Story-focused RPGS on the PS2

Rubicant · August 13th, 2005

Hi guys,

been ages since my last post...

Anway - I got a question and I am pretty sure you can help me with this.
I just got my hands on a brand new playstation 2.
Now the real expensive part starts - the games.
To avoid lots of wasted time and cash I want to ask what games you'd recommend.

The genre I am looking for are RPGs (or SRPGs) strongly focused on Story.

So far I got
--------------------
Arc: Twillight of the Spirits (which has storywise been mediocre so far)
Front Mission 4 (looks promising)
Star Oceans (REALLY good)
Summoner 2 (not so great)
Jade Cocoon 2 (too child-oriented)
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (nice and more adult-oriented which is a plus)
Disgaea (weird...)
Phantom Brave (weird as well)

Apart from the obvious (I already ordered FFX and X-2), what can you recommend?
I don't mind pink-colored flying cats that can talk,
but generally a "serious" game appeals more to me.
I currently consider the ps2 installments of
Wild Arms, Suikoden, Grandia, the Saga Series, Breath of Fire, but sure there is more out there?

Cheers

Varlis

__________________
When Angels are forced out of Heaven they become Devils.

Techie · August 13th, 2005

try ebay for games for the ps2, sometimes u can get a real good bargin, eg, i paid £3.50 + £1.25 for postage, for ff x

Last edited by Techie; August 20th, 2005 at 23:09..

Exodus · August 13th, 2005

wild arms and the suikodens are good choices. unlimited saga isn't too impressive. grandia xtreme and breath of fire dragon quarter aren't very heavy on story (grandia xtreme barely has one).

for regular rpgs, i strongly recommend shadow hearts 1 + 2, and xenosaga 1+2 for the epitome of story driven rpgs. legaia 2: duel saga isn't half bad either. and if you like shin megami tensei nocturne, there's digital devil saga from the same series.

thats about all that come to mind. the rest are probably mediocre at best.

__________________
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Vanit · August 13th, 2005

Like Exodus said, if you want stories, Xenosaga is definitely the way to go.

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galson · August 13th, 2005

I'd recommend you Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga which is IMO better than Nocturne and if you like 2D graphics - Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana as well as Shining Tears. I didn't find Grandia Extreme too good so I agree with Exodus here. I played it for about half an hour and found it quite poor... First part was decent, second good but Extreme isn't good at all. Also Xenosaga is a must for a Xenogears lover, otherwise you might find it too overloaded with cutscenes and dialogues. There's also an interesting tactical RPG entitled Stella Deus, you could try it too. BoF5 IMO doesn't even stand a chance with great 2 and 3 parts of the series. It is a big unfortunate that PS2 has so less to offer in jRPG's matter than PSX ever had...

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Rhombus · August 14th, 2005

It seems alot of RPG's of this generation have shifted towards having more depth of system and gameplay,but the stories pretty cliched. For example, pretty much all of the Atlus and Nippon Ichi ones have many many possible hours of gameplay (Atelier Iris, Makai Kingdom, Disgaea, Phantom Brave, La Pucelle, Stella Deus, etc.) but are pretty ho-hum in the story departments. There's also been a strong shift towards action as well... so there's a ton of also, fairly simple and/or cliched story action RPG's (Dark Cloud 1&2, BG Dark Alliance 1&2, etc.). I love a ton of RPG's of this gen, including most of the games listed, but it seems like after the massive amounts of epic RPG's on the SNES and the PSX, they've shifted towards having more engaging systems, and less on story (probably since so much has already been done before).

As others have mentioned, the Xenosaga games (1-2, 3 probably coming eventually) are pretty much nothing but story. The Shadow Hearts games (1-2, 3 coming fairly soon) get my top recommendation, as they are definitely my favorite PS2 RPG's. Star Ocean 3 also is pretty good story-wise, but it's an action RPG. I also highly recommend Suikoden 3, one of the best RPG's of the generation, though pretty rare and hard to come by, but stay away from Suikoden 4, it's pretty crappy. If Tales of Symphonia ever makes it to the PS2 in English, I recommend that, having enjoyed it thorougly on the GameCube. The Summoner games have their flaws, but they have a very rich game world, with excellent writing and a unique story.

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Exodus · August 14th, 2005

one of my favourite things about summoner 1 and 2 is that they're not japanese.

that and the voice acting is top-notch. but they still had their flaws in gameplay, story was fine however.

__________________
No, I don't like anime, Street Fighter, Japanese music or download video game music. Yes, I know, I'm weird.

didamangi · August 14th, 2005

Shadow Hearts 1 and 2 gets my vote, 2 of the best RPG the current consoles can offer

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Rubicant · August 14th, 2005

Hey,
thanks a lot for the advice!

I have to agree with you guys - the focus seems to be more on innovative gameplay, minigames and stuff than on a deep, well-written story.
Pretty sad.

But I'll definetely take a look at Xenosaga and Shadow Hearts.

What is Stella Deus like? Similar to Final Fantasy Tactics?

BTW: Does anyone know if the Langrisser 3 remake will have an english release?

__________________
When Angels are forced out of Heaven they become Devils.

August 13th, 2005	#1 (permalink)
Rubicant Space Cowboy Join Date: Jun 2001 Posts: 349	Story-focused RPGS on the PS2 Hi guys, been ages since my last post... Anway - I got a question and I am pretty sure you can help me with this. I just got my hands on a brand new playstation 2. Now the real expensive part starts - the games. To avoid lots of wasted time and cash I want to ask what games you'd recommend. The genre I am looking for are RPGs (or SRPGs) strongly focused on Story. So far I got -------------------- Arc: Twillight of the Spirits (which has storywise been mediocre so far) Front Mission 4 (looks promising) Star Oceans (REALLY good) Summoner 2 (not so great) Jade Cocoon 2 (too child-oriented) Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (nice and more adult-oriented which is a plus) Disgaea (weird...) Phantom Brave (weird as well) Apart from the obvious (I already ordered FFX and X-2), what can you recommend? I don't mind pink-colored flying cats that can talk, but generally a "serious" game appeals more to me. I currently consider the ps2 installments of Wild Arms, Suikoden, Grandia, the Saga Series, Breath of Fire, but sure there is more out there? Cheers Varlis __________________ When Angels are forced out of Heaven they become Devils.

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August 13th, 2005	#2 (permalink)
Techie Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: uk Posts: 212	try ebay for games for the ps2, sometimes u can get a real good bargin, eg, i paid £3.50 + £1.25 for postage, for ff x Last edited by Techie; August 20th, 2005 at 23:09..

August 13th, 2005	#3 (permalink)
Exodus ...and now they do. Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Null Posts: 16,911	wild arms and the suikodens are good choices. unlimited saga isn't too impressive. grandia xtreme and breath of fire dragon quarter aren't very heavy on story (grandia xtreme barely has one). for regular rpgs, i strongly recommend shadow hearts 1 + 2, and xenosaga 1+2 for the epitome of story driven rpgs. legaia 2: duel saga isn't half bad either. and if you like shin megami tensei nocturne, there's digital devil saga from the same series. thats about all that come to mind. the rest are probably mediocre at best. __________________ No, I don't like anime, Street Fighter, Japanese music or download video game music. Yes, I know, I'm weird.

August 13th, 2005	#4 (permalink)
Vanit Heretic Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Australia! Posts: 2,761	Like Exodus said, if you want stories, Xenosaga is definitely the way to go. __________________ Click here to download my Sin and Punishment English translation.

August 13th, 2005	#5 (permalink)
galson The Big Red Machine Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Éire Posts: 1,454	I'd recommend you Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga which is IMO better than Nocturne and if you like 2D graphics - Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana as well as Shining Tears. I didn't find Grandia Extreme too good so I agree with Exodus here. I played it for about half an hour and found it quite poor... First part was decent, second good but Extreme isn't good at all. Also Xenosaga is a must for a Xenogears lover, otherwise you might find it too overloaded with cutscenes and dialogues. There's also an interesting tactical RPG entitled Stella Deus, you could try it too. BoF5 IMO doesn't even stand a chance with great 2 and 3 parts of the series. It is a big unfortunate that PS2 has so less to offer in jRPG's matter than PSX ever had... __________________ My deviantART \| PS3 news \| General Emulation Forums

August 14th, 2005	#6 (permalink)
Rhombus The Moogle Assassin Join Date: May 2002 Location: Boulder, Colorado Posts: 2,081	It seems alot of RPG's of this generation have shifted towards having more depth of system and gameplay,but the stories pretty cliched. For example, pretty much all of the Atlus and Nippon Ichi ones have many many possible hours of gameplay (Atelier Iris, Makai Kingdom, Disgaea, Phantom Brave, La Pucelle, Stella Deus, etc.) but are pretty ho-hum in the story departments. There's also been a strong shift towards action as well... so there's a ton of also, fairly simple and/or cliched story action RPG's (Dark Cloud 1&2, BG Dark Alliance 1&2, etc.). I love a ton of RPG's of this gen, including most of the games listed, but it seems like after the massive amounts of epic RPG's on the SNES and the PSX, they've shifted towards having more engaging systems, and less on story (probably since so much has already been done before). As others have mentioned, the Xenosaga games (1-2, 3 probably coming eventually) are pretty much nothing but story. The Shadow Hearts games (1-2, 3 coming fairly soon) get my top recommendation, as they are definitely my favorite PS2 RPG's. Star Ocean 3 also is pretty good story-wise, but it's an action RPG. I also highly recommend Suikoden 3, one of the best RPG's of the generation, though pretty rare and hard to come by, but stay away from Suikoden 4, it's pretty crappy. If Tales of Symphonia ever makes it to the PS2 in English, I recommend that, having enjoyed it thorougly on the GameCube. The Summoner games have their flaws, but they have a very rich game world, with excellent writing and a unique story. __________________ Processor: Athlon 64 3400+ Mobo: MSI K8T Neo-FIS2R RAM: 1 GB Corsair XMS GFX Card: Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro 128 Sound Card: SB Audigy 2 ZS HDD1: Seagate 160MB 8MB 7200 HDD2: Seagate 80MB 8MB 7200 Burner: NEC 16x DVDR Keyboard/Mouse: Logitech Cordless MX Duo USB Gamepad1: PS2 Dual Analog/KiKY X USB Gamepad2: Gravis GamePad Pro OS: Windows XP Pro sp2 *Tempus fugit et nos fugimus in illus.* *Fiat justitia; ruat coelum.*

August 14th, 2005	#7 (permalink)
Exodus ...and now they do. Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Null Posts: 16,911	one of my favourite things about summoner 1 and 2 is that they're not japanese. that and the voice acting is top-notch. but they still had their flaws in gameplay, story was fine however. __________________ No, I don't like anime, Street Fighter, Japanese music or download video game music. Yes, I know, I'm weird.

August 14th, 2005	#8 (permalink)
didamangi Interplay sucks! Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Indonesia Posts: 1,214	Shadow Hearts 1 and 2 gets my vote, 2 of the best RPG the current consoles can offer __________________ Updated! PC rig : Athlon XP 2500+ Barton, Shuttle AN35[N] Ultra, 1.5GB DDRAM, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB, Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, Compromate Video TV Tuner, LG GDR8162B DVD-Rom, Liteon CDRW 52/24/52, Win XP Home SP2, Maxtor 6Y120L0 120GB. Consoles : Dreamcast (finally!!), PS2, Saturn, SNES Butuh bantuan menginstall ePSXe atau Project 64? Klik aja disini.

August 14th, 2005	#9 (permalink)
Rubicant Space Cowboy Join Date: Jun 2001 Posts: 349	Hey, thanks a lot for the advice! I have to agree with you guys - the focus seems to be more on innovative gameplay, minigames and stuff than on a deep, well-written story. Pretty sad. But I'll definetely take a look at Xenosaga and Shadow Hearts. What is Stella Deus like? Similar to Final Fantasy Tactics? BTW: Does anyone know if the Langrisser 3 remake will have an english release? __________________ When Angels are forced out of Heaven they become Devils.