What'chall Playing '10?

[Geno]

I guess in some weird, alternate dimension, this could be true.

I couldn't stand Chrono Cross, myself. Found it to be a completely unworthy sequel. It is Chrono Trigger's Xenosaga.

Agreed. Chrono Cross sucked (though to be fair, I judged it as Chrono Trigger's sequel and I might like it okay if I viewed it as its own one-shot game). Final Fantasy VII kicks the ass of Chrono Cross any day.

I never played Xenogears, so I can't say how it fares compared to FFVII, but FFVII has been my favorite RPG since 2001. Why, you ask? The kickass storyline, the memorable characters, the awesome soundtrack, the gorgeous yet depressing atmosphere, and the fairly decent battle system (I wouldn't call it perfect, but it's not bad). A PS3 remake would be nice for improving the graphics. That's about all that was wrong with the game, and even then, graphics aren't that important (and they were good by 1997's standards).

As for what I'm playing right now, I recently got Pokémon HeartGold and my girlfriend got SoulSilver, so that's consuming most of my playtime lately. I am not ashamed!

[Great Rumbler]

Darunia, make sure you get Breath of Fire 3 and 4 as well. Also, Star Ocean 2 [there's a PSP version of the first two games now], Valkyrie Profile, and Grandia. Assuming you can afford all that, anyway.

[Weltall]

I second Breath of Fire III and double-second Star Ocean: Second Evolution (or The Second Story, if you get the Playstation version). The latter is one of my top-ten all-time favorite games.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time for PS2 isn't quite as much fun as its predecessor, but it is definitely one of the more interesting stories I've seen in a jRPG.

[Great Rumbler]

Star Ocean 4 is terrible. I guess the combat is decent and the dungeons are okay, but everything else is BAAAAAAD.

[Unreadphilosophy]

^A lot of people say that SO4 is the turd of the series.

Agreed. Chrono Cross sucked

THROW HIM INTO THE PITS OF HADES!!!!

[A Black Falcon]

[Darunia]

Darunia, make sure you get Breath of Fire 3

My friend has BoF3 and I've actually, briefly, long ago begun to play it, and I liked it immensely--it's in my mind the ideal definition of an RPG. At current, though, I have no capacity to play it. It would make my list, hypothetically, if I were able to get some manner of system rigged whereby I could play old PSX games.

[Great Rumbler]

Here's your system:

http://www.epsxe.com/download.php

[Geno]

[A Black Falcon]

12 is the best one in the series I've played. It plays the least like the traditional JRPG, which is definitely a good thing in my opinion...

Of the older ones I guess 5 is best, because the job system at least gives the gameplay SOMETHING beyond the usual JRPG tedium (which is also why X-2 is good), but it's not like I've played more than 5 or 10 hours of any of them. Haven't played 2-4 at all actually. 1 I've played a little of here and there, but not much. 6 I tried playing some years back, but I got so bored a few hours in that I quit. 7... eh, played the PC demo when it came out. I've never cared to want to go back and actually play it. 8 and 9 look no more interesting. Haven't played 10.

Sorry, I'm just not a Final Fantasy fan. :)

I didn't like that about Chrono Cross either. It pretty much raped Chrono Trigger, which is better as a one-shot game.

Chrono Trigger is one of Square's better RPGs (I played that one some years back too, played until I got stuck at some boss and eventually gave up in frustration, but did mostly enjoy it as far as I got I think), so yeah, treating its story so horribly in its supposed sequel is just horrible. What were they thinking? The message is horrible as well... Chrono Trigger's is so much better.


(Lunar 1 and 2 and Grandia 1 are all better than any Final Fantasy game really... but really, even there, I wish that someday JRPGs will get over the focus on Ultima and Wizardy and move on to, like, Pools of Radiance or something. It'd be nice. And that's part of why I liked FF12, stupid grind aside -- it actually changes some things about the genre for the better. It doesn't really seem to have stuck, but at least FF13 does keep visible enemies, if not all of its other improvements...)

[Weltall]

Xenogears is better than any other game ever made.

I actually enjoyed Final Fantasy XII a lot once I got used to it. I certainly enjoyed it much more than Final Fantasy X, the only game in the series I hated enough to sell before finishing.

[Great Rumbler]

Xenogears is better than any other game ever made.

It's not better than Planescape: Torment!

[Weltall]

I don't recall giving you permission to blaspheme. Now sit down.

[Great Rumbler]

I don't recall giving you permission to blaspheme. Now sit down.

Xenogears fell apart after the end of the first disc. You just need to

[Weltall]

To the principal's office with you. I'm through being nice.

[Great Rumbler]

You're not my real father!

[Darunia]

*Darunia smashes into the scene and strafe the two quarreling boys.*

Only one person gives orders around here. And that's me.

*Puts on sunglasses and a half-gone stogie into his mouth.*

*Rides off into the dusty, setting sun, on his motorcycle.*

I smell a hit TV series!

[Geno]

Hey, everyone, I'm gonna haul ass to Lollapalooza!

Everyone: Here we go again!

[A Black Falcon]

Sorry Weltall, but the best RPG ever is the best RPG ever, no matter how much you protest. Nothing in the genre comes close to Planescape Torment.

[Weltall]

Xenogears being so far beyond anything else ever made, your statement is technically true.

[Geno]

Is Xenogears available on PSN? If so, I'll check it out when and if I finally purchase a PS3, which I have been strongly considering lately. If it's not on PSN, I suppose there's always eBay.

[Great Rumbler]

You could try eBay, but it won't be cheap.

[A Black Falcon]

It also won't be anywhere near as good as Torment. Sorry. :)

(Torment's not cheap either, but it's not Xenogears expensive I believe... PS1 RPGs are way overpriced!)

[Geno]

It's lucky I bought FF7 when the PS2 had just come out and PS1 games were being marked down rather than up.

[A Black Falcon]

Well now just about any PS1 RPG is overpriced... they're almost all like $20 to $80, unless you're lucky...

[Weltall]

I bought a second copy of Xenogears on Amazon for $40 two years ago. The first, purchased in 2001, cost the same amount.

It's all in being diligent.

[Geno]

Well now just about any PS1 RPG is overpriced... they're almost all like $20 to $80, unless you're lucky...

$20 isn't bad, actually. $80 is too much for any game, old or new.

You know what's sad? New games nowadays are $60. I found a used copy of Final Fantasy XIII at FYE for $50. I remember when new copies were $50! Handheld games cost almost as much as big console games used to.

[Weltall]

Wait a goddamn minute. You N64 guys were paying that much for new games ten years ago! I know because that was one of my countless awesome arguments.

That aside, it's only natural that games become more expensive: there's both general inflation at work, as well as the naturally higher production costs involved in making modern games.

[Geno]

^Yeah, you win that argument. However, WE HAVE ZELDA, BITCH! OWNED!

And yeah, the inflation doesn't surprise me. It just disappoints me.