Recommend me an RPG

[johnkiddier]

A couple of years ago I tried 2D fighting games for the first time, having shied away from them ever since SF2.

I gave the genre a fair go and am now totally hooked on KOF, only now appreciating the depth of gameplay I'd neglected for years.

Now, I've always had a dislike of beardy wizard fantasy games which I thought RPG's solely consisted of. The concept of random battles (surely just random annoyance?) put me off. In an effort to broaden my horizons, please recommend me an RPG to play.

It must ideally be available for PAL PS2, any region PS1 or GC (freeloader compatible).

Please give me your recommendations and a short reason why.

[Tankshell]

If you can put up with the now dated graphics then the obvious choice would be Final Fantasy 7 on the PS1...if you can find it in yourself to look past the blocky charcters etc you will find a game more emotionally involving than any other game I have ever played.

If you want somthing a little more up to date then give Skies Of Arcadia on the Gamecube a go, I have it on Dreamcast and it's ace.

[Mayhem]

Depends what kind of RPG you might be into

Turn based stuff seems to be mainly what the Cube provides; Skies of Arcadia and Paper Mario are both static, turn based (ie. non real time) battlers with plenty of lasting power (30 hours plus for both potentially). On the other hand there are more real-time RPGs such as Baten Kaitos and Tales of Symphonia to try out. The essence in a good RPG is to find the right balance for battling and the system used. After all, you'll be fighting a LOT in these games! Secondly a good plot. Sure some dialogue, situations and voices are contrived, but that's par for the course

I'd recommend finding some of the Final Fantasy anthologies (mostly US) for the PS1 to experience some of the earlier period of Square's output. That and many of Atlus' publications, but they can harder to find.

[hankwangford]

GC you say?

Skies of Arcadia. It's not overly deep, it's not overly long and it's not overly difficult - it's a great starting point, and a ****ing awesome game.

[babs]

Baten Kaitos, this is from someone who finds RPGs leave him a little cold. I'm totally drawn in and it's a brilliant game + story.

[Jei]

I recently played through Final Fantasy 10 and really enjoyed it. U can pick up for less than ?20 new now and there ain't really a lot of random battles compared to other rpg's.

Oh and the story is excellent!

[brokeback]

I think you should look beyond the ps2. GC and PSX. Every RPG-er knows that the real treasures lurk on the snes.

Try Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, Final fantasy 6 or Secret of mana 1 and 2.

Or, if you are too scared to go retro, then try Dragon warrior 7 for the psx final fantasy x for ps2 is ok and paper mario 2 for the GC

Seriously though, Earthbound. It's so unique and amazing. You have to trap a load of zombies in a circus tent with special zombie paper (like fly paper) and theres a special weapon that destroys giant metallic pencils.

Oh yeah, and Castlevania symphony of the night. It's almost an RPG. Rpgamer.com reckon it is and I trust them. It's one of my favourite games and it's ****ing ridiculously deep and cool.

[Mad Gear]

Vandal Hearts

More of a Strat/RPG but it's my personal fave.

[gIzzE]

StarOcean: Till The End Of Time may be a good starting point, quite nice graphics, fairly good story and the battle system may be good for a starter RPG. It has kept my attenion and not many games do these days.

[icarus0]

I think you should look beyond the ps2. GC and PSX. Every RPG-er knows that the real treasures lurk on the snes.

Try Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, Final fantasy 6 or Secret of mana 1 and 2.

All good recommendations with Final Fantasy 6 (3 in the US) being one of my all time favourite games. The rest are also well worth tracking down, especially Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana 2.

Apart from them, another vote for Tales Of Symphonia and Paper Mario 2 on GC.

[jethro jazz]

play final fantasy vii first

then get the ps1 port of chrono trigger

[johnkiddier]

Cheers for the suggestions.

I'm going to go for FFVII and Skies Of Arcadia.

Much appreciated.

[SonicMarmite]

I run a fansite that might help guide you in the world of RPG`s.

http://sonic.animebots.co.uk/RPG_REVIEWS_ONLINE/

^_^

[tokyochojin]

FFVII !!! unless of course you are a spaz, in which case choose something else...

[Kizzycrew]

I don't think starting with FFVII is necessarily the best thing, so i'm going to suggest Grandia 1 and 2, Skies of Arcadia and Tales of Symphonia.