General JRPG topic

The Vita is at least not selling under 10k units in Japan anymore. It's not doing great numbers (11k something according to the recent Media Create), but it's definitely doing better than before.

Well they definitely seem to have faith in the PS 3. I sometimes wonder if the tendency to release on other systems first is a way to test the waters, then release it on the more popular system.

I'm hoping that they try something new for the Wii U. I at least have precedent that they will release something for a nintendo system.

How much money would we need to throw Square Enix in a Kickstarter for them to actually finish Xenogears properly?

Hmmm. "Impossible" is pretty much all I can think of. Monolith Soft, the team that was repsonsible for Xenogears has been Namco's property for 8 years, and now it belongs to Nintendo. That means the best we can hope for both Xenogears and Xenosaga is a spiritual successor. Like the one we got.

The reason why Xenogears was released in the broken majesty of form that it was was all down to Square. They should clean up their own mess, is my sentiment anyway. And according to the wikipedia page for Vagrant Story, more than half of that game ended up on the cutting room floor.

Baffles me as it is pretty much near perfect, but that's what this says anyway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagrant_Story

edited 31st Aug '13 9:01:17 AM by TamH70

...Ok? You'd have to convince them to buy back what is now a first-party developer from Nintendo, and who happen to have left Square more than a decade ago. The chances of that happening are thin. Square was spreading itself too thin back after FFVII, which is why their 1998-2001 games looked rushed many times. And then The Spirits Within fiasco basically sent the company scrambling. If FFX had not been a success, Square might not have made it through.

edited 31st Aug '13 9:11:25 AM by lu127

I don't expect them to buy back Monolith Soft, but there is nothing really stopping them from collaborating with Nintendo. Their relationship with Ninty is very lucrative, after all. Both companies make Unka Scrooge levels of money out of their deals.

After all, if DC Comics and Marvel Comics can collaborate in more than a few crossover comic series, Square and Nintendo can do the same.

It'd be nice to see a numbered Final Fantasy on a Nintendo system again that wasn't a remake.

Though, you'd argue that that may not be a good thing depending on how you feel about numbered games lately.

Isn't the Wii U less powerful than its competitors? Square has been prioritizing stunning graphics for numbered titles, so I think this is why they're skipping over Nintendo for FFXV and KH 3. Of course, that's just conjecture.

edited 31st Aug '13 9:30:51 AM by lu127

I believe so, though I'm unsure of the exact level of power it has compared to the upcoming systems.

Both power and architectural differences (x86 vs. PPC). Not that they couldn't, it might not be justified by sales potential.

I wish we'd be guaranteed more Dragon Quest. Still waiting on that 7 remake.

Apparently Square Enix doesn't want to bring it over and they forced Nintendo to choose between it and Bravely Default. Square Enix appears to be trying to make people dislike them now.

That's apparently just a rumor. We'll see.

The 3DS is getting a ton of great RPGs.

I don't suppose there are any Tales games for the PSP?

There are a few, like Tales Of The World: Radiant Mythology 1-3, Tales of Braves, which is supposed to be a Dynasty Warriors-style action game with all sorts of Tales characters, and I think a port of Tales of Eternia.

So I'm getting a tom of new games during October, and it's a tossup between the PS 3 Atelier games or Wild Arms. Anybody have any experience with the latter?

The 3DS is getting a ton of great RPGs.

Most of them have also been released (or will get released) over here right now, which is nice.

Sorry, can't help ya.

edited 1st Sep '13 3:08:04 AM by Folt

Has Tom become a new form of measurement when I wasn't looking?

Anyway, I haven't played either games but all I would say is check out the games online. Make up your mind up from that.

The Wild Arms games are fun, but the writing for Wild Arms 4 is kind of weird. It's full of author filibusters and a weird kids vs adults theme works through the narrative. The gameplay is a lot of fun.

Atelier Rorona's time limits are kind of a pain, I've nver played Totori or Ayesha, but Atelier Meruru is one of my favorites.

Speaking of Meruru, Atelier Meruru Plus just hit the PSN. I wonder if we'll see any physical copies or it's just a digital release.

edited 3rd Sep '13 12:43:18 PM by lu127

I bought Wild Arms 4 on that there Ebay thing last week. US import so it will take a while. Is it as good as Wild Arms 3, which I loved, or just meh?

Story-wise I'd say 4 is worse. The gameplay is great, though! Fantastic battle system (which gets improved upon in Wild Arms 5).

edited 4th Sep '13 2:49:15 AM by fillerdude

...I always thought Wild Arms 5 ruined the battle system. I really hate 5 actually.

Wild Arms 4 is very different from 3, and perhaps an acquired taste, but one thing I have to admire it for is sticking very closely to its themes, even in gameplay. The boss fights in it really capture that "underdog" feel, matching the plot, since pretty much all of them have some trick to either kill your entire party or become invincible. It makes the 4-on-1 fights feel appropriately desperate despite your own characters' overpoweredness, and preserves the tension of the plot even as you continuously win. Or at least that's how I felt about it.

Battles in 5, by contrast, were much more of a slog since they increased the enemy health relative to your damage and relied less on powerful gimmicks. This kind of made it a standard attack-heal game where positioning isn't very important and because of the interchangeability of the mediums, including the ability to equip everyone in the party with the same one, none of the abilities you used ever mattered.

Edit: Oh yeah, one big problem with the translation of Wild Arms 4 though is that the localizers completely removed an enemy for some reason, but forgot to remove it from the monster book. And completing the monster book is necessary for 100% completion, so if you're a completionist prepare to be incredibly frustrated.

edited 4th Sep '13 3:37:14 AM by Clarste

What's the gameplay like in Wild Arms?