Gaem Recommendation Halp

[Kaelan?]

It's been a while since I've had a good sitdown with RPGs and I feel like I'm getting outdated now. I've also come across some cash during the summer and feel like this is a good time to expand the gaming library.

I'm still more or less on top of things on the PS3/PSP side, but I figure it's probably high time to get a 360 and/or a Wii and I haven't really been keeping up with what's worth getting. I play mostly JRPGs, with the occasional fighting and SRPG in between. I haven't gotten my fill of obscure JRPGs in a while.

To give you an idea, this is my current PC/PSP/PS3 backlog + shit to buy when it's out:
- FFXIV
- Valkyria Chronicles 2
- SMT: Persona 3 Portable
- Ys Seven
- Civ 5
- Naruto UNS 2
- BlazBlue: Continuum Shift
- Rock Band 3
- MvC 3
- Starcraft 2

Looking for suggestions on 360/Wii stuff, though if I've missed any recent PS3/PSP gems, that'd be great to know too. Currently considering:

- Magna Carta 2
- Last Remnant
- Infinite Undiscovery
- Blue Dragon
- Oboro Muramasa
- Arc Rise Fantasia
- Maybe Monster Hunter Tri if it was any good
- I should probably get one or two of the Tales games. No idea which one(s) is(are) better. Haven't really played any of them, but I hear good things about them
- Don't really care for kingdom hearts
- ?

Will figure out what to buy first and what not later. For now I just want a list of shit I should be keeping my eyes on to eventually get. Any ideas?

[Charismatic]

- I should probably get one or two of the Tales games. No idea which one(s) is(are) better. Haven't really played any of them, but I hear good things about them

Only current gen Tales games that are out in English are Tales of Vesperia (360) and Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology (PSP).

I'm going to be totally honest. Tales of the World games are ALL fanwank games, if you're not already a fan of the series, don't buy them.


That said, the better games in the series (in my opinion) are the 2D ones. Tales of Eternia got a PSP port but it's also out on PS1, I'd say give that a try if you can find it cheap. Tales of Vesperia is also worth a buy but if you're going to be buying one of the 3D Tales games... Tales of the Abyss on PS2 is also a good bet. It's hard to say which is best, either would be a good choice if not both.

[Atreides]

Wii RPGs are kinda slim pickings, sadly. Other than Arc Rise Fantasia all you really have is Rune Factory Frontier (which is awesome) and Final Fantasy IV After Years for Wiiware. Muramasa counts I guess, it's definitely one of my favorite wii games of all time.

Oh and there are the roguelikes, Final Fantasy Fables is supposed to be awesome. I liked Baroque for PS2 but it's... weird.

[Odesseiron]

Played through Last Odyssey on 360? Great game once you get past the stupid intro stuff in most rpg's. One of my favorite rpg's to date.

[sade3437]

magna carta 2 was pretty dumb i'd skip it

IU was ok great graphics decent gamplay till you start hitting 1 button

big one though that I'd get is Arc Rise Fantasia i havn't raged so much at a rpg since ps1 days the story is meh but the boss battles will make you wanna throw your controller and yet feel awsome when you finally beat the bastard

ToV was pretty good as well grab it if you have a chance

[shukudai]

Only current gen Tales games that are out in English are Tales of Vesperia (360) and Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology (PSP).

I'm going to be totally honest. Tales of the World games are ALL fanwank games, if you're not already a fan of the series, don't buy them.


That said, the better games in the series (in my opinion) are the 2D ones. Tales of Eternia got a PSP port but it's also out on PS1, I'd say give that a try if you can find it cheap. Tales of Vesperia is also worth a buy but if you're going to be buying one of the 3D Tales games... Tales of the Abyss on PS2 is also a good bet. It's hard to say which is best, either would be a good choice if not both.

You forgot Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of a New World (Wii), which generally I hear is not too great either, but still~ I have it and didn't play much, but I intended to!

To OP: Get Vesperia. Best JRPG this gen so far. Arc Rise Fantasia seems fun, another game I played a bit, intend to finish, but keeps getting put aside cuz I play way too much SSF4. Also: Phantasy Star Portable 2 in a few weeks, same with Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, and Ys 7 is out, and is guud :3

[Charismatic]

Oh yeah, I erased Dawn of the New World from my memory because it shits all over the original Tales of Symphonia.
But yeah... that exists too, I guess. (though I'd rather it didn't)

[shukudai]

Is it honestly that bad? I haven't played Symphonia, and I just tried out Dawn of a New World for a bit, but then I figured "I should play Symphonia, or at least, watch a Lets Play of it before I play this other one."

[Charismatic]

The battle system is pretty solid, it's actually one of the faster games in the series (though because of this, the Mystic Artes, cutscene attacks if you want to call them that, really feel like they break the pacing more than in the other games) which is pretty cool but the story does take a huge dump on the first game.

[Ezek]

Do not play Last Remnant on the 360. Horrible load times + bugs, I ended up selling my copy on eBay 1 week after buying it. Tried out the PC version a year later and it runs flawlessly in addition to looking better. Gameplay wise I loved it, story wise not so much.

Tales of Vesperia was my system buyer so naturally I recommend it - great game but sorta overshadowed since the PS3 version is essentially a upgraded version with additional content. Too bad it'll probably never be localized :< I'm one of the nerds that imported the JP Vesperia copy, but I can read a good amount of moonrunes + a limited amount of kanji so it's not that bad. There's also a translated script of the entire game located on Gamefaqs (for the 360 version - you'll be semi lost storyline wise when it comes to the additional PS3 content).