The Role Playing Game Thread

Tyaren

Well-Known Member
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We really need a general RPG thread, for WRPGs as well as JRPGs. So far we only had dedicated threads for the Final Fantasy series, the Pokemon series and one for the The Witcher. (That thread will probably die soon now after the end of the series has come. :()
In the already mentioned threads we often digress to one of the many other RPG series or stand-alone RPG games. Let's have that conversation in here. :)

To kick off this thread, let me post some of the RPGs that are about to grace our consoles and PCs in the coming year and maybe everyone can tell us, what RPGs they are looking forward too the most.

Horizon: Zero Dawn:

Ni No Kuni 2:

Mass Effect Andromeda:

Tales of Berseria:

Persona 5:

I'm looking forward to Horizon: Zero Dawn and Ni no Kuni 2 the most. H:ZD might finally step into The Witcher 3's big foot steps but it's looking even more gorgeous and awe-inspiring. Ni no Kuni 3 will hopefully quench my thirst for whimsical and magical JRPGs. I'm also a huge Studio Ghibli fan, so this one is a must.
 

DestructionBomb

Well-Known Member
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Mass Effect! - Persona 5 as well. Unsure of Bestiria, Tales series has been rather off and the new one doesn't look as promising. I'll probably wait on that.
 

KasumiLover

xX_APO_Prince_Xx
Premium Donor
Awww....I thought Tyaren had finally bit the bullet and made a role play thread.... well, I am planning on getting Persona 5. Berseria looks interesting but those are the only RPGs that interest me.
 

Tyaren

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Unsure of Bestiria, Tales series has been rather off and the new one doesn't look as promising. I'll probably wait on that.

Lol, you butchered that name well. XD
The discussion about the Tales series in the FF thread was actually what inspired me to open this thread. Now we can properly talk about it. ;)
It is a shame what has become of the Tales series. It was once my favorite JRPG series and I loved games like Symphonia, Abyss and Vesperia. Vesperia was the last critically acclaimed Tales game however. After that the budget for new games got significantly smaller and the development cycles shorter. There came nearly each year a new Tales or at least a spin-off. They've become generic and run- of-the-mill.
Namco addressed this though and they definitely are aware of the Tales series' vanishing influence. Hard to imagine that back in the day Nintendo as well as Microsoft actually paid to have games exclusively on their consoles.
Berseria is apparently going into the right direction and is a bit better than Zestiria, it's prequel. Let's see...it's only out in Japan for now.
 

Juihau

Well-Known Member
From what I recall, though, Xillia and Xillia 2 were really well-received. The former for taking typical tropes used in the series and playing them noticeably differently (such as Milla's character having basis in Dhaos, the antagonist from the very first Tales game). The latter for having a very different tone from the rest of the series, and continuing developing the characters from the first game, where one of the complaints with Symphonia's sequel was its original cast being pushed to the sideline.
 

Nikotsumi

Well-Known Member
So far, Tales of Berseria is the only one of those in which I'm interested in and that I'll definitely be playing. I searched for opinions by people who imported the game (no story spoiler because of the language barrier, just gameplay related stuff) and apparently it has a lot of things done right, though it has also its cons. Anyways a bunch of them said something like "best Tales game since Vesperia", but yeah we'll see for ourselves once it's released in the west.
Speaking of Vesperia, everyone is talking really well about this entry, so I definitely have to play it, probably once I finished Berseria.
 
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Tyaren

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From what I recall, though, Xillia and Xillia 2 were really well-received. The former for taking typical tropes used in the series and playing them noticeably differently (such as Milla's character having basis in Dhaos, the antagonist from the very first Tales game). The latter for having a very different tone from the rest of the series, and continuing developing the characters from the first game, where one of the complaints with Symphonia's sequel was its original cast being pushed to the sideline.

Well, their Metacritic entries, which keep track of reviews world wide, state something different. Even if they tried to fix some stuff.
Xillia:
http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/tales-of-xillia
Xillia 2:
http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/tales-of-xillia-2

A combined 71 score Is just mediocre bordering on lackluster. Games like Symphonia or Vesperia garnered 9/10s back then. Well deserved, imo.

By the way, for everyone interested in Symphonia and Vesperia here their old trailers:




Speaking of Vesperia, everyone is talking really well about this entry, so I definitely have to play it, probably once I finished Berseria.

It his basically the secret successor of Symphonia. The same people worked on it and it feels very much the same, just newer and prettier. Many liked the main protagonist Yuri. He indeed was great. He's more like a badass antihero but very likable in his flaws.
 
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Juihau

Well-Known Member
Metacritic isn't always the most reliable thing, but it is worth mentioning that on the very same site, Vesperia's Metascore is only one point higher than Xillia, and their user scores are the same. 71 for Xillia 2, while not great, isn't terrible either, especially considering from what I can tell, most of the reviews cite recycled assets as one of its biggest drawbacks (which is entirely fair, that is one of its biggest drawbacks).
 

UpSideDownGRUNT

Well-Known Member
I'd recommend playing the demo, the English version comes out next month and I can tell you from what I played gameplay and characters are a million times better than Zesteria...

Like, for starters Berserias demo didn't make me have repressed memories of the game lol

All in all, Tales of Berseria and Persona 5 are THE biggest games I'm excited for next year. P5 is already looking like GOTY potential for me, Horizon looks awesome but I'll see how the game plays first before getting it straight on.

Next on my list is Mass Effect since I played ME 2 & 3 and really liked them, theres a goodchance I'll like the new one too.

I'm interested in Ni No Kuni 2 too, in fact, I have the original...should probably finish that game one day.
 

XZero264

FSD | Nichol
Premium Donor
Last I checked 7/10 is still a good score (hell, 6 honestly isn't that terrible), when you start getting 5s and lower thats where you should start to worry. It's a misconception from schooling regarding grading that really holds people back from playing games that don't score 8 or higher. For many companies a 7 or higher is considered an accomplishment. I've enjoyed a lot of games that scored 6-7 and feel they have earned 8s, it's how modern generation gaming works unfortunately. If you can't get immediate satisfaction and immediate rewards for pushing a button then it's a bad system. If a series changes something too much it is slammed, if it doesn't change enough it gets slammed. I've been playing fewer games these past couple years because nothing is really all that good anymore and I don't go with the new CoD or AC type series games every year because they don't change enough to warrant gaining enough interest from me to play them. There are exceptions but they are few and very far between, especially rpgs.

Tales games in general are really well done, a lot of what makes people not like each new entry is that because of how combat is changed in each one. I was fine with Phantasia through Abyss' combo into Arte into Arcane Arte into Mystic Arte based on skills and TP. When I try Vesperia onward I initially don't like them because of the gauge combat where you are limited on combos unless you master the system to almost infinitely refill those gauges. Great games once you get used to them but I'm so used to the old system that really using the newer systems to great heights doesn't happen with me for a long time.

Other favorites of mine are Final Fantasy, Star Ocean, .hack, and Diablo (for some reason I'm blanking on a lot of games). If we wanna consider mmorpgs then World of Warcraft and Rift are in there as well.
 

Chapstick

Well-Known Member
The next one I'm looking forward to is Atelier Shallie Plus for the vita. I liked it for the PS3 but more content and portability are big pluses for me

Ni No Kuni 2 looks good. I'm also lowkey looking forward to the new South Park game, will probably get that one when it's on sale for under $30 tho after getting the last one for $60 (I regret that)
 

UpSideDownGRUNT

Well-Known Member
Oh yeah, we're also seeing Atelier Firis and Nights of Azure 2 next year from Koei Tecmo...

Aside from Horizon and Mass Effec Andromeda is there any other western RPGs releasing? I guess Fallout 4 GOTYE or whatever might count if we see it.
 

Forlorn Penguin

Well-Known Member
Premium Donor
I don't know why, but I actually thought this thread was gonna be about actual tabletop RPGs. Then I opened the thread and was disappointed. lol

Same as XZero, I've played less and less titles over recent years, as there aren't many games worth playing that come out these days, RPG or not, so I don't really get all that excited about it anymore. I actually spent most of this year playing older masterpieces from better days long gone and testing the waters of the visual novel genre, rather than playing anything that actually released this year.

Out of everything listed in the OP, the only one I'm getting for sure is Persona 5. I'm really looking forward to that one, but am fully aware that it could instead end up as a disappointment, as many things often do. The only other one I'm interested in is Horizon: Zero Dawn, but I won't be getting it at launch because, while it looks interesting, I'm not entirely sold on exactly how entertaining it may be, so I'll wait to hear how it turns out.

Really hoping Persona 5 is phenomenal and doesn't get milked to Hell and back like the last two have been.
 
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DestructionBomb

Well-Known Member
Standard Donor
I don't know why, but I actually thought this thread was gonna be about actual tabletop RPGs. Then I opened the thread and was disappointed. lol

Same as XZero, I've played less and less titles over recent years, as there aren't many games worth playing that come out these days, RPG or not, so I don't really get all that excited about it anymore. I actually spent most of this year playing older masterpieces from better days long gone and testing the waters of the visual novel genre, rather than playing anything that actually released this year.

Out of everything listed in the OP, the only one I'm getting for sure is Persona 5. I'm really looking forward to that one, but am fully aware that it could instead end up as a disappointment, as many things often do. The only other one I'm interested in is Horizon: Zero Dawn, but I won't be getting it at launch because, while it looks interesting, I'm not entirely sold on exactly how entertaining it may be, so I'll wait to hear how it turns out.

Really hoping Persona 5 is phenomenal and doesn't get milked to Hell and back like the last two have been.

I miss Robin Sachs for good ol Zaeed days.
 

CyberEvil

Master Ninja
Staff member
Administrator
Premium Donor
My favorite rpg of all time is Lost Kingdoms. I bet most of you never played it though.
 
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