PS2 RPG's

[Rostum]

I was wondering what some RPG's for the PS2 would be? I have a fair bit of free time at the moment, and just completed FFX, and it didn't quite satisfy me. So I need more.

Games I already own:
- Kingdom Hearts
- Final Fantasy Origins
- Final Fantasy VII to X-2
- Prince of Persia: Sands of Time

Games I have been looking at getting:
- Dragon Quest VIII
- Star Ocean: Till the End of Time
- Xenosaga II
- Magna Carta: Tears of Blood (edit)

I live in Australia, and I haven't modded my PS2, so I can't import any games like Kingdom Hearts 2. (I don't want to mod my PS2 either)

So, any games you could suggest? And maybe an opinion on the games I've been looking at. Thank you!

Edit: Does the European version of DQVIII come with the FFXII demo, like the American version does?

[Jowy]

I'm not too sure if they were released over there, but I recommend Phantom Brave (tactical RPG), Radiata Stories(realtime battles, kinda like Star Ocean), or Suikoden V(turnbased goodness).

[Rostum]

Radiata Stories, while interesting, was never released here. And I haven't seen word of Suikoden V getting released here. :(

Edit: I lie, Suikoden V will be released around the same time as Kingdom Hearts II. Which is September 29th.

[Rengori]

Disgaea, Makai Kingdom, Phantom Brave, and Disgaea 2 should be on that list. Start looking now before they become even harder to find.

EDIT: Oh yeah, you live in Australia. This complicates this further.

[Lilliputian Hitcher]

Xenosaga Episode II is quite awesome if you liked FFX, although make sure it comes with the DVD comprised of all the cutscenes from Episode I so you actually know what's going on. PAL never got the first one unfortunately...

[I Took the Red Pill]

I would definitely get Dragon Quest VIII.

[Rostum]

I have only been able to find Phantom Brave, Rengori. The others I would have no clue where to find. :(

I found Xenosaga II, for $30AUD with the special DVD. So I might possibly get that. And I am highly considering Dragon Quest VIII ($90AUD) and Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (Only $50AUD).

Are there any others worth mentioning?

[Markus. D]

Draken 1&2.(Draken 1 will wierd you out alot..... ALOT, but its needed to understand number 2's endgame plotline)

Devil May Cry 3 (not an RPG, still a rather spectacular adventure and apart from Dante's voice and a couple of the Major Demons, the voice acting is amazing ^-^)

I want Kingdom Hearts 2 aswell.

Makai Kingdom

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness :P

dot hack//G.U. game series.

*shrugs*

We <3 Katamari

[Rostum]

Draken 1&2.(Draken 1 will wierd you out alot..... ALOT, but its needed to understand number 2's endgame plotline)

Devil May Cry 3 (not an RPG, still a rather spectacular adventure and apart from Dante's voice and a couple of the Major Demons, the voice acting is amazing ^-^)

I want Kingdom Hearts 2 aswell.

Makai Kingdom

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness :P

dot hack//G.U. game series.

*shrugs*

We <3 Katamari

Well, I played We <3 Katamari, and it gets boring after awhile. dot hack//G.U. looks very interesting but it's not out here. And the others I don't know where to find.

I stumbled upon an RPG called Magna Carta: Tears of Blood (http://www.atlus.com/magna_carta/). This looks very interesting, can anyone tell me about it? Is it even worth the $70AUD?

[JKTrix]

Magna Carta: I bought it to play it later. I wasn't particularly interested in it in the first place, but it was an Atlus game and the artwork looked good. It's a game you can pass over though, there are so many much higher quality games to spend your time on.

You already have DQ8 on there, which is great.

I highly reccomend the 3 'Shin Megami Tensei' games: Nocturne (best RPG of 2004, hands down) and Digital Devil Saga 1&2 (also incredibly good. I liked it more than Nocturne).

Almost anything from Nippon Ichi (Disgaea, Phantom Brave, etc) would be good for playing for a long time.

[Dreddz]

DQVII dosent have the FFXII demo disk in the EU version.

I say you look into Dark Cloud 2/chronicle.

[Rostum]

I say you look into Dark Cloud 2/chronicle.

I have, and I'm not really that impressed by it. I guess it's good and everything, but it just didn't grab my attention as much as other games have.

And that's a shame about Magna Carta. It looks pretty impressive, though I'm currently looking through Digital Devil Saga (won't be released here until 31st of August) / Luficer's Call, and they also looks just as good.

Is there any particular reason why Magna Carta wasn't as good as you had hoped it would be?

[Dreddz]

I say you look into Dark Cloud 2/chronicle.

I have, and I'm not really that impressed by it. I guess it's good and everything, but it just didn't grab my attention as much as other games have

Shame, your really missing out on a great game....

[JKTrix]

Magna Carta: It looks and sounds amazing. The music is gorgeous, everything is pretty. But the story is kinda slow and ho-hum, and you never really end up caring for the characters at all. The battles start off as an interesting concept, but it gets messy and annoying after a while.

If you had already played all the other games on the list, then it would be decent to try out if you have $70 to burn. But then again, after being spoiled by the awesomeness of the previous games, you would be quite disappointed with this one.

[Cruise Control]

Indigo Prophecy.

[JKTrix]

Indigo Prophecy.

Awesome game, but I don't think I'd classify that as an RPG--at least in the Final Fantasy sense. Still, awesome storytelling, and definitely one of those hidden gems of the last generation. Get this game too :p

[Cruise Control]

It's storytelling at its finest.

Not your "traditional" RPG though.

[Rostum]

Indigo Prophecy does indeed look very nice.

I was wondering with the Shin Megami Tensei games. Are they better played in an order, or are they pretty much seperate games? I was considering getting just one of them (preferably Digital Devil Saga, not sure if there's a 1 & 2, the websites just say it's one game).

So far I'm heading towards this list, I don't really want it to get too big because I just managed to get some extra cash in the last couple of weeks, so I best not waste it all.

- Dragon Quest VIII
- Star Ocean 3: Till the end of time
- Xenosaga II
- Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga

So what do you guys think of that list?

[Dreddz]

DQVIII is your best bet on that list. I wouldnt recommend SO3, it really isnt a great game.....

[Zeromus_X]

Dragon Quest VIII ($90AUD) and Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (Only $50AUD).

<3 Yep, looks great to me. Both of those just have a bunch of stuff to do. You certainly won't be bored! :cat:

[Rostum]

DQVIII is your best bet on that list. I wouldnt recommend SO3, it really isnt a great game.....

Can you explain why you thought it isn't that great of a game? I've only seen good reviews of it.

[JKTrix]

If you don't intend on playing the entire Xenosaga series, then skip Xenosaga 2. Otherwise, go for it--and resist the urge to skip the cutscenes. The game is all about the cutscenes... 40 minute, talky, technoreligibabble cutscenes. The game is nothing without its odd story.

There is a Digital Devil Saga 2, but from what I've read it looks like you're in Europe (US Nocturne = EUR Lucifer's Call). The 2nd one probably hasn't been announced for Europe yet. The first game isn't called 'Digital Devil Saga 1', but it is the first of a 2-part game.

Star Ocean I haven't played, so I can't comment on that. Grandia 3 is supposed to be pretty fun as well.

[Rostum]

Ah ok.

Well the thing is about Xenosaga II, the first one wasn't released here, but the Xenosaga II actually comes with a seperate 'movie' DVD that explains all of the first game. At least that's what I'm told.

I will have a look into Grandia 3. :)

[JKTrix]

I dunno about the DVD... I didn't get it myself, but reports have it as being just a bunch of clustered together cutscenes of poor quality. You might be better off looking for a place to download the Anime (which was only 12 episodes), it explains some of the story bits better than the DVD.

Plus, as I alluded to, the cutscenes are LONG. There's gotta be like 6 hours worth of cutscenes in the first game. 12 episodes of anime, 1/2 hour long = 6 hours, + better explanations + naked Shion=win.

[Ashley Schovitz]

No get Shadow Hearts and Dark Cloud 2 it's so cute. This may be off of subject but what kind of currency is there in Australia?

[Moon Rabbits]

DO NOT BUY DRAKENGARD.

Seriously, I felt like I had wasted my money after I bought that game. The gameplay is ridiculously repetitive and the storyline, while some parts are interesting, for the most part moves slow and has no overly interesting characters.

DO NOT BUY DRAKENGARD.

[JKTrix]

No get Shadow Hearts and Dark Cloud 2 it's so cute.

He mentioned that Dark Cloud didn't get his attention, but seems pretty excited about Shin Megami Tensei. Perhaps he doesn't like cute? :p

[Rostum]

No get Shadow Hearts and Dark Cloud 2 it's so cute. This may be off of subject but what kind of currency is there in Australia?

1 USD = 0.761123 AUD


DO NOT BUY DRAKENGARD.

Seriously, I felt like I had wasted my money after I bought that game. The gameplay is ridiculously repetitive and the storyline, while some parts are interesting, for the most part moves slow and has no overly interesting characters.

DO NOT BUY DRAKENGARD.

Hehe, I'll take your word for it. Thanks. :)


I dunno about the DVD... I didn't get it myself, but reports have it as being just a bunch of clustered together cutscenes of poor quality. You might be better off looking for a place to download the Anime (which was only 12 episodes), it explains some of the story bits better than the DVD.

Plus, as I alluded to, the cutscenes are LONG. There's gotta be like 6 hours worth of cutscenes in the first game. 12 episodes of anime, 1/2 hour long = 6 hours, + better explanations + naked Shion=win.

I see. Well I wouldn't mind watching the anime, I guess. I don't mind long cutscenes either -- and the game is fairly cheap! (Around 20USD)

Grandia III doesn't seem to be out here yet. Though it does look rather impressive -- I'll have to keep that one in the books along with Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga and Kingdom Hearts II. :)

[Lilliputian Hitcher]

I dunno about the DVD... I didn't get it myself, but reports have it as being just a bunch of clustered together cutscenes of poor quality. You might be better off looking for a place to download the Anime (which was only 12 episodes), it explains some of the story bits better than the DVD.

Plus, as I alluded to, the cutscenes are LONG. There's gotta be like 6 hours worth of cutscenes in the first game. 12 episodes of anime, 1/2 hour long = 6 hours, + better explanations + naked Shion=win.
I have the DVD and I didn't see anything wrong with it; it actually worked quite well as a movie (which is rather telling about the amount of cutscenes in XSI really). I mean, there were some obvious holes where there should have been a boss fight etc, but apart from that it all seemed to come together quite smoothly. I wouldn’t recommend you watch it all in one go though, being 6 hours long or thereabouts.

I haven't checked out the anime personally but I've heard good and bad things about it. One of these days I'm going to have to chip my PS2 and just play the damn game...

[Dreddz]

I will have a look into Grandia 3. :)
Grandia III is definately worth your time, im Grandia mad, so this may be a biased opinion, but get it, I enjoyed it a whole lot...



DQVIII is your best bet on that list. I wouldnt recommend SO3, it really isnt a great game.....

Can you explain why you thought it isn't that great of a game? I've only seen good reviews of it.

Its easy, linear, false advertised, and has an awful story. The battle system is fun, but if your looking for a battle system with alot of depth look elsewhere.

[Crossblades]

Get Tales of Legendia. Not the best RPG, but still fun to play

[JKTrix]

Get Tales of Legendia. Not the best RPG, but still fun to play

NO.

I'd definitely get Magna Carta before Legendia. I was supremely disappointed in Legendia (it didn't even have multiplayer!!). Since you have fairly limited funds for buying a game, pass this one completely.
I am cautiously looking forward to Tales of the Abyss though.

As for the Xenosaga anime, it isn't stellar by any means. But as a supplement to the games, it's great.

[Shion Strife]

seriously get xenosaga....its one of the best games ever created!!!!!!!

[Rostum]

Grandia III is definately worth your time, im Grandia mad, so this may be a biased opinion, but get it, I enjoyed it a whole lot...

-

Its easy, linear, false advertised, and has an awful story. The battle system is fun, but if your looking for a battle system with alot of depth look elsewhere.

Ah okay, I will have to try and find Grandia III sometime, when it's out / if it's out yet.

And that's a shame about Star Ocean 3. I heard it was a good play and everything, but I don't really want to play through an awful story.

[Zeromus_X]

The story isn't 'bad' unless you're extremely shallow about it. The amazing gameplay and hundreds of hours of play time (with added difficulty levels, they aren't 'easy' on those) override any petty complaints about the storyline. But games can't be 'games', anymore, can they?

I also recommend Grandia III. Don't whine about the story, and enjoy the kick-ass battle system. That final boss certainly won't cut you any slack, that's for sure.

DQVIII is great if you love old-school turn based RPGs, especially if you played the older DQ games. It too, has a good deal of exploration (yes, exploration in a game, believe it or not), and may be a challenge for some.

All are great games, and definitely worth a buy. SO3 is a greatest hits (at least in the US) so it shouldn't be too expensive.

Edit: When Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria and Tales of the Abyss come out, those are sure to be great too. But if you live in PAL region...

[Rostum]

Thanks Zeromus_X. :)

I have actually just completed Valkyrie Profile a couple of weeks ago, so I am very interested in getting Silmeria. Though with the first, I had to download an ISO because I don't believe it was released here, and I hadn't really wanted to look to import anything.

Can anyone tell me if Grandia III is out in PAL, or when it may be coming out?

[Dell]

GET THE SUIKODEN SERIES!!!

PS2:
Suikoden III
Suikdoen IV
Suikoden Tactics
Suikoden V (Latest)

[Rostum]

The only ones that seem to interest me at the moment is Suikoden V (I've heard bad from friends on IV, and I can't find I, II or III). V will be out on the 29th of September I believe.