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Post by Ex on Jan 19, 2018 13:34:53 GMT -5
I've seen folks around here mention Arc the Lad and Shining Force, so we must have some SRPG fans on board. Howabout a thread just about that topic? I'll start by talking about my favorite SRPG series. FRONT MISSION My all time favorite SRPG series is Front Mission. I've beaten Front Mission DS (excellent port of the SNES/PS1 version), Front Mission Alternative (PS1 RTS), Front Mission 3 (PS1), Front Mission 4 (PS2), and Front Mission 5 (PS2) (has an English fan translation). I've also beaten Front Mission: Gun Hazard (SFC), but it's not an SRPG. (And I've beaten Front Mission Evolved (360), which I'm not allowed to discuss.) I still need to finish Front Mission 2 (PS1) (has partial English fan translation), Front Mission 2089 (Japan-only DS entry with no English fan translation), and the other campaign of Front Mission 3 (it has two mainline campaigns).  I adore Front Mission for multiple reasons. Firstly it's about giant robots fighting giant robots, which I'm a sucker for. There's a tense futuristic theme to the plots. The writing and mission design is all down to earth stuff, no flaky melodrama. The OSTs are always great, typically low-key industrial electro stuff. The stage designs are done in mundane earth-tones, giving a somber feel to the experience. In latter games the difficulty can be extreme (FM4 and FM5), making for more satisfying tactical gameplay. And lastly you can (and must) customize each of your wanzers (robots) to an extraordinary degree. That means outfitting your platoon with hundreds of variant parts leading to thousands of possible configurations. This intense customization gives the player a huge amount of variety in how to construct their units, allowing for a wide variety of strategic options. Overall Front Mission as a series is superb, if you're looking for mature, well designed SRPGs, this is the ticket. So what about your favorite SRPG series, or favorite individual SRPG entries? |
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Post by toei on Jan 19, 2018 17:19:59 GMT -5
I prefer SRPGs where you can walk around towns, because I find that nothing but combat becomes boring pretty quickly (so Shining Force, FEDA, Arc the Lad, Just Breed). I also prefer fast, small-scale battles over large scale. The most fun I've had with a pure tactical-RPG was with Wild ARMs XF, which has very varied gameplay, well-designed missions and a flexible class system. No one ever talks about it, but it's pretty great. The story is absolute shit, though.
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Post by Sarge on Jan 19, 2018 18:02:12 GMT -5
XF also has an astoundingly good soundtrack, even factoring in the series it comes from.
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Post by Xeogred on Jan 19, 2018 18:12:21 GMT -5
I prefer SRPGs where you can walk around towns Too bad that's so rare! Not a huge fan of the genre, but the few I like I'm a big fan of. Arc the Lad 1-2 - Arc 2 in particular was amazing. You could walk around in towns and dungeons, this game combines its roster with the entire cast of the first giving you a real army worth of characters to work with, and the combat is fast paced. The simplicity to it for this genre is what makes this game a winner to me, it's just super fun. Really strong 90's anime vibes too. Tactics Ogre Let Us Cling Together (played the SNES version which has a translation patch of the PSX script) - For me this was everything FFT tried to be and the plot doesn't fall apart in the back half. The game even seemed more advanced than FFT, with various alignment branching paths that could offer replayability. Special named character units aren't game breaking unlike FFT's (Dark Sword anyone?). I also like being able to control a lot of units, in this you always got 10 in every battle. FFT often restricted you to 3-5 units and that's just boring. The graphics and Hitoshi Sakimoto's score on the SNES were insanely impressive. Probably one of the hardest JRPG's I've ever beaten too. Left a good impression on me and felt amazing beating it. Shining Force 1 was cool and I might play more of those eventually. I liked the GBA Fire Emblem's but think that's my fill for the franchise. I've played a bunch of others like Phantom Brave, Disgaea (2?), Arc the Lad 3, Front Mission 3, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Tactics Ogre Knight of Lodis, etc but didn't beat any of these. It's very rare for me to be in the zone and have the patience for this genre in the end. The lack of interactivity outside of menu's brings it down for me. |
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Post by toei on Jan 19, 2018 18:30:25 GMT -5
XF also has an astoundingly good soundtrack, even factoring in the series it comes from. I know, it's insane. It's almost a waste that it went to a PSP game (though headphones help). |
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Post by Ex on Jan 19, 2018 19:46:07 GMT -5
I prefer SRPGs where you can walk around towns Well, in Front Mission games, you can visit different locations of your current base, to talk to various people. It's not just mission-prep-mission-prep. But you can't walk around towns like you can in Shining Force. Now there's one I need to check out. The most fun I've had with a pure tactical-RPG was with Wild ARMs XF Isn't that one that uses hexes instead of squares? Did that dramatically affect the gameplay in any way? Arc 2 in particular was amazing. And there's another I need to get to. Yeesh. FEDA, Shining Force 2, and Arc the Lad 2! Tactics Ogre Let Us Cling Together I'm a Matsuno fanboy, but I still had some big issues with TOLUCT. I thought FFT was superior, honestly. If you want to know why I didn't like TOLUCT, here's my review. But it's still highly decent, and I wouldn't fault anyone for enjoying it. I liked the GBA Fire Emblem's but think that's my fill for the franchise. The only Fire Emblem I've put any real time into was Binding Blade on GBA. And uh... it was an unbalanced, not fun mess. - Let me tell you guys another one of my favorite SRPGS: That's right, that game is TEN YEARS OLD now. Officially retro by this board's standards. I really enjoyed it. Great story, nice graphics, fun characters, cool combat system, lots of mission variety. The only fault I'd throw at the game, is it was way too easy. |
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Post by toei on Jan 19, 2018 21:49:43 GMT -5
I wouldn't say hexes make that big a difference. Honestly, I didn't even remember that.
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Post by Ex on Jan 20, 2018 11:59:22 GMT -5
Another giant robot SRPG I loved was:  Faselei!  You have a configurable squad of mechs to maneuver around combat areas, completing missions and such. Missions are interspersed by plot dispersing cutscenes. What's interesting about Faselei! is you have to pre-program your mechs' moves before they act. You do this by stringing together a series of movement and attack commands, and then watching how things play out. That means to win, you've got to be able to think far ahead of a turn. I really enjoyed this, and it came across as sort of a simpler Carnage Heart type system. Very fun little SRPG, I recommend it to any mech lover. Another one I loved...  Screenshots: I've been defending Fallout Tactics for what, seventeen years now?  Such an underrated, totally awesome game. I guess people didn't like it because it wasn't Fallout 3 (at the time), I don't know. You create a squad, you take missions in the wastelands, you fight, you die, you fight, you win, and usually just barely. (This is one of the hardest SRPGs out there aside from Jagged Alliance 2.) Another reason people didn't like Fallout Tactics is because the game is rock hard, especially towards the end. I liked that about it though. Some folks say this game doesn't have a plot, and that's just incorrect. Fallout Tactics has a huge ever evolving plot. As a matter of fact, there are side missions you can optionally take which expand the plot even further. Not to mention all the hidden skirmishes you can find just by roaming the wastelands. With tons of enemies, all kinds of weapons, and a super deep combat engine, I completely adored Fallout Tactics. For me this was the real Fallout 2, as I wasn't enamored with the official Fallout 2. This game is AWESOME, and is singularly my all time favorite SRPG. Thankfully you can get it on GOG. |
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Post by Ex on Jan 24, 2018 14:20:29 GMT -5
I've been working on a little list of SRPGs I'm interested in. There's reviews around the net and all that, but I'm more interested in people's opinions I know. So does anyone want to offer some thoughts on any of these?:
Bahamut Lagoon (SFC)
Crystal Warriors (GG)
Crystal Warriors 2: Royal Stone (GG)
Chaos Seed (SFC)
Dark Wizard (SCD)
Der Langrisser (SFC)
Energy Breaker (SFC)
Earth Light (SFC)
Earth Light: Lunar Strike (SFC)
FEDA - The Emblem of Justice (SFC)
Galaxy Robo (SFC)
Hanjuku Hero (FC)
Herzog Zwei (not really a SRPG I know) (GEN)
Hiouden - Legend of the Scarlet King (SFC)
Just Breed (FC)
Jutei Senki (SFC)
Langrisser IV (PS1)
Little Master (SFC)
Mech Platoon (GBA)
Shining Force - Final Conflict (GG)
Shining Force - The Sword of Hajya (GG)
SimCity (not really a SRPG I know) (SNES)
SimEarth (not really a SRPG I know) (SNES)
Super Famicom Wars (not really a SRPG I know) (SFC)
Treasure Hunter G (SFC)
Uncharted Waters (SNES)
Uncharted Waters: New Horizons (SNES)
Vixen 357 (MD)
I'm also really confused about Shining Force on SEGA CD. It's supposed to include two Shining Force gaiden games. But are those gaiden games actually Final Conflict and The Sword of Hajya, or something else entirely?
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Post by bonesnapdeez on Jan 24, 2018 14:37:51 GMT -5
Keepin' it quick.
Bahamut Lagoon - Gorgeous, fluid Squaresoft game. The graphics and dragon designs are amazing. Mechanics are easy to learn. Recommended.
Crystal Warriors games - These kick ass! Nice and brief handheld romps. Cute as hell. I approve.
Chaos Seed - Dank, hard, obtuse, expensive. Approach with caution.
Dark Wizard - It's just okay. Some nice classic CD graphics, but kinda slow and clunky.
Der Langrisser - Boss remake of the second game. Branching paths and lotsa optional stuff. Badass game.
Energy Breaker - Gorgeous graphics, decent battle system. Exploration between battles.
FEDA - The Shining Force of the SNES, basically.
Hiouden - Unique and fun with point-and-click battles. Wolf Team owns. Think it uses the SNES mouse.
Just Breed - One of the best games on the Famicom. Top-tier graphics and music with nice straightforward gameplay. One of Enix's best.
Jutei Senki - Awesome visuals, hard as hale. Has "circular" character movement instead of grids, which is kinda cool.
Shining Force GG games - Both solid, play like scaled-down Genesis games.
Treasure Hunter G - Really fun, plays more like a traditional JRPG with grid battles, rather than a "true" SRPG.
Uncharted Waters games - Not really SRPGs, more like RPG/simulation games with TONS of mechanics, text, trading, diplomacy. Approach with caution.
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Such an underrated, totally awesome game. I guess people didn't like it because it wasn't Fallout 3 (at the time), I don't know. You create a squad, you take missions in the wastelands, you fight, you die, you fight, you win, and usually just barely. (This is one of the hardest SRPGs out there aside from Jagged Alliance 2.) Another reason people didn't like Fallout Tactics is because the game is rock hard, especially towards the end. I liked that about it though. Some folks say this game doesn't have a plot, and that's just incorrect. Fallout Tactics has a huge ever evolving plot. As a matter of fact, there are side missions you can optionally take which expand the plot even further. Not to mention all the hidden skirmishes you can find just by roaming the wastelands. With tons of enemies, all kinds of weapons, and a super deep combat engine, I completely adored Fallout Tactics. For me this was the real Fallout 2, as I wasn't enamored with the official Fallout 2. This game is AWESOME, and is singularly my all time favorite SRPG. Thankfully you can get it on 
