I concur....

So I just picked up the Y's Anime and I'm curious... how accurate is the anime telling of the tale to the games? I played through Ys 1  but not Ys 2 and I'm hoping this will suffice because I'm really anxious to get onto Oath (I wanna view the story chronologically and don't feel like running into baddies for 12 more hours..... i want to swing a sword damnit).....

Also, while on that note.... instead of making multiple threads.... what other anime based on rpgs or games are accurate to the series and not spin offs or too bastard-ized to be considered a sufficient re-telling of the tale? I've pretty much avoided most "game to anime" conversions in the past....

Well afternoon 2 on Dragons Dogma has left me feeling a little better about it..... but yes the story seems.... well... I can't say much about it, because there doesn't seem to be one.... which I would be able to cope with if they just fleshed out the basic premise a bit better.... like what the hell is the Arisen? And why or how have you become this hero?..... More importantly how is it that anyone recognizes you as such? These are questions only partially addressed before seemingly completely accepted by your hero.... I hope I'm speaking too soon and this is cleared up a bit as I'm still so early on.... Time will tell I suppose....

But as you stated.... its not about that here in WRPG-land.... its about discovery and combat.... which, while typically not what I'm about is proving pretty freakin' addicting thus far.... way more enjoyable than Amalur for me..... Character creation really is top notch as well (I was able to perfectly re-create myself and my D&D buddy from childhood... what til he sees when I post his pawn character on Facebook-lol)

So while dim, hope remains... I can say for sure that I am intrigued enough ATM to put a few more hours in.... who knows maybe I'll get drawn in enough to actually play through this one in easily digestable play sessions amongst some of the other titles I'm tending to right now.... I can't believe I just said that.... wow.....

Yes indeed... it feels as western as western fantasy comes to me... that is also what I took into account when I bought this.... I said to myself, "well klyde, if there is any WRPG your gonna like, it will be a japanese-made one!" LoL

I'm so strange though..... mind you, this is coming from someone who read and re-read every tolkien book I could get my hands on back in high school and used to play table-top.... why I don't have the stomach for the stuff anymore is beyond me..... I like happy, bubbly JRPG goodness is all.... I was seriously considering popping this out and picking my Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2 playthrough back up- THAT IS HOW SICK I AM! hahahaha

EDIT: On a completely different note, for anyone interested, here is a little article on capcoms ambitions in regard to becoming a digital provider....

http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2012/05/23/capcom-plans-to-be-1-provider-of-digital-content-by-2022

For those who don't like clicking links..... here is what they say about DLC

"Continue DLC as add-on content for traditional games. While Capcom has set high goals for mobile and PC gaming, they don't expect packaged software sales to go up. However, after factoring in DLC sales, they expect a 26% increase."

Klyde here is bad at math.... but that seems like a BIG increase in profit as a result of DLC now doesn't it?

Ahhhh yes the ability to speed up movement on ze' field or map! A minor yet curiously integral piece of a great RPG for me!-LoL

Ever since the dawn of sprint shoes in FF3 (6) when I was but a young lad I was hooked! Always had a relic slot occupied with a pair... Never once did I feel compromised in any way that I was missing a slot for some added effect... the shoes took precedence, always.

A little later on in life, a blue haired elf by the name of Stallion became a fixture in my suikoden party for his true holy rune. Is stallion effective in combat? Not unless you've got kirkis along for the ride for a nice unite attack.... do I keep kirkis around? No..... but I'll be damned if I am gonna crawl across a world map after experiencing how swift Stallion could make my journey!

I could go on, but you get the idea...

Personal Pet-Peeve on this note..... I absolutely hate it when the "speed up" in a game is a single direction dash that ends me smashing into things head on through my whole playthrough OR when said movement is increased by an evasive roll.... I don't want to sumersault or tumble through my playthroughs damnit!

I've been playing this all afternoon... which I do realize is not nearly long enough to become acquainted with a game.... but damn... this really seals the deal for me.... early last week I began to question why I dislike WRPGs and I think I've arrived at the ultimate conclusion.... I just simply do.....

I mentioned in the Amalur thread how I could not place my finger on exactly why, but I wasn't digging it.... this confirms for me that I just simply can't get into these no matter how good they are.... I'm gonna continue with this one for the rest of the week and hope it grows on me but that hope is fading fast....

By the way....Where the hell is the music in these freakin' games anyways!?..... I am, by the way, probably the only one who love the title screen music...very J-Rock-ish!!

NOTE: To anyone reading this... I am not at all taking a stab at this game... quite honestly, for what it is, it seems to be the cream of the crop... which is why it confirms for me that I am just simply a wierdo..... but once again, this is a great game... I am just a highly selective gamer it seems..

I'd have to agree that the RPG's of yesteryear are typically stronger in some regards then alot of the current gen stuff....

Since FFIV was just brought up, I will cite it as an example... First off, there is a major difference in storytelling... And I personally can't honestly say that some older stories "suck" so much as they just were not fleshed out to the point they are now. Storytelling and guidance to the player delieverred through narrative was limmitted and left A LOT MORE up to the players imagination whilst still being linear at the end of the day. You'll NEVER see this again, as it  just is not accaptable by the current gen's standards... so if you dig the harsh aspect of not having everything spelled out for you, you'll be very hard pressed to ever experience that again... that being said, I can't honestly say plots unraveling in such a way made for bad storytelling. I just got to the end of FFIV and personally loved the pacing and "fill in the blank-esque" feeling I got from it.. it actually assisted with immersion for me.

Next up gameplay.... I feel a greater emphasis was placed on difficulty being executed in a whole different way in the past. Once again lets look at ff4.... you needed to derive particular strategies using particular status effects to make it through some fights without a game over... even being well grinded into a power house of a team wouldn't save you if you didn't know to cast reflect on some bosses, stop on some enemies, et cetera.... current gen RPG's seem forgiving to me in the sense that typically you strong arm your way through a great deal without having to think much... while playing strategically helps nowadays, there is more then one way to slay the dragon so to speak.... In the past, there was one way to slay the dragon and if your time bar was on active you'd best figure it out quick or you've got a game over on your hands..... Oh and by the way, no save points convenients placed every five minutes meant the possibility of death was a real grim one.... Couple these facts togeather and you are forced to think a little, otherwise your gonna have to re-trek your way through some heavy random encounters to get another crack at slaying the beast... this all translated to higher level of tension and thus greater reward for success via gameplay. Some may call difficulties imposed in this fashion cheap, I personally can't entirely disagree but I CAN certainly say I liked it alot.... Current gen RPG's rarely yield that same degree of stress and reward for me, plain and simple.

Graphics and soundtracks, while obviously technically better in the current gen, are more subjective aspects of gaming.... in other words, if you dig sprites, SD characters, hand drawn stuff et cetera.... your probably going to appreciate more older titles visuals to the newer fair..... I for one LOVE 16-32 bit sprites!

Bottom line is the evolution of hardware and demographic in the world of gaming has so drastically impacted the execution of nearly everything that is the JRPG that I'd swear they were completely different genres at this point.... do I love them both? Yes.... but fact is, if I want a classic RPG experience of yesteryear, I'm not gonna quell that thirst with a current gen RPG..... unless it is a re-release of course.....

Just my two (obviously bias) cents on the subject....

Oooooooo!!! Can you imagine a kickstarter-funded suikoden project? I bet for like 50 grand you can be one the 108 stars of destiny!! LoL

You hit the nail on the head for me..... it all really boils down to the fact that I enjoy characters and story that unravel before my eyes as opposed to feeling as though I myself need to "extract" or "create" these elements myself.... aside from being partial to the visuals in most JRPG's..... Or so that is all I could figure at least. I myself did muddle my way through Dragon's Age as well... maybe the aforementioned sheds some light on how or why I managed that one... The long and the short of it though is that IT REALLY FRUSTRATES ME!!! In my mind when I think of Amalur and certain games outside the realm of the JRPG, they seem tempting and I get excited to see em through... until I put them in and start playing them that is.... Its led to alot of titles on my shelf that will never see any play time what-so-ever despite my best intentions...

...In any event I also second your feelings about skyrim.... watched a buddy play for hours.... never felt enticed even once to pick it up myself...

There is something freakin' wrong with me...... So I put a few in on Amalur in hopes of deciding what my next current gen play-through is gonna be.... and I have to say this game is great. In fact I can't honestly point out anything specific I don't like aside from the very limitted options in the character editor.... Thing is I STILL DON'T LIKE IT!!!

I just can't get into WRPGS... I try, I really do.... I like this title and want to "want to" play it..... but in a few minutes I get horribly bored and my mind drifts to finishing backlogged JRPGS....

As some of you may know, whom have noticed some of my posts in the past, I really don't usually dig anything but JRPGs... But this is a perfect example of the madness that is Klyde.... a perfectly good game.... one I myself can't even complain about... and I just CAN'T for the life of me figure out why I'm turned off by it.... I love the visuals, I enjoy the gameplay, and while I can't say much about the soundtrack that really doesn't prove gamebreaking in any sense.... I don't know what the hell my problem is....

All I know as I'm gonna give Dragons Dogma a go and if that doesn't do it for me I give up on these styled RPG's altogeather...

I guess I've just become far too set in my ways when it comes to what I enjoy in gaming... and it pisses me off....

Sorry to rant for a moment, but this week has been gaming hell for me..... I sampled a ton of non-jrpgs this week only to run into the same problem every time.... games I'm sure I'll love, that I do in fact find very well done.... and I just don't feel that "magic" that keeps me playing.... in fact I don't even find them capable of holding my attention long enough figure out whats going on.....

I suppose I shouldn't be frustrated by the fact that I know what I like but every so often I look at everything else I'm missing out on in the world of gaming by being so selective and think I should dip my toes into some other genres... I should stop doing this I think as it is proving highly distressing for me right now....

What a great thread!! I've got boatloads of opinions that aren't exactly that of the majority.

I'll start by touching upon what has been mentioned.....

-I too think the Persona series (and all the SMT stuff for that matter...) is highly overrated.... and on that note....
-.... I think nocturne sucked more then most the rest of the SMT stuff.... and lastly on the SMT subject....
-.... I liked P3 way more then P4
- I agree that WRPG's are highly un-creative Tolkien rip-offs.... I will be brazen and say it.... I do think that for the most part they suck and are poor games for the very fact that they are extremely re-hashed fantasy that has yet to have me exclaim even once "wow, haven't seen anything quite like that before...." or even "wow, I've never quite experienced this done so well....." NOTE: I make that statement without any experience with the Mass Effect series
-I also agree Mario has lost touch with whatever magic made him appealing in the past...
-I COMPLETELY agree FF6 deserves a re-make LONG before FF7... in fact I don't even believe FF7 should get a remake.... I've had enough Cloud Strife and Sephiroth for a lifetime.....

Moving on to some of my own opinions....

-I think Devil May Cry may very well be the single most surprising franchise in gaming history to me... that is, it surprises the hell out of me that it has seen any success whatsoever..... I think Dante is a tool, I hated him from the first game on.... I can't honestly believe there was ever, and still continues to be an audience for this stuff.... (maybe Dante contributed to me disdain for Nocturne a bit....)
-Almost equally astonishing to me is the success of most all the FPS titles I've given the time of day.... I say "almost" because, while I just flat out thought Devil May Cry was unoriginal and silly, I take into account how many disgustingly testosterone driven-sweaty mean are also gamers in the west and as such I understand the fan-base exists.... I just don't appreciate it is all...
-I've always felt Lunar deserved 2 less remakes, 2 more sequels, and a hell of alot more acclaim than anything else that was going on at the time of its birth on the Sega CD... and on that note...
-...Working Designs is by far my favorite company  in VG history as far as RPG's go... I always felt they deserved more acclaim than Square as well.....and lastly...
-... the opening theme for Lunar 1 on the Sega CD is still my favorite VG track/theme of all time!
-.... I think Breath of Fire 1 - 4 were phenominal games that deserved just as much praise as the final fnatasy franchise... and here is the kicker... in PARTICULAR Breath of Fire 2 was my favorite!!
-....I think Gust and Compile Hearts makes great games... in fact I think as a whole I've appreciated more of what they have brought to the table than level 5 (since level 5 has been brought up here a few times...)
-.... I really thought Star Ocean til the end of time rocked!
-.... Disgaea set the standard for top quality SRPG for me.... not Final Fantasy Tactics....
-.... I don't feel  AT ALL that the JRPG genre has sucked/been dead in recent years.... I just feel it has been under-appreciated...

I can go on for a long time on this topic.... maybe I'll come back later.... thats all for now thougho

I decided to give this a whirl.... why? I don't know.... This is NOT the type of game I typically like.... and while I'm not in even ankle deep yet and have no room to make a call as the whether I dig it or not I will say this.... some of these character animations are AWKWARD AS SIN!!! I mean right from the door, as your MC hops up freshly from a pile of rotting corpses she (in my case, I made a female character) looks as though she suffers from some debilitating handicap which greatly impedes her ability to walk upright and coordinated.... maybe I'm just not used to this "style" of visual being that all I really play are JRPG's but man.... I can't imagine ever seeing these monkey-like character models ever appearing "natural" or even "acceptable" for that matter...

I'm downloading the Dragons Dogma demo now, and I'm gonna give that a shot then make a call as to what I care to commit my precious hours to.....

Dice, I tip my hat to you dear girl, you have fine taste. If I ever met a woman with such a keen sense for gaming aesthetics and style, the likes of which you express here in the forum, I might very well start dating again!-LoL

My Y's collection is proudly displayed on bookshelf in my living room with Y's 7 LE front and center for the very reasons you just appropriately surmised...


I start reincarnating early in the Disgaea games because A) its fun and B) I love unlocking new things and C) I'm a sucker for a nice palette swap on an aesthetic sprite..... However it must be noted that doing so will pretty much begin the undoing of much of the difficulty in the main story.... So that is how I would gauge when its appropriate to begin... that is, when the main story battles get a little to rough for your tastes, reincarnate, then grind, then kick some ass.


I really wanted to give that one a shot.... but I can't freakin' stand super heroes.... any of them... are you a super hero/batman fan at all? I'm waiting for someone who really detests super heroes on a level akin to myself to suggest this one to me.... cause in all honestly I can't think of a single thing in all of western culture I detest more.... except for maybe the NFL.... something about watching large rich men run about on fake grass really irks me....

Only in some respects.... The sandshroud ruins final color puzzle made me want to tear my brain out and spike it off the screen after 90 minutes of getting reset over and over again.....

I spend more time at, and in correspondance with, my local gamestops than I care to admit and thats the same case here.... NO ONE buys new ones and the shelves are filled with "hard to find" previous gen titles... I've picked up PS2 Limited Editions literally years after they have come out around here...