Currently juggling a few games. Xenoblade on Wii, Diablo 3 on PC, YS6 on PSP. Although I'm determined to play and beat every YS game... my interest in YS6 is waning. Between the "now loading" black screen of death at every turned screen and clunky controls when performing special attacks, I find it's easy to want to give up on the playtime.

Vandal Hearts 1 - Short SRPG from PS1 era. The game doesn't have a lot of dialog, but the little parts that it does are very effective in setting the gritty tone of the game. Did all the side-quests and mastered the ending. If there was any remake I'd play in a heartbeat it would be this gem. My favorite character with whitty one-liners is Ash's archer buddy, Diego Renault.

I'm sad Vandal Hearts isn't on PSone Classics. If it wasn't for Vandal Hearts, I probably wouldn't have ventured into SRPGs as much as I have as a gamer. That said, I'd recommend either Xenogears or Suikoden as others have mentioned here. Memorial music, story, characters, gameplay, all top notch qualities in a well rounded RPG.

*edit changed "no love for" to isn't to clarify VH is not a PSone Classic.

Or how about every time she says "I think I need a shower after this" LOL!!!!

I haven't played enough of FF12 to compare... but I can tell you I'm having a blast playing Xenoblade. I'm 40 hours in. I like the main story, yet I'm more inclined to stop and take my time to go on side quests to help the colony people out. So much to do, see, and customize!

Calling all PSP Vita experts:

I don't have a PSP Vita yet but was wondering if it's worth it to buy Vita and buy Growlanser via PSN as I noticed someone tweeted at https://twitter.com/FinalMacstorm/status/230381472387833858 that it could be transferred over today via ps3. I can buy the UMD disc that's out today at GameStop, I'm hesitant to pick up the game in person since my old psp is starting to fall apart (scratches, wonky buttons, backlit screen, etc.) hence considering PSP Vita would be the better way to experience the game.

1) Does the graphics look the same or different PSP Vita compared to PSP 3000?
2) Does it fill the whole screen in PSP Vita? (No odd picture frames on left and right)
3) Is the shopping cart and download process relatively quick/hastle free through Vita's PSN?

Lucky for you Steam's huge summer sale just ended so you should be able to control yourself when starting Steam. Fortunately, I was able to nab Ys Orgin and Torchlight before the sale ended yesterday. Back on topic, I'm looking forward to Growlanser coming out, but probably won't get it right away. Xenoblade (Wii) is occupying all my time at the moment. I still haven't bought a PSP Vita yet. I'm really hoping XSEED and other guys localize more JRPGs first. So far Ragnarok Odyssey is the only thing on my PSP Vita radar this Fall/Winter.

I'm almost up to Ch.4 in the story.

I think Konami has been pretty faithful in adapting some of the classic "themes" from the original game. I.E. adding the town screen that lets you chose tavern to talk to people to pick up hints, shop, etc. Strategy moving mechanics are nice. I like the fact that you can highly customize a character and build up their skill level in every spell so everyone can be balanced, or equipping a "book" of spells in items to use in battle. Scrolling around the battle map is nice and doesn't chop pixel to pixel like it did in the first game. Only complaint is seeing the load screen constantly between loading world map, town, or finishing a battle.

One thing to note as well is the game is pretty easy (at least so far). I remember playing the original and getting the game over screen a few times when the enemy took out Ash because I got clumsy and forgot to protect him, so far I haven't gotten a single game over screen yet. I also like the music, it's a bit reminiscent of the original.

Ya... I was extremely annoyed with the art style when it was first previewed and thought what a crummy departure from the original classic. Crappy sprites aside... I found I was able to get into the game and move past that and focus on the game. Hopefully that helps for some people who were on the fence. And for $14.99 that's extremely cheap to me when average new PS3 games out there are going for $59.99 upon release. In this crummy economy $14.99 is a steal IMHO.

I think the reason IGN gave the game such a low score is because their pissed like all of us with the art direction. Hopefully that means Konami will listen next time if they're ever to continue with this reboot. But they definitely coined the game right with their quote from above.

Long time lurker of the boards, so I had to chime in my 2 cents about Vandal Hearts.

VH1 is my favorite all time ps1 classic. I extremely hope Konami revisits their art direction before this is released on the PSN. I can't stand the kiddy avatar graphics. Hopeful the next batch of screens will have some redeeming quality reminiscent of the previous games in the series. So far I don't really see the resemblance to the original. I do however like the fact that they're attempting a prequel. In VH1 the game referenced the previous war Ash Lambert's father battled in frequently throughout the game.

Anyone have any guesses as to what happened to the Vandal Hearts DS title Konami promised years ago?