I need help :)

[Realm25]

Okay, so here's my sitch. I'm into oldschool type RPG's, early Final Fantasy stuff, and even the newer Dragon Quest 8 because it had a very oldschool feel and design. My problem is I cant find any other PS2 RPG's that stick to Oldschool design and mechanics.

Do you guys know of any? if so please list em, and tell me a bit about em.

I'd probably be willing to to buy PS1 titles as well, if you know of any oldschool RPG's for that too.

I thank you in advance!

Realm.

[Bahamut2000X]

Well I don't know of too many on the PS2. I never did get into too many RPG's on it for the very reason so many of them tried to stem from tradition completely. As for PS1 there's a few, Wild Arms 2 was one that had a lot of older elements to it. As well as Legend of Dragoon. The Lunar series can be found on the PS1 as well and is a good play. There was also a Lord of the Rings RPG that was pretty old school type of gaming. I didn't play too much of it, but it seemed to be an interesting game what little I played at a friends house.

[Siegfried]

Saga Frontier
Lufia
Super Mario RPG

Just to name a few, not all on PS but can be emulated or bought pretty cheaply

[NeoCracker]

If it's gonna be PS2, the Atellier Iris Games have a lot of the old school gaming elements to them.

Plus the story on the first is quite good. Didn't get a chance to play much into the second, but it plays quite old school, and teh story seemed good from what I saw. Though I can't vouch for the third.

And the newest game of NIS's Mana games is noteably different for the system used to strengthen your characters.

[Alex151]

One of my personal favorites was Breath of Fire 3, its your usually old school turn based strategy game.

And if you really want to go old school, for your more tactical chess type turn based games, then go for Shining Force 1 and 2 for the genesis, they're two of the best games I've ever played.

[NeoCracker]

Turn Based RPG. Turn Based Stratagy would be like advance wars, Tactics, and the Ogre Games. :p

[LunarWeaver]

I thiiink the Wild Arms games before 4 were boring traditional. But I've never actually played them myself, so... shun me.

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

Persona 3. Then again I am just getting back into it.

Basically it is a marriage of a dating sim and a RPG. During the day you go through school, meet people and hang out with them. What you do will effect various stats and the potential to become more powerful easier. At night, you have the choice of going to the sole dungeon of the game (minus the special battles that happen at other locations). The thing is, you cannot do everything at once so you have to decide what you want to do and what you do not want to do.

As far as being "old school", I think it is a blend. It does not really use cinematics like FF X or FF XII, it uses anime cut scenes. The whole game has an anime style to it but can be rather dark. The game play requires some strategy because you get bonuses for attacking your enemies' weakness yet the same is true if they attack your weakness. There are a variety of characters available throughout the game and you can use, including the main protagonist, 4 characters in a team. The thing is, you can only control the protagonist. The other party members can only be controlled limitedly. Basically by a strategy sub-menu in the battle menu, where you can set various tactics for your allies (like to heal/support, or attack all out or to wait, etc...more are available as you progress through the game).

You could wait to April 22nd when Persona 3: FES will be released. It will come with a whole bunch of extra content.

[Realm25]

Basically, to give more detail on what I'm looking for..Random encounters, turn based combat, weapon/item/armor shops at every town, you know, like Final Fantasy 1, Final Fantasy 2, Final Fantasy 3, all the way through like 7. Dragon Quest 8 is another prime example. It almost HAS to be JUST like those games or I cant get into it. Like seriously, change (for me) is very bad. It has to be very classic. If you know any that fit this description, or if some of the games you guys have mentioned fit that bill, then by all means tell me which ones and I'll look into buying them.

I just cant get into anything else, I know a lot of newer RPG's go for the Final Fantasy 12 style, like Rogue Galaxy, etc...I dunno why but they just don't do it for me. The only two games that I really loved that differed from completely classic play was the Kingdom Hearts series.

[escobert]

Saga Frontier


<3 I love the Saga Frontier games so much :D

[Markus. D]

Basically, to give more detail on what I'm looking for..Random encounters, turn based combat, weapon/item/armor shops at every town, you know, like Final Fantasy 1, Final Fantasy 2, Final Fantasy 3, all the way through like 7. Dragon Quest 8 is another prime example. It almost HAS to be JUST like those games or I cant get into it. Like seriously, change (for me) is very bad. It has to be very classic. If you know any that fit this description, or if some of the games you guys have mentioned fit that bill, then by all means tell me which ones and I'll look into buying them.

I just cant get into anything else, I know a lot of newer RPG's go for the Final Fantasy 12 style, like Rogue Galaxy, etc...I dunno why but they just don't do it for me. The only two games that I really loved that differed from completely classic play was the Kingdom Hearts series.

Perhaps to play those kinds of games again :D? FFX is conditional turned base... goto love that.

[Spuuky]

The answer is that they pretty much don't exist, unfortunately. There's a vast number for the SNES, of course, and many for the NES, but I'm sure you know that. If you're looking for SNES games, though, I know them all pretty well. Honestly, though, just go play Dragon Quest III-VI again. It's not going to get much better than that.

The series you'd like most are Dragon Quest (obviously), Final Fantasy pre-VII, Lufia, and Breath of Fire (except for possibly Dragon Quarter). I know this, because they are the series I like most (except for Xenosaga, which doesn't fit my normal taste).

You might want to try Etrian Odyssey for the DS, but I can't promise anything since I haven't played it yet.

[Tabris]

FFX is conditional turned base... goto love that.

Yeah, FF-X fulfills all the requirements you've mentioned. Job class (although not as distinct as the earliest FFs), turn-based, random encounters, shops (although not seperate shops for items, weapons and armours) etc.

[Crossblades]

Tales of Eternia sticks to old school in terms of graphics. Same with Breath of Fire IV

[Momiji]

If you're willing to buy Game Boy Advance games as well, Tales of Phantasia would be relevant to your interests.

For PlayStation, I recommend Eternal Eyes. It has a really old feel to it, and it may take a bit of an open mind, but I enjoy it. :D

[Alucard von Elru]

I generally find incredibly traditional RPGs to be immensely boring. It should come as a great compliment, then, that I absolutely adore the two Lunar games. The best versions of them (in my opinion) can be found for the PSOne (Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete).

They don't have random battles, but they also don't have any mechanic that requires you to "attack" them to initiate a battle. Just come into contact with them as you wish, and battle begins. The game mechanics beyond that are absolutely 100% traditional, so I very strongly believe that you will enjoy it. The story and characters of both games are beautiful and timeless. The games are quite old (they originally released for the Sega CD in 1992 and 1994 respectively), but they still hold the same magic for me now that they always have. Everything is silky smooth, the storytelling wonderful... the only thing that the PS1 "enhanced remakes" really changed (fundamentally) was beefing up certain play mechanics and visual touches, and then redoing all of the games' many animated cutscenes (which are gorgeous).

Beyond the Lunar games, I really love Suikoden II (again for PS1). That game is incredible, and if you like a more traditional vibe, it's difficult to find a better RPG. The storytelling is immaculate (and very adult) and the combat is traditional turn-based, random battle fare, but is very polished and houses a few nice touches (such as the "Escape" command switching to "Let go"; meaning, instead of having to fight enemies that are much weaker than you, you can simply release them! XD). The series as a whole is reccomended, but Suikoden II is easily its pinnacle. That game is pretty much perfect, in my opinion.

Essentially, when it comes to a solid amount of quality traditional RPGs, the SNES and PS1 are absolutely the way to go!

[Siegfried]

Xenogears...How could we forget Xenogears?