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For a long time now, I think 8 years, I've been a huge RPGs fan and have consumed almost every one I could get a hold of. But recently, I've realized their terrible lack of originality. I mean, just take a look. ANY RPG can be depicted as this: 'Trouble arises (trouble: need to save a world or a girl). MC gets stronger, ie learns new and more powerful techs or magic, collects more weapons, gets stronger, raises levels and such for it'. Also, they always get a flying ship. They usually start with another kind of travelling means (car, ship, cannon, chocobo) but they always end up with sth that flies.
It was cool at the beginning, but after playing dozens of similar games, it gets so fucking frustrating. Right these days, it's so awfully boring that I don't play too many games anymore. I mean, can't they fucking make another storyline?! Another game system?! Is it soooo difficult?!
More of the things I hate to see in RPGs:
-Gratuituos village burning and town destructing. 'Oh, the baddies are so bad, they destroy villages!!!' Awfully simple and rarely justifiable. So far, of the ones I've played, only in BOF3 and Suikoden 2 are justified.
-'Gotta rescue the girl' kind of plot. Extremely simple way, taken to the extreme in FF8, to keep a story. The girl keeps missing for dubious and non-justifiable reasons, so half of the missions are for rescuing her. Obviously, I'm not interested in rescuing girls (Though I have a game where a girl rescues a prince, but I don't like it either).
- Gotta defeat big, bad, powerful boss at the end of the game. Very simple too. Why do games have to ALWAYS finish battling a boss?
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Give me a little bit and I might can find some RPGs that may be different.
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You could try the Shin Megami Tensei series if they're available near you. The game bases alot of the fighting intirely off strategy, screw up and you'll be in for a world of hurt, the stories are pretty cool, and learning technigues isn't as simple as level up learn a tech, you equip these things called mantra and then as you fight your characters slowly learn the thechs on them, but to learn the techniques quickly you need to eat (that's right eat) your enemies, which isn't as simple as it sounds first you need to weaken them with attacks, then put them into a state of fear using their weakness, and then use a special tech to devour them. It's a fun game. I can't say much about the story (too many plot twists) but it is a good one.
"Stand tall and shake the heavens!" - Xenogears.
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Yeah, I haven't touched too many for a while... that last one was .hack and before that was Shadow Hearts: Covenant.
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Heya Zeph. I'll address a couple of your points. Also be aware, that fantasy literature also follows a similar kind of cookie cutter design.
Zephyr of Darkness Wrote:I've realized their terrible lack of originality. I mean, just take a look. ANY RPG can be depicted as this: 'Trouble arises (trouble: need to save a world or a girl). MC gets stronger, ie learns new and more powerful techs or magic, collects more weapons, gets stronger, raises levels and such for it'.
Along any adventure, the participants are expected to get stronger. It'd kinda suck if you were stuck at level 1 the whole time while your enemies got stronger, especially since the main adversary is depicted as being strong enough to annihilate planets by breathing on them.
Quote:Also, they always get a flying ship. They usually start with another kind of travelling means (car, ship, cannon, chocobo) but they always end up with sth that flies.
It's the fastest means, but at least we've started to evolve past the traditional massive zeppelin mode of travel. Flammie, the Ragnorok, and that huge crazy island thing in Bahamut Lagoon were welcome changes to the Final Fantasy series' blimps.
Quote:It was cool at the beginning, but after playing dozens of similar games, it gets so fucking frustrating. Right these days, it's so awfully boring that I don't play too many games anymore. I mean, can't they fucking make another storyline?! Another game system?! Is it soooo difficult?!
I so seriously share your pain on this issue, you don't even understand. Games have slid quite a bit in terms of quality.
Quote:More of the things I hate to see in RPGs:
-Gratuituos village burning and town destructing. 'Oh, the baddies are so bad, they destroy villages!!!' Awfully simple and rarely justifiable. So far, of the ones I've played, only in BOF3 and Suikoden 2 are justified.
Haven't played BoF3, and from what I remember, Suikoden II contains one of the most hated villains ever in the form of Luca Blight. Generally, the script writers have to come up with something to make the gamer hate the villain. Wiping out a defenseless village is the easiest way to achieve this, and since a lot of writers are lazy, this clich
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Yeah, some games you could try are
Shin Megami Tensei Fun and you might like the demon aspect.
.hack Long and in 4 parts but if you ever saw the show (I don't think you did)
it could be fun.
Shadow Hearts: Covenant I think there's another shadowhearts game
this has an interesting way to attack.
Xenogears and Xenosaga Confusing storyline but it's pretty good.
And Kingdom Hearts is a square/disney cross which people really like.
I can find you info on these if you want but they are all for PS2.
Grandia.
That is by far one of the greatest RPGs ever devised by human minds. Badgers have made better, but they're mostly about things we can't relate to. Grandia has no big airship. Grandia has no "save the world" objective until the very end of the game, nor "rescue the damsiel". In fact, at the begining, the hero is a bumbling oaf.
It starts off in the town of Palm, which is undergoing an industrial revolution, so everything is being powered by steam. Justin, aged ten, the hero, with the worst hero name ever (which I love), has a keen interest in history and wants to follow in his late father's footsteps and become an "adventurer". The game opens playing a hide and seek game along these lines. It's really, quite fantastic and ingenious. I think you have to play to at least the begining of the second disc to understand just how marvelous it is. Eighty two hours of play spanning two discs, with Anime based FMVs, sprites and faces, which are displayed above the character dialog. It's fantastic.
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List of Good Rpg's
ff1
ff4
ff7
ff9
ff tactics
foxanidu
zelda1+2
zelda link to the past
zelda ocarina of time
ghouls school
goonies 2
king's bounty
grandia 1-3
wild arms 1-4
skies of arcadia
legend of Lagia
Legend of Dragoon
Xenosaga 1-2
dot hack 1-4
vagrant story
and many more that I can't remember......
So many good ones out there and its so hard to remember them after beating them a long while back... If I remember more I'll post it here later and....
Zephyr, I know that the search for a good rpg whether its action or plot oriented could be a difficult thing to find, one day it will to you and you'll continue it for hours.....
I've probably between somewhere between 30-50 rpgs in my lifetime along with 150+ combined games and I've seen some interesting and wierd rpg's out there.....
Good luck and have fun playing them as much as I do.... By the way zephyr, never give up you'll find something that you'll enjoy soon enough...
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lonelygabu~~
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Grandia 2= all around good game.
XenoGEARS= Great story, huge robots, and the fancy deathblows that you actually have to learn by figuring out the combos.
XenoSAGA= Kinda fun, slightly boring battle system, ANNOYINGLY LONG CUTSCENES, and pretty basic giant robots which you probably won't use and most characters can't.
Legend of Dragoon= decent story, still has the whole save the damsel thing, fighting as a human is fun thanks to the addition system but fighting as a dragoon is pretty simple since you basically have either 'attack' or 'magic' so it gets boring, good visuals and the characters include a stripper (they never actually say it but anyone can see it),and a giant axe wielding maniac who tries to kill you twice, plus you get to ride around on a giant stingray thing.
Lunar 1&2: If you can find a copy I'd suggest buying it. Good story, funny characters, the dialogue is hilarious (one gem, "Keep your hands on your valuables...RONFAR GET YOUR HANDS OUT OF YOUR PANTS!!" "Just following orders."  ), and the whole damsel in distress thing gets an interesting twist.
"Stand tall and shake the heavens!" - Xenogears.
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i forgot about lunar....damn it.....
game i actually have.....
I have a huge collection of rpg's...(150+ in all systems....)
Still searchin'
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lonelygabu~~
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