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What are some good story-heavy (good story) rpgs?
- Thread starter Bebpo
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Shouta
Member
Growlanser I has an incredible story if you want to play that one Bebpo. It's the best overall story within the Growlanser series. The other four games aren't as good as Growlanser I overall but have some pretty strong points here and there alongside some issues.
If you haven't played Lufia II/Estopolis II, definitely play that. The story is fantastic and the gameplay is old school without the archaic.
Persona 2's story is nice overall but the scripts (both in English and Japanese) are a bit wonky. It's a bit confusing at times and the characters are a bit flat despite having some pretty memorable quirks and designs. The scenario is more interesting than Persona 3 but P3 is a lot more coherent and poignant to its characters.
I can't really think of too many beyond these at the moment. If I can think of another, I'll say so.
If you haven't played Lufia II/Estopolis II, definitely play that. The story is fantastic and the gameplay is old school without the archaic.
Persona 2's story is nice overall but the scripts (both in English and Japanese) are a bit wonky. It's a bit confusing at times and the characters are a bit flat despite having some pretty memorable quirks and designs. The scenario is more interesting than Persona 3 but P3 is a lot more coherent and poignant to its characters.
I can't really think of too many beyond these at the moment. If I can think of another, I'll say so.
CountZeroInt
Banned
I hate to bring this up, but reading some of these replies is making me groan. I'm surprised DrinkyCrow can stay away too
Ever since I started reading lots of fantasy and sci fi books (yes books, not games...) I can't get into JRPG games on a story level anymore. They are still fun for gameplay, but the stories...ugh. I've noticed other folks go through this progression as well when they age/get married
One thing liking JRPGs implies is that you enjoy the atmosphere, environments, and uniqueness, which is cool, but I have a hard time taking people seriously that think that Final Fantasy Tactics can somehow compare with fantasy novels like Tolkein or George R R Martin, or Poul Anderson, or Guy Gavriel Kay on a STORY level.
Back to On the topic, I think BioWare's games are pretty much all good, even Jade Empire...PlaneScape Torment, Baldur's Gate/Icewind Dale, you might try some point and click adventure games. There are good stories to be found on PC games. 360...let's see what BioWare, iD and Valve bring to the plate in 2007. I don't have hopes up about Infinite Discovery having a great story, but Lost Odyssey should hopefully be better than the average "evil crystal" overplayed Final Fantasy storyline.
Ever since I started reading lots of fantasy and sci fi books (yes books, not games...) I can't get into JRPG games on a story level anymore. They are still fun for gameplay, but the stories...ugh. I've noticed other folks go through this progression as well when they age/get married
PC games FTW
Back to On the topic, I think BioWare's games are pretty much all good, even Jade Empire...PlaneScape Torment, Baldur's Gate/Icewind Dale, you might try some point and click adventure games. There are good stories to be found on PC games. 360...let's see what BioWare, iD and Valve bring to the plate in 2007. I don't have hopes up about Infinite Discovery having a great story, but Lost Odyssey should hopefully be better than the average "evil crystal" overplayed Final Fantasy storyline.
Shouta said:
You sure about that?
Persona 2 has a fantastic cast. There is a lot to each character and with all the little conversations you can have with them across all the different city location (I spent hours doing this) it gives them a lot of life, more then most RPGs. Not to mention how fresh it is to have an adult cast who actually talk about real things.
EDIT: Man, I can't believe you said that. So much detail is given to each character. Did you know Ulala has trouble walking sometime because of her bust size?
It's little details like that made the characters so wonderful. Best cast ever in my opinion.
Pureauthor
Member
CountZeroInt said:
No one (okay, almost no one) here thinks that videogame storylines are anywhere near the level of Tolkien and the other greats. I personally judge VG storylines on how entertaining they are, and on how well they serve as motivations to move me to the next level/dungeon/etc.
Tolkien was a really shitty writer, though. Why exactly would we be wanting video game storytelling dragged down to that level?
Oh, and people complain about RPG stories/worlds being cliched? These guys don't have a thing on Tolkien's filching off Beowulf, Das Nibelungenlied, Kalevala, and a slew of other pieces of folklore.
Oh, and people complain about RPG stories/worlds being cliched? These guys don't have a thing on Tolkien's filching off Beowulf, Das Nibelungenlied, Kalevala, and a slew of other pieces of folklore.
Pureauthor
Member
ethelred said:
When I was reading LotR, I was always under the impression that Tolkien was always more interested in creating a world than telling a tight and cohesive story.
And as for the 'plagiarism' thing, I personally don't care about it, whether in my jRPGs or Tolkien.
Shouta
Member
Avalon said:You sure about that?
Persona 2 has a fantastic cast. There is a lot to each character and with all the little conversations you can have with them across all the different city location (I spent hours doing this) it gives them a lot of life, more then most RPGs. Not to mention how fresh it is to have an adult cast who actually talk about real things.
EDIT: Man, I can't believe you said that. So much detail is given to each character. Did you know Ulala has trouble walking sometime because of her bust size?
I've played EP through twice and IS once, I firmly stand behind the, "characters are flat" statement (and not about Ulala's rack =P). There are nice quirks to the characters and those, combined with the unique designs, make them are lot more memorable but I don't remember them for anything other than that.
Of course, this is partially due to the writing. There's not as much "depth" of writing for the characters in Persona 2 IMO. There are story events that do a bit of character development but a lot of the other dialogue doesn't do much beyond reveal relatively interesting quirks to the characters.
pancakesandsex
Member
Shouta, we need to get him to play DESTINY
I just got to the awakening of dycroft, this game is everything i want it to be and more.
I just got to the awakening of dycroft, this game is everything i want it to be and more.
Shouta said:
I never looked at it that way. I suppose, in regards to the actual plot their personalities don't mean a thing. You never see them break away from archaic roles during story events and if you don't take into consideration what is learned from information outside of the main story, they might even seem a little cliche.
But that's the thing, it's everything (well, at least a good portion) outside of the linear story events that gives them life. You learn so much information about each characters by just talking around and talking to them at the varies city location. That's probably were a good portion of those 100 hours on my first playthrough came from. Sure, according to the plot it might not matter that Katsuya is unfortunately allergic to cats when he loves them or that Ulala knows the Flamenco dance, but it was knowing all those little about details that really made them seem like actual people.
EDIT: It was also all the minor characters which had such memorable personalties like the Ninja girl at Peace Diners and that pervert at the Tanning place. Man, such a great game.
Shouta
Member
Avalon said:
Details outside of the main story are pretty fine and dandy. I, however, don't think it makes up for not seeing the character interact, respond, and view situations that occur to them. That's what makes a character feel like a real person. Details are the icing while the character's interaction and responses to what's occuring is the cake. Interacting well doesn't necessarily mean they're great characters either though. You can have the best character interaction in a game ever but if the characters don't go beyond that simple verbal jousting, it's not too different.
Shouta said:
Well, I disagree. It was everything I learned about the characters outside of the story that added background information and reason to those story events involving the characters. Like I said though, if I hadn't taken the time to explore and learn about them those same events might make them appear two dimensional.
In any case, I hope Persona 3 manages to do the same with it's characters.
So, I gather you haven't read a lot of good contemporary fantasy. Tolkien was nice for his time I guess, and I loved LoTR when I was 12, but it doesn't compare in detail and especially "reality" to Steven Erikson's "Malazan Book of the Fallen", for example. In fact, I'd argue Deadhouse Gates alone is superior in most aspects to LoTR. (I wanted to avoid the generic George RR Martin mention - also, I slightly prefer Erikson after their respective most recent effortsGaijin To Ronin said:
)Also, someone said earlier that it's hard to get into JRPG stories when I read a lot of fantasy/SF. I'd wager I've read at least as much of both as most on this board, and I don't experience that. Sure, it gets harder to take the "strife" in many of the games seriously, but the stories - while mostly simplistic - can still be very enjoyable.
Blackace
if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
Durante said:So, I gather you haven't read a lot of good contemporary fantasy. Tolkien was nice for his time I guess, and I loved LoTR when I was 12, but it doesn't compare in detail and especially "reality" to Steven Erikson's "Malazan Book of the Fallen", for example. In fact, I'd argue Deadhouse Gates alone is superior in most aspects to LoTR. (I wanted to avoid the generic George RR Martin mention - also, I slightly prefer Erikson after their respective most recent efforts
Also, someone said earlier that it's hard to get into JRPG stories when I read a lot of fantasy/SF. I'd wager I've read at least as much of both as most on this board, and I don't experience that. Sure, it gets harder to take the "strife" in many of the games seriously, but the stories - while mostly simplistic - can still be very enjoyable.
not to derail but Erickson is fun but it reads like a RPG module (which is what it was before it became a book) still fun!
It does? You must have played some awfully good RPG modules then! Seriously, I don't see it. Not any more than most other popular fantasy I can think of at least - Williams, Hobb, Martin, Feist, heck even Jordan - they all have RPG-like elements. Or rather, I'd say RPGs have fantasy book-like elements :lolBlackace said:
Also, we were mainly arguing about realistic world-building, and there I'd say Erikson is nearly unparalleled today. (If you disagree, please mention authors, I need some new fantasy)
Anyway, making a thread like this and then refusing to play Planescape: Torment is an affront against humanity. At least the part that cares about RPGs.
DarknessTear
Banned
If you've already played Earthbound then you've experienced some of the best dialogue in any game ever already so it's hard for anything to be able to match up to it.
I really don't know if there's any RPGs you haven't played but here's one from me.
Radiata Stories - Great game, I have a feeling you've already played it though. And if you haven't... get it!
I really don't know if there's any RPGs you haven't played but here's one from me.
Radiata Stories - Great game, I have a feeling you've already played it though. And if you haven't... get it!
beat
Member
I'll second the nominations for KOTOR 1 & 2, and Skies of Arcadia. SOA's got a fine story and (considering all its cutscenes are in-engine) absolutely fantastic cinematic sequences. Well, except that the character animations are primarily stock animations. But the ship stuff? Totally epic.
I should add the caveat that KOTOR 2 was brutally cut down to make its ship date... it's absolutely great for about 2/3rds of the way, or maybe more, but then the cuts really become apparent even if you don't really know what they were. Enthusiasts later hacked the game files and found a lot of assets that helped them figure out what was cut.
edited to add: Jade Empire had a decent story, but I didn't like how the extremely fat, nonlinear chapter 2-3 gave way to very short, linear chapters 4-6 ... again, it felt like schedules and budgets got a title shipped before it fully ripened.
I should add the caveat that KOTOR 2 was brutally cut down to make its ship date... it's absolutely great for about 2/3rds of the way, or maybe more, but then the cuts really become apparent even if you don't really know what they were. Enthusiasts later hacked the game files and found a lot of assets that helped them figure out what was cut.
edited to add: Jade Empire had a decent story, but I didn't like how the extremely fat, nonlinear chapter 2-3 gave way to very short, linear chapters 4-6 ... again, it felt like schedules and budgets got a title shipped before it fully ripened.
Get any Lucasarts adventure game you can, or at least Grim Fandango.
Chairman Yang
if he talks about books, you better damn well listen
I'd recommend giving Planescape: Torment another try with a different mindset. NPCs are there to give you quests, basically--so if you feel overwhelmed, try this: talk to an NPC, get a quest, do only that quest, then talk to another NPC and do that quest. Repeat until you've gotten to the next area. Seriously, once you get into the flow of things you'll like the structure.
D
Deleted member 13876
Unconfirmed Member
Fragamemnon said:
You win, sir. More people should stress Anachronox and I can't stress that enough. Awesome, awesome script and that's reason enough to play it.
Prime crotch
Banned
Anything by Black Isle or Bioware, Fallout, Planescape, Baldur's Gate.
Also Troika games if you can neglet the bug-fest their games are.
Also Troika games if you can neglet the bug-fest their games are.
Durante said:So, I gather you haven't read a lot of good contemporary fantasy. Tolkien was nice for his time I guess, and I loved LoTR when I was 12, but it doesn't compare in detail and especially "reality" to Steven Erikson's "Malazan Book of the Fallen", for example. In fact, I'd argue Deadhouse Gates alone is superior in most aspects to LoTR. (I wanted to avoid the generic George RR Martin mention - also, I slightly prefer Erikson after their respective most recent efforts
Erickson? You are entitled to your opinion, but I stand with mine (and please, that attitutde of "I gather you haven't read a lot of good contemporary fantasy" is so elitist, especially when you don´t know me).
The big problem of Tolkien is that LOTR is now quite popular and when someone names him and give him the praise he deserves, is because "he doen´t understand fantasy literature". In my opinion, no one has surpassed him as a crafter of worlds.
By the way, I don´t consider LOTR as the best book of the universe or anything like that (it has a personal meaning for me, but that is unimportant here), there are much better fantasy books. I am speaking of the Middle Earth and how he created the world.
chaostrophy
Member
81 posts without a mention of PANZER DRAGOON SAGA? For shame.
Nibelung Valesti
Member
I suggest Persona 2, Breath of Fire IV and Suikoden III.
Magicpaint
Member
Suikoden V has a pretty damn good story. Paper Mario 2 has a charming story, too.
I love the storyline in the Phantasy Star series (great plot twists, unique setting, awesome characters) and the way each of the games are interrelated... makes the stories (on the whole) seem even more epic. The gameplay (with the exception of 4) is definitely strictly hardcore - huge dungeons, limited inventories, challenging random encounters... without the amenities you find in most modern RPGs. I know you don't like oldskool RPGs too much, but the rewards for playing thorugh the PS series (even the mediocre 3) is worth it.
I think there are good chances for Lost Odyssey (regarding story), because very few time a real writer do works for a rpg. never read a shigematsu's book, but his style may be a fresh change for a jrpg.
for an idea of his style, try this short summary based on novel "Vitamin F", which consists of six episodes: " Secchan" is the first one of them:
http://www.pymmik.com/secchan.html
by the way, someone other has read his books ? there are good ?
for an idea of his style, try this short summary based on novel "Vitamin F", which consists of six episodes: " Secchan" is the first one of them:
http://www.pymmik.com/secchan.html
by the way, someone other has read his books ? there are good ?
That's fine, I just wanted to inject another opinion on the matter, since your original statement sounded a bit like some absolute consensus to me.Gaijin To Ronin said:
Sorry for that, I often come across as elitist, mostly because I am. At least on the internets, and when it concerns important stuff like books, games and anime :lolGaijin To Ronin said:
I realized that from your initial post, and that's why I brought up Erikson. (whom, btw, both you and Blackace misspelledGaijin To Ronin said:
) I also agree that there are better fantasy authors out there (though, IMHO, not too many), but his world building is meticulous. Though I guess we'll have to wait until all 10 books are released before we can fully judge it.Like the hat?
Banned
elektrotal said:
Seconded until the end of time. I have been playing through this game for the 7th time and it is still incredible. Why do none of the new Suikoden games have cooking battles?
karipelaaja
Member
Bebpo said:
Weird, I'm the total opposite, even though my life is pretty busy too w/ my business and family.
I MUST complete (or atleast attempt to complete) each J-RPG I lay my hands on. All dungeons, speak to every single NPC at least once, all places on the map, every monster encountered, you name it.
Probably that's why I basically haven't played anything apart from Dragon Quest VIII since April (save file is somewhere over the 100 hour mark).
Red Blaster
Member
Suikoden V does have some good characterization but jesus christ do the production values suck in that game.
I'd go as far to say that Suikoden II plays better.
I'd go as far to say that Suikoden II plays better.
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