RPGs In English

[GUTS]

I don't know, I think Chrono Trigger and FFVI both have great battle systems that still hold up well, especially Chrono.  Fighting in Chrono is actually fun in my opinion, where in a lot of RPGs it just gets to be a drag after a while.

[FM-77]

I agree. After having played through Chrono Trigger, I can't really enjoy ANY other RPG... that battle system was just so perfect. I wish more games were just like it.

[Keranu]

I somewhat agree with runin about SNES RPGs have more interesting and possibly better battle systems, but I've learned to like simplistic old skool battle systems like that of CF2. I remember I was playing around with my brother's game of Final Fantasy X after playing some CF2 and FFX's battle system just threw me off so much with all of it's options that it just wasn't fun to me. It's always fun to see new ways developers make battle systems, but I think in the end it's best to have a nice, quick standard system. I really like a game like Dragon Slayer though where you can quickly get through enemy battles, but have nice strategic bosses.

[Joe Redifer]

Ys IV wasn't fully translated since the voices still play in Japanese.  And there are A LOT of voices in that game.

Chrono Trigger's battles feel loose and disjointed to me (I'm playing through the game now).  I often don't know what is going on because shit keeps happening as I'm trying to choose a command.  There are two different ways to set up the battles, WAIT and NORMAL (or something like that) in the options screen.  I've tried both and they both are exactly the same.

[greedostick]

Wait should mean that the enemies will not attac until you have chosen your command. Normal means if you sit there they will keep attacking you.

[Joe Redifer]

Yeah I have it on WAIT and they keep attacking me as I go through the menus.  I put it on WAIT hoping it would be like other menu-driven RPG battles.  They "fixed" something that wasn't broken.  Well actually they broke something that was working properly already.

[SNKNostalgia]

To be more precise on the Wait and Active system: Once the time meters are full, the enemy can't attack you when just sitting there on the menu screen with Wait mode. Chrono Trigger really isn't all that hard. It never really bothered me, plus it helped me memorize the order of techiniques and items.

Also, you guys are forgetting one of the best RPG series especially when it comes to story.... Lunar 1 and Lunar 2 for Sega CD. Those games are just simply awesome. The remakes make it even nicer even though I still like the original with its NEC style animation sequences instead of FMV.

I am a little baffled how one would prefer Cosmic Fantasy 2 over games like FF6, but oh well.

[FM-77]

The active and wait systems are identical in Chrono Trigger. Must be a bug. There's absolutely no difference regardless of what you choose. I always use the wait system, and yet- the enemies WILL kill all my dudes if I just leave the controller and do something else during a battle.

[Joe Redifer]

How DARE you say Chrono Trigger has a bug.  You do realize that SNERDs will come to your house and kill you, right?

Anyway Lunar 1 and 2 are both good, but I really preferred part 2.  Playing through part 1 first is a must, though.

And I've always been fond of the real Phantasy Star games (the Online ones are bullshit and don't count for anything).

[nodtveidt]

Lunar: The Silver Star is definitely an excellent RPG. Eternal Blue wasn't quite as good, IMO, and although the storylines were expanded for the Playstation remakes, the gameplay really suffered. I'd rather play The Silver Star than Silver Star Story...it's one of those cases where the storyline changes don't justify the horribly broken gameplay. And forget about the Eternal Blue remake...what a load of shit that was. I returned the damn thing to the store, and told them that it was broken (technically, it is!).

Chrono Trigger is so full of bugs that I could never enjoy it. It wasn't enough that it had a broken battle system, but then you've got a storyline that's so full of holes you'd think it was a screen door. But hey, that's Square's style, go figure.

[Joe Redifer]

Like I've said elsewhere, I'm still not sure what Chrono Trigger is about.

[SNKNostalgia]

The active and wait systems are identical in Chrono Trigger. Must be a bug. There's absolutely no difference regardless of what you choose. I always use the wait system, and yet- the enemies WILL kill all my dudes if I just leave the controller and do something else during a battle.

Now, is this when you just leave the controller alone and then the meters fill up and that is it? Or is it when you are actually in the menu selecting magics or items? Try again and you might see how it works.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Lunar: The Silver Star is definitely an excellent RPG. Eternal Blue wasn't quite as good, IMO, and although the storylines were expanded for the Playstation remakes, the gameplay really suffered. I'd rather play The Silver Star than Silver Star Story...it's one of those cases where the storyline changes don't justify the horribly broken gameplay. And forget about the Eternal Blue remake...what a load of shit that was. I returned the damn thing to the store, and told them that it was broken (technically, it is!).

Chrono Trigger is so full of bugs that I could never enjoy it. It wasn't enough that it had a broken battle system, but then you've got a storyline that's so full of holes you'd think it was a screen door. But hey, that's Square's style, go figure.

Sorry Nod, but, I didn't get to play either Lunar until the PS1 ports, & they immediatly became one of my favorite RPG series, along with Ys, Suikoden, & I guess I could say Wild Arms(though, I own all the games, I've only beaten the original version of 1).  I have the Sega CD versions of the Lunar's......&, I just don't like them as much.  Go figure.

[SNKNostalgia]

I didn't really see any problems with the PS1 ports. Other than maybe the not so great line glitching at the top of the screen when scrolling compared to the Saturn versions, but no big ass deal. It is different in the sense of the battles, but I never saw anything to make the game worse in any way. It does seem like the PS1 games are harder if I remember correctly. It has been 5 years since I played the Sega CD versions. Hell, it has been 3 years since I played the PS1 versions until the past 2 months. I did play the Sega CD versions first back in like 97 and had a blast with the story and feel of the games. I just recently broke out some games like Dark Wizard, Vay and even Sword of Vermillion which is hard as shit to me right now.

[GUTS]

The Lunar games on PSX aren't as bad as some people make them out, but the Sega CD versions are definitely better by quite a bit.  They just changed too much of the story lines in the remakes and they lost a lot of what made them so great in the first place.  They're still enjoyable RPGs if you haven't played the Sega CD versions.