iapetus said:
Hey, ethelred really does have better taste than you.
Why, thank you.
Octagon said:
Wasn't Rhapsody a SRPG too? (never played it)
It was, but it's pretty awful. Well, really awful. Pass.
jjasper said:
Yeah I actually prefer Ogre Battle and 64 to Tactics but I am always cautious to recommend them because they are pretty different
Well, Ogre Battle and Tactics Ogre are very different beasts, so it's tough to compare them directly... the games are very different in how they play out. I consider Tactics Ogre the best, though, because it was the most significant and influential (in terms of shaping the broader genre; OB hasn't had much influence), better music, and a better story.
All three games are great, though.
Diomedeskun said:
The Arc the Lad series was disappointing. Part 1 was fun, but simplistic and only served as an intro to part 2, which started off great, but was bogged down by the number of long, dull, easy battles you got into whenever you were going anywhere. I never even started part 3.
The Arc the Lad series basically exists solely for #2. The first game is more or less just an introductory chapter to the second game, and the series went downhill after that.
It's a long game, but I tend to consider that one of its pros; I never felt the length hindered the experience. As I said, there are a lot of things going for it. Like Shining Force, it deliberately aims for a more accessible experience, melding traditional RPG designs with SRPG gameplay -- the town exploration, the dungeons, the emphasis on leveling up and equipment. But the actual gameplay is quite solid. There are a lot of playable characters, a lot of special abilities to acquire (and multiple weapon proficiencies for each character), tons of accessories/weapons/armor plus crafting to make even better stuff.
As to whether or not it's easy, I think it only tends to be if you're fighting (grinding, I guess) enough, and that's part of what I mean by a more accessible/traditional package. The game makes that fighting a lot of fun, though, by offering so much content for the player to explore. Tons of optional dungeons, monster bounties, Guild quests, and so on. Then on top of that, you've got the ability to recruit almost any monster in the game as a playable character, and you can customize their skills.
It's not the most difficult game, but the combat stays simple enough while offering enough options to the player that it's just really enjoyable to play through.
Diomedeskun said:
Tactics Ogre was the only challenging SRPG I played for PSX other than Final Fantasy Tactics, but it was too slow paced for me. I got tired of battles which were mostly spent watching both your units and the enemy miss almost every hit. I would love to play through it, I just never had the patience, and I have even less gaming time now than I did back then.
The only thing I really think is slow in Tactics Ogre, and this is just part of the fact that it's really an SNES game, is the radius-spell animations and how there's a specific animation for each square. That can be a pain.
Missing, though? What kind of troops were you using, and how were you progressing them down their class paths? And were you paying attention to tactical factors like height disparity, terrain/weather conditions, attacking from the front/rear/sides? Because I never have any problems hitting my targets.
