Forsaken Lover
has evolved into ULTROS

I'll think about it! I mean, if you want, feel free to do those yourself. We can always use more daily polls. Just make sure you go down to the Contributor forum to make one.

Lol, they're about equal in my mind. Good but flawed and I have no issue discussing those flaws with the passion of Southern Baptist giving a brimstone sermon. I feel both games have problems, but elements that make them really interesting. I do probably spit on VII's rep more than VIIIs but that comes from the game making me a little jaded. I accept the fact I'll always have a chip on my shoulder towards VII.

I have issues with both stories and casts, but I frankly like VIII's cast better because while they may lack depth, they were inoffensive to my taste whereas VII's cast has more soul but I like maybe three of the playable cast and a few side characters. VII has the better world, but VIII was more daring from a gameplay conception, even if it sadly fell quite short of the mark. Musically, VII wins this, I'll at least agree that VII is one of the best FF soundtracks. I feel like I'm rambling here, basically if I were to rank the FFs, VII and VIII would both probably be low but I would probably rank VIII above VII even though it would literally be right above it. I still like them both more than I do FFX and XIII though.

DQ is light on plot but if you were going to play one, V, VII, and VIII are my suggestions as they have the best stories of the bunch.

I can understand the backlog issue. I've probably only played through half of the game I own. I still have PS3 games in their packaging still and I still haven't gotten around to finishing up a few series. Rate I'm going, I'll have to replay Mass Effect 1 and 2 just so I will remember what's going on in ME3.

The early SMT games can be a pain to get into if you're not use to really old school RPG design. I'd start with SMTIII or Digital Devil Saga/Avatar Turner. DDS is linear and doesn't posses an alignment system but it has a strong story and is a good gateway entry into the PS2 entries, that or Persona 3 and 4.

If you are interested in the older entries, I would play Strange Journey first. It emulates the classic entries probably a little too well but it will get the best idea as to whether you will be able to stomach the early entries.

I hope you enjoy P2, I will warn you that the game can be silly at times and P2 works best as a narrative when you play both games. Innocent Sin is pretty goofy at times and the cast are definitely characters but it's the fridge horror of Eternal Punishment that makes the stories really juicy.

MegaTen will give you that, though I will warn you that you're not always given the best choices. The Law Chaos aspect is not "Good or Evil" the series makes a point to show that both sides have their merits and their pitfalls.

I'm not sure if I can say it will give you the same feel as a WRPG but they do allow your choices to have an effect on the world depending on the game.

It depends on which entry we're talking about. Most SMT games stay consistent until the last third of the game, where your choices finally take hold and change the last part of it. It will change your goals, which bosses you fight and the ending. Also, the first two games will restrict which demons you can recruit based on your alignment. Chaos won't follow you if you're for team Law and vice versa. There is also the Neutral path, so really it is three paths.

The alignment does slightly change how demons treat you as well as opening up certain sidequests in the newer entries. Nocturne is a bit unique because it has four main paths and then adds a alignment with two endings depending on how you do with it. While the fifth alignment doesn't have much bearing outside it's personal chapters, it does dramatically change the tone of the game to the player as it connects it better to the older entries.

Persona has multiple endings but it largely comes down to making certain choices towards the end. The one exception is the first game, where getting the best ending requires you to make very specific choices throughout the game. It even has a section where making certain choices will actually change the entire plot of the game and you'll do a completely different story which has its own endings.

I don't know what to say really, what level of roleplaying are you expecting?

It's alright, I popped in and saw it. Felt I should give you an answer.

Masato Kato was definitely affected by his time in Xenogears' development. My friends and I joked about that is why CC is so overly-philosophical because the team was scarred from the experience.

I do like CC, but you have to remember I started with CT first, and while I'm cool with the direction CC went with the series and felt it was a smart move, I also feel that CC lost the strong emotional attachment that comes with having a strong cast of characters in exchange for being a bit deeper in it's plot and themes and I feel this is what separates it from CT and Xenogears that still had strong characters to push the story forward. Doesn't mean I don't like the game, it's just not one of my all-time-faves. Still give the game mad props for its game design though.

The original Ninja Gaiden:



Now that I have a NES I need to get my hands on these games. They made three before the game got rebooted years later.