/vr/ - Retro Games

>>10667273
The English translation of Tengai Makyou Ziria. Very beautiful game with nice use of color. Everything just pops. A bit grind-y from what I played, but it's very comfy.

>>10667273
The 3DS remake of the first SMT game.
It's pretty neat. Wish you could customize the MC more, ability wise. I started putting most of my stat points into INT and MAG only to find out the MC never gets magic. It's dumb.

Making my way through Chrono Cross for the first time since it was new, replayed Trigger right before this and that is 10/10 of course.

Cross is a slower burn but it's really growing on me, only real issue I'm having with it is how slow the combat is, at the end of trigger with speed maxed out and haste helms I was flying through fights. Cross on the other hand is a slower combat system. So far Cross is 8/10 with a lot of that score being how good this game looks and sounds. My score might go up or down as the game unfolds, while I remember the gist of the story (same for my replay of Trigger) the finer details are fresh for me.

>>10667367
>first SMT game
Wat. It's neither that nor the first Devil Summoner game.

Still great though, but don't worry, the best armor requires some stats in Magic, not a complete waste

>>10667273
What game is this by the way?

>>10667283
I finished that one recently, it's development story is fascinating and I recommend a visit to TCRF when you're done.

Linda3 Again for PSX

>>10667593
buy a fucking ad, retard. stop shilling your incomplete, amateur-ass translated trash here.

>>10667601
Op asked what I was playing and I answered, cry and seethe more you filthy schizo.

>>10667573
Looks like one of the PSX/PS2 Wizardry titles but I don't know which exact one

Will always be a classic. I love Diablo 2 and 3 to death, but sometimes it's nice to return to Diablo's slow-paced and spooky roots, before the series got super fast-paced and sweaty.

>>10667573
SNES version of Wizardry 1/2/3

I've been playing through Lunar 2 again 29 years later and so far it's been even better than I remember.

I started Phantasy Star IV a few nights ago. I like it

I was playing Wizardry V on SNES and I was loving it, but I ended up dropping it with less than 2 more floors to go.

At first I loved the game and thought it had to be the best in the series so far, but then the game got really fucking stupid. Those stat boosting pools man, what a retarded concept. That coupled with the manual saving, it's like nothing in the game even matters anymore; and the game knows it, so it throws even more bullshit at the player that would make him reload his save. Yes I probably shouldn't have abused the pools that much, but I figured if they were there it was for a reason.

Dark Storm: Demon Crystal III from 1987. Pic being on X1, but the MZ-1500 looks the same. A rather big departure from being a single screen ladder action game in the first 2 to a Xanadu clone. I also realize I don't actually know of many Xanadu clones. It's quality is what you'd expect from a single man/small team home computer game.

The world map is a sidescroller and has you go to the right to progress (sometimes you need to backtrack) with trees possibly hiding encounters. Very flat, long and boring.
The dungeon/battles are topdown and combat is bumping, very few dungeons have treasure as most of it is plot related. There's a small variety of items and spells that are generally useful. Enemies can drop items and are split into mindlessly walking around types and teleport and hit you with magic types.

>>10667601
Triggered

>>10667812
It's a badly made port of a computer game. You couldn't savescum in the original.

Dragon Quest 6 on SNES. It's a lot of fun and the two worlds interplay quite nicely. I've only mastered one job for each character, so I can't speak too much to that system yet.

>>10667858
Based extremely obscure game player.

>>10667858
Can I play this without knowing jp?

>>10668182
It's one of those strange series that does have some notoriety in Japan among the older crowd. Enough to warrant some, admittedly cheap, rereleases.

>>10668212
Mostly, the shopkeeps will give you some minor hints but all the other text is in English (this goes for the entire series, except the switch releases). It isn't needed, but they do mention a few helpful tidbits.

I'll mention the progression points you might miss, which are the Devil Statue in Colal requiring the Holy Sword to break it in the castle of Simon which will drop Toma's Rod.
That rod is used to open the chest with Excalibur in Lanasons castle (and another chest with some armour/shield, I forgot where) so you can actually hurt Darkness.

Then you go all the way to the end to beat Darkness by chipping away at his health and using up loads of resources so he'll drop Jera's Rod which is then used to get the Dark Slayer one town back in Brondia's Castle and the Blue Eyes item in the right building of Darkness. Then you go back and fight him again (maybe using the Blue Eyes, I don't actually know if that is needed).

The Shopkeeps do mention most of this IIRC, but you need to buy something from them or they'll just angrily stare at you. Innkeeps won't say stuff regardless.

>>10667567
Oh, it's a spin-off series. I thought Devil Summoner was just a translation.

currently playing ff7 remake
i actually think the combat system is fine
its less obvious how to abuse it (like tifa canceling animation i never would have guessed) but its just as engaging as the original
my biggest gripe is pacing, which is shit because they took a 5 hour segment and made it 35 hours, and the music...

what the fuck were they thinking?? the music is fucking garbage

>>10668325
not retro retard

>>10668362
>ports of games arent retro
it's just a ps4 port

>>10667601
meds

>>10668325
Not retro but I agree with you, half the game is padding and what they did with the plot is horrible, the fucking Kingdom Heart time jannies can fuck right off

>>10667672
You love Diablo 3? Really?

>>10668325
I would have been fine if they had added worthwhile story content, but the stuff that they did add was stupid. I enjoyed it, but the original is my favorite game so there was no way I was ever going to be completely satisfied. It’s different enough that I can see playing it again to scratch a different itch.

>>10667273
Shining force, first time playing a strategy rpg.
The battles feel like playing a boardgame, and can take quite a long time.
I also found out the hard way that when the hero dies, the entire party dies and you have to restart.
Also playing on real HW so no acces to save states or anything.
Really liking it sofar, should keep me going for quite a while.

>>10667367
>Wish you could customize the MC more, ability wise. I started putting most of my stat points into INT and MAG only to find out the MC never gets magic. It's dumb.
if you do get around to playing the first SMT game and not devil summoner, this rule also applies.
a heads up since I had to replay the first 4-5 hours of the game when i realised my character wasn't going to get a magic option later in the game.

>>10667273
Romancing SaGa 3
It's good, though I'm not liking it as much as Romancing SaGa 2.

>>10668296
Nah, Devil Summoner was itself a spin-off on the Saturn I believe, and then Soul Hackers was a spin-off of that. Not even mentioning the Raidou spin-offs.

Totally not confusing lmao.

But hope you enjoy the game, it’s one of my favorites. SMT1 is also worth playing too.

>>10668913
Yeah. Not as much as 1 or 2. But I still think it's a really fun game.

>>10668408
it's not a port you dingus

I've struggled over the years to get into many RPGs. I love SMT and I've played most of those now, but outside SMT not much has grabbed me. FF9 was interesting but honestly way too long so I never finished it. However, currently playing through Breath of Fire 4 and absolutely loving it. After this I'll probably try BoF3 or maybe Valkyrie Profile. Feel free to give me some recommendations of engaging RPGs cause I haven't played that many.
>>10667367
Based. That's a great one honestly. Avoid the "sequel" like they plague. If you're wanting more of a challenge after that try Strange Journey.

>>10669251
Play BOF Dragon Quarter next for a truly unique experience that will make you wonder why JRPGs were never allowed to try anything truly innovative.

>>10668928
>>10668758
even the crisis core garbage would be better expansion of midgar than what we got. The best option would be to make it like a GTA game, so you could drive around midgar and fuck shit up because you're terrorists after all.

>>10669334
>make a shitty JRPG that gets everything wrong
>random /vr/fag: OMG IT'S SO INNOVATIVE!

>>10669385
You got filtered.

>>10669334
I don't love the visuals or aesthetic at all and some of the mechanics worry me but I like some of the designs. I'm kinda on the fence about it but I considered giving it a chance.

Anyone here played Laplace no Ma for the SFC? I'm intrigued by the setting and some of the gameplay mechanics, but there's not much info about it online.

No clue how we'll known this game is but Dragon Slayer: the Legend of Heroes on PC Engine is pretty sick. Amazing OST, and some Resident Evil level silly voice acting on top of it. Here's a few of my personal favorites.
https://youtu.be/0yoUfdIYVCw?si=52MFFMsWsj_XBC2I
https://youtu.be/adOyn4JD818?si=8a5blVzmgqD-m0Vb
https://youtu.be/oPXq47tXpFQ?si=vdMqf6hI8NtLOtOf

>>10667745
I just started the first one. Any tips?

Legend of Dragoon, on 4th disk, pausing to get all the stardust and do some grinding. Been at it aince september. Maybe finished in two months?

>>10669707
That joel is a funny guy.

>>10667273
im playing faxanadu, its based

>>10669251
Dragon Quest games are pretty classic. You may have tried them and found them too vanilla, but if you haven't then they are definitely worth a look. I started with 4 and I think that is a good place to start. You follow different characters on their individual adventures across multiple chapters, and then in the final chapter you play as the main hero and all of your previous characters join you as your party members. It's a pretty effective way of telling a world spanning story. The other games are worth playing too, but this is my favourite.

>>10667273
On my first Earthbound play through, probably about halfway done. A lot of mixed feelings - enjoying it, but also a lot of frustration I didn’t have with the other SNES RPGS I played. The new party members starting at level 1 (and getting killed in 1 hit half the time), the not being able to heal the damn mushroom status on the go, the getting stuck in a cycle of enemies spawning other enemies I can’t kill fast enough - freaking annoying.

Overall, it’s a cool game, but I like it way less than the stuff from Square

>>10667273
FF7 & Pokemon Crystal. Just beat Pokemon yellow today too. FF7 is a little long, still in midgar but trying to ease through it.

>>10670162
>FF7 is a little long, still in midgar but trying to ease through it.
That's just the tip of the iceberg

>>10669251
Have you heard about eraMegaten?
It's a massive fangame where you can befriend and recruit and romance (or, if you're evil, kidnap, rape, and enslave) almost every character from the entire series.
When I say massive, I mean MASSIVE. The current version has something like 50 endings. And there's piles and piles of dialogue. I did the math once and eraMegaten's dialogue is something like thirty times the length of the unabridged Les Miserables.
And when I say the entire series, I mean the ENTIRE series. It has characters from Tokyo Mokushiroku, 20XX, Dx2, Kahn, and See you again next world, none of which I even knew existed before I played. If you play through the game and know who every single character is, you deserve a medal for being the world's biggest Megaten fan.
The gameplay is really good. You can play through almost the whole game with just a numpad, and when I'm speed typing my way through battles like I'm playing Mavis Beacon it makes me feel like I'm a real Devil Summoner with my own arm terminal.
It's only partially translated, but even if you don't know Japanese just the amount that's available in English is already longer than any other Megami Tensei game, so if you're a big fan of the series there's no reason not to give it a shot. It can be a bit difficult to get running, but it's freeware so it all balances out.

>>10670113
Honestly I've never even looked at Dragon Quest. Literally no clue a single thing about the whole series, so I'll add that to my list.
>>10670157
Honestly I've always felt Earthbound was mad overrated. It's fine if people like it but I always found it pretty boring once you get past the wacky art and music.
>>10670414
I dunno, that sounds a bit perverse for my taste. Wish I knew about it when I was a teenager lol.

>>10669707
Don't sell seemingly random items. Are you playing the original or the Sega Ages version?

>>10670113
Also does it matter which release I play? My inclination is ps1 because that's what I mainly grew up on and I already have an emu of that running, but obviously emulators are easy to setup so it's not a big deal. Anyone know if there's particular differences between them?

>>10670617
Nevermind, just realized ps1 version was never translated for some reason. Guess I'll do ds.

>>10667273
I'm playing Xenogears for the first time. The only JRPG's I've played are FFVII and DQV. I like the combo attacks even though it could be argued it needlessly complicates turn based combat it is satisfying to play. I went in to the game blind, I just heard it was a great sci fi story. The tone is a lot darker than I expected. Did not expect the event that get you kicked out of the village in the beginning at all.

>>10667367
I wish there was a bigger dichotomy between humans in demons in SMT like that. I like the idea that while both have the same status, humans don't learn magic like demons do but instead have equipment to make up for it.

I think Strange Journey hit this just right where your demons function traditionally like in every other SMT, but the MC can get skills that function similar to magic but in a lesser capacity based on what rifle they equip. If knives/guns solely granted skills and armor only changed what elements you were weak/strong against, I think it'd be perfect. You're still encouraged to get a little growth in magic because magic influences not only the damage you deal with magic, but also your resistance to it. So even though the stat doesn't help you offensively (Your gun skills actually scale off of strength, I think), high magic makes it more likely to avoid status effects and instant death, along with just reducing the damage you take from magic in general.

SMT IF had a similar setup, and I thought I'd be a smart ass and just dump all my stats into strength. I got what I expected, I would murder anything I hit with my sword, but my magic was so low that it made fighting one of the magic heavy bosses excruciating. Spells would sometimes instantly kill me just from high damage despite the massive amount of HP I got from stacking strength.

>>10669251
I've been playing BoF4, but BoF3 is a great choice and very fun. Just remember to be thorough when going through places, there's a lot of stuff hidden just out of sight.

>>10669334
The patrician's choice

>>10667273
gonna play the erdrick trilogy on GBC because thats the ones i played as a kid
on DQ1 right now
lady loras love 4lyfe

DQ1 gets flack nowadays for its utter simplicity, but a LOT of the things in that game were unbelievably experimental. its as non-linear as JRPGs ever got. most major objectives are only hinted by specific, sometimes hidden, NPCs.
provided you got the lvls/gear you can do anything in pretty much any order. not only that but you can even skip most of the game. ffs you can even skip saving the princess if youre that much of a jerk

>>10668990
Honestly it's unfair to compare most RPGs to RS2. It's like comparing other 4th gen side scrolling action games to Rocket Knight Adventures.

>>10667601
what posesses a man to be so autistically spiteful? sega derangement syndrome?

>>10669090
Soul Hackers is not a spinoff of Devil Summoner, it's basically Devil Summoner 2.
Raidou 1&2 could be considered Devil Summoner 3&4, I guess.

>>10669385
>>10668362
>>10667601
these are all the same nerd
>>10669490
its really unique and spooky at first, but once you get far enough in to understand the mechanics it gets extremely boring. kinda sucks they didnt polish it more beyond the intro because it could have been truly excellent
>>10669775
>>10670638
i ran into a glitch that cost me an hour of playtime on the last disc of both of these games and never picked them back up

>>10671063
I totally agree. Not even having fun as an attack type in some of the games was a mistake. I kind of forced it on my most recent Nocturne playthrough by doing an only phys build on demifiend and honestly it's the best that game has ever felt. Highly recommend giving that a shot if you haven't before.
>>10671405 it's been a while since I thought about SMT timelines but isn't SH in the If... timeline that also leads to Persona?

>>10670616
Sega master rom

>>10668990
>Romancing SaGa 2.
I want to play this but not the ugly ipad version. What are my choices? Is the snes version still untranslated?

Chrono Cross. It's a slow burn, it takes an hour or two before you get it and get interested. The backgrounds are beautiful, must be peak prerendered for the psx. The combat system is a bit weird, not sure I get it completely, but not even remotely as complex as vagrant story though.

>>10668973
man wait till you get to 2
i wish that was the series that went on to be the modern standard for SRPGs
shining force is basically fire emblem but good
>no tired longwinded bullshit
>much snappier combat

>>10672224
>The backgrounds are beautiful, must be peak prerendered for the psx
it certainly is
prolly the best FMVs on the system too
tbf it was a very late PS release. i was still playing it when all my friends had GTA3 already. wasnt even mad
possibly the best OST in vidya too. at least in terms of what it does and how its used in-game

>The combat system is a bit weird, not sure I get it completely, but not even remotely as complex as vagrant story though.
frankly, its terribly simple, and thats the biggest issue with the game itself other than people just wanting it to be trigger instead
iirc its just % to hit. lower % is substantially higher damage, but for ~70% accuracy
the element shenanigans dont come into play too often, unless youre the one setting them up
theres certain post-gamey kinda stuff you can do that requires very specific set-ups, but unless you use a guide or are very good at picking up on VERY subtle clues i think its """hinted at""" twice i wouldnt worry too much about it.
just dont let your enemy set up a favorable element for themselves

>>10672224
forgot to mention
in regards to combat:
middle choice is your bread and butter
top choice is for knocking out someone who you know is already close
bottom is hail mary. tho its worth it if its like 80% imo

I rolled Mahakala/Makakara and it looks like it's going to take awhile to get grinded up and going. Also I don't actually know what I'm supposed to do as I couldn't make my own userdisk (which is apparently an issue with the dump) nor do I have a manual. Could hexedit the name though.

I would call it an ultima clone due to its rather typical look and map movement, but that changes when you get into a battle. It again looks familiar, but you're bumping your enemies to death (or rather they are bumping you to death more likely). Your rewards for battle are typical, except some animals will drop food too and some enemies increase or decrease your karma, so you can't just farm on peasants. None of the cows are sacred though.
Dungeons are 1st person.

>>10672649
Here's a picture of a battle. Most enemies aren't this red, so I can only imagine these bandits are seething.

>>10667273
>What retro RPG are you currently playing through?
DQV PS2 version
>How are you finding it?
Muuuuch better than the SNES version so far. I'm usually someone that has to play (and prefers) the original versions of each game. But this a definite case of a remake being better in every way imaginable (except for the first castle dungeon theme. That was the only SNES song that wowed me and hilariously the only one that didn't so far). I stopped about 10 hours into the SNES version and got bored with it. I'm starting the see what my issues were with it now and glad these were fixed.
>>10668160
Are you playing with the translation (if so, is it good enough)? I might hit that up that version next after I beat DQV. I know it wasn't entirely complete, but it was random stuff that you wouldn't find on a main story only run IIRC.
>>10668325
I enjoyed it. Looks like Rebirth is going to pozzed trash unfortunately. But yeah, the pacing is pretty bad in some places (the second reactor bombing was dreadful).
>>10671075
I love this game like you wouldn't believe. I feel like it's becoming a tradition for me to play it yearly at this point.

Playing FF9 for the first time. I'm really liking it so far.
Got to the part where this track plays today. Decided to put down the controller for a few minutes just to make sure I could listen to it in full.
youtube.com/watch?v=yUrC5R30Ofk

>>10671450
I'm not sure where Soul Hackers/Devil Summoner fits in the timeline. I don't think it's part of If.../Persona, I think it's another spin on how things would go if the nukes were averted in SMT1 like what If.../Persona was.

Honestly I don't think on it too hard, I just assume that each game mostly follows its own sub series continuity and that's it.

>>10673045
Good luck! I really liked this one but it was so long I couldn't finish it, but there's some really fun stuff going on there for sure. I really like the blue mage in that game when you get to them, whole little area is cute.
>>10673096
Yeah, it's fun to look into because I like big autistic infographics, but it's like the Zelda timeline, you can't take it too seriously.

>>10673131
I love that little retard like you wouldn't believe.

>>10673096
I think Devil Summoner takes place at least in the same universe as Persona 2: Innocent Sin due to characters from Devil Summoner appearing in that game and I think Eternal Punishment as well. Not sure if any Soul Hackers references exist in those games though.
Anyone have any recommendations for learning Japanese that would lean better towards playing stuff like Shin Megami Tensei? I know it's a bit of a pipe dream but I figured I'd ask here. Unfortunately, /smtg/ is a complete mess.

started might and magic 3 again a couple days ago just cleared the baywatch dungeon and then the cyclops cave.

>>10673309
I feel like in SH you work for the same agency that's in Devil Summoner, or it's at least mentioned? It's been a while.
>Unfortunately, /smtg/ is a complete mess.
Lol that place is a shitshow. I'm sure you can't get them to take a break from spurging about how Doi has ruined the series. They're not wrong tho.

>>10672649
The CGs are nice. Went through 1 "dungeon", the mountain temple. But it was filled with (mostly) non-aggressive monks so you don't really fight. Raided their pantry though.

I don't like how food consumed is based on level, but I did read up on there being an item that stops food consumption. Hope that's not too far in as I'll have to juggle fighting and running to not gain too much XP and starve myself.

>>10673309
>>10673328
Yeah in SH the Kuzunohas are directly referenced, and a couple previous characters show up

>>10671063
The guardians in If lower your high stats and raise your low stats so it's hard to get completely unbalanced. Same with personas in the first two persona games

>>10675635
I always reset on party wipe in If... so I never got any Guardians. I didn't even know they were a thing until far later in the game.

>>10667273
Legend of Legaia. Its a bit of slow,but so far worth finishing.

Fuck my life.

So I have this save for DQ3 NES that I would only play on my phone when I was out, like in vacation or in a waiting room somewhere; needless to say that after a year I was still just at the Isis/Pyramid area. Since things are getting interesting at that point in the game I decided to continue this save on my regular PC emulator instead.

So I reached Dharma, and my plan all along was to turn my Merchant into a Sage so that I can end up with a Sage which doesn't have completely shit HP, something I had already done in another version of the game.

Except that my Sage is now lvl 8, he has a high int stat, learns all the spells... But still has 0 MP. Note that i'm using a delocalization romhack but I tried the same thing in the original US version with an earlier save and it gives me the same result.

So I believe the character is fucked due to a glitch and now I feel like my playthrough is ruined. I do have a back up save from about 3 hours of playtime before Dharma but it still sucks... the thing is, I don't see anything about this glitch online; I can't be the first person in the world to turn a Merchant into a Sage right?!

>>10677045
Why not just roll with it, go back to your earlier save and keep them.a merchant or switch to something else? It's not so hard a game you need to work to min max it.

>>10677081
well actually he finally just learnt 7 measly MP at lvl9 and then 3 more at lvl 10. I still find this weird but I'll roll with it I guess; I wonder if that's just normal behaviour with class changes not getting HP/MP until a certain point?

Gonna be on a 3 week stint for work with book end 8 hour flights. Anyone have a deep cut jrpg with a job system like FFV/FFT/Octopath etc....?

>>10677087
It's not retro but if you don't mind first person or moe character designs, Etrian Odyssey is fantastic.

>>10677087
Dragon Quest 6/7. Tactics Ogre Luct of course.

>>10677185
I didn't know they had a switch port of this (mostly because I'd never looked) Is it better than Xenoblade 2? I've got a fresh copy of that and thought 3 was fantastic.
>>10677196
How could I forget DQ7? Played the remaster of TO recently or I'd jump at that too. I bet I can play DQ for the whole trip or at least most of it.

>>10667593
Kys shill

Gator's Balls II.
Sorry, I meant Baldur's Gate II. Just finished SoA, will probably take a break from it before I continue with ToA.

call me casual if you want, but I always come back to Dungeon Hack (1993)

> easy to pick up
> no frills, only crawling
> no party management
> customizable gameplay
> automap

it's comfy af

>>10672254
I'm in the circus tent right now and getting my ass kicked by the first (real?) boss. I think I need to level a bit first, especially my healers are very low level.
Also fuck those bats with their high evade stats.

Wizardry IV via New Age of Llylgamyn on PS1.
Unless someone can tell me how to make Werdna resist magic, the later battles are nothing but RNG bullshit since you can easily get killed on the 1st turn by tiltowait and there is no way to stop it if it happens to get a high dice roll on damage

>>10678394
I always liked it for a pick up and play game, but it felt like it was missing something, like it wasn't a complete game. The lack of party is definitely part of it. Perhaps also that the procedural generation is very limited and you pick up on how it works too fast.

>>10667745
Have you played any of the other games?

>2nd country is oppressed by an evil daimyo
>Siding with him gives you a nice sword, but also 2 karma
>you can immediately kill him to get rid of 1 karma and keep the sword
My sprite changed when I got some specific armour, which is nice, and food seems fine with how much gets dropped and is findable in the dungeon. I went through a cave to the demon world, but apparently that's only 1 part of it? There's quite a few worlds, but I assume a few of them are smaller than the larger maps. Not that it really matters as the dungeons are what takes the most time anyway.

Spellcasting enemies are bullshit in this game. The fireball type spells are fine, they need to be lined up and aren't instant, but it is quickly replaced by spells that are instant and then ones that are instant and full battlefield. Hurts like hell too and sometimes you are just fucked when too many of them line up with you preventing you from casting a defensive spell or fleeing and you die.

>>10667273
Currently playing through Soul Nomad.
In standard non-Disgaea Nippon Ichi fashion, the gameplay isn't perfect by any means, but the characters are likeable and the heavy emphasis on match-ups between different unit types keeps the strategising interesting.

>>10669490
I played through it last year (after finally tracking down a copy of the game).
I thought it was very innovative and unique among JRPGs in that out of combat skills like negotiate are actually pretty important. Sanity being linked to MP as a stat that kills you once it reaches zero like HP is also interesting and it's a good way to represent the mental costs of using magic and it adds a layer of complexity to the game in that ghosts and incorporeal enemies can't be harmed by physical attacks so you have to blast all their MP away to kill them instead.

The story is interesting too, I really enjoyed the mystery and build-up to the eponymous demon.

There's some Jank to the game for sure, but if you want to play something with a setting and gameplay far removed from the conventions of the JRPG genre I recommend it.

I'm actually looking into buying a PC98 to play the sequel, Paracelsus no Maken.
(third game in the series is on the 3DO. I wonder why it was the last one?)

>>10667593
Sell me on this game. Can you tell me what it's about? What's the appeal? etc.
I'd be playing it in Japanese so you don't need to tell me about a translation.

>>10669490
Yup it's definitely interesting.
The first half of the game is basically a Haunted House RPG
Second Half is Fantasy RPG
and unfortunately all of the Eldritch Horror stuff happens in the last half hour.
Very cool game with some neat ideas.
I think the Dabbler was my favorite class

>>10667273
Finally got around to trying out Space Harrier and have been spending the week trying to clear it on and off and this is definitely one of those "where the fuck has this been all my life" games. Probably on my 50th go at this point and it's still tense and thrilling the whole way through. Can't understate the presentation of the thing, really turns a game that on paper is about as simple as you can get for a rail shooter into what feels like a real other-worldly adventure.
Specifically playing the 3DS port on PC. On fullscreen with the cabinet motion set it really is just wonderful.

>>10679612
yeah i really like the dungeons in that game

>>10679612
>filename

Visually amazing, but I got filtered by the difficulty. I'll probably give it another shot after reading a guide to learn more about the mechanics, but for now I'm moving onto GOD: Growth or Devotion or maybe Parasite Eve.
I wish it were a more traditional RPG, I'm not particularly a fan of SRPG's.

>>10679623
pretty sure you just responded to me by accident but I'm kinda tired right now so this reply had me losing my mind over what the fuck a space harrier dungeon was for a minute.

>>10679560
I played the game in Japanese.
I fear for what must have possessed the translator to turn the Japanese ディレッタント (dilettante) into 'dabbler'- I think that was a bad call (considering dilettante is in the English dictionary).

I went with that class too. It's probably the best one for the protagonist, very versatile.

I really loved the design for the Wendigo that appears in the last area of the game. Good spooky spritework.

>>10667506
I recognize this room from your CT play through post, keep it up based CRTanon

I’m enjoying NES dragon warrior 3/4, these original translations have a lot of charm and are of very high quality. So glad they were brought to the USA despite not selling well

>>10679678
god i really need to go to bed i completely missed the rpg part, sorry for fuckin up pthe thread!!

I'm playing Final Fantasy 6 blind for the first time and I'm really enjoying it so far. I recently played 4 and 5 too and I can see why people love it so much but I miss messing around wity job classes like in 5. I just got Strago in my party

>>10679786
I forgot to mention I absolutely love rpgs and media in general that mix scifi and fantasy so I have no idea why i didn't play it sooner.

>>10679653
Great OST as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dvtwyum0HuM

I played through this a few years ago, I too remember being confused by some of the mechanics but once I read up on them it was pretty easy to follow. One tip I can give you is that debuff spells can be extremely useful, especially against bosses. Just using one or two of them can turn a hopeless situation into a sure win. Also, assuming you are playing the English fan translation, be wary of any random glitches that might pop up, I recall at one point I managed to turn the game into an unplayable mess simply by using a revive item in battle.

>>10679786
I was playing FF6 for the first time recently too and had a really great time.
Unfortunately the batteries in the cartridge died halfway through and I lost my save.

Going to play it again someday.

>>10671394
more like translation derangement

>>10668973
Get ready for the Marionette to put a foot up your ass and wear you like a fucking shoe when you get to it. The circus fight is a major bump in difficulty. Hits harder than anything you're going to see for another chapter and more HP too. And infinite MP on top. It's a beast.

>>10667593
Same. Just started Scenario C.

>>10679935
Don't bother with 6. Game takes a massive nosedive at the halfway point. Like most FF games come to think of it.

>>10667273
>in local news, a japanese tourist brutally murdered all the hippopotami at the zoo

>>10680382
Ha really? The only one I played was 7 and I remember abandoning it about the time of the disk swap.

>>10679653
>I wish it were a more traditional RPG, I'm not particularly a fan of SRPG's.
The snes had tons of them, don't worry. Just play Lufia 2 or Metal Max Returns.

What games would you recommend if I specially enjoy character building and obsessing over stats? I've been playing some JRPGs but I really don't enjoy them.

>>10680382
Based cringe poster.

>>10667672
Diablo is not a role playing game.
Diablo is an action game with stats.

>>10680438
It depends on who you talk to but everyone has their own idea of what is ideal Final Fantasy. Some people love the first one most because it has solid gameplay and a minimum of story. Also the NES version is brutally hard compared to all later games. Some people like the cinematics of 4 and loved the cinematics of 6, but still working the classic gameplay model. Some folks loved the interactive FMV that started with 7 and never really eased up. Some people enjoyed the alternative gameplay style of 8, some hated it. A lot of people enjoyed the return to classic form in 9 but then the devs took things in a weird direction starting with X (10) and it never went back to the old style again.

If you played 7 and got bored with it, you might want to consider anything between 1 and 6, which had more action and less chatty chat and no videos. And these days the easiest way to do that is with the Pixel Remasters on Steam.

>>10680598
Baldurs Gate 1, Baldurs Gate 2, Icewind Dale, and Planescape Torment. All of them have remakes on Steam.

>>10679720
Are you playing in Australia?

Been playing through Fallout 1. I don't think I'll ever be strong or rich enough to do battle in this game. Only have 50-something days left.

>>10680598
Naturally Diablo and Fallout. Maybe Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

Funky looking water.

>>10678595
>>10681493
What game is this? It looks really cool.

>>10681672
Makakara for PC-88, though you'll find it as Mahakala in the Neo Kobe romset.

>>10681697
Thank you anon, I appreciate it. I'll check it out sometime.

For anybody who cares, Daggerfall is free on steam now.

>>10681738
? Daggerfall has been free for well over a decade.

>>10681753
Really? I never knew. Maybe it wasn't on steam perhaps.

>>10681827
Yeah Bethesda has given it away for free a while ago. I remember playing it in 2011 on my laptop. I want to say it was for the 15th anniversary. They also gave away Morrowind for it's 15th or 20th anniversary, not sure if they still do or not though as that was through Beths official launcher not their website/UESP like Arena and Daggerfall is.

>>10667593
>>10680308
where do i dl what i need for this (including iso)

>>10682359
I have some bad news for you.

>>10667273
what game is this lol

>>10667273
I started Secret of Mana and I'm not really liking it. I just got the axe. Revives are expensive

>>10683058
Already been answered.
If reading the thread is too hard at least look at the replies to the OP post, moron.

>>10680892
Yes. In other words, an arpg

I'll bump with some disappointment.
The copy of Makakara that is floating around online turns out to not be able to load the final 2 worlds (or at least the penultimate one). I thought maybe it was a mechanic considering the game's main themes, but it was not as the 1 playthrough on YT that actually manages to get past that section had the exact same word-for-word cutscene and my emulators were clearly trying to access the disk.

Turns out I didn't miss much anyway, you got to a statue that gets destroyed, find a pegasus, go into a cave to the final largely empty world to go into a 6 floor largely empty castle dungeon that ends with a fight with Asura. That fight can be cheesed with enough healing items (Magic costs HP) as he sulks in the corner and you spam magic at him. Shame about the final screenshots being different, but I'll live. Last section definitely seemed a bit rushed.

Anyway it's a decent, if somewhat long and confusing, Ultima clone. Sadly the large amounts of worlds make travel annoying and if you missed something you'll have to travel around to figure out what it was.
Stats were a bit weird with HP also being MP and there being a damage stat that slows you down as the count increases. Enemy magic was exceptionally bullshit. There was only 1 status condition in poison which does what you expect and also slows you down.
Overworld and dungeon graphics were rather limited and the dungeon's red colour definitely burns your eyes at first. CGs were nice for a 1986 PC-88 release and the different sprites for armour were cool too. Not the best I've played on it, but aside from it being a heavy notetaking and mapping game, I liked it. Heavy Eastern mysticism themed RPGs aren't actually that common.

Sci Fi NES Final Fantasy?
I was really intrigued, but I have to say it, it is not good.

>>10684448
I've beaten it, I enjoyed it for one thing: it was challenging, and I mean it remained challenging even after all the insane grinding. But yes it's not very good and it's a blatant Phantasy Star clone, plus the fan translation isn't even complete and it has a game breaking glitch that requires savestates to go through

Final boss was a pain but at least it had me strategize and rethink my stats distribution

Speaking of broken unfinished translations, I've been playing Bikkuriman World. There is an old 10% complete translation for the game but it crashes late in the game. So, I fixed that crash, fixed some more of the shit laying around, changed the font, translated (or at least, gave names to) all the characters, spells, items, and a few other gameplay related things; so now the game still has a shitty translation but gameplay is more understandable and the game can be completed

I did this for myself just so I could go through the game but I'll probably released it, though anonymously because this really is a shit job done on top of a shit job

as for the game, it's an ok DQ clone, nothing special.

>>10667718
Made it to Borgan and beat him, rough fight as usual but dang it's fun. This might be the one game Vic Ireland actually improved in more ways than he fucked it up.

>>10667718
Made it to Borgan and beat him, rough fight as usual but dang it's fun. This might be the one game Vic Ireland actually improved in more ways than he fucked it up.

I just got to the World of Ruin. I love when bad guys actually win even if only temporarily. The sombre desolate atmosphere is amazing. I had to keep Cid alive (what a weird minigame though.) I can't wait to explore the world.

>>10684472
Absolutely based. Please release it.

It's fucking hilarious to me that these threads have more activity than the dedicated rpg board, suck a shit log out of my ass Hiro.

Phantasy Star 2, started it immediately after beating the first game. It's a godsend not having first person dungeons anymore because I hate drawing my own maps but goddamn, they sure do love making them massive with lots of teleports to confuse things. It feels like Rolf is hard carrying the entire team with his dual wielding ceramic daggers, Nei and Rudolf suck ass by comparison.

>>10685274
rudolf gets good once you get him the shotgun

>>10685274
Physical wise:
Rolf > Rudolf > Anna > Hugh > Kain > Amy > Shir
Magic wise:
Amy > Rolf > Hugh > Shir > Anna > Kain > Rudolf
Overall:
Rolf > Hugh > Amy > Rudolf > Anna > Shir > Kain

>>10683072
I loved renting this game when i was 7, I tried to replay it ten yers ago and I fucking hate it. It's a complete piece of shit compared to Secret of Evermore and Seiken Densetsu 3. Party member AI is retarded, too many attacks that stunlock you, and the stupid fuck party members get stuck on random shit which holds up the screen and gets you stunlocked and killed.

If a game needs to be played multiplayer to be half decent it's fucking garbage.

>>10684371
Aw that sucks. I was really intrigued by the aesthetics of it.

>What retro RPG are you currently playing through?

Final Fantasy 1 on NES

>How are you finding it?

Entire party died within six minutes

Not gonna bother again until i figure out how how to avoid it

>>10685834
Did you not buy and equip items?

>>10685274
I actually preferred Phantasy Star 1 after I played the Sega AGES version with lowered encounter rate and nice map on the side. I should really embrace the drawing-your-own-maps lifestyle though because I loved doing it in the Etrian games. Maybe when I play Shining in the Darkness all the way through.

>>10685930
Nobody at the castle mentioned anything about buying equipped so i took it as a sign that i had to unlock the shop by finding it elsewhere on the map

Welp, time to give it another go tomorrow

lunar on SS

not bad

>>10686018
That is purely on you for not taking the time to explore the first village you start in.

baten kaitos, very original gameplay system but sidequests will be a hell from what i'm seeing.

>>10669334
>Dragon Quarter
The shittiest of the BoF franchise.

>>10685274
The only people lurking on vrpg seem to only care about two things: cooming and insulting anyone posting anything else

They should just nuke the board but then those people would probably come here too

>>10672649
>Mahakala/Makakara
What system is this game?

>>10684458
It is way too grindy for me, and it isn't even mindless grind where I can watch some stuff on other monitor because it is hard and one wrong step can kill off my party. Phantasy Star on the other hand I liked really much.

>>10685274
>>10686002
I liked Phantasy star more too. But I am partial to first person dungeon crawlers and compared to most Phantasy Star is lightweight. I was more intimidated by the dungeons in Phantasy Star II

>>10686226
>t.the shittiest player

Just got through with Realms so I will get back into taskmaker and tomb of the taskmaker

>>10686018
Anon, do you not explore every town in a JRPG to the best of your abilities as soon as you arrive there?

>>10686018
No problem, just roll 4 bl belts, no weapon needed.

>>10686018
You can enter the town houses too, not just the castle, it's 2 different places next to each others

>>10668990
So I just just started playing Romancing SaGa 2 and I'm trying not to fuck it up from the start.
My strategy is to have weaker characters defend in battle thinking this will help raise their DEF or HP.
Am I wrong for thinking this, does the game not work this way?
In battle when you defend does it raise the chance of gaining DEF or HP, or is it essentaily just a block with no real EXP benefits?

Decided to give Phantasie a shot after rolling through some Japanese libraries and seeing it there. It's the Atari ST version, which is one of the better ones. Went with an English version because it's the original language, still if I actually decide to go through the series I'll get back to a Japanese original anyway with the 4th game.

>>10687883
It doesn't work that way. Romancing Saga doesn't use the garbage FF2 stat leveling system.

>>10687894
Thanks for the speedy response amigo

>>10686018
For future reference, generally, if you're in an RPG and you have money, looking for gear to buy is step 1. If you don't have money then getting money is step 1 and gear is step 2.

Grabbed the HD remaster of the first Etrian Odyssey. Honestly (pleasantly) surprised how rough it is out the gate. I've played a good majority of the SMT games, I even finished a few, and, unless I'm missing something somehow, this seems way less forgiving. Having a lot of fun so far, especially once I realized I'm an idiot for using gamepad when I can just use mouse and keyboard.

>>10686018
>Nobody at the castle mentioned anything about buying equipped so i took it as a sign that i had to unlock the shop by finding it elsewhere on the map

>>10688206
I try not to bring them up much here because not retro, but the EO games are a ton of fun. They hit a really nice balance of giving you lots of classes and options on how to build a team and then throw great challenges that make you really have to think to over come them without just brute force, which can't carry you through the game regardless.

It's kind of a shame because I find the very cartoony anime style off putting, but game design wise it's much more interesting than the SMT games, and Iove me some SMT.

>>10688387
Actually the first game is 2007 which according to the sticky counts as retro for the sake of discussion on this board, only reason I brought it up.
Honestly I love the art style, but I get not being into it, especially if you're someone who is coming more from old school Western dungeon crawlers.

Dragon Quest 2 and Fire Emblem 3. both are getting annoying I should drop them and just play chrono trigger but I'm stubborn I guess. trying to get the full super famicom rpg experience.

>>10688223
>unlock the shop by finding it elsewhere on the map
He is thinking outside of the box. It is a sign of a genius. Mostly.

been playing morrowind but I'm kind of on the hunt for some sort of handheld action rpg sort of game. I just want to adventure and get loot in something old and charming. Don't really want a turn based game.

>>10689293
>Fire Emblem 3, annoying
Which part?

I'm trying to get into Dragon Quest so I've started playing the games in order and I'm on DQ2.

I'm at the harbor town and I've heard the game goes to shit when you get the boat, is this true?

>>10689503
>I'm at the harbor town and I've heard the game goes to shit when you get the boat, is this true?

It's the best part of the game for me, with real freedom of movement. But some people hate exploration in RPGs, they feel lost the moment there isn't a landmark on the screen

As long as you listen to what NPCs say and remember it or take notes and use a world map (the game came with one) you'll be fine

>>10689503
>I'm at the harbor town and I've heard the game goes to shit when you get the boat, is this true?

Not exactly but depending on which version you're playing there is some fairly cryptic shit that could take you a while to find. The real point where the game goes to shit is the Cave to Rhone.

>>10689529
>depending on which version you're playing
I'm playing the SFC fan translation

>>10689529
>cryptic

hOw WeRe yOu SuPPOseD tO Know??!!

>>10689531
>SFC fan translation

well then balancing is a joke in that version, you shouldn't have any issue. If you have a glitch in the volcano dungeon, waste your money and the glitch should be gone.

This game never ends, does it? It feels like I've been playing it for eternity.

>you are the automap
The simplicity is kinda nice, not like most 1st person dungeon crawlers of this game's time have much interesting graphics so you might as well do this and add a room description if you are switching to a combat screen anyway. Speaks more to the imagination. Not everything gets mapped, hidden passages will remain light grey and message tiles are not indicated with a green +.
I feel like I'm way too strong though, is that normal? I did roll good stats on most everyone.

>>10689452
mission 16 book 1. had to restart a few times for dumb reasons, but I'm not that good with sacrificing units and I'm trying to recruit everyone. first FE but I played a lot of advance wars.

>>10689293
CT is worth your time, but if you want to taste it completely play first the snes final fantasy games.

>>10690667
I want a translation for Momotaru Densetsu Gaiden (among others)

>>10690667
>first the snes final fantasy games.
that was sort of my plan but my friend really wants me to play CT. I also have FF dawn of souls on GBA that might come before the SNES FF games for me.

>>10672823
>DQV
GOOd times!

>>10690968
>>10672823
DQV PS2 is probably the best video game remake I've ever played, and I despise video game remakes

>>10690968
>>10690989
What's different besides graphics in the PS2 version? I liked DQ5 in general.

>>10691039
You have 4 niggers in the row instead of 3.

>>10691061
I ended up mostly using my family in the end which is one of the things I consider a low point of the game. Giving you all these options for recruiting monsters and then both gameplay and narrative wise being strongly encouraged to just kick them to the curb.

>western RPG
>you can kill God
It's entirely optional though, basically a trap in a later dungeon, but you are likely to be powerful enough to just fuck Zeus up with some magic and get some nice gear.

FF8 at the moment

About to fight the final bosses but before I do I'm getting the final weapons and the characters all built up. One thing I'm curious about though, is it better to evenly spread the GF's so all the characters stats are opened or should I stack the GF's that are proficient in specific things onto the characters that I want to fill those roles ? (Ie: tank, mage, warrior)

>>10680908
FF1 becomes very easy with the right party. It's only hard if you don't realize that you can have multiple copies of each class in your party. Since the Fighter is the objectively the strongest class, you can run through the game on easymode with a party of three Fighters and one White Mage (for healing). It's a little boring though so a party with two Fighters is a nice compromise that makes the game a lot easier but still gives you some flexibility for other classes in your party. There's a whole subculture of FF1 fans who try to complete the game with insane party combinations like four White Mages (extremely difficult) or four Black Mages (no healing except potions).

Getting cucked by random hp growth alone makes me kind of dislike FF1.

>get to the end of another JRPG
>everything just feels like work now
>all this management

Gonna bet it all on Breath of Fire 3. If that doesn't sell the genre to me then DQXI was just a fluke and rpg's just aren't for me. I'll never get over how annoying it is to love everything about them but the actual gameplay eventually just becoming a chore.

>>10692027
Of you haven't tried SMT give Nocturne a shot. I never felt like it was tedious at all. I hated turn based RPGs for years but I played that and now I've played most of the SMT games and am working through other RPGs I missed. Good luck with your journey.

>>10692027
BOF3 is amazing BUT the beginning/childhood is a struggle. Pick another game.

>>10692075
I appreciate the recommendation but I'm an ol' Christian boy and those games get a bit to into dark territory for me, though I know they are fun.

Just kills me cuz I love so many things about these old rpg's.
>phenomenal music that often has me downloading the whole ost later
>incredible art direction
>charming stories that hook you
>COMFY prerendered backgrounds
>cinematic in the right kind of ways

But inevitably I approach the end and just get burnt out to the point where they feel like a chore to play. Sucks when so much clicks with you but ultimately you just aren't having fun and would rather just look up the story you've got left on youtube. I've attempted so many now and somehow only DQXI managed to escape this issue... and I worry that it's mostly because the game was pretty easy and you could just fast forward through most encounters.

>>10692101
BoF 4? FFIX? I'm also open to somebody recommending what they think is one of the greats. BoF 3's spritework just looked particularly nice and caught my eye but I'm down for anything.

>>10692116
I'd stay away from ARPG's though as I know I like them and am mostly trying to find more turn based games that I like.

>>10692109
What games have you tried? It sounds like you get bored because the game is longer than your interest in playing it, which isn't uncommon because JRPG's tend to be longer games. The solution is simply to just play shorter games. Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario are fairly quick to beat.

Or you could fall down the RPGmaker rabbit hole, and those tend to be really short since they're often made by one guy. You can finish 'Off' in a brisk weekend, and Space Funeral is only a couple hours long.

>>10692109
I'm a fairly recent convert, myself, and it's something I've had to consider, honestly. I can respect that. Please tell me you're not protestant. I'll say I've been playing BoF IV and quite enjoying it, my first time with the series. Seemed a little basic at first but once I figured out how the rows system works and that you could instantly swap people at will for free it really opened things up and I started having a lot of fun with the combat.

>>10692140
I did enjoy the first Super Star Saga. Maybe I'll go ahead and go for Paper Mario 64 and TYD. Been meaning to get those off the backlog forever anyways. Also, might try throwing some old Tales of games in there to see if it really is the length or just that I get bored with the gameplay.
>>10692143
[Spoiler]non-denominational leaning charismatic. Basically, if it's in the Bible and I've read the full verse in context, I believe it. Lot of the charismatic circle takes verses out of context to simply work for them.[/spoiler]

And I'll go ahead and download BoF4 now (might as well get the patched version from CDRomance while it's still up). I've given it my college try, but like STALKER, I'm thinking most of these just aren't the games for me which really sucks considering how amazing they are. I think I get how people who always wanted to play fighting games but just can't feel.

Post World of Ruin Final Fantasy 6 is so much fun. I keep stumbling onto quests to get everyone back. Stumbling into the dungeon by getting eaten by the worm monster and getting a character I never heard of before was a standout for me. And finding all the clues for 'treasure' which I don't even know what it is yet. Its just a really fun sense of exploration. It went from beint so sombre and melancholic to uplifting as hell when you find Setzer.

>>10667273
Star Ocean 2 (PSX). It’s so intensely better than SO1 or 3. How is this from the same company?

I think I’ll play the remake at some point, by all accounts it’s one of the rare good remakes.

>>10692635
I don’t think any other RPG has matched World of Ruin’s sense of adventure. What other game has so many epic scenarios that you can encounter non-linearly? And without quest markers, imagine that.

>>10690792
Many jrpgs do specific things better than CT, but overall, it is the GOAT. If you play that or FF6 first, it will feel like going downhill after that.

>>10691402
FF1 is very boring. What surprises me is that no hack retrofitted FF5's jobs into the game.

>>10692635
>>10692672
The amount of content this game has is incredible, and they really captured that sense of dread and despair very well. I always endure the first linear part because of how amazing the second part feels. It just goes to show you how everything went wrong when people dislike this part because there is no more "character development", despise the massive amount of things and freedom you get. It is like an open world with actual content. You can even find a secret dungeon with two espers will traveling underground through the desert inside the castle. FF6 is overkill, maybe FF7 has better production values and movies and their characters feel more alive, but as far as gameplay and adventure and actual exploration goes, nothing matches FF6 post apocalypses.

Just beat DQ3, a really fun and pure old school JRPG experience. It's simple and flawed but has a hell of a lot of charm and isn't much of a slog to get through like DQ2. Basically the formula that was pioneered in the first two games is refined in DQ3 to a very enjoyable degree. Actually having played through DQ1 & 2 in the last few months I think I'll take a break from JRPGs for a while, at least turn based ones. Feel like my grinding muscles need to rest for a bit. Might go for an ARPG next.

Also besides the dungeon stretch this was the most hype moment in the game for me, shame its so underutilised

Finished FF1 NES. I've now finished the NES/PS1/GBA/PSP versions. PS1 is far and away the best. Inventory management alone is reason enough to avoid the NES version.

>>10693040
>Inventory management alone is reason enough to avoid the NES version.

Having to discard one of your equipment just to find out what's in a chest is the fucking worst in the late game. I don't know how they screwed this up, iirc even DQ2 had a prompt telling you what's in the chest before asking you if you want to discard something

That was Phantasie 1, a nice little game for 1985 though it is definitely helped by the graphical overhaul of the 1986 Amiga/Atari ST versions with them being the top of the pile in my opinon.

It does play slower though, having certain parts, like the town UI, be entirely mouse driven. The DOS version tries to be like these, but has a worse looking town and decided to use purple/cyan. It does use the slightly less painful yellow/green for everything else, but is otherwise largely the same.
The C64/Atari 8-bit sit neatly inbetween these Western 16-bits and the Apple II with a similar screen layout and building icons instead of text.

The Japanese versions have brighter colours to the Western 16-bits and opt to go for a text-based town, mainly to add some flavour CGs to all the options. The battle screen is retarded though. Tiny sideview with equally tiny sprites to allow for the menu to be there at all times.

Aside from that they all largely play the same anyway. I liked the the dungeons. Graphically they are literally a map in every version, but you actually interacted with it. A more tabletop like experience, though ofcourse still very limited in your options, it's novel at least and a nice break from the more typical ways dungeons get handled. Not having to worry about inventory space in a dungeon is nice too.

Combat is fine. It sits neatly between spam A to attack with a few encounter being genuinely dangerous, but it's mostly an easy game to get through. Trash does appear in huge quantities (up to 15), but they'll miss or hit you for 1 damage as you slaughter them. They do have 3 rows so you might need to switch attack types. Stronger enemies get bigger sprites and some more attacks to make up for it. Offensive magic is very strong for both you and the enemy.

The game does set you up for the 2nd,so I guess that's next. The image I grabbed for the ST was already used and not sanitized btw, keep that in mind.

>>10693050
Importing doesn't seem a big deal apart from some initial flavour it seems. My characters start at level 0 with 0 HP though. Luckily it costs 0 to train them to level 1. I guess some money and XP got scaled down to give you an extra level and some cash. Except for my elves though, they need a bit more XP.
I don't like what I'm reading about plot critical random encounters. Aside from that, mostly more of the same.

>>10672823
Can you elaborate on why DQV PS2 is better than SFC? I want to play DQV but the PS2 version looks ugly as hell compared to the comfy old graphics and it's putting me off.

On the topic, where should I start with DQ? Never touched any of them. Considering IV after someone mentioned it in the thread. Also are the mobile ports as atrocious as I imagine?

>>10667273
Just as good as I remember. FromSoftware greatness.

>>10694445
Was just considering replaying this. Kinda want to finally finish Ever grave first tho.

>>10686018
Just a tip, videogames used to come with manuals and maps. You were expected to refer to them. DL the FF1 manual asap, map and equipment chart too.

>>10692976
DQ3 is the first one that manages to actually capture that early WRPG feel imo.

>got relatively lucky with 1 of the random ones being found in a sleep encounter
I was already on my way to my final non-underworld dungeon, so I guess it wasn't that quick, but it's something. It wasn't very strong, but considering it can pop-up anywhere as you travel that's probably for the best.

>>10692976
There are many things I think DQ2 does better than 3 and I'll never understand when people who say 2 is a slog compared to 3.
2 is short and goes to the point, meanwhile 3 has identical mechanics but makes everything bigger. As a random example take the walking speed: it's identical in both games, and it is quite slow. In 2 this isn't a problem because every town and castle is compact, the level design goes to the fucking point. But in 3? Every town is gigantic for no reason with a tons of empty space everywhere and it takes forever to go anywhere and do anything. This wouldn't be so bad except that you need to go to the king to save.

Another example is the world map exploration especially once you get the boat. In 2, as long as you listen to NPCs, they always point you in the right direction and the next logical destination on the world is always close. 3's world map on the other hand is all over the place with a lot more back & forth and distance to make. What's worse is that once you get the boat the NPCs send you almost straight to fucking Jipang (first Tedanki, then Jipang) except Jipang's dungeon and especially its boss, Orochi, is way above the player's level at that point, even though there are several easier places to go through still at that point. None of which are pointed to you or are the closest next logical destination.

But at least it's not 5 or 6's world map, if you think getting a new vehicle only to have only 1-2 places to use it for is disappointing, you'll be disappointed a lot in 5 and 6.

>>10694354
1 and 2 gbc

Ff6 world of ruin guy here...

>get to the top of the magic tower
>beat magic master
>everyone only has 2500 hp
>ultima kills us all

Its over...

>>10696081
>He doesn't know the secret.

>>10669334
One of the best RPGs of all time.

>>10696081
You would need to do an unreasonable amount of grinding to tank it. I don't remember if magic evade blocks Ultima, but you can just use Reraise.

>>10687892
The Phantasie games are not originally Japanese. They were popular enough in Japan to get the Japan-only Phantasie IV.

Finished up 2. I guess it was more difficult, but not for the right reasons. A lava tile maze where you will take damage even on the proper path to the final dungeon and needing to do 2 trips to it (which you'd likely have to do anyway) is a bit of a dick move. This combined with the large amount of strong fixed encounters makes it a a slog. Still you can greet these fixed encounters to get out without fighting quite easily (it doesn't waste your turn even if it fails). In this game you don't actually have to fight the "final boss" and the God (evil this time) isn't actually as much of a pushover as Zeus, clearly trying to tell you not to actually attempt to fight them.
Aside from that, it's largely the same as 1 in all mechanics. There's a throw mechanic I did not use at all added in. You're gathering up key items again, you have an underworld and an overworld, but you have 2 less dungeons. To "make up" for that you need to find and kill various legendary beasts, most stationary or summonable, but 2 entirely random in the overworld and any dungeon (overworld only?). The scrolls in game do kinda tell you this.
Then the game sets-up again for the sequel and teases you with actual new items and spells.

>>10697398
Yes, that's what I wrote. I just said I noticed it as I was browsing a Japanese system's library.

>>10667273
I'm playing through Idea no Hi/Day of the Idea. While the gameplay is a bit of a slog, the story events, subsystems, vehicles you get, delightful comic graphics for battles, and genuinely beautiful OST makes it an easy pick for my top 5 favorite SNES JRPGs. If it had ever been translated it would've been remembered as fondly as Earthbound is. There have been several stretches of gameplay that were somewhat exhausting or repetitive, but that comes with the territory, and overall I can't give it anything but an A+ in terms of sheer enjoyment. There have been so many moments where I laughed really hard, dropped my jaw in shock, and even genuinely got emotional over the storyline. I sincerely hope it gets a fan translation some day but people always lump it in with Maka Maka despite Idea being a genuinely delightful title and Maka Maka being... Maka Maka.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4I-sBzQz1o

>>10697952
>If it had ever been translated it would've been remembered as fondly as Earthbound is.
Fuck no, it wouldn't have. I dropped this game somewhere after getting the sumo wrestler because I started being disgusted by the puking enemies and other weird/grotesque shit. The whole art style is just so off-putting, and the game was depressing as fuck, at least what I played of it.

>>10697960
>the game was depressing as fuck, at least what I played of it
It IS depressing as fuck, but it's also extremely goofy. All of the characters have some incredibly tragic bullshit going on with them (why the fuck did they put Rinko through all of that, man) but it's also got really silly moments. The weird/grotesque shit would be a turnoff for most people but I dunno. There's a scene where a guy gets bit on the ass by a snake and you can suck the poison out of the bite for him. You can equip panties on your head for protection and people will react to you being a pervert. The sumo starts out kind of scrawny and pathetic, and then you feed him chanko stew to make him big and fat which powers him up and changes his sprites. You drill holes in the underworld and one of them leads into a women's locker room, where they all freak out and call you a pervert.
And yet, the game starts with your fucking dog being electrocuted to death and only gets more depressing as it goes. It's kind of Mother 3 before Mother 3, to me. I guess it really isn't for everyone but it definitely has an audience that deserves to see it.

If Japanese isn't a problem for me, should I suck it up and learn to deal with Saturn emulation for Linda Cube, or is the PS1 version fine?

FF6

On to Phantasie III. The first 2 games were ported by the American-Polish venture LDW/California Dreams which focused on exploiting the cheap polish wages of otherwise respectable talent, the more the world changes the more it stays the same. They were fine ports, especially with the other option being Wood's original Apple II versions which again are fine games for the Apple II, it's just that the Apple II was getting a bit old and couldn't even really compete with the other 8-bits anymore.
Phantasie III's ports in the west are all handled by Westwood as contract work which is a bit of a noticable step-up in quality for the presentation. Music too, but that is only something for the title screen in these games.
As for the Japanese ports, they are kinda like Wizardry ports, being largely non-Japanese friendly (though not entirely copying the script, scrolls are still in Japanese for example) and all ports have adopted an OS GUI look, like Windows 3.x games. It is graphically just worse than the western 16-bits now, though it still has some small CGs.

Notably It seems to have added a limb damage mechanic, you can pick skill attributes to increase yourself after a level and it has bows. Aside from that it again seems largely the same.

You can transfer character from the previous LDW ports and it mostly works fine, but at least for the ST version my character names are now cut-off after 6 characters. At least this time I start at level 1 and you still seem to get a bit of a bonus in money and XP. All my characters are of noble social status too and it shows the character's game of origin. I assume there might be some small amounts of flavour text as before.

>>10697952
And in fact, I managed to finish it tonight.
Genuinely one of my favorite games ever made now. As stated in prior posts, I'm sure people out there would be filtered by its fuck-ugly enemies and depressing story, but for me it's an actual god game. I give it an A+ and I wish there were more games like it.
My one point of sadness with the game is that there's a missable secret party member that also ends up being plot relevant to one of the other party members and makes the epilogue of the game a little bit more satisfying. I knew about this when I was playing, but I didn't realize he'd end up being a missable, and I saved after that point. D'oh.

Still, this is a game that will stick with me for a long time. Don't even know what to play next.

>>10699030
It's one of the top JRPGs for the system for sure. Amazing ambition, amazing execution. I wouldn't look down on Maka Maka though.

>>10697960
As if Earthbound isn't famous for its depressing undertones and bosses that are sentient puke.

>>10698971
I definitely defeated the Black Lord in 1 though...
I guess not everything transfers over properly. The second game did get it correct, but maybe getting the ending in 2 messes it up with a different value that is ok for native characters from 2, but not for already transferred characters from 1 as the origin is different. I'd assume it's just a simple ending gotten yes/no flag with an origin check, but I guess not unless the other games just did +1 to the value for lord knows what reason. Doesn't really matter, I'll just roleplay as Filmon being the senile old sage instead.

>>10699090
I'm a guy who can overlook a lot of jank in a game if it's good enough in other areas. While Idea does fall short in having pretty easy combat (once Mikoto starts getting her better healing skills + Miracle it's pretty much impossible to lose) and its equipment system (the only time you really mess with gear elements is for the hot/cold sections), it's just pure, unadulterated fun. Every time I'd think "they're not really going there, are they?" they went there. Every time I thought I knew what would happen next, there was a surprise. If the menus were a little less clunky, and a few gripes were resolved (was really disappointed that I couldn't bring Raigan OR a pet to the final dungeon, but I guess they'd both have made the final boss way too easy) it'd be an actual 10/10 that I would recommend to others.

As for Maka Maka, I'm checking out a playthrough on youtube and it certainly seems... Unique. I'm assuming you've played it through, yeah? Are the bugs as game-breaking as they say? If not I might have to give it a spin myself.

Been playing Dragon Ball 3 on Famicom.
I made myself a little romhack which replaces the defense numbers at the bottom right of cards from kanji to dots, and the kanjis in the middle of the cards by icons (most of which I borrowed from the DB2 translation, I only made one myself). All text is still in Japanese but at least combat is a little more understandable for baka gaijins such as myself.

>go in dungeon, character from previous game is dead
>a dungeon exists entirely for his funeral (no, they didn't have massive characterization)
>loads of elites gathers to mourn this great adventurer
>big bad teleports in and lightning bolts most of them to ash and taunts any survivors (you take damage twice too)
Finally, a sensible villain.

>>10694445
I like how stupid powerful you get towards the end of the game.
I still need to play the PS2 sequel one of these days

>>10699153
>(once Mikoto starts getting her better healing skills + Miracle it's pretty much impossible to lose)
I think that's actually an overblown criticism and that the difficutly remains relatively static. At the end of the game you're constantly spamming powerful abilities to kill enemies before they get the chance to stunlock you with status ailments, and instead of forcing you to fill all your inventory space with MP restorables at every turn, the game does you a huge favor by simply giving you that MP restore ability. It's actually good design that happens to fly in the face of boring (always MP conserving) convention.

Maka Maka is funny, ambitious, gorgeous, and the fact that it's fully playable despite the massive amount of glitches just makes it more impressive (and more funny). Definitely try it out.

>>10686002
Shining In The Darkness is great. There's also Shining The Holy Ark on Saturn which you can emulate. I played that recently, never having finished it when I had the physical copy. kronos emulator worked great for me.

>>10689710
Is that the GBA version?

And that's Phantasie III done. Seems this copy wasn't exactly perfect either. I assume the "The Sorcerer" prompts were clumsy copy protection circumvention (it keeps asking occasionally, instead of once, but the game does function). 2 other issues were that I couldn't save one dungeon (Dragon Cave, apparently its map save file was protected) and the ending Zeus CG is kinda corrupted. Still the game finishes fine.

Apparently I was very evil because I destroyed some vases in the evil castle? It doesn't actually matter as the evil/good endings are a choice of who you pick to fight at the end. I also never got the Divine spell, but that knowledge apparently carried over from my previous save too so I could get the good ending. Bit janky.
Here's the ending text, nothing very interesting. Before you get to see that you get to see a majestic looking Zeus in the Atari ST/Amiga versions with Ode to Joy playing. Then you press any key and get this shoved in your face. The C64 actually makes a cutscene out of it.

It was the better looking version of the trilogy, but it felt rather uninspired. None of them are very long, even if you don't know what to do as the scrolls hint quite decently, but the entire world felt very small. Not that it matters with how the transportation spell works in this series. The limb mechanic seemed cool, but quickly got annoying as everything and everyone was being delimbed at any point. Higher healing spells just grow limbs back too.
The final dungeon was a letdown as well, the only gimmicks were that you had to cross lava to get there (not as bad as the menagerie in II) and the layout was a square with secret passages. Felt like Wood wanted to get this game over with.

I finished SMT1 a while back and was really surprised how much I liked it.

Should I bother with these first 2 or just go to SMT2? I have a pretty high tolerance for old janky rpg mechanics so that’s not an issue, I just wanna know if they’re genuinely good games or just generic wizardry clones

>>10700395
Go for it, they're great, especially 2. If you use fan translations make sure you have the latest version in case of 2 and in both cases make savestate backups

I still have no idea if one of the crash that an enemy can cause in the late game is a bug or an actual intended game mechanic but apart from that I don't think they're janky, and they bring so much of their own things to the table it's hard to call them Wizardry clones

>>10700395

>>10700417
>>10700406
These look a lot better than the SNES games. Having more than 2 colors in the game's palette is crazy.

>>10667367
Hint. In Soul Hackers put points into AGI and Strength. Nemissa as your MAG main. The game becomes a cakewalk

>>10700395
I don't think MT1 is very good but 2 is. It also feels more polished than SMT1 in some ways. MT2 feels like a finished game.

>>10667273
Which game?

Wizardry Gaiden IV is underrated.

>>10699790
I'll put it on my list after all then, I was considering watching an LP just because I'm afraid of having a bug fuck up my progression or something but I'll take your word for it. Next retro game I'll play is gonna be Linda (saturn version I guess).

Been playing a shit ton of Wizardry 8 lately, and wanted to pick up 1 since I haven't played it in ages.
Got the recent remake on Steam (pic related), and its alright. I do appreciate that every gameplay change has a toggle to turn it on/off. But there are some interface things I fucking hate with it. It feels made for controllers/touch screens yet is only a desktop release currently, and the controls are somewhat annoying even if you use a controller. Also a lot of the portrait are just ugly in general.
Thinking about restarting on another version. I'm fine playing with a controller if need be since with an emulator I at least can remap anything I want.
Whats more recommended for Wiz1-3, the Super Famicom or PSX ports? Or is there any other ones worth attention?

>>10700417
I never really got far in MT2, shit looks fucking awesome, really need to revisit it

>>10683072
It's a very annoying game to play. I tend to be obsessive about finishing games. Especially RPGs that I already invested many hours into. This one was just good enough to bear through to the finish but I don't think I'd recommend it to anyone.

>>10700796
Keep in mind that on Tales Of Mad Overlord with Digital Eclipse, they mentioned they are still working on it, the interface and controller things are not final yet it's like 75% done. I am sure they are expecting to get this out to Consoles soon so it does make sense they would have to do a better job on consoles and the interface must be up to par.

>>10700934
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate their effort and the idea of having the Apple II version overlayed (Wish that was more fleshed out), and some of their rebalancing seems like it would be rather nice and decently thought out (although I'm playing with it all off). I'm just a bit beside myself on how rough navigating some of the interface is, early access or not. Its odd that you can have the Apple II overlay and yet you _can't_ use the Apple II controls/menus. It seems superfluous currently.
I'm placing the Digital Eclipse version squarely on the back burner to return to later at a 1.0 release. Probably pick it back up then and try out the finalized rebalancing of the game too. Till then, think I'm going to do Wiz1 on the Super Famicom.

>>10700964
Yeah i am doing the same, it just needs more time in the oven for early access to clean out the interface and make it up to modern standards, it's probably the last thing they are going to do near release.

I just started the Tales of Series.
Decided to start with the remake of the first game since it's been translated.
I played through all of the Final Fantasy series and then the Pokemon series so it's nice to start a new RPG series fresh, especially since I'm not replaying any of the games and coming at them as a newcomer to the series.
Never played a Tales of game before but it's pretty fun and enjoying the story so far.
The combat is taking a little getting used too but it's getting smoother as I go.
I love Valkyrie Profile and was glad to find out Motoi Sakuraba was the composer for the Tales of soundtracks as well.

>>10701309
Ya goofed, the first Tales game was actually Phantasia. It doesn't super matter where you start though, IMO. Tales is a very homogenous series, where once you've played two or three of em you get it and they all start to feel kind of samey (at least IMO). Still it's a fun series, very much the "you know what you're getting, just take it easy and enjoy" type of games and yeah the OSTs are usually great. Hope you enjoy dude!

>>10700429
Don't play the SNES versions, they're soulless remakes by a b team

>>10698171
>should I suck it up and learn to deal with Saturn emulation
step 1: download mednafen
step 2: open the iso/cue with mednafen
That's it really.

>>10690254
You're not supposed/ expected to keep everyone alive in earlier FE games. You're only hurting yourself. Maybe this will help you be okay with units dying and help you enjoy the game more:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9srWRs-O_3w

>>10702397
This obsession over "the player's time", just like like all those /vr/ "my time is valuable" posters who use that to justify savestate, I will never understand it but it's fascinating. I wonder what causes them to think that way, we had just as much "time" as they did and we didn't have everyone thinking that way. Maybe the answer is just that they're out of time because they must spend 5 hours on social media every day.

>>10702414
I think you're misunderstanding the point.
It's about making the player choose between "do I really want to play this level again" or "do I want to let this character die". It's not really about the time itself.

>>10673045
Finished the game. It was fun; I liked it. Necron was stupid story-wise but I enjoyed the fight. Don't think I'll bother with Ozma, but I might try for Excalibur 2 once I whittle down my backlog some more.

>>10701974
Yeah, after I made that post I went and did my own research, decided to pick Saturn, and then figured out emulation. People used to complain so much about it that I assumed it'd be a pain in the ass, but it was surprisingly simple.

>>10702397
nta but after watching that video i guess i understand FE a little better now. i am indeed a person who generally stops playing those games because a character died too late into a level i was already frustrated with and didn't want to redo. i think one of the big reasons people end up resetting (at least in the gba games and onward, which is where i assume a lot of people start) is BECAUSE the amount of characterization that gets added, the amount of investing you can do in each unit, supports, etc. i think if i was playing an older FE title where characters have one scene in the game where they're introduced and are never relevant again, i would be able to be okay with letting em die.
also to consider: a new player to the series might not realize that they're going to continue getting new units to replace old ones with right up til nearly the end of the game, so they might think if they let their archer die they'll just never get another one.
interesting stuff! i may have to try fe again sometime.

>>10702397
i used to reset all the time but sometimes, on a harder map, one of the shitter units i don't care about, or someone i got bad luck on, needs to make the ultimate sacrifice for my campaign.


if it is a unit with good stats though, well, im not gonna just let them die. though i would probably lose without them anyway

>>10702472
I understood the point, I was just making a side comment because of the youtuber's emphasis on "MY PRECIOUS TIME IS LOST!"

also that 17mins video could be summarized by
>if it's a shit character that dies, it doesn't matter
No fucking shit. People reset when strong/important characters die.

I also disagree with the idea that the opponent's AI not prioritazing Marth is an objective improvement. He's a power house, the general of the army. Letting the player do dumb moves with him is a casualization.

>>10701309
In my experience Phantasia and Destiny feel separate from the rest of the series, but I didn't play the Destiny remake so it may be similar.


>>10684923
I decided to take a break from Lunar since I want to savor it and the next section are side quests. Instead I picked up FF3 DS again which I really really liked but in typical fashion put down at the last dungeon and then years passed, so off to finish at last and very much enjoying it again.

>>10667593
Same here. Or rather I was. I lost about one or two hours of progress due to a bug. For the second time. I decided to put the game on hold until the translation is more polished.
>>10669490
I beat it on Halloween. It was fun but I personally found the mansion to be the best part of the game. The ending sequence was quite good as well. Everything between, not so much.

>>10692027
Play some Japanese SRPG's like Final Fantasy Tactics, Fire Emblem, etc.

>>10692027
Also I approach rpg's as a super casual thing. A single one can take me a couple months to finish because they are games I just play every now and then. I feel like if you put in huge long sessions it is way easier to get burnt out of them, but if you play for 30 minutes to an hour before bed every now and then it's harder to get burnt out.

>just finished SMRPG remake
>been playing smt 1 off n on
>almost done with SO2 remake (guardians are kicking my ass)
i tried persona 2, but the way you recruit demons is retarded, and im not into persona 3 with doing boring high school shit.

Final Fantasy IV ULTIMA. Neo Bahamat is driving me insane.

>>10667273
I just beat Faxanadu and it is everything that Zelda 2 should have been. Really a good game. I wish I had known about the fan remake though.

Are there many post-SNES JRPGs that are very light on story/cutscenes/dialogue and focused more on build-your-party gameplay? Looking for games that are closer in spirit to FF1 with more variety, ideally bird's eye view rather than first-person dungeon crawler. I'm just too old now, I fall asleep reading/listening to all the obnoxious long quirky anime stuff, I wanna play with numbers.

>>10667273
This is basically modern day Colombia

>>10704801
You want the Saga series (or literally any JRPG that Kawazu has had his hand in).

>>10704801
As >>10704990 suggested, the SaGa games will be good for that. Also check out Metal Max Returns (fan translated) on SNES, which is a cool game very heavily focused on customizing tanks.

goemon, good

>>10667273
I've recently started and am currently enjoying, 'Digital Devil Story - Megami Tensei', OP, trying to grind enough to be able to kill Bug and Cerberus to continue.

>>10705693
huh, I always thought Bug couldn't be killed by maybe I'm wrong. As for Cerberus, you want him to join you

>>10705694
Ugh, really, are you sure? I've been playing without a guide, and just thought he had huge HP.

>>10705741
I'm not sure but I remember trying and ended up giving up

Guy from >>10700796
Been playing The Super Famicom version of Wizardry 1. Been having a blast, really like the version. On the 4th floor currently and just got the Blue Ribbon after the bullshit fight in the room prior.
Been a long time since I've actually done maps on graph paper, its really meditative.

>>10705865
i just wish this game had better music. it sounds like it was thrown together at the last minute. the NES versions have way better arrangements.

the remake on steam is also based on the NES music iirc

>>10705693
Is that the translation with the game-freezing bug? I hope you remember to watch out for that specific enemy.

Almost done with Dragon Quest 3 (SFC).

This game is a masterpiece.

>>10705891
I actually quite like the art and music in it. But, I also played a bunch of the NES one many years back so maybe I also like that its new to me.

>>10667273
Been a big fan of Earthbound and Mother 3 for a long time now, but never got around to finishing the original NES game, working on fixing that now.

On one hand, it's impressive how much of Earthbound and Mother 3's DNA originated here, it really does feel like it's from the same series (which I know sounds dumb to say but most franchises had a more dramatic mixup going from NES to SNES)

On the other hand though...Jesus Christ it's a slog. I feel like half of the playtime's just dealing with random encounters that pop up literally every five steps at times. Feels like I'm playing a pokemon romhack where every floor tile's been replaced with grass. I wouldn't mind the relentless encounters so much if they weren't mostly low-levels that give me 2xp a battle, wasting my time for next to nothing.

I'm not saying I dislike this game...but man, Earthbound was a hell of a step up.

>>10706114
Mother>Mother 2

>>10706114
>>10706208
yeah it's actually my favorite one in terms of the writing and mood. mother 1 is genuinely grim at times.

>>10706208
>>10706217
The plot and tone are actually one of the parts I really like about it, and I'd probably agree that 1 was better than 2 if the gameplay were less punishing. It really does feel like the majority of the gameplay is grinding just to have a chance at being effective

>>10706114
The only time I ever really had to grind in M1 was at the very start to get lifeup for Ninten, other than that I found the difficulty curve pretty smooth. The final dungeon is hard but manageable.

>>10706114
>half of the playtime's just dealing with random encounters

Because random encounters are the game. Welcome to 8-bit RPGs. I suggest you start to understand what it is people like about random encounters in these games or stop playing. The game barely has bosses too (or they give you freebies ways to dispose of them) so it really is all about the random encounters.

>t's impressive how much of Earthbound and Mother 3's DNA originated here

There are things which exist in 2 "just because they were in 1" even though they make no sense in 2. In 1 the melodies are embedded into the story, in 2 they're just there. The PSI powers also make sense in 1 for instance.

>>10705895
you mean the skull enemy in the late game? I was wondering if it was a glitch and if it was a translation glitch. I'd just run away from it whenever I'd see it. Just an extra enemy to watch out for and which can potentially make you reset on top of the ones that lower your level.

Playing Wizardry 8 because everything new sucks. I only want a proper game and not a consoleized moviegame with handholding, netflix characters and consecutive cutscenes

>>10667506
Cross was my favorite game growing up. Drawn in by the art on the box, the intro sucked me in like I was ready for a grand adventure. I got it for Christmas so I played as much as I could during winter break and beat it during a 48hr all night binge during new years. I cried at the end and went outside to just hang out for a few days at the park. Great times

>>10667718
Got addicted to that game, mainly the anime style when it came out at the time. I weebed the fuck out of the necklace. Miss it

>>10704801
You want dungeon crawlers. There is nothing that comes close to NES jrpg era which focused more on questing and exploring than character development and storytelling.

>>10667506
>a lot of that score being how good this game looks and sounds
That's what I think too. It is a late psx game from a team who has mastered the technical limitations of the system. A shame the game itself is so boring.

My current mapping for my Super Famicom Wizardry 1 play though.
Genuinely forgot how fun it is to chart your own maps, happen done it in... 15 or so years.
Any other anons MAPPING?

>>10707973
yeah I have those on spreadsheets

>>10703328
>Instead I picked up FF3 DS again which I really really liked but in typical fashion put down at the last dungeon
That's literally me lol.
Just came back to FF3 after getting tired of it partway through the crystal tower. Powered through to Cloud of Darkness, was handling her no issue. She did the attack that damages your whole party, everyone was low on health but I figured I had enough time to heal them since she had always been the last to attack during the fight. This time she goes before my Sage and KOs everyone. And of course the last chance to save the game was like 2 or 3 hours before that.
Will give it another go eventually but man what a kick in the nuts.

Man, fuck mages and ninjas

>>10708039
Nice! I am currently trying to decide if it's worth switching my Theif who is job lvl 99 from never being anything else into a higher damage clasd, but I don’t feel like grinding job levels so it's probably not going to be worth it.

>>10707168
Its funny to think about how Wiz8 was the casualization of the Wizardry games at it's time of release and did divide some players over it (auto mapping, mobs you could see and just walk around, smaller maps, etc) but by today's standards its extremely complex and at times obtuse with it's mechanics.
I say this as someone who fucking loves wiz8. Its strikes some of the perfect balance of old school style gameplay with "modern" for the time QoL sensibilities.

going through my backlog. should I play dragon quest iv, or terranigma?

>>10708686
both, Terranigma may feel off putting at first but it gets better

>>10708686
III>IV>II>I

Oh fuck, I just noticed my Lord just turned evil.
The one class you have to start with as good.

>>10708686
what was the last game you played? if it was a turnbased rpg, play terranigma. otherwise dq4

Playing Treasure of the Rudras and working on Riza's chapter after finishing the other two.What do people think of Ghideon Zhi as a translator? I don't remember the other games I tried from him being bad but Sork talks with a really insufferable accent that completely takes me out of the game, like he's Rolf from Ed Edd and eddy, and I just can't imagine him being like this in the original version. It's fun otherwise though, I wish mantra was a bit more intuitive but I'm sure a lot of that is a consequence of the translation.

>>10709058
My first party basicly wiped on the 8th floor. Got teleported and lost on the map with no more Dumapic casts, all heals spent and two of my dudes turned to ash. Basicly zero chance to get out.
Leveling a new party, but god damn my bishop is rolling like shit for their spells.

>>10708686
DQ4 is solid but doesn’t add much if you have already played other dragon quest games. On the other hand, terranigma is one of the best action adventure games.

>>10710439
>but doesn’t add much if you have already played other dragon quest games.

I'd argue it lets one understand where the tropes of the "typical JRPG characters party" come from. Why is it that in Final Fantasy 6 or 7 you have random people that look like every-day people who have little impact or reason to the story join your party? Or even a monster character that doesn't talk who join late in the game? And the player must pick and choose his party out of all of these people.
Speaking of FF6, some of the main characters having their own small story arch on their own feels very much like DQ4's influence too.

There is also the dungeon design, and the way in the late game it makes sure one dungeon = one unique theme, often with its own type of puzzles/mechanics. This may seem like a given now, but when DQ4 did it it was still a new thing.

Anyway DQ4 is just a really solid game too.

>>10710469
You are right, but coming from DQ3 the different is for the worse. Less exploration, you cannot customize your characters although I enjoyed some of their chapters. On the other hand, not many action adventures games are worth your time, but terranigma is one of them.

Currently wondering which NES/Famicom RPG I should play next between

>Super Black Onyx
sort of a remake of Black Onyx apparently
>Advanced Dungeon & Dragon: Pool of Radiance
Looks good but seems to be quite a commitment
>Sword & Serpents
Look like bottom of the barrel but you never know

>>10710632
Honestly I feel stuff like The Black Onyx should be played in its original form. Playing ported versions on consoles feels pointless when you have better options available on consle and misses the actual context of ist release aside from "it was popular so it got an NES version".

In this specific case Super Black Onyx is a redesigned game entirely though. So as long as you understand that it's fine. Mostly a game archeology autism complaint. Has a fucking awful font though.

>>10709848
You've got me itching for Wizardry now too.

>>10710721
Do it bro.
Honest to good I haven't had a game truely get my heart pounding like this has getting lost that deep in the dungeon. Have no backup saves or save states, playing purely "ironman" and with Dumapic just showing the coordinates.

>>10710632
>Advanced Dungeon & Dragon: Pool of Radiance
The NES version is fairly decent port on this. Not really aware of any missing content, music isn't bad either. Still personally prefer the DOS version if just for the fact that you have a mouse+keyboard.

>>10709635
Well Ghideon Zhi is just a hacker, but reading up on the Rudra no Hihou translation patch it turns out he actually was the one who translated it, just from french to english (and then had some other dude come in and add a bunch of creative polish to the text).

And no, Sork doesn't speak with any form of mannerisms (other than being a bit of a tough guy) in the japanese original.

Alright, you got me interested. Where do I start with Wizardry. If it matters I have some first person dungeon crawling experience but I wouldn't say I'm a pro. (I've played SMT II, Strange Journey, and recently started Etrian)

>>10711670
Just pick a version you like and read the manual before you start playing.
Then, you decide whether you want abuse the save system (the game autosaves after every battle; and after every notable action on the field; but it can be exploited in any version), or do like the mad lad ITT and take it like a champ.