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View Full Version : Which console had the best set of JRPGs?



Wolf Kanno
06-10-2014, 05:08 PM
What it says on the tin. :wcanoe:

Loony BoB
06-10-2014, 05:40 PM
PlayStation. I haven't played all of these, but...

Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy Tactics
Various Final Fantasy Ports
Wild Arms
Wild Arms 2
Grandia
Alundra
Chrono Cross
Breath of Fire III
Breath of Fire IV
Xenogears
Persona
Persona 2
Legend of Legaia
Legend of Dragoon
Valkyrie Profile
Suikoden
Suikoden II
Star Ocean
Star Ocean II
Parasite Eve
Parasite Eve II
Tales of Destiny
Tales of Destiny 2
Saga Frontier
Tactics Ogre
Lunar
Lunar 2

The list goes on, is this even a discussion or just a thread to celebrate the RPGs of the PSX? :D

Ayen
06-10-2014, 05:49 PM
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Breath of Fire IV
Legend of Legaia
Legend of Dragoon

I agree with Loony BoB just on these games alone :wcanoe: Next question?

metagloria
06-10-2014, 06:00 PM
I'll throw my hat in for the PS2, actually:

Final Fantasy X, X-2, XII (three of the 5 best in the series)
Star Ocean 3 (best in the series)
Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2
Xenosaga Episodes I-III
Dragon Quest VIII
Rogue Galaxy (severely underrated game)

plus ones I haven't even played:
Persona 3 & 4
Tales of Destiny/Symphonia/Rebirth
Suikoden V
a bunch of .hacks
etc.

VeloZer0
06-10-2014, 06:25 PM
Likewise, I can't even call it a contest, PS1 hands down. Even eliminating that the SNES is the only console that has anything that I would call "excellent".

black orb
06-10-2014, 08:03 PM
>>> PS1..:luca:

nirojan
06-10-2014, 09:48 PM
Yep. It's gotta be the PS1 :chocobo:

Skyblade
06-10-2014, 10:07 PM
The thread said "best" lineup. Not the largest. Certain titles on that list definitely don't qualify (such as the horrendous ports of the Final Fantasy series).

Depression Moon
06-11-2014, 12:46 AM
I saw nothing wrong with those ports. My FFV copy didn't work, but that was about it. No glitches, no nada.

I feel as though I don't know enough about the SNES line up to speak on it as I didn't start to really get into RPGs until the PS1.

PS3 and Xbox will be dead last in this contest though.

Bolivar
06-11-2014, 02:56 AM
SNES and PS2 are strong frontrunners but the original PlayStation was that special moment in time when developers still dreamed of what could be possible but finally got the tools to find out. That mix of inspiration and technology was the lightening in the bottle that you can't get back.

Games like Xenogears, Final Fantasy Tactics and FFVII exemplify that.

Skyblade
06-11-2014, 02:59 AM
I saw nothing wrong with those ports. My FFV copy didn't work, but that was about it. No glitches, no nada.

Just an extra three hours of loading time for each game.

Ayen
06-11-2014, 03:07 AM
I saw nothing wrong with those ports. My FFV copy didn't work, but that was about it. No glitches, no nada.

Just an extra three hours of loading time for each game.

You're exaggerating. I played Final Fantasy Anthologies and Origins, the loading times are nowhere near that long. I grew up with the NES and Sega Genesis where load time was unheard of and it still wasn't jarring when I sat down and played those ports.

Raistlin
06-11-2014, 03:09 AM
PS1, easily, no remote contest. The only exception is if backwards compatibility counts, in which case the PS2 would then destroy the competition by that fact alone. The PS1-era was definitely the heyday of the JRPG, with what I consider to be the near-perfect balance of focusing on story, gameplay, and aesthetics: prioritizing them in basically that order.

Skyblade
06-11-2014, 03:24 AM
I saw nothing wrong with those ports. My FFV copy didn't work, but that was about it. No glitches, no nada.

Just an extra three hours of loading time for each game.

You're exaggerating. I played Final Fantasy Anthologies and Origins, the loading times are nowhere near that long. I grew up with the NES and Sega Genesis where load time was unheard of and it still wasn't jarring when I sat down and played those ports.

Go play Chrono Trigger on the PS1. I'm serious. They didn't optimize the game at all for disc based media. Every time you entered the menu, the entire world was replaced with the menu screen (for cartridges, it made since to do this). The result is that just opening the menu to save, change equipment, heal, etcetera, added an extra ten seconds of black screen EVERY SINGLE TIME. All the ports share this issue to varying degrees. You may not sit on a screen that reads "loading", but there are huge, annoying loading times there regardless.

Ayen
06-11-2014, 03:43 AM
I saw nothing wrong with those ports. My FFV copy didn't work, but that was about it. No glitches, no nada.

Just an extra three hours of loading time for each game.

You're exaggerating. I played Final Fantasy Anthologies and Origins, the loading times are nowhere near that long. I grew up with the NES and Sega Genesis where load time was unheard of and it still wasn't jarring when I sat down and played those ports.

Go play Chrono Trigger on the PS1. I'm serious. They didn't optimize the game at all for disc based media. Every time you entered the menu, the entire world was replaced with the menu screen (for cartridges, it made since to do this). The result is that just opening the menu to save, change equipment, heal, etcetera, added an extra ten seconds of black screen EVERY SINGLE TIME. All the ports share this issue to varying degrees. You may not sit on a screen that reads "loading", but there are huge, annoying loading times there regardless.

A port that wasn't even mentioned. Fair enough if its loading time was crap, but I fail to see how that knocks the PS One out of the running for best JRPGs. Especially if you're arguing quality over quantity. Take the ports away and the console still has a strong lineup.

metagloria
06-11-2014, 05:00 AM
I've played all the PS1 ports, and while there were some loading times (and issues with the cursor occasionally freaking out in Origins), it's nowhere near as bad as Skyblade is describing.

And I really think you guys are underrating the PS2.

Bolivar
06-11-2014, 05:23 PM
The FFVI port had annoying loading times but FFV and FFI (playing right now) are absolutely fine.

Slothy
06-11-2014, 05:30 PM
I might have to say the PS2 because Persona 3 and 4 are on it, but the PSX is a strong contender for quantity of good RPG's, even if the overall quality of most of those titles isn't the best.

Ayen
06-11-2014, 05:37 PM
The FFVI port had annoying loading times but FFV and FFI (playing right now) are absolutely fine.

Is your VI separate or part of Anthologies? Because I don't remember any annoying load times on Anthologies at all.

Slothy
06-11-2014, 05:41 PM
The Anthologies version of VI had noticeable slow down in the battles. It might not be as noticeable if you've never played it on SNES or GBA, but it was excruciating for anyone who had.

Ayen
06-11-2014, 05:42 PM
The Anthologies version of VI had noticeable slow down in the battles. It might not be as noticeable if you've never played it on SNES or GBA, but it was excruciating for anyone who had.

Ahhhh... I should have known.

chionos
06-11-2014, 05:43 PM
PSX, definitely. That was the heyday. There were almost too many games to choose from, really. It would be enough to solely mention the original games, but adding in all the ports and remakes (hi2u lunar:silver star story completeLY AWESOME) no other system comes close.

SNES and PS2 deserve honorable mentions for obvious reasons. Really those are the big three--SNES, PSX, PS2--every other system has been a disappointment.

Del Murder
06-11-2014, 10:07 PM
SNES or PS1 are the only acceptable answers. I'm going to have to give it up to SNES since my favorite games are on it. I'm also only considering the original system for a game and not remakes (of which, the PS1 has all the best Square RPGs anyway).

Wolf Kanno
06-11-2014, 10:35 PM
You know the PS1 may have the largest selection of JRPGs but when it comes to quality, I feel like the SNES and the PS2 beats it out. Many of my favorite RPGs are on those systems whereas the PS1 only has a few games I truly love.

metagloria
06-11-2014, 11:03 PM
You know the PS1 may have the largest selection of JRPGs but when it comes to quality, I feel like the SNES and the PS2 beats it out. Many of my favorite RPGs are on those systems whereas the PS1 only has a few games I truly love.
THIS is what I was trying to say. I LOVE FFX, X-2, XII, SO3 and KH2. On PS1, I LOVE FFVII more than any of those...but then it's a pretty big gap to VIII/Xenogears/Chrono Cross.

Ayen
06-11-2014, 11:09 PM
I'm surprised it took this long for people to mention the Super Nintendo. I haven't play them all, but on legacy alone it probably earned top spots on a lot of people's list for Final Fantasy IV, VII, Chrono Trigger, and Super Mario RPG.

I stick with the PS One because I really enjoyed Final Fantasy VII - IX, Breath of Fire IV, Legend of Legaia and The Legend of Dragoon. Even just the demos of Xenogears and Lunar 2 were highly enjoyable.

Skyblade
06-12-2014, 02:46 AM
BTW, to those who think I am exaggerating, I collected something for you:

-fOqO5rwwhQ

I couldn't find anything that blatant for FFVI, but I did manage to find a few Let's Plays of both the cartridge and Anthologies version. Timing it, entering a battle takes five times longer in Anthologies. Ten seconds a battle might not seem like much, but over the course of a game, it gets infuriating.

NeoCracker
06-12-2014, 02:52 AM
CT on the PSX was fucking abysmal.

But yeah, PSX gets by with a mix of both high quality and volume, but in the end the high ends of PS2 and SNES were just so much better, with some exceptions here and there. (FF IX, Brigandine, FF Tactics, and in recent thought son the matter Suikoden 2 being one of the systems best, now that I've actaully played it). But that just doesn't compete with the likes of Chrono Trigger, FF VI, FF IV, Earthbound, and Ogre Battle for the SNES, or the SMT games (Specifically Persona 3 and 4, still need to play DDS) and Dark cloud 2 on the PS2.

Still though, all there are awesome choices. Truly a golden era for the genre.

Fynn
06-12-2014, 06:30 AM
I'm gonna spice things up here and say the DS had the best JRPG selection :monster:

Loony BoB
06-12-2014, 10:16 AM
You know the PS1 may have the largest selection of JRPGs but when it comes to quality, I feel like the SNES and the PS2 beats it out. Many of my favorite RPGs are on those systems whereas the PS1 only has a few games I truly love.
Think it'll have to be a case of simple disagreement. I like a few SNES ones but as a collection, nothing comes close to the PSX games for me. And PS2? Eh, it had one good JRPG that I played, so I can't really judge the others, but it would have to have at least four or five games better than the PSX ones before you could say "a better collection" for me. I see "better collection" as meaning something like "If you could get 5-10 of the best JRPGs from each console then which 5-10 would give you the best all round enjoyment?" For me, gameplay and story are equally important and I don't think the gameplay aspect of many of the SNES games was on par with the gameplay of PSX games, while I think the stories (and arguably gameplay, tough call) in the PS2 games weren't as enjoyable as the PSX ones.

I don't think I've played enough games on these other consoles to seriously judge it compared to some other people here, but they would have to be incredible games I'd missed out on and I already know some people say of many PSX games I haven't played that [i]they[i] are incredible, too, so... yeah.

Skyblade
06-12-2014, 10:20 AM
If ports are counting, shouldn't we count backwards compatibility as well? In which case PS2 clearly destroys PS1.

Loony BoB
06-12-2014, 10:21 AM
Oh, I've not included backwards compatibility in my judgements, but yeah if that is the case then PS2 > PSX for obvious reasons. I've just been going by which consoles games were released for, primarily games that were not ported.

Delorean
06-12-2014, 10:22 AM
The PlayStation 2, undoubtedly.

But it's kind of sad that we can't say this about the more recent consoles though. The genre has been getting a pretty rough ride.

Loony BoB
06-12-2014, 10:23 AM
I think there are still good signs for the future, but we'll just have to wait and see. I think there is more innovation in RPG-style games than any other mainstream genre, so I feel they kind of lead the way.

Delorean
06-12-2014, 10:52 AM
Well here's hoping that the next FF to be released leaves a more memorable mark in the genre than the Fabula Nova Crystallis has so far. :monster:

But despite that I feel like the newer games have been getting progressively better with each release from a gameplay perspective but the character interaction and some of the storytelling is leaving a lot to be desired.

Loony BoB
06-12-2014, 11:02 AM
Well here's hoping that the next FF to be released leaves a more memorable mark in the genre than the Fabula Nova Crystallis has so far. :monster:

But despite that I feel like the newer games have been getting progressively better with each release from a gameplay perspective but the character interaction and some of the storytelling is leaving a lot to be desired.
Yeah, I agree. With Ni no Kuni and Bravely Default both doing well the JRPG certainly isn't dead just yet, but hopefully the Final Fantasy story telling will be given a boost in the next 1-2 releases.

LozKing
06-13-2014, 02:41 PM
Yep, definitely PS1. That was a perfect crossroads in gaming history for the RPG. They'd become popular with the SNES because the hardware limitations made most other genres terrible, whereas storytelling was unaffected.
The playstation then added the ability for pre-rendered backgrounds, which FF7 popularised hugely. It feels like after the PS1, the trend in hardware improvements started to favour other genres more. And RPGs still haven't done anything to improve upon the PS1 generation.