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Sega Console RPG Appreciation Thread; or, why the Genesis, Saturn, and Dreamcast rock
- Thread starter ethelred
- Start date
PepsimanVsJoe
Member
duckroll said:Speaking of Sega console appreciation.... Monster World Collection is out this week in Japan!
Just when I thought I could go without buying a game this week. =/
..pakbeka..
Member
nice to see I wasn't the only one that played E.G.G.
I still plan on replaying it one day
I still plan on replaying it one day
radios shipping overview
Member
I don't check critical thought at the door when I enter an appreciation thread. Sorry! All voices have a place here, and it's not like I'm trolling the consoles (I was a huge Sega fan from the Genny up to the death of the DC).Not fun to you, maybe, but it's fun for lots of people, and you != the definitive authority on gaming, so hey, if you've nothing positive to contribute in an appreciation thread, the door's that-a-way.
Mmmm, both Murata and ABe on a single game. Wish I could understand the dialogue better.duckroll said:
E.G.G. seems like it would have turned out better if it had been released on the Saturn like it was supposed to have been (as I believe I heard once, and I believe it). I really liked the background and character art, but the 3D boss battles...man, junk.
As much more worthy alternatives to Ys 3, I'll introduce Wonder Boy in Monster World and Monster World IV. Both are highly-polished, beautiful sidescrolling action-RPGs with really solid action, great world design, and fun levels/environments.
Wonder Boy in Monster World
Monster World IV
And what's a Genesis RPG appreciation thread without mention of the Uncharted Waters games?
The Saturn has Grandia so it automatically wins. I don't like a lot of the other games mentioned though...
Anyway, ethelred, please. PLEASE. Get your hands on a copy of Chaos Seed for the Saturn. It's a unique little RPG that most of the world doesn't know, yet Japanese gamers named it as one of the top 5 games for the system. I picked it up on a whim, and found it to be one of the coolest games I've ever played.
Hardcore gaming 101 did an article on it:
http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/chaosseed/chaosseed.htm
Anyway, ethelred, please. PLEASE. Get your hands on a copy of Chaos Seed for the Saturn. It's a unique little RPG that most of the world doesn't know, yet Japanese gamers named it as one of the top 5 games for the system. I picked it up on a whim, and found it to be one of the coolest games I've ever played.
Hardcore gaming 101 did an article on it:
http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/chaosseed/chaosseed.htm
Musashi Wins!
FLAWLESS VICTOLY!
Neat thread.
I think Segagaga is one of the most interesting and daring games I've seen. I really hope the translation gets finished so I can play it.
I think Segagaga is one of the most interesting and daring games I've seen. I really hope the translation gets finished so I can play it.
Systems_id
Banned
This thread makes me want a RPG from Sega that's not PSO. I just wish Sega was up to the task.
modkennylaine
Member
Geeze, Sega has such a nice backlog of titles that they could milk on the VC or compilation ports...but NOOOOO.
::sniff:: I played my first RPG (er, SRPG as well, I suppose--Mystaria) on the Saturn and was hooked. Never bought it, went right for Shining the Holy Ark and then rented Dragon Force...which led to a purchase, naturally. Got SF3 and Magic Knights Rayearth AND PDS...let someone borrow PDS and it's been 6 years. I should probably try to get it back.
::sniff:: I played my first RPG (er, SRPG as well, I suppose--Mystaria) on the Saturn and was hooked. Never bought it, went right for Shining the Holy Ark and then rented Dragon Force...which led to a purchase, naturally. Got SF3 and Magic Knights Rayearth AND PDS...let someone borrow PDS and it's been 6 years. I should probably try to get it back.
Tsubaki said:
Aeana had been recommending the game, too... I may just check it out, actually. Thanks for the suggestion.
jiji said:
Good call on both counts. Dunno how Monster Boy and Uncharted Waters slipped my mind to begin with. I think I'll toss them up there (along with Dark Savior and Shining Wisdom since both of those got so many requests).
Mejilan said:
I'll fix it when I add the additional games. Don't get your knickers in a twist.
Let's talk about Capcom's El Dorado Gate series. Anyone else played it? It's a DC RPG series that came in 7 volumes. Each game was budget priced but was only 4-6 hours long. It's full 2D and all the designs were by Amano, looked really good. The gameplay is rather traditional, kinda like DQ's combat system, but the episodic gaming thing was kinda interesting.
Basically each volume contains a few scenarios, each featuring a different main character. The save files carry over, as do levels and items. Basically as you keep playing the volumes eventually the characters start crossing over and the scenarios start to connect the dots. It was a pretty interesting experiment and overall of the 4 volumes I played I enjoyed the series quite a bit. It's a pity the DC failed and the series never got a chance to be experimented in the US. ;_;
Basically each volume contains a few scenarios, each featuring a different main character. The save files carry over, as do levels and items. Basically as you keep playing the volumes eventually the characters start crossing over and the scenarios start to connect the dots. It was a pretty interesting experiment and overall of the 4 volumes I played I enjoyed the series quite a bit. It's a pity the DC failed and the series never got a chance to be experimented in the US. ;_;
While some of these games are absolute classics (Grandia and Guardian Heroes), for the most part, looking over this list serves as a reminder that I made the right decision in selling off my Saturn, Genesis, and Sega CD. Most of the games on this list fall into the trap of wander around, mash through bland combat, repeat (SoA, PS, Lunar). Maybe it's a statement on how far games and RPGs in particular have come. There was definitely a time where PS4 and Lunar: EB were among my faves, but nowadays I wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole. There's almost nothing that seperates these from any other RPG in the universe. And then those that are different didn't weren't great games. PDS, for example, mostly just consisted of napping around in a "safe zone" and Dragon Force had 90% of the gameplay in sitting around watching a melee while not making any decisions whatsoever. And then you go to then even lesser well known games, like Vay, which is absolutely 100% garbage.
Anyways, I guess it's sometimes nice to think about the simpler times when I would be able to play games without overanalyzing them, but I at the same time, I'm glad there is such a wider variety of options available now and we can afford to be more discriminating. and....I still wish I had gotten around to playing Popful Main back in the day.
Anyways, I guess it's sometimes nice to think about the simpler times when I would be able to play games without overanalyzing them, but I at the same time, I'm glad there is such a wider variety of options available now and we can afford to be more discriminating. and....I still wish I had gotten around to playing Popful Main back in the day.
Let's say it again:
GAME ARTS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH VAY. THEY DID NOT PUBLISH IT, THEY DID NOT DEVELOP IT, THEY PROBABLY DIDN'T EVEN PLAY IT EVER! IT'S DEVELOPED AND PUBLISHED BY SIMS IN JAPAN, AND PUBLISHED BY WORKING DESIGNS IN THE US! NO GAME ARTS!
Edit: Good to see it's fixed!
GAME ARTS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH VAY. THEY DID NOT PUBLISH IT, THEY DID NOT DEVELOP IT, THEY PROBABLY DIDN'T EVEN PLAY IT EVER! IT'S DEVELOPED AND PUBLISHED BY SIMS IN JAPAN, AND PUBLISHED BY WORKING DESIGNS IN THE US! NO GAME ARTS!
Edit: Good to see it's fixed!
i just thought of a genesis game that isn't here... not sure if it's worthy but i had a blast with it back in the day.
it was a space rpg called starflight... sort of like star control on the 3d0, only it was less story oriented. the game was absolutley massive and it came with this huge star map which was required for navigation.
you would go out and mine stuff, upgrade your ship/crew and search for other races.
i'm thinking it may have been a pc port, but i'm not sure.
anyway, as you can see, it's not the prettiest game in the world, but it's extremly deep.
it was a space rpg called starflight... sort of like star control on the 3d0, only it was less story oriented. the game was absolutley massive and it came with this huge star map which was required for navigation.
you would go out and mine stuff, upgrade your ship/crew and search for other races.
i'm thinking it may have been a pc port, but i'm not sure.
anyway, as you can see, it's not the prettiest game in the world, but it's extremly deep.
Xisiqomelir
Member
What a great thread! Out of the very, very limited selection of these that I've played, I like Phantasy Star IV the best.
Yes, even over Panzer Dragoon
radios shipping overview
Member
Starflight rocks! I loved exploring planets and looking for new elements and materials to repair and upgrade my ship. I always held my breath when I would check to see if the planet had life. The game's hard as hell, but fun.Krowley said:
A Black Falcon
Member
Sapiens said:
Wonder Boy in Monster World and Monster World IV are both amazing games... I wouldn't call them RPGs, though. "Platformers with stats" is more like it... "Platformer-RPG" maybe?
(Zelda and Metroid have increasing stats as you progress and they aren't called RPGs...)
PepsimanVsJoe
Member
Gruco said:
You make it sound like a problem exclusive to Sega consoles.
This is an appreciation thread btw, start by showing a little okay?
There are a handful of stinkers being listed in this thread but hell I don't mind.
havent played PS2 in a while, but are you crazy! Landstalker is still addictive.
oh and I can't believe this was not listed! All 5 games of this series got platinum in Famitsu, and its arguably Sega's best rpg series. I hope Overworks and red team up again and captivate us with something innovative and original for another 10 years, Sakura Wars had a great run.
Prime crotch
Banned
I was playing PSIII on the Sega Mega Drive Collection and dear lord who wrote this?! The grammar is good and all but the writing sucks.
The first dialogs go something like this "girl:Oh Prince Rys I thank you for marrying me maybe someday we'll find out who I am" "Rys: Damn you monster for kidnaping my bride I'll hunt you down" "King:Rys go cool down in the dungeons" I know this is an old RPG and all but talk about bad plot.
The first dialogs go something like this "girl:Oh Prince Rys I thank you for marrying me maybe someday we'll find out who I am" "Rys: Damn you monster for kidnaping my bride I'll hunt you down" "King:Rys go cool down in the dungeons" I know this is an old RPG and all but talk about bad plot.
Diablohead
Member
3 is the ugly duckling of phantasy star, but still a nice game.Prime crotch said:I was playing PSIII on the Sega Mega Drive Collection and dear lord who wrote this?! The grammar is good and all but the writing sucks.
The first dialogs go something like this "girl:Oh Prince Rys I thank you for marrying me maybe someday we'll find out who I am" "Rys
It's a Strategy RPG. It has a linear narrative that sets up some really cool fights. It's best described as a Steampunk setting, but the gameplay is similar to something like Final Fantasy Tactics. IIRC, facing matters so you want to get behind people, etc. There's also a system called "heat" that is like a fatigue thing. You have to be careful not to build up too much heat in fights.nitewulf said:
It's been about a year since I played through some of it. It's all in Japanese and I don't know the language but figured I'd muddle through as much as possible because it really is that cool. It's also fairly inexpensive on eBay because of the Japanese language barrier.
There are some walkthroughs on GameFAQs though, so help is available.
It really is fantastic looking for a 32-bit game. I think it simply came out too late in the life of Saturn to ever get a translation thanks to Bernie's masterstroke of murdering Saturn before its time. The dirty bastard. Sega clearly spent a lot of money on it, and probably didn't get anywhere near the return they wanted.
Anyway, highly recommended for people who don't mind trial and error/lots of reference to FAQs in order to play an import.
Krowley said:i just thought of a genesis game that isn't here... not sure if it's worthy but i had a blast with it back in the day.
it was a space rpg called starflight... sort of like star control on the 3d0, only it was less story oriented. the game was absolutley massive and it came with this huge star map which was required for navigation.
you would go out and mine stuff, upgrade your ship/crew and search for other races.
i'm thinking it may have been a pc port, but i'm not sure.
anyway, as you can see, it's not the prettiest game in the world, but it's extremly deep.
good times there mate - thanks for the memories.
AquaticSquirrel
Member
Hurrah, now that Dark Saviour has made the list this thread is now complete. Great thread, thanks. Although could have done without some of the random bitching about what versions of what were better than the other.
Again cool thread.
Again cool thread.
eXistor
Member
I picked up the SEGA Megadrive Collection this afternoon for Phantasy Star IV (the only one in the main series I haven't played yet). The disc also includes Sword of Vermilion (which sucks) for those interested. I've been playing PSIV all afternoon and I am shocked, SHOCKED by the high quality of the game. I know 1994 is a good year for rpg's but I kinda expected PSIV to not have stood the test of time. Boy did it! It seems to be quite an easy and straightforward game so far, but it's all done so very very well.
Trust me, this is one game that can't possibly disappoint for those not sure whether or not it has aged well.
Trust me, this is one game that can't possibly disappoint for those not sure whether or not it has aged well.
Xisiqomelir
Member
I also had a lot of fun with this game on Mega Drive: Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday. The pacing was maybe a little off, but it had land and space combat, good battle animation, multiple worlds to visit and decent music.
Segata Sanshiro
Member
duckroll said:Let's say it again:
GAME ARTS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH VAY. THEY DID NOT PUBLISH IT, THEY DID NOT DEVELOP IT, THEY PROBABLY DIDN'T EVEN PLAY IT EVER! IT'S DEVELOPED AND PUBLISHED BY SIMS IN JAPAN, AND PUBLISHED BY WORKING DESIGNS IN THE US! NO GAME ARTS!
Edit: Good to see it's fixed!
DUCKROLL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT GAMEARTS PRESENTS GAMEARTS' VAY FROM GAME ARTS I HEARD GAME ARTS HELPED WORKING DESIGNS BECAUSE THEY STILL HAD THE ORIGINAL CODE FROM THIS GAME ARTS GAME
Prime crotch said:
The translation's pretty bad throughout, though that's pretty much (sadly) the standard from those days. I think the story gets much more interesting later on, though, and the generations approach is really novel and has still been done by very few other games.
eXistor said:
Agreed entirely. I replayed it not too long ago when I got the Sega Collection for PSP, and I still loved it as much as ever. The game is a true classic, and it's still one of the absolute best of the 16-bit era.
Starflight is a port of a PC (Amiga too?) game. It was fantastic in its day. The Genesis version is also very good, though I do recall it having some bugs.ethelred said:
A friend of mine wrote a CGA to EGA patch for the graphics waaaay back in the dark ages of computing when the game was first released.
discoalucard
i am a butthurt babby that can only drool in wonder at shiney objects
duckroll said:
I'll bite. Ys III is my greatest guilty pleasure. In practically every way, it's a terribly designed game, but it's also a lot of fun. Despite being side-scrolling and painfully linear, it does really feel like the other Ys games just using a different perspective. The Genesis version was the first one I played, so the other versions feel slow/weird in comparison.
Apharmd Battler
Member
This is one AWESOME thread!! If I'm not mistaken it appears that Landstalker on the Genesis/Megadrive was overlooked.
EDIT: Nevermind I missed it on page one (this thread is PACKED with content).
Man does Popful Mail, Dark Wizard, and Guardian Heroes bring back some memories.
EDIT: Nevermind I missed it on page one (this thread is PACKED with content).
Man does Popful Mail, Dark Wizard, and Guardian Heroes bring back some memories.
FortNinety
Member
My mind is boggled that folks haven't blatantly rip-offed Panzer Dragoon Saga's battle mechanics. By far the most fun RPG I have ever played.
Also, that fan translation of Segagaga can't come soon enough....
Also, that fan translation of Segagaga can't come soon enough....
PepsimanVsJoe
Member
Nice!
My JP Saturn still has a working battery and thus all of my saves are still there!
Going to take another stab at Riglord Saga 2 now...
My JP Saturn still has a working battery and thus all of my saves are still there!
Going to take another stab at Riglord Saga 2 now...
OMG I played Panzer Dragoon Saga! Yeah, that's right. The legendary Panzer Dragoon Saga for Sega Saturn.
First impressions:
+ I love the artstyle.
+ The whole world seems to be really well-thought out.
+ epic feel
+ lots of backstory explaining the war, the kingdoms
+ Most of the dialogue is voiced in Japanese with English voices, though some of it is in another, fantasy language. FULLY VOICED 32 bit RPG? Is this possible?
+ The battles are really cool, reminds me about Skies of Arkadia ship battles, only on dragons, much quicker, and grades give you amount of xp.
+ Oh the music! Gives that epic JRPG feel
+ No angsty teenagers yet, the main character seems to be a young adult man.
+ everything is in 3d, and it's really awesome for a 32bit game.
+ Loading is super fast. I really haven't seen a loading screen yet.
- 31 minutes in the game, I saved, I knew I ahd changed the internal battery, and thought I had done it correctly. No, so my save wasn't there when I resetted the game just to check.
- The fmv movies are at a low resolution, and some may say they are too long.
First impressions:
+ I love the artstyle.
+ The whole world seems to be really well-thought out.
+ epic feel
+ lots of backstory explaining the war, the kingdoms
+ Most of the dialogue is voiced in Japanese with English voices, though some of it is in another, fantasy language. FULLY VOICED 32 bit RPG? Is this possible?
+ The battles are really cool, reminds me about Skies of Arkadia ship battles, only on dragons, much quicker, and grades give you amount of xp.
+ Oh the music! Gives that epic JRPG feel
+ No angsty teenagers yet, the main character seems to be a young adult man.
+ everything is in 3d, and it's really awesome for a 32bit game.
+ Loading is super fast. I really haven't seen a loading screen yet.
- 31 minutes in the game, I saved, I knew I ahd changed the internal battery, and thought I had done it correctly. No, so my save wasn't there when I resetted the game just to check.
- The fmv movies are at a low resolution, and some may say they are too long.
Tailzo said:
Congratulations on grabbing the game. Hope it didn't cost you too much money.
As you say, the fact that the entire game is in full 3D and fully voiced is extremely impressive for a game from that era -- the ambition in it is just astounding even today. On top of that, there's a day/night cycle that alters the dialogue of every NPC, and each NPC has at least two or three lines aside from that, so there's plenty of stuff to voice. And you even have camera control in non-CG cutscenes. Really incredible stuff.
But the awesome, strategic battle system and the incredible story and characters and mythology, the music, the artwork... these are the things that really set it apart from most other RPGs. That, and it's so focused -- the game is perfectly paced, with no wasted areas/plot tangents/characters. It's very driven towards delivering this concentrated experience to the gamer.
PepsimanVsJoe said:
Is Riglord 2 any good? I have to admit, I had a decent bit of fun with Mystaria/Blazing Heroes despite its flaws.
My MW collection came in the mail yesterday but I didn't have time to play it (was chillin' with a cute girl ).. so this afternoon I'll hopefully play a bit before I have to leave for Miami. Really looking forward to giving each of these games a thorough playthrough. I absolutely loved Dragon's Trap... is the quality of these games pretty consistent across the board?
).. so this afternoon I'll hopefully play a bit before I have to leave for Miami. Really looking forward to giving each of these games a thorough playthrough. I absolutely loved Dragon's Trap... is the quality of these games pretty consistent across the board?Thanks for the memories. Sega dominated my gaming for a decade.
Great thread OP. Thanks for the effort. It should be a GAF law that stupid, one sentence threads are impossible to start. I wish every original poster put as much effort into new threads instead of flooding the forum with garbage.
Great thread OP. Thanks for the effort. It should be a GAF law that stupid, one sentence threads are impossible to start. I wish every original poster put as much effort into new threads instead of flooding the forum with garbage.