360 RPGs

[moycon]

I'm playing Blue Dragon now.

While I'm not a huge fan of that type of cartoony anime art, I'm enjoying the hell out of the game so far.

To date every one of the RPGs I've played has for the most part been solid including the ones made in Japan.

One of the crappiest was Two Worlds a USA made RPG.

I do think that all these RPGs are an effort to get Japan to buy into the Xbox more. I for one am glad it's happening!!

[cimerians]

The only reason I dont play RPGS as much as I used to is because of two things:

 

1. I cant save when I want to. Which means I dont have the time to play.

2. Give me options for co-op or multiplay not just single player only. Hint: Eternal Sonata

 

Answer:

 

1. Let me save any time anywhere.

2. Make them 1-2 or more players. My wife\relative would like to play too.

[moycon]

The only reason I dont play RPGS as much as I used to is because of two things:

 

1. I cant save when I want to. Which means I dont have the time to play.

2. Give me options for co-op or multiplay not just single player only. Hint: Eternal Sonata

 

Actually you can save anywhere and there is co-op in Two Worlds.

You can save anywhere in Oblivion also. (one of the best RPGs eva!) although not in the traditional sense, no co-op though.

You're going to be mad if you turned down Eternal Sonata due to lack of co-op. It features 2-3 player co-op! But has save points.

 

Maybe enabling those options (especially the saves) force the game maker to make the game work as best they can as opposed to make a great RPG?

 

Seems like the traditional turn based RPGs all use save points, I dunno if it's tradition or what, ibut I have noticed more co-op options this generation.

[cimerians]

I have Eternal Sonata and Oblivion and I finished both. Eternal Sonata is great but I cant stand save points. Just stupid these days. Let me save so I can get on with my life. Many Japanese games still have save points, its idiotic.

 

I consider Oblivion to be the best RPG I've played in the last 10 years mainly because of the freedom to save anywhere and play at my OWN pace.

 

These days I look at RPG's and ask.......can I play for 20-30 hours and finish it or am I stuck playing 100 hours to finish it? Or do I have to waste time running to a save point so I can stop playing?

 

The one great thing Square did to the Final Fantasy I and II remakes etc for the PSP and GBA is that you can save anywhere and anytime. No more running back to an Inn or some statue with a book to save. Its soooo much better and less time consuming.

 

I think its actually a big issue. Maybe not to most people but for me, its the number one reason I dont play as much anymore.

Not to mention multiple endings (forcing you to play that 100 hour game again to get the "true" ending)

slow dialogs and poor translation....

 

Sorry I know it sounds like a rant....but it is!

 

BTW: I heard Two Worlds isnt all that great. I noticed the co-op. I may have to try it or maybe rent it first.

[moycon]

BTW: I heard Two Worlds isnt all that great. I noticed the co-op. I may have to try it or maybe rent it first.

 

It's not that great, it kind of reminds me of playing an Xbox game (Just a regular Xbox game...not a 360 game) I've said before it reminds me of Guild Wars if done on the PS2. That said. I played through the game and didn't regret it. If you can find the game for $20 it's well worth it I think.

[MCHufnagel]

Square Enix announced yesterday more RPGs for the 360!!!

Ok crikey! More Japanime crap.

 

I thought I made an arrangement with Japanese, they don't buy the Xbox and I won't buy their crappy 'RPGs'

Hey, even if it was made of gold plated whale meat, the Japanese won't buy the Xbox 360; so you still don't have to buy JRPGs!

[moycon]

Hey, even if it was made of gold plated whale meat, the Japanese won't buy the Xbox 360; so you still don't have to buy JRPGs!

 

Hmmmmm This might not be a true statement in liue of the big jump in 360 consoles sold in Japan during the ToV launch last week eh?

 

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/899/899130p1.html

 

That said, I picked up this game today. After about 1.5 hours, I can say I'm not enjoying it as much as Eternal Sonata.

The combat has been revamped so that the entire battle takes place in real time. This sucks for us traditional turn based junkies. I realize they want to try and appeal to new gamers, but dang is that the way to do it. The new gamers still aren't going to want to sit through the cut scenes, the repetitive game play and the running around so why bother? Maybe it'll grow on me, right now I'm not liking it so much.

 

Little things are standing out to me. For some reason you can't get the upper edge by sneaking behind an enemy before a fight. Why this is so, I have no clue. Even in real time they could start off with their backs to you. I don't understand that change in the least.

 

The characters pale in comparison to Eternal Sonata as well in my opinion. I've only acquired 3 so far so maybe that will change but Eternal Sonata was eye candy from start to finish. The character were interesting and had interesting battle moves. I haven't seen that level of imagination in ToV. It is beautiful, but seems to lack imagination.

 

So far I don’t hate the game at all. It's a feast for the eyes, and the voice acting is well done (if somewhat non-exciting so far) I've heard this game has up to 4 player co-op, including online so it will be interesting to see what that is all about. I think I might have set my expectation too high for this title after playing Eternal Sonata, at this point I'm glad I got the game with a -$25 gift certificate. It's worth a purchase at $40 or less for sure.

[Tempest]

As soon as the 360 price drops kick in in two weeks, I plan on picking one up along with Blue Dragon, Infinite Undiscovery, ToV, and Lost Odyssey. I figure those should get me through the rest of the year. I'll wait on Eternal Sonata until the PS3 version comes out later this year.

 

Tempest

[malducci]

Can't stand that western RPG crap Never could, even before JRPGs hit the US shores in '90. That said, the new 'Tales' game is out for 360. I bought it but won't have a chance to sit down and play it until this weekend.

[moycon]

I've really gotten into TalesOV now. The characters and story have grown on me and I think are top notch.

The secret battle achivements are somtimes a pain to pull off, and it doubly sucks because often before a big fight there is a long trip and cutscene that for the most part must be sat through over and over until you get the battle done correctly.

I found out there is a way to get the advantage of a first strike in the game, it just comes a little later on when you meet a character named Rita. I still dont like the fights. Apparently the real time fighting is a standard in these Tales games. To me it's too hectic, you only control one person and the AI does everything else. There is not a sense of much control in the battles. It appears Infinate Undiscovery uses the same real time monster battles which I'm not looking forward to. All in all though Tales is now a must play for RPG fans. The pro's outweigh the cons by a wide margin. I find myself wanting to play it more and more.

[Red 5]

I've really gotten into TalesOV now. The characters and story have grown on me and I think are top notch.

The secret battle achivements are somtimes a pain to pull off, and it doubly sucks because often before a big fight there is a long trip and cutscene that for the most part must be sat through over and over until you get the battle done correctly.

I found out there is a way to get the advantage of a first strike in the game, it just comes a little later on when you meet a character named Rita. I still dont like the fights. Apparently the real time fighting is a standard in these Tales games. To me it's too hectic, you only control one person and the AI does everything else. There is not a sense of much control in the battles. It appears Infinate Undiscovery uses the same real time monster battles which I'm not looking forward to. All in all though Tales is now a must play for RPG fans. The pro's outweigh the cons by a wide margin. I find myself wanting to play it more and more.

 

Well that's good news.

I was going to skip out on it, but then I managed to snag one on Ebay for $42 shipping included, brand new.

 

Even at $42.00, I still have my doubts, but you have given me hope.

 

The fall is going to be expensive though...

Must haves? (gulp)

Gears of War 2

Fallout 3

Fable 2

Call of Duty World at War

Prince of Persia

 

 

Maybe:

Star Wars Force Unleashed

Banjo Kazooie

Tom Clancy End War

[moycon]

I would add Viva Pinata : TIP to that list, but otherwise I gree with you.

My "To play" queue has been backed up for months and looking forward, the pile isn't shinking in the least, it's growing.

The cool thing is I pre-ordered Fable II (For -$13 of the retail price) off Amazon and they have run out of the codes for the Arcade game so they sent me a $10 gift certificate instead. so it looks like my "too play" pile will be growing very soon.

[Red 5]

I would add Viva Pinata : TIP to that list, but otherwise I gree with you.

My "To play" queue has been backed up for months and looking forward, the pile isn't shinking in the least, it's growing.

The cool thing is I pre-ordered Fable II (For -$13 of the retail price) off Amazon and they have run out of the codes for the Arcade game so they sent me a $10 gift certificate instead. so it looks like my "too play" pile will be growing very soon.

 

At least I can ask for a couple for Christmas, but most games on the 'must list' are too good to wait for.

Discounts are always nice! I hear the arcade game can actually take away money too if you lose and you could start the game

with a negative balance. That's pretty funny.

 

Another reason I pulled the trigger on ToV is because if Force Unleashed sucks, there is really nothing until October.

A nice long RPG to keep me busy for a month.

(And the initial reviews are in the 7's... )

[Lord Helmet]

Star Wars Force Unleashed

 

The demo for this is up on XBL. Its pretty freaking awesome IMHO.

[Red 5]

Star Wars Force Unleashed

 

The demo for this is up on XBL. Its pretty freaking awesome IMHO.

 

I like the demo, but I could see it getting real old real fast.

It seems like you have all your powers from the beginning and can just make them more powerful.

 

What is there so far is very cool. I just don't know if just that alone can sustain an entire game for 10 hours.

Hopefully they mix it up a bit.

[legeek]

As soon as the 360 price drops kick in in two weeks, I plan on picking one up along with Blue Dragon, Infinite Undiscovery, ToV, and Lost Odyssey. I figure those should get me through the rest of the year. I'll wait on Eternal Sonata until the PS3 version comes out later this year.

 

Tempest

 

Be sure to try out some XBLA demos as well. I've gotten more use out the Arcade than anything available at retail...

[moycon]

Finished Tales of Vesperia a day or two agao and all I can say is WOW!!

Twas a great epic game.

The story line was much more adult that Eternal Sonata...even very dark in places in spite of the colorful world around you.

The combat totally grew on me. You can customize what your helper do for you easily and on the fly.

Hopefully this will help bring new interest in the genre. My girlfriend walk in on me playing and was like, you mean you don't have to tell everyone what to do? When I said "no" she was like...Cool.

 

I wont say the game is better than Eternal Sonota, but it's right on it's heels for sure.

If you are a RPG lover, I don't think you'll be dissapointed in the least.

Now that I've beat the game, I can load up my old gamesave, NOT go fight the end boss and instead go back out in the world.

There are more things to discover and new areas to get to, and if you get the right things and beef up enough you can fight the UBER BOSS!!

So even though I'm done...I'm still not done.

Good deal.

[Red 5]

Tales of Vesperia has grown on me as well.

 

Force Unleashed interrupted it, but now I am back in full swing and

will hopefully play it straight through until the blockbusters come out.

 

I am about 10 hours in. How long did it take you to play through?

(Trying to know what I have to put into it before the Fallout / GOW2 / Prince of Persia / etc. hit)

[Tempest]

I'm right in the middle of Tales right now. The story and graphics are great (love those Japanese style conversations with the character portraits). I find the combat to be a bit clumsy, but I suppose I'll get used to it.

 

Tempest

[Atari5200]

Is the combat similar to Tales of Symphonia?

[moycon]

Is the combat similar to Tales of Symphonia?

 

I haven't played Tales of Symphonia, but basically you control one of the characters and the AI controls the other 3. You can edit how the AI characters react or attack or use magic. Like for instance, you can set them to only use 25%, 50%, 75% or none of their magic. In that way they don't run out and use items to restore it. You can set them to focus of flying enemies, weak enemies, the enemy you target. You can set them to avoid bad guys if their hit points fall below 25%, 50% etc.....

 

It can be done quickly and on the fly (In the middle of battle) Also you can use items with any of the characters including the AI ones. For instance, if my main guy dies and no one uses an item to restore him, you can manually do it. At first I wasn't crazy about the combat, but by the end it was very natural and fun. Now I'm really looking forward to infinite Undiscovery since it uses a similar combat approach.

 

I couldn't tell you how long it took therealred5 since I tend to put my controller down and forget about the game only to come back hours later and it still be where I left it. I know there is an achievment for beating it in 15 hours. I'm assuming thats on your 2nd or 3rd playthrough (You can carry over or buy perks at a store after you beat the game once that give you like experience x10 etc.... That would make the game much easier to get through quick. I'm guessing 25-35 hours if you are on you first playthrough and also focus on side quests.

Edited October 2, 2008 by moycon

[Atari5200]

so the combat is basically a button mash fest.

[Red 5]

so the combat is basically a button mash fest.

 

It can be.

 

But it allows for strategy as well.

There is definitely a learning curve.

And it definitely grows on you.

[Atari5200]

i loved the combat in tales of Symphonia, which is the only Tales game I've ever played, so if it's similar, I'm sure I'll like this game as well. I'm going to look into it and probably play the demo.

[moycon]

so the combat is basically a button mash fest.

 

To be honest you can do whatever you want. You don't have to press the first button if you have your other characters leveled up and your fighting weak enemies. While the AI slays the beasts, just sit back and eat a peach or something. Obviously this wouldn't work if the enemies are as tough or tougher than you. You would only be mashing buttons if you were just using a character with a melee weapon. But suppose you want to use one of the magic users? Or suppose you want to use Raven who uses a bow? Or maybe you want to take on the character thats a healer, let the AI take out the bad guys and give them support? In that case mashing buttons would do you little good.

 

Try the demo. See if it'll let you switch characters.