/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.1085970]

I feel like I've played most retro JRPGs, but I'm wondering if I missed any important ones. The ones I've played are:

All the Final Fantasies including tactics
Chrono Trigger/Cross
All the Suikodens (2 is tied for my favorite JRPG)
Star Ocean 1 and 2
All the breath of fires (Dragon quarter is also one of my favorite games of all time)
Tales of Symphonia
Bahamut Lagoon
Live A Live
Earthbound/Zero/Mother 3
Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga/Bowsers inside story
Persona 3 and 4 (Saw a lets play of both sides of 2)
Secret of Mana/SD3
Soul Blazer/Illusion of Gaia/Terranigma
Dragon Quest 1-9
Shadowrun (SNES, Genesis)
Lufia 1 and 2
All the Legend of Zelda games sans Skyward sword but thats not retro anyways.
Ogre battle/Tactics Ogre/Knight of Lodis

Those are the ones I can think off the top of my head. I want to try Treasures of the Rudra but haven't heard that many good things about it. I also like Dungeon Crawlers like Etrian Odyssey, Might and Magic, and Wizardry but haven't really played much out of those three. Any suggestions? I like the gameplay and stories that usually comes with RPGs and don't mind the grind too much.

[Anonymous No.1085974]

Shin Megami Tensei's that are not Persona (not that Persona isn't good).

If you like Might and Magic and Wizardry, and DQ1, you MUST play Ultimas 4-7.
Not JRPG, but some of the most fantastic RPGs ever.

[Anonymous No.1085979]

>>1085974
Cool, yeah I've been meaning to try the SMT games but don't really know which ones to start with. Also, Ultima Online was my first and probably favorite MMO that I ever played so I definitely owe it to the franchise to play through 4-7. They link together too, right?

[Anonymous No.1085980]

>>1085970
Also Tales of Phantasia and the other Tales games.

[Anonymous No.1085984]

Not seein' any SaGa games on that list. You better get to work, dude. All of your JRPG training has been leading you up to this.

[Anonymous No.1085994]

>>1085979
Yeah, technically all of them do, but 1-3 isn't dated well, at all, and really all you need to take away was "Mondain, Minax, and Exodus were bad and are now dead. Mondian had a Gem of Immortality which was shattered and shards are lying around, as is his skull."

That's about it. 4-6 form the Virtue Trilogy, and 7 starts it's own trilogy and is even in 2 parts. Unfortunately, 8 and 9 kinda....suck. But 7 is fantastic too, and plays off the end of 6.

You can get 4 for free off GoG.com right now. I'd recommend the VGA patch, to make it a tad more aesthetically appealing, and to add music.

Eh, whichever has english patches if you're looking for retro. If PS2 is fine...pretty much any of them are great.

[Anonymous No.1085996]

Also I recently played through Metal Max Returns, great little open-ended(ish) JRPG. Pretty heavy on the experimentation in the gameplay/party building and setup, sidequests, etc for its genre and era.

And go ahead and play SMT1&2, they're fantastic games, 2 is arguably better but the gameplay is exactly the same, so twice as much of a good thing is a great thing in my book.

[Anonymous No.1086001]

I'm noticing a disgusting lack of Lunar Silver Star Story (Complete) and Lunar 2 Eternal Blue (Complete) on your list.

I suggest you remedy this ASAP.

Add Grandia to the mix too.

[Anonymous No.1086002]

>>1085984
Should I start with Saga Frontier?

Oh also, I did play through Xenogears (still need to finish it) but wasn't too interested in the Xenosaga games.

[Anonymous No.1086003]

>>1085994
Oh oh, and Super Mario RPG, one of my favorite JRPGS ever.

[Anonymous No.1086006]

>>1086001
>>1086003
I forgot to mention it but I did beat Lunar the SSSC, but not Lunar 2. I'll probably start on that one first because I really did like the 1st one a lot.

Also did beat (and love) Super Mario RPG

[Anonymous No.1086008]

>>1085970
>Dragon Quarter
>favorite games of all time
>CONFIRMED FOR GOD TIER TASTE

[Anonymous No.1086010]

Rance is a classic RPG series dating back to 1989 totaling over ten games by now.

[Anonymous No.1086024]

>>1086008

Word.

[Anonymous No.1086027]

>>1086002

Actually, I'd start with SaGa2/Final Fantasy Legend 2, because it's relatively short, really good, and gives you a very small hint of the fuckery to come.

Then yeah, SaGa Frontier, and the PS2 remake of Romancing SaGa are the major ones to check out in my opinion.

[Anonymous No.1086035]

Awesome thanks for the input Anons. I need to try skies of Arcadia and the latter wild arms games too (only played 1)

[Anonymous No.1086046]

Phantasy Star 4

[Anonymous No.1086048]

>>1086046
Forgot to mention it, but beat it for the first time a month ago (using Gryz!) awesome game though

[Anonymous No.1086058]

>>1085970
>I feel like I've played most retro JRPGs

Lol, you aren't anywhere close. Best learn Japanese while your at it. A lot aren't translated.

[Anonymous No.1086216]

>No SaGa
It has nine games and came out in 1989. Better start cracking. As the other guy said the best introduction to the series is Final Fantasy Legend II because at least it gives you a chance to learn the mechanics and it is a short game were as something like SaGa Frontier you have to wrestle both the mechanics AND the way you progress through the game.

The Gameboy games and SaGa Frontier II are fairly straight forward progression wise, the other games you will be lost. If you have no clue where to go or how to get to a place it is normal. It happens to everyone.

Beware of Unlimited Saga though, it will either make you a man, or break you.

[Anonymous No.1086253]

>>1085970
Grandia, man. Play Grandia.

[Anonymous No.1086257]

>>1086003
I still don't get the appeal of Super Mario RPGs. Please explain it to me.

[Anonymous No.1086334]

I thought this thread was going to be about Japanese text adventures...

[Anonymous No.1086372]

>>1086058
Like which ones? I cant say my Japanese is very up to par but it might help my grasp of the language to play some of the games

[Anonymous No.1086432]

>>1086334
Check out the Phantasy Star 2 text adventures. They've all been translated and are pretty good.

[Anonymous No.1086480]

>>1085970
>Awesome story
>Three different endings.
>Large cast of characters (20 or so)
>Platformer style dungeons
>No random battles(most can be skipped)
>Despite being fairly linear its got a lot going for it.

Why haven't you played OP?

[Anonymous of Jacksonville, Hor(...) !WOLFUPie.. No.1086731]

>>1086253
Seconding this.

[Anonymous No.1086758]

Der Langrisser

[Anonymous No.1086761]

>>1085970
>Dragon quarter is also one of my favorite games of all time
My brotheeeer

[Anonymous No.1086796]

That's a pretty decent-sized list, OP. If you have a very liberal definition of "RPG" (and I'm guessing you do, since you included Zelda games), check out some action-RPGs like Crystalis and Parasite Eve if you haven't already. Metal Max Returns is a lot of fun.

As for dungeon crawlers, I personally prefer roguelikes over the old-school first-person dungeon crawlers which had you turning in cardinal directions. There are quite a few good JRPG roguelikes - Shiren the Wanderer and Torneko are two you don't want to miss (Torneko is even better if you're a Dragon Quest fan).

[Anonymous No.1086798]

ever played any Pokemon, OP?

[Anonymous No.1086809]

Oh, and there's also the Destiny Of An Emperor series, which you might like if you like the Dynasty Warriors games. It's the Romance of the Three Kingdoms setting and characters, only in 8-bit JRPG format.

[Anonymous No.1086894]

>>1085970
Impressive list, OP.

I'll add Radia Senki for the NES if you're looking for a game reminiscent of Secret of Mana.

Langrisser is a pretty fun strategy RPG series with huge battles (go with Der Langrisser or the first one : Langrisser/Warsong)

I'll second the original SMT (grim setting, multiple paths, demon collection and rocking soundtrack) and Valkyrie Profile

[Anonymous No.1086919]

>>1085970
I'm going to second whoever recommended Lunar 2. That is actually tied with Suikoden 2 as my two favorite games of all time.

Also, going by your image and the fact you're a Suikoden fan, have you actually played Suikogaiden Vol1? The English patch was released some time ago and I myself just recently found out, and seeing as I'd been waiting years to play it, I'm incredibly happy about it and doing my best to spread such happiness.

[Anonymous No.1086942]

>>1085970
Phantasy Star 2, including the text adventures.

[Anonymous No.1086989]

>>1086942
I'm always in two minds on whether to recommend the text adventures before or after PS2.

[Anonymous No.1087003]

>>1086480
I played covenant of the plume and liked it, so this is definitely one I've heard a lot of praise for and need to try. Thanks for reminding me

[Anonymous No.1087008]

>>1086761
Hah, cheers bud - I miss having my ps2, been itchin to play last couple days but its probably for the best have a lot of RPGs to get through

[Anonymous No.1087013]

>>1086796
I loved and beat crystalis and PE1- never finished Chrysler building for the true end and awesome final boss music though ; ill definitely check out Torneko, love the dq universe

[Anonymous No.1087014]

>>1086798
Ironically I don't really like Pokemon, I don't know what it is but the games never clicked with me

[Anonymous No.1087015]

>>1086919
Yeah I beat vol 1 last week and the translation for 2 is out now so gonna beat that in due time to

[Anonymous No.1087020]

You should try out Septerra Core. It's not really a JRPG since the developers were not from Japan, but it's very much made in the JRPG mould and a quite good game at that. I especially loved the setting.

[Anonymous No.1087021]

Xenogears is a must play also Vagrant story

[Anonymous No.1087025]

>>1087021
Played through both but never finished, you're right though I think they both deserve a second chance - I like games with convoluted systems usually so I liked VS just never finished it

I'm getting lunar 2 today and gonna start it up then probably hit up Valkyrie profile

[Anonymous No.1087026]

>>1086989
Tell people to do it like me: I'm playing PS2 right now, and when a new character is introduced, I read through his text adventure to find out about the char's backstory, then continue with my journey through PS2. So at the beginning I read Nei and Eusis. You can play through each text adventure in one or two sittings, so it's not like you lose track of PS2's story by doing this.

[Anonymous No.1087029]

>>1086796
Some people would also count Dating Sims as RPGs.
And of course raising games like Princess Maker.

[Anonymous No.1087034]

>>1087029
Not really into them, but can't say I've ever tried any game from either sub-genre

[Anonymous No.1087036]

did someone say Saga Frontier? (a rhetorical question for the nerds who want to answer it)

[Anonymous No.1087037]

They may not be retro but how are the golden sun games? They look like an upgrade from the beyond the beyond type of RPG and I might add them to the list

[Anonymous No.1087039]

I noticed a lack of Legend of Dragoon and Parasite Eve in the list. Both are very good JRPGs.

[Anonymous No.1087040]

>>1087036
Ya, the saga series is on my list ; gonna post my to play list shortly - thanks for all the input anons

[Anonymous No.1087048]

>>1087034
Try Princess Maker 2, it's one of the few games available in English and it has parallels to more conventional RPGs.

[Anonymous No.1087054]

>>1087026
PS2's story line is quite simple. It's more the theme of dependence that goes through the story. Like how Rolf is always following orders, and when Mother Brain goes apeshit everyone just stands around asking who is going to save them.

[Anonymous No.1087078]

>>1087040
I played Saga Frontier while /vr/ had a thread up recently - it was my intro to the series, and I think there's a lot to be said for some minimal research before starting. There are 7 routes, and the choice makes a massive difference to the experience.

[Anonymous No.1087291]

I tried really hard to like Unlimited Saga (because I liked all the prior Saga games), but I hated it. Should I give it another chance? My memory of it was something akin to Mario Party. It was like a board game.

[Anonymous No.1087303]

No shining games?

[Anonymous No.1087360]

>>1087303
Shining Games are pretty basic. The story and gameplay is very child-friendly.

[Anonymous No.1087434]

>>1087291
It isn't a game for everyone, or for most people. Yeah you travel the map with your piece on the board like maps. It is really fun because of all the field skills and that there is no need to grind at all because you don't get your skills which influence your stats until an adventure is over and it is all about their placement rather than how much you wanted to grind.

It does have one of the biggest barriers to get into unlike the other SaGa games (that is saying something) so it will take awhile to learn its mechanics and then finding the fun in the game.

[Fon Shaolin !QaHT6HayjI No.1087515]

>Cross/Trigger
>no Radical Dreamers

The fuck are you doing with your life, son?

[Anonymous No.1087520]

>no Ys
Is this some sort of joke?

Get the fuck on it. One of the all time classics and some of the most legendary music in JRPG history.
I'd recommend starting with the newer remake Ys I&II Chronicles, or the PCE/Turbografx version if you want it a bit more retro (plus it has the best soundtrack imo).

[Anonymous No.1087553]

>>1087515
Oh, yeah, I played through Radical Dreamers. I actually really liked it, I like those types of VN a lot but there aren't too many like RD

[Anonymous No.1087557]

>>1087520
Played the Ys on SNES and Oath of Felghana which was pretty fucking great I must say. Need to check out the rest, didn't think about that series though

[Anonymous No.1087568]

RPGs to Check out:

Lunar 2
Valkyrie Profile
Suikogaiden Vol.2
Final Fantasy Legend 2
Saga Frontier
Unlimited Saga
Grandia
SMT 1&2 (and other SMT titles)
Tales of Phantasia
Ultima 4-7
Finish Xenogears
Finish Vagrant Story
Phantasy Star 2 + Text adventure
Der Langrisser
Torneko's Dungeon
Radia Senki
Legend of the Dragoon
Princess Maker 2?
The rest of the Ys Series
Wizardry 8
Shining Force
Skies of Arcadia
Rance
Septerra Core
Golden Sun


Mentioned games that I have beat/played:

Super Mario RPG
Radical Dreamers
Parasite Eve 1/2
Lunar SSSC
Phantasy Star 4
Crystalis

This is my tentative list, the first 5-6 will be in that order and then I'll pick and choose from the rest of the list. Any other ones that I might've missed? There are those Megaman RPG games but I don't think I'd like them, seeing as I like the Megaman games for what they are.

[Anonymous No.1087657]

>>1085970
>no Ys
>no Legend of Legaia
>no Brave Fencer Musashi
>no SaGa
>no proper SMT

Get a load of this pleb.

[Anonymous No.1087728]

>>1087657
Did you really only beat Book I?
The fuck are you doing! Go play Book II right now!

>captcha: came cumwin
My thoughts exactly.

[Anonymous No.1087740]

>>1087037
Barebones jrpg, really. I would skip on those.

[Anonymous No.1087741]

>>1087020
Might as well namedrop Anachronox then, another wrpg that kinda feels like a jrpg.

[Anonymous No.1087750]

>>1087568
Unlimited SaGa is an odd game. It's really different, to a near fault, and if you don't use an FAQ, it'll take a long ass time to get used to the game.

[Anonymous No.1087756]

>>1085970
i don't see super mario rpg in your list
you should play that

[Anonymous No.1087759]

>>1087568
If by "megaman RPG" you mean the GBA ones, they are okay. If you are moving away from just japanese RPGs, then try Might and Magic: world of Xeen too.

[Anonymous No.1087767]

>>1087568
Megaman Battle Network saga is pretty good, I really like it. 1 is rather simple but it will give you an idea of the whole saga, so play that by all means. The only one that is kind of not good is 4.

[Anonymous No.1087803]

You should load some RPG Maker Games.
Don's Adventure.. truly classic.

[Anonymous No.1087847]

>>1087728
Its on my things to do.

Will probably try and marathon it tomorrow.

[Anonymous No.1087852]

>>1087847
Prepare for everything a perfect sequel should be.

[Anonymous No.1087943]

>>1087847
OP Here, going to start it now, you is right. Need to see it to the end.

[Anonymous No.1088128]

>>1087943
Just finished it. Was pretty good, liked the conclusion and it gives some good buffer to his actions in Suikoden 3. Does he ever mention Julie in Suikoden 3? Don't remember

[Anonymous No.1088150]

from SMTGeneral

[Anonymous No.1088180]

>>1086002
Fuck no. SaGa Frontier is prettier, washed down Romancing SaGa. Embrace the ugly and play Romancing SaGa games.

[Anonymous No.1088185]

Where is your mana games on the list, you nigger
Play mana games.
Final Fantasy Adventure(or Sword of Mana if you're a pussy)
Secret of Mana
Secret of Evermore
Seiken Densetsu 3
Legend of Mana

Get to it. They're 10 hours each.

[Anonymous No.1088189]

>>1085970
Knight of Xentar.

[Anonymous No.1088754]

Hi, guys!
Can u advice some jRPG with non-linear story or interesting mechanix - not just borring grinding-straight story-final boss-end.