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I know some of ye (heck, maybe the whole lot of ye) are pretty hardcore gamers so I'm willing to trust in your judgment.

Anyhoo, here's the deal. I have a relatively small collection of RPGs for SNES and PSX and , lately, I have felt the urge to try RPGs I've never or only briefly played.

RPGs I have

SNES: Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy VI

PSX: Final Fantasy 7-9, FFTactics, FFOrigins and Chronicles, and Chrono Cross

Pretty small, huh? I could DEFINITELY use some more, right? So what are your recommendations if ye care to tell them ? (limit them to SNES and PSX, cuz that's all I have) Secret of Evermore is the one that fits the "only briefly played" category and some elaboration on that one might help, too.

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Console RPG Cliches

Uh, OK. I'll try and limit my recommendations to games that ought to be somewhat find-able:

PS1: Grandia, Xenogears, Wild ARMs

SNES: Earthbound, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Ogre Battle

Those are three of my favorites for each system (you only want RPGs, right?). You also might want to try and emulate Seiken Densetsu III (aka Secret of Mana 2) or Tales of Phantasia for SNES, as they both kick ass and neither made it overseas.

Edit

I dunno if you'd call it a true RPG, but Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for the PS1 is my favorite video game of all time. It has lots of RPG aspects to it, but it's basically a pure action game. You can find it for cheap too, so check it out.

This post has been edited by laszlow on 12th September 2005 10:26

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Quote (laszlow @ 12th September 2005 05:23)

(you only want RPGs, right?).

Well, perhaps not exclusively .

For me, the RPG genre is generally the genre that satisfies me desire to explore and discover. I like going to towns and talking to the townsfolk and finding nifty treasures and everything else attributed to RPGs. But, seriously, I won't turn away any good strategy and/or puzzle recommendations, either. I jest make RPGs me priority(in other words, I'll buy RPGs before anything else).

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Console RPG Cliches

SNES and PSX the only systems you have? I'll keep my recommendations to those just in case.

Valkyrie Profile
This game would probably be hard to find, but I definitely recommend it. Its like an action RPG. It has a unique battle system, plenty of treasure chests, some good puzzles, great music, and a good story. Its based on Norse mythology and is my favorite game made by Enix. Its a great game and I suggest you look up some info on it and get it if you can.

Legend of Mana
If you like Secret of Mana you may want to try this game. Its similar, except its kinda lacking in the story department. If you like the mana games I'd look up some info on this one.

If you like exploring and such you might enjoy Megaman Legends 1 & 2 for the Playstation. There are plenty of people to talk to, dungeons to explore, and parts and items to find. I find the story quite enjoyable myself, but it might not be your cup of tea. Also if you try them and enjoy them, there is also the Misadventures of Tron Bonne. It is a prequel to Legends. Its not the same as the Legends games, but its enjoyable if you find yourself liking the other games. Check them out.

I'd recommend all the stuff laszlow mentioned too.

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-- You're Gonna Carry That Weight --

Quote (Galsic @ 12th September 2005 06:09)

For me, the RPG genre is generally the genre that satisfies me desire to explore and discover. I like going to towns and talking to the townsfolk and finding nifty treasures and everything else attributed to RPGs. But, seriously, I won't turn away any good strategy and/or puzzle recommendations, either. I jest make RPGs me priority(in other words, I'll buy RPGs before anything else).

Then you need yourself some Super Metroid and some Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Now. It has all of that in spades minus the towns and townsfolk, but they are two of the best explore/discover games of all time.

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I heartily second the Castlevania: Symphony of the Night recommendation. It's one of my favourite PSX games, too.

Illusion of Gaia is a SNES RPG that I'd recommend. The system is more of an action game, the story is a little silly, but, overall, I always found it quite entertaining. I believe it was the second game of two or three with similar system; the first one might have been called Soul Blade. I used to own it, but I couldn't figure out something pretty close to the beginning of the game (and this was before I knew of gamefaqs), so I sold it.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past ought to be pretty easy to find. It's my favourite Zelda game, and one of the best SNES games out there if you like the genre.

I also second the Earthbound recommendation. It has an RPG system, but it's not your standard RPG. The game gets a little tough if you let yourself run out of money (you lose half of what you're carrying when you die), but it's really funny.

My favourite PSX games are Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete and its sequel, Lunar: Eternal Blue. They're both hard to find, but not impossible. Your best bet is to call all of the used gaming stores in your area and see if they have one (otherwise, try eBay in the $40-$60 range). Obviously, start with the first one, which, in my opinion, has a slightly better story and a slightly clunkier system. The story is awesome, the anime scenes are beautiful, and even the random conversation and item-checking will bring tears to your eyes through the laughter.

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Veni, vidi, dormivi.

Definitely give the Wild ARMs series a try. I enjoyed WA2 a lot more than WA1, but I enjoyed WA1 a ton the second time I played through. Definitely...thirding the Earthbound choice, not only is it a really fun game, but it will keep you laughing the entire time you play it.

As for one that hasn't been suggested yet, Lufia 2. GREAT puzzles, great plot, fun characters, and fun dialogue. I would recommend playing Lufia 2 before Lufia 1, as it's actually a prequel, and Lufia 1's system is beyond frustrating.

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Hey, put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey, put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
I feel it, it's leaving me

Final Fantasy V (Super Famicom ROM if possible, since the PS version sucks)
Super Mario RPG

As for other types of similar adventure-istic games, I'd also recommend Super Metroid.

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Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

Quote (Rujuken @ 12th September 2005 06:50)

SNES and PSX the only systems you have?

I wish I could say I had PS2 (otherwise, your recommendations would have probably doubled in number, I'm sure), but up until recently, me money had been going toward another equally money-intensive hobby. Maybe some time after the PS3 comes out, I'll consider some of the PS2 titles that I've been missing out on.

Still, y'all have already managed to come up with a good list of games for me, so thanks a lot...and keep 'em coming! (unless y'all have already run out of ideas? )

Edit

The lot of ye mention emulators a lot, so much, in fact, that I'm beginning to assume I can pick one up almost as easily as I can an PSX. Is this true?

This post has been edited by Galsic on 12th September 2005 21:31

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Console RPG Cliches

Picking up an SNES emulator is as easy as one or two free downloads. I'm forbidden to mention any exact procedures or drop any links on the forums, though, so PM me if you're interested. PS1 emulators are trickier, and you usually need the game disk to play it, so I don't think it's worth the effort.

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A recommendation if you plan on getting any games via emulator: Something I said in the 'personal emulation policy' thread: While a PlayStation emulator might not be much in terms of RAM usage or hard drive space, three aspects are somewhat problematic:

1. "ROMs" in this case are usually CD-ROMs. In other words, you'll merely skip the part of obtaining a PS, and there are a ton of people around with PS or PS2 systems anyways.

2. If you DO get a non-disc ROM, which is actually called an ISO (and an emulator compatible with such), it's usually REALLY HUGE, as in on the order of 1 gigabyte.

3. Even if you have both an emulator and enough space on your hard drive, the emulator might not work very well. I haven't personally tried a PS emulator, but I have tried an N64 emulator, and I am unable to control varying degrees of the joystick's angle--if I program a keyboard key to do the job, I either have 'nothing' or 'all the way'. I know that PS controllers also has joysticks, so I'd think you'd also have this problem.

Edit

Thanks to Zero_Hawk (see below), I've fixed my post so that I refer to PS "ROMs" as "ISOs".

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 13th September 2005 05:15

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Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

Wait, GMH, I was under the impression that physical rips of a CD were called ISOs, not ROMs. ROMs are the dump of a physical cartridge, and are generally small, sometimes capping at 32 MBs, as far as i've seen. Whereas ISOs can be much larger given the content on them. ROMs generally take a minute or so to download, dependant upon the connection, meanwhile ISOs can take hours. Or if you're unlucky days.

As for the problem with emulation of systems, it all comes down to how you pull it off. I've manage to play plenty of things with the keyboard, but I vastly prefer a joypad. And there are converters for your computer that pop right into the USB port. Allowing you to use your favorite gaming controller as a joypad for the PC. I myself use a PS2 controller on mine. There would definitely be less of a problem using PSX with the keyboard than there is for the N64. Mainly because of a few reasons. On the PSX there were VERY few games that utilized only the Analog stick, which allows you to configure a D-Pad on your keyboard.

I do recommend using a joypad of some sort though, if you want to look for a converter like what i've got, just google it. They come in all shapes and sizes, and there's a large assortment.


Back into the game recommendations.
You should definitely check out Tomba and Tomba 2: The evil swine return. For the PSX, it's a great adventure series that I feel was vastly underrated.

I'll also go ahead and tell you to try and find a Terranigma rom, that's another great game, it comes right after Illusion of Gaia, in a three part series by Enix.

Back onto the action frontier, you should definitely check out Marvel Superheroes War of the Gems, if you're into side scrolling beat em ups. The same can be said for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. Battletoads and Double Dragon too, that's a great game with the best of both worlds, which makes me absolutely giddy sometimes.

I might give you some more recommendations again, dependant upon your reaction to these games, but one last PSX game I STRONGLY recommend is Brave Fencer Musashi. It's an excellent game created by Square, that has both the RPG and the Adventure elements. Somewhat like Zelda. And it's definitely not just some generic clone.

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Suggestions for games.

I'm sure most of my recommendations have been mentioned (Glad someone mentioned Lufia 2, on my top 5 RPG list)

I would HIGHLY suggest Suikoden I and II. Suikoden II makes it to my top 5 RPGs too. I wish I still had my PS2 (and my copy of II, though I still have my copy of I laying around somewhere, which I have no use for.)

Suikoden is an incredible game. It is a combined RPG and Stratagy battle system. You have your basic party, in which you travel around through the game, but at Key battles, it turns into a Stratagy, in which you have massive armys fighting against each other. In both games, there are 108 Stars of Destiny to recruit into your own Castle. Each of the 108 stars of destiny add something to your castle. (One charecter will put an elevator in your castle, another will make an inn, a few blacksmiths will help upgrade your weapons, one will even raise animals for your Chef). Not all can be taken out into the RPG part of the game, but all of them do contribute to your Stratagy game in one way or another. Awesome, AWSOME games. Although Suikoden 1 and 2 were great, 3 for PS2 was terrible, and I never got a chance to try 4.


If you are looking to buy these two games though, try to find locally, because 1 goes for about $30-40, and 2 goes for about $100.

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"And that, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana-shaped” -Sir Bedevere the Wise

Quote (Zero_Hawk @ 12th September 2005 21:04)

Back onto the action frontier, you should definitely check out Marvel Superheroes War of the Gems, if you're into side scrolling beat em ups. The same can be said for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. Battletoads and Double Dragon too, that's a great game with the best of both worlds, which makes me absolutely giddy sometimes.

Well I was asking primarily for RPGs. Then again, you CONers seem to be overwhelmingly for Castlevania: Sympony of the Night, so ye kind of twisted me arm .

Anyhoo, I ought to have enough consel game recommendations to last me through the rest of the decade (or at least until the PS3 is out at an affordable price), so thanks a lot, everyone .

However, I'll leave this thread open a lil while longer as I might also be going the emulator route (at least the SNES one) for games that may not be easily accessible (if at all), so are there any good games in that category? Seiken Densetsu III and Tales of Phantasia have already been mentioned.

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Console RPG Cliches

if you do go down the emulation lane, many of the squaresoft rpgs only released in japan are quite good if you can get a decent translator patch. Good ones are:

bahamut lagoon
Rudora no Hihou (aka Treasure of the Rudras)
front mission
treasure hunter G

that's all I can think of off the top of my head right now, but pop down to www.fantasyanime.com. big list of all of the really decent ones in that category, plus info about them and how to get them. I'm currently into tales of phantasia and would also highly recoomend it.

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follow me through the lands
you will burn hordes of hell
in the deadly raging flames of revenge"

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I fully back up the recommendations of EarthBound and Bahamut Lagoon, among others that've already been echoed enough times.

As already mentioned, EarthBound's not your standard RPG by any means (i.e present-day setting, alien invasions, father who's a telephone [or might as well be], etc.) and, if it's not already obvious, quite quirky and humorous. The battle system's your average turn-based setup, but from a first-person view set on your enemies with trippy, psychedelic backgrounds. There're no random encounters, to add, as the monsters (or wild dogs, blobs of vomit, New-Age Retro Hippies...) roam around the field á la Chrono Trigger.

Bahamut Lagoon is a strategy/tactical RPG. There're also a boatload of characters you can recruit throughout the game, each with their own personalities and backgrounds...more or less. Each playable party is also assigned its own dragon prior to battle, all of which can be raised and transformed when fed. The dragon raising system is one of my favorite features; it allows you to master their spells, upgrade their stats and change their dragon-type depending on the weapons/armor/items they consume - think Pokémon, in a way. The game itself is a tad easy, but the story's quite enjoyable and overall it's a lotta fun! But as alphasmart pointed out, it was only released in Japan. Luckily, the ROM and translation patch, or even the prepatched ROM, are pretty easy to find.

I'd also highly recommend the Harvest Moon series. The first game (and my favorite) is for the SNES, but may be a bit hard to find as some games in the series tend to be. The PSX has Harvest Moon: Back to Nature, which is also a pretty solid game. In case you aren't familiar with the series, the games are basically farming simulators. Sounds a li'l flimsy, yes, but you may be surprised just how addictive they are. You can raise your own farm to your liking, purchase and raise livestock, chat with and try to win the heart of one of the girls in town (and you can even get married and have a child!), make tons of money off your crops, remodel your house, participate in fun, "minigame"-like seasonal festivals, and lots more. As someone who knows next to nothing 'bout farming, this series is among my most favorites.

And of course, as Neal mentioned earlier on, the Wild ARMs series on PSX is a must in my nonexistent-but-figurtively-speaking-for-the-sake-of-expressions book. I'm a huge fan of the first game, but the second is also worthy of much of your time, as would the third if you had a PS2. Okay, so I lied about not repeating any more prievously posted recommendations...

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If something can go wrong, it will.

If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway.

If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong. - Murphy’s Law

Boing! Zoom! - Mr. Saturn

Holy crap in a hat! Tales of Phantasia has actual VOICES! , for some reason, that made me giddy.

I gotta thank everyone who posted here. Ye gave me more than enough to sift through and try out , so I think I'll go ahead and put this thread to rest.

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Console RPG Cliches