Best RPG since the PS Lunar Remakes?

[wildthehero]

I'm always looking for a good RPG to blast through in my free time, and this is usually a good way to get some ideas. Obviously for this to be fair, we'd have to say outside the Lunar franchise, cause we all know it pwns all others.
(oops, slipping into my WoW jargon ^_^') Anybody got any opinions? My money is on the .Hack series right now. A video game and an anime in the same box. Perfection.

[Amethi]

I personally was a big fan of teh Xenosaga series.

I picked it up because I thought it resembled XenoGEARS... and I was right :3 Sure, the second game wasn't too great, but the third was AWESOME. It was gorgeous, had an INCREDABLY deep storyline, and the characters were instresting :3 I loved it.

[GhaleonOne]

I'll give you a top three:

1) Skies of Arcadia
2) Suikoden V
3) Suikoden III

Sadly enough, I haven't cared that much for many of the RPGs since around that era. Just a few. Dragon Quest VIII is supposed to be really good too, so you might look into that, but I haven't played it yet, so I can't comment.

[LuNaRtIc]

Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. I LOVE them. *__*
And I love all things .Hack too. ^^ The games, like the anime, were really addicting. I can't wait for .Hack//G.U. to come out!

[wildthehero]

Ahh. Yeah, Chrono Trigger is da bomb. One of the first games I can think of with so many endings. Ooooo A fellow .hacker Yeah, there's something really cool about how the tell a little piece of the story with each piece of media. Oh, and you're really gonna love this. G.U. came out 10/26. So run out and buy your copy =D I gotta come up with 40 bucks to get mine *grumble grumble* hehe

[Ozone]

Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. I LOVE them. *__*
And I love all things .Hack too. ^^ The games, like the anime, were really addicting. I can't wait for .Hack//G.U. to come out!

The Chrono series as a whole just can't be beaten, it just doesn't work, they're too good..... Naturally, my vote goes to CT and CC xD More specifically, CC

Btw shouldn't this be in the General Gaming forum? xD

[Imperial Knight]

Growlanser is the best best RPG I've ever played, period.

[GhaleonOne]

Probably so. I'll move it over. You liked Chrono Cross more than Chrono Trigger though? That's a very unusual opinion. Lots of people disliked it. I personally enjoyed it, but I still thought Chrono Trigger was better. In fact, it's second only to the Lunar series for me.

[LuNaRtIc]

Oh, and you're really gonna love this. G.U. came out 10/26. So run out and buy your copy =D I gotta come up with 40 bucks to get mine *grumble grumble* hehe

*___* OMG, how did I NOT know this?? I'm so excited now! Thanks so much for telling me, you've seriously made my night! Now I just need my paycheck! xD

The Chrono series as a whole just can't be beaten, it just doesn't work, they're too good..... Naturally, my vote goes to CT and CC xD More specifically, CC

Oh me too! Though both games are spectacular, I think I enjoy playing Chrono Cross more. CC was the first game I played out of the series, I liked it so much that I decided I had to play CT afterwards.

[wildthehero]

I haven't played CC. Was kinda disappointed when I heard it didnt have.. well, Chrono in it. I dunno. I may have to track it down one of these days.

Growlanser is the best best RPG I've ever played, period.

I enjoyed the heck out of Growlancer. Just wish I could have played some of the Langrisser series from the same guys. Never did figure out why those games never got ported.

[GhaleonOne]

I haven't played CC. Was kinda disappointed when I heard it didnt have.. well, Chrono in it. I dunno. I may have to track it down one of these days.

Not neccessarily. He's not a major character, and it's kinda hard to explain, but there's definately connections to the past with it.

[wildthehero]

Hmmm Intriguing. You're going to make me want to go check out CC instead of .Hack G.U. Rebirth... Unless it comes with an anime like the first 4 did. o.o Must go check!

[wildthehero]

o.O I'm an Iluk Crackpot? LOL. Ok, as far as I can tell .hack G.U. Does not come with an anime disc like the first four did. =P on that. But the anime .hack//Roots is supposed to hit Cartoon Network in a couple of days, so I'll be getting a dose of hackage anyway. =D Guess I'll start hunting for Chrono Cross and wait on G.U. to drop a little.

[Benevolent_Ghaleon]

I thought the first Growlanser never was released in english. How many of you fluently speak or read japanese?


As for CC, i couldn't bring myself to play it much because it had more colors and plain shapes than kindergarten.

Skies of Arcadia? I need to play this. I hear only good things.

CT? I gave it a serious shot, but it didn't draw me in like everyone else.

I only played the first .hack and it felt like an empty MMO. Did they improve on all of that?

What i really want to play is the Suikoden series. The fandom for it as a sort of "underground" type thing seems to actually surpass Lunar.

[yroc]

What i really want to play is the Suikoden series. The fandom for it as a sort of "underground" type thing seems to actually surpass Lunar.

Good choice. It's one of my favorite RPG series I've ever played. The only problem is that it's going to kinda hard to find Suikoden I & 2 for a decent price. So you're better off playing Suikoden III or Suikoden V if you're trying the series out.

[Alunissage]

I thought the first Growlanser never was released in english. How many of you fluently speak or read japanese?

I don't recall that Imperial Knight is fluent, but he's certainly been able to enjoy the series, and is involved in the fan translation project. And the only reason I haven't played more of the first game myself is that it doesn't seem to cooperate with (import) PS2s much; each time I've tried it's crashed an hour or so into the game. But if you played Grow 2 you can get a lot of the story of 1, and while I haven't looked at it in months and months the GameFAQs Grow 1 messageboard has had some pretty supportive people each time I've looked, so there's help available. One of the regulars put together a rough flowchart of the game, and another did a guide to the stat-determining section at the beginning and also wrote up how to get one or more optional characters. And the battle system is pretty similar to that of the other games in the series, so there's a fair bit of the game that's accessible to the non-Japanese-speaking.

I think if I'd been able to play more of it I'd have seconded IK's comment; as it is, I really liked Grow II and that pretty much pales next to I in every way (it's a direct sequel, but might more accurately be called a gaiden).

[wildthehero]

I only played the first .hack and it felt like an empty MMO. Did they improve on all of that?

Well, kinda. Once you got a few more players to interact with, it livened things up quite a bit. There was also the fact that if you constantly raise your reputation with your friends, they arbitrarily send you emails and stuff. For some reason, the strategy guide never mentioned it, even though, if I remember correctly, it was crucial to accomplish something.

As for Growlanser, I only played the ones WD released. My knowledge of Japanese is nil.

[GhaleonOne]

CT? I gave it a serious shot, but it didn't draw me in like everyone else.

It's better parts are later in. It's kind of slow in the beginning, but really picks up in the Kingdom of Zeal area. At least it did for me. Between the music, landscape and entire part of the story while there, it was made the game for me.

What i really want to play is the Suikoden series. The fandom for it as a sort of "underground" type thing seems to actually surpass Lunar.

Yeah. Do what yroc suggests. Since 1 and 2 are kinda rare (especially 2), I'd suggest to start with Suikoden V. If you start with Suikoden IV, it will turn you off of the series without a fair chance IMO. It might be worth playing after you've played the others, just to get a little more out of the series, but I'd start with V, go to III, then play I and II.

[Sonic#]

First, Skies of Arcadia. Just... just play it. On the Gamecube, the Dreamcast... it doesn't matter. It's just a romping good adventure. And as I've always loved airships anyway... their designs are some of the best.

And I'd actually recommend Dragon Quest VIII as well. Sure, it's fairly conventional, sometimes predictable (sometimes not), but the exploration factor is grand, and it's the longest RPG that I've completed in a while. Solid story, solid music... colorful graphics... just solid. And this is after I couldn't much stand DW7.

CT and CC are both excellent. I would also give Grandia II a try (and if you like this, I and III). Earthbound (for the SNES) is an oldie but a goodie. And if you have a taste for puzzles and more action-oriented gameplay, I would go for Alundra.

Otherwise, I'd just closely look at reviews. Xenogears and Xenosaga might be to your liking, but I'd ask around more first, as plenty of people dislike them (for pretty good reasons). I'd also promote the old Phantasy Stars, but that's me being wistful. ^_^ If you like old games I'd give them a try.

Oh! I nearly forgot... Ys: The Ark of Naphistim. It's on the same level as Alundra... well, a little less puzzle based, but the game play is fun and I personally enjoyed it.

Oh gosh, the floodgates have opened... along the same line, take a look at reviews for Legend of Mana, another of my personal favorites. And here I'll really stop... because I already like Lunar more than most of the games I've listed, though they come close at points.

[ilovemyguitar]

Most of what I think are necessary have already been named alright, but I'm going to throw Lufia 2 out there as another oldie-but-goodie.

Also, if you want to venture into handhelds, I had loads of fun with Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.