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[Galactic Fork]

I need to get Brave Story one of these days.

And people really need to stop perpetuating the myth that Jeanne D'Arc is anything but crap.

 

[Hours Left]

QFT, look what you guys made me do, now I am planning to get 3 more PSP RPG's.

(which works out since I just beat Ar Tonelico 3 and are close to finishing Atelier Rorona)

Is one of those RPGs Trails in the Sky?

It's essential for RPG fans.

 

[Quixzlizx]

Okay, well that was an utterly useless post. A complete waste of electrons, really.



Anyway, I'll almost definitely get Trails in the Sky tomorrow... People seem to universally like it a lot. I'd like something on the darker side, too, at some point as that's generally what I prefer.

You're not supposed to fight every enemy in the Item World. Given the attitude in your OP, I'm assuming your response will be a complete waste of electrons

 

[jorgeton]

Don't know if anyone's mentioned it yet, but Phantasy Star Portable 2 is all sorts of awesome.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

Don't know if anyone's mentioned it yet, but Phantasy Star Portable 2 is all sorts of awesome.

Yep.
Best action-RPG of 2010.

 

[archnemesis]

Is Phantasy Star Portable 2 worth playing in single player mode? I might pick it up if I can find it for cheap, but I'm probably not going to play it anytime soon.

 

[jorgeton]

Is Phantasy Star Portable 2 worth playing in single player mode? I might pick it up if I can find it for cheap, but I'm probably not going to play it anytime soon.

Totally. It's fun (and ridiculously addictive) to get new weapons, abilities and clothes for your character. Multiplayer is the icing on the cake.

 

[SpaceDrake]

Great. That's exactly what I'm looking for. I'll buy it tomorrow for sure now.

As a counterpoint, I'm not quite sure it'll be what you're expecting off the bat. Trails relies on genre conventions a bit heavily at the start to get the experience rolling; it takes a bit before it really starts fucking with your expectations plotwise. Chapter 2 onwards is basically all about fucking with your expectations, though, and the ending is something you almost certainly WILL NOT see coming.

Trails, in my mind, can be recommended more for how it changes up the gameplay formula compared to most RPGs: the battle system features an actual tactical map where positioning and range actually matter (especially in later boss fights) and an initiative system that allows for really clever play if you dig into it, and the game allows you to go way, way off the beaten track with, like, a dozen or more sidequests per chapter. While there is a linear story, Trails encourages you to explore the world around you and rewards you with higher ranks in the adventuring guild (and ~fabulous prizes~ therein) for doing so.

I still adore the game, but I think it might take a little while to get up to steam for your tastes. It does get there, though.

Also I'm really confused as to all your NIS hate. Which games of theirs did you play that you so thoroughly disliked?

 

[Edvardelis]

Totally. It's fun (and ridiculously addictive) to get new weapons, abilities and clothes for your character. Multiplayer is the icing on the cake.

There are hackers all over the place in Phantasy Star Portable 2, so if you play with people you don't know, make sure to back up your saves first!

(I back them up anyway, but I'm paranoid like that. )

 

[Aru]

Sting games are pretty good, except for Riviera which is slow as fuck.

Yggdra Union is awesome though.

 

[vocab]

Get Oath in Felgana now. Jesus Christ.

 

[JORMBO]

FFVII
FFVIII
FFIX
Xenogears

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

As a counterpoint, I'm not quite sure it'll be what you're expecting off the bat. Trails relies on genre conventions a bit heavily at the start to get the experience rolling; it takes a bit before it really starts fucking with your expectations plotwise. Chapter 2 onwards is basically all about fucking with your expectations, though, and the ending is something you almost certainly WILL NOT see coming.

Trails, in my mind, can be recommended more for how it changes up the gameplay formula compared to most RPGs: the battle system features an actual tactical map where positioning and range actually matter (especially in later boss fights) and an initiative system that allows for really clever play if you dig into it, and the game allows you to go way, way off the beaten track with, like, a dozen or more sidequests per chapter. While there is a linear story, Trails encourages you to explore the world around you and rewards you with higher ranks in the adventuring guild (and ~fabulous prizes~ therein) for doing so.

I still adore the game, but I think it might take a little while to get up to steam for your tastes. It does get there, though.

Also I'm really confused as to all your NIS hate. Which games of theirs did you play that you so thoroughly disliked?

I played a bunch of their earlier ps2 games... Ar Tonelico, Atelier Iris, and Mana Khemia. Mana Khemia has the distinction of being the only game I've ever fallen asleep while playing. It was a thoroughly dreadful experience. But I play those games, and quickly realize that I don't give a flying fuck about any of the characters. I don't just dislike them, I wish they would all die horribly. I hate the stories. I hate the environments you explore. I hate the mundane quests. And they all seem to be the same goddamn thing.


Aaaaaanyway. I got my PSP from Mr. UPS today. Holy shit, the PSP 3000 is an absurdly huge improvement over the 1000. With the 1000, it got to the point where I hated playing games on it because of how awful that hardware was. I think things will change now. As for games, I trekked over to Best Buy and nabbed Final Fantasy IV and Ys Seven. I'm a huge FFIV fan despite that I've bought the game like five times by now, and Ys was like $15 and I was planning to buy it anyway. I'll probably play ff first. They didn't have Trails in the Sky, but I ordered it off of Amazon so that should be here shortly... And FFIV won't take too long so I can jump into that before long. On a side note, it was a bit shocking to see how dead the PSP is at retail. I haven't bought any games for it in a long time as a result of hating the hardware so much, so I was kinda taken aback.

But yeah, thanks for all the recommendations so far, guys. It's really been helpful for seeing what's out there and seeing just how much potentially great stuff I've missed. Keep 'em coming.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

I played a bunch of their earlier ps2 games... Ar Tonelico, Atelier Iris, and Mana Khemia. Mana Khemia has the distinction of being the only game I've ever fallen asleep while playing. It was a thoroughly dreadful experience. But I play those games, and quickly realize that I don't give a flying fuck about any of the characters. I don't just dislike them, I wish they would all die horribly. I hate the stories. I hate the environments you explore. I hate the mundane quests. And they all seem to be the same goddamn thing.

All of those games are from Gust, not NIS.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

All of those games are from Gust, not NIS.

Yah, but they published them. And I played Disgaea (for a few hours) and Phantom Brave, if that counts. It just seems like almost any game branded by them can be shrugged off as being more of the same crap...

I know my NIS (maybe I should say NISA) hate seems irrational, but I really did give them a chance.

 

[TheSeks]

Is Phantasy Star Portable 2 worth playing in single player mode? I might pick it up if I can find it for cheap, but I'm probably not going to play it anytime soon.

You can solo it, but it and Monster Hunter are apparently a lot more fun in 4 player. Like PSO of old.

 

[TheSeks]

get dissidia 012 (or download prologus from psn and see if you like the battlesystem),it also unlocks the full dissidia 1 once you finish the new campaign

Wait, what? It does!? I may have to buy that off PSN for NGP if that's the case.

 

[Johnlenham]

Yah, but they published them. And I played Disgaea (for a few hours) and Phantom Brave, if that counts. It just seems like almost any game branded by them can be shrugged off as being more of the same crap...

I know my NIS (maybe I should say NISA) hate seems irrational, but I really did give them a chance.

You are a terrible person and may god have mercy on your soul

 

[0 HP]

trails in the sky and ys: oath

pretty much everything in the OP is a port or a game thats been trashed non-stop on gaf (crisis core, jeanne d'arc)

 

[Shahadan]

you will be sucked

what is this and why don't I have it.

 

[Zekes!]

I'm thinking of getting Gurumin. It looks great.

Played the demo last fall and I've been putting off buying it ever since. Then I go to buy it and the whole PSN fiasco goes down. As soon as the store is back up I'm buying the shit out of it.

 

[rainking187]

what is this

A fantastic light hearted JRPG.

and why don't I have it.

Excellent question.

 

[kai3345]

damn that Ys Seven trailer looked kick ass. I may need to get this game

 

[Whogie]

I got about half way through Popolocrois before I sold it. It felt pretty mediocre the whole time, but the worst was all the back-tracking through low-level enemies it required.

 

[Roto13]

OP will think this is FFT: Not Literally FFT Edition.

 

[NeededSleep]

-Y's 7
-Trails in the sky(damn great rpg! long, lighthearted, and fun)
-Persona 3 Portable
-Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology (bought this randomly, had a very hard time putting it down. Also found this way more fun than Phantasy star portable, Never played PSP2 though. How much better is it than PSP1? Also highly annoyed they never released NA versions of the sequels, only jpn ports)

SRPGS
-Wild arms XF (i would only recommend this game if you are a fan of the series, preferred job setups for different battles can get a bit annoying.)
-Tactics Ogre- Lots to do, but i still prefer other in the series and FFT over this one.
-FFT

Also if these don't peak your interest you can always fill your back catalog of old ps1 games off psn for the psp

I keep putting popolocrosis off, looks neat but i pass it up for other games.

 

[Roto13]

If you're going to play FFT on your PSP, get the PS1 Classics version. War of the Lions has so much slow down it's just not fun to play. Which is a shame, because the new script is superb.

 

[ferr]

If you're going to play FFT on your PSP, get the PS1 Classics version. War of the Lions has so much slow down it's just not fun to play. Which is a shame, because the new script is superb.

Yeah, can't wait to play FFT on NGP without slowdown.

 

[doomguy64]

Great list. Hadn't heard of popolocrois, its sparked my curiosity so much that I've ordered it of ebay now. Think its time I pull out the dusty old psp out again

 

[I NEED SCISSORS]

"So where are all these great RPGs people are talking about?"


heading to PS3

 

[The Last Wizard]

i really wish they would've brought radiant mythology 2 to the states

 

[Takao]

Played the demo last fall and I've been putting off buying it ever since. Then I go to buy it and the whole PSN fiasco goes down. As soon as the store is back up I'm buying the shit out of it.

There's a demo?!

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

Golly gee whiz I hate to do things like this but my review of FF4 Complete has just been posted and I have to share it.

I don't even see the point in knocking the PSP/DS for their ports/remakes anymore. A lot of the times these ports are for games that are either expensive as shit, have had terrible ports in the past, first time in the US, or include tons of cool bonus stuff.

 

[Zekes!]

There's a demo?!

It was a JPN demo IIRC, but shit was fun. I think my favourite part was when you're running and you jump, she'll sometimes run along the wall. It's weird but awesome.

 

[Data West]

Yep.
Best action-RPG of 2010.

that's not Ys 7...

 

[GhaleonQ]

I don't even see the point in knocking the PSP/DS for their ports/remakes anymore. A lot of the times these ports are for games that are either expensive as shit, have had terrible ports in the past, first time in the US, or include tons of cool bonus stuff.

Yeah, it feels like (MOST OF) the bad ports that would have existed physically years ago now just get thrown up on the console downloadable networks. Handhelds and consoles get deluxe editions instead.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

that's not Ys 7...

Ys 7 is merely alright imo.

 

[LowParry]

damn that Ys Seven trailer looked kick ass. I may need to get this game

Damn right you should. Then pick up Oath.

 

[Laughing Banana]

This is my PSP RPG collection, though for some reason I've been abandoning/not playing them due to me being busy with PS3/Xbox360/DS... so many backlogs, aaargh.

Valkyria Chronicles II
Valkyrie Profiles: Lenneth
Persona 3 Portable
Jeanne D'Arc
Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions
Tactics Ogre PSP
Blazing Souls Accelate
Crimson Gem Saga
Lunar Silver Star Harmony
YS 7
YS The Ark of Napishtism
YS the Oath in Felghana
Final Fantasy Dissidia

Planning to get Disgaea 1, Disgaea 2, FFIV Complete Collection, Trails in the Sky, Popolocrois, Tales of Eternia...

Except for Kingdom Hearts BBS (since I could not care less about the KH universe), is there any other PSP RPGs I should set my eyes on?

Also, while I'm here I might as well ask: is there any negative side-effects for playing PSP while charging the battery? RPGs usually takes a long time to play and complete so it's bothersome to wait for my PSP to charge every time the battery ran out of juice.

 

[Zekes!]

Oh yeah there's Sting's games:

Knights in the Nightmare
Yggdra Union
Riviera: The Promised Land.

Knights in the Nightmare nets you a free Yggdra Union download (is that still going on?)
So you can get all three of the Dept. Heaven games by Sting.

They're not your average RPGs, and they're all kind of weird in their own way, but worth checking out.

 

[Trojita]

Valkyrie Profile Lenneth - port sucked... And I hate tri ace.
Jeanne D'Arc - I like sayin the title cuz I feel sophisticated, but this was just FFT: Boring Edition to me.
Disgaea - Boring anime-infused version of FFT. I got to the item world, saw the stupid number of enemies on the map, said "fuck this shit" and never touched it again.

 

[Dark Schala]

i really wish they would've brought radiant mythology 2 to the states

So do I. It's a real improvement over the first one, so it's disappointing that they never brought it over here.

RM2 has better and more in-depth character creation, and you can edit your character's appearance (colour palette, etc) after beating the game. In addition, they've added more classes like paladin, pirate, monk, etc, and getting new classes only requires you to get to a certain level with a particular class. Unlike in RM1, Tales characters (there are at least fifty or so--more than one character per game) will always join you if you ask them, and you can finally equip them. There are more dungeons, chests respawn, and you can exit the dungeon whenever you want, unlike in RM1. You can also skip skits if you want.

As for battles, there's an arena where you can fight certain special monsters and Tales characters. In the fights against Tales characters, you don't have to do it solo anymore. You can finally use a party for that. Your character's Mystic Arte is automatically learned around... uh... level 40-something. You get higher XP from monsters as well, so grinding doesn't feel like much of a chore. Also, the battle theme arrangements are better. You can choose your BGM for normal battles, story battles, arena battles, bosses and the final boss battle. The soundtrack is larger than RM1's so you get more stuff to choose from.

The only problems I see with it are that the ally AI is sometimes not good, and that Infinity Jam isn't as good as Unison.

But overall, Radiant Mythology 2 is just better than RM1. Way better.

I haven't tried out RM3 yet, though. I'm waiting until that one goes budget price. Narikiri Dungeon X and Rebirth were probably the only ones I bought at full price.

I just ordered Gurumin because of this thread, though. Picked up a budget-priced copy of Last Ranker too. I can get the Japanese version of Popolocrois, but I don't like doing that if there's an English version readily available... I might eventually cave, though.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

So how do you guys feel about Lunar? I played a good chunk of the ps1 game, but stopped because the combat was really slow... And iirc, it was really grind-heavy at times. Not sure if the PSP version changed the pacing up at all. But I did like the story and light heartedness of the game.

 

[DidntKnowJack]

Lunar is kind of controversial. They re-did the localization, and while I thought it was solid, some feel the Working Designs localization shouldn't have been tampered with, while others felt the old WD translation had too many pop culture references. Those references aren't gone completely, but they were cut down. Otherwise, I thought the new localization was damn close to the old one.

Aside from that, there are a couple other issues, albeit minor ones. First, the transitions between screens is kind of annoying. They fade in and out, as does the music. EVERYTIME. Strange choice.

Additionally, this version is a lot easier than previous editions. A LOT EASIER. I didn't die once until I got to the final boss, and even that was noticeably easier.

Also, the voice acting is different. In some cases, that's bad. (Err...wtf is with Nall this time around.) And in the new content, a new prologue that features events leading up to the game, there's some HORRIBLE voice acting. But in the end, that's something fairly minor. At least it was to me.

Otherwise, the PSP version is a solid effort from XSeed. I'm a Lunar fanatic, it's probably my favorite game of all time. I like the PS1 version better (sadly haven't played the original) but like I said, Lunar Silver Star Harmony is a solid effort.

 

[GhaleonQ]

Lunar is kind of controversial. They re-did the localization, and while I thought it was solid, some feel the Working Designs localization shouldn't have been tampered with, while others felt the old WD translation had too many pop culture references. Those references aren't gone completely, but they were cut down. Otherwise, I thought the new localization was damn close to the old one.

Aside from that, there are a couple other issues, albeit minor ones. First, the transitions between screens is kind of annoying. They fade in and out, as does the music. EVERYTIME. Strange choice.

Additionally, this version is a lot easier than previous editions. A LOT EASIER. I didn't die once until I got to the final boss, and even that was noticeably easier.

Also, the voice acting is different. In some cases, that's bad. (Err...wtf is with Nall this time around.) And in the new content, a new prologue that features events leading up to the game, there's some HORRIBLE voice acting. But in the end, that's something fairly minor. At least it was to me.

Otherwise, the PSP version is a solid effort from XSeed. I'm a Lunar fanatic, it's probably my favorite game of all time. I like the PS1 version better (sadly haven't played the original) but like I said, Lunar Silver Star Harmony is a solid effort.

^

Also, high-five for that last paragraph. *username*

 

[Dark Schala]

Lunar is kind of controversial. They re-did the localization, and while I thought it was solid, some feel the Working Designs localization shouldn't have been tampered with, while others felt the old WD translation had too many pop culture references. Those references aren't gone completely, but they were cut down. Otherwise, I thought the new localization was damn close to the old one.

Aside from that, there are a couple other issues, albeit minor ones. First, the transitions between screens is kind of annoying. They fade in and out, as does the music. EVERYTIME. Strange choice.

Additionally, this version is a lot easier than previous editions. A LOT EASIER. I didn't die once until I got to the final boss, and even that was noticeably easier.

Also, the voice acting is different. In some cases, that's bad. (Err...wtf is with Nall this time around.) And in the new content, a new prologue that features events leading up to the game, there's some HORRIBLE voice acting. But in the end, that's something fairly minor. At least it was to me.

Otherwise, the PSP version is a solid effort from XSeed. I'm a Lunar fanatic, it's probably my favorite game of all time. I like the PS1 version better (sadly haven't played the original) but like I said, Lunar Silver Star Harmony is a solid effort.

All of this is absolutely true.

Nall is voiced by Spike Spencer (Shinji Ikari, Rolo Lamperouge), btw.

 

[truly101]

Crimson Gem saga any good?

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Holy fuck ass of shit piss! Final Fantasy IV is excellent. I've bought the game like four or five times by now and was prepared to be let down after the lackluster ds port, but no! This version is exactly what I wanted -- it's pretty, doesn't have the stupid difficulty curve of the ds game, and the soundtrack is fucking incredible. I'm only like four hours in (just got past the dark elf) so I guess I have a lot more playing to do, but yeah, I'm really pleased with this one so far.

And that psp3000 makes such a difference... Man, I literally couldn't enjoy playing games on the OG PSP, but this feels like an entirely different system.

Point is, so far, so good.

 

[Dark Schala]

Crimson Gem saga any good?

Check this out, I hope it addresses your concerns: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=28019993&postcount=85.

I liked it, personally, but you should check out some gameplay footage too to see if you'll like it. It isn't universally considered as "wonderful".

Holy fuck ass of shit piss! Final Fantasy IV is excellent. I've bought the game like four or five times by now and was prepared to be let down after the lackluster ds port, but no! This version is exactly what I wanted -- it's pretty, doesn't have the stupid difficulty curve of the ds game, and the soundtrack is fucking incredible. I'm only like four hours in (just got past the dark elf) so I guess I have a lot more playing to do, but yeah, I'm really pleased with this one so far.

And that psp3000 makes such a difference... Man, I literally couldn't enjoy playing games on the OG PSP, but this feels like an entirely different system.

Point is, so far, so good.

I have a PSP-2000, but in my experience with the PSP-1000, the slims feel like much better models. They feel right. I would imagine that the PSP-3000s are better models than the 2000s.

And you need this thread. I'm really enjoying FFIV:CC too.

 

[TheSeks]

It was a JPN demo IIRC, but shit was fun. I think my favourite part was when you're running and you jump, she'll sometimes run along the wall. It's weird but awesome.

Provided the download link here still works, you don't need PSN or anything. But yes, it's totally in Japanese and sucks because they should've translated the demo and gotten a hell of a lot more sales from it.

Same with Exit's demo. You can play the XBLA versions and get what basically was a PSP game just redone for XBLA there.