Ever an RPG better than Grandia II?

[Adrock]

Phantasy Star 2 and 4 are by far the best games in the series, in my opinion. You dont have to play any of the games in order either because the story isn't linked. There are some common threads through the games but nothing you'll miss.

edit : Just checked and 4 isn't included in the GBA release, which is a real shame because its an excellent game.

[sj33]

Maybe the first part, it has interesting characters. The second part...ugh, I felt that the quality took a nose dive that got steeper as long as the game progressed.

Oh you're definitely right. The plot overall is mediocre, but it becomes increasingly daft as the game went on. Still, the battle system remained excellent throughout the game - this has always been the strong point of the series. The original Grandia was great in all areas, whereas the sequels remain decent enough only because of the battle system.

The original Grandia and Chrono Trigger are tied as my favourite RPGs. Maybe Panzer Dragoon Saga too.

I remember Skies of Arcadia being excellent and enjoying few games as much, though this was back in 2000. The random battles might be a bit much now, but the game overall was a breath of fresh air. The GameCube version reduced the random battles, but also has inferior music quality - instruments sounding flat and inaccurate. It uses some kind of midi-type format, and it doesn't sound accurate on the GameCube. Still a great game though.

[nakamura]

A few other ace RPG's.

Dark Could 2 (Chronicle) PS2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBk6KoPqTDk

What formats do you have Replicashooter?

[nakamura]

Oh you're definitely right. The plot overall is mediocre, but it becomes increasingly daft as the game went on. Still, the battle system remained excellent throughout the game - this has always been the strong point of the series. The original Grandia was great in all areas, whereas the sequels remain decent enough only because of the battle system.

Grandia 3 started so well too. Really fun opening few hours and the whole flying a plane thing was great fun. It quickly descended into a crap story and most plot lines were never even completed. What a pity. The music in the desert was also terrible.

[sj33]

If we're recommending simple, easy to get into RPGs with bags of atmosphere...

[replicashooter]

Great, thanks for the recommendations folks. So far we have:

Grandia. Suikoden I & II, Shining Wisdom, Soleil, Chrono Cross, Phantasy Star 2 & 4, Chrono Trigger, Dark Cloud 2, Panzer Dragoon Saga.

All to check out. There's bound to be something in there to keep me entertained, going to start with the first Grandia. I recommend the following:

Mother 3 (GBA - This game has charm by the bucketload and a cracking tale too)
Mario & Luigi (GBA - Perfect)
Golden Sun 1 & 2 (GBA - Random battles are tolerable on this one and the game itself is great)
Zelda: Minish Cap (GBA - Excellent excellence, such a great game)
Secret Of Evermore (SNES -Also check out the Secret Of Mana)
Earthbound (SNES - You already know)
Shenmue + II (DC - Still looking for sailors)
Paper Mario (SNES/GC - So good)

Has anyone ever played Super Mario RPG on the SNES before? Is that worth checking out?

The big problem with Skies on the DC is that it had three fights per step taken, the GC version corrects that and adds all the DC updates.

Chortle chortle that would be the reason I didn't endure that "adventure" for too long.

What formats do you have Replicashooter?

SNES, MD, GBA, PSP, DC, Xbox and a Mac. I'm going to see how PCSX2 (PS2 emulator) and Dolphin (GC) work on the computer too.

[nakamura]

A big issue in recommending things is how will you play them. SNES rgp's for example are very expensive.
If you have emulator on SNES then play the English translation of Seiken Densetsu 3. It's utterly amazing.

[replicashooter]

Thanks for that.

The majority of my gaming will be done via emulation - Going to get the PSP out to play Grandia and then start checking out the PSX library of adventures as a lot of the recommendations are on that platform.

[nakamura]

Ok. Try Terranigma also. Fantastic game.

[ShadowDancer]

Wild Arms is a stunning gem of a rpg. Kept me gripped, sure its on PSN too (Originally PS1)
Didn't care for the 2nd and its new dimension. Loved the 1st, highly recommend that

[nakamura]

Too many random battles though? Sure the op wanted to avoid those.

[ShadowDancer]

You could always try a Musical Rhapsody. I think they changed the combat on the DS. Original NTSC PS1 (US)
I'm not a massive RPG fan, but, I've played some beauties along the way.

My advice would be, get yourself a nice multi region PS1 and you'll be in RPG Heaven

[ShadowDancer]

Yes, with Nak on that. A lot of random battles..its worth it tho....

[nakamura]

The issue i had with Wild Arms was it had beautiful 2D visuals and the most cheap looking 3d battles. It jarred heavily against it. However, if you can power through that, great game.

[ShadowDancer]

Yes, I actually came around to liking them. They are poor graphically, even more so now, especially against the beautiful 2d that is on display for everything else.