I tend to forget it's even part of the Lunar series.

It's also the first game I bought once I obtained a DS. What a great way to start with a new console.

[Jmustang1968]

Oh God..... Lunar: Dragon Song...... I think I had blocked that game from my memory somehow. I tend to forget it's even part of the Lunar series.

It's also the first game I bought once I obtained a DS. What a great way to start with a new console.

Luckily for us the DS ended up having a very strong rpg library.

[SirPsycho]

About 6 years ago I was really big into discovering older PC RPGs, I was also really into jRPGs but got hooked by what a PC could offer by playing Gothic II and Morrowind. I read great things about Planescape: Torment, Baldur's Gate, Fallout, Icewind Dale. So I hit the internet and bought a copy of Torment, it was in a double bundle with a game that sold about the same number of copies.

Torment turned into my favorite RPG of all time despite its lackluster combat, making a high Charisma character and talking your way out of fights was mind blowing to me. The game it came packaged with?



Soulbringer, it sold bad because it was terrible, Torment sold bad because it had no marketing and no amount of critic praise got people to buy it. And we wonder why Interplay is dead now.