/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.1326029]

What are some obscure RPG's for the PS1? I feel like I've played all of the "classics" and want to see what else came out for. it

[Anonymous No.1326039]

Langrisser 4 is pretty cool. The art and music are pretty lame compared to the 16bit predecessors though.

[Anonymous No.1326040]

Vagrant Story?
Shadow Hearts?
Vandal Hearts?
Wild Arms?
Thousand Arms
Eternal Eyes
Azure Dreams

I could probably keep going. I'm assuming by "classics" you've covered Square & Enix.

[Anonymous No.1326047]

Azure Dreams
Thousand Arms
Saiyuki
Jade Cocoon
Koudelka
Vanguard Bandits
Brigadine
Kartia

[Anonymous No.1326083]

>>1326040
Yes! I've always wanted to play Wild Arms. I've played the rest on your list already, excellent games.

>>1326047
Thanks anon, I'll have to try some of these

[Anonymous No.1326097]

Beyond the Beyond.

[Anonymous No.1326169]

>>1326083
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVOFibwVMw0
GOAT

I DARE anyone to not want to play it after watching that opening.

[Anonymous No.1326687]

Parasite Eve

[eTan !OD.c6PSqx6 No.1326695]

>>1326029
Anything by these companies:

Working Designs
Atlus (cautious with what you pick up, though, they tend to have some really niche systems for their rpgs)
Namco.

What kind of RPGs do you like? Battle system and such?

[Anonymous No.1326918]

>>1326029
Not entirely sure I'd call it obscure (though it certainly is compared to the later localized titles in the series), but Tales of Eternia (also known as Tales of Destiny II in the US, though outside of cameos it has no direct relation to Tales of Destiny). Still plays really quite well considering when it came out (though you'll likely want to be at least a bit tolerant of a "first-attempt" dub, which honestly, I didn't find to be all that bad compared to some other ones I've heard), but sadly is rally rather hard to ind these days and expensive too, since Namco didn't bother to market it in a way that it could compete with more popular titles on the system, and as such there wasn't that big a print (though Europe did get a PSP port of it, so if you live there it might be easy to find). Unless you're a fan of the series already, I'd recommend emulating it.

[Anonymous No.1326992]

>>1326687
>Obscure

>>1326047
Good list. Anyone who has played or heard of Shadow Hearts should play Koudelka, but keep in mind that it is possible to save screw yourself in that game.

Also vanguard bandits is a great (and somewhat easy) game but the localization for it is atrocious. You can work around it but it is one of the worst. Will post links to the English version of the main theme.

[Anonymous No.1327005]

Rhapsody

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aylwLmpnCk4

[Anonymous No.1327008]

>>1327005
Mandatory playing if you played Disgaea and wondered who the fuck Marjoly was. Easy as hell but still a fun game, and the singing parts are just awesome.

Fuck you NIS release Puppet Princess 2 and 3 already!

[Anonymous No.1327019]

Racing Lagoon, the high speed driving fucking rpg.

[Anonymous No.1327021]

>>1326083

GTAV took the concept from Wild Arms.

[Anonymous No.1327040]

>>1326992
>Vanguard Bandits
>bad localization

lolwut?

It's been a while since I last played it, but I remember nothing but good things about the translation. I mean, it's fucking Working Designs, mang!

Hell, these are the guys that not only produced dubbed versions of all of the vocal pieces in the game, they actually went ahead and rerecorded the actual background music for those songs as well, which sound vastly superior to the original in every possible way. Talk about going above and beyond.

[Anonymous No.1327052]

The Granstream Saga

One of the most obscure, underrated and underhyped JRPGs ever IMO. Though not related to the Soulblazer trilogy (Soulblazer, Illusion of Gaia, Terranigma), it was developed and designed by the same team and it is somewhat of a spiritual sucessor.

I believe the in-game 3D graphics, which were considered quite poor even when it came out, put many people off. But as anything coming from the Terranigma devs, expect a pretty good story - and if you get into it, expect many, many feels especially near the end.

[Anonymous No.1327086]

>>1327052
>>1327005
>>1327019

Thanks guys, I'll make sure to look into these. The driving RPG looks pretty cool, smashing genres with RPG is my gaming fetish

[Anonymous No.1327265]

>>1327040
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfYtArman_0

Yeah. A room full of people thought that was a good idea.

The translation was done by six geeks who stuffed it full of North American-style pop culture references. Everybody comes off goofy as shit, suddenly Devlin and Barlow are gay (and subject to some rather off-colour gay bashing jokes), Halak talks like Yoda, Barlow occasionally yells "If ya smellllllll what's Barlow is cookin'!" when he hits an enemy, etc.

It's not just a little bit of this shit, it's pretty much everyone but Bastion.

>voice acting

For ONE scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd8O8s0m0xI
This one. This FUCKING scene.

I can't find it on youtube, but there's a "joke" opening that reveals that the entire opening scene's lyrics were picked so that they could Weird Al it into an entire song about fart jokes.

Seriously, the ENTIRE localization was a huge fucking joke to everyone who worked on it.

[Anonymous No.1327308]

>>1327052
>I believe the in-game 3D graphics, which were considered quite poor even when it came out, put many people off.
It certainly did put me off when I got a hold of this game as kid, I've never got past that town with the church, but I should probably go back and finish it now seeing how much praise it gets.

[Anonymous No.1327317]

>>1327265
THIS. The game english translation is fucking terrible, and even if the jap version had good plot/characters the battle system is still pretty bad. The multiple paths/endings are the thing that would make it replayable.

[Anonymous No.1327487]

>>1327052
Not OP, but it's got me curious if that game is actually worth getting, since a store near my house has had a complete copy for a good while now and no one's bought it (most of their PS1 RPGs tend to get bought pretty dang fast).

[Anonymous No.1328013]

>>1327265
Ah, found it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er1vEkWx1pw

This is actually on the disc. You unlock it by clearing all routes. This is your reward for clearing 50ish scenarios.

[Anonymous No.1328074]

Summon Night.

[Anonymous No.1328106]

>>1327265
Working Designs games in general always had rather dumb localizations.

I understand replacing culture related jokes that most westerners wouldn't get but I will never understand why the decided to put in pop culture references instead of putting in actual humor. They also had a nasty habit of breaking the games mechanics when they brought it over.

Still I appreciate that they even did bring over a lot of the stuff they did considering the market back in the 90s.

[Anonymous No.1328120]

I was gonna make a thread about this, but since this thread is already here I guess I'll just ask here and save some space.

I have about six bucks and some change in my PSN wallet. I've been trying to figure out what to blow it one and have narrowed it down to one of these games.
>Arc the Lad
>Front Mission 3
>Grandia
>Legend of Dragoon
>Parasite Eve
Does /vr/ have any say on the matter?

[Anonymous No.1328129]

>>1328120
PARASITE EVE, MOTHERFUCKER!

Then download the movie and the book.

[Anonymous No.1328139]

>>1328129
The movie and the book have nothing to do with the game AND are both awful.

[Anonymous No.1328146]

>>1328139
Hey hey hey, the book is a good read. Not great but still worth reading. Also, the first game is a direct sequel to the book and makes several references to it. It's Parasite Eve 2 that's fuckall to do with the canon.

[Anonymous No.1328163]

>>1328139
>nothing to do with the game

That would be entirely wrong, though. The book describes the origin of Parasite Eve, and events of the book are referenced several times throughout the game. And it's certainly not awful, just say you didn't like it.

[Anonymous No.1328171]

>>1328139
The book and game are good man, the movie was fubar tho.

[Anonymous No.1331283]

>>1326169
I tried to play it after watching the opening, but it turned out to be a bland game with a great opening and a nice soundtrack

[Anonymous No.1331286]

>>1328120
Grandia will give you back your boyhood. I envy you having never played it and get to experience the journey.

[Anonymous No.1331290]

>>1326029
Gaurdians Crusade
also anything by From software

http://www.racketboy.com/retro/best-undiscovered-playstation-ps1-psx

[Anonymous No.1331296]

>>1331290
Guardian's Crusade is great, although getting all the toys was annoying as all hell. It has just the right dose of Tamagotchi in it with Baby management.

[Anonymous No.1331309]

>>1326047
Fuck son, I rented Kartia once when that was a thing. Never saw the game ever again. I remember liking it...but I don't know how it played.

[Anonymous No.1331313]

>>1326169
Only Wild arms I ever played was that one with the bayonnet using guy. And the sword magess (dumbass name), guy gets turned into a demon eventually in some cathedral. Twas kinda boring.

[Anonymous No.1331315]

>>1328120
Seconding Grandia

[Anonymous No.1331326]

Grandia 1 also has premier voice acting imho, and it gives a anime feeling. The good old kind too imho

[Anonymous No.1331339]

>>1326097
i was gonna post this. i bought this on a whim 10 years ago for 5 bucks. i had never heard a single thing about it, but it turned out to be pretty fun. i got stuck though and never finished it.

[Anonymous No.1331350]

Gonna third or whatever Thousand Arms. It can be kinda hard at first, but the whole dating sim thing is definitely interesting. I remember it being sorta racy for a PS1 game when I first played it.

[Anonymous No.1331351]

>>1331339
Cliched as fuck though. It's every JRPG trope and cliche in one game. Still a decent play though.

I like to pretend the story is kids in the Shining Force universe playing make-believe and the game is showing their imaginations

[Anonymous No.1331353]

>>1331309
Think of it as "Treasure of the Rudras: Tactics and Janken". It's decent. Not great but the soundtrack alone is pretty godly.

[Anonymous No.1331373]

>>1331339
Isn't Beyond the Beyond famous for being the "worst" JRPG on the PS1?

[PB No.1331376]

>>1331373
It certainly is not very good. I played it at least half a dozen times, renting it now and then. I could never get into it. Its pretty weak, boring, and just not worth bothering with, when there are SO many better rpg's out there for the console

[Anonymous No.1331420]

>>1326047
>Jade Cocoon

that was actually a surprisingly underrated game, but such a shame it was so SLOW. still, it had that boss music that sent chills down my spine for some reason every time it played.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgdNulG3O6A

[Anonymous No.1333237]

Legend of Legaia!

[Anonymous No.1333467]

King's Field Series.
First person rpg, REALLY slow but no loading times. If you're an ADDfag it's not for you. But if you liked any of the souls games, this is for you.
Made by From Software

[Anonymous No.1333519]

>>1331420
I still marvel at the needless intricacy of that fusion system to this day. After a certain point I don't even worry about stats and skills, I just start breeding them for the sake of making something cool.

[Anonymous No.1333529]

>>1333519
I think the visual changes were a major factor me. Yeah, stats are nice and all, but seeing your creature look physically different depending on its parents was amazing.

>>1331420
>still, it had that boss music that sent chills down my spine for some reason every time it played.
It was probably because it only played when you fought against other masters and you were the only ones who could control Minions so you had a feeling it was a fight between equals and they didn't mess around.

[Anonymous No.1333532]

>>1333467
I honestly never liked PS1 era King's Field games, but I got into PS2 era ones for some reason.

[Anonymous No.1333628]

Seriously, guys?

[Anonymous No.1333645]

>>1333628
>xenogears
>obscure

anon, please

[Anonymous No.1333662]

>>1333645
NOBODY ever talks about it

[Anonymous No.1333672]

[Anonymous No.1333684]

>>1328120
Front Mission 3 was a fantastic game.

[Anonymous No.1333705]

>>1333662
We're talking about it now. Your point is invalid.

[Anonymous No.1333708]

>>1333672
+1

[Anonymous No.1333758]

>>1333672
Great game, a shame only the PSP version got some kind of english release.

I really wanted to play the console version of it instead.

[Anonymous No.1333764]

>>1326169
Why would watching a 12 year old's mash-up of his favorite anime make me want to play vidya?

[Anonymous No.1333770]

>>1326169
Wild Arms was always a weird series for me. Games got worse, but also more wild western instead of hodge-podge approach first one had. Love the soundtrack, though.

[Anonymous No.1333812]

Final Fantasy 7.

[Anonymous No.1333814]

>>1328120
Front Mission 3 nigga.

[Anonymous No.1333874]

>>1333758
Are there any major differences?

[Anonymous No.1333913]

The Persona 2 dualogy. Innocent Sin comes before Eternal Punishment. You'll have to emulate IS because there is only an unofficial translation (official translation is on PSP).

[Anonymous No.1333935]

The original Tales of Destiny game is quite excellent, though lots of grinding and anger-inducing puzzles.

[Anonymous No.1334201]

>>1326040
>Vandal Hearts
Just started this last night and I am loving it so damn much. Not ready for work tomorrow, just wanna play this cozy gem all night long.

>>1333672
H-how those moon cases always so sexy?

[Anonymous No.1335392]

>>1334201
I have to be the only weirdo out there who acutally prefers Vandal Hearts 2, even with that totally exploitable AI. Who knows, maybe I have a thing for time skips.

[Anonymous No.1335609]

bumpan

[Anonymous No.1335612]

Legend of Legaia

[Anonymous No.1335613]

>>1333935
Tales games aren't what I'd call obscure, even in the west.

[Anonymous No.1335614]

>>1335392
Vandal Hearts 2 had better music and story (quite on par even with TO and FFT), Vandal Hearts had far better graphics and style. Neither had good gameplay, but both are worthwhile experiences nonetheless.

[Anonymous No.1335621]

>>1335614
I'm not sure if VH1 had outright better graphics, or if VH2 just looked plain ugly. Way too much brown.

[Anonymous No.1335623]

>>1335621
VH had sprites and animations that were absolutely lovable, and backgrounds looked great, too. VH2, not so much.

[Anonymous No.1335625]

>>1335621
fairly certain that was intentional, what with being a more military-centric and grim story. not to mention slaughter and rape in the very scene are kind of a giveaway.

[Anonymous No.1335628]

>>1335392
I find it difficult to go back to traditional turn-based system after playing VH2. For all its faults I wish more games had simultaneous turns.

[Anonymous No.1335654]

>>1335625
>not to mention slaughter and rape
Can happen in color.

[Anonymous No.1335670]

>>1333874
Quite a lot. PSP version cuts out about half the content in both main PS1 games, has lower resolution sprites, higher encounter rates, and lots of slowdown and long loading times, although it does have some original content. PSP version is all round worse than the PS1 games, but still playable and worth it if you don't know any Jap.

PS1 version is good if you're learning Japanese though, since because it's aimed at children the language is quite simple. Walkthroughs exist on GameFAQs and stuff but unfortunately they're not very useful.

[Anonymous No.1335738]

>>1335670
Well that sucks. Guess I'll check it out anyway.

[Anonymous No.1335790]

>>1326029
Master of Monsters: Disciples of Gaia
It works kinda like Fire Emblem but with a bunch of cool mythological monsters you can level and fuse to create other, better (?) monsters.

[Anonymous No.1336121]

>>1333662
jesus, theres always 2 xenogears threads on this board at any given time, what in the FUCK are you talking about? do you even know?
Grandia is NEVER talked about and is faaaaaar more deserving of discussion than fuckin xenogears, believe me.

[Anonymous No.1336131]

>>1336121
Maybe Grandia III left a nasty taste in their mouths. Boring, clunky, uninteresting excuse for a sequel.

[Anonymous No.1336138]

Oh boy, two fans arguing over which violently overrated JRPG is the most underrated. Cute.

[Anonymous No.1337238]

>>1333770
I dunno, they certainly got "different" from one game to the next, but I wouldn't say it was always "worse". 3 to 4 was worse though, definitely. Frankly I'd say the jump from 1 to 2 was definitely an improvement, even if it lost a little bit of the wild west flavor. And even if 3 lost a the solidarity of 2's heroism theme(whether it was arguably stolen wholesale from Watchmen or not) it had its own charm as a more light-hearted cartoonish romp with some massive compensation on 2's lack of wild west-ness.

[Anonymous No.1337561]

>>1336131
Same goes for xenosaga, but we're on a retro board not even considering PS2 era.

[Anonymous No.1337564]

>>1336138
>>>v

[Anonymous No.1337572]

>>1326047

Came in to say Jade Cocoon.