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Best Ps2 RPGs?

So, it's been about 2-3 years since I bothered to sit down play through an rpg completely... All of a sudden I have an urge to play through one. Can you reccomend the best ps2 rpgs? I don't care how old they are either..just something that has a decent battle system and something thats not xenosaga.
 

Tabris

Member
Well story-based RPGs aren't your thing? So there goes both Xenosaga and Final Fantasy X.

So my recommendation is Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter. You can find it for 20 bucks.
 

Blackace

if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
Tabris said:
Well story-based RPGs aren't your thing? So there goes both Xenosaga and Final Fantasy X.

So my recommendation is Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter. You can find it for 20 bucks.

he didn't say story based wasn't his thing.... just no Xenosaga... I would say Wild Arms 3, FFX, Star Ocean 3 (when it comes out in the states)...and if you like action-RPGs let me say Dark Cloud 2
 
I recommend.

.hack/Infection
.hack/Mutation
.hack/Outbreak
.hack/Quarantine
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X2
Xenosaga
Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter
Dark Cloud
Dark Cloud 2
Summoner
Wild Arms 3
Suikoden 3

... you know, come to think of it, there are too many great RPG's for the PlayStation 2. The list above could keep going on forever.
 

AniHawk

Member
Hm... Keep in mind, I haven't played all of them, but I'll list as many as I can think of that I've heard my friend rave about:

Wild ARMs 3
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X-2
Shadow Hearts
Kingdom Hearts (no relation to Shadow Hearts)- ARPG
Disgaea: Hour of Darkness- SRPG
La Pucelle: Tactics- SRPG
Suikoden III
Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter
Dark Cloud 2
Final Fantasy XI- MMORPG
Legaia 2: Duel Saga

On the PSX, in case you haven't played any of these:

Alundra
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy Tactics
Arc the Lad Collection
Chrono Cross
Dragon Warrior VII
Suikoden
Suikoden II
Jade Cocoon
Legend of Dragoon
Legend of Legaia
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
Tales of Destiny
Tales of Phantasia
Wild ARMs
Wild ARMs 2

And on the other systems this gen, we have:

Grandia II (DC)
Shenmue II (DC)
Skies of Arcadia Legends (GC)
Tales of Symphonia (GC in about 2 weeks)
Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox)
Sudeki (Xbox in about 2 weeks)
 

AniHawk

Member
ManDudeChild said:
I recommend.

.hack/Infection
.hack/Mutation
.hack/Outbreak
.hack/Quarantine
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X2
Xenosaga
Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter
Dark Cloud
Dark Cloud 2
Summoner
Wild Arms 3
Suikoden 3

... you know, come to think of it, there are too many great RPG's for the PlayStation 2. The list above could keep going on forever.

You recommend Dark Cloud 1?

WHY?
 
In my opinion, this generation hasn't had too many great turn-based rpgs. Despite their flaws, I'd pick Final Fantasy X/X-2 and Legaia 2: Duel Saga.
 

P90

Member
Shadow Hearts or a slew of PS1 rpgs you can get on the cheap. Ahhhhh, the beauty of backwards compatibility. :)
 
Dark Cloud 2 < Best PS2 RPG! Huge game
Breath of Fire DQ
Suikoden III
Final Fantasy X

STAY AWAY FROM:
Final Fantasy X-2 < WTF is this?
Xenosaga < Worst RPG ever!
 

AniHawk

Member
Doom_Bringer said:
STAY AWAY FROM:
Final Fantasy X-2 < WTF is this?

FFX-2 must be the most underrated game in the world. It's a great finish to the crappy ending FFX left us with (
Tidus swimming up after the credits
).
 

Crispy

Member
I bought Unlimited Saga second hand today....I like it, but I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. Try shadow Hearts for a fun traditional RPG.
 
AniHawk said:
FFX-2 must be the most underrated game in the world. It's a great finish to the crappy ending FFX left us with (
Tidus swimming up after the credits
).

u r a crazy bastard! Anyone who likes ffx2 is nuts!! Worst game ever man!! I can't believe i bought it for 49.99!! FFX2 is pos!! Stay away from it!
 

Ar_

Member
Some of the Good:

Grandia games have the best battle system I have seen on classic RPG.
The first has also one of the the most charming (and kiddie) jap rpg stories ever, 2nd is trite, X is said to be little more than a dungeon crawler.

BoFDQ has an interesting battle system, but HARD for console rpg standards; is a dungeon crawler with few cutscenes thrown in to illustrate the (pretty nice) story.
The dark atmosphere and looks may turn people off. Great soundtrack.

Shadow Hearts battle system is similiar, maybe barely better, to your average FF. Relyes on some twitches, pressing the attack button in timed sequencies to deal most damage; someone likes it, others dont...
It has the lowest random encounter rate I ever experienced. IMHO a great thing, FF-like random battles are Teh Waste Of Time.
Visually is barely above PS1 standards. Characters, story, ambientation and music are good - but their a sober style wont attract everyone.

And some of the Bad:

Legais is... I dont know, cause it bored me too much to play over a couple hours.
Most Overrated Battle System Ever - basically a FF where you select your attacks with a combination of pad movements (requiring no skill) instead than a menu.
Without the overall polish of FF games. Maybe becomes great later on...

... thats it, Im tired of typing.
Too many RPGs, between PS one and two.

Xenosaga is at least as good as your typical Final Fantasy btw, despite the trolling it specifically receives on this board.

FFT (PS1) is great if you want a strategy game. For a more recent title, Id wait for Phantom Braves (is that the name?), which seems to have the same realistic unit-based turn system which I loved in FFT.
Arc the Lad 2 is another cool and huge strategy game, a little lacking on flash.

Darc Cloud 2... havent playet it yet, but more than a RPG looks like a mediocre dungeon crawler sprinkled with MiniGames and Side-Thingies to do; if you like diversions and building a char, I guess is great; for good story and deep battle system, Id look elsewhere. Im good even at judging games I never played, am I not? =)
 
Dragon Quarter ditches pretty much all Breath of Fire (which disappointed me because BoF IV looked like it was setting up for another game, in that you never fight the real villain) and combines hard dungeon crawl woth one of the finest SRPG style combat systems ever. Only the presence of characters named Ryu (who has a dragon power) and Nina even ties it to Breath of Fire.

I love any game that lets me kick enemies into firewalls I created.

Grandia has the best development of the traditional battle system. I have only played 1 and 2 (PS1 and DC), but I have heard that Extreme has an even better system, if little else of what makes Grandia great.

Star Ocean 2 had my favorite battle system of any RPG, with its running around intensely on the field attacking magic users and archers while my spellcasters took out everyone else. It was like playing a Slayers anime come to life, I felt at the time. I actually looked forward to battles, which normally does not happen in RPGs. Hopefully, 3 will be as good as 2 was.
 

signet

Member
I'd say Grandia 2 if the port did not suck, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness is a top RPG as is La Pucelle: Tactics IMO.
 
signet said:
I'd say Grandia 2 if the port did not suck, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness is a top RPG as is La Pucelle: Tactics IMO.


Grandia II just falls apart in the end! The game starts to suck when u get inside valmar and its a downhill ride from there!
 

BenT

Member
This thread is excellent as a reference list of every RPG ever conceived, created and released on the PS2. PanopticBlue's gonna be playing for years, if he doesn't kill himself first.

Panoptic: Please leave your copy of the unspeakably awesome, must-play hit RPG Legend of Legaia to me! I threw mine out by accident. Twice. :(
 

belgurdo

Banned
Doom_Bringer said:
u r a crazy bastard! Anyone who likes ffx2 is nuts!! Worst game ever man!! I can't believe i bought it for 49.99!! FFX2 is pos!! Stay away from it!


Someone's mad because they didn't make VII-2 instead
 

ferricide

Member
yeah, way to fill a thread with every game released on the system.

IMO the best RPG for PS2 is ... final fantasy X. (boring choice?)
then ... xenosaga (which you don't want to play.)
then ... shadow hearts? i dunno, i'm running out here. everything else listed doesn't excite me, but i haven't played dragon quarter yet (this seems to be rather hit or miss.) i enjoyed .hack for awhile, and the story's great, but i really, really got tired of it by the end. there's not enough there to sustain the whole series. dark cloud 2 is like, a bunch of really good stuff and a bunch of shit mixed together. thus not terribly fulfilling overall IMO.

there are some very nifty upcoming games: star ocean 3, SMT: nocturne, digital devil saga, shadow hearts 2.

and FFX-2 suxx0rz.

the suggestion of going back and playing PS1 RPGs you missed is an excellent one. there are a lot of hidden gems. persona 1 & 2, valkyrie profile (better'n SO3), tales of destiny II, etc.
 

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
You guys missed one of the best ones...

938298b.jpg
 

Belfast

Member
Ar_ said:
Im good even at judging games I never played, am I not? =)

No, you're not. You're even worse at spelling and punctuation.

Dark Cloud 2 doesn't have the BEST story ever, but its a decent one, not to mention leaps and bounds over Dark Cloud 1. And the battle system is pretty good. Its an action-RPG and sort of works like the 3d Zelda games. For a dungeon crawler, its far from mediocre.
 

Ar_

Member
Belfast said:
No, you're not. You're even worse at spelling and punctuation.

Dark Cloud 2 doesn't have the BEST story ever, but its a decent one, not to mention leaps and bounds over Dark Cloud 1. And the battle system is pretty good. Its an action-RPG and sort of works like the 3d Zelda games. For a dungeon crawler, its far from mediocre.

Im actually pretty good at punctuation, just too lazy to use apostrophes and correct every typo when writing for fun, on a second language.
Favor for favor, your manners seem lacking. Maybe you are lazy too!

I (jokingly) said the story and battles dont seem respectively "good" and "deep", where you call them "decent" and "pretty good". Your definition isnt much of a contradiction of mine.
Going to try it in a few minutes anyway, and find out how good it really is.
 

P90

Member
Doom_Bringer said:
Dark Cloud 2 < Best PS2 RPG! Huge game
Breath of Fire DQ
Suikoden III
Final Fantasy X

STAY AWAY FROM:
Final Fantasy X-2 < WTF is this?
Xenosaga < Worst RPG ever!

No way. Xenosaga = Suikoden III (both have glaring flaws, but enjoyable.)>>> FFX>>>>>FFX-2
 

P90

Member
Doom_Bringer said:
Grandia II just falls apart in the end! The game starts to suck when u get inside valmar and its a downhill ride from there!

Yeah, the story of Grandia II was poor. Piss poor. Fantastic battle system, though.
 

jiggle

Member
I like both Dark Cloud 1 and FFX-2 also...

Dark Cloud 2 improves upon, pratically, everything, and is definitely the better game. I was more addicted to the fishing and weapon upgrading in 1 than 2 though...

FFX-2 - Fun/fast battles, pretty good story, likable characters, challenging. Good stuff.

The bests in the library is definitely FFX.

Breath of Fire V, Kingdom Hearts and Shadow Hearts are worth playing also.
 

Mumbles

Member
Best RPGs? In no particular order, I'd go with

FFX/X-2
Breath of Fire 5
Shadow Hearts

And after those, Jade Cocoon 2, Wild ARMS 3, Tsugunai, and Xenosaga despite what you say.

Most of the rest (Okage, Legaia, Suikoden 3, Grandia, etc.) just weren't good IMO

For action-RPGs, there's Dark Cloud 2, and ...uh...that's all I can remember

And for strat-RPGs, there's Disgaea, Front Mission 4, and Gladius. None are wonderful, but they're all fun.
 

Kweh

Member
I'd probably put Suikoden III as my favourite PS2 RPG. I have Wild Arms 3 but just havent got round to playing it. It looks...ehm...wierd. It was an impulse buy really, is it worth my time?
 

ferricide

Member
suikoden III has far too mediocre gameplay to unreservedly recommend. great story, though. if you don't mind trudge and tedium, it's worth a look.
 

Dead

well not really...yet
Great:
Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter.
Dark Cloud 2
Grandia Xtreme
Grandia 2 (get the DC version if you can)

Good to decent:
Xenosaga
Jade Cocoon 2
.hack vol. 1 -4
Suikoden 3

The Ugly:
FInal Fantasy X
FInal Fantasy X2
Wild Arms 3
Arc the Lad
 

Ranger X

Member
La Pucelle, Kingdom Hearts, Dark Cloud 2, Champions of Norrath. This way you have the best overall view. Maybe you can include FFX too.
 

belgurdo

Banned
DeadStar said:
Great:
Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter.
Dark Cloud 2
Grandia Xtreme
Grandia 2 (get the DC version if you can)

Good to decent:
Xenosaga
Jade Cocoon 2
.hack vol. 1 -4
Suikoden 3

The Ugly:
FInal Fantasy X
FInal Fantasy X2
Wild Arms 3
Arc the Lad


Jade Cocoon and Suiko 3 good? FFX/-2 in the same category as WA3 and Arc? I give this post a C-
 

Ar_

Member
<-- Ar is playing Dark Cloud 2:
Presentation, shows many intesesting scenes, looks promising.
*skips cutscene*
Combat: not bad, fast and smooth. Too bad the camera keeps spinning and is giving me a beginning of headache. Over in a minute. Looks promising.
*skips cutscene*
*skips another*
*skip*
*skip*
*skip*
(I miss Xenosaga)
*skip*
*skip*
*skip*
*skip*
...*skips many more*
Dungeon: 1st sloor: whack whack whack, slowly move around, slow slow, whack whack whack, slooooooooowly opens a chest, slow, whack, slow, whack, slow, chest, whack, slow, whack.... *goes on for 10 minutes*
Passed. Finally. Im bored.
Combat gets old fast, too simple and repetitive, too many pauses between kills.
The random dungeon is as unispired and repetitive as it gets, so cant even watch the architecture for a distraction.
Glance at the map: 1..2...3... 8 more floors to go. KTHXBYE. Reset.

Cant diss the game, is probably munchkins heaven, may have some impressive content buried in there, and I know many loved it. Seems definitely good in its own way.
But I dont have the patience for this, or interest in watching my weapons level up or do fishing minigames. Arc ToS, greatly panned here, was more engaging for me - at least took less time to get somewhere.

Btw, on the PS2 can also play FF4/5/6, Chrono Trigger... and if you have a CD burner or hd, Genesis ans SNES emulators. Wonder if Lufia 2 runs well on it.... maybe should burn and find out fast =)
 

Dead

well not really...yet
belgurdo said:
Jade Cocoon and Suiko 3 good? FFX/-2 in the same category as WA3 and Arc? I give this post a C-
Suko 3 is flawed as fuck but its better than the abortions in the ugly category. And Jade Cocoon rocks bitch >:|
 
Dark Cloud is only great when u play it with cheat codes! Otherwise its time consuming! I really love everything about DC2!! Great RPG!
 

ferricide

Member
DeadStar said:
Suko 3 is flawed as fuck but its better than the abortions in the ugly category. And Jade Cocoon rocks bitch >:|
anyone who thinks suikoden III plays better than FFX is from planet retard.
 

MoxManiac

Member
Gonna have to agree with Ferricide, Suiko 3's gameplay was pain, personified. I actually liked the story though. That's a rare thing for me with the genre these days.
 

Kiriku

SWEDISH PERFECTION
Dark Cloud wasn't bad at all. It had a more, how should I put it, "serious" atmosphere to it compared to Dark Cloud 2. Maybe it's because of the character style and story. The story in Dark Cloud 2 was so tedious, cliché and in the way, that I actually prefer the more toned down story-telling of Dark Cloud. Also, the Georama system in Dark Cloud 2 was too complicated for its own good. It was simpler and better structured in Dark Cloud. But other than these points, Dark Cloud 2 is superior.

But if you dislike dungeon crawlers, you should probably stay away. I liked both games though. :)
 

Mock

Banned
FFX, FFX-2, FFXI, Kingdom Hearts, Front Mission 4, La Pucelle Tactics and Disgaea are my favorite PS2 RPGs so far this gen. Square and Nippon Ichi have yet to disappoint me.

I'd count the Dark Cloud series as the most tedious and boring pair of RPGs I've ever played, though Suikoden III comes pretty damn close. Xenosaga I actually liked for its gameplay, but its overbearing story eroded my will to finish it, hopefully they'll put more priority into the gameplay next time.
 

Mejilan

Running off of Custom Firmware
My favorite PS2 only RPG has got to be Wizardry - Tale of the Forsaken City. Good lord that game has an awesome combat system and ridiculously cool atmosphere.

If you're into something a little more intrinsically Japanese (haha, teh irony) I highly recommend Grandia 2 or Grandia Xtreme. However, those are ONLY for the character customization and combat systems, as the characters and stories aren't anything special in either game, particularly Xtreme.

I'm also partial to Summoner 2.
 
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