the 16 bit rpg era

[Gojira]

Actually Tierkreis kind of passed IV in the crap department. Though maybe it's just as easy to say it wasn't part of the series and leave it at that...

I've heard Luca was based on Lu Bu, which doesn't surprise me. (lol Luka Bulaito)

[International Bastard]

Never played phantasy star, thanks gojira. Think i played lufia but pics dont help, all these games look alike
By the way for the 16 bittish interested, dragon quest 9 on DS comes with IB's seal of approval, at least the beginning.

[r3v3n4nT]

EDIT: Oh yeah, have you tried any Phantasy Star games? They're all pretty playable, especially PS4.

/vouch

[Dark_Chaotix]

secret of mana and crono trigger on snes

[Edgey]

I've been playing through english translated versions of rpgs that were never released here. as funny as it would sound, I really like the Sailor Moon rpg... quiet.... stop laughing!!!

Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6 (or 3 if you're getting the SNES cart) are also on my big list of play these now.

[International Bastard]

CT may just be my favorite game of all time but i've played through it like 6/7 times already. Sailor Moon rpg? I laughed but only a little bit, like half a second. Played Star Ocean? Also IB's seal of approval.

[Edgey]

CT may just be my favorite game of all time but i've played through it like 6/7 times already. Sailor Moon rpg? I laughed but only a little bit, like half a second. Played Star Ocean? Also IB's seal of approval.

Yeah the Sailor Moon one had a bit of a Chrono Trigger / FF6 feel to it. It's odd to explain.
I'm trying to find working versions of a lot of the old Shin Megami Tensei translated games. So far the one I found just looped the same scene over and over again.

Another one I want to try out is Bahamut's Lagoon. Again, not released in english but there is Fanslations out there.

I am going to play Persona 1 thought once when I finish Persona 3 (again XD )

[Loona]

Hopefully it's not tooo late to reply here...


Anyway, when this sort of topic comes up, my tendency is to recommend Live-a-Live, a little pearl by Square - it breaks away slightly from the usual RPG mold in settings and mechanics in a way I found refreshing.

As for setting, you don't get the usual medieval fantasy stuff - at least not at the beginning - instead, you pick from much less typical settings which all play a bit differently, each with its own protagonist: an old martial arts master in Fantasy Ancient China, a gunman in the wild west, a caveman in prehistory (fun detail, nobody actually uses words in this since it's in pre-verbal times - the speech bubbles use pictures instead), a futuristic setting where a guy with psychic powers eventually gets to ride a giant robot (complete with hot-blooded theme song at the beginning - you don't listen to actual lyrics, but get to see them in subtitles), a ninja in a(n optionally stealthy) mission in a huge fortress, a robot in a clautrophobia-inducing spaceship, and finally, as an interesting reference to the state of the games market back then, a present-day chapter which is essentially a fighting game using the game's own mechanics, with the perk that you get to learn some of your opponents' special moves. These different chapters can be played in any order, but you only move on with the bigger plot after completing all of them. Wich, by the way, involves an impressive recurring boss fight theme. (I'm trying to cut down on the use of the word awesome, I get the feeling that its recurring use will be the sort of thing the following decades ill make fun of about this one).

As for the battle system, I find it pleasantly dynamic compared to others for the same time - no concerns with things like MP or turns, you can move around at will in the battle grid, but every action you pick has a certain duration and area of effect - same with your opponents. Once a battle's over, you're fully healed again so you can go back to concerning yourself about the plot, not with cures or status ailments.

Only available through fan-translation, but totally worth it.


Other stuff I've been recently enjoying: Final Fantasy 5 (Dissidia made me curious about it, loving the job system in it and the Gilgamesh music) and Super Robot Wars 3 (bless fan translations; a nice way to get an introduction to shows I never watched and especially the rest of Gundam I'm yet to bother with; can be hard game though, it sometimes just removes or replaces your mechs and pilots without warning, so either hit GameFAQs or are very very careful about whom you level and what you upgrade).

[Toxic Avanger]

I must chop off something as punishment as I didn't catch this thread early enough.

SNES, SQUARESOFT : the Secret of Evermore. Zeladish gameplay by square soft, this and Enix's TERRANIGMA who is also in the same vein and are pretty terrific games.

SNES, DATA EAST : Shadowrun. It's like blade runner, but with zombies. You shouldn't need me to say anything else, right? It's an excellent game. The japanese version has some extended scenes AND for about 90% on english dialogs as well. The US version has some censorship and stuff, but has a more action friendly control scheme.

SNES, SQUARESOFT : Rudra no Hihou, or secret of the Rudra. A marvelous game by square; the magic system is simply amazing beyond words, and the fact that you have an scenario system for different characters and that the choices in one affect the choices in the other is always cool. Also everything is animated, that's quite unusual on a SNES era game. Available only via fan translations.

SNES, CAPCOM : Breath of Fire II : Shimei no Ko. There is a fan translation of the game, which has enhanced visuals for menus, and heavily retweaked text. While I partially don't agree with all of the retranslations compared to the original jp version, but the smoother visuals and transparencies are good enough of a excuse to play it.

PSX, KOEI : Saiyuki : Journey West. Koei answer to Final Fantasy tactics and is a surprisingly cool game. Excellent graphics and ingame art; it also sticks pretty closely to the original legend.

... I can't remember more, har har.