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Post by Sarge on Feb 9, 2018 15:38:07 GMT -5
Too bad the localization of BoFII left a lot to be desired. I'm less keen on the plot, but I love the game; if I play through it again, it's going to happen with the retranslation patch. Lufia II is another great choice. Not so much from the overall plot, but they do some interesting things with the development of the main characters and... that ending. I could spoil it, but I'm not, even all these years after the fact. Phantasy Star IV has some of the coolest presentation ever. Love that game. Treasure of the Rudras is definitely in the running for one of the best RPGs that we never got. Loads of fun, and a pretty cohesive tale to boot. It might be Kawazu's most accessible game, too. Always heard good things about Heracles 3, may have to give it a go some day. I imported a boxed copy of it not terribly long ago.
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Post by toei on Feb 9, 2018 17:48:32 GMT -5
The thing with GoH3 is it starts out looking like a very standard DQ clone, despite the Greek mythology setting, but there's a lot more to it. It genuinely surprised and impressed me with some of its twists. I think my favorite part in Treasure of the Rudras was actually dying and walking around in... I don't want to say Hell, cause the game is inspired by other religions and mythologies and that makes it sound dark and angsty, which it wasn't. But whatever they called the afterlife, it was just a really cool, unexpected moment. Sort of like when the world ends in Final Fantasy 6 - it's one of those things you fully expect will be averted until it actually happens.
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Post by bonesnapdeez on Feb 9, 2018 23:43:55 GMT -5
As a wannabe theologian, Exile and Seiya Monogatari: Anearth Fantasy Stories. Exile is a bizarre and questionable religious mishmash that somehow works, while Seiya Monogatari is a pretty clear Christian allegory, with one of the best video game openings ever.
Oh, and Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, and EarthBound of course. Some absolutely chilling moments in all three.
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Post by toei on Feb 10, 2018 1:29:30 GMT -5
As a wannabe theologian, Exile and Seiya Monogatari: Anearth Fantasy Stories. Exile is a bizarre and questionable religious mishmash that somehow works, while Seiya Monogatari is a pretty clear Christian allegory, with one of the best video game openings ever. Oh, and Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, and EarthBound of course. Some absolutely chilling moments in all three. Exile is weird because it uses a lot of element that can turn out very corny - time traveling, hanging out with historical figures, templars and assassins (see Assassin's Creed for how not to handle it) - and yet it pulls them off. And it's just a really fun game. Do you like mainline Shin Megami Tensei? There aren't a ton of 16-bit RPGs that find time for relatively obscure divinities like Ahura Mazda.
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Post by bonesnapdeez on Feb 11, 2018 14:46:46 GMT -5
Yeah, I dig those games. But, plot-wise, the original Famicom Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei is the coolest. Being an adaptation of a novel (novels?) helped I'm sure.
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Post by chibby on Feb 14, 2018 21:50:58 GMT -5
I would make the case in favor of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, 1 and 2.
And while both of them have their points of contrivance or points where they miss the mark, I think some of the questions they raise about philosophy within the Star Wars Universe are pretty interesting. Especially the second, though it's ending suffered due to a rushed deadline (some of which has been restored after years of fans digging through files and putting them back together). In both of the games, if you're willing to be patient and talk to your characters regularly, each of them have some fun stories to tell. Jolee Bindo might be one of my favorite video game characters of all time (and now every time I watch pretty much any cartoon, I'm like oh hey, that's Kevin Michael Richardson), and HK-47 is a pure delight. I found Kreia to be seriously compelling too.
Kotor 2 in particular was interesting because on top of the lightside/darkside meter you also have influence meters for each of your companions, which could lead to some odd situations where just by having the wrong two people with you a situation might escalate in a way it wouldn't have otherwise. Also depending on how conniving you are (AKA how many points you dump into the persuade skill) you can sway your party member's morals little by little (unlike 1 where the game gives you a hard line that people either will or won't cross). I realize this isn't the first game to incorporate those elements, but for the most part it handles them well (I mean, the whole lightside/darkside can get a little too polarized, but that's Star Wars for you).
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Post by Xeogred on Feb 14, 2018 22:46:43 GMT -5
chibby, you beat me to it. For some reason I originally thought this thread was for JRPG's only, but I've been meaning to name drop KOTOR2 for awhile now. I'm more fresh on KOTOR1 as I finally played that one two years ago but KOTOR2 left a really good lasting impression on me. Very complex writing from Obsidian as always and it took some dark and intriguing turns for the Star Wars universe that I really enjoyed (got very mystical with the Jedi philosophies and lore). It's great that they set KOTOR 4,000 years prior to the main movies, so while it's still clearly Star Wars in obvious ways, they were free to do whatever they wanted as well. I'm really excited to replay the PC version with the latest patches and Restored Content mod eventually. I am a big fan of Bioware's Mass Effect games and the first especially, still had some great classy storytelling to it, but I really think that it's kind of cookie cutter vanilla quality compared to the writing and world building of KOTOR2. My philosophy while playing KOTOR2 was, "What would Malcolm Reynolds do"? From Firefly, heh. It's still like one of the only RPG's I've played where it truly felt like I could successfully play within neutral ground and toy with people for rewards, while still being good in the end. It gets pretty boring and purely black or white in most other games that attempt similar moral systems, or you even get unfairly gimped for not having the best later good/bad powers because you didn't go all in on those skill trees.
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Post by Ex on Feb 14, 2018 22:54:09 GMT -5
chibby, you beat me to it. For some reason I originally thought this thread was for JRPG's only Not by any means! Hence I mentioned Fallout in my list.
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Post by chibby on Feb 14, 2018 23:47:40 GMT -5
Very complex writing from Obsidian as always and it took some dark and intriguing turns for the Star Wars universe that I really enjoyed (got very mystical with the Jedi philosophies and lore). I think I knew I was in for something different with Kotor 2 when I tried to give money to beggars for cheap points with my companions (and that Lightside cred) and Kreia pulled me aside to explain that best case scenario all I did was prevent them from making the changes necessary to rise up out of their situation, and more likely I'd painted a target on their back for someone a little bigger to take their money and leave them worse off than before. It was almost like they played the first Kotor and thought some of the consistent praise that everyone gives you for being insanely charitable was too much.
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Post by chibby on Feb 15, 2018 16:52:32 GMT -5
Lost Odyssey: Your main character has dreams that read as short stories, and those short stories fucked me up. Some really interesting concepts are explored with the main characters too, and it does a lot right, but it was always those little dreams you'd randomly stumble across that left a mark on me. My wife actually made me wait for her to read them each time they popped up, even though she had no interest in the actual game. I would say I mostly agree with you here. The ideas of immortality (that's not a spoiler, it's in the manual) are teased out in some interesting ways. Two of the party members are children and I won't pretend like they were never annoying, but there were also a few moments that were made more tense by their presence so I'll forgive them. Also, while I felt like sometimes the game was too in love with its own cut-scenes, they were usually visually captivating enough/exciting enough not to deter from the overall experience.
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