SMT and other Lesser known PS2 RPGs

[abigsmurf]

What's the best way of enabling imports on a slim PS2? Not a fan of disc swapping and I don't want to solder anything.

[toythatkills]

I doubt it'd cost much more just to get an American slim PS2. They're only $99

[JazzFunk]

Good to see Arc:TOTS being mentioned, I really loved it (and, spookily, bought it from one of the posters on this thread!) It's a bit awkward but if you get over the initial indifference, it truly serves the player well.

Anyone know what Wizardry was like on the PS2? It came out in the UK on some budget label a few years back (they even had it in Morrisons), then seemingly vanished overnight, with no copies to be seen anywhere.

[Deuteros]

Anyone know what Wizardry was like on the PS2?

VERY old school. In fact, TOO old school for its own sake as the market (and most reviewers) didn't 'got it'. That meant the sequel was never released in the west which is a shame. It would probably have fared better if it had been released now seeing as Etrian Odyssey I and II and a few other Atlus' titles have carved a niche in the market for such games.

It's a console dungeon-crawling RPG done right. What keeps it fresh is a trust system that enables allied actions, stronger than normal combat maneuvers performed by multiple party members. Gamespot gave it an 8.5, have a look at their review. There are also more than a few videos on YouTube, which I would link to if I knew how to embed them properly...

Praise must go to the excellent artwork by Katsuya Terada. It gave the game a very distinct visual style.

It came out in the UK on some budget label a few years back (they even had it in Morrisons), then seemingly vanished overnight, with no copies to be seen anywhere.

Ubisoft published it in Europe, Atlus in the US. Both did it in low numbers so it's a fairly rare game. The US version fetches a bit more on eBay (I paid $40 for a mint, used copy), the EU version can be had for about ?10.

This game isn't to everyone's taste but if you find the idea of slowly making your lonely way through a huge dungeon attractive, picking up loot and watching your party grow stronger in the process, you should very much get a copy of this.

[JazzFunk]

^Cheers for the info mate, I really quite fancy getting hold of a copy. A couple of years back, it was £5.99 in Morrisons all the time, and I just held out, held out, kept holding out, and it just went - vamoose - and I eternally regretted it as I never saw it being sold anywhere else and felt that I'd probably missed something pretty decent.

Having said that, there was also this Midas budget RPG called Mystic Quest (iirc) that was all over the budget place, everywhere, and I had an inkling that that game was baaaad, and I kind of put Wizardry in the same camp, purely of its "£5.99 in Morrisons" status.

Anyway, for déja vu's sake, anyone played Mystic Quest?????!

Was it anywhere as bad as my intuition perceived it to be?

I think it's a Jap RPG, but I was thinking it might've been one of those 'Simple' games, might've been an overly simple RPG with sub-SNES graphics.

Someone MUST have played it on here (and, hopefully, enjoyed it).


EDIT: PS: Deuteros, you embed YouTube vids by copying and pasting the technobabble above the browser window (you know, the thing that starts with "http"), but you ONLY copy and paste the bits after the '=', if that makes sense???!!!!. Give it some practice - if you f it up, you'll only get a white box.

[Deuteros]

Thanks for the tip, JazzFunk! I just realized I hadn't thanked you yet! I haven't been online lately, sorry.

To show off my newly acquired embedding powers, here's a nice Wizardry video. It shows the intro, character creation, early NPC interaction and the first encounter in the game (a pair of Kobolds). I really love Terada's artwork!



I also remembered King's Field IV. This isn't a game I'd heartily recommend but it has a certain charm. I rented it a few years ago and played it over a weekend. It's clunky, archaic and frustrating but I kept playing it to see what else was there. I guess it must have been doing something right, despite its many flaws.



If the OP finds a way of playing import games, I've heard good things about Okage: Shadow King.

[abigsmurf]

bumpity bumpity bump bump.

Enjoyed Ar Tonelico 2 (getting close to the end now), looking at checking out Mana Khemia. The second game reviews a lot better than the first, are they stand alone or do I miss out not having played the first?

*starts humming the insanely catchy AT2 bath tune*

la la la la, la, la, hmm hmmmm hmm hmm hmmm hmmmmmm

[MisterBubbles]

Anybody played this? i know its more a strategy RPG but its pretty good ,
Soul Nomad & the World Eaters , dont think many people bought it.

[Red or Alive]

Apologies for the thread necromancy, but if anyone's yet to play SMT3 then you're in luck: there are multiple, new 'n' sealed copies of the game going for around ?10.00 on ebay/play.com/amazon, etc. Someone somewhere must've found new stock.

I've already got a copy in decent nick, but I like having 1st hand copies of my favourite games.