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[Duck of Death]

Right now I'm looking for a good, old-fashioned RPG for my GBA that can be obtained at a bargain price. I'm thinking of getting Lufia: The Ruins of Lore, but there aren't many copies to be found. I've already played Golden Sun and have no interest in its sequel.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[neptunes]

wll the rpg's that would be at bargain bins would be the crappy ones'

It's hard to reap a good sustainable profit off a GBA game, so you'll rarely see good games (the ones that took quite a while to make) to be at bargain bins.

 

[belgurdo]

Lufia sucks. Try Megaman Battle Network.

 

[jarrod]

The Lost Age is really great, a huge improvement over the first. It's about a million times better than Ruins of Lore... seriously.

If you can find them, MegaMan Battle Network 1-3 should be in discount bins. Lunar Legend's decent and also $20 or less by now.. outside that most worthwhile RPGs (Fire Emblem, Tactics Ogre, Mario & Luigi, Pokemon, Zelda, FFTA, Sword of Mana, etc) are going to be full price.

 

[Brandon F]

Ok so it's not exactly an "RPG" in the true vernacular of the game forum dweller. Probably doesn't need explanation either given it's roots, but I just got a copy of it and its been rocksolid fun for the past couple hours. In some ways I do actually prefer it to Fire Emblem, but it could just be its streamlined makeover and 'focus on adventure' 'tude that has captivated me thus far.

Perhaps Breath of Fire 1/2 may be up your alley. Personnally I couldn't stand more than 8 hours or so of BoF2 myself, but in the pre-Dragon Quarter days, many did consider it the top of the franchise. (BoF4 PSX blows it away IMO...but I'm in the minority there I think)

Mario and Luigi was a heapful of fun while it lasted. Very much worth the look.

 

[Wario64]

Should have gotten Mario & Luigi when it first came out, got that game for $19.99 at Best Buy after gamer's gift card. That game ROCKS

 

[Fifty]

Battle Network 3.

 

[neptunes]

oh yeah, I forgot about the Battle Network series.

but the rest of them look like shovelware.

 

[Duck of Death]

I already have Mario and Luigi. Awesome game.

The Lost Age is $19.99 at most places, right? I liked the first game, except for the horribly wooden dialogue and a frustrating menu problem in combat. Why is The Lost Ages a better game than its predecessor?

There are two reasons I was considering Lufia. 1) I enjoyed Lufia I and II on the SNES, and 2) No random encounters. I'm not a big fan of random encounters, although I will go through them if the overall game is worth it. What are some problems of the Ruins of Lore that I should know about?

 

[Fularu]

If you loved Lufia I and II then track down Cima, it's by the same team, published by Natsume and will likely be really rare in the years to come

 

[Shouta]

CIMA is way overrated.

Ruins of Lore lacks a lot of polish and charm from the Lufia series as well as a gutted gameplay system (and mind you, I'm about the biggest Lufia nerd on this forum although Dragona is pretty damn close =p). I'd recommend it if you're REALLY bored and can't find anything else to play but otherwise, avoid it.

 

[Fularu]

Overated or not, it's still the closest thing to lufia 3 than anything else, and is quite good, nnot godly, but good enough, way better than ruins of lore anyway

 

[Mejilan]

EDIT - Major oversight brought to my attention.

I've got just about every GBA RPG available in the US, and I have no clue if you'll be able to find some of the older ones at all, cheap or otherwise.

Phantasy Star Collection - a must own compilation of 3 very classic games, 2 of them awesome. Sadly missing the final chapter of the Phantasy Star saga, but still a great value.
Breath of Fires. 1st was garbage, 2 was halfway decent. Low end rpgs all in all.
Lunar was fun and charming, though bug ridden and stripped down.
Lufia - RoL was easily the worst in the series. Very... unprofessionally done. But sorta fun.
CIMA was fun though brain dead. Pathfinding can be a bitch, as is NPC AI. Not a true RPG.
Golden Suns. 1st was mediocre, 2nd is the system's best traditional RPG imho.
Fire Emblem & Shining Force. Dig "chessboard" style strat-rpgs? Must owns.
Sword of Mana, Shining Soul 2. Decent to good action rpgs.
Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire. Excellent fun, insane replay, huge length.
Tactics Ogre - Knight of Lodis. Like "tactics" style strat-rpgs? Best on the GBA.
FF Tactics Advance. Fun but silly. Not as good as TO - KoL imho.
Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance. Fun and rewarding Diablo-style dungeon romp.
Eye of the Beholder. Very odd blend of 3rd edition rules, classic EotB 1st person dungeon exploration, and classic SSI Goldenbox game combat style. Mediocre game.

I have to mention:
Dragon Warrior III - GBC release. One of the greatest RPGs currently on any handheld.
Dragon Warrior I&II - GB/GBC release. Almost as good as DWIII.

There are quite a few more, but I think that's a decent list of what's good and what's not. I'd be happy to expand upon any of my above comments.

 

[belgurdo]

Overated or not, it's still the closest thing to lufia 3 than anything else, and is quite good, nnot godly, but good enough, way better than ruins of lore anyway

Actually, The Legend Returns is the closest thing you'll get to Lufia III, and it sucks too.

 

[Soul4ger]

Ok so it's not exactly an "RPG" in the true vernacular of the game forum dweller. Probably doesn't need explanation either given it's roots, but I just got a copy of it and its been rocksolid fun for the past couple hours. In some ways I do actually prefer it to Fire Emblem, but it could just be its streamlined makeover and 'focus on adventure' 'tude that has captivated me thus far.

Perhaps Breath of Fire 1/2 may be up your alley. Personnally I couldn't stand more than 8 hours or so of BoF2 myself, but in the pre-Dragon Quarter days, many did consider it the top of the franchise. (BoF4 PSX blows it away IMO...but I'm in the minority there I think)

Mario and Luigi was a heapful of fun while it lasted. Very much worth the look.

The Shining Force remake is everything a remake should be. They kept the essence identical, but updated the graphics and music, fleshed out the plot, gave characters actual development, there are new sidequests and items, objectives for battles, etc. It might be the best GBA game so far this year.

 

[Mejilan]

I enjoyed Lufia - The Legend Returns (GBC) more than Lufia - Ruins of Lore (GBA) as well.

 

[Duck of Death]

Thanks for the help everyone.

I never even thought of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. I love Diablo, and a good game with similar gameplay for the GBA would be a winner with me. Can anyone share some information on this game and/or other Diablo-style games available for the GBA?

 

[Soul4ger]

Thanks for the help everyone.

I never even thought of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. I love Diablo, and a good game with similar gameplay for the GBA would be a winner with me. Can anyone share some information on this game and/or other Diablo-style games available for the GBA?

There are the Lord of the Rings games. Those play similar to BG or Diablo, but the graphics are kinda muddy. Still fun hack-and-slashers, though.

 

[TheDiave]

I got Breath of Fire 2 for $14.99 at my store (KB Toys) a little while back. It's probably even cheaper now if they still have copies floating around.

 

[jarrod]

Also Shining Soul 1-2 are actually more "hack n' slash" than they are ARPGs. I've yet to start 2 but I thought 1 was decent leveing up fun.

 

[Bog]

The Shining Force remake is everything a remake should be. They kept the essence identical, but updated the graphics and music, fleshed out the plot, gave characters actual development, there are new sidequests and items, objectives for battles, etc. It might be the best GBA game so far this year.

What he said.

 

[PlagueWielder]

Zone of Enders - Fist of Mars is an ok strategygame. Though there exists no replayability in that game.

 

[Mejilan]

Shining Soul 1 was a terrible game, imho. Shining Soul 2 I found surprisingly enjoyable. I even played all the way through with one of the character classes. Definitely a dungeon romp/hack n slash, but then, I do consider those to be types of ARPGs also. Blurring lines, and all that.

I have LotR Two Towers for the GBA for a time, and it is also a Diablo style game, but I found it to be significantly inferior to BG-DA on the GBA. I haven't played Return of the King, which I understand was better than its predecessor.

Be warned, none of these games can even approach Diablo II, still the king of the hack n slash dungeon romp, imho. But SS2 and BG-DA are fun and enjoyable. And portable.

 

[Alex Anderson]

20 replies and no Phantasy Star Collection recommendations? For shame.

MSRP'd at $20. I've seen many $14.99 preowned copies at EB stores.

*edit* Removed picture of box-art because it was giving me nightmares.

 

[Mejilan]

Yikes. I can't believe I forgot PS Collection. Original post edited. :/