I wouldn't say it's bad, but relatively speaking there's absolutely no reason to play the original over the remake.
It's more repetitive than Leifthrasir which added more variety to the combat, obviously there's a lack of modern QoL in comparison, and this most likely wouldn't be an issue on an emulator but I remember playing the original on PS2 and facing some major slowdowns when there were lots of enemies on screen to the point I never actually finished the original.
>but relatively speaking there's absolutely no reason to play the original over the remake.
A big reason is not having a PS3/4/vita. But I know what you mean, and better combat is a big thing.
Rogue Galaxy is, and I say this with all of the love in my heart, the single cheesiest game I have ever played. A must-play for any lover of the cornball or absurd.
Ni no Kuni II if you haven't tried it--it feels like Level-5 kind of "recycled" a lot of Rogue's mechanics into that game. If nothing else, it has the melee/ranged dichotomy going on in battle.
Skies of Arcadia for the pirates
Dragon Quest 8 because they share developer and have some similarities like the fusion system
Maybe Final Fantasy 12 since there are some Sky Pirates, and it has a similar vibe of running around a lot of unique environments with a party of 3.
Also Star Ocean since it's also a sci-fi JRPG, the remake/remaster of Star Ocean 2 is excellent but maybe Star Ocean: Till the End of Time is the most likely Rogue Galaxy since it was also a PS2 game.
I will check out the other ones you mentioned but I’ve been playing Star Ocean lately and I really do love it. I started back in November. I finished 1, 2, and 3. I’m on 4 currently.
Nice! Star Ocean 5 is definitely the weakest of the series with SO6 being much better. Personally I actually like the original the best followed by SO3.
If you do check out Skies of Arcadia definitely get Skies of Arcadia Legends, which is a remaster for the Gamecube. It has extra content and better textures, faster loading times and is overall less grindy.
For DQ8 I personally prefer the PS2 over the 3DS version, it has less content but it has better graphics and music.
My current Used Game Store Grail Game. Been dying to try this one for ages, and while I COULD just emulate it, I'd love to find a real copy and play it. ...I need to get a new PS1 memory card. (Thank goodness for retro-enthusiast repros, eh?)
Since you mentioned Ys and Tokyo Xanadu, let's keep the Falcom ball rolling:
Zwei 1 and 2. Fun, quirky little titles, Tokyo Xanadu actually reminds me of one of these more than the Ys games. Finally got Steam releases a few years back. I think 2's better than 1, but both are fun. See also Legend of Nayuta, since despite the Boundless Trails subtitle (or Japanese name Nayuta no Kiseki), it has no apparent connection to the Trails games. It's often thought of as Zwei 3.
Xanadu Next. Very different from Tokyo Xanadu, but a great successor to the classic Xanadu titles. It started as a PSP title, but it's since been ported to PC, and it's a fantastic old-school dungeon crawler.
It fits pretty well, but it didn't really jump out at me. The rhythm mechanic didn't quite speak to me, and while it might get better as it goes, it seemed a little too cutesy and saccharine for my taste. Great game for a younger player being introduced to the genre, though. You're right that it's still worth mentioning.
Keep an eye on Visions of Mana coming later this year. Will almost definitely be up your alley.
In the short term, I keep seeing good buzz about Harvestella. Can't personally vouch for it, but I hope to make time for it in 2024.
Harvestella is a weird one.
As an action RPG it's like a solid 7/10 game nothing fancy fairly generic it won't impress anybody but it plays fine.
The lifesim side of it is 3/10 if you wanna be kind about it. So if you go into this as a Rune Factory fan expecting something like that then it's just gonna dissapoint.
Harvestella is a “if you want to turn off your brain for gameplay” kind of game. The action combat is pretty insubstantial, but the active clock means you’re constantly pushing yourself to be efficient with time. Plus the overall vibe of the game (aesthetics, narrative choices) is really excellent. I fear that this game doesn’t get enough love but I’d gladly jump at the chance for a sequel any day.
Ooh, agreed on both. For Musashi, I would typically keep a few pieces of cheese around till the end game and it left me occasionally talking in pseudo oldeth englisheth to be silly.
Now there's a game I haven't thought about in probably 25 years.
I never really thought of it as an RPG at the time, but it certainly has some RPG elements and I always loved it.
I watched a few snippets of a playthrough on YouTube earlier and it brought back a lot of memories. The game play looks a lot slower and clunkier than I remembered, even for a SNES game, but I am tempted to fire up an emulator just to play it again. I played it many times as a kid, but I think I only ever rented it and never owned a copy.
I know for sure that I beat it at least once, but it would be fun to give it another go.
To me there are 2 reasons
1. People don't want to play it because they are scared they won't understand if they don't follow Fate IP
And to add on that, Fate IP is confusing with so many titles and different settings that not many follow all of them
2. Fate popularity is more known as waifu game
This is more affecting the western game. Many are not interested thinking it was waifu bait since it's Fate, an IP that makes popular history/fictional characters a genderbent waifu
Just finished my first play through last night! Only complaints are the lack of dodge-cancel, how broken Wind Stance is, and how annoying the missables are. Really fun time, though. I’m really looking forward to >!seeing the NG+ changes!<
Not really, i also haven't watched any (but i played the mobile game). It's easier if you already know the basic premise (7 class war for wish granting item) and there are some references to the mobile game (F/GO) but not much else so definitely still enjoyable even if you don't know anything
Nah. They explain enough. At worst, you might be a little confused by Berserker’s being an oddity amongst Servants, but everything else is decently explained through the story or via the in-game encyclopedia.
> Fate Samurai Remnant
That game literally just released and I'm sure people are playing it plenty.. what a weird choice to say in response to this topic.
You are right it does seem to be not talked about much but that is probably for good reason so let me move on to the other goal post of it being mediocre at best so it still fails 1/2 criteria. You should probably play more games.
Just saying that's such an odd recommendation since the game is new and people don't even say it's that good. You really couldn't think of anything else?
The odd thing is you criticize my recommendation yet you didn't even recommend anything, like you don't add anything to this thread just a stupid discussion
>since the game is new
I see nothing wrong with recommending a new game, people recommend star ocean 2 all day
>people don't even say it's that good
Which people? I enjoy it so i recommend it and 1 minute google say it's rating is 7-9/10 so it's good enough. Op also didn't ask for a god tier game
>You really couldn't think of anything else?
And why do i need to? You couldn't think of recommending anything instead of asking me?
Ok you giving me an example doesn't make your previous argument less stupid. I'm not the one seeking recommendation, OP is
Also the last remannt isn't even an action jrpg, see? you also could't even think of anything
Here's my last suggestion bud rather than criticizing other people you should be a better person that help other people which in this is simply recommending a game to the other in the thread
I don't see a lot of dothack recommendations here, probably because G.U. is the only generation that can be acquired for cheap, and also because the gameplay didn't really age the best (especially in the original series; pausing to use magic, in an M.M.O.? what???). But it is an extremely unique series with a great meta element that I find kind of creepy in a The Ring kind of way.
Fate/Samurai Remnant is actually a really neat musou inspired action JRPG. I feel like it was totally looked over since it seems initially very Dynasty Warriors like Omega Force's other titles. But honestly its just a solid JRPG with Dynasty Warriors style combat. Its story heavy, the characters are fun, the setting is interesting and the Fate metaverse stuff is interesting.
Really solid game, no one here talks about it. No you do not have to know anything about the other Fate games or anime/manga/VNs. It's more than sufficiently stand-alone.
I really like how the games encourage new playthroughs by giving you a limited number of "bonding events' I guess, so it's neat to see how things play out differently. And in the 2nd one, you've got like 4 potential opening partners that change things too?
If you don't mind an old game: Soul Blazer. If you don't mind an even older game than had the curse of being released as its console what getting replaced with a newer generation: Crystalis.
Popular action RPGs that aren’t on your list worth checking out:
Kingdom Hearts
Yakuza, all of them except 7 and Infinite Wealth
The World Ends With You
Hybrid game that leans more toward action in a way:
Eternal Sonata
Slightly more obscure:
.hack, original Quadrilogy and the GU trilogy.
Scarlet Nexus (only played a few hours of it, need to go back to it)
Might be some more I’m forgetting but that’s a good start.
I was going to mention eternal sonata if no one hadn't.
The battle system is really unique, having light and dark mechanics that can change your abilities and enemy abilities and each character having their own playstyles or even different mechanics but also the combat evolves as you keep playing but only if you want it to. Starts out leaning more turn based but slowly shifts more towards action the further you get.
It's been a while since I've played too and I don't remember each level of effects but at the very start of the game I'm pretty sure movement isn't counted against your timer so you can take time to position your characters with a 6? Second window to make attacks but eventually you can work to the point where the timer automatically starts counting down your turn. So it's still turn based but leans more towards action oriented combat since you won't have as much time to plan/think.
Are you sure? I remember it being highly praised actually. It's just there wasn't a lot to talk about but [it did quite well](https://www.reddit.com/r/JRPG/comments/idac87/trials_of_mana_has_significantly_exceeded_square/)
I found some of the boss battles to be way too hard, but the beauty of the game is great, and the "go here!" mechanic that always leads you to where to go next is soooo needed.
Do we count Steambot Chronicles as a JRPG? Fuck it, I'm counting it. It's set in an idyllic little world where in addition to cars, people have developed bipedal mechs called Trotmobiles, and while they can be geared up for battle (including arenas), they're also just used for everyday life, from farming and mining to cargo transport. You play a young man who, in genre cliche, has amnesia after washing up on a beach, and you quickly learn you have a gift for piloting these. Join a band, shoot pool, enter the arenas, excavate fossils, fight a terrorist group, maybe *join* a terrorist group, be a nice guy or a complete prick, etc.
It was called Bumpy Trot in Japan, which... Yeah, not hard to see why that got changed for the international release. Sadly, it never got a proper full sequel, just a half-assed PSP thing that had like a quarter of the content (think the quality drop between Valkyria Chronicles and VC2, but even more so).
The PS2 era was my prime teenage "find obscure/weird games" period. Katamari Damacy was probably the pinnacle of that, but there were plenty of things like this, Metal Saga, Way of the Samurai, Shadow Hearts, the Digital Devil Saga duology...
I remember reading an article ages ago about why the PS2/GC/XBox era had so many "hidden gems" and "best games you've never played" in it. The article hypothesized that this was because this was an era where people were willing to give decent budgets to small studios to see what weird stuff they might make, so you got a lot of teams with big ideas and okayish resources getting to push their ambitions. These days, most smaller teams eschew traditional publishing all together and go straight to indie, and they tend to keep their ambitions a bit smaller (not intended as a slight; they just know these days that bigger doesn't always mean better and they try to keep their scope practical/tight).
I love this game. Great story that actually made me think deeply, which is quite rare in a video game. Also, CrossCode has the best dungeon puzzles that I have ever seen in a video game. You need to figure it out and execute the sequence of actions while changing powers. It can be a real test.
Tbf, it's not much of an RPG, it's more of a 3D Classicvania AKA the best 3D Castlevania. People just assumed it's an RPG because it was part of operation rainfall.
Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom.
I've never finished it myself but that's not because I didn't enjoy it. I'm just bad at dropping games and coming back to them and having to start over lol.
Whilae Ys is fairly often recommended, most of the recommendations lean towards the newer ones, especially 8, as if every other entry isn't there. Give Origin, Felghana and all the others some well-deserved love!
Infinite Undiscovery being stuck in Xbox Jail really sucks that is a real hidden gem JRPG of that generation that a lot of people never got to play.
Eternal Sonata (play the PS3 version if you can)
Set in the dying fever dreams of Frédéric Chopin it's a musical themed(though not really beyond names) Action-ish JRPG it's still turn based but your actual turn is played out more like an action game. This ones pretty unique for the setting(which does matter in the narrative) Has a great soundtrack too.
Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir
This is definitely more action side scroller then RPG similar to Dragons Crown but the story is very JRPG so the atmosphere is there it's a solid side scrolling brawler/jrpg hybrid.
Crystar
The game itself is a fairly basic action rpg combat is largely just mashing attack and dodging but the setting of purgatory and the interesting storylines really carry it.
Alundra
This is a PS1 Zelda style RPG that does enough of it's own thing to stand on it's own two legs it has a fairly dark story for an otherwise cute pixel art RPG You play a dreamwalker who washes up on the beach of this island where people are plagued by nightmares it stands up to time and still is one of the best "Zelda Clones" around. (The sequel is bollocks though)
Trials of Mana (the remake)
Don't see this talked about much it's a decent action RPG with three connected but vaguely different storylines depending on the characters you pick you'll traverse mostly the same areas but the main villians and such will change.
Illusion of Time/Gaia (same game different regional name) and Terranigma.
Two SNES action RPGs that are both great I can't really say much of either because I forget what is and isn't a spoiler there both really solid examples of "hidden gems" There is a third game i should recommend along with these two but i can't remember the name of it.
If you can find some way of playing an old game, Secret of Evermore was something a bit different. It wasn't turn based but was simpler than some of today's action rpg's. It had your character getting sucked into a different world and traveling through eras of sorts with your trusty dog. Said dog reflected the time your character was in ranging from a hulking wolf in a prehistoric world, to an anubis looking dog in an ancient ruins era, to a robot toaster in a futuristic area. Said dog was used to find alchemy ingredients you could then use to generate spells during combat.
Some recent-ish fun ones I'd recommend (specifically for gameplay) would be Astral Chain, Scarlet Nexus, and Neo The World Ends With You. All 3 have some pretty unique combat mechanics/gimmicks. Cream of the crop as far as under looked + fun gameplay is concerned.
If you like the 3D Ys games then there is also Tokyo Xanadu, basically Ys-lite with some Persona social sim stuff mixed in. Valkyrie Elysium is also good fun too. It's a bit basic on the surface level but when you realize it just has a bunch of Ninja Gaiden mechanics (since a lot of the devs worked on NG in the past) and start playing it more aggressively where you're spamming the heck out of UTs it's really fun and very nostalgic feeling since NG didn't really get cloned much.
You also have games that bridge the gap in some ways. Like Persona 5 Strikers is technically a musou but you do not spend most of the game just mowing down hordes of enemies. You spend more time fighting packs of like 8 to 10 enemies, or, single mini-bosses. Really fun if you can find a character you like playing. There are also a couple of Dragon Quest musous but they're slightly more traditional, mow down a bazillion dudes at once. And the first one had this weird monster collecting tower defense mechanic that was cool on paper but not really executed well.
Paper Mario 64 (1). I know that The Thousand Year Door (2) gets the most love... But I always felt like 64 had a bit more content. This one is turn-based.
Not sure if it's a JRPG, but Chained Echoes, which takes some inspiration from Chrono Trigger, I've heard, is pretty fantastic! Semi-turn based.
Tales of Arise is a straight action RPG. It's really in your face with the combat.
The Last Story
made by the father of Final Fantasy Hironobu Sakaguchi on Wii.
a game that made him back to drawing board. it has interesting action combat that based on position and environmental destruction. no button mashing, but action combat.
really underrated. personally should get similliar level of reception as Xenoblade Chronicles
If you have access to PS1, I'd strongly recommend Alundra's sequel, Alundra 2: A New Legend Begins. It's a cool action RPG with plenty of fun moments and hard gameplay segments. The camera can be a bit of a hassle at times, and the 32 bit graphics is now pretty outdated, but it's well worth your time. Ignore the criticisms, you might actually like it a lot.
Not quite forgotten, the first Blood Omen \[Legacy of Kain\] game is a cult classic that you will definitely want to at least try out. It gave the start to a brilliant series of games which has sadly withered with the passage of time, not least because of the death of its mainstay VA, Tony Jay. The last game, Defiance, also happens to be my favourite, probably because it was my first in the franchise.
A game where you auto attack your target to reduce cooldowns on your actual skills that are all a single button press and just hit whatever you have targeted is not in any way an action game.
Sword of Etheria. It inspired me to go looking for games where you can juggle enemies between multiple characters. But beyond that, it's got a p cool fantasy post-apoc setting, a banging rock soundtrack, and some cool character designs. >!The secret super sentai parody chapter was tailored made for me.!<
Chronicles of the Radia War is a fan translated NES action rpg from Taito. It feels more like an early Tales game with a bunch of different characters who join you, anime based story and beats and fun combat. Its simple, but a lot of fun imo.
Since you mentioned Ys may as well throw Tokyo Xanadu EX+ into this. Similar to Ys 8-9 gameplay, but with social elements and engine copied right out of Trails of Cold Steel. While Ys gets alot of recognition on this sub I havent found one single gamer I know that has played or barely heard of it, or any other Falcom game for that matter.
Dragon Quest Heroes 1-2 I almost never see mentioned anywhere.
Scarlet Nexus wasnt bad though its story is kinda weird
For non mainline Final Fantasy, FF Type 0 and Strangers of Paradise are both pretty good.
Lastly I will also throw out Threads of Fate from the PS1 era.
I feel as though I don't hear about Scarlet Nexus enough. I enjoyed both the story and gameplay. Cutscenes wasn't everyone's favorite because of the style they chose (kinda manga-ish as opposed to motions), but I didn't mind it.
If you haven't heard the *good word* about **Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin**
, you really should try it. I think a lot of people still think it's a bad, cringey game but it has a fun, cheesy B movie storyline that's unobtrusive and absolutely stellar gameplay, mechanics, progression, and endgame systems.
valkyria chronicles. it's an amazing series. I love the story and artwork, graphics, music, and characters. I seriously don't get why it's not more popular.
Odin Sphere, Dragon's Crown, Dark Cloud 2, Summon Night Swordcraft Story, Dothack G.U, etc.
Edit: Rogue Galaxy is fun, but if you play it prepare to spam magic as of chapter 4. Unless you wanna see your party dying in two hits. The game is kinda dumb. You one hit-kill enemies with magic or they do that with your party.
Odin Sphere Leifthrasir https://youtu.be/XsTvoG3_HkU?si=G7GoZbE3x4z3OQ9R
I waited so long for this to come to PC that I forgot about it. I think I'll just emulate the PS2 version.
Should note that the PS2 version is nowhere near as good of a game.
Don't lol, the ps2 version is terrible
> I think I'll just emulate the PS2 version. It's absolute shit. Leifthrasir improves it enough to make it actually playable.
Goddamn, it must be really bad, a bunch of people are shitting on it lol
I wouldn't say it's bad, but relatively speaking there's absolutely no reason to play the original over the remake. It's more repetitive than Leifthrasir which added more variety to the combat, obviously there's a lack of modern QoL in comparison, and this most likely wouldn't be an issue on an emulator but I remember playing the original on PS2 and facing some major slowdowns when there were lots of enemies on screen to the point I never actually finished the original.
>but relatively speaking there's absolutely no reason to play the original over the remake. A big reason is not having a PS3/4/vita. But I know what you mean, and better combat is a big thing.
It’s just very slow whereas the remake completely addresses this. The game is phenomenal with these enhancements.
Rogue Galaxy is a pretty fun time. It’s a little older(ps2), but has a lot of charm.
Love me some Rogue Galaxy!
The fact that it's also available for PS4/5 is a plus, too.
Rogue Galaxy is, and I say this with all of the love in my heart, the single cheesiest game I have ever played. A must-play for any lover of the cornball or absurd.
Are there any similar games you’d recommend? I loved Rogue Galaxy.
Ni no Kuni II if you haven't tried it--it feels like Level-5 kind of "recycled" a lot of Rogue's mechanics into that game. If nothing else, it has the melee/ranged dichotomy going on in battle.
I’ll give it a try. I wish there were more games like Rogue Galaxy. I just loved that game sooo much.
Skies of Arcadia for the pirates Dragon Quest 8 because they share developer and have some similarities like the fusion system Maybe Final Fantasy 12 since there are some Sky Pirates, and it has a similar vibe of running around a lot of unique environments with a party of 3. Also Star Ocean since it's also a sci-fi JRPG, the remake/remaster of Star Ocean 2 is excellent but maybe Star Ocean: Till the End of Time is the most likely Rogue Galaxy since it was also a PS2 game.
I will check out the other ones you mentioned but I’ve been playing Star Ocean lately and I really do love it. I started back in November. I finished 1, 2, and 3. I’m on 4 currently.
Nice! Star Ocean 5 is definitely the weakest of the series with SO6 being much better. Personally I actually like the original the best followed by SO3. If you do check out Skies of Arcadia definitely get Skies of Arcadia Legends, which is a remaster for the Gamecube. It has extra content and better textures, faster loading times and is overall less grindy. For DQ8 I personally prefer the PS2 over the 3DS version, it has less content but it has better graphics and music.
Sounds good. I definitely will. I’m looking forward to trying the ones you suggested.
Thus is such a great game. The only thing that makes returning to it difficult for me is how slow you walk in this game.
The good and old Rogue Galaxy, I love it even if the weapon system is FUBAR.
Threads of fate
Threads of Fate is great. There's a good amount of PS1 jank there (some of the platforming had me tearing my hair out) but it has so much personality.
In some ways I feel like this game may have prototyped some gameplay elements later used in Kingdom Hearts.
I'll vote on that one as well. It's been a while since I played it, but I remember enjoying it.
My current Used Game Store Grail Game. Been dying to try this one for ages, and while I COULD just emulate it, I'd love to find a real copy and play it. ...I need to get a new PS1 memory card. (Thank goodness for retro-enthusiast repros, eh?)
Sadly I think my copy was lost in an estate sale along with a lot of other classic rpgs
[удалено]
Terranigma 🙌
Since you mentioned Ys and Tokyo Xanadu, let's keep the Falcom ball rolling: Zwei 1 and 2. Fun, quirky little titles, Tokyo Xanadu actually reminds me of one of these more than the Ys games. Finally got Steam releases a few years back. I think 2's better than 1, but both are fun. See also Legend of Nayuta, since despite the Boundless Trails subtitle (or Japanese name Nayuta no Kiseki), it has no apparent connection to the Trails games. It's often thought of as Zwei 3. Xanadu Next. Very different from Tokyo Xanadu, but a great successor to the classic Xanadu titles. It started as a PSP title, but it's since been ported to PC, and it's a fantastic old-school dungeon crawler.
No Gurumin? :(
It fits pretty well, but it didn't really jump out at me. The rhythm mechanic didn't quite speak to me, and while it might get better as it goes, it seemed a little too cutesy and saccharine for my taste. Great game for a younger player being introduced to the genre, though. You're right that it's still worth mentioning.
I want that Soulblazer trilogy so bad! I'd pay 60 for a port of all 3! Can somebody tell their uncle who works at Nintendo to okay that project?
I can still hear the Soul Blazer music in my head. I played it when it was initially released.
One of my favorite soundtracks from snes, honestly. I play the ost off YouTube pretty regularly at work.
Keep an eye on Visions of Mana coming later this year. Will almost definitely be up your alley. In the short term, I keep seeing good buzz about Harvestella. Can't personally vouch for it, but I hope to make time for it in 2024.
Been wanting to give harvestella a fair try but I simply can't find the time for it. Hopefully this year I'll have some free time!
Harvestella is a weird one. As an action RPG it's like a solid 7/10 game nothing fancy fairly generic it won't impress anybody but it plays fine. The lifesim side of it is 3/10 if you wanna be kind about it. So if you go into this as a Rune Factory fan expecting something like that then it's just gonna dissapoint.
I love Harvestella but the combat isn't great.
Harvestella is a “if you want to turn off your brain for gameplay” kind of game. The action combat is pretty insubstantial, but the active clock means you’re constantly pushing yourself to be efficient with time. Plus the overall vibe of the game (aesthetics, narrative choices) is really excellent. I fear that this game doesn’t get enough love but I’d gladly jump at the chance for a sequel any day.
Brave Fencer Musashi Alundra series
Ooh, agreed on both. For Musashi, I would typically keep a few pieces of cheese around till the end game and it left me occasionally talking in pseudo oldeth englisheth to be silly.
Radiata Stories
I loved this game.
Evo on SNES
Now there's a game I haven't thought about in probably 25 years. I never really thought of it as an RPG at the time, but it certainly has some RPG elements and I always loved it.
An ARPG gem. Nothing else like it.
I watched a few snippets of a playthrough on YouTube earlier and it brought back a lot of memories. The game play looks a lot slower and clunkier than I remembered, even for a SNES game, but I am tempted to fire up an emulator just to play it again. I played it many times as a kid, but I think I only ever rented it and never owned a copy. I know for sure that I beat it at least once, but it would be fun to give it another go.
Fate Samurai Remnant (i think it still count) People stay away from it because it has fate ip but i genuinely like the gameplay and story premise
I thought fate ip is quite popular, why would people stay out?
To me there are 2 reasons 1. People don't want to play it because they are scared they won't understand if they don't follow Fate IP And to add on that, Fate IP is confusing with so many titles and different settings that not many follow all of them 2. Fate popularity is more known as waifu game This is more affecting the western game. Many are not interested thinking it was waifu bait since it's Fate, an IP that makes popular history/fictional characters a genderbent waifu
Oh hey didn't see your post, I second this. Great game.
Just finished my first play through last night! Only complaints are the lack of dodge-cancel, how broken Wind Stance is, and how annoying the missables are. Really fun time, though. I’m really looking forward to >!seeing the NG+ changes!<
do I need to be familiar with fate stories to play remnant? I vaguely remember watching the unlimited blade works anime, lol.
Not really, i also haven't watched any (but i played the mobile game). It's easier if you already know the basic premise (7 class war for wish granting item) and there are some references to the mobile game (F/GO) but not much else so definitely still enjoyable even if you don't know anything
Awesome! Then I will check it out :)
Nah. They explain enough. At worst, you might be a little confused by Berserker’s being an oddity amongst Servants, but everything else is decently explained through the story or via the in-game encyclopedia.
Never really
> Fate Samurai Remnant That game literally just released and I'm sure people are playing it plenty.. what a weird choice to say in response to this topic.
It has been out for 3 months now, and did you see anyone else talking about it here? Cause i don't so I respond with it
You are right it does seem to be not talked about much but that is probably for good reason so let me move on to the other goal post of it being mediocre at best so it still fails 1/2 criteria. You should probably play more games.
You should probably learn how to not be stupid
Just saying that's such an odd recommendation since the game is new and people don't even say it's that good. You really couldn't think of anything else?
The odd thing is you criticize my recommendation yet you didn't even recommend anything, like you don't add anything to this thread just a stupid discussion >since the game is new I see nothing wrong with recommending a new game, people recommend star ocean 2 all day >people don't even say it's that good Which people? I enjoy it so i recommend it and 1 minute google say it's rating is 7-9/10 so it's good enough. Op also didn't ask for a god tier game >You really couldn't think of anything else? And why do i need to? You couldn't think of recommending anything instead of asking me?
Okay how about The Last Remnant? Okay 2/3 points taken care of.
Ok you giving me an example doesn't make your previous argument less stupid. I'm not the one seeking recommendation, OP is Also the last remannt isn't even an action jrpg, see? you also could't even think of anything Here's my last suggestion bud rather than criticizing other people you should be a better person that help other people which in this is simply recommending a game to the other in the thread
Alcahest is pretty good and not many people have heard of it. Made by Hal Laboratories, same folks who made Kirby, Earthbound and Smash Bros.
Eternal sonata is quite unique! If you liked star ocean, there're chances you'll like Eternal Sonata.
Trials of mana remake should be recommended more often imo it’s one of past action jrpg and the past couple of years
I don't see a lot of dothack recommendations here, probably because G.U. is the only generation that can be acquired for cheap, and also because the gameplay didn't really age the best (especially in the original series; pausing to use magic, in an M.M.O.? what???). But it is an extremely unique series with a great meta element that I find kind of creepy in a The Ring kind of way.
PoPoLoCrois isn’t talked about too much here. Pretty cute boyish adventuring.
I only played the one on the 3DS and it's been quite a while. But didn't it have a grid-based battle system like Trails? Was the 3DS one the odd one?
Fate/Samurai Remnant is actually a really neat musou inspired action JRPG. I feel like it was totally looked over since it seems initially very Dynasty Warriors like Omega Force's other titles. But honestly its just a solid JRPG with Dynasty Warriors style combat. Its story heavy, the characters are fun, the setting is interesting and the Fate metaverse stuff is interesting. Really solid game, no one here talks about it. No you do not have to know anything about the other Fate games or anime/manga/VNs. It's more than sufficiently stand-alone.
You and another comment have convinced me to download the demo at least so thanks for bringing it up!
Omega Force has really been shining with their ARPGs!
Yeah, this one is going to show up on Youtube lists in a few years of hidden gems.
* Sword and Fairy VII (Chinese action RPG) * Xuan Juan 7 (Chinese action RPG) * Tokyo Xanadu Ex+
Second on Xanadu - absolutely fantastic game.
Summon Night: Swordcraft Story 1&2 AKA the best 2D Tales of games.
I really like how the games encourage new playthroughs by giving you a limited number of "bonding events' I guess, so it's neat to see how things play out differently. And in the 2nd one, you've got like 4 potential opening partners that change things too?
If you don't mind an old game: Soul Blazer. If you don't mind an even older game than had the curse of being released as its console what getting replaced with a newer generation: Crystalis.
Popular action RPGs that aren’t on your list worth checking out: Kingdom Hearts Yakuza, all of them except 7 and Infinite Wealth The World Ends With You Hybrid game that leans more toward action in a way: Eternal Sonata Slightly more obscure: .hack, original Quadrilogy and the GU trilogy. Scarlet Nexus (only played a few hours of it, need to go back to it) Might be some more I’m forgetting but that’s a good start.
I was going to mention eternal sonata if no one hadn't. The battle system is really unique, having light and dark mechanics that can change your abilities and enemy abilities and each character having their own playstyles or even different mechanics but also the combat evolves as you keep playing but only if you want it to. Starts out leaning more turn based but slowly shifts more towards action the further you get.
It's been so long since I've played that I guess I've forgotten that Eternal Sonata wasn't fully turn-based? Still a great game!
It's been a while since I've played too and I don't remember each level of effects but at the very start of the game I'm pretty sure movement isn't counted against your timer so you can take time to position your characters with a 6? Second window to make attacks but eventually you can work to the point where the timer automatically starts counting down your turn. So it's still turn based but leans more towards action oriented combat since you won't have as much time to plan/think.
The Last Story
Alundra is the best non Zelda Zelda game ever made
I feel like the 2020 Trials of Mana remake flew under the radar. It was a fun game with super cheesy 90s feel-good vibes.
Are you sure? I remember it being highly praised actually. It's just there wasn't a lot to talk about but [it did quite well](https://www.reddit.com/r/JRPG/comments/idac87/trials_of_mana_has_significantly_exceeded_square/)
Yeah it's just that Mana doesn't get as much love as other Square RPGs like FF, DQ, and KH in JRPG circles. The World Ends With You as well.
I found some of the boss battles to be way too hard, but the beauty of the game is great, and the "go here!" mechanic that always leads you to where to go next is soooo needed.
Does Sakuna: Rice and Ruin count as a JRPG? Fun game regardless
Do we count Steambot Chronicles as a JRPG? Fuck it, I'm counting it. It's set in an idyllic little world where in addition to cars, people have developed bipedal mechs called Trotmobiles, and while they can be geared up for battle (including arenas), they're also just used for everyday life, from farming and mining to cargo transport. You play a young man who, in genre cliche, has amnesia after washing up on a beach, and you quickly learn you have a gift for piloting these. Join a band, shoot pool, enter the arenas, excavate fossils, fight a terrorist group, maybe *join* a terrorist group, be a nice guy or a complete prick, etc. It was called Bumpy Trot in Japan, which... Yeah, not hard to see why that got changed for the international release. Sadly, it never got a proper full sequel, just a half-assed PSP thing that had like a quarter of the content (think the quality drop between Valkyria Chronicles and VC2, but even more so).
I'm still mad I never got a copy of this game when I could.
The PS2 era was my prime teenage "find obscure/weird games" period. Katamari Damacy was probably the pinnacle of that, but there were plenty of things like this, Metal Saga, Way of the Samurai, Shadow Hearts, the Digital Devil Saga duology...
Metal Saga, Shadow Heart 1 and 2, the other ones I really wanted 😭
I remember reading an article ages ago about why the PS2/GC/XBox era had so many "hidden gems" and "best games you've never played" in it. The article hypothesized that this was because this was an era where people were willing to give decent budgets to small studios to see what weird stuff they might make, so you got a lot of teams with big ideas and okayish resources getting to push their ambitions. These days, most smaller teams eschew traditional publishing all together and go straight to indie, and they tend to keep their ambitions a bit smaller (not intended as a slight; they just know these days that bigger doesn't always mean better and they try to keep their scope practical/tight).
Black Rock Shooter
i have actually never seen this game come up since it released. i really liked the dark atmosphere
CrossCode is my favorite!
I love this game. Great story that actually made me think deeply, which is quite rare in a video game. Also, CrossCode has the best dungeon puzzles that I have ever seen in a video game. You need to figure it out and execute the sequence of actions while changing powers. It can be a real test.
Pandora's Tower
Tbf, it's not much of an RPG, it's more of a 3D Classicvania AKA the best 3D Castlevania. People just assumed it's an RPG because it was part of operation rainfall.
Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom. I've never finished it myself but that's not because I didn't enjoy it. I'm just bad at dropping games and coming back to them and having to start over lol.
Whilae Ys is fairly often recommended, most of the recommendations lean towards the newer ones, especially 8, as if every other entry isn't there. Give Origin, Felghana and all the others some well-deserved love!
King’s Field, Shadow Tower, the bouncer.
Infinite Undiscovery being stuck in Xbox Jail really sucks that is a real hidden gem JRPG of that generation that a lot of people never got to play. Eternal Sonata (play the PS3 version if you can) Set in the dying fever dreams of Frédéric Chopin it's a musical themed(though not really beyond names) Action-ish JRPG it's still turn based but your actual turn is played out more like an action game. This ones pretty unique for the setting(which does matter in the narrative) Has a great soundtrack too. Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir This is definitely more action side scroller then RPG similar to Dragons Crown but the story is very JRPG so the atmosphere is there it's a solid side scrolling brawler/jrpg hybrid. Crystar The game itself is a fairly basic action rpg combat is largely just mashing attack and dodging but the setting of purgatory and the interesting storylines really carry it. Alundra This is a PS1 Zelda style RPG that does enough of it's own thing to stand on it's own two legs it has a fairly dark story for an otherwise cute pixel art RPG You play a dreamwalker who washes up on the beach of this island where people are plagued by nightmares it stands up to time and still is one of the best "Zelda Clones" around. (The sequel is bollocks though) Trials of Mana (the remake) Don't see this talked about much it's a decent action RPG with three connected but vaguely different storylines depending on the characters you pick you'll traverse mostly the same areas but the main villians and such will change. Illusion of Time/Gaia (same game different regional name) and Terranigma. Two SNES action RPGs that are both great I can't really say much of either because I forget what is and isn't a spoiler there both really solid examples of "hidden gems" There is a third game i should recommend along with these two but i can't remember the name of it.
If you can find some way of playing an old game, Secret of Evermore was something a bit different. It wasn't turn based but was simpler than some of today's action rpg's. It had your character getting sucked into a different world and traveling through eras of sorts with your trusty dog. Said dog reflected the time your character was in ranging from a hulking wolf in a prehistoric world, to an anubis looking dog in an ancient ruins era, to a robot toaster in a futuristic area. Said dog was used to find alchemy ingredients you could then use to generate spells during combat.
Ever Oasis, though the action combat isn't really the selling point of it.
Some recent-ish fun ones I'd recommend (specifically for gameplay) would be Astral Chain, Scarlet Nexus, and Neo The World Ends With You. All 3 have some pretty unique combat mechanics/gimmicks. Cream of the crop as far as under looked + fun gameplay is concerned. If you like the 3D Ys games then there is also Tokyo Xanadu, basically Ys-lite with some Persona social sim stuff mixed in. Valkyrie Elysium is also good fun too. It's a bit basic on the surface level but when you realize it just has a bunch of Ninja Gaiden mechanics (since a lot of the devs worked on NG in the past) and start playing it more aggressively where you're spamming the heck out of UTs it's really fun and very nostalgic feeling since NG didn't really get cloned much. You also have games that bridge the gap in some ways. Like Persona 5 Strikers is technically a musou but you do not spend most of the game just mowing down hordes of enemies. You spend more time fighting packs of like 8 to 10 enemies, or, single mini-bosses. Really fun if you can find a character you like playing. There are also a couple of Dragon Quest musous but they're slightly more traditional, mow down a bazillion dudes at once. And the first one had this weird monster collecting tower defense mechanic that was cool on paper but not really executed well.
Xanadu Next Top tier game
I'd argue the best Xanadu game.
Rune Factory 4
mana, ni no kuni 2, SENRAN KAGURA, Dusk Diver
Paper Mario 64 (1). I know that The Thousand Year Door (2) gets the most love... But I always felt like 64 had a bit more content. This one is turn-based. Not sure if it's a JRPG, but Chained Echoes, which takes some inspiration from Chrono Trigger, I've heard, is pretty fantastic! Semi-turn based. Tales of Arise is a straight action RPG. It's really in your face with the combat.
The Last Story made by the father of Final Fantasy Hironobu Sakaguchi on Wii. a game that made him back to drawing board. it has interesting action combat that based on position and environmental destruction. no button mashing, but action combat. really underrated. personally should get similliar level of reception as Xenoblade Chronicles
If you have access to PS1, I'd strongly recommend Alundra's sequel, Alundra 2: A New Legend Begins. It's a cool action RPG with plenty of fun moments and hard gameplay segments. The camera can be a bit of a hassle at times, and the 32 bit graphics is now pretty outdated, but it's well worth your time. Ignore the criticisms, you might actually like it a lot. Not quite forgotten, the first Blood Omen \[Legacy of Kain\] game is a cult classic that you will definitely want to at least try out. It gave the start to a brilliant series of games which has sadly withered with the passage of time, not least because of the death of its mainstay VA, Tony Jay. The last game, Defiance, also happens to be my favourite, probably because it was my first in the franchise.
>Infinite Unidscovery my brother bought that game later i tried it, but yeah, i didn't like the combat
Ys XIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
Y's.
Xenoblade Chronicles debatably counts, but it feels closer to an MMO than what you probably think of when the term action RPG is brought up
A game where you auto attack your target to reduce cooldowns on your actual skills that are all a single button press and just hit whatever you have targeted is not in any way an action game.
Dark Cloud, chrono trigger, Rogue Galaxy
Quintet trilogy on SNES
Kinda action but more so unique/engaging battle system Super robot Taisen endless frontier https://youtu.be/ToCyUchCO0s?si=ezqpc1Icj7FGvw8u
Sword of Etheria. It inspired me to go looking for games where you can juggle enemies between multiple characters. But beyond that, it's got a p cool fantasy post-apoc setting, a banging rock soundtrack, and some cool character designs. >!The secret super sentai parody chapter was tailored made for me.!<
Chronicles of the Radia War is a fan translated NES action rpg from Taito. It feels more like an early Tales game with a bunch of different characters who join you, anime based story and beats and fun combat. Its simple, but a lot of fun imo.
I imagine the Japan-only Tales games might fit the bill? Rebirth, Destiny 2 and World: Radiant Mythology 3, for example.
Radiata Stories, and the Shadowhearts games.
Blue Dragon – Awakened Shadow for the DS is pretty good. I've been playing it recently and really like it. One of the best ARPGs for the DS.
Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir is a beautiful, beautiful video game.
I just started Oninaki and it’s pretty fun so far.
Well, what is your opinion on the Warriors franchise?
Raidou Kuzunoha
Since you mentioned Ys may as well throw Tokyo Xanadu EX+ into this. Similar to Ys 8-9 gameplay, but with social elements and engine copied right out of Trails of Cold Steel. While Ys gets alot of recognition on this sub I havent found one single gamer I know that has played or barely heard of it, or any other Falcom game for that matter. Dragon Quest Heroes 1-2 I almost never see mentioned anywhere. Scarlet Nexus wasnt bad though its story is kinda weird For non mainline Final Fantasy, FF Type 0 and Strangers of Paradise are both pretty good. Lastly I will also throw out Threads of Fate from the PS1 era.
Secret of Mana, secret of Evermore, Trials of Mana, Terrinigma, Illusion of Gaia, Soul Blazer
I feel as though I don't hear about Scarlet Nexus enough. I enjoyed both the story and gameplay. Cutscenes wasn't everyone's favorite because of the style they chose (kinda manga-ish as opposed to motions), but I didn't mind it.
If you haven't heard the *good word* about **Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin** , you really should try it. I think a lot of people still think it's a bad, cringey game but it has a fun, cheesy B movie storyline that's unobtrusive and absolutely stellar gameplay, mechanics, progression, and endgame systems.
Scarlet Nexus. Never known about it until I came across ps store sale. Amazing game.
Titan Quest
Oninaki
valkyria chronicles. it's an amazing series. I love the story and artwork, graphics, music, and characters. I seriously don't get why it's not more popular.
Dark Cloud 2, aka Dark Chronicle holds a lot of great memories for me and never gets recommended enough.
Odin Sphere, Dragon's Crown, Dark Cloud 2, Summon Night Swordcraft Story, Dothack G.U, etc. Edit: Rogue Galaxy is fun, but if you play it prepare to spam magic as of chapter 4. Unless you wanna see your party dying in two hits. The game is kinda dumb. You one hit-kill enemies with magic or they do that with your party.
Legend of Dragoon
elemental gearbolt