underdog rpgs

[nightsavior]

have any of you ever played an extremly great rpg and wondered why the hell it didn't get better exposure? well this is a topic devoted to those underdog rpgs that seem to always get trampled by the latest final fantasy...

legend of dragoon: a great rpg! it had an innovative combat system and many hours of engrossing play. the characters were deep,lovable,and memorable. dart could outshine cloud or squall anyday.

vandal hearts 1 and 2: a great tactic rpg series with darkly adult and gritty plot twists and some very emotionally stirring moments. also these games were HARD.

dysgaea: sure the graphics are just a bar above 32 bit but what other rpg lets u be a cute denizen of hell while ruling over murderous penguins among other strange minions?

shadowhearts: ever wonder what final fantasy would be like with a darker more mature twist set during the victorian era? look no futher then shadowhearts. it had a good storyline,a sweet battle judgement ring system,and the ability to have your main character morph into terrifying monsters to pimp slap the forces of evil. sure the graphics are alittle dated but i still think shadowhearts is way better than final fantasy x.

do you all have favorite underdog rpgs or would like to comment on those i mentioned? please tell me what you think!

[Zelphiel]

dysgaea: sure the graphics are just a bar above 32 bit but what other rpg lets u be a cute denizen of hell while ruling over murderous penguins among other strange minions?




yeah, Disgaea is a great game. It's popularity has grown quite a bit, and it's still growing. With LaPucelle, (another Nippon Ichi game that's very similar to Disgaea), already out in the US it'll probably gain a little more popularity.

Xenogears is my favorite of the underdogs.

[nightsavior]

xenogears is an underdog lath?! wow. that's sad. it's one of the best games ever. and from it was born xenosaga which kicks total ass. i don't mind giving credit to final fantasy where it's due but there are so many kamikazee square fanatics out there that believe final fantasy is the end all be all and because of that they miss out on some excellent games.

[Lancet Jades]

Final fantasy is good, but by no means is it the best.

[nightsavior]

well what really made me angry a few years ago is when gamepro gave suikoden 2 for the ps 1 a crappy review. most reviewers nowadays seem to be cgi graphics junkeys that give a game a bad review if it doesn't use the latest cutting edge technology. i'm sorry but suikoden 2 had me addicted like it was crack from the promised land!

[Chicken Little]

Legend of Legaia. I mean it has very nice storyline and setup yet was given a measy 52% rating compared to FF7 which had 98% i mean COME ON i would much rather see Noa, Gala and Van kick ass then polygonal morons without any MOUTHS HOW CAN THEY SUCK ASS WITHOUT MOUTHS!!!!!

in other words LoL > FF, you, your dog, your cat, your bird, your mum, your dad but = suikoden lol

[nightsavior]

yeah...i don't know what cosmic rule states final fantasy has to be the pinnacle of rpg greatness. legaia was a great game i admit. if i was to design a great rpg and i had to choose between flashy graphics or a deep storyline,innovative interaction and combat system,plus old school graphics i'd choose the later. i think ff does well simply because it targets its games at young teens. i mean look at squall,cloud,and tidus. stripped down they don't have much substance yet fashion wise and attitude wise they are what young pubescent males find to be cool. also it is the same with yuna,riku,and payne. they were designed so young teenaged girls could immediatly relate to them or look up to them. i guess theres nothing wrong with this but if i have to play through one more game with post apcolyptic 90210 teenagers,a sappy love triangle,and a lame corperation that is threatening the world my head WILL explode.

[Zelphiel]

yeah...i don't know what cosmic rule states final fantasy has to be the pinnacle of rpg greatness.


I guess because it's what most rpgs are compared to. Even though it's not the best, it is the most popular.

[Leknaat]

Legend of Legaia is underrated and so is the entire Suikoden Series in my opinion and Valkyrie Profile used to be but it's getting alot of attention now

[Chicken Little]

though i must admit Songi is the better character out of him and gala and i just <3 the sound effects for spirit LOL much. I mean this game ish cool and the reviewers are all ghey.

[nightsavior]

agreed suikoden is engrossing and moving on many levels. don't ask me how they do it but...there are so many characters yet you really get to care for them all even the spoof ones. to me suikoden has always reprsented courage,sacrifice,tragedy,and triumpthing against overwhelming odds.

[Laggy]

well, all the games you guys said i agree 100% with, LOD is one of my top fav games

Lunar series! this game is GREAT but most of the people i know either dont know anything about it, or do but havnt played it, know why? because FF6 came out, yes that long ago this game got smashed down under with the others, then when it came back out, for ps1..it cost to much for most people, and the ones of us that did get it...luffs it, but for the ones that didnt..its very hard to get

lunar 2 is the same way really

FFMQ, a FF game that got no cradit as a FF game because it was made in the USA, it was a good game IMO

[nightsavior]

i'm a lunar fan too laguna. long live luna,alex,lucia and hiro! lunar is a prime example of what made us fall in love with rpgs to begin with. it had a great story line,lovable characters,a decent sound track,and a world we could get lost in. lunar never had the flashy graphics of ff....but it made up for it with its beautiful nastalgic themes that in my opinion gave us back the innocence we had when we were younger and believed anything was possible.

[Laggy]

so true os damn true...this is why lunar, and FF6 are the main PRGs i play, they both have that...that ..well you know..i just love em, FF1 aswell, my first game, but your so right, FF has gone to far IMO, theres to many and to much...when i was first starting, from FF1 to FF6 i thought OMG how did they do this!..i never in my dreams could think of such things as FFCC or FF11,....if i could re live the fun i first had in the older RPGs..i mean..first time playing them..i would.

[nightsavior]

final fantasy was originally done out of a labor of love. the programmers only cared about telling a good story and moving their audience. then it became all about graphics and making characters "cool" so it would draw in the young teen crowd. ff went from being an excellent rpg...to a money making marketing gimmick.

[Silly Girl]

I really like FF but it's by no means the best. Any non-squenix RPG is underdog. End of story. Suikoden = Best RPG I've ever played.

[Zelphiel]

that's not entirely true. I don't consider Xenosaga to be an underdog and it's a Monolith Soft/Namco game.

[Ricdeau]

Arc the Lad. The first 3 had everything, cute graphics, good storyline, plenty of characters and a rocking battle system. It just didnt get much attention i dont think. I still love those games.

[Saberstar]

Azure dreams. It's an awesome breeding game. Better then monster rancher, IMO.

[Kaffee]

dysgaea: sure the graphics are just a bar above 32 bit but what other rpg lets u be a cute denizen of hell while ruling over murderous penguins among other strange minions?

~nightsavior

I can't wait to try this one, Lathan graciously loaned it to me and I'm going to play the heck out of it.

[Lancet Jades]

I'm the only guy who hasnt played Disgaea :(

[Chicken Little]

EHEM

i beg to differ with that remark

[Zelphiel]

maybe he means he's the only guy that has it readily available to him that hasn't played it. :hmm

[Gaghiel]

Theres this one game I have thats kinda lame.

An RPG called....
Empherail...empheral...empheri al fantasia.

I haven't seen it on this site so I figuered it would be unheard of......

If anyone does have it can you tell me how to get into the larger area and not just stay in the town!!!!

It is soooooooooooooooooooo annoying

[Lancet Jades]

I heard Ephermeral fantasia wasnt all that good...

Btw, mute, could you please reduce your sig's size by half?

[Setzophone]

Okay now this one is kind of an underdog, its got a fairly hyped sequel coming out this summer, but Tales of Destiny. That game was great, it had pretty good graphics, anime stlye fmv sequences, and an full controll Street Fighter style battle system. The game is easily 50hrs without any sidequest, and there are many sidequests.

[Saberstar]

Well if you think Tales of destiny is great then try out 2. And there will be another version of it coming out in 2-4 months for PS2 and GC. Oh and play Star Ocean2, the battle system is similar to ToD.

[Lancet Jades]

Well if you think Tales of destiny is great then try out 2. And there will be another version of it coming out in 2-4 months for PS2 and GC. Oh and play Star Ocean2, the battle system is similar to ToD.
Yes, ToD2 was teh shiz of games ^_^. DEefinitely a top-notch RPG.

And, i played SO2 right after ToD1, and it seemed like a rip-off of ToD initially. Not a complete ripoff, but still...

[Saberstar]

It's like a rip off. If anything ToD's the one who copied SO2.
SO was released in 1996 in Japan.
SO2 was in 1998.
Tales of destiny was released in 1997 in Japan.
And ToD2 was 2002

[Lancet Jades]

OHhhh....lol. OH well, some elements just seemed familiar is all...

[Saberstar]

Of course it does. So does all other newly RPGs. And the fact that they're similar is because they were PS1 games. If it's SNES, then that's another story.

[Chicken Little]

and lades changes hs theory because hed be bagging his favgame otherwise...poor pathetic lades lol

[Setzophone]

Of course it does. So does all other newly RPGs. And the fact that they're similar is because they were PS1 games. If it's SNES, then that's another story.

Auctually yeah, ToD is a sequel back in like 1996 in japan there was a game called Tales of Phantasia that came out on the SNES, its only available in the US by getting the translated rom, and all the characteristics are the same as ToD. It had almost all the same items, same battle system, same control, and even partial voice acting. ;)

[Ricdeau]

He speaks the truth. Phantasia is meant to be the best of the bunch too. I used to have Ephemeral Fantasia, but it sucked ass so i traded it in for Onimusha, which also sucks.

[Saberstar]

Oh yeah there's also Phantasia. But then there's also SO-1 ;)

[Lancet Jades]

In any case, SO2, ToD1 and 2 (2 really being Tales of Eternia), are all excellent RPGs

:P

[Travisblaze]

Skies of Arcadia. This game was overlooked for many reasons but it is a great cult classic.

[Ashe]

ToD2 (Ps1 version,iono what the Eternia or whatever one is but i dont got that) LoL the first one... 2nd one wasnt that good, LoD was all too much coincedence left and right so that got annoying but still better or as good as FF7, and basically 90% of other games.... and Shadow Hearts... forgot bout that (personal opinion, greatest RPG on PS2 for me so far) and well... lots others but cant think right now