Best Console RPGs?

[Huntn]

What do you consider the best console RPG offerings?

I'm playing on a 360. So far the best RPG I've run into is Mass Effect. Far from perfect but it does enough to keep me happy. I recently played Lost Odyssey and although the graphics were super, the turn based combat and level linearity turned me off. I seriously considered Tales of Vespia but after my LO experience I'm thinking twice about it. JRPGs may not be my thing. Just thought I saw that a ToV download was available on xbox market place so I'll go take a peak.

Got my fingers crossed for Sacred 2 which is due out in the near future.

 

[ZiggyPastorius]

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars wins hands down as not only my nomination for best RPG ever, but for top three best games ever made. After that, I'd nominate both the Golden Sun games.

Though, I'm pretty sure that's not what you're looking for, as one is for the SNES, and the other two were for the gameboy advance

 

[0098386]

Cliched but FF7, and I only played that on PSP.
Maybe Golden Sun (when on a Gameboy Player ).

 

[JackAxe]

My favorite RPGs have been on the PC, but for the console it's Phanatasy Star "2." THis is mostly nostalgia, but the game is still fun, just repetitive.

The Golden Sun. :eel: Overall I enjoyed this game, but the to-be-continued was not only unexpected, but it really ticked me off, so much so that I didn't buy the second game

Huntn,
Mass Effect is a modern take on a couple of old PC/console games, Startflight 12(SF1 is the granddaddy), SF2, and Star Control 2.

SC2 is still a great game by today's standards. It's my absolute favorite 2D sci-fi RPG and in my top 10 games that I've played. Its available for free if you like older 2D games. And yes, I know it's not a console RPG.

<]=)

 

[MRU]

Of this generation - I have enjoyed

Blue Dragon & Eternal Sonata on the 360.


I am waiting for Tales of Versepia and Infinite Undiscovery which I have both on order.

 

[Huntn]

SC2 is still a great game by today's standards. It's my absolute favorite 2D sci-fi RPG and in my top 10 games that I've played. Its available for free if you like older 2D games. And yes, I know it's not a console RPG.

<]=)

That's ok because I'm PC capable. I look around for some screens to see how it looks.

BTW, I downloaded the Tales of Vespia demo (360). Best decision I ever made. The game is just not my cup of tea. I specifically don't like how it switches into a generic combat arena when combat is initiated. Ugh. Based on this game and Lost Odyssey I'll be very suspicious of any future Japanese RPGs. I much prefer the atmosphere in games like Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion and The Witcher.

 

[Huntn]

Of this generation - I have enjoyed

Blue Dragon & Eternal Sonata on the 360.


I am waiting for Tales of Versepia and Infinite Undiscovery which I have both on order.

I think I saw a Blue Dragon available for play in my 360 Game's list. I'll go take a look. Thanks!

 

[chrmjenkins]

Surely you've played Oblivion. If not, get that. Also, Fable II is coming up this Fall. Also, Fallout 3 (from the same people who made Oblivion) hits October 28th.

 

[pcypert]

I liked the fighting OK in Eternal Sonata, but that game blew. Story was so cheesy and pointless (though I did enjoy the factual stuff about Chopin). Enjoyed the art direction and colors though. And I guess it was better than GTA4 for me as I actually played it to completion....GTA4 I just got bored, frustrated and left.

Oblivion was well done to me. The one they did before that that was on the original Xbox was decent for it's time too.

Didn't see why Mario RPG is so loved by some. Am I fanboy immune or just cynical? Maybe since I didn't play it when it was originally released I'm jaded since I don't have the nostalgia. Others have done that formula better and it was repetitive and not very interesting to me personally.

Paul

 

[archesdevil]

+1 for Oblivion. I still love that game.

 

[Huntn]

Surely you've played Oblivion. If not, get that. Also, Fable II is coming up this Fall. Also, Fallout 3 (from the same people who made Oblivion) hits October 28th.

Actually I played Oblivion for over a year on my PC and my MBP although I did not finish Shivering Isles. I should have mentioned it. This (Oblivion) is the best RPG I've ever played. It's the first RPG where I would go out and just hike around to see the sights. The openness and immersive world of Oblivion is the kind of feature I long for in other RPGs. I really dislike level linearity which I call alleys such as offered in the original Fable. I'm talking about every level is an alley leaving very little freedom of movement.

Thanks for reminding me! I recently established an Elder Scrolls 4 Game Guide in the MacRumors Guides Section, however I don't know how much of the consol tips apply to the 360 version of Oblivion. Can you pull up the console in Oblivion?

Oblivion was well done to me. The one they did before that that was on the original Xbox was decent for it's time too.

Are you referring to Morrowind? I have that on the PC. I started playing it but graphically as compared to Oblivion it was hard for me to get into. I've been told by many, it's a great game. Combat is not as dynamic as Oblivion though.

 

[BoyBach]

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars wins hands down as not only my nomination for best RPG ever, but for top three best games ever made.

Great choice!

My favourite RPG is 'Skies of Arcadia' on the Dreamcast; it was responsible for many a late night and tired morning back in the summer of 2001.

 

[r1ch4rd]

Are you referring to Morrowind? I have that on the PC. I started playing it but graphically as compared to Oblivion it was hard for me to get into. I've been told by many, it's a great game. Combat is not as dynamic as Oblivion though.

I think I actually prefer Morrowind to Oblivion. They are definitely my two favourite games of recent times.

 

[Huntn]

I think I actually prefer Morrowind to Oblivion. They are definitely my two favourite games of recent times.

My understanding is that the geographic area in Morrowind is much larger and varied. Hmm, maybe I should give it another look.

 

[munson]

Final Fantasy VII - Playstation
Final Fantasy VI - SNES
Tales of Symphonia - Gamecube

 

[fiercetiger224]

Jesus, nobody's mentioned Chrono Trigger yet? You know, there's a lot of RPGs that nobody really knows about. There's a lot of cult hits out there. My favorite RPGs are:

Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy Tactics
Chrono Trigger
Chrono Cross
Lunar Eternal Blue (Sega CD original, the remake was bleh)
Valkyrie Profile

 

[munson]

Jesus, nobody's mentioned Chrono Trigger yet? You know, there's a lot of RPGs that nobody really knows about. There's a lot of cult hits out there. My favorite RPGs are:

Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy Tactics
Chrono Trigger
Chrono Cross
Lunar Eternal Blue (Sega CD original, the remake was bleh)
Valkyrie Profile

I actually HATED Chrono Trigger. I just couldn't see why everyone loves it so much.

 

[stainlessliquid]

Youre out of luck for this generation, with the exception of Mass Effect theres not anything terribly good yet... if you can even consider Mass Effect a normal RPG since its pretty action oriented like Oblivion. If you want console RPG's youll have to resort to PS2 and PS1, since you hate that turn based style fighting then I dont think you can handle the 2d rpg's since the fighting and random battles for those games is mind numbing. Every Square rpg on the PS1 is worth playing, FF7 being the most legendary, Xenogears being the most underappreciated (but probably overrated when it came out), and Chrono Cross being the worst but still a lot better than most other rpgs.

FF12 is perfect for people who hate turn based fighting since it allows you to program "ai" to do actions automatically based on certain situations (like heal a member whos health drops below 30%, or use a certain spell on a certain kind of monster).

Im not sure what happened to Square, they used to release great RPG's one after another and were easily the #1 RPG company in the world, now all they do is one FF every few years and a bunch of horrendously bad action games.

 

[fiercetiger224]

I actually HATED Chrono Trigger. I just couldn't see why everyone loves it so much.

Eh? Why do you hate it? I actually liked it because of the story, characters, and time traveling aspect of the game. I thought of it as Final Fantasy on steroids. But hey, everyone likes what they like.

On another note, I forgot to put up another cult title:

Secret of Mana (aka Seiken Densetsu II in Japan)

That game was the sh** when you had a multitap and three people playing. And you know what? Now that I think of it, it's not much different from Final Fantasy XI or XII. It's more like a 2D version of it, only it works a lot better IMO. I don't know why I got so turned off by those two Final Fantasy games in particular...Maybe because they're too long...

 

[0098386]

I actually HATED Chrono Trigger. I just couldn't see why everyone loves it so much.

Same here, finally got around to playing it a few months back and didn't see what the hype was. Also bought the original Paper Mario off the Virtual Console and I'm not "feeling that" either.

It's a shame RPG's have moved full force into the Action-RPG genre. I'm worried that if Square remake FF7 that it's going to use one of their newer battle systems and completely ruin the game altogether. A shame most players don't want the either an ATB or turn based menu system anymore, from a design perspective they were quite unrealistic but at least had a nice pace to them.

Also... I rather like PoPoLoCrois (PSP). It's the charm that brings me back to that. Beautiful visuals and music. But again... handheld!

 

[munson]

Eh? Why do you hate it? I actually liked it because of the story, characters, and time traveling aspect of the game. I thought of it as Final Fantasy on steroids. But hey, everyone likes what they like.

On another note, I forgot to put up another cult title:

Secret of Mana (aka Seiken Densetsu II in Japan)

That game was the sh** when you had a multitap and three people playing. And you know what? Now that I think of it, it's not much different from Final Fantasy XI or XII. It's more like a 2D version of it, only it works a lot better IMO. I don't know why I got so turned off by those two Final Fantasy games in particular...Maybe because they're too long...

I wasn't a huge fan of how it played. Story and characters were fantastic, though.

 

[Huntn]

You know, I've been fantasizing about a WoW RPG, solo game, with the same WoW zones, more variety of quests, a dynamic world, and 5 person coop. I actually get shivers! But I won't hold my breath...

Most favorite WoW zones are Teldrassil, vicinity of Storm Wind including Elwynn Forest, West Fall, Dark Shire, Red Ridge Mountains, Stranglethorn Veil, Arathi Highlands, Hinterlands, Dark Shore, Dustwallow Marsh, Ungoro Crater, Feralas, and Tanaras. I no longer play but those zones were and are the most compelling landscapes I've ever had the pleasure of exploring in a fantasy life.

 

[angelneo]

You know, I've been fantasizing about a WoW RPG, solo game, with the same WoW zones, more variety of quests, a dynamic world, and 5 person coop. I actually get shivers! But I won't hold my breath...

Most favorite WoW zones are Teldrassil, vicinity of Storm Wind including Elwynn Forest, West Fall, Dark Shire, Red Ridge Mountains, Stranglethorn Veil, Arathi Highlands, Hinterlands, Dark Shore, Dustwallow Marsh, Ungoro Crater, Feralas, and Tanaras. I no longer play but those zones were and are the most compelling landscapes I've ever had the pleasure of exploring in a fantasy life.

Back before WoW become a grind-fest for me, I actually enjoyed wandering through the Night Elf starting zone. For the first few levels, I had that RPG mentality where I had to complete every single quest....

Other than that, I have been a fan of FF, though have not been playing the later installments recently. I have ME on my PC as well and enjoyed that. For older games, I was crazy about Might & Magic 2 and Starflight 1 on my sega.

It's a shame RPG's have moved full force into the Action-RPG genre. I'm worried that if Square remake FF7 that it's going to use one of their newer battle systems and completely ruin the game altogether. A shame most players don't want the either an ATB or turn based menu system anymore, from a design perspective they were quite unrealistic but at least had a nice pace to them.

Wait, are they remaking FF7? I thought that was a myth even though there's a tech demo for PS3?

 

[Huntn]

Back before WoW become a grind-fest for me, I actually enjoyed wandering through the Night Elf starting zone. For the first few levels, I had that RPG mentality where I had to complete every single quest....

A good sign that an RPG has sufficient openness and depth is when you are compelled to go out and explore the countryside just to see the sights! In my experience both WoW and Oblivion have this quality. Gothic 3 has open spaces but it did not click for me.

 

[munson]

A good sign that an RPG has sufficient openness and depth is when you are compelled to go out and explore the countryside just to see the sights! In my experience both WoW and Oblivion have this quality. Gothic 3 has open spaces but it did not click for me.

I would say a good indication of an RRG with depth and openness would be that if you get bored of advancing the story for a bit (which theoretically should not happen for this type of game) you can still find great in-game ways to occupy yourself in a useful way. WoW is the best example of this.