Maybe someday I'll get around to buying and playing this. I used to avoid it mostly because I didn't like the idea of first person dungeon crawling. I still don't really, but I also do like what I've played of SMT games. I might enjoy it.
Maybe someday I'll get around to buying and playing this. I used to avoid it mostly because I didn't like the idea of first person dungeon crawling. I still don't really, but I also do like what I've played of SMT games. I might enjoy it.
Fynn really likes his marines. His favorite movie is "The Marine" starring John Cena.
I can never tell if this entry is under-appreciated or if the fans do love it. The sheer amount of fanart it has compared to SMTIV does make me wonder though.
I really do like Strange Journey, while the gameplay isn't my favorite of the franchise it's a whole lot better than say the SNES entries. The real draw for me were the characters and story which was more fleshed out than other entries, including SMTIV itself. Glad I blasted through but damn did that game get mean towards the end.
True beauty exists in things that last only for a moment.
Current Mood: And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe. Maybe this year will be better than the last. I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself. To hold on to these moments as they pass...
Honestly, I'm pretty sure Strange Journey is the hardest that turn-based RPGs get.Originally Posted by Wolf Kanno
I apologize for this long hiatus. Finals and real life issues kind of prevented me from updating this thing. Still, for those still with me, here's the next entry.
#9
As finals have finally come to an end, I can resume my list. Not sure if it’ll pay off for meI mean, this game is revered like no other, and this is only my number 9. Theoretically, there are more games I like more than this. So, I wonder how much lynching will be going on when I announce that my number 9 is…
CHRONO TRIGGER
I don’t think there’s a single thing I don’t love about Chrono Trigger. It had beautiful visuals for its time, letting you get completely immersed into it from the very beginning. I really can’t stress this enough. The way you enter the game and are greeted with this swooping panorama of the meticulously drawn world-map is enough to sweep you off your feet from the first second of the game. The characters sprites are also very detailed, same with the monsters, though the end effect is as good as it is thanks to Akira Toriyama’s colorful designs, even if Crono looks like a red-headed Son Goku.
We also get Launch and, like, two Bulmas.
A big departure from most JRPGs, there are no random encounters and no fight woosh. I was really wary of this at first, but after seeing my characters scatter about the battle field and take out their weapons once, I decided that it’s perfect. I really wish more games did that, Chrono Cross especially, considering it’s a sequel to this game. Still, I guess this makes Chrono Trigger all the more special. Same with Dual and Triple techs. Many games try to utilize combination attacks, but few manage to pull it off with such balance and panache as this one. There’s really just enough techs for you to not get lost in, but you get to use practically any party combination without losing much. It really strikes a perfect balance. After my initial disappointment with the skill acquisition system – as in, each character only learns 8 basic techs, simply by gaining points, which is kind of boring compared to the robust skill trees some games today have to offer – seeing the group techs in action really made up for it. Really, this would have been overwhelming with more characters or more techs. This is what I call good game design and, again, good balance.
So you can beat up green balls of goop and goblins more efficiently.
The plot may not be mind-blowing nowadays, but this time travel story is really well-written, remains consistent throughout most of the game, is a lot of lighthearted fun… Until you get to Zeal, that is. I still think this game has one of the best wham episodes in video game history. It’s basically the only reason I’ve played this game like six times already and always went for the same ending, even though Chrono Trigger offers you as many as fifteen or so.
This place looks so nice. It must be really peaceful. I'm sure nothing bad can happen here, ever.
I also love how the game becomes open-ended near the end. I think it’s just perfect how the quests to get all the individual characters’ ultimate weapons all involve story closure for all of them. Games can rarely pull off story openness like this nowadays, which is a shame.
Have I mentioned how pretty this game is? Wrong paragraph? What?
Yasunori Mitsuda (with some help from Nobuo Uematsu) gives us a truly stellar soundtrack that I can listen to all the time, even with the old-school SNES midi quality being the way it is. In a way, this soundtrack transcends synth and stands out as simply a bundle of well-written music that speaks for itself, despite not being performed live or with better synth.
I think I’ve really drained the topic here, as far as avoiding spoilers goes. Chrono Trigger is truly a magnificent game that, while short, does everything so perfect, that making it even a second longer could probably ruin it. I know that such people are hard to find, but I’ll address them right now – if you still haven’t played Chrono Trigger, you owe it to yourself. Go out and play it now. I personally recommend the DS version, but you can always go for the original SNES version or the PSX port. You really can’t go wrong with it. Just play Chrono Trigger, as it’s probably the most important JRPG in history.
I've played that one! I forgot a lot of it though. I might play it again someday to refresh my memory. But I have to get through FFIII and FFIV first (and probably FFT, FFTA, FFTA2 as well), so... probably not anytime soon. xD
Bow before the mighty Javoo!
Ah, you are on a FF spree as well?
Yeah, Chrono Trigger is killer, nice choice Wizard
Yeah, but a very, very slow one.Ah, you are on a FF spree as well?FFIII & FFIV are the only single player FF's I've not finished yet in the main series. I'm currently playing FFT, have played FFTA but not finished it (this goes for III & IV as well) and have never played FFTA2. I go through about one FF per year, sometimes two. It really depends on how many games are out that I want to play ahead of the FF games, including other FF games (FFXIV gets a lot of my gametime).
Bow before the mighty Javoo!
You know, technically, Chrono Trigger could be considered FF...-ish, so if you were going chronologically, you could play it before FFTA (although that game is simply fantastic! Oh trout, I just spoiled my lis...)Yeah, but a very, very slow one.Ah, you are on a FF spree as well?
It's not really about chronological order for me.
FFIV is the next game I'll play in the main series. Then I'll drag myself through FFIII (probably). But at this rate I might end up playing FFXV first.
Bow before the mighty Javoo!
Fynn, I'm sorry I forgot this was here. I'll go back and catch up.
So much activity in the lower forums nowadays. It's like a game forum or something, now.
Yay Chrono Trigger! Still trying to get sharky to try it~
Okay. Wolf Kanno, if you’re watching this, please don’t hate me for putting this above Chrono Trigger
#8
I think some of you may be familiar with how my wife and I got each other to play their favored type of game. I was always a big JRPG nerd, while she was very into WRPGs. When I introduced her to FFVII, I never expected this duology to become so close to my heart. And yet, here it is…
BALDUR’S GATE (I & II)
So this is one of those two number I told you would have two games on them. This time, it’s two games because one’s a very direct sequel to the other. In that, it literally takes place just after the events of the first game.
So the first thing you’ll notice, is that the graphics aren’t that good. But once you get into it, you’ll appreciate the detailed backgrounds more and more. While BGI is mostly samey with its caves and forests (which are still nice and atmospheric), you’ll get much more variety with BGII’s dungeons, cities, etc. Still, I don’t think there’s a single reused map and they’re all very exciting to explore, especially since being thorough with your exploration may be very rewarding, providing you with really good equipment, which can literally save your life.
You're really gonna need all that exp from the first game.
You start your game by creating your own character. Now, I’m usually not a fan of this, but BG really nicely integrates your character’s backstory to the main plot (it’s actually pretty much central to it), and by the BGII expansion, you really do feel like this is your own personal journey, which is a really rare feeling for me. Also, the AD&D ruleset is very faithfully represented here and works really great, especially since you get to import your character with all their stat gains into BGII once you finish the first game.
You can have up to 6 party members at a time. You’ll get to choose from everyone and their mother in BGI (though still not as many characters as Chrono Cross). Most of them are pretty irrelevant, IMO, and the more story-important ones, or the ones that stood out more in BGI, become available again in BGII. The cast in BGII is much smaller, but they’re all much better fleshed out with really great backstories. And the banter between the characters in BGII is really amazing. You get different pieces of dialog for all the different party combinations you can have. It really makes your party feel like this living, breathing group of people that actually have specific attitudes to each other.
It's incredibly hard to find screenshots with dialog.
I can’t say much about the story without spoiler, but I’ll tell you this: BGI is really slow about it, with very few story scenes and most of the plot conveyed through reports you find on the way. Still, it really pays off in the sequel, which is largely the reason why I can’t agree with people who tell you to start with BGII. Sure, II is easier to get into as it feels less dated, but you really lose that connection you get from actually taking part in that journey the prologue of BGII describes. So, if you’re going into this, I would really advise you to start with BGI and enjoy the feeling of this personal journey you get to experience as you roam the Sword Coast. And then, once you get to BGII, be swept away by the fantastic plot and well-written characters, continuing that innocent journey you began in BGI that’s turned not-so-innocent-anymore. You really feel like you’ve grown with it as you advance from BGI to BGII.
Musically, while lacking the bombastic quality of JRPGs soundtrack, the Baldur’s Gate series is still really good. Most of the soundtrack is orchestral, which is a huge plus, and there are some memorable themes, mostly from the second game, since the first game utilizes silence and ambient sounds in place of music much more. Still, the romance theme and the dragon battle theme from BGII are fantastic pieces, along with the Bhaalspawn theme from the Throne of Bhaal expansion.
I consider this game a “baby’s first WRPG”, but that may be because it was my own first WRPG. Even if you’re solely a JRPG player, like I used to be, once you get over the initial weirdness of this different approach, there is a truly fantastic experience just waiting for you right here.
For my part, I hadn't played a FF title since I stopped playing XIII back in 2010; at which point I began playing Demon's Souls, then Skyrim and then Dark Souls for the most part and FF took a backseat of sorts. But then I felt like replaying VII and after I did I just felt like going on with the others, so I went with VIII, X/X-2 (the remaster which I had gotten recently), XIII Saga (had to complete it), VI, V, IV and lastly XII. I started replaying IX as I said in the playing now thread but it really doesn't do it for me, so Tactics may be the next stop.Yeah, but a very, very slow one.
Opps, I feel we are derailing Fynn's thread so I'll just stick to commenting on his list
I plan to get to Chronos Trigger in May.
Oh, wait. That was Xenogears.
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