This is freakin' awesome news! The only thing better than this will be the announcement that we are actually getting it... I knew there was a good reason to keep my save file around. LoH Trails in the Sky was, hands down, my favorite thing to happen on the PSP... still have the soundtrack on my "Jogging Playlist" which I run to everyday... and the soundtrack didn't even particularly move me, I just dug the game enough to keep listening-LoL

You had to give reyvetails dozens and dozens of baths throughout AT2.... it was a necessary and constrant mechanic throughout the game that was quite unrelated to its function making it... well... just odd (what I mean is, who the hell decided to correlate bathing with become a more formidable combatant....?)..... additionally the bathing has nothing to do with the narrative advancing (aside from the fact that you will not get very far in the game without keeping your girls squeaky clean....)

The generation advancing in Agarest 2 only happens twice, it is necessarily tied to the narrative and does serve only to advance things in a logical fashion.... that is, due to reasons expressed within the games narrative you must choose a mate to ensure a generation beyond your current MC can carry on your duty/purpose. The generation advancing can be given a great deal of attention or be an afterthought depending on how you play. You can practically ignore the whole concept altogeather, and just simply reach the point in the narrative where the generation advances, pick and chick and keep on keeping on if you prefer.....

In other words, the biggest difference here is AT2 baths serve as a necessary (and IMO illogical) game mechanic for character growth throughout the entire game whereas generation advancing in Agarest is a narrative necessity (that makes much more sense) and only happens at story-specific points throughout the title. To be honest, there is really no similarity in the two that I can see.

I'm gonna throw a few classics  out there as a reminder because you didn't list them even though judging from the rest you mentioned I imagine you've gotten to them already....

-Breathe of Fire (particularly 3 and 4)
-Earthbound
-Some of the weird "Mana Series" titles (Legend of Mana and Sword of Mana were decent IMO)
-Lunar Silver Star and Eternal Blue

now for a few that aren't classics but are certainly just as delightful
-Odin Sphere
-Dark Cloud 2
-Growlanser (a must)
-Vandal Hearts


Next, I'm going to second byter's suggestion...

-Rogue Galaxy (I only sampled it, but I know when I get to it this will be one I really enjoy)

and now for something entirely different I am probably alone on....

-.hack series (the current object of affection, a gem that passed me by that I almost sold and am currently completely enthralled with)

and lastly some newer gen stuff I really enjoyed....

-Disgaea 4 (3 was good, 4 was freakin' awesome as far as SRPG's are concerned, highly entertaining)

-Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2 (no need to play 1, it was BAD, 2 on the other hand was quite addicting for me.... silly narrative, not epic in any sense... but somehow, all the ridiculous over-the-top-anime-fan-service aside, I really liked it.... WARNING: DO NOT INGULGE THIS UNLESS YOU LOVE/ARE AT LEAST COMPLETELY COMFORTABLE WITH HEAVY ANIME INFLUENCE AND STUPID 4th WALL BREAKING HUMOR)

-Agarest War 2 (unlike 1 and zero, 2 completely rocks.... 1 and zero are not necessary at all to understand the narrative of 2 BTW)

Ok I officially am loving the hell out of this series.... I even decided to indulge the .hack//sign anime and get some prequel backstory (although I got to admit the anime is absolutely TERRIBLE.... its still cool to see if your really into it as I am ATM).... Even the gameplay has totally grown on me at this point.... hopping into menus 101 times per battle, while hindering the "action" or "real time" aspect of things, totally reminds me of how single player boss battles felt in secret of mana as kid when the only other neighborhood RPG geek couldn't make it over for couch co-op.

This is really surprising me, my feelings went from "this is really cool narrative but these dungeons and gameplay are gonna get to me..." to "I wonder how many hours of sleep I can cut from my schedule to play more of this".....  If G.U is as big an improvement over the first quadrilogy as the majority here has led me to believe I think I'm in for a real treat :)

Actually I heard about it but never checked it out..... I'm a crunchyroll junkie though so it was damn near impossible to avoid hearing/seeing this mentioned quite a bit recently.... Thanks to you my friend, I'm no longer in the dark... This looks to be interesting and all, and I will have to reserve my judgement til I watch but talk about a .hack rip-off.... I mean, I know we live at a point in time where every scenario one can imagine has been done in some fashion or another already but seriously.... judging from that summary the title of the series should have been freakin ".hack//alternate narrative".... though maybe I am completely off base with that assumption and it is my hope that, in execution, this has a real original flavor because it does look cool! Thanks for the info!

EDIT: I must correct myself..... apparently Sword Art actually predates .hack so disregard my ".hack rip-off" comment.... also seems there are quite a few signifigant differences actually.... I am more or less doing this edit to proclaim that my initial impressions there seem erroneous and pre-emptive before someone else points it out-LoL

While I share in your hope to someday see Growlanser 1 (as well as 6) I think it is a pipe dream my friend.... we certainly won't be seeing any more on the PSP (its a miracle we got WoT)....

And what really sucks about it is the story for Growlanser 1 is related to 2. Though I'm not quite sure how exactly, I know many of the same characters are in both titles and 2 is supposed to act as a co-occuring scenario to 1 somehow... that is, rather than a chronological sequel, its timeframe (growlanser 2's) is supposed to be during the same time frame as growlanser 1..... or something like that.

Sorry to revive a month-dead-thread guys, but I finally decided to check this out seeing as how I had all 7 sitting on the shelf and it was either "sell the set because people pay more then I think is reasonable ATM for them" or give them a shot.... So I waited until a battle at Aida Bridge in Growlanser warranted a little breather from the Wayfarer of Time and decided to pop in .hack..... deciding to dare to start right from infection despite really wanting to jump into G.U.....

Now the purpose of my posting here is just to say, that this is another title I feel could REALLY be appreciated by the right audience... in other words, not to reiterate all that was mentioned already but the game is just not there in terms of gameplay and design.... HOWEVER if the style and story appeal to your particular tastes this is totally a rare gem. Nothing quite like it that I am aware of.

Being a fan of 90's anime sci-fantasy (even though this franchise kicks off in 2001-2002), the visual style and mood of this title is just freakin' awesome.  There is a certain air of creepiness that really reminds me of Serial Experiments Lain here.... something I can't say I've really discerned from many other titles (to be honest, no other games come to mind)....

Without becoming too longwinded, basically I just want to say that despite the flaws in gameplay (although it really is not THAT bad....) and the fact that there is warranted reason to write this one off, if it does seem as though stylistically it may appeal to you, really take a look at this one online or check out the first leg of this adventure (infection is real cheap despite the high price of the rest of the franchise). I am pleasantly surprised to find something really original here in concept and story.

That is all... I just really needed to express how I've never played anything quite like this.... Nor do I suspect we'll ever see anything quite like it again and if you are like me it may just scratch an itch that is hard to reach with other titles.

Haha thats right he does! In fact, I'm stealing that as my status for a moment if you don't mind.... LoL

Let me preface this post by saying this is in no way intended to kiss Dincrest's ass.... with that said, let me also state his ass deserves a smooch for that stellar review!

Why do I say stellar? Well because someone FINALLY gave a fair review of the title.... and let me explain myself further, I say "fair" because some other reviews I've read have left me wondering if the authors even played the game or simply derived their entire opinion based on the fact that "Idea Factory" and "Compile Hearts" were on the box.... and that is of course if it even got reviewed.... some major publications have yet to even touch it (if I'm not mistaken "Game Informer" didn't even review it..).

Now with all that said I simply want to highlight some of the finer points of the majesty that is Dincrest's symphomy of truth amidst a score of bias and lies.....

Enter Record of Agarest War 2. Forget about its fanservice, its silly limited edition pack-ins, and the poor reputation preceding it thanks to prior Agarest War games. Slough off that nonsense, open your mind, and give the game a shot. Perhaps you will then see as I do that Record of Agarest War 2 is actually a decent JRPG capable of standing up on its own merits without any need for gimmicks and baubles.

I feel like everyone should read that.... like it should be on the back of the freakin' box-LoL

plot direction is sometimes vague and there are a few occasions where it is far too easy to skip over vital plot points and events. For example, had I not been severely underleveled for a certain boss fight, I would not have revisited a previously completed area, stumbling upon a major chunk of plot and a key playable character!

Couldn't agree more.... as far as the games problem go, this was the biggest IMO... I actually had a similar experiences more then once and I am not yet through the title.

Despite reminding me of Valkyrie Profile, I actually found myself approaching battles like a Megami Tensei game where the key to victory lies in exploiting enemy weaknesses with various party members' strengths. Therefore, the swap-out command during battles will become your greatest ally. It is best to select the right party for the situation rather than play favorites.

Proof that (unlike other reviews floating around on the internet) Dincrest actually played through the title!! I love the (many) review authors who wrote this off as a "button masher"..... Mashing will get you NOWHERE after endeavoring a good leg into the first generation..... forget about anything beyond that.

This leads me to the best part of Agarest 2 – the music! Seriously, the music in this game is excellent across the board. Idea Factory's soundtracks can be hit or miss, but this one nailed it. I enjoyed the rocking combat music (particularly the Gai Desert battle theme), the standard opening vocal song, the "dance pop" vocal song following the prologue, the other "Easter egg" vocal songs peppered throughout the game, the shimmering save/load music, all of it.

... the biggest tragedy here is that the game didn't come with a soundtrack!... To make matters worse, I can't find it available to buy either... This needs to be on my MP3 player to jog to damnit...

it shows that Idea Factory has the potential to create good stuff.


My favorite line on the review and an appropriate way to close...

So with all that, kudos Dincrest! I have never had a "favorite game review author" but I now do :)

I've always had a hunch that the ultimate plan was to hold off on select titles they knew were gonna be hits and make them exclusively available to the next gen consoles somehow whilst making all the previous titles still available as well. Always seemed like a solid strategy to make sure they get us for every dime we are worth..LoL.... ok... so that is more diabolical than funny.... but none-the-less I can totally see them doing that.. I mean, I imagine when the next gen consoles do become available, they are going to want to make it as advantageous to upgrade as possible.

I played both, start to finish... While I do agree you can contrast the two, the vast difference in quality places Xenoblade in nearly a whole other league if you ask me... Xenoblade to me in respect to this topic is like all the postive mechanics of FFXII, done better,  with the addition of a memorable narrative and cast.

To be honest, the only thing I really liked about FFXII was Ashe... I'm such a sucker for the Joan of Arc-type chicks...

Aside from the skill-plate system (which wasn't terrible.... but it was not exactly great either...) and being a wee-bit on the easy side for the franchise IMO, I love Generations... The character design really appealed to me in that title... Rufus and Melvina were freakin' waaay cool... Loved the MC's appearance... even the David Copperfield-looking Randall was alright by me.... Now Pirate-Knight Krious was a different story entirely.... way to take a white-haired sword wielding arch-type and completely remove any "bad-ass" from it at all..... but I can forgive...

I believe Growlanser 6 is a direct sequal to 5.... sporting the same battle system as well... what I would do to see that localized some day..

....... thats a freakin' travesty.... I'm not saying its bad art.... its no secret I'm a sucker for anime-looking-anything... but that is not Y's.....

I adore the art style for these games... this one in particular.... really reminds of lodoss/slayers era fantasy stuff even more so than Y's titles do (even though this came waaay after the fact....) That said, Regina is an eye sore....period. From her attire not making sense to looking too much like a cross between early madonna and kelly from married with children her visual just totally ejects her from the realm of the cast that surrounds her IMO....

But off that subject...

What familiar did you guys end up with? Was the one you wanted or was aiming for...?

 I got D-YN purely by chance and am happy with her as visually she is my favorite..... This game sure leaves me wondering "what if I..." every five minutes though.... it might actually warrant another playthrough for me due to elements like this. Very cool stuff, though it is difficult to curb my desire to reset and try things 4 different ways before moving on-LoL!

Oops.... guess my first impressions were a bit redundant.... excellent review! sorry I didn't catch it first...


I hear ya on the heat sucking my friend... I have to take a 120mg dose of loop diuretics on a daily basis which makes the heat freakin' unbearable to me.....