I seriously miss old RPG's...badly

[JesiahTEG]

I grew up on RPG's. I used to get so sucked in, I literally felt like I was in the games. No new games can do that for me...Barely any. MGS4 was the last.

Some of the games that I used to get sucked into were Chrono Cross, Xenogears, Final Fantasies just to name a few. Any of you guys miss old RPG's?

 

[Red Arremer]

I truly do. Not any of the new games can cover the epicness you experienced when playing Secret of Mana, Breath of Fire, Final Fantasy IV or Chrono Trigger. The last good RPG, and the last RPG I completed was Valkyrie Profile. I miss those times.

 

[Minato]

I do know what you mean.
The older RPGs are very nostalgic, but the new ones are good too.

You just need to know where to look (not Square-Enix).

 

[Red Arremer]

Does anyone remember those old cheesy yet awesome PC RPGs? Like Might and Magic or Wizardry? Gosh the times...

 

[Deception]

Thanks to today's technology, it's easy to find good old Japanese RPGs in English. They're like playing lost treasures. I've currently been playing Romancing SaGa 3, and I love the battle system. The story is a bit of an afterthought, but it's still good enough.

 

[Mingin]

My friend just bought Chrono Trigger from some lady for $30 on craigs list. That's ridiculous, but yea, I'm starting to buy back all my old games so I can play them again.

 

[Firus]

My friend just bought Chrono Trigger from some lady for $30 on craigs list. That's ridiculous, but yea, I'm starting to buy back all my old games so I can play them again.

Wait, $30? I hope you're not saying that's a ridiculously high price. For Chrono Trigger, that's pretty darn cheap. It generally runs for about $50-60 on eBay.

 

[Minato]

Thanks to today's technology, it's easy to find good old Japanese RPGs in English. They're like playing lost treasures. I've currently been playing Romancing SaGa 3, and I love the battle system. The story is a bit of an afterthought, but it's still good enough.

Romancing SaGa 3's an awesome game.
I've never beaten it though.
The monster's get insanely difficult later on.

I usually get frustrated when my characters learn a new tech randomly and then I get a game over. I'd restart my file and I would keep fighting until I randomly got the tech again which could take hours.

 

[Gates]

I would love to see another old-RPG style game like Chrono Trigger or FFVI with classic gameplay and loveable characters that doesn't take itself too seriously. If I were to make a game, it's exactly the kind of style I'd go for.

I thought the Golden Sun series did a pretty good job of emulating older RPGs and their style, but that was like 7 years ago now (and now I feel old ).

 

[Minato]

I would love to see another old-RPG style game like Chrono Trigger or FFVI with classic gameplay and loveable characters that doesn't take itself too seriously. If I were to make a game, it's exactly the kind of style I'd go for.

There's always Dragon Quest.

 

[Mingin]

Wait, $30? I hope you're not saying that's a ridiculously high price. For Chrono Trigger, that's pretty darn cheap. It generally runs for about $50-60 on eBay.

oh no, it's ridiculously cheap lol. The lady was selling that, 10 other decent games and a super nintendo for $60, but someone offered her 100 for all of it, so my friend just asked for chrono trigger for 30 lol. If only she knew how much money she could have made from that game lol/.

 

[Deception]

Romancing SaGa 3's an awesome game.
I've never beaten it though.
The monster's get insanely difficult later on.

I usually get frustrated when my characters learn a new tech randomly and then I get a game over. I'd restart my file and I would keep fighting until I randomly got the tech again which could take hours.

You really need a guide the first time around. This website is very helpful, and I'm using its walkthrough. So far the game has been medium difficulty for me, the generic enemies are easy, but some of the bosses have killed me before. One of the game's pluses is that there are many different characters to experiment with. I'm really enjoying using Wood right now, because of his Big Sword techs and great defense. I'm doing Julian's story, but I plan on using Katrina next time because she has big swords, but great speed, which is weird considering most big sword users are slow in this game.

 

[Spire]

Does anyone remember those old cheesy yet awesome PC RPGs? Like Might and Magic or Wizardry? Gosh the times...

YES! The tabletop RPGs on PC were so awesome.

Other than that, good thread Jesiah. I too miss the epicness of graphically aged RPGs, as the main hook lies in the fact that you know it's unrealistic, unlike so many (too many) games nowadays.

I recently started writing an essay on this idea - that gamers are more and more deceived by the realism in games, despite not even the highest geared games even closely resembling life. The RPGs of old truly capture the unrealistic, yet ever-attractive experience of playing out the roles of a band of characters on an epic quest to do whatever it is the plot ensues.

Anyways, the RPGs I miss the most are:

FFV, VI, VII, VIII, IX
Legend of Mana
Digimon World (this game was good)
Legend of Dragoon
Vagrant Story

I've recently been playing the DS remake of FFIII and while it is the ultimate RPG cliche, I've had a ton of fun with it, simply because of its charm. I very much hope that FFV and FFVI are remade for the DS also (a hundred times over the latter of the two).

 

[Minato]

You really need a guide the first time around. This website is very helpful, and I'm using its walkthrough. So far the game has been medium difficulty for me, the generic enemies are easy, but some of the bosses have killed me before. One of the game's pluses is that there are many different characters to experiment with. I'm really enjoying using Wood right now, because of his Big Sword techs and great defense. I'm doing Julian's story, but I plan on using Katrina next time because she has big swords, but great speed, which is weird considering most big sword users are slow in this game.

I should really start playing RS3 again.
I've probably had problems because of how non-linear the game was.

But I love how open the SaGa games are.

 

[JesiahTEG]

Actually Spire, I have concluded that most new game suffer from "New Game Syndrome," as I like to call it. My definition of new game syndrome is this:

Games focus too much on the media aspect of them, including graphics, realism, responsive controls, cool attacks etc. This in turn takes away from the story and also the LENGTH of the game.

New game syndrome takes away world maps!! There hasn't been a good world map in a game in FOREVER!!

New game syndrome takes away epic soundtracks. Soundtracks in games now just can't compare to old RPG soundtracks.

Games I miss the most are:

CHRONO CROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Final Fantasies of course, even though I have them all.
Thousand Arms.
Final Fantasy Tactics.
Legend of Dragoon was really good.
Parasite Eve.

 

[nevershootme]

Nowadays, people keep suffering under ADHD randomly and can never focus on completing an RPG for several hours per day. Game Design standards just keep getting lower (Wii shovelware games), plus economic issues obviously.

Also, lately with the whole Square-Enix merger, maybe that was when they just slowed down in throwing good quality games (spare FFXIII which is still turning out good in what they're promising to do)

and yes I agree old school games... hell in this generation, a person didn't even know wtf is Einhander (Squaresoft game) is! to even Xenogears.

I played though alot of Square games >_< I didn't know i was a big fan of the company when I realized i was playing all these games

FF 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 (mmo)
Chrono Trigger
Xenogears
Einhander
Parasite Eve 1 and 2
Secret of Mana
Vagrant Story
Front Mission 1 and 3 (Try this game)
Brave Fencer Musashi
Saga Frontier 1, 2
Mario RPG
Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 (Completed 2 all in Japanese)

That's a ton of Square games played in over 10 years!

 

[JesiahTEG]

My top five games of all time are as follows:

1. Final Fantasy VII
2. Chrono Cross
3. Xenogears
4. Metal Gear Solid
5. Final Fantasy Tactics

Other games I miss include Shenmue. Also, I hate Kingdom Hearts with a passion.

 

[Skrah]

I think you are doing new games an injustice. I could pretty much say that you all have "Nostalgia Syndrome".

You just gotta let go of those games. I mean, yes they were awesome, for their time, but if you keep saying "Oh, those games were awesome, new games can't compare to them." then you'll keep being close minded.

And FF VII as the best game ever? More like most overrated game ever, closely followed by OoT.

 

[JesiahTEG]

I think you are doing new games an injustice. I could pretty much say that you all have "Nostalgia Syndrome".

You just gotta let go of those games. I mean, yes they were awesome, for their time, but if you keep saying "Oh, those games were awesome, new games can't compare to them." then you'll keep being close minded.

And FF VII as the best game ever? More like most overrated game ever, closely followed by OoT.

I am open to new games and have probably played more new games than you have. I own a PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, PSP and DS. My girlfriend is the manager of her gamestop, she brings home new games all the time. I am open minded to each and every new game that comes out, in addition to wanting to play them to understand them from a design perspective.

That being said, almost no new games can compare to old games. Period. They lack a lot of what made old games incredible.

Also, I admit I'm a bit bias when it comes to FFVII. It was my favorite game since I played it when I was 8, and it has never and will never change. Chrono Cross is very close though.

 

[Skrah]

I am open to new games and have probably played more new games than you have. I own a PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, PSP and DS. My girlfriend is the manager of her gamestop, she brings home new games all the time. I am open minded to each and every new game that comes out, in addition to wanting to play them to understand them from a design perspective.

That being said, almost no new games can compare to old games. Period. They lack a lot of what made old games incredible.

Also, I admit I'm a bit bias when it comes to FFVII. It was my favorite game since I played it when I was 8, and it has never and will never change. Chrono Cross is very close though.

So how do they not compare to old games? What did they have that make them so special? Story? Cause the majority of new games have better gameplay, graphics, etc. than old games.

You playing more games than me doesn't change anything. It's like saying that since I'm younger than you I don't know as much.

I'm not trying to flame anyone here. I'm in a similar situation myself. I loved OoT, played it when I was 7. So obviously that game is god status to me. So when TP came out, obviously I said that it was nothing compared to OoT. But then I started judging TP as a seperate game, not an OoT replica. And in many ways, TP was superior. The only thing that OoT won, and by a little only, was the story, but then again, maybe it's my 7 year old speaking here.

 

[nevershootme]

Jesiah, have u tried any of the Suikoden games? those are one of the finely developed RPG's of it's time for it's dynamic characters (108 different ones) and storyline. gameplay was simple and rewarding, yet challenging

there other old traditional RPG's to try out such as beyond the beyond and legend of legaia

 

[finalark]

A few weeks ago I was really in the mood for an older RPG. So I popped in Final Fantasy VI and was it awesome. That's one I will never get tired of. Chrono Trigger was another really good one that I started to play again too.

EDIT: And Skrah seems to be taking after my example from my posts in the user blogs section...

 

[Skrah]

Yeah thanks to you nostalgia's my enemy now.

Although I'm starting to like RPGs a lot. I'm playing Baten Kaitos, but I want to play the old ones to see how much they have changed. So any recommendations??

 

[finalark]

Yeah thanks to you nostalgia's my enemy now.

Although I'm starting to like RPGs a lot. I'm playing Baten Kaitos, but I want to play the old ones to see how much they have changed. So any recommendations??

You're welcome about the nostalgia thing. And I'll PM you about RPGs I recommend.

As for my thoughts on the whole FFVII thing. Okay, FFVII wasn't that good of a game, I would state my opinions in full, but then I'd just be labeled a troll and be left at that.

 

[Grunt]

I agree. we need a good online FF Tactics.

 

[Che_Lab]

I agree. we need a good online FF Tactics.

quoted for truth.

 

[Spire]

I have a feeling that the mass shovelware produced now (that goes for Wii Fail games and the countless mediocre shooters on 360 and PS3, etc, etc) will die off as all things do with the [re]insurgence of a new wave of gaming, one that I feel will touch back on the nostalgia. RPG's, adventure games, and platformers are dying off now because of shooters and the like, but if such great genres may weaken in popularity, so too can shooters.

I believe that RPG's will have a second coming in the gaming industry, inducting many beloved (and new) series to the genre (think Zelda and Metroid). Metroid got a genre-makeover with the Prime series, so I feel that Zelda is overdue for a reinvention, and not just storywise. But beyond my Zelda fanboyism lies a frontier of awesome RPGing just ready to burst back into the scene.

 

[Omis]

Does anyone remember those old cheesy yet awesome PC RPGs? Like Might and Magic or Wizardry? Gosh the times...

Might and Magic brought me so much joy when I was 7.
Mr. Austria.

 

[JesiahTEG]

So how do they not compare to old games? What did they have that make them so special? Story? Cause the majority of new games have better gameplay, graphics, etc. than old games.

Hm...what did old games have that made them more special? First off, yes, story. The stories of old games are incredibly more well thought out than that of new games. They are more involving, more in depth, more articulate and some of them force you to think outside of your normal boundaries, which is incredible.

Next, they have LENGTH, and DEPTH! They take upwards of 60 hours to complete, and it's entertaining the whole way through. So many games now have great controls, amazing graphics and they're entertaining...but they're short! Even non RPG's like GTA IV is much shorter and condensed than the others. This holds true especially for RPG's.

New games are TRYING TOO HARD TO BE UNIQUE!! It's like, every game now has to try and be creative and inventive, but they end up being awkward and quirky. From Final Fantasy XII to The Last Remnant...Yes, they're decent games, but they TRY TOO HARD to be different. Be different, yes, it's ok! But, to sacrifice a game's quality because of it is foolish. I very much liked Final Fantasy XII before any of you guys start flaming me. However, it wasn't Final Fantasy VII, or VII or IX.

Dragon Quest VII is an example of a fairly new RPG that was very fun and amazing. It was new, but it stuck to a certain formula, that included aspects of the old game. Skrah, imagine Twilight Princess with no temples (dungeons.) That would be weird right? Now, I'm sure they'd still make the game enjoyable, but it just wouldn't be as good as OoT. To a lesser extent, imagine the dungeons with no new weapons. You wouldn't like it as much, guaranteed. The reason you realized you liked it as much as OoT is because they share similar qualities.

Jesiah, have u tried any of the Suikoden games? those are one of the finely developed RPG's of it's time for it's dynamic characters (108 different ones) and storyline. gameplay was simple and rewarding, yet challenging

there other old traditional RPG's to try out such as beyond the beyond and legend of legaia

Played the Suikodens. Good, but mediocre compared to some other games. Legend of Legaia was great, but I prefer Legend of Dragoon.

You're welcome about the nostalgia thing. And I'll PM you about RPGs I recommend.

As for my thoughts on the whole FFVII thing. Okay, FFVII wasn't that good of a game, I would state my opinions in full, but then I'd just be labeled a troll and be left at that.

No, you can state your opinions. Go ahead man, no one's judging or labeling you a troll.

 

[karthik_king]

Just saying pokemon red and blue>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> than all of the other games besides emerald

Red and blue>Emerald(by a little)

 

[LordoftheMorning]

Hell yeah. I recently got this HUGE craving for some old-style RPGs, so I found a way to play Earthbound, Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones, and FFVI on my computer. God they're so fun ^_^.
The best part is that I can experience these in the fullest because I've never played them before. I missed the boat on most the stuff that came before/during the Super Nintendo.

Right now I'm experiencing FFVII for the first time. It's pretty sweet, but I have mixed feelings on parts of it. I like the level of difficulty, the good storyline, and just cool stuff all around. I wish there were more likeable characters, though. The only characters that don't annoy me so far are Cloud, Tifa, and Aeris. Yuffie and Barret are meh, and WTF is Cait Sith? I just got Cid and that one former Turk guy, and I haven't even used them yet, so maybe there'll be some better peeps to come. How long is this game? O_o

A lot of people rave about Chrono Trigger's awesomeness. Maybe I should look into that one?

 

[Skrah]

Okay I get where you're coming from.

I really can't judge this from an RPG perspective, because I'm pretty much an RPG noob. Only RPG's I've beaten until now are Pokemon Red/Yellow/Gold/Silver, although at that time I didn't know what RPGs were, Fire Emblem Sacred Stones, Blazing Sword, Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn.

Try to imagine how easy it was in the beginnings of gaming to be original. As time progresses, it is harder and harder for your game not to be called a copy or for people to say "Yeah it looks like this game." So obviously they have to try hard to be original. Another thing is that games need to evolve. That's what happened to Zelda, to some extent, 2D overhead view to 3D 3rd person. That's why the Sonic games tend to blow right now, they don't know where to go next.

Again, I don't know much about RPG stories, but some games do have excellent stories. One example, MGS4. The story was amazing, although, to give you some pointers, the story DID start in the PSOne era with MGS, and even earlier with the Metal Gear franchise.

EDIT: Forgot some things..

Length, well that I have to agree with you, but remember that old games had less things to process, so they could cram in more game time. New games have all these textures, sounds, etc. to process that game time is sometimes trimmed as a sacrifice.

 

[Angrylobster]

Hm...what did old games have that made them more special? First off, yes, story. The stories of old games are incredibly more well thought out than that of new games. They are more involving, more in depth, more articulate and some of them force you to think outside of your normal boundaries, which is incredible.

Next, they have LENGTH, and DEPTH! They take upwards of 60 hours to complete, and it's entertaining the whole way through. So many games now have great controls, amazing graphics and they're entertaining...but they're short! Even non RPG's like GTA IV is much shorter and condensed than the others. This holds true especially for RPG's.

New games are TRYING TOO HARD TO BE UNIQUE!! It's like, every game now has to try and be creative and inventive, but they end up being awkward and quirky. From Final Fantasy XII to The Last Remnant...Yes, they're decent games, but they TRY TOO HARD to be different. Be different, yes, it's ok! But, to sacrifice a game's quality because of it is foolish. I very much liked Final Fantasy XII before any of you guys start flaming me. However, it wasn't Final Fantasy VII, or VII or IX.

Dragon Quest VII is an example of a fairly new RPG that was very fun and amazing. It was new, but it stuck to a certain formula, that included aspects of the old game. Skrah, imagine Twilight Princess with no temples (dungeons.) That would be weird right? Now, I'm sure they'd still make the game enjoyable, but it just wouldn't be as good as OoT. To a lesser extent, imagine the dungeons with no new weapons. You wouldn't like it as much, guaranteed. The reason you realized you liked it as much as OoT is because they share similar qualities.



Played the Suikodens. Good, but mediocre compared to some other games. Legend of Legaia was great, but I prefer Legend of Dragoon.



No, you can state your opinions. Go ahead man, no one's judging or labeling you a troll.

I'd really like to know what rpg makes Suikoden II look "mediocre"

 

[JesiahTEG]

I'd really like to know what rpg makes Suikoden II look "mediocre"

Xenogears... <_<

 

[TriforceMaster5282]

Get fire emblem, its kinda close to final fantasy

 

[Spire]

New games are TRYING TOO HARD TO BE UNIQUE!! It's like, every game now has to try and be creative and inventive, but they end up being awkward and quirky. From Final Fantasy XII to The Last Remnant...Yes, they're decent games, but they TRY TOO HARD to be different. Be different, yes, it's ok! But, to sacrifice a game's quality because of it is foolish. I very much liked Final Fantasy XII before any of you guys start flaming me. However, it wasn't Final Fantasy VII, or VII or IX.

Yeah, you totally suck for liking FFXII.


Hehe, no, you're one of the few I've ever known to also like the game. I very much enjoyed it, as it felt like a true blend between the Tactics games and the latest renditions of the classic FF formula (think Tactics + FFX). I never completed the game though. It was incredibly long, but perhaps I'll revisit it.

I am excited for FFXIII though. What I love about the FF series the most is seeing how much the next title in the series changes from the previous. I think that's the main reason FFVIII suffered so much, because overall, it wasn't too different from FFVII, but to this day, I love that game. Yeah, the story is awful, the characters are pretty lame, but the feel of the world, the soundtrack, the creatures, and the GF/junction system were beautiful. FFVII, VIII, and IX (my favorite in the series) are three of the best games I've ever played.

 

[Tee ay eye]

I do know what you mean.
The older RPGs are very nostalgic, but the new ones are good too.

You just need to know where to look (not Square-Enix).

Go on...?

No, seriously, I want to know.

p.s.

Emulate the games, *****es.

 

[metalmonstar]

Dragon Quest games generally seem to keep the same formula. One of the criticisms of the series is the supposed "archaic" play style.

FFX in my opinion was amazing. It was old with a new look. Mario RPG for SNES was really good. I actually enjoy the paper mario series. It is new but it has some stuff for the old fans. Plus the story can be hilarious at times. I think the Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga series goes in the same direction, though I have never played them.

Jesiah, ever try Ogre Battle or The World Ends with You?

Heroes of Might and Magic for the PC by 3D0 were the best Strategy RPGs.

Also Blue>Red>Emerald>All other pokemon games. I did enjoy Fire red and leaf green, the new things they added complimented the nostalgia.

 

[Darkslash]

RPG's. Its what got me into today's gaming instead of being cooped up infront of my N64 really. I got a Micro and Dawn of Souls for Christmas '06. I was instantly addicted to both Final Fantasy games. 2 years later Final Fantasy IV came out and some weird feeling of Nostalgia told me to get, even though I never played it in my life. Strange..

Any ways, I quickly adapted to the "new" ATB system, and loved the characters, especially Tellah with his Spoony Bard comment,

Spoiler

Cecil's freaking restart

and Zeromus. And now FFIV the after is coming out on Wiiware, and I'm waiting for it.

Also if any one getting monster hunter 3? Good RPG goodness there.

 

[Minato]

Go on...?

No, seriously, I want to know.

Some series I would recommend are the Tales of... series, the Shin Megami Tensei games, and Dragon Quest games.

If you were talking about new series... I'm at a loss on that one.