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I'm referring to RPG gaming since the dawn of Dragon Warrior on the 8-bit NES. Of course, the hardcore console RPG fanatic would disagree, and they have all right to as if you look a little closer there have been some CRPG's that have been quite deep, original and have stood out from the myriad of others. I'm talking from the perspective of a normal, healthy human being, who gets outside, gets some exercise, works hard, has a love and social life and only spends four hours a week on games (definitely not me). This topic was inspired by my recent attempt to make way through the original Breath of Fire on the Gameboy Advance. Taken in by graphics, portability, and boredom, I've been making my way through the title only to summarize the game as "I've done this a thousand times before."
Don't get me wrong, I like CRPG's, but a lot of them are very similar to one another given the basic mechanics of Town-Dungeon-Town-Dungeon, run around in circles in between each to build up stats, afford new equipment, then move on. Rinse and repeat till you puke. This being said, there have been some titles that did step outside of this loop and provided a much more unique experience, as well, challenge. In contrast to BoF, which sports a strong, linear path, and pats you on the rump along your way, never posing much of challenge and consisting of combat segments that encourage the player to repetitively press the same button over and over again, quickly and blindly to get through all of the menu screens and tackle the same set of monsters that arise every four steps you take, there have been some, IMO, CRPG's that have kept me on the edge of my seat and have been deep and original enough to encourage investing the standard forty hour playtime to see their endings.
Off the top of my head, over the past five years I can name two, quickly:
Final Fantasy 8 - Square's FF series is undoubtedly CRPGdom at it's finest, well, at least at its most acclaimed, and although I've played and somewhat enjoyed the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th instalments, the title that captured me the most was 8. I believe I was drawn in not only by the battle system which brought on sweaty palms and racing heart, struggling to utilize guardian forces as quickly and as efficiently as possible, but the depth surrounding magic and totally being able to customize your characters with it. Not only this, but the concept of collecting animal parts and playing cards, as well, 'drawing' from creatures, really encouraged and gave a lot more reason to random battles, therefore the sense of 'damn! Not again!' never struck me and I actually went out of my way to find combat throughout the entire adventure.
Secondly, but equally, Star Ocean 2 comes to mind, and once again, the combat system really set this title aside from all the others. As you may already notice, I like to get my hands dirty while gaming, I like being forced to have to put forth a little elbow grease and the amount of control that was given to your party, kept battles heated and interesting. For the first time I was actually able to steer my players around the battle field and press buttons to trigger spells and swordplay, the dreaded menu driven combat from other Role Playing games, played second fiddle to actually being able to play with your party during fight sequences. Added to this, the presentation of spells, when used, made for a very entertaining battle experience. If I remember correctly, the old and trite method of running around in circles outside of town to level up was necessary to progress through the game, but since Enix made combat so unique and playable, the repetition didn't grow stale.
There are others, such as Sierra's Arcanum and its open endedness and multiple ways in which to complete many mini adventures and varying paths, and Dragon Warrior 7, who's story, concept, and puzzles made for an engaging experience, but with Star Ocean and FF8, the designers really grasped the notion that most of the game was going to be random encounters, and they went out of their way to make this aspect of the game enjoyable enough to last the story’s duration. If you've made your way this far through this post, keeping in mind what I've mentioned, what have been you best RPG experiences. This is a topic that resurfaces once a month, but it's always interesting to hear ever-changing opinions.
I know most will say 'Final Fantasy X', an RPG that I haven't tossed too much opinion towards. I own the game, but I loathe sports with a passion and I found Blitzball to interrupt and intrude upon the main quest. If I want to play a sports game I'd load up Pro Evolution Soccer 2 and play a bloody good one rather than some half-assed weird turn based thing. As well, Kingdom Hearts, the other, more recent, highly rated RPG, I can't touch with any length of stick as I haven't gotten back to it yet. The bit I have seen left the impression that it was a breath of fresh air, given the plat forming playability and fighting features, but immensely difficult. In my opinion, it's the constant boredom in the repetitiveness of PC RPGs that I can't stand. They made Baldurs Gate a while ago, and since then, there have been hundreds of the same game with different titles. It's why I don't play my RPGs on a PC - you played one, you played 'em all. DEFINITELY.
Thanks for reading,
Flux.
Don't get me wrong, I like CRPG's, but a lot of them are very similar to one another given the basic mechanics of Town-Dungeon-Town-Dungeon, run around in circles in between each to build up stats, afford new equipment, then move on. Rinse and repeat till you puke. This being said, there have been some titles that did step outside of this loop and provided a much more unique experience, as well, challenge. In contrast to BoF, which sports a strong, linear path, and pats you on the rump along your way, never posing much of challenge and consisting of combat segments that encourage the player to repetitively press the same button over and over again, quickly and blindly to get through all of the menu screens and tackle the same set of monsters that arise every four steps you take, there have been some, IMO, CRPG's that have kept me on the edge of my seat and have been deep and original enough to encourage investing the standard forty hour playtime to see their endings.
Off the top of my head, over the past five years I can name two, quickly:
Final Fantasy 8 - Square's FF series is undoubtedly CRPGdom at it's finest, well, at least at its most acclaimed, and although I've played and somewhat enjoyed the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th instalments, the title that captured me the most was 8. I believe I was drawn in not only by the battle system which brought on sweaty palms and racing heart, struggling to utilize guardian forces as quickly and as efficiently as possible, but the depth surrounding magic and totally being able to customize your characters with it. Not only this, but the concept of collecting animal parts and playing cards, as well, 'drawing' from creatures, really encouraged and gave a lot more reason to random battles, therefore the sense of 'damn! Not again!' never struck me and I actually went out of my way to find combat throughout the entire adventure.
Secondly, but equally, Star Ocean 2 comes to mind, and once again, the combat system really set this title aside from all the others. As you may already notice, I like to get my hands dirty while gaming, I like being forced to have to put forth a little elbow grease and the amount of control that was given to your party, kept battles heated and interesting. For the first time I was actually able to steer my players around the battle field and press buttons to trigger spells and swordplay, the dreaded menu driven combat from other Role Playing games, played second fiddle to actually being able to play with your party during fight sequences. Added to this, the presentation of spells, when used, made for a very entertaining battle experience. If I remember correctly, the old and trite method of running around in circles outside of town to level up was necessary to progress through the game, but since Enix made combat so unique and playable, the repetition didn't grow stale.
There are others, such as Sierra's Arcanum and its open endedness and multiple ways in which to complete many mini adventures and varying paths, and Dragon Warrior 7, who's story, concept, and puzzles made for an engaging experience, but with Star Ocean and FF8, the designers really grasped the notion that most of the game was going to be random encounters, and they went out of their way to make this aspect of the game enjoyable enough to last the story’s duration. If you've made your way this far through this post, keeping in mind what I've mentioned, what have been you best RPG experiences. This is a topic that resurfaces once a month, but it's always interesting to hear ever-changing opinions.
I know most will say 'Final Fantasy X', an RPG that I haven't tossed too much opinion towards. I own the game, but I loathe sports with a passion and I found Blitzball to interrupt and intrude upon the main quest. If I want to play a sports game I'd load up Pro Evolution Soccer 2 and play a bloody good one rather than some half-assed weird turn based thing. As well, Kingdom Hearts, the other, more recent, highly rated RPG, I can't touch with any length of stick as I haven't gotten back to it yet. The bit I have seen left the impression that it was a breath of fresh air, given the plat forming playability and fighting features, but immensely difficult. In my opinion, it's the constant boredom in the repetitiveness of PC RPGs that I can't stand. They made Baldurs Gate a while ago, and since then, there have been hundreds of the same game with different titles. It's why I don't play my RPGs on a PC - you played one, you played 'em all. DEFINITELY.
Thanks for reading,
Flux.
I'm referring to RPG gaming since the dawn of Dragon Warrior on the 8-bit NES. Of course, the hardcore console RPG fanatic would disagree, and they have all right to as if you look a little closer there have been some CRPG's that have been quite deep, original and have stood out from the myriad of others. I'm talking from the perspective of a normal, healthy human being, who gets outside, gets some exercise, works hard, has a love and social life and only spends four hours a week on games (definitely not me). This topic was inspired by my recent attempt to make way through the original Breath of Fire on the Gameboy Advance. Taken in by graphics, portability, and boredom, I've been making my way through the title only to summarize the game as "I've done this a thousand times before."
Don't get me wrong, I like CRPG's, but a lot of them are very similar to one another given the basic mechanics of Town-Dungeon-Town-Dungeon, run around in circles in between each to build up stats, afford new equipment, then move on. Rinse and repeat till you puke. This being said, there have been some titles that did step outside of this loop and provided a much more unique experience, as well, challenge. In contrast to BoF, which sports a strong, linear path, and pats you on the rump along your way, never posing much of challenge and consisting of combat segments that encourage the player to repetitively press the same button over and over again, quickly and blindly to get through all of the menu screens and tackle the same set of monsters that arise every four steps you take, there have been some, IMO, CRPG's that have kept me on the edge of my seat and have been deep and original enough to encourage investing the standard forty hour playtime to see their endings.
Off the top of my head, over the past five years I can name two, quickly:
Final Fantasy 8 - Square's FF series is undoubtedly CRPGdom at it's finest, well, at least at its most acclaimed, and although I've played and somewhat enjoyed the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th instalments, the title that captured me the most was 8. I believe I was drawn in not only by the battle system which brought on sweaty palms and racing heart, struggling to utilize guardian forces as quickly and as efficiently as possible, but the depth surrounding magic and totally being able to customize your characters with it. Not only this, but the concept of collecting animal parts and playing cards, as well, 'drawing' from creatures, really encouraged and gave a lot more reason to random battles, therefore the sense of 'damn! Not again!' never struck me and I actually went out of my way to find combat throughout the entire adventure.
Secondly, but equally, Star Ocean 2 comes to mind, and once again, the combat system really set this title aside from all the others. As you may already notice, I like to get my hands dirty while gaming, I like being forced to have to put forth a little elbow grease and the amount of control that was given to your party, kept battles heated and interesting. For the first time I was actually able to steer my players around the battle field and press buttons to trigger spells and swordplay, the dreaded menu driven combat from other Role Playing games, played second fiddle to actually being able to play with your party during fight sequences. Added to this, the presentation of spells, when used, made for a very entertaining battle experience. If I remember correctly, the old and trite method of running around in circles outside of town to level up was necessary to progress through the game, but since Enix made combat so unique and playable, the repetition didn't grow stale.
There are others, such as Sierra's Arcanum and its open endedness and multiple ways in which to complete many mini adventures and varying paths, and Dragon Warrior 7, who's story, concept, and puzzles made for an engaging experience, but with Star Ocean and FF8, the designers really grasped the notion that most of the game was going to be random encounters, and they went out of their way to make this aspect of the game enjoyable enough to last the story’s duration. If you've made your way this far through this post, keeping in mind what I've mentioned, what have been you best RPG experiences. This is a topic that resurfaces once a month, but it's always interesting to hear ever-changing opinions.
I know most will say 'Final Fantasy X', an RPG that I haven't tossed too much opinion towards. I own the game, but I loathe sports with a passion and I found Blitzball to interrupt and intrude upon the main quest. If I want to play a sports game I'd load up Pro Evolution Soccer 2 and play a bloody good one rather than some half-assed weird turn based thing. As well, Kingdom Hearts, the other, more recent, highly rated RPG, I can't touch with any length of stick as I haven't gotten back to it yet. The bit I have seen left the impression that it was a breath of fresh air, given the plat forming playability and fighting features, but immensely difficult. In my opinion, it's the constant boredom in the repetitiveness of PC RPGs that I can't stand. They made Baldurs Gate a while ago, and since then, there have been hundreds of the same game with different titles. It's why I don't play my RPGs on a PC - you played one, you played 'em all. DEFINITELY.
Thanks for reading,
Flux.
Don't get me wrong, I like CRPG's, but a lot of them are very similar to one another given the basic mechanics of Town-Dungeon-Town-Dungeon, run around in circles in between each to build up stats, afford new equipment, then move on. Rinse and repeat till you puke. This being said, there have been some titles that did step outside of this loop and provided a much more unique experience, as well, challenge. In contrast to BoF, which sports a strong, linear path, and pats you on the rump along your way, never posing much of challenge and consisting of combat segments that encourage the player to repetitively press the same button over and over again, quickly and blindly to get through all of the menu screens and tackle the same set of monsters that arise every four steps you take, there have been some, IMO, CRPG's that have kept me on the edge of my seat and have been deep and original enough to encourage investing the standard forty hour playtime to see their endings.
Off the top of my head, over the past five years I can name two, quickly:
Final Fantasy 8 - Square's FF series is undoubtedly CRPGdom at it's finest, well, at least at its most acclaimed, and although I've played and somewhat enjoyed the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th instalments, the title that captured me the most was 8. I believe I was drawn in not only by the battle system which brought on sweaty palms and racing heart, struggling to utilize guardian forces as quickly and as efficiently as possible, but the depth surrounding magic and totally being able to customize your characters with it. Not only this, but the concept of collecting animal parts and playing cards, as well, 'drawing' from creatures, really encouraged and gave a lot more reason to random battles, therefore the sense of 'damn! Not again!' never struck me and I actually went out of my way to find combat throughout the entire adventure.
Secondly, but equally, Star Ocean 2 comes to mind, and once again, the combat system really set this title aside from all the others. As you may already notice, I like to get my hands dirty while gaming, I like being forced to have to put forth a little elbow grease and the amount of control that was given to your party, kept battles heated and interesting. For the first time I was actually able to steer my players around the battle field and press buttons to trigger spells and swordplay, the dreaded menu driven combat from other Role Playing games, played second fiddle to actually being able to play with your party during fight sequences. Added to this, the presentation of spells, when used, made for a very entertaining battle experience. If I remember correctly, the old and trite method of running around in circles outside of town to level up was necessary to progress through the game, but since Enix made combat so unique and playable, the repetition didn't grow stale.
There are others, such as Sierra's Arcanum and its open endedness and multiple ways in which to complete many mini adventures and varying paths, and Dragon Warrior 7, who's story, concept, and puzzles made for an engaging experience, but with Star Ocean and FF8, the designers really grasped the notion that most of the game was going to be random encounters, and they went out of their way to make this aspect of the game enjoyable enough to last the story’s duration. If you've made your way this far through this post, keeping in mind what I've mentioned, what have been you best RPG experiences. This is a topic that resurfaces once a month, but it's always interesting to hear ever-changing opinions.
I know most will say 'Final Fantasy X', an RPG that I haven't tossed too much opinion towards. I own the game, but I loathe sports with a passion and I found Blitzball to interrupt and intrude upon the main quest. If I want to play a sports game I'd load up Pro Evolution Soccer 2 and play a bloody good one rather than some half-assed weird turn based thing. As well, Kingdom Hearts, the other, more recent, highly rated RPG, I can't touch with any length of stick as I haven't gotten back to it yet. The bit I have seen left the impression that it was a breath of fresh air, given the plat forming playability and fighting features, but immensely difficult. In my opinion, it's the constant boredom in the repetitiveness of PC RPGs that I can't stand. They made Baldurs Gate a while ago, and since then, there have been hundreds of the same game with different titles. It's why I don't play my RPGs on a PC - you played one, you played 'em all. DEFINITELY.
Thanks for reading,
Flux.
Rubbish. Despite Skies of Arcadia being the best RPG ever, console RPGs are always linear and simplistic compared to PC RPGS. If you think PC RPGS are all the same then clearly you aren't very good at them, or you don't enjoy having some freedom.
Rubbish. I've mastered pretty much every RPG I own on the PC, and in the end, they're pretty similar. Heh, maybe I've just been playing Baldur's Gate and it's expansion packs too much, eh? :P
And yes, I enjoy freedom :)
And yes, I enjoy freedom :)