Like DigiKerot, I have a substantial RPG backlog that I’ve been slowly whittling down. I’ve narrowed down the possible choices to 5 games that I haven’t played yet, and all of them are fairly acclaimed according to their GameRankings average score, so I need some help deciding which one to play next! Vote for the game that you think should take priority over the others, and feel free to explain why the other games are not as deserving. Here’s some of my initial impressions, after the jump!
Which RPG Should Ender Play Next?
- Tales of Symphonia (35%, 39 Votes)
- Suikoden V (29%, 32 Votes)
- Skies of Arcadia - Legends (23%, 26 Votes)
- Rogue Galaxy (11%, 12 Votes)
- Stella Deus (2%, 2 Votes)
Total Voters: 111
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And the contenders are:
1. Skies of Arcadia – Legends: An old dreamcast classic reborn on the Gamecube! Visuals are extremely dated, with the low polygon count character models and primitive combat systems that characterized the RPG’s of yesteryear. However, diehard fans insist that its sky pirate adventures evoke a sense of freewheeling wonder that can’t be found in modern games. Are these folks on to something, or simply hanging onto their high school glory days?
2. Rogue Galaxy: This late-generation RPG was critically lauded as part of the final gasp of the aging PS2 hardware, along with Odin Sphere, Arcana Heart, and Okami. I love Level 5 to death, what with Dark Cloud 2 and Dragon Quest VIII, but for some reason I never really gave their latest epic much time. Common complaints point out the drab, repetitive dungeons, and the somewhat disappointing plot. I really wanted to like this game, but I hate boring grinds, and hold well-crafted storylines in high esteem. Will this game push my buttons or pull my plug?
3. Tales of Symphonia: Kabitzin and I both love Tales games, but they really haven’t changed much over the many iterations. I recently played the fantastic Tales of the Abyss for PS2, considered to be the pinnacle of Tales evolution thus far, and find that Symphonia seems a tad too similar. The majority of the in-game systems are practically identical, and I don’t really see myself slugging through another epic journey of self-discovery and maturation. Is it really worthwhile to play both? I know diehard Tales fans will say yes, but what do the rest of you think?
4. Stella Deus I was burned out on SRPGs for awhile, having tired of Nippon Ichi’s rather formulaic stable. However, recently I’ve been itching for a decent SRPG, and Stella Deus has always been on the back of my mind due to its beautiful art design and soundtrack by Hitoshi Sakimoto. Its lack of a real ‘hook’ meant that it never attracted much attention though, like the plain girl that nobody notices. The critical consensus says it’s a solid game overall, but lacks the depth and challenge of its contemporaries. Has anyone tried this out and found this to be true?
5. Suikoden V: Suikoden IV was a huge letdown, so I’m a bit apprehensive about taking up the sequel. In addition, the Suikoden series has mostly stuck to its guns over the years, granting fans more of the same in each iteration, with a few upgrades and gizmodads to spice things up. Though the Suikoden series isn’t nearly as redundant as say, Wild Arms, its lack of major innovation certainly isn’t currying my favor. Nevertheless, the games are almost always rock solid and well-built, and can be depended upon to scratch that world-saving itch. Some say Suikoden V is possibly the best game in the series (though Suikoden II is probably the sentimental favorite), so perhaps this title is worth picking up.
Cast your vote and plug your favorite contender!
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20 Comments
I’m playing Stella Deus at the moment. It’s a little bit challenging, if you’re getting the secret characters. This game is a little boring sometimes (but I’m having a lot of fun playing it), but the arts are cool, interesting team attacks and quite simple unlike Final Fantasy Tactics which drove me crazy.
I would recommend Skies of Arcadia. Its graphics may be dated, but it is an excellent and fun RPG, with a feeling of adventure that you don’t find often these days.
I should also work harder on reducing my RPG backlog, it is becoming quite huge…
Maybe I should do this at some point – my backlog has only grown ^^;
Anyway, I’ve not played Stella Deus or Rogue Galaxy (but, yes, both are in my backlog), but I’ve heard mixed things about both, usually swinging towards the negative side of things.
I’d have said Sympthonia if it wasn’t for your comments regarding having recently played Abyss, so I’d go for Skies of Arcadia. Its old, and has a few annoyances, but it’s not really any technically worse than Suikoden, and it’s a fun game.
I’d totally go for Suikoden 5 out of that. Breakdown?
1.Skies of Arcadia: Generally a fun ride. The gameplay is a bit repetitive and randoms can be a nuisance in that sense. The plot is serviceable but not exciting. Characters and base-building are a good deal of fun.
2.Rogue Galaxy: Ick. Do not want. The gameplay for randoms boils down to “use MT overkill, heal MP”. The plot is bloody freaking terrible and lacks even decent MS3K value. The growth system is a neat idea but was implemented very poorly. See Mana Khemia for a better example of that. Just avoid this game at all costs. (note that no one else I’ve talked to has really enjoyed this game, but I haven’t checked review sites or whatnot)
3. Tales of Symphonia: A decently fun Tales game. If you played Abyss and loved it, you may like this. It lacks the same depth of character interaction and plot/world development, but its a fun romp. The gameplay is less fun due to a lack of free run, however. Probably all-around inferior to TotA, but enjoyable enough. (I am a big Tales fan, for what its worth)
4. Stella Deus: Haven’t played.
5. Suikoden V: What is this? A game with plot!? SV has some of the best plot/character work I’ve seen in a long time. The combat system is inferior, but is good enough to keep you occupied without being frustrated/annoyed by it. Mostly just hyping the plot here. Good stuff.
So yeah, I’d go for SV. SoA and ToS are also decent choices. You can’t really go wrong here as long as you avoid Rogue Galaxy!
Just a quick comment on ‘Skies of Arcadia’ — as Skh noted, it has a decent plot and a great atmosphere (pirates are *always* awesome), but I’d sneak a word of caution about the high random encounter rate — it can be quite frustrating to be low on health and get a random encounter every time you move three steps (when traveling via ship mode).
As an alternative, if you’re looking for an RPG that, like Skies of Arcade, is an old-school game ported from the Dreamcast, I’d recommend Grandia II.
PS: Ender, are you reviewing Kure-nai? I think you’d like it.
Wow, I’m surprised at the amount of support that Skies of Arcadia has. I originally expected that it would be at the bottom of the polls, but I guess I underestimated the power of pirates.
@dm – Coincidentally, both Kabitzin and I have played Grandia II and enjoyed its fantastic battle system. Hmm, perhaps I should have added Grandia III to the poll list. Regarding Kurenai, it’s definitely at the top of my watchlist, but I’m not blogging it.
@Pyro – The lack of free run is definitely a downer compared to Abyss!
Don’t let Suikoden IV deceive you. It was an experiment by Konami to see if a special-ed class could successfully design a video game. When interviewed about the result, the lead designer responded “hurr hurr sailing is fun”.
Suikoden V by contrast is an excellent addition to the series and is very worthy of your consideration.
I really don’t like Stella Deus. I find it to be the most boring SRPG I’ve ever played. It actually put me to sleep once.
I would say, go with SV. You can never go wrong with a Suikoden game (IV doesn’t exist, btw.)
Never played Skies of Arcadia, but I’ve heard good things.
I own Rogue Galaxy and it’s a good ride. Nothing like Dark Cloud 2 though. *sigh*
Tales of Symphonia was pretty much the sickest GameCube RPG I’ve played to date.
I played Stella Deus, but it wasn’t really to my liking.
I also own Suikoden V and it’s WAY better than IV. As in…don’t compare them.
Out of all of those, I’d probably go with Rogue galaxy just because I’m a whore for Level 5. I honestly passed it up for ages as well (was on gaming hiatus, or broke), but once I got my hands on it, it didn’t disappoint. But honestly, I don’t see how you could go wrong with any of them…except Stella Deus. Stay away!
Btw, ever played Shadow Hearts 2? If you haven’t, I’d throw these out the window and grab that one first. Amazing game.
Pre-warning on G3: Horrendously cliched plot and characters. Do not be deceived by the sorta decent beginning. The only value the story and interaction have are strictly in MS3K territory. Its offensively poorly executed cookie cutter RPG plot. The combat system is a blast though!
(as long as you don’t mind randoms smoking your arse occasionally).
If you do play SoA: Aika’s multi-target attack skills are your friends. Use them.
… wheres Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars???
I’m pretty much a noob at RPGs, but I’ve got to say that Tales of Symphonia was a great game!… well, its also one of the only RPGs I’ve played (what! You can’t blame me! Nintendo fanboy = stay away from Playstation/2 = only one good RPG on the Gamecube = SOLD!), but its definitely fun. I’ve been hearing great things about the Abyss, but if your not in the mood for that type of experience, then I’d say don’t play Symphonia, since they are pretty similar… but play it if you want to later play that new Symphonia sequel coming to the Wii!
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Edit: Oh btw, Kurenai is awesome!
(hmm, this reminds me, I still have to play Tales of the Tempest)
Good spot J159; Ender wanted to have the poll as the first post, so I stickied his post.
The best part of Grandia II was the dubbed voice work.
See what a good friend Kabitzin is? And you still won’t buy him a dakimakura!… speaking of dakimakuras… (its cool how you can still enjoy a site without knowing what the hell the guy is saying!)
Well what can I say??? They don’t call me Spot the
BitchDog for nothing! HARR HARR HARR!!!… and to make this related to the RPG thing, Pokemon is sort of like an RPG right? Maybe you can wait for Pokemon Platinum!
On your list, I’ve played Rogue Galaxy and Stella Deus. Both games start out really fun, and then start to drag, and then become a chore. Stella Deus is better over all, because the game play is more engaging, but both games lack in compelling stories, and get VERY repetitive. Visually, both games are pretty good, with Stella Deus winning out because the art style is quite original.
@ Doctor: That seems to be the problem that nearly all RPGs suffer from – the inability to keep things fresh and engaging 40 hrs into the game. Usually at that point, the desire to see the ending is the only motivation, with the game itself becoming an obstacle. Though I’m somewhat disappointed to hear that Rogue and Stella both suffer from this problem, I figure the other games don’t fare any better, unless someone has evidence to the contrary?
I was going to do a poll like this to take away the pain of deciding what to play next, but then I realised a list of 10-12 games would just overwhelm my blog. But how can I choose by myself?
I found Rogue Galaxy to be OK – not bad enough that I would stop playing it, but not good enough that I was really excited. Basically it’s at the level where someone who likes JRPGs can enjoy it and everyone who doesn’t like JRPGs will find their tastes justified and quit a short way into the game. The fights do get repetitious.
Grandia III is a good recommendation, mainly because the combat is as enjoyable as in previous Grandia installments. The plot is mostly iffy, although it’s nice to see a save-the-world RPG where the main character isn’t an angsty loner. Also, it’s short for the RPG genre – I think I destroyed Ultimate Evil around the 12-hr mark. That’s definitely a pro if you’ve got the 40-hours-in-and-I-don’t-care-anymore blues. I’d take it over Rogue Galaxy.
Another one I can recommend: Ar Tonelico for PS2 (or its sequel on a JP PS2 if you have the language skills). The great thing is that it’s exactly like somebody took 13 episodes of a racy harem/action anime and spliced it into a dungeon crawler in such a way that it just barely rates PG-13. That’s also its greatest weakness. If you laugh at this then you’ll love it, otherwise you’ll hate it. The intentional comedy is good, the unintentional comedy is better, and the dungeon-crawling is uninspired but easy to skip when you get annoyed.
Ikusa Otome Valkyrie OWNS all the titles you listed.
What Grandia2 it lacks in characters it makes up for with cool creaturs,cool moves to learn,cool places to go,oh and the characters it does have are pretty cool.
Shouldn’t you have finished TOS by now?